I finished knitting Ariann at around midnight Friday. Then I went to Philly for the day on Saturday and when I came home Saturday night I closed up the underarms seams and let it soak. Then I laid it out to block. All day Sunday I fussed with it and right now I’m wearing it!! It fits. Sort of. It definitely fits in the body – I’m not sure I’ll ever wear it buttoned (not sure I would’ve anyway) and I’m not sure I’ll make a belt for it (not sure I would’ve anyway) and the sleeves are way too long, but I’ve got them tucked under and they’re good. I’d rather have too long sleeves than too short anyway. Overall I’m very happy with the sweater – it’s toasty warm and looks really nice and it’s not perfect by any stretch of the imagination – but it will be a good sweater and I will definitely make it again. I’d cast on right now if I had the right yarn for it. Not sure what that is, but I’m thinking about it. (Maybe denim? Kay? What do you think?)
Today I will be weaving in ends and sewing on buttons and maybe taking a couple of pictures – it’s really gray and dark today, so I’m not sure. The sweater deserves nice pictures, so if I have to wait for a better day, I will. Sorry.
Here’s a meme I saw over at Vicki’s the other day (and a million other places), since I’m light on content.
The first sentence of each first post of the month for 2006:
January
My grandparents, thirty-six years ago, at the hospital the morning I was born.
February
Yesterday was the last day of E Street Radio on Sirius.
March
I know I said I was going to work on Short Rows, but really, that’s about weaving in ends so any distraction is welcome.
April
This is NOT a joke.
May
Not one person said anything to me about my shawl at the wedding, but WHO CARES!!!
June
One of my favorite movie moments is when they all raise that barn in Witness.
August
The move went well in that all the stuff from the old house is in the new house and no one died.
September
The kids and my sister are gone.
October
I’m home.
November
Yesterday, as most of you probably know, was November 1st.
December
KNITTING!
It’s been quite the year. I’d be lying if I said I wish it wouldn’t end.
I was tagged for another meme by Wendy but I’m not sure I’m going to do it. I’m paying the tag forward – if you like the meme at Wendy’s go to it. I’m feeling all kinds of weird these days and I’m not really sure I want to write it all down.
Another issue I’m having: ALL WOOLEE WINDER USERS! Question for you – did you have a big adjustment period? I purchased the WooLee Winder about a week and half BEFORE Rhinebeck and only just received it last week after many delays. The karma might not be with me on this one. I finally took it out yesterday and was so excited to get back to my spinning – and then it positively sucked. I felt like a rank beginner. I could not get the tension right to save my life and there was too much twist or not enough twist and the yarn kept breaking and finally I said forget it because I was getting so frustrated I was about to ship the thing back. Please tell me it will click. I waited and waited and waited some more and to be this disappointed now is a huge letdown. I just want to spin. Is that so wrong? Thanks for any tips and tricks or commiserations.
Pictures of Ariann soon. I hope.
PS – The new Yarnival is up! Check it out!
i can’t wait to see Ariann! I bet it looks lovely 🙂 Great Meme. I’m still putting together your My Blog My Life one! I’m so late but who cares right!?
Sometimes it takes knitting a sweater twice to get it right. Ariann is a great design that can be knit again and again. I’m thinking of number two, too. I love the meme and just may do this one later next week. It’s great to review the year.
Sweater sounds great! Don’t feel like you have to do the meme. I know you’ve got a lot going on and if I were in your situation, I’d probably be avoiding too much introspection! Keeping busy, though, that would be good.
Have a lovely day!
I had no problems with the Woolee Winder I got for my Lendrum, but I remember reading that other people did have some difficulties adjusting. I think I was just lucky! I also remember reading somewhere to oil the sucker, so I did before using it the first time. Dunno if that made a difference. I’ve got a Woolee Winder on order for my Majacraft — hopefully no huge adjustment period there either. But we’ll see.
I remember that it took me a while to get the tension right for the WW. It’s so heavy that you really have to tighten your tension to get the sucker to spin around. It took me a few tries to get it right. Hang in there!
I can’t wait to see it.
Can’t wait to see the sweater!
I have a WW for my Schact. It did take me a bit to adjust to it. I oiled it well. And had to play with the tension. I used scrap yarn and played with it for a bit to till I got it to catch. Also, I too have had some issues with it having too much twist. It took me a bit to get used to it. I have had to slow my spinning down some and focus on it rather than mindlessly spinning like I was before. After a few days of spinning sessions I am not having a problem anymore. (about a half a bobbin) I like how its so even on the bobbin and not having to stop.
When I bought my WooLee Winder I was (and still am) a newbie spinner. The whole thing of moving that little clip along my bobbin was making me crazy and I saw the WooLee as my solution.
I love the thing. I actually have an easier time spinning with it than I did with my original Lendrum set up. Before I couldn’t get into a “groove” because of all the stopping and starting. Now I can just go and go. I think my twist and tension of the fibers I spin are much more consistent and it is a much more enjoyable experience.
Can’t wait to see pictures of the sweater. I’m contemplating the project.
Give yourself some time to adjust to the WW. The bobbins are significantly larger and heavier than standard Lendrum bobbins so you need to ratchet up the tension more than you might think at the beginning. However, I have found that after that initial adjustment, the subsequent adjustments as you get more fiber on the bobbin are a little bit smaller.
Don’t forget that the largest ratio on the WW is about the same as the largest ratio on the standard flier, but the next ratio down (the middle one) is 10:1, which is smaller and more twist generating than the middle one on the lendrum head. You might want to treadle a bit more slowly until you get the feel of it.
Get out some fiber that you aren’t attached to, but are comfortable with (say, some undyed BFL), make yourself a cup of tea, and just spend some more time bonding with it. I think once you hit a groove with it, you won’t have any problems. It took me a couple of sessions to get used to the feel of the WW and to understand how to tension it correctly to work with my spinning style.
Do oil it up a bit — I came back to my wheel after a few weeks of inactivity and the head was a little “sticky” — probably due to drier winter weather where I am. A little oil was a big help.
I’m pretty addicted to my WW now. I hope you and yours bond as well!
Sorry about your spinning mojo taking a leave, maybe it’s just not a time to spin for you. I haven’t learned the art of spinning yet, but do you think it’s reflective of your feelings or how life is or isn’t moving along? Seems all the spinner’s I read have issues when they’re having issues. (?) Hope that made sense…I know we’ll see the photo when it’s ready. We’ll wait.
Hope it clears up so you can take some photos! I can’t wait to see.
Your first words of July are some of the best I’ve seen around. ; ) Pretty good ones for August, too.
Sorry can’t help you with none of that spinning stuff, but I can’t wait to see Ariann!
What knit shops do you like to go to in Philly. I will be there for the holidays.
I use the WW on my Schacht wheel. I keep it set up in double drive and find that works best for my spinning on that wheel. The only problem I have had is the spun yarn will tangle in a loop around the eye on the WW if you interupt the spinning. Schacht has a bit of a back spinning problem when you stop so you must be diligent about that or the yarn ceases to draw on. I wish I could afford to have the WW on my other 3 wheels. The changing of the yarn along the hooks is tiresome when all I want to do is spin. The service is fantastic on the WW. I had a problem with the bobbins not filling as full as I wanted. Just an e-mail to explain the problem, then I shipped them back for the maker to work his magic on them. He explained the problem which he had fixed and returned them on a really short time, even reimbursed me for my shipping costs!
Some days are not for spinning. Some days are. It has to be right or all the swearing won’t fix it (when it’s right just a little swearing does the trick). Moon? Vibe? Mercury? dunno. But you say you’re feeling weird. Driving drunk, spinning weird, bed spins, cat grins, none of it good. Magic 8 Ball says “Try Again”.
I agree, oil the WW, because it’s entirely possible that it needs it. Of my two WWs, my first one badly needed oil when it arrived, the other didn’t. And I definitely had serious tension issues, both times–it felt like I had to loosen it a LOT . . . but otherwise? Not so much with the adjustment period.
Cara, I am commenting down here after missing all of the bad parts and coming in when the dancing was going on. I have been focused on another person’s cancer issues and now that there has been cake at your house…well…remember that hug at Stitches West? Consider this to be another big squishy one. Love the happy dance…it is the best.
Now…on to the WW. I bought one at M$&W last year, after coveting them for years. You know what the problem is? It is too slow for me. It can’t keep up with my wheel speed and so it is idle. This is probably your problem.
The sweater? You were made for one another. On to the new year, baby.