Indulgence

In the midst of the spinning, reading, and general not knitting, we've managed to squeeze in a couple of our standard Christmas traditions. This weekend, we kicked off the holidady season with the annual local production of the Nutcracker. I think this may be the last year we see the Nutcracker. As Little Clover grows older, the ballet is loosing some of the luster it had in the past, and as Italian summed it up, "he's a plot man." We still had a great time going to lunch before the show at a local Canadian themed restaurant, but I think next year will be the perfect time to find a new tradition better fitted to a growing boy.

After seeing the Nutcracker on Saturday, we headed out hunting for a tree at our locally owned urban garden center and did the urban equivalent of chopping down a tree. Basically, we pointed to one and said "we'll take that one." Little Clover did pick out a beautiful 15 footer right off the bat, and Italian and I then began the annual negotiations, trying to convince Little Clover that a 6 to 7 foot tree would be just as lovely. Plus, we found out this weekend that a 6 to 7 foot tree fits inside my car; yet, one more reason why I love the Honda Element.

From Irish Clover

Little Clover said he felt like he was riding home in front of a hole in a jet plane. I think he loved it.

As we've been slowing decorating the tree a little bit each night, I've been neglecting my knitting in favor of spinning. The Spinning Sundays sessions have been quite fun and productive. After plying up the purple tweed, I was motivated to continue spinning and wanted to try som new techniques. I originally pulled out a 2 pound bump of turquoise merino wool intending to spin it into a sport or dk weight sweater yarn because I need the practice in spinning bigger singles. At the same time, I also need practice on spinning skinny sock yarn singles and there is a bump of lusciously fun merino in my stash. Spinning sock yarn also requires I use the fast whorl for the very first time so I quickly tossed the turquoise back into my stash bin and pulled out the socks-to-be merino. Not only is spinning on the fast whorl very easy and fun, but the fiber warms me up with its hint of summer. Can you guess what the colorway is called?

From Yarn

Yep, Neopalitan. Yum.

Was there supposed to be knitting?

There has been woefully little knitting going on in my life. I'm ok with this, really I am, mainly because I've been filling the time I would have been knitting with spinning. I've been trying to implement "Spinning Sundays" which has resulted in my third full bobbin. The third bobbin was quite a surprise. After filling the bobbin on my wheel, I pulled the other full bobbin out of my spinning basket and then walked to the closet to retrieve my lazy kate, wishing I had enough fiber to spin a third bobbin because I prefer the look of a three ply over a two ply. I reached into the closet, pulled out the lazy kate and lo and behold! a third full bobbin was waiting for me on the kate ready to be plied! I danced a little.

Since no particular day of the week sounds especially snappy with the word "plying," I've been plying the last couple of days. The singles really do even themselves out with plying and I am getting better at analyzing the singles as they zoom through my fingers, knowing what I need to do to improve. I think the yarn will knit up nicely in a tweedy sort of way. I'm hoping I have enough to make a vest.

From Yarn

Plying is one of my favorite parts of spinning, mainly because it goes very quickly and because the end is in sight. Plus, Little Clover seems to always pick up and play with my niddy noddy while I have it out for winding the plied yarn. This time around, the niddy noddy was used as a pick ax while he sang the song "Look Down" from Les Miserable. It was a nice break from seeing him reenact every Sunday football highlight.

Saturday in the Park

Every year, my town's historic commission holds a heritage day at one of the oldest brick houses in the town. The historic John Gray house, built in the very early 1800s, is opened to the public for guided tours and demonstrations and booths are set up. A lady sat and tatted, a gentleman cooked outside in a Dutch Oven, a storyteller was on site to entertain the children, and I demonstrated spinning. Quite a few people had never seen anyone spin before. I think I was just as shocked by their reaction to the spinning encounters as they were with having one. Several people of all ages were just amazed to see a spinning wheel. Some people had no idea what I was doing at all nor what I was making. When asked what I was doing and what I do with what I make, they were just as surprised to hear I knit. I think most people just assumed I would weave with the "thread" (as they called it) and were a bit befuddled when I said I knit.

From Irish Clover

One of the best reactions I received was from a little boy who was close to Little Clover's age. He was walking by all the demonstrators with a definite purpose in his stride and without sparing them a glance. He walked right by me, stopped, walked backwards to me, stopped, watched me for just a few seconds, and then exclaimed, "Oh, now that is just too cool!" Then, he kept on walking. I had to chuckle at his pronouncing spinning as "cool." Spending my Saturday afternoon spinning in a park was definitely a pretty cool way to pass the time.

Knitting progress was not lost this weekend with the focus on spinning. Although, I did tuck away the Widdershin Sock and the Green Gable sweater. Instead, a knitted iPod sock received my attention. It's to keep my new toy nice and warm.

From Irish Clover

Nano 4th Gen Sock
Irish Clover Design
Yarn: Left over sock yarn
Needles: 1.75 mm (US size 00)
Gauge: I didn't knit a swatch, it would have taken longer than the sock

Cast on 40 stitches (I used the long tail cast on) and distribute evenly across 4 needles. Join for knitting in the round.

The basic
Rib
*Knit 1, purl 1* repeat across all stitches until sock is 4.5 inches (11.5 cm) long. After completing the last round, distribute the stitches across 2 needles, with 20 stiches on each needle. Using Kitchner stitch, join all stitches together and weave in the ends.

The cable
Rib
*Knit 1, purl 1* repeat across all stitches until 4 rows of ribbing are complete.

Cable Rows
Round 1-4: Knit 2, purl 2, repeat
Round 5: *Knit 2 together, but do not slip off any stitches. Knit into the back leg of the second stitch on the left hand needle (part of the knit two together). Now slip off both stitches. Purl 2* repeat to end of round.

Repeat rounds 1-5 until the sock is 4.5 inches (11.5 cm) long. After completing the last round, distribute the stitches across 2 needles, with 20 stiches on each needle. Using Kitchner stitch, join all stitches together and weave in the ends.

From Irish Clover

(Oh, and the iPod, it rocks. The slim design takes a bit of getting used to, but it is sleek and compact. The video resolution is quite remarkable and the shake to shuffle feature is truly pretty cool.)