Turning corners, things that we see and don't see

Today, I've turned another corner/heel, and I discuss things that distract me, and how some times we don't see the important things. As you will see, I am easily distracted.

I've worked through the heel of my 2nd Cat Bordhi Tantalising sock, as you can see I still have to keep the book close when working this. I am beginning to see the maths of it, and maybe if I knit a few more pairs of these socks, I'd be able to knit the tricky parts without the book perched on my knee, and a place holder under each line. Its not overly complicated, but perhaps I think differently to CB, she explains the shaping line by line, and I prefer EZ and her " increase one each side of the gusset every 3 rows until...". Much easier to follow for my kind of brain.

But for now, I'm here, past the heel, and on the straight of the foot, no book in sight, no need for one until I need to remind my self how the toe goes.




Friday - I worked at home, at the dining room table, where this view distracted me all day. First it was the green green tree out side, that caught my eye, as the sun dappled and the wind moved the leaves, then as the day moved on, it was the soft bright light, the sofa, the spinning chair, the cushions, all calling me to sit and take a wee break and knit in the daylight with the silence of no children and no tv, and not write a paper or two. But I plodded on, until end of day, the kids came home and out came the needles.

And talk about being blind to the obvious. In Ravelry I joined a new group, the Twined knitters, 68+ people all twining away around the world. Who knew there were so many? And the things they knit, I am in total awe, awe I tell you, awe. Catching up by reading the past discussions in the groups forum, and a comment about some yarn I had sent away, led me to a discovery. The yarn I knit Toby's Possum Merino sweater in was a Z twist yarn, see in the photo? Its a Z not an S, - which explains why the twining went so well methinks. Z twist is what was traditionally used for twined knitting, and the twining increases the twist, if you use an S twist yarn, apparently it untwists as you work and changes the look of the work. And now having investigated the front row of a stash shelf I know I have at least 2 more cones of Z yarns to play with.

And yes, spinning still takes some of my time, this is a new spinning project, 90% Romney 10% Mohair, suggested as good for sock yarn, hand dyed in chch. 100g, which I have split by weight into 2x50g, and am spinning up fine onto two bobbins. The long term goal is to try a 4ply cable yarn, that is 2 ply, plied together to make 4 ply. Except I just realised I should have split it into 4 equal sections not 2, as I will end up with one 2 ply bobbin that will need splitting before I can ply them together - bother. I've nearly spun the first half of the fiber, so I guess I will split the 2nd half into 2, and rewind half this bobbin off latter.

And the latest off the wheel, some merino donated by Jenny, when I took up the wheel. A lovely blond, caramel and chocolate, and as you can see it is yarn, and it is balanced, but I have a way to go on my consistency thing. I think fine high twist yarns are much much easier to make consitent than larger, looser yarns which show every irregularity clearly.

And my new stash, hand dyed roving, kettle dyed by a knit night friend, who is starting an on line sock yarn and dyed roving shop, and has a "big label in her stable". I can't say more that that, until her stocks are full and the site is live, but her colours are very very nice, and the yarn proper sock yarn.

Take care,
Stella