A Labor (Day) of Love, My Spinning Through One Year

Well it has been just over 4 years ago that I attended the Men's Fall Knitting Retreat in Seattle, WA.  My wife won the trip for me and it was a life changing event.  This past weekend was this years retreat for the West Coast and I one day wish to return.  While there I learned to drop spindle spin.  I practiced for several years, but it takes some time to get enough yarn to make something.  I will say that I now own 3 drop spindles (2 for use and 1 for decoration).  It is easy and portable and I love to take it places with me when I can.

About a year and a half ago I took my first spinning class, using a wheel at the Carolina Fiber Fest.  The yarn I made was awful, but usable and I still have it in a hank, in a basket to use to show as my first.  After taking the class a friend loaned me her grandmother's wheel and I practiced over last summer.  This is what I got:

Spun on 100 year old wheel.

I bought a spinning wheel from Craig's list just over a year ago and began to practice.  My wife and I went to Maryland Sheep and Wool.  I bought some multicolor fiber with my daughter in mind:

Still has quite a few extra twists in it.

I had some Tunis wool that I continued to practice with and here is the result.  I find the Tunis a little harder to spin, but is good for practice.

Tunis, less twist, but thick and thin.  I think it is better.

Over this summer I think I have practiced well.  This is the first result of this summer's spinning.  It is Mountain Colors BFL plied with Pagewood Farms Pencil Roving:

I was very proud and had some single left over:

Just this week I finished some Sweet Georgia Roving plied again with some Pagewood Farm pencil roving.  I am thrilled at the results:

Orange is my favorite color and these are great fall colors.  I love the results and it came out basically even so that I only had about 6 inches of the pencil roving left after plying.

So finally here is a comparison:

What a journey!  In just over a year I have handspun yarn I am very proud to display.  

I also completed my first project from my handspun.  It is the Fenced In hat  and I loved making it.  

Hope you enjoy my journey.

My Mountain Hat Contest

So about a month ago I noticed on Facebook that there was a contest for hats.  I love to knit hats.  So I asked for the yarn to be sent and this is what evolved.  The idea is to knit a hat which will convey an idea about "Your Mountain" (something you have to overcome in life).  Each hat has some meaning for me.  I will tell you about each one.

This is the Spiral Cap.  It reminds me of the times when I am running from Soccer to Volleyball to work to church to...

(you get the idea).  To recenter myself and stop the spiral I just look at that cute face under the cap (my son Avery is 

modeling).

Next up is the Slalom Cap.  The cable pattern of this hat symbolizes when I am dodging all that life is trying to throw at me at one time.  Fortunately I have a loving an supportive family to help get to the bottom of the slope.  My very crafty daughter, Eleanor is modelling.

This is the Super Stripey Slouch.  It reminds me

of those days when you just need to be lazy.  I love a rainy, slouchy day when all I want to do is knit and get caught up on projects.

Finally we have the Life's Ups, Downs, and Rounds Hat.  Just like my unconventional life, I constructed this hat in an unconventional way.  The secret will be given away in the pattern (it is quite easy).  It is my favorite of the 4 hats and I will enjoy wearing it this winter.

All the patterns for the hats will be coming soon.   Wish me luck in the contest!  

Almost 2 years in the making

When I started to do a blog post yesterday, I noticed that this was the last blog post that I had tried to do before life went spinning out of control.  The picture below is of my Herbivore, made from Regia Hand Dye Effect.  (It looks much better with my burnt orange henly shirt.) I started it over 2 years ago and decided that it would be my project for the Ravellenic Games last summer.  I entered it in the Works in Progress Wrestling category.  Since it is made with fingering weight yarn, and begins with a garter tab cast on technique, it seemed as though it was taking forever to knit this piece.  After 3-4 days of knitting, I picked the pattern back up and read "knit until @ 12 inches deep from cast on."  So I measured and had 13" from cast on.  I knit the last 3 rows, bound off and have gotten tons of compliments every time I wear it.  I probably could have sold it for a huge price at a yarn store event last fall to a woman who did not knit but was there with her friends. (She told the shop owner she wanted her to make one for her as a gift.)  Since completing this scarf, I have started another Stephen West pattern for this fall season.  It is the Boneyard Shawl, and I am knitting it in 100% alpaca that I got from a local farm.  I hope to work on it this summer, so it will be blocked and ready when the cooler weather of fall is upon us.  I am including another picture of my Herbivore, all spread out, below.  Enjoy!
 

© smalltownknitguy

 

Way too long....

I know you are probably wondering where has Small Town Knit Guy been? 

Why have his blog posts been so few and far between? 

I am going to try to answer these questions and elaborate on the past 5 months over the next few blog posts.  To start with here is a question for you:

Have you seen one of these?

Or one of these?

If you knit or crochet chances are you probably have.  I have been "tangled up" in the latest scarf craze.  On November 17, 2011, my wife and I took all our knit and crochet "wares" to the annual Bazaar at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Ahoskie, NC.
Since then we have had non-stop orders for scarves, baby buntings, baby sweaters, and more.  Our "on the side" business has made us enough money to attend a weekend Knitting Retreat and purchase the kind of yarn with which we like to knit things for ourselves.  We have also started our own website:
Stitching for Ewe .  We have been teaching regularly and I have not designed anything in months. (I still have several ideas in my head, I just have to get them down on paper.)  There have also been several other things going on. 

In November I coordinated the first ever South East Men's Knitting Retreat.  I plan to write about those three wonderful days over the next week to let you all know what a wonderful time we had and to share pictures.

So between knitting orders for people, teaching, knitting very little for myself, and working my full time job, I almost forgot about this blog.  I hope this will help me get back to my blogging.

Next week is Easter/Spring Break for those of us who chose to be teachers.  I am hoping to get in a lot of knitting, blogging, and designing while I am resting and taking a week off.  If you get some time off, I hope you enjoy it immensely and check out our new website above. 

I'll return soon with an entry about the SEMKR (South East Men's Knitting Retreat).


Take some time to knit today.

Wisdom from Whoopi

A few weeks ago, I spent the weekend with my in-laws so that I could take some classes with Sally Melville in the Virginia Beach area.  On Saturday night after my second class, my mother-in-law was watching Sister Act 2.  In one scene Whoopi tells the main teenage character, "When you wake up in the morning, if all you can think about is singing, you are a singer."  I have decided that this was a great piece of wisdom and took it to heart.  I AM A KNITTER!  I wake up in the morning thinking about which project I am going to work on.  I go to sleep at night thinking of yarns from my stash and what I can make with them.  I knit in the car, in meetings, while watching TV, and sometimes at church.  I have designed scarves, hats, fingerless mitts, and shawls.  Thank you to my mom and Great Aunt Elsie for passing this tradition down to me and my family.  Thank you to all those who acknowledge my work, publish my work, and wear my work.  I am blessed to have a supportive family and hope to continue to knit for many years to come.

Stay tuned for 2 hat patterns coming soon.  One will be listed here for free to match a recently published pattern of mine in Love of Knitting Magazine.  The second will be a paid pattern available from Ravelry which I completed as a commission for a friend.  Both are chunky, quick knits which will make great gifts for Christmas, Chanukah, or other special occasion.   I hope to have them up by end of Thanksgiving weekend. 

Crochet Shawl and Updates

Hi all just wanted to show off pics of my crocheted shawl.  It is in Bernat Mosaic which is very much like an expensive Japanese yarn we all know and love.  My very lovely daughter is modeling.  For those of you who read this week, I have posted pictures of the Taylor Swift inspired slouchy hat on Wednesday's post.  (I will try to  post them here as well).   I also updated the Peppermint Hot CoCowl to include a new yarn that is more readily available.  (Pic also below.)

Peppermint Hot CoCowl in Charisma (from Michael's)

Slouchy hat (pattern available on Ravelry)

Taylor Swift inspired Slouchy hat

On to a nice surprise...  I travel quite a bit for a teacher.  When I go out I like to find new yarn shops to visit, so I Google them to see where they are and email them so that they will know I am traveling and wish to visit while I am there.  I received an email today from a shop I am planning to visit next month while at a teacher's conference.  They asked if I would be a "guest teacher" while I am visiting!  I was shocked, flattered, and thrilled!  I am thinking of what I can teach as I write this.  I will keep you posted as the date comes closer and what might work out as a second "career" in the teaching world.

Keep a closely knit family and your love will never unravel.

Field Trip

Our second graders are going on a field trip to see a play today, "Cinderella Confidential."  It takes about an hour to get there and an hour to get back.  Which means, if they are good on the bus, I get 2 extra hours of knitting today!  Now, which project should I take?

Teaching Gig, a hat, and a pig....and announcing a Knitting Retreat

So last weekend I went to Crafting Stop in Franklin, VA to talk to them about teaching knitting.  My wife and children went with me along with a laundry basket full of FO's (finished objects).  We discussed knitting and crochet for an hour and by the time I got home that evening I found out that they liked all my work and set up their first knitting class.  It will be held March 26, teaching How to knit, with a dishcloth as the project (scarves are easy but take longer than a 2 hour class can sustain).  Today I finished the model washcloth and will type out the pattern for the store this weekend.  I also found great knitting instructions that show an easy way to do the long tail cast on (I think it is one of the hardest parts to teach).   Things are looking up in my knitting world.  My first pattern to be published, the Reversible Men's Hat, Scarf, and fingerless Mitts Ensemble, will hopefully come out next month.  Design number two went out in the mail on Monday.  I don't want to jinx it but I am very proud and excited with the design. (The drawing was even good, and I am not an artist.)  There is another call for designs for Interweave Knits mid March, and I am buying yarn for that design this weekend when my wonderful wife, a good friend, and I go to Coordinated Colors Yarn Shop to take an Entrelac knitting class.

On to the hat.  My daughter loves Taylor Swift.  Over the Christmas holiday, she watched a special and saw a slouchy beret/tam/hat that Taylor loves to wear.  She said "Daddy will you make one for me?" and I of course could not say no.  So I set out to find a pattern and quickly found the pattern by another blogger on the web.  The hat was cabled and I went in search of yarn for it.  My daughter loves blue and picked electric blue Charisma yarn from Michael's.  This yarn is super soft and worked up great for the cables.  I will post a picture here later.  She loves the hat and wears it daily now, which is a good thing because I was the mad knitter Friday night trying to finish it.  When I finished it at 10:30 pm Friday, my hands were raw and sore.  The look on her face Saturday morning was worth the pain in my hands.  Thanks for loving my work, Eleanor.

And the pig...My son is 5 and still in preschool (Thanks NC for pushing back the Kindergarten entrance date so I have to pay for an additional year of daycare on my teacher's salary).  Last week he found a set of phonics readers we bought for my now 8 year old daughter and asked to be taught how to read.  I am very proud to say that he can pick out and sound out quite a few of the words.  He likes the short i story "Pig Jigs."  The pig jigs in a wig and the pig is big.  You get the idea.   I am very glad he has taken an interest in reading at such a young age.  Not sure what they will do with him in Kindergarten next year if he comes in reading, already knowing his colors, and recognizes numbers up to 20 (he can count much higher than that).  Maybe I should start a knitting commune and home school my kids.  Just a thought.

Finally...Announcing the first (annual) Keeping You in Stitches Knitting Retreat.  It will be held in Beautiful Downtown Murfreesboro, NC.  The Barnes House Bed & Breakfast will be the venue for our Retreat hosted by Heather Boyd, my wife and avid crocheter/knitter, Claudia Morris, owner of Southern Purls in Ahoskie, NC, and myself, Rusty Boyd aka Small Town Knit Guy and published knitting designer.  There will be classes in Magic Loop, Felting, Broomstick Lace, and a sock done toe up/magic loop.  We will take a field trip to Three Hawk Alpacas, have several Sit & Stitch sessions to share and talk, and prizes donated by several LYS's.  If you are interested in more info or registration details email me at smalltownknitguy@gmail.com.

Well I have rambled on now for quite a while tonight.  Hope you enjoyed reading.   Pics of finished objects coming soon. 

Seattle-Day 3-Dye Another Day

Low tide at Dumas Bay (Puget Sound)

My feet in water from the Pacific

Dipping the fiber in the pot of indigo dye

Separating the fiber to ensure oxidation

all the things used for natural dyeing (the cloth was dyed with mud)

(Yes the title is a play on words from the song by Madonna.)  The weather in Seattle was much as I expected:  rain, fog, a little dreary, but not all day long.  There were some bright spots and day 3 turned out to be one of them.  We had the least rain on Saturday.  I had no classes that morning so was able to get some much needed rest, knitting, and picture taking done.  After lunch that day we endured horrendous traffic to get to our field trip.  The trip was to Earthhues, a natural dyeing studio.  I spent an enjoyable but long ride in the truck with Geoff, Joe, and Stephen.  I am used to being in a completely different state when I spend an hour in a vehicle, or at least in another major city.  The hour spent in the truck was well worth it.  We were introduced to all the natural things that they use to dye fabrics, yarns, and other medium without using any chemicals.  The colors were brilliant and I wanted some of everything, but we were there to indigo dye.  I had my LYS, Southern Purls outside of Ahoskie, NC, order some lace weight dyeable yarn before I left for Seattle.  What I received was the softest baby alpaca in a natural color from Plymouth Yarns Dye for Me.  I have not begun to work it up yet but it dyed the most gorgeous color very close to Carolina blue, appropriate don't you think.  It was a long afternoon but well worth the trip.  Kathy, our "cruise director," was very gracious and kind, answering all of our questions and helped us prepare our fiber, dip it in the dye, rinse it when we were done, and told us about things in the shop.  I did get some more of their dyed yarn.  They had mini hanks of yarn dyed in various colors and ranging in length from 10-20 yards.  I chose 5 hanks in various colors and fibers to practice some new knitting stitch patterns and create scarves for my daughter's American Girl dolls.  We returned for dinner and voting on the Best in Show hand knitted items we shared on Friday Night.  Kevin won with his wonderfully created Wrap based on The Little Prince.  We were then treated to a pajama party with a short film, featuring WonderMike, on the Knitting Community and Yarn Bombing, Young Frankenstein and Hairspray to finish.  I finally went to bed after midnight having worked on my orange hat to near completion.  As I write this I am missing my new friends on the West Coast and want to knit with you some more.  I have been inspired to design and am working on my first real pattern at the moment.  Wish me luck as I am going to submit it this weekend.  Day 4 and the Journey home coming soon!

Seattle-Day 2- More Knitting

Me-Knitting my hat

the needle room

Orange yarn, my favorite

the doors to yarn heaven--Skacel

So, I think that I forgot to tell you that on Wednesday when I left, I was so very worried about my knitting needles getting through security.  Well my knee replacement set off the sensor and they ran all my stuff through the machine twice I think while I was getting the pat down.  Knitting and needles made it through safely.  On to day 2.   Breakfast was French Toast, bagels, bacon, sausage, cereal, and the list goes on.  My first class that morning was Photographing your Fiber with the very knowledgeable Franklin Habit (whom I have been waiting to meet since I saw his picture in an Addi Turbo needle ad).  I learned a great deal from him and was able to take some of the best pictures ever after his class.  Immediately following his class I took Nigel's sock class.  He taught us the yarnover increase, which I need to practice because I ended up with some holes.  I think I will be able to figure it out and use it on some socks in the future.  We had a quick lunch then were off to "Yarn and Needle Heaven," the Skacel office and warehouse.  We took a tour of the facility, warehouse, offices, needle room, and were able to see samples of yarns knitted and crocheted.  It was fantastic.  I think we scared the UPS delivery guy, he just had a look on his face like, "do you need me to call someone for help?"  They assured him it was alright and we went into the warehouse to shop.  Yarn bags were flying everywhere.  Several people shared bags.  I could have bought more yarn, but opted for the ultimate Addi Turbo Click interchangeable needle set.  We then went back to Dumas Bay and had dinner before a wonderful party.  Karin Skacel invited us over to her house for dessert and drinks.  I had the most wonderful gourmet cupcakes and a "blueberry tea" which was warm and had liquor in it (must look up the recipe for that one).  We all had a great time at her beautiful house overlooking the water.  Then it was back to Dumas Bay for more knitting and sharing.  Two more days to come.

Seattle- West Coast Men's Fall Knitting Retreat- Day 1

wild blackberries on the side of the street

Shoppes of Bainbridge

Streets of Bainbridge Island

Another view of the Grounds at Dumas Bay.  This could be seen from the window of our conference room.

The grounds at Dumas Bay

View of  Seattle from Ferry

Churchmouse

Another view from the Ferry

So I arrived in Seattle the day before the Men's Fall Knitting Retreat (MFKR) began.  It was a very long day as I had a 2.5 hour drive to the Airport, then about 7 hours on the plane.  I had a great deal of time to knit that day.  I knit in the truck with my dad driving to the airport, while I waited for the first leg of the flight, during the 2 hour layover in Charlotte, and on the 5 hour flight to Seattle.  I was so tired when I got to Seattle that I had to decline an invitation for dinner and company from some of the other men who were attending.  I got a great night's sleep and a little exercise the next morning.  Kerry picked me up from the hotel and we got breakfast before we picked up Kurt at the airport.  Then we all went to Bainbridge Island for a couple of hours.  Churchmouse was the most awesome yarn shop I have had the opportunity in which to shop in several years.  I got some beaded silk yarn (for my lovely wife), cotton bamboo for a baby hat, and knitting needles that I needed for my own hat project.  Kurt got a bite to eat at an organic food store and then we headed off to All Points Yarn.  We visited with Morgan for about an hour then headed to Dumas Bay Retreat Center for a weekend of fun.  Dinner was great and then I had Spinning Class with Michael (not stationary biking).  It was great to learn the in's and out's of making my own yarn.  I brought back about  8 ounces of wool top to practice spinning.   After I spun I went downstairs to check out my swag bag.  It was a drawstring backpack from Skacel that was loaded with yarn,  a men's pattern book from Noro yarns, the brand new "Entre to Entrelac" book from XRX, inc. (who sponsored the scholarship my wife won for me), and a notebook full of patterns by up and coming designers I have admired for quite some time.  And I forgot, after dinner we had a raffle and I won a huge hank of lace weight alpaca from Briar Rose.  It is in dark natural masculine colors.  What a great evening.  I sat up and knit with several of the guys while another class was going on.  Then it was off to bed.  More to come on day 2 tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

Technology Doesn't Like Me

This has been a bad week for me with technology.  First my cell phone music player stopped working.  Fortunately, after a recharge of the battery, it suddenly started working again.  It has to hold out until March when my contract is up.  Must have been one of those weird tech glitches.  Just recently someone hacked into my hotmail account and started sending e-mails about some meds.  I, of course, could not get anyone at MSN to contact me so I had to get a new e-mail address.  I have to hold on to the other one until I get back from Seattle for plane tickets, info, and the like.  Went with gmail since that is related to this blogspot site.  Hoping that the problem does not follow me to my new address.  I manually input all my addresses in on a different computer, just in case it was in my laptop.  (Doubtful since it is an Apple.)
I went through a bunch of steps to stop the emails and it hasn't happened since yesterday afternoon.  Hoping it is fixed.

Now on to the good stuff.  The shawl I knitted, just because I had the yarn, had a sizable ball of yarn left over.  The model, my daughter, has requested her own size shawl out of this yarn so I am currently knitting this up for her.  I will post pics when it is finished.  I finished an afghan for a friend who had her son 2 weeks early.  It is a diagonal pattern and should be very warm in garter stitch.  I also knit up the swatch for Wendy Johnson's Shetland Shawl KAL.  I am including both pics.  I hope to get a lot of knitting done this weekend as I will be vacationing in Williamsburg, VA with my in-laws.  Maybe I will have more pics to share next week.  Enjoy the Holiday.  I will be starting to get ready for the West Coast Men's Fall Knitting Retreat next week when I get back from the short vacation.

What an amazing week!!!

Several months ago,  I read about the West Coast Men's Knitting Retreat in Seattle, Washington.  Since I am "Small Town Knit Guy" and the only man in our local Knit and Crochet group, I thought, "How nice it would be to get together with other men who knit.  However, being a public school teacher with an obsessive yarn habit,  I knew a cross country trip was out of the question.  Then an unexpected surprise came.  About two weeks ago, a scholarship contest was announced for the Men's Fall Knitting Retreat (MFKR).  All it took was a nomination from someone who knew you or yourself.  Not being one to toot my own horn to get a prize, my wife nominated me.  For those who are on Ravelry, the nomination can be seen on the Fiber Beat page there.

Now comes the waiting.  August 6th was the deadline for nominations and I was checking Ravelry and Fiber Beat website everyday, to read the other nominations and check for news.  I left last Sunday afternoon to visit friends in Fredericksburg, VA.  My wife and I busied ourselves with shopping and talking with old friends.  I got some great deals on yarn: novelty, beaded,  Patons SWS, and the real find of the week....At the Goodwill store, my friend's daughter found a cooler full of yarn (I was teaching them how to knit while we visited).  She wanted the yarn for knitting practice, lots of worsted on top of the cooler.  Her mom said 10.99 was too much, so she came to find me.  Upon digging through the cooler, which was taped across the top (no lid) I found a cone of lace weight yarn, A 5 POUND CONE of lace weight yarn!!! (and a little white lace weight  wound in a 3 strand ball.  Needless to say we bought the yarn cooler.  I gave the girls the worsted and I took all the lace.  What a find!!

So back to the scholarship...On Tuesday night, in between shopping, talking and knitting, I checked all the sites again.  The Scholarship committee chair wanted my phone number.  I gave it to him and said I would await his call.  To make a very long story short:  my wife's nomination won me the scholarship!!!.  I can't believe that in a month I will be attending the MFKR in Seattle, WA.  In Small Town Murfreesboro, NC, I am the only man I know that knits.  Now I finally get to meet others who share my passion for knitting.  Check back for updates as the Retreat approaches.

What an addiction!

When I started my knitting journey over 5 years ago, little did I know it would become a complete addiction.  I had always wanted to learn to knit, but only learned to crochet.  Between my mother and my great Aunt Elsie, I mastered crocheting at the early age of around 9.  I was content with crochet, and thought knitting was hard at that age because of the 2 needles.  I still yearned to knit.  When my Aunt Elsie passed away, I thought all was lost because she could never get my mom to take up knitting.  So my wife and I checked around and around and found a Michael's store that taught knitting classes.  We both signed up.  In just one hour we learned the basics: casting on, knit, purl, and casting off.  From that day on, I have been on a mission to learn everything I can about knitting.  I have been on a second mission to share my knowledge with others.  Last Fall I taught a group knitting class at my local library. In January, I started a once a month Knit and Crochet group at the same library.  I cannot get enough yarn.  Every time my wife and I go on a trip somewhere, I Google the local yarn shops in hope of finding some fabulous fiber with which to work.  I have come to love the art of knitting (and I do still crochet from time to time) so much that my wife converted a section of our sun porch to house yarn and make a comfortable area to teach knitting lessons.  We call it "The Knitting Knook."  I am hoping that this fall the "Knook" will take flight and regular lessons will be offered.  I hope to offer some free patterns here as well as pictures of finished items.  Come back often and see what is going on with me, Rusty B., the Small Town Knit Guy.