Knitting Season

I live in Manitoba Canada. If you've never been here in winter you are missing out. Sometimes in the middle of January, the icy winds blow from the arctic, and the temperature drops into the -30s Celcius, but the wind makes it feel like -40s. Yes, it's so cold your nose hairs freeze together when you breath. But it's best not to have your nose exposed to that kind of cold.

As I right this, the temperature is -28C, with a windchill of -39C. Some might say that is too cold. But I say the temperature is just right.... for knitting!

There is only one project that can truly satisfy a knitter in this kind of weather and that is a warm pair of mittens. Have I mentioned how much I love to knit mittens? None of this fingerless mitt crap either! No way. You'll get frost bite in under a minute if you try that here. Even regular single layer mittens are not enough to keep out that biting wind. Some people prefer double layer mittens, like Fiddleheads, or thrummed mittens perhaps. My favorite is felted (or if you're picky about your fibre terminology, "fulled") mittens.


Start with 100% wool (alpaca also works). Knit the mittens much bigger than you need them. Then throw them in the washing machine, in a pillow case, on the hot/cold cycle. Check them often. I knit my cuffs after felting.

I've knit 2.5 pairs of mittens in the last 3 weeks. Very very satisfying! The .5 pair is for my dad, who tragically lost one of his mittens. I knit him a replacement, because he lives in Saskatchewan and it's just as cold over there!

Winter is also a good month for alpacas:


I knit some alpaca goodies for a local alpaca farmer. I hope they like them!

And also spinning! I'm participating (somewhat... with the limited time available) in the SpinDoctor podcast Rare Breed spinning contest, where you spin as many types of rare sheep breed wool as you can before June (also the deadline for my thesis...). I don't think I'm going to be a high scorer, but I'm super interested in spinning different kinds of wool.
I started with some cotswold from Nova Scotia:


and then some Romeldale/California Variagated mutant from Spirit Trail Fiberworks.


I'll try to post more as I go! :) Until then, keep warm (unless you're someplace like California or Florida, in which case, you should come visit and find out what winter is really like ;))

Being a non-consumerist knitter

Did you listen to the radio or watch tv over the holiday at all? If you did, did you notice how everything is all about buy more more MORE?

I hate it. I hate the more, more, more attitude. When is it enough? When does one have enough of something so as not to need more?

One of the main reasons I knit is so that I can be in touch with the process of creating something, preferably something useful for myself or others. I knit a hat for my grandma who is having chemo, to help her to feel a little bit better about herself when she looks in the mirror.

I knit hats for my dad and my brother for Christmas.


I'm knitting mittens for my hubby and I, so that our hands can be warm in the bitter cold of winter on the prairies.

I spin so that I be even closer to very beginning of the process. I have a collection of lovely spindles, which I feel are enough to make the kinds of yarn I want. Quality tools for my craft. I do buy yarn. I do buy roving/top/fleeces. But not uncontrollably and not just because they are pretty and I have to have them.

So am I the only one who thinks it's odd that other knitters and spinners have the more, more, more mentality? I was on ravelry and I saw a post where someone bought a very expensive ball of yarn, and it was met with comments like, "oh you're on your way down the slippery slope", and "welcome to the addiction". (yes this blog is called allison's knitting addiction, but I'm addicted to knitting. not buying yarn.)

I am glad that I have a small yarn stash. As a poor student I have been knitting from my stash a lot more often. That's the key though, KNITTING from STASH. Not just stashing and stashing it away. The yarn I have, could easily be used up by me in a couple of years. I don't really feel the need to buy a lot more.

I've seen similar comments about collecting spindles. One woman in my spinning group even commented that I say I have enough spindles, until I see one that I just have to have and then I'll buy another.

I'm not saying I won't buy another spindle, if I find there is a gap in the usefulness of my current collection. But what is with the pressure from the knitting and spinning community to buy whole rooms full of yarn and pounds pretty roving, and hundreds of spindles. When is it enough? Why won't people accept it when I say I have enough?

I find it very troublesome that a hobby that is so grounded in tradition has succumbed to the consumeristic pressures of modern society. What do you think? Are there other knitters/spinners out there like me?

Holiday knitting and spinning

We went for an early Christmas holiday this year to the west coast. My husband's family lives in BC and Oregon. We had a lovely visit. :)

I saw some beautiful scenery:


And there was yarn and fibre:

(Merino Silk top and handyed sock yarn by Alexandra's Crafts)


(Superwash Merino Top from my niece! She knows me well ;)


And then I met the woman who is partly responsible for my spindle addiction:


This is Wanda Jenkins of Jenkins Woodworking. Her husband makes turkish spindles, of which I have 5. We had a lovely time! Thanks Wanda!

I also managed to finish gifts for my dad and brother (photos to come).

And finish my Laminaria Shawlette. LOVE it. :)

Wool socks

I love my wool socks, and now that winter is here, my hand knit socks are getting a lot of wear. If you buy sock yarn from a store, it usually contains 75% wool, and 25% nylon. The nylon is there to increase the durability of the socks. It's very effective and none of the socks I've made from sock yarn have worn through.

I did, however, make a couple of pairs of socks out of pure wool. They are a little thicker, and a really cushy and warm. I'm a fan of natural fibers and I'm especially fond of my all wool socks. But last spring, I noticed that one sock of each of the two pairs has a hole in the foot.


This one is a sock I made from sheeples yarm. Sadness! Unfortunately I'm not one for mending/darning. I remember at some point hearing about a work-around (though I don't remember where) and I thought it was worth a try.

First, I found some roving that matched my sock (it works with yarn too). Then I dug out my needlefelting tool (with sharp, barbed needles!).


The felting tool has a brush to lay the fabric over and poke the needles into. So I pulled my sock onto it.


Then I laid the roving over the hole and needlefelted it in place. I put several layers over the whole and made sure it was well secured.



Tada! Socks fixed!!! :)




So much easier than darning! And the roving matches so well, you can bare tell (look at the ball of my foot, you can see the patch).

In other news I've been doing some spinning...


Corriedale pencil roving on a holly Jay


Merino top on my myrtlewood standard turkish.


Targhee on my maple Turkish Delight. Very sproingy fibre.


Qiviut on a russian (bottom left) and baby camel/merino on a tibetan (top left). mmmmmm... I am true loving supported spindling.

Ok... now back to schoolwork....

Where did summer go?

There's a chill in the air and autumn is here. September went by in a blur and it's already the middle of October.

I spent September travelling. I went to Northern Manitoba on a field course. It was pretty cold by the Hudson's Bay...


(My spinning and knitting came along of course).


And then I went to Nova Scotia for a conference. That was pretty awesome.


The best part was that I ran into some spinners at a farmers market in Wolfville. They worked on the nearby Gaspereau Valley Farm. I pulled out my spindle and spun with them because it just happened to be WW Spin in Public Day (and because it was just fun!).

They even gave me some Cotswold locks to take home.


As autumn settles in, my thoughts turn to warmth. I had a bunch of samples of fibre that I'd gotten with my spindles and from Sheeples. I didn't have very much of each but I decided to make something, a bag, I thought.


But as I knit I realized that what I had looked more like a hat. And so it was.


All my own handspun :)

This weekend I went to my spinning group (I missed the September meeting). I had a wonderful time as usual. I was telling a story about how I had touched Qiviut (musk ox down, very expensive and soft) when I was in Churchill. All of the sudden, the hostess disappears and returns with a garbage bag full of Qiviut. And then she gives out handfuls! (Someone had given her 2lbs!) I just about died of happiness!


I immediately got out my russian spindle and the fluff practically spun itself! Wow...

Camping!

You know what I love about knitting and spindling?


It's portable. So I can take my knitting and my spinning on camping trip!! :)

This weekend hubby and I went camping with out good friends, Michael and Esther.


Esther is also a knitter.


She decided that the cast iron frying pan needed a cozy. I agreed.


I spun at the campsite.


And also at the beach in the afternoon.




There may also have been some smores made from giant marshmallows....


What a fun weekend!

Two bags full

Todd and Christine Burton from Burton Alpacas were kind enough to invite me to help them shear 10 of their 60 alpacas today. It was such a fun experience!


Some of their females were already sheared last week.


We sheared some of the boys today. This guy's name is leo. He had quite the messy hair-do.

Before:

After:

Bet you didn't know that alpacas are ticklish? Yup, and because of that some of the big boys required several people to hold them down, even though they are tied to the table.


We started by shearing some white boys and they had lovely fine fleece (even though the Burtons consider them "fibre males" meaning they don't use them for breeding).


Still... very luscious!

We also sheared some brown boys, with coarser fibre but lots of personality!


And in the end I cam away with two big bags of fibre... beige and chocolate brown. This is my first raw fleece and I'm so excited. More on that later though!!