Check This out…

While not an official ‘episode’ of BeanKnits and Spins, there’s a little video of me dyeing up some fiber at
The House of Wool Repute. Go on and check it out!

Episode 16- Pointed Ramblings, New Hobbies

Episode 16 is now available

Discussed:
Falling into Sewing and Baking (I’m getting domesticated, eek!)
Fabric/Sewing from a Knitter’s point of view
Resist-Dyeing technique
Running around Brooklyn lookin’ for fabric in all the wrong places(and some right places, too)

Links:

Resist Dyeing at Two Sheep

Knitscene Magazine at Interweave Press(This is where the CPH pattern came from, NOT Knit.1 magazine)

KitchenAid Mixers

Episode 15— 2008– NO FEAR, Books! and my ‘design’

Episode 15 is ready for your enjoyment!

All subsequent regular blog posts are now at the New Blog!! The House of Wool Repute!!

Creating Original Hand-Knitted Lace, by Margaret Stove

Knitting Lace Triangles, by Evelyn A. Clark

My Sources of Inspiration:
Evelyn A. Clark

Miriam L. Felton

Megalogarnie

SpinnDiva

Something’s a-comin

Don’t you worry, the next episode of BeanKnits and Spins Podcast is gonna be a doozy!

oh, and Happy New Year, and all that stuff

Change can be a good thing…

Well ladies and gentlemen it is time for change yet again.

First off. BeanKnits and Spins is still being hosted at Podshow but from here on out I will be posting show notes and related photos here on this blog.

But, there’s a bigger change in store. I have joined forces with a variety of knit-and/or-spin bloggers at The House of Wool Repute!

At HoWR, as I like to refer to it, you’ll not only find me, but also some of my favorite fiber bloggers(and maybe yours, too!) Is there a blog you used to love but hadn’t read because it stopped being updated regularly? You might find her there. Or is there someone who never blogged before you’d like to hear from? She’s there too. I’ve had 3 great years blogging independently, and someday I might again. It took some time to decide if I really wanted to keep this site going and post there as well, but I finally made up my mind.

If you’re not interested in all the other posters at HoWR, then you can simply seek out posts written specifically by me. But why do that, when you can get all the fun without having to read several different blogs? Keep in mind some participants will keep up their own blogs as well.

I’ve done an intro post there but stay tuned for my real debut!, with Central Park Hoodie almost done and some spinning pr0n.

I don’t want to get all philosophical and shit, just wanted to let you know I AM alive and that you can still read my blather.. So go check out The House of Wool Reputed and thangQ so much, for reading BeanKnits and Spins.

Sincerely,
Ladybean(aka Tamara)

P.S.: Keep an ear out for some excitement on the next BeanKnits and Spins podcast! I’ve added a new favorites session: Books!, in which I’ll talk about two great books I just got and what I’m doing with them…(think LACE). hee

Podcast Update

News!

BeanKnits and Spins Podcast is NOW being hosted at Podshow.

I have taken down the WordPress based blog. Future shows will come through Podshow. For those of you who usually get my feed through iTunes:

my former podcast host refuses to allow me to redirect my feed so that iTunes users can get the newer episodes through my new host. so F em. You can get my old episodes at the Podshow site. I have requested that iTunes remove my podcast from their database so I can resubmit it with the new feed URL. Until that time, which hopefully will be up and running by the end of November, please visit the podcast site to download the files for use on your MP3 player or iTunes. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.

Thanx for listening!!

Pushed to the edge…

Warning: Major knitting self-thrashing ahead.

WTF do I be doing when I’m supposed to be LEARNING stuff?! No really. It finally slapped me in the face like a 7th-grade lunchroom fight: My handspuns are coming out thicker than they LOOK. Whodathunk?!

Case in point:

That’s where BBB was before I surrendered and took it off the needles. Now before you berate me for it, let me explain the truth: It had been KILLING my hands. It was being worked on 9s. Isn’t that big enough for doubled sportweight? Why, yes, it is. But. I finally learned that although it LOOKS sportweight, it’s not. Aha! Apparently I couldn’t get out of caring about TPI and WPI. Those are the things that give a ‘weight’ to a yarn. NOW I get why in articles and magazines about spinning, they tell you to make a singles with “## TPI” or a plied yarn with “##WPI”. They’re the standards of ‘categorizing’ a yarn, instead of going by ‘weight’, like in commercial yarn.

How does this affect my handspun disasters? Well think about it. Fiber prep really DOES make a difference in the final yarn. The yarn used in BBB was some Finn roving I got last year at Rhinebeck and spun on the Joy Val lent me. As a carded roving, it’s going to spin up fluffier than a combed top. So, even though it doesn’t LOOK worsted weight it will knit like one. Even after the bloom that occurs with setting the twist. So, I didn’t need to double the yarn like I thought I would. And then I probably wouldn’t have needed to use 9s either. I needed them for somthing else I’ll get to later in the post.

So, to make a long story short, I’m ripping the BBB (and loard help me I don’t know HOW I’m going to rewind it when it’s doubled– in some areas it’s actually knit from two ends of the same ball!) and will reknit with the yarn single. Then I won’t run OUT like I was before. Yes, this will result in a slightly smaller BBB but SugarBoogers won’t know the difference.

So I’ve washed my hands of that failure… On to the next:

WTF possessed me to care enough about the points on the previous Icarus to think it would be a snap to repeat it, is beyond me. Somewhere in the deep recesses of my foggy brain I figured Icarus II would be simple and quick with all the plain sections. Well, it got boring FAST. But I trudged on, ever the valiant knitter, to meet my goal: an Icarus with pretty points. I also threw a wrench in the works for deciding to knit the whole thing as written. And I thought I was doing that, but it had plans for my ass. After several weeks of trying to figure out where the hell I went wrong I finally took that joint off the needles too. Good riddance. What possesed me to think I wanted to knit miles of sock yarn into a shawl, I’ll never know. How many rows of stockinette DOES it take to say ” &^%$# it!” to a pattern? The world may never know.* And I’m not counting either, shit…

So that’s what I did the last few days. Cry my tears and rip away. It’s over. Now on to some knitting that I’m much more confident about:

Ladies and Gentlemen, the back ribbing of Central Park Hoodie, hereafter known as CPH. I’m working the largest size on this, and after careful swatching and taking into consideration that the cables will suck the fabric in a bit, I’ve settled on the size 9 needle tips. (which were stuck in that ever crazy-making BBB, but I won’t hold it against them).

There we have it. I’ve bared my knitting soul to all who’ll read.

Also, if you plan to click through to my podcast from this blog, no, you are NOT in the wrong place, I’ve moved cast hosting service.. YAY! Thankx to Shannon of SSK for putting me on to Podshow.

*paraphrase of that world-famous Tootsie Roll Pop Question: “How many licks DOES it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop? The world may never know.”

“Who was it?” ” I don’t know…he hung up!”

If you know what cartoon that’s from, then you know how I’m feeling right now.

Lately my WIPS have fallen in the hole for me. I just took Icarus off the needles to burn. Well no, I haven’t actually done so, but I’m sorely tempted. After all the $hit I went through(like extra rounds!) to get the right stitch count, I was still WRONG. It’s what I get for trying to do the same shawl twice. I just don’t have the heart to continue on.

Then I’m kicking myself in the ass about Baby Bobbi Bear. It’s going to get finished but it’s going to look like patchwork. Poor planning has cause me to have to resort to using other yarns to finish it because I underestimated how much yarn I’d actually NEED(read: I don’t know how much of my own handspun I have). So, I’ll be using various other yarns on BBB…

At least I’ve finished 2.5 pairs of family socks. You know, the ones I said I’d be making for my household. So far I’ve got mine and son’s done, and just about ready to cast on number 2 for littlest Beanlet. After her it’s big girl Beanlet and finally hubby and his small cruiseships.

As for the mini-vacation, hubby and I just spent some quality time together. We went and bowled a few games(I beat him both times!) and had a quick dinner and walked around Times Square. Which reminds me. Is there a purpose to the M&M World store? 3 floors of M&M-themed merchandise; in fact, more non-candy merch than actual candy. WHY? I’m just sayin’…

And to top off the weekend, I got to meet the lovely, crafty, knitting farmer Sarah!! All the way from NM! She came up northward for Rhinebeck(DAMN! Why couldn’t I go!?Argh!) and we agreed to meet up before she left the area. Sadly I have no pics of the meeting but we had a good time chatting and walking around. Next time Sarah, I’m coming to town for Taos!!(maybe?) Weeeeeeee

Forgive the lack of pictures this post. I’ve made little tangible progress and I’ve got to really reassess my Ravelry queue so I can start some new WIPS.

Til another time!

I Go To Pieces…

Well I’m trying to. Sort of. Forgive the scattered themes.

First up I want to let you all know, episode 13 of BeanKnits and Spins is up and ready. It’s just a short 12 minute cast to get whet your appetite.

I’m trying to get up a better podcast blog than what’s at my podcast hosting site, so check me out here

Any suggestions for the page content/design, just leave a comment.

So onto the goodies:

Here’s another progress pic of Baby Bobbi Bear:

I’ve since finished about half the head. Then it’s just the arms and remaining leg. Woohoo!

But speaking of pieces..

I’ve been thinking about sweater knitting. I start them and get bored or discouraged. I get nervous that all my work will be useless, that the item will be too big, too small, too something. So I put it down, and it falters. I think I may have come to realize what the problem is: laziness.

No, I don’t mean I’m too lazy to knit, but that I’m too lazy to seam. You see, I got this idea in my head that since I’m not fond of seaming(and face it, I’m not!), I’d rather do sweaters in the round. Well. I’m a big girl and that means sweaters will take FOREVER in the round. Believe it or not, I actually see quicker progress doing sweaters in pieces. The damned SEAMING is what makes me leave the thing to the side for eons. So. I’ve bitten the bullet and will pick out a sweater/cardigan to make that is done in pieces. Stripedy will be finished. I’m already started with her and with all the yarn cutting I’ve done I’m not about to rip it. But after that, no more in-the-rounds for my big a$$. Just can’t do it anymore.

That’s it for this post. I’m gearing up for a little vacation this weekend(read: me and hubby holed up in the house with no kids! ), so there probably won’t be another post til next week at the earliest! WEEEEEEEEE

See ya!

Let’s play Catch-up!

But first, here’s a dose of cute for you:

K’s son had his b-day party at a bowling alley and littlest Bean decided she wanted to roll her own frames. So there you have it!

Her score is 2nd from the bottom. Not bad for a 4 year old!

On with the crafting!

When last I left you I’d just received the KP Harmony needle set. I figured I could be knee-deep in new WIPS with all those cords. WRONG *screeching halt*:

That’s Baby Bobbi Bear going on right now. I didn’t read ahead in the pattern and look where it got me. I’ve got the 2 24-inch cords holding the top sections and a 32-inch on the bottom area (the other 32″ cord is in Icarus). I’m about to branch off and do the legs on dpns but man I need more cords! Some 16″ers oughta do it for holders. But I’m having so much fun using the needles and I’m so glad each cord set comes with duplicates. I was travelling to the party with this and I wouldn’t have gotten THAT far with only the one cord.

A close up shot:

BBB is being done in my handspun Finn, a 2-ply I spun up last year when I borrowed Val’s Joy. I just LOVE Finn fiber. I still haven’t decided what I’ll do with the black Finn I finished recently. Maybe hubby-socks.

Also, I recently got tagged by Sofia with this:
1. Link to your tagger and post rules

2. Share 7 facts about yourself, some random and some weird

3. Tag 7 people at the end of post and list their names

4. Let them know they were tagged by a comment on their blog

So here goes.
1) I don’t watch much TV anymore. Most of what I do watch is really just me occasionally glimpsing the screen while someone ELSE(usually hubby) is watching.
2) I don’t like okra. Don’t ask.
3) My glasses are 4 years old. I actually HAVE had a more recent pair, but the frames took a dump on me and in the interim, I put on the pair I had before them. I didn’t see much difference, so I still wear them; I just haven’t had the time to find a good optician who won’t screw up my script like 3 times before I can go home with the damn things.
4) I actually like the taste of Red Bull.
5) I sleep best face down.
6) I keep my fiber dyes in a potato flake canister. (which reminds me I need to save that oatmeal one too ).

I’m afraid I’m going to have to break the cycle on this. I’m not all that fond of the tagging and meme business and I know most of the people I link to on the net aren’t thrilled with them either, so I won’t be passing this on.

Gonna keep this short(*giggle*). Everyone have a great day, and a great week!