And I ramble.
I’ve been able to sneak in a little bit of knitting time. I’ve been able to keep the house moderately tidy. I’ve been eating well and exercising daily, and I feel great. Abby’s doing her homework without throwing tantrums. I’ve made dinner every night. Why can’t all weeks be like this? Seriously, I want to know how to make this a normal part of life. Because it’s always my goal, and is rarely obtained.
Today, I am going to Weaving Works to get a mini niddy noddy and to have a look at fiber dyes after I drop Veronica off at school. It’s been on my list of things to do all week, and it has been repeatedly bumped a day later, and later, and later, and now it’s Friday. Next week is the Madrona Fiber Arts Festival, which is where I will be Thursday through Saturday. I’m running out of time to get these things done.
As it turns out, I’m not the kind of spinner that jumps in with both feet without a care where I’ll land, or how the yarn will end up. This shouldn’t be surprising, since I’m also not the kind of knitter that can buy yarn without knowing what it will be knit into at the time of purchase.
Let’s explore that a little bit. For those of you who do, how do you know how much to buy? Do you not shudder at the thought of continually going to the stash only to find you don’t have enough of something that you are now unable to buy more of? It seems inefficient to me.
Additionally, I also shudder at the thought of using up good fiber only to find that the end result isn’t going to be good for what I wanted it for, so I’ve been doing little samples, plying them together, and setting the twist on little skeins I intend to swatch. (Yes, I have control issues. Fiber hobbies seem to be as healthy an outlet as any to focus them on). A mini niddy noddy will be very helpful for these sample skeins, and I’m guessing will also be helpful in the spinning classes I’m registered for next week.
So that’s where I’m going. And to follow up on Tuesday’s post, the ice is gone and I have trash bags again. And that’s a relief.
January 19th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
With a name like ‘mini niddy noddy’ who wouldn’t want to own one? I want one and I don’t even know what it is! 🙂
January 19th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
I always buy too much yarn for the same reason—not knowing what I will end up wanting it for! Currently I’ve resorted to using those hanging sweater bags to organize all the yarn in the closet…
January 20th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
I usually base my purchases on the weight of the yarn since I tend to use different weights for the same types of projects. Cost is also a factor. If I found a really great worsted weight that I have to have and it’s not too badly priced then I’ll buy enough for a sweater. If it’s super expensive then I’ll buy enough for a hat or scarf. Since I love to buy yarn I don’t normally get too upset if I can’t find enough of something in my stash for a project that I want to start. I look at it as a good opportunity to shop. LOL
Can’t wait to hear all about your fiber and dye purchases!
January 22nd, 2007 at 9:06 pm
About the amount of fiber to purchase for a project:
I did a little web search to verify the numbers I had in my head and they did…
Here is a quote from the Pacific Wool & Fiber website: http://www.pacificwoolandfiber.com/Spinning Tips.htm
“How much fiber will I need for?
Socks: 4 ounces
Vest, medium: 16 ounces
Sweater, medium:24 to 32 ounces.
Please remember that these are just estimates and that the fiber amount you will need vary greatly from one fiber to another. Design features of your garment such as size, length or knit cables can also add to the amount of fiber you will need to complete your project. ”
I also found a site that might really work for you because it tells you exactly how to find out how much you need through sampling:
http://www.hjsstudio.com/spin.html
Hope that helps!
Toni