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Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Trying to get some projects going …

Well, it’s a long slow recovery here, but I am finally able to sit up and knit a bit… if you really know me, you know I can’t sit still for long.  I always have to be making something fiberish…. hey, I admit it, I am a Fiberholic.

 

So this week I got some socks done!  I use an antique circular sockknitting machine.  I have had a few: a really old one from 1892…  and then a few from 1904, 1908 and now 1925,,, they are SO COOL… but frustrating, finicky, putzy and irritating to no end!  They take a LONG time to learn and adjust and get *just right* before you can even hope to get a sock from it. 

Different yarns will work in one but not another.  Some days they work great, and without touching a thing, the next day they are snarled up and a mess.  ARRRGGH!  

I have been cranking since 1998 and it honestly took over a year before I got a good sock.  I only use good wool and make my own color combinations. 

 

1892 gearhart 1with ribber on 72 slot   I ribbed   from inside angle

 

 

Here are some socks that I got done this week.. .slowly… carefully…

november socks4 november socks1 november socks2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

november socks3

 

 

Some wool yarns I dye (creatively) and get cool designs like this:

half skein sock yarn

     half skein sock yarn dye day half skein sock yarn results

 

 

I also dye sheep fleeces, that have been processed into long strips called *rovings*  by Patty Reedy at Rainbow Fleece Farm in New Glarus, WI ….

  (I do these in the summer and drape them to dry all over my back deck, LOL …. my neighbors think I am nuts)

may dyepot day 4may dyepot day 5

 

And  then I haul out my spinning wheel…..   and spin up these colorful rovings into wool yarn.  I spin at home in front of the fireplace in the winters, and in the summers I take my spinning wheel right along in the motorhome to spin outside in the woods!

my wee peggy 1sittin and spinnin 

 

plum happy and tickled pink

See what fantastic socks I get outta this?   My hand dyed and handspun socks are very special and it takes about 20 hours to complete a pair from beginning to end.  So it’s really not worthwhile to sell them.  Even at a rate of $10 an hour, who would pay $200 for a pair of socks?    So those special socks I keep for myself …   or else my girls swipe them!

 

That is why for the socks I do sell, I use mill-spun yarn that I pick up at a spinning mill here in Wisconsin, on huge cones, to make it cost efficient and worthwhile.  I sell the socks (and my handwoven rugs and towels)   for $20 a pair on my etsy site:   

http://kareninthewoods.etsy.com/

 

So that is a day in the life of a recluse who is fiber-addicted and closed up in her house for the next 6 weeks to finish recuperating from surgery.   Not the most exciting blog post, but it’s something that is a part of me.   Thanks for reading!

4 comments:

  1. You sure got a lot of neat-0 colors spun up there. Nice looking socks for sure. Only thing I spin once in awhile is a yarn or two but not exactly that fiber yarn stuff, although my yarns can be colorful as well. But ya know what.....I like your yarns better:))

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  2. Beautiful socks, and a fantastic spinning wheel. Thanks for showing us the pics of those special socks. Hope you continue healing well from the surgery. Happy Thanksgiving.

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  3. Glad to hear you're recovering from surgery. You sure do make some lovely socks. I just love colourful ones! When I lived in stix and brix all my socks were colourful and usually toe socks lol. Now they're boring white. I'm not sure why.

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  4. I love the colorful socks. I bet they will last longer then the socks I buy. Thanks for posting the "how to" of it.

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