How About Some Stuff?

Wouldja like that? You want another free pattern courtesy of moi? You want to see what I make when I'm not knitting? Okay, then.

First, you know I acquired a spinning wheel. It's a Louet S90. Nice. Fast. I got out the wool roving I bought at NH Sheep and Wool. Not the good stuff. Not the merino or the merino silk blend. I started with that green and purple pile o' fluff. Figured it'd be good to learn on.

I figured out how to set the thing up, attached my leader yarn, and started treadling. After trying to draft and spin at the same time and having it break...oh, about 10 times or so, I decided that since the roving was already in convenient longish and somewhat even strips, I just spun them as is. And I got some fairly even, not too wormy, very thick yarn. Very thick. Like, thicker than clothesline rope thick yarn.

And I lamented. It used up a lot of roving. This learning curve is going to eat into my fiber budget.

I tried again, and this time, having figured out the subtle pull and release motion necessary to spin, to draft at the same time. And I'm kind of getting it. Kind of. I used a bunch more roving and the results were better. What's disheartening is seeing this roving that you were excited to see become yarn turn instead into a pile of something that the cat yacked up.

My Knitters who are also Spinners have encouraged me to use the yarn anyway. They suggested knitting it into potholders or trivets so that I can still enjoy the lovely colors of it. They're right, of course. They always are.

I ordered some mill end roving from an online supplier to practice on, and at 7.50 a lb it won't break the bank. I got white so that I can dye it with Kool-Aid and ply the colors together for vibrant combinations.

If all else fails, I'll go spin some vegetable matter into it and call it "art yarn" and sell it for beaucoup bucks.

So I spun for a bit yesterday, and I'll practice a bit again today, maybe when Em's sleeping. I would like to get those last two mittens done today so that I can afford more roving. It's a vicious cycle.

But first thing this morning I had to make a cake. The Salvation Army is having a cake raffle and I made a Butter Rum Pound Cake for them to sell. It sure smells good.

And once the cake was done, I sat down here and wrote up a pattern I created just a couple of days ago.

See, I have a membership at the Bernat website. They have free patterns there, and there's one for cotton baby bibs that I wanted to make. Only I can't get in. The site has had some sort of stroke or something and won't accept any derivation of what I think my username and password are. Nor will it let me sign up for a new membership and get the pattern that way. It's discouraging.

Not to be daunted, I made my own pattern. It's on a separate post so that if you want to print it for your own use, you damn well can. I'm going to tweak it, but that's it so far. I want to try to make it out of dishcloth cotton in a heavier gauge, because I love how my dishcloths get softer and more absorbent over time. I think the heavier gauge and bigger size would be good for older babies and toddlers. They wash like a rag and get better with use. It's what the world needs, I think. A better bib. And as the mother of two kids for whom mealtime looked more like feeding time at the zoo, it's a good thing.

I also think that the finer gauge version I made would be a great gift for a new baby. You could use colorful patterns, an intarsia design in the middle, or perhaps a fancy pattern. I don't know. Do what you want with it. I did the math for you. You're welcome.

So I'll put the pattern for the bib in a link on my sidebar, and when I finish with those two mittens I'll show them to you, and I'll see what happens with that bib in a bigger size.

I've got a lot to do. What am I doing sitting around here? Sheesh.