Darn Socks!

DH came with his socks hanging from his hand asking "Can you fix this?"



These are the socks that I knitted a few months ago and it seems I should have done an afterthought heel so I could just take it off and put a new one on...not that I have a clue how to knit an afterthought heel... I can nalbind one, but not knit...



After a bit of time on the net searching for anything to do with darning, I came up with one that says to use a light bulb if you don't have a darning egg. Wow...who would've thought...











Then I found an actual video showing a person darning a sock... who could ask for more? So I followed what the video said and tried to copy her as much as possible. No one was more surprised than me when I actually worked. There are a couple of other places that are showing some wear on the socks, so I guess I had best get ready to make another pair.

I think I will find one of those egg shaped things at Hobby Lobby and see if I can smooth it down to be a darning egg....

How to Make a Beaded Wrist Distaff

Yesterday was laundry day. While I had 20 or 30 minutes between loads, that's not very much when it comes to weaving..so... instead of weaving I made the wrist distaff that I have been wanting to make forever... but just kept putting off.

It consists of about 20 pieces of yarn that are about 30 inches long. (Notice all the "abouts"... I seldom measure anything..If it looks "about right", then it's fine with me.) These are all held together and folded in the middle to find the center. Keep your finger in between the fold or you will find that you will be 10 minutes sorting out the yarn and have to start over... (guess how we know this!) Working out from the center, the yarn is "measured" to about twice the amount needed to circle the wrist and then tied of with a string at that spot on one end. With the string tie hooked on something substantial ( in this instance it was my big toe...lol A sight to behold if ever there was one!), you divide the yarn into 3 equal groups and begin to braid the center. When it reaches the desired circumference of your wrist..making sure it will fit over your hand also... the braiding is then tied off on this end.

There should now be fairly equal lengths of loose yarn on each end. I trimmed 2 or 3 on each to be shorter and did some random cuts to put some of the beads at different levels.. This helps to hold the wool. And here comes the picky part. The beads can be any kind you want. Any color you want. The only stickler is that they must have a hole big enough for the yarn and the eye of the needle you will be using. Each length of yarn hanging from the braid is beaded. I used a single good sized bead with a knot tied at the end to hold it. You can use as many beads on each piece of yarn as you like, but each piece of yarn should have at least one. After the beading is finished on both ends, the braided wrist area is joined by putting the ends of the braid together, then wrapping a length of yarn around them.. joining both sides into one. Tie it off with a knot. I then applied super glue to all the knots. While I don't plan to be throwing it around much, I figure a little extra oomph on those knots couldn't be a really bad thing.

And... you don't absolutely have to bead your distaff. The beading gives some weight to the lengths of yarn and helps to allow the wool to fall off the distaff easier as you can twirl the weighted lengths of the distaff as you spin.
However, the first distaff I made was not weighted and I found it nearly indispensable for holding plenty of yarn on hand as I was spinning and also for keeping the wool away from the spinning yarn. (Hate that when the wool becomes tangled in the spinning yarn...)

I should add here that you can make a wrist distaff of almost anything... from crochet cotton thread to strips of rags... but the use of a woolen or semi-woolen yarn will give something for your wool to "hold" to and be less likely to just slip up and down on the distaff.

This is really a post that should be on Fabric Follies Two.. hmm May just copy and paste it over there..lol

Waiting, Weaving and Trial & Error

I played with my loom some more yesterday. Didn't make it too wide because I wanted to try some different things with it (in other words...play) ...still have it on the loom so will try some other things today. I want to see if I can put little random sprigs of red in it without the long ends of the red sticking out. I read somewhere that the weave is tight enough to hold small lengths of different colored yarn... will have to look that up again...hmmm

When I look at the fabric on the loom, I can barely see any difference in the fabric..except for where the weft is more heavily beaten. It shows up much better in the photo..

Getting a bit frustrated here... finally called the doctor's office to see what was going on with my MRI testing... It seems it has not been read yet..or at least has not been put into my file on their computers... and our doctor has not received a report... Ahhh.. the wonders of the best medical system in the world.... sigh

Cream of Wheat

Remember those days when you'd get up in the morning and fix a quick bowl of Cream of Wheat (hopefully without really huge lumps) for the kids ... then you'd sit down and scrape the pan for your own breakfast after they were off to school? No?... well that's what happened at our house... About a year and a half ago I came across some "instant" Cream of Wheat, had to have it and it has sat in the cabinet all this time.

Today was the day... had to have it.. (and yes, the diet is in the trash until some of the stress is over... I know ... I know... any excuse...whatever...) so I made me some...

Either a year and a half in the cupboard or my dead and dying taste buds have done something really bad to Cream of Wheat....! This will be a not again happening thing!

Oh.. and one more thing... It would be real good if you just think of those chips in the bowl as highlights from the flash on the camera... ok?

Do We Ever Appreciate Them Enough?

This is one of "those" posts... you know... the ones that either come across as "mushy" or "heartfelt"....

Either way, it's one I want to post...

I went for a mammogram a while back.. no prob... the yearly thing... But they called me back for some more pics... then immediately did a sonogram (think stress here)...then the Dr. wanted to come see for himself (only a little increase in stress here) ... then as he rolled his hands in front of him and looked at me wide eyed (increase that stress level by a bit here), he "suggested" very strongly that I have either a biopsy or MRI as soon as possible (increase it a LOT here)... As the sonogram tech walked me back to the waiting room (so I wouldn't get lost), he kept asking me if I was ok...what's up with that??? So I had the MRI on Friday... now it's just a waiting game. (Can we say LOTS of stress here? )

During this "waiting" time my DH has been the most patient, supportive person I have ever known... I don't think I ever tell him enough how much I appreciate him.

He came down "feeling bad" a week or 10 days ago... weak kneed... but it wasn't until Saturday evening that we took his temp and found it to be over 100. Still, he had spent an hour or so in the shop with me...and has spent the whole week making sure that I had enough hobby things to do that it would keep my mind busy and off the "waiting"... Finally it has gotten him down enough that he went to bed at 8pm and spends most of the day leaned back in his recliner. He has begun the "sweating it out" process, so here's hoping it will soon be over...

So, it is with absolute resolution that even tho he lives for NHRA racing (not NRA) in the spring and summer ... John Force...yayyy... This cartoon says it all... and with appreciation....and no complaints from this wife...

I love you, Hon... Thanks for being my DH...

Made My First Fabric Yesterday

Saturday was a busy day in the shop. DH put together a lap sized tapestry loom for me. We made it of oak and he used dowels to hold the corners...

It ended with me sanding it down and using the dremel to shape the shuttle and shed stick...will think of the real name for this as soon as I publish..lol Then spent some time using a finer sandpaper to finish it... dampened it with a wet cloth to raise the wood again and re-sanded. Then used boiled linseed oil to seal and finish it.

This tabby weave is my first masterpiece... I am so amazed at making my own fabric from my own handspun Icelandic yarn. Gives me a whole new respect for all those generations that "came before"....

I finished this weave last night and took it off the loom. It feels like "grandpa's old suit"...grin I think I will use this small piece to make a coin purse... we'll see...

Of Painting and Sealing

It took a couple of days to paint everything, let it dry and then seal them with polyurethane. But it finally all came together...

I started to paint more on the bottom of the lucet, then decided that I just wanted something small and simple.. so there is a small flower on each side, then several coats of polyurethane.

I finished one nalbinding needle, then decided that would be more than I needed if I used all those blanks for needles...sooo... DH assisted and we put four of them together to come up with this 5 1/2 inch loom. All that I really did to the oak was sand all the edges smooth and make sure that nothing would cut the yarn as it pulled around it. All this was done yesterday morning. Yesterday evening I did the piece of test weaving. I can already tell that I will have to grab oldest son and have him tutor me a bit on how to do this..grin But all in all.. I didn't think it turned out too bad.

This spindle is a toy wheel with a very small center hole. The shaft is a bamboo skewer from the kitchen. I still had to sand a little so the skewer would fit, but it spins like a dream now. I let enough of the shaft push through that this spindle can be a bottom whorl or it can be a supported spindle. I will be trying to learn to use it as a supported spindle. I have some short, short poodle hair that I am dying to try to spin.. I think I will have to mix it with some wool... but this spindle will be good to try it with.

The four sets of finger weaving sticks were a no-brainer. All that had to be done was sandpaper the ends and length, sand, seal, sand, seal, sand, seal...lol

There is another spindle that was finished yesterday, but I'm so glad all the pics fit that I'm afraid if I try to add another one, I will be pushing my luck with Blogger...lol So will put it up tomorrow...

I've had a couple of people ask about using a lucet.. The top You Tube video in sidebar is a video of how to use a lucet. Have a look....

W I F #5 & Lucet

It's been a fairly good week...weigh in today...188..ta da...

We spent a little time out in the shop yesterday. These are nalbinding blanks, fingerweaving rods, Lucet and spindle parts. The all need to be completed, but I couldn't wait to see if I could work the Lucet. I only had inch and a half wide piece of oak, so I drew out what I thought would work and DH cut it out for me.

I used the Dremel to sand it down, but let me tell ya... a person needs a little time and practice using the Dremel...lol My poor little lucet has some real ocean waves... But it worked really well. I had to spend some time getting used to the small working area between the forks...about 3/4 inch... but when I did get it figured out it whizzed right along just like a grown up... Today I will finish sanding with some sandpaper. I think I will figure out some way to paint a tiny floral on the hand piece and then finish with something that will show the grain of the wood. May have to ask DSIL and find out what will work. I am trying to stay with whatever would be available around 800 AD... may not make it tho... sure like to use acrylic paints...hmmm

Lots of Socks, Tarim Stitch & Lucet

Ask me if I'm tickled that my Larry Schmitt's Lots of Socks book arrived?... It has instructions for 10 different nalbinding stitches and patterns for about 5 different nalbound socks. It also says that while naalbinding is a correct usage and spelling for this craft, an effort has been made to standardize the name using nalbinding with the pronounciation as nall-bin-ding using a short i .

It was surprising to learn that most nalbound socks in the early centuries and even up until the mid 19th century were made with a mixture of wool and goat hair.. the goat hair was added to help wick the moisture away from the feet.. with the side of the sock facing the foot brushed to smooth the goat hairs and bring them to the top. It seems that some very early Scandinavians were surprised to find that when they took their shoes off the skotalinger, or toe cap (nalbound shoe liner with a toe cap), was frozen to the bottom of the shoe. The toe cap was worn over the socks as an extra insulation for the toes and bottom of the feet.

Over the last day or so I have been trying some of the stitches and find that all but one are not that difficult to do. The last stitch, Omani, is complicated enough that I will have to study it in the full light of day with no tv...lol The Tarim Stitch looks just like the knit stitch. The better thing about this stitch is that it doesn't roll in from the sides like regular knit stockinette stitch.. and is much more durable. I really like this stitch and am in the process of trying to figure out if I have enough yarn yet to make something really big out of it. Or it may be that all the kids and grandkids will get another neck scarf for Christmas....lol (I offered to make Son #2 a pair of socks out of my hand spun pink/rose merino yarn...can you believe he politely refused!)...lol

I finished a nalbound bag the other... handspun orange Corriedale. I need to put cordage through the top so decided that I wanted to try a Lucet instead of the usual twisted cord. Here is my "Lucet". A wooden one will be quite easy to make, but I wanted to see if I could do it (duh...easy peasy) and also to see if I would like the square cord that it makes. It's great. I just drew off my approximation of a lucet onto heavy cardboard and used a combination of knife and scissors to cut it out...covered all areas that the thread would come in contact with, pushed a hole in the center and voila'. It goes very quickly and you can use everything from embroidery thread to big yarn. The only thing is that the finished cord must be of a size to fit through the hole in the center. Therefore...aha...perhaps it would be good to have more than one size...hmmm

Glad to be in Texas..grin

I got some pics in email this morning from our son in Michigan... After 60 in. of snow this winter, they got almost 12 more inches last night... ouch!

This has to be my favorite pic .. ;) ... Looks like DDIL and kitty aren't minding it too much!

And in this one, it looks like a nice slice of white icing cake..lol

How's that for the first day of spring?!! ;0)