The Dillema of Creating for My Self and a Sweater Tale Part 1

I have a deep problem.

I cannot seem to actually make something for myself!

I make stuff for my family, my friends, people I don't even know, their children - especially their children.  But when it comes to following through to making something for myself, I have good intentions.  I start - I buy the materials, the pattern and I think through the process.  But when it comes time to actually craft - to get to work - I procrastinate.  I stop doing for myself and go through a manic phase of making something for someone else.

Here is my most recent example.

The Beautiful Red Cardigan I'm Supposed to make for myself.

the super cute cardigan I AM going to make myself

The pattern is from Knitty.  If you are a knitter and paying for patterns, you need to check out Knitty.  It is a close fitting cardigan in red with little bobble flowers that go up the sleeves and one side of the cardigan.  Seriously cute, right?

I bought the yarn - Bamboo Ewe - 55% bamboo, 45% wool TOTALLY ON SALE at Michaels - $2.99 a skein - I bought all that yarn out of the bargain bin!

And then do you know what I did next?

I made an impossibly pink sparkly scarf for a friend and then two little baby hats (same yarn, I still had more) for someone at work who recently had twin girls.

REALLY Sandra?  You had all the stuff ready to go to make yourself a super cute cardigan and you started making impossibly pink scarves and baby hats?  Yes.  Yes, I did.  I confessed this to someone at work yesterday and she gave me the impetus to make this super cute sweater.  For you - and for her.  I am going to chronicle my process and put it on here so you can see what a big pain in the ass it is to knit a sweater!

A Sweater Tale - Part One

a skein of Bamboo Ewe - the color matches the sweater pattern!

The Yarn.  Bamboo Ewe - cute name, eh?  It is a mix of bamboo - who thought they'd make yarn out of bamboo?  But they do.  And Wool.  That's the stuff!  I have a very strong opinion that if you are going to spend literally dozens of hours knitting a sweater it had better be made of the very best materials you can get - because you want that SOB to last FOREVER!  I knit myself a sweater in the late 80's - a lopi cardigan.  The yarn cost a small fortune and my dad helped me pay for it.  I still have that sweater and I wear it when it gets cold.  More on that sweater very soon...

Knitting the Swatch

the swatch I finished this morning for the super cute sweater!

You must, Must, MUST knit a gauge swatch before you knit your sweater.  If you do not, you will suffer, as I did with my Lopi cardigan.  I did not knit a gauge swatch, I just grabbed that yarn and some needles and started knitting the pattern in my size.  What I did not know - being a neophyte knitter at that time - was that people knit differently.  The writer of the pattern I used was a tighter knitter than me.  I am a loose knitter.  Not only that, I am a combination knitter.  (more on that later - seriously the fodder for an entire blog post)  So my sweater turned out HUGE!  I had to buy more yarn because I ran out before I finished!  In retrospect, it was a good thing, because if it had fit, I wouldn't be able to wear it today with the weight I've gained since college!  LOL!  Also I wore it when I was 8 and 9 months pregnant in November and December 1990 and nothing else would fit - and it was frikkin cold!  SO - to reiterate - take the time to knit a swatch.

That is all I've done so far...

Here is what I'll be doing as soon as I publish this post:

Calculating the difference between the swatch I knitter and the gauge on the pattern.  This will involve measurement and mathematics.  So wish me luck!

Dreams, Rip-Offs and Christmas Presents

Here's a long story with a happy ending.

A couple of years ago, a friend from work invited me to her house to learn to spin on a wheel.  I had expressed an interest in spinning after seeing really cool yarn hand-spun on craftster.  They have a fiber friday board and every week people show off what they've made.

It was a fun afternoon and I laughed a lot as I was really pretty bad at spinning but got the basic hang of it and had some really wonky yarn as a result. 

After this and after my daughter moved out and a spare room appeared in my apartment, I started looking for a spinning wheel of my own.  I am a cheapskate.  And a new decent wheel was going for hundreds of dollars.  SO when I saw one on craigslist for $100, I jumped.  Craigslist is a gamble.  But I've had good experiences buying musical instruments from there so...  I drive to redwood city and go this girl's apartment where they have a decent spinning wheel set up and also this one I"m buying.  She's replacing this one she says.

I'm all hope and ignorance so I hand over my 20's and take this thing home.

It is a piece of shit.  But I keep trying to make it work.  I bring home books on spinning wheels and I discover the following facts about this antique spinning wheel.

Just so you can figure out what I'm talking about...

1 - With a leg broken at the bottom, I can't get the thing to stand up straight.
2 - She didn't even have the drive band set up right.  She had two different bands not one band wound twice.
3 - The wheel was termite eaten or screwed up in some way that there isn't really a decent kind of rim to keep the drive band on the thing.
4 - The hooks on the flyer were gunky and just messed up.
5 - All in all a big waste of my money and I don't dare pass this crap on to some other unsuspecting spinning neophyte.

So of course, I had bought fiber and it was just sitting there in that spare bedroom mocking me.  I tried to make that damn wheel work, but I never got it right.  I don't think the person who sold it to me ever got it to work, I think she just had less ethical backbone than me and passed along the lemon to me.

So when my sweet Spouse asked me what I wanted for Christmas last year, I said I want a spinning wheel.  He's all like - what?  I don't even know how to begin to get you a spinning wheel?  So I sent him a link to the site to buy a Babe Starter wheel.

This is not your great grandmother's spinning wheel.  This wheel is made of PVC pipe and a wheelchair wheel with a big rubber band as the drive band.   It weighs less than 10 pounds and it doesn't take up too much floor space.

It looks weird, but it spins great and I love it.  I've spun a whole lotta yarn on it over the course of a few months and everybody loves the stuff that I make with it.

The only downside to this wheel is that because it is so light, I have to weigh it down to keep it from rocking while I'm treadling.  Currently I put one foot on the frame and treadle with the other.

The bobbins are made of plastic.  I have two sets of 3.  I currently am only good at using the bigger of the two - it spins slower and I like the chunky yarn that results.  I have not tried plying yet.

I listen to my ipod while I spin.  I like to listen to Prince - that music has the right number of beats per second for me to spin to.  So I'm spinning and listening to Raspberry Beret and Little Red Corvette.  It is not the idea of homespun that most people have.  But it works for me!

There is more to this story - so stay tuned to find out more.