Murano Tric Finale & Topsy Turvy Cowl

I finished the Murano Tric cardigan, finally, yay!!

Pattern: Tric by Åsa Tricosa
Yarn: Murano from Bendigo Woollen Mills
Needles: 4mm circular
Yardage: 800m
Notes:  Tric is a lovely pattern, it appealed to me because it's knit from top-down, seamless and with simultaneous set-in sleeves. But I will say this is a tricky pattern and I'm glad it is finally done. I love how it turned out, although if I were to do it again I will add a couple more collar increases and lower the button hole to under the bust.
Mods: I didn't do the triangular pattern on the sleeves and shortened them to 3/4 length.

I hope my friend will like it.

One more project which was a really quick make, once I'd figured out how to do the mobius. This is the Topsy Turvy Cowl, a free pattern on Ravelry.  The yarn is my alpaca handspun that spun up during the TdF, then later I dyed in the crockpot.

I love how the same stitch produces two different fabrics purely due to the structure without your having to do anything. Love it :D

This MIGHT be my last Fibre Arts Friday post for this year, tomorrow we embark on our big trip: Around the World in 40 Days. I'm hoping to keep a travel journal along the way, so I can share my experience with you.

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Market Mitts and Tric progress

Yesterday I talked about Melbourne's weather being up and down like a yo-yo, and true to it's form today's temperature dropped 10℃ from yesterday's 26℃! Oh well, at least it wasn't as freezing as last Sunday when I was at the Gisborne market. It was a miserable day with rain and wind, my hands were so cold that I'd taken one of my handspuns from the stock and started making myself a pair of fingerless mitts. I only had a crochet hook with me so I started with a crochet mitts pattern, but my hands were so numb that I just couldn't continue to make the mitts to keep my hands warm.

I still couldn't continue with the piece after I got home because I didn't like the look of it, so I ripped it back and started again. The pattern I chose was the Garter Stitch Mitts by Ysolda Teague, it is a simple pattern worked sideways using short-row shaping.

I really like how they turned out, the handspun is very squishy and soft, they should keep my hands nice and toasty on cold market days. I only cast on 38 stitches and they worked up quickly. The project only used 58g of the handspun, so the pattern is a perfect fit for that single skein that you don't know what to do with. Raverly project page here.

A project update for Tric that I started back in August for my friend Elaine, it's been slow going due to the intricacies of the pattern (pattern recap: top-down seamless with collar and set-in sleeves worked simultaneously). At last I can report some progress:

Only the sleeves to do now so hopefully I will finish it soon. Some of the project notes on Ravelry noted that the piece grew after blocking so I'm keeping the length as it is and will take take when blocking so it doesn't grow too much.

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Minty Fresh Lace and two new projects

Happy Fibre Arts Friday! Sorry I missed posting last Friday, I was running from pillar to post and by the time I thought about it it was late and I hadn't taken any photos. Anyway, I've got a few things to show you this week.

I have been playing with my mini combs, these are the fibre nests I made with baby wool and alpaca, both dyed some time ago.

These nests were so easy to spin, I was able to get a lace weight with ease. I love hand combed tops!

I started on two new projects this week, yes I know, I should really work on my WIPs but it's more exciting starting new ones!

The first one is Tric by Åsa Tricos, this is the adult version of the little Trici jacket I was making for my goddaughter. I run out of yarn on the Trici and my friend is trying to get more of the same yarn, so in the meantime I cast on for the adult version for her.

The yarn is the Bendigo Woollen Mill's Murano with long colour repeats. Sorry about the picture, I missed the daylight again so I had to cope with the terrible indoor lighting. The most tricky part of the pattern is the beginning where you start with one half of the collar band then work your way back to knit in the opposite direction for the other half of the collar band, then you start working on the back, and pick up to work down on one front side and followed by the other, and simultaneously working on the sleeve caps too... phew! just talking about it makes me dizzy, I'm about half way through the sleeve caps which means the complications are almost over!

The second project I started is the Rosemary Cardigan by Cassie Castillo, I'm using Country Silk by Cleckheaton which has been in my stash for a couple of years. The needles are square which should be interesting, I've never used square one before. This project is a treat for myself, but I suspect it will take a while as other projects will no doubt take precedence, but I'm in no hurry :)

Now what have you been up to this week?

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Tricky Tricsi, and some other stuff...

Hello there! Hope you're having a relaxing Friday winding down for the weekend. I had a a rather hectic week so not much was done in the crafting department, but I haven't been entirely idle with my hands so lets take a look...

Tricsi is a cute cardigan design by the talented Asa Tricosa, all of her designs are lovely and I have a few queued up. But I was particularly interested in the construction of Tricsi, it starts from the mid of the back collar, and you knit one half of the back collar plus a bit of the back on one side; then you knit the other half of the collar and the other side of the back, like this:

... then all are joined, and you're instructed to CO/pick up for the sleeves and fronts... sounds confusing? a bit lost? well, when I read the instructions I couldn't make the head and tail of it, but I was so intrigued by the idea that you could knit a cardigan top-down with build-in collar and sleeves and that it is totally seamless and self finishing, I forged on anyway...

Can you see the cardigan taking shape now? It certainly is a challenging project, one that demands your full attention as well as taking careful notes or marking off sections one by one as you complete them. Having come this far I think the trickiest parts are almost over, hopefully the rest would be plain sailing! I'm making this little cardi for my goddaughter Ericka whom I'm hoping to see at the end of this year or the beginning of next year. I'm also making an adult version for her mum, so in theory by then I will be an old hand at this "tricky" design ;-)

The annual Australian Sheep & Wool Show is going to be in July this year, a spinning friend of mine is taking part in a Co-op that will occupy a booth at the show. In a moment of madness (?) I asked to join her and contribute to her stock. The idea of making some pocket money from spinning has been brewing for quite some time, I thought this would be a good opportunity to test the waters. It's quite a challenge consider I've got three assignments to hand in before that as well as fit in work (shame!), but this is much more fun so I'm going to give it a go, wish me luck!

Thanks for dropping by, there is more fibre arts fun at Wisdom Begins in Wonder. Indulge your creative side and join the party!

One Two Pickle My Wool ... ...

Summer in Australia can be very hot, which is perfect for solar dyeing :)  I've been reading up on different dyeing methods ever since I started spinning, solar dyeing jumped out particularly because it's energy efficient and easy to do. Now that summer's finally here I'm eager to try it out!

I had some of my own hand carded hand spun 75/25 merino tussah silk blend that I wanted to dye, my little man helped me mixing the colours because he wanted to create Cyan. First the yarn was pre-soaked in a white vinegar solution to help set the colour because I was using food dyes, then I filled two jars (a pickle jar and a recycled Chinese sake jar) with my dye stock and submerged one skein in each jar and left them in the sun to cook:

... ... and when the water in the jars was clear I rinsed the yarn and hang it to dry, and tah dah!

I'm not sure it's Cyan but I quite like the effect,  it's been named Summer Seas :D

Finally I can show you my finished Fern Amiga Cardigan, it's very comfortable to wear and weighs hardly anything. This is the eleventh of my IntSweMoDo2012 challenge, I'm still one short, yikes!

The response to my story last week was good, Vivian was particularly encouraging (she always is!). I wish there was something exciting to share with you this week but it has been an ordinary week with lots of to-ing and fro-ing, including visits to dentists and GPs, lawyers and barristers, oh and I went to prison again (that doesn't sound right!).  The story I'm sharing today didn't happen in this week but it concerned the same client that I saw in prison which I think highlights the challenges we interpreters face in Court Interpreting.

The visit to prison this week was by a psychologist at the request of the defence lawyer. The inmate, let's call him H, he might appear in other stories, was accused of murder. I have been working on this case for about two years now and H is still in remand. He was due to be sentenced a few months ago, I went to the meeting with his lawyer and barrister a few days before the hearing and during the meeting H agreed to plead guilty in the hope of a reduced sentence. I thought that was the end of it, but a week later his lawyer called me to attend another meeting with him. Apparently during the arraignment H first pleaded guilty (through an interpreter), but when the judge was going through the particulars for the next steps H had an outburst saying that he would never admit to murder. You can imagine the confusion and kafuffle! During that follow up meeting H insisted that he Did Not plead guilty in court, that the court interpreter got it wrong. However as a result of this misfortune his lawyer and barrister could no longer represent him, as they themselves might be called as witnesses when the matter was investigated. H had to find another lawyer.

The new lawyer kept me on the case and obtained the court recording to find out what had happened, I went through the recording countless times and did a transcript verbatim. The recording did show that H pleaded not guilty and when the interpreter interpreted "I plead guilty" H was visibly surprised (he did understand that much in English), and the outburst ensued a minute or two later. Now I'm not criticising that court interpreter in any way, in fact I sympathise and feel sorry for her because her competency and reputation will be put under scrutiny. The acoustics in courtrooms are generally bad, particularly in the supreme court where this hearing was held. Interpreters always have a hard time at catching what everyone's saying in court as we don't get headphones like conference interpreters do. Added to the difficulty was that H did not appear in person but via video link, I can only imagine the sound quality, plus H has a tendency to mumble anyway. When I did the transcript I had the luxury of going over the recording numerous times but, when in court, blink and you'll miss it and then your reputation is on the line. Such are the perils of court interpreters. And that's my story for this week.

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No FO but a little story...

Today is definitely not FO Friday!  The cardigan I started last week is not yet finished, but I can post a WIP photo:

As you can see I'm not far off, only got one more sleeve to do. I'm making the sleeves longer than the pattern called for, and I've also lengthened the body as I don't like my cardigan hanging about my waist. It doesn't look like I'll get a matching second sleeve in the colour sequence but I don't mind. The front edging rolls terribly at the moment, hopefully blocking will sort that out. Oh, and I didn't make button holes, think I'll leave it as it is and use a pin when I want it fastened.

That's all my news on the fibre arts front, but I would like to share a little story from my other life if I may. In the non-fibre world I am a professional interpreter working in the English/Mandarin language pair, and to be precise I am a Community Interpreter, meaning I don't work in glass booth with a headphone but rather I work in community settings which range from court rooms to hospitals, from police stations to schools, from employment services to correction services, etc. What I like about my work is that no two days are the same and you never know what you will get even when you know where you are going. For some time now I'd thought about keeping an interpreter's diary but as you know, I'm prone to be lazy so nothing has been done. But if you don't mind I might use today's opportunity to test the waters, so here it goes...

I was booked to visit the MRC (Metropolitan Remand Centre) with a psychologist during the week, who was writing a report on the (Mandarin speaking) inmate we were seeing for a parole application. As our meeting was drawing to a close we heard the announcement over the Tannoy system (loud speakers) that there was going to be a headcount in 10 minutes. Now if you are a regular visitor to the prison, as I am, you would know that when there is a headcount no one moves except the guards. The psychologist had other clients to see there so she quickly wrapped up the meeting and signed my job sheet so that I could run out before the count starts. Unlucky for me, I only managed to get through two sets of doors to reach the inner reception when the count started, so I was stuck. Even more unlucky for me, the headcount didn't go smoothly meaning the first count didn't tally up so they had to do it again, and it was clearly not my lucky day because the second count didn't tally up either, so the whole prison was in lockdown.  As I had nowhere to go and nothing to do (no phones allowed beyond the first reception) I got chatting to the guard on the inner reception and he told me a story about one of the inmates that was so incredulous that he had to look up that guy's file to confirm it was true:

This man went out shopping with his wife, upon returning home they found a man on top of their roof trying to gain entry. He shouted and his wife called the police, the (potential) burglar panicked and slipped down from the roof and injured himself, then our man hit him out of rage. The police arrived and arrested both men, after questioning our man got prosecuted for assault and sentenced to two months imprisonment, the other guy walked free because no crime had been committed. The kick in the teeth was that this inmate was ordered to pay $10,000 compensation to the potential burglar because that guy got injured from slipping off the roof at his house!

Seriously you can't make this up, and I'm lost for words. Oh well, at least the heads did eventually add up otherwise I'd be posting this entry from within the MRC!

Thanks for dropping by, there is more fibre arts fun at Wisdom Begins in Wonder. Indulge your creative side and join the party! 

The Beginning of a Sweater ....

Last week I told you about my visit to a sheep farm and the fleece I bought to make a jumper for the old man, this week I can report that I had started the long arduous process of making that sweater. I say arduous not because it's really that hard but the reality presents various difficulties...  The concept is easy right? First you spin some yarn, then you knit the sweater. Well that's the idea, but as soon as I started spinning, no, as soon as I was about to start spinning I realised that I had some decisions to make.

First of, since I started spinning two months ago my yarn has got progressively thinner and thinner, to the point that I was spinning lace weight pretty much all the time. I have no intention of making a man's sweater in lace weight yarn, or even finger weight yarn. But if I were to have at least double knit weight yarn with my regular lace weight handspun I would have to make it into a 8 ply, and that would be very time consuming and tedious. Also, the fleece/wool has a shorter staple than the corriedale and BFL I have been using and it's really quite fine, therefore making it a little hard to spin fine yarn (for me anyway). So I thought I would try a semi woollen or semi worsted approach in the hope that a) I would get a thicker yarn; b) it would be quicker to spin. So now I have a plan.

Secondly, I needed to decide whether I wanted to spin in the grease or to scour it first. Since the fleece is a coated one and there is hardly any VM,  my lazy streak kicked in and I started with spinning in the grease. But somehow this fleece is a bit too greasy for me, so I scoured it. And because it's so fine it matted (not felted thank goodness!) in the scouring process, therefore I had to card it rather than just flick it before I could spin. One thing led to another and before I knew it I was making rolags, which turned out to be perfect for my purpose! It's all part of the plan of course, ahem....

There you have it, in the picture above from top left to bottom are the steps I've been through this week: scoured fleece, card it into rolags, spun yarn (semi worsted & N-plied) and a swatch! Yes, you are not seeing things, I did make a swatch. I spun this sample mini skein to check whether it's doable before I start on the mass production, and it seems to have worked. I'm pleased with the navajo ply which gave the yarn some body, but my yarn is not consistent as you can see from the swatch, the bottom part is wider than the top part, that's because that length of yarn is thicker. Keeping it consistent is going to be a battle of wills between my fingers and my brain!

I also started a new project this week, well I really didn't have a choice if I were to complete the International Seater-a-Month Dodecathon 2012 (IntSweModo2012) challenge. Whatever possessed me to take up the challenge is now back to haunt me as we head into the last month of the year and I am still two sweaters short!!

Project Name: Fern Amiga Cardigan, project page here
Pattern: Amiga by Mags Kandis, free from Knitty spring + summer 2011
Yarn:  Fern by Moda Vera in pink colourways
Needles: 5mm circular

Although it's officially summer tomorrow you can never be sure with Melbourne's weather, for example the mercury hit 39C degrees (that's 102F for you folks from North America) yesterday, down to 24C today and will be lower still tomorrow, so a cardigan is always useful. Just hope I can get it finished in time, and then there's the matter of one more!!

Thanks for dropping by, there is more fibre arts fun at Wisdom Begins in Wonder. Indulge your creative side and join the party!