Spinning – Damselfly's Delights

Yes, it’s already halfway through January and I haven’t done a final tally of my makes from last year. Now that that government south of us is sorted and we can all breathe easier I feel a little more willing to look backward again. Plus I finally finished writing up my project notes that I hadn’t touched since August so it’s all fresh in my mind. Drum-roll please! In 2020, I completed:

26 garments sewn or refashioned
1 seam roll and a plethora of masks made
6 items knitted
2 skeins spun
6 tea towels woven
5 fabrics dyed

I only made a couple of things for Thom. And after I put the photos together I realised that the green Jeds were actually completed this year, not 2020! I did cut them out in December anyway. And both pairs of socks above are his. He has enough pieces now that he can dress completely in wife-mades, except for his undies! (Maybe I should remedy that. Or not.)

I completely lost track of how many masks I’ve made although they were only for Thom, his mom and me. Unlike many other sewists I was slow off the mark and didn’t make any for giving away. However I think it will continue to be needful to wear face coverings for quite awhile still, at least until everyone is vaccinated and so-called “herd immunity” kicks in. So pretty much for most of the rest of 2021, I figure. Currently in my province you can’t get on a bus or ferry, shop in a store, go to a medical appointment, get your hair cut or enter a mall without a mask on. At least mine are more fun to wear than the generic paper disposables! Who knew a year ago that they would become perhaps literally a life-saver?

In the end I did complete some UFOs but there’s still several left over. I have a pile of knits cut out and ready to sew. I was threading up the machines for the green ones but I’m stalling. It’s a lightweight stretchy beast and I’m a little nervous about sewing it. Just DO IT! Also I’m finally back to knitting on a pair of socks that’s been hanging around half-done since 2019. And I was actually dreaming about spinning last night so maybe there’s hope that I will finally complete the sweater quantity project that I started forever ago. Only another 2 skeins to go, I think. And then they all get popped into a dyepot. That would be fun for a change! I haven’t spun at all for nearly a year. I also have a weaving draft and yarns all picked out for another round of towels. But there it all sits. Sad and forlorn.

Some soul-searching has me concluding that perhaps I’ve been somewhat reluctant to start new projects because I don’t actually need anything right now. Unlike some people however it’s not because I dress differently when mostly staying home! This is my normal life. Comfy practical clothes for gardening, walking, working in the craft studio, doing housework, cooking – all the usual stuff. Really, the only things I really do miss these days is getting together with family and eating out (particularly foods that don’t do so well as take-out like sushi, dosas, dim sum, yam fries with chipotle mayo…yum…). Oh, and running away to the beach or the desert in our van. Okay, enough of that, damselfly. No use whining about it. Nearly everyone is in a similar situation.

The good news is that I didn’t buy very much in the way of craft supplies all year, instead I was digging deeply into what I already have. I managed to use only stash fabrics and buttons but needed some more thread and of course a few PDF patterns that I couldn’t resist. What I did go a little spendy on were my new sewing and coverstitch machines but so far in the few months I’ve had them they’ve gotten plenty of use so definitely happy with those purchases. I also bought extra essentials like wonder tape, clips, a stitch ripper and more bobbins. I still have a ridiculous amount of fabric left though a lot of it is pretty ancient (some is over 20 years old!) and not particularly wonderful. It’s a challenge to find the best use for it and to make sure it will be something that actually gets worn. One day though I’m going to reward myself for my good reduce/reuse/recycle behaviour and buy something really special to sew! But that can wait for now.

Looking forward. I’m hopeful. I’ve already bought my garden seeds for this coming season!

Well here we are in the New Roaring 20’s! I’ve chosen the theme of “clarity” for this year since “2020” calls up associations with good vision. (Not that my own vision is actually 20/20 or anything!) I intend to focus on clearing out the junk, clarifying my future goals and generally looking to clear my head of all the negative emotions that are floating about. Don’t know about you, but I’m trying desperately to hold onto my peaceful little corner of the world. This is my 70th year of life and I can’t guess how many more years I’ll have left but I don’t plan to give up what is important to me anytime soon. All I can do is carry on the best way I know how. And keep making stuff, using what I already have as much as possible, and trying to live a little lighter on my poor abused planet. We can only do what we can only do, right?

So. I promised a bit of a retrospect of last year’s makes. The stats are interesting considering I didn’t think I’d done much! I finished a total of 39 projects: 33 sewing (including helping the granddaughter with The Beast), 5 knitting and 1 dye. The UFOs were 3 sewing, 2 knitting and 2 spinning for a total of 7. That seems like more uncompleted projects than I usually have ongoing but I guess not really since I often cut a half-dozen items out before I sew them.

A selection of successful sewing (and knitting)

Interestingly, I made more dresses this year than tops. Does that mean that my personal style is shifting? I seem to feel more comfortable in longer lengths but I still wear either shorts, leggings or pants underneath. My fondness for layers isn’t going away! I did discover a hole in my wardrobe however. After I reorganised all my drawers it seems that I don’t have many long-sleeved tops left anymore. I bought several lengths of suitable knits quite awhile ago but hadn’t gotten around to sewing it up. So solving that issue is on the agenda in a top position.

And there’s still some garments I want to make for Thom. I have the patterns and fabrics. I just have to do it. He doesn’t have nearly as many clothes as I do. Since he mostly wears shirts, pullovers (or sweaters) and jeans his needs are pretty simple. But he’s beginning to be quite spoiled with his “bespoke” wardrobe! More men’s sewing coming up.

Other than those things I don’t really need anything else until something wears out. Not that a lack of need will stop the wants. Just wait until I start going through the stashes during that section of the Make Space Project! It’ll remind me what I’ve already got until I’ll have a long queue lining up for future makes.

Meanwhile, I did finish one spinning project that’s been worked on in fits and starts for a year, the Fernwood yarn.

The fibre is 250g of New Zealand Corriedale in the colourway “Fernwood” purchased from my friend Andrea when she owned Aurelia Fibres. FYI, these rovings are now sold by Dewedlebug Fibre Emporium (Alberta) and their Fernwood seems a little brighter than mine if I can judge by the computer screen. Instead of being dye-painted the roving has the colours in carded strips aligned lengthwise. Sorry I didn’t save a bit unspun to show you (or a photo) but this makes a somewhat more blended effect when spun from the roving just as it presents itself. I spun one bobbin-full (half of the 250g) that way but for the second half I decided to strip the colours to separate them as best I could. I spun 6-10″ lengths in a sort of random-ish order which definitely made longer areas of a single colour.

Bottom: first bobbin; top: second bobbin

You can sort-of see the different effects in the above photo. (Note the photo of the finished skein shows the colours more accurately than this one.) Then I plied the two bobbins together for a kind of faux-fractal. I ended up with three skeins, two larger and one smaller, totalling about 980 yards of fingering weight. Why is it that 2 bobbins full of singles often don’t ply into just 2 bobbins full of plied yarn? I guess it doesn’t pack as closely together as the singles so there are going to be leftovers! Anyway, the amount isn’t quite enough for a sweater but a lot more than I needed for my intended project. I started with the little skein.

Yes, I started another knitting project still with two UFOs haunting me! Pfttt… This is the Wolkig Cowl by Martina Behm from Knitty, First Fall 2017. It’s deceptively simple to knit so you can guarantee I’ll be finished in a jiffy! I like the way the variegations in the yarn don’t clash with the puffy knit texture as it would if it were lace or cables. I have no idea what else I’ll make from this yarn. Maybe a hat? More fingerless mitts? At this rate I’ll end up with a matched set.

Tag: Spinning

A 2020 Recap

Clarity in 2020