Alpacas

So, on my way out of town tonight (visiting my hometown and returning to new home) I saw a sunflower sign that advertised "Retirement sale - Alpacas, Fiber, Yarn" and so I couldn't help but turn in to the driveway.

They had yarn, fleece and animals for sale.  I was able to buy two skeins of 100% black Suri alpaca wool and 2 1/2 pounds of fleece.

They showed me their $38,000 scarf - the most expensive scarf in the world - knitted from their first year's shearing...

LOL.  Sorry to hear it, but weren't alpacas a get-rich-quick scheme a few years ago?

Third Coast Fiber Festival

This was a multi-day festival, but I only had Saturday to visit..  I attended a class on drop-spindle spinning in the morning and a class called "Tapas" by Candice Eisner-Strick in the afternoon. 
Both were well worth the fee. 

I learned that the spindle I received in the "lot" when I purchased my new-to-me, but gently used, LeClerc 4-harness loom was a "plying spindle" that should only be used to ply, because the heft of it was too great to allow single-ply yarns.

I purchased the smaller and lighter drop spindle supplied with the course.

I find that my spinning wheel is far more efficient than drop-spindle spinning, so fear I will only use  it for demonstrations. 

The class in the afternoon discussed many "small bites" of things that knitters might find useful.  The most useful to me was the method of alternate left/right increases by yarnover on one row and twisted stitches on the next.

I ripped the socks I had already started on two circulars back to the beginning.  This new method makes infinitely more sense to me.  By making 1/2 the increase on the first row, and the 2nd half of the increase on the second row, you never lose track of where you are on rows of alternate increases.  Since I feared I had increased on "every row" a few times, the toes of these socks were starting to look very lumpy, so I am thankful to have a method that automatically checks my increases. 

I also liked the butterfly stitch.  Looking forward to adapting it on the machine.

How much yarn?

I've posted this previously on another space but it's worth re-posting here as I am afraid it may be lost in the shuffle of new email addresses and web pages.

To make a sweater,

How much yarn to buy? How much yarn do you buy to knit a sweater? I guess the answer is really pretty simple: or maybe not. If you're in the store, and you see a yarn you absolutely have to have, buy at least a dozen skeins. That's the simple answer. The complicated one is buy pretty close to what you need. I've compiled the information below from a lot of different sources and they didn't all agree. I've tried to even out the numbers so they make sense. So if your knitting pattern calls for a particular yarn or a particular number of skeins, please use it as the primary source for determining how much yarn to buy. It always pays to buy 10 percent more than you think you will need. You can always knit a hat or mittens or socks with the leftovers. But, if you run out on the left sleeve, you're in trouble! Number of yards given is for a long-sleeved sweater. You can subtract 10 percent for short sleeves or 20% for sleeveless. Please note for special yarns like chenille or mohair, the length will be much greater per lb because of their great loftiness. The cardinal rule is - ALWAYS make a swatch! The numbers given are a rule of thumb. Variations can occur due to humidity, tension, type of yarn, and a hundred other factors. Approximate Gauge 4" 32+ s x 24 - 32s x 20-24s x 16 - 20s x 26 r 12-16s x 8-12s x Needle Size 00-2 2-4 4-6 7-9 10-10 1/2 14-15 Cotton approx yds/lb 4200 2100 1260 840 Cotton 10/2 5/2 3/2 2/2 or 1/1 Wool approx yds/lb 6720 2800 1200-1800 1020 560 300 worsted(wool,acrylic) 1/13 or 2/24 2/13 , 3/15 , 1/5.5 2/7.5, 3/11 , 1/3.5 3/6.4 , 4/8, 1/2 3/4 , 1/1 1/.5 Shetland Cobweb Lace Weight Jumper Weight 3 Ply yarn 4 Ply yarn Chunky Handknitting Baby Fingering Sport Worsted Bulky, Aran Very Bulky, Icelandic Infant 600 500 400 300 Toddler 800 700 600 500 400 350 6-8 1250 1100 950 800 700 550 10-12 1300 1200 1100 950 800 700 Teen 1400 1300 1200 1000 900 800 S 1600 1400 1300 1050 950 900 M 1800 1600 1400 1200 1000 950 L 2000 1800 1600 1400 1200 1000 XL 2000 1800 1600 1400 1200 XXL or man's 2000 1800 1600 1400

New/old group

I've joined a machine knitters group in Metro Detroit area.  I'm not sure if it has a name!  There were six ladies, including me, at the meeting on Saturday.  This is a splinter group from a previous Southfield, MI group that is no longer active.  Meetings 3rd Saturday of every month.

Nintendo Entertainment System Knitting Machine?

Since the knitting machine in the photo is making plain stockinette, why on earth would you need the NES to "power" it? Can't see the KM logo, it looks like the brother plastic bed machine or the bond ultimate knitting machine - These machines don't offer patterning!

I wonder if it might have sold had it had a more enthusiastic demonstrator. Maybe the target market shouldn't have been a toy store?

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