I just checked my last post and was surprised to find that not much has changed! Same basic "life" stuff going on, still knitting, still spinning, still haven't set up a good area to do it at home, and I'm getting ready for my annual trip to Napa.
On the other hand, since last year the market has crashed (extending my remaining working years), we're in the middle of a recession, we've had a pay cut at work (though no major layoffs yet) and interest rates are the lowest I've ever seen them. Blech! Current events are too depressing to blog about - back to knitting and spinning!
One of my goals for this year was to enter a knitted piece and some handspun in a fair or fiber festival. I had never done this before, so I wanted to pick a smaller venue for my first attempt. After scoping out the competition last year, I decided to target Alpacapalooza.
I was pretty sure that I would be able to compete on the knitted end of things and just hoped for the best (and to establish a baseline) on the spinning. I wanted to get some impartial feedback and have something that I could show progress against next year, since this is only my second year spinning. So, in February I bit the bullet and turned in an entry form for a scarf, a hat and a skein of handspun yarn.
Note to self - April is a lot closer to February than you'd think!... That was especially true this year, as I had a full slate of classes at Madrona, followed by a weekend at Knit-Purl in Portland taking sock classes with Lucy Neatby (who is an amazing teacher!) then an Estonian lace class with Nancy Bush at the Nordic Knitting Conference. Whew! So much for February.
For my knitting project, I decided on the Butternut Scarf by Anne Hanson. Someone posted Ravelry project photos of one done in Sundara Fingering Silky Merino and I had promptly fallen in love. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to knit this beautiful scarf, which was actually designed for Alpaca lace.
I had originally planned to knit this project from stash, using a lovely cranberry marled skein of Misti Alpaca Lace. However, the more I thought about this, the more I wondered if the marled yarn might obscure the lace pattern – not a good thing when part of the scoring is choosing an appropriate yarn for your project. Back to the drawing board / LYS…
I went looking for a clear, bright, solid color of Misti Alpaca Lace and discovered Classic Elite Yarns Silky Alpaca Lace instead. Wow! Perfect blue-red color, great drape and a touch of shine from the 30% silk content. After a bit of swatching (yes, I’m one of those people) and an adjustment period for working with 10” straight needles (it had been a while), I was off to the races.
Based on some of the project comments and my own measurements, I added one extra pattern repeat for a smidge more length then bound off as loosely as I could, using a slightly larger needle. Here it is, before blocking:
I soaked the finished scarf in a sink of warm water and Soak for about 30 minutes. It bled pretty badly, which was a bummer, fading the color somewhat. If I use this yarn again, I will try washing / soaking it in cold water.
Next I broke out the blocking wires, pins, tape measure and interlocking children’s play mats. I threaded wires through the purl bumps on each side of the scarf then pinned them down 10 inches apart, spreading the scarf out lengthwise as I went. Finally, I pinned the ends into soft “points”, took some quick photos, set the fan up and left it to dry while I filled out the final entry paperwork and item tag(s).
Finished Measurements:
10” x 55”
~20 yards of yarn left over
Results:
Blue ribbon!
99 points out of a possible 100; lost 1 point for Creativity
Finished 6th overall in the Fiber Arts contest
What finished ahead of my scarf in the overall? The Grand Champion was a stunning stranded sweater, hand knit from handspun Huacaya Alpaca in all of the recognized natural shades. Wow, just wow! Nothing else really came close to this one.
I don’t remember the actual order of the other four items, but there were two felted “sculptures”, a crocheted scarf (which was quite pretty) and a woven piece. I really wish I’d taken a picture of that sweater...
Overall, this was a positive experience with good end results, including an actual Finished Object. It was a little more stressful than it needed to be, because I had nothing even started when I submitted my entry form and way overestimated my available project time. I ended up eating the entry fee for the hat and focusing on the scarf and handspun skein instead. More on that tomorrow…
