Podcast episode one - introductions are in order

Link to video here!

Intro

Me

Welcome to The MoonBound ArtisanShip Podcast, I am your host Julia. As this is the first episode I want to start out by chatting a minute about me. I am coming to you from Wisconsin in the US, where I live with my husband, Jim, four kids – 8-18 – and one aging cat who hasn’t come to terms with having no upper canines. My degree is in Anthropology and Museum work and my training in Archaeology. I am interested in most anything. Especially, if it used to be commonly done and now produces something most people just go buy. Among those interests are Spinning, knitting, weaving and all things fiber-y. I also brew and bake and regularly get it in my head to try something I am reading about. Sometimes this leads to a great (or not so great) recipes, sometimes to spending a week learning how to weave fishing nets. I intend to chat with you about all of that!

Why I am starting these videos?

I dream of owning a little brick and mortar gallery and teaching studio. The kind of place where people wander in to see a work up close and end up staying for a cup of tea and taking a class or just chat and craft all day. I long for the ideal of community involved in a quilting bee. Having drawn this feeling from the podcasting community I have decided to join in. Hopefully, you will learn from me and I from you.

Knitting

On the needles

                I have three projects on my needles right now.

Mouse’s sweater

Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Percentage system

Key number is 162,

gauge is 5 stitches to the inch.

Junghans Wolle, thifted and old 79cents a skein.

on fourth skein and have four left.

knitpicks interchangeables in nickel size 4 us or 3.5mm

Second tryat knitting a Pikachu Colorwork into the yoke

                                                Socks!

Mina Philpp’s Two at a time sock pattern – morphed into her vanilla sock recipe

Mystery stash busting – inventoried all of my stash yarn and ordered buddy balls for sock yarns I found there.

                                                                Patons Kroy Cascade

                                                                Knit Picks interchangeable size 2.5 us or 3mm

                                                My Milk sweater

                                                                Knit picks size 9 us or 5.5 mm

                                                                Gyre  Cardigan in interweave knits spring 2014

                                                                Vicki Howell Craft in Carol colorway         65-35 Organic cotton-Milk Fiber

                                                               

Finished

I have finished exactly zero knitting projects this year! But I did inventory my yarn stash so that is something.

Spinning

On the wheel

                Montadale sheep’s wool that I picked up at Garfield Farm Museum’s rare breed show from the sheep farmer she had the fiber processed mildly some done into roving some mill spun and was selling them to support her daughter’s 4H project. I really enjoyed spinning this wool, it is fluffy and wanted to spin very fine, I used a supported long draw to spin it and Navajo or Chain plyed it. I also talked about the cabin projects – log cabin style knit blocks afghan and welcome mat – using breed study fibers.

               

Finished

                Confetti Skein

                                66 yard

2oz skein

Bulky thick thin

Kettle Dyed

One more lot

Spin box

                Inspired by Grace Shalom Hopkins’ Spin Hanukah series, I have asked my kids to put this box together. Hoping it will be a regular series here. I gave them a bin of random stashed fiber from my stash, Nope not letting them loose in my stash! Some of the fibers were leftovers some from a guild member’s de-stashing event where I bought a big box of random, mostly at least partially unlabeled stuff. I did not include cotton or silk hankies, but there was angora, alpaca, multiple breeds of sheep, and rose (rayon), plus sparkle. The only rules for them was the final weight had to be about 4oz, if they chose to add sparkle they could only pick one color, and they needed to tie the box up with string and return unselected fibers to the bin so I could not guess. I was then kicked out of the kitchen and went to take a shower. My rules, I have to use whatever is in this box to make one skein of yarn, I can’t skip anything but VM, if present. Everything was washed but some of the fiber was not milled.

Acquisitions

                Hat block

                Fancy light box for better pictures – I forgot to mention this so I will add it to the next one!

                Sock yarn for matching to stash inventory yarn