tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86241772009-11-13T11:31:14.681-05:00For all things to do with fiber! Spinning, weaving, knitting, tatting, crochet, quilting - any or all - although you'll find most of the current focus on spinning and knitting. Browse and comment and ask questions; everyone is welcome!PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.comBlogger82125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624177.post-90666225130435730262009-11-13T11:19:00.002-05:002009-11-13T11:31:14.692-05:00

All of you are well aware that I'm a total fiber junkie who explores odd nooks and crannies that might hold yarn and fiber wherever I happen to be. Most of you know that I teach various fiber-related classes. Some of you also know that I design knitting, weaving, tatting and crochet patterns, although I keep that fairly quiet. I prefer to help others design rather than have people making my

PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624177.post-78708224034506993532009-11-10T09:50:00.001-05:002009-11-10T09:51:58.072-05:00

My spinning class on Saturday got off to a great start! Of course there were the usual beginning bobbles and fluffs, but by the end of the class everyone was making yarn! I'm so proud of these ladies - they're truly wonderful and such good sports!My ramblings last week appear to have borne something or other. I did indeed break down the spindling process to minimal bits, starting with fondling

PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624177.post-67065393002259391422009-11-05T09:26:00.002-05:002009-11-05T09:46:47.114-05:00

A note to any of my students who read this prior to the class: you WILL succeed in learning to spindle - as long as you're willing to give yourself time to learn. Muscle memory isn't built in a single two-hour class, or even in three. It's built with patient practice, a little bit every day. It's akin to learning to play a musical instrument; in order to become proficient you must not only study

PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624177.post-46321170879606147042009-08-19T05:38:00.003-05:002009-08-19T05:47:24.955-05:00

Those were truly a fun project - and one from which I learned a lot (again) about spinning for a specific purpose! But let's start at the beginning of the story. Picture me climbing into the passenger seat of a very high full-size van en route to do something undefined at that strange place where I earn the money I put into necessities like fiber and yarn. My partner in staving off tedium

PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624177.post-23243627580396852562009-08-10T09:25:00.001-05:002009-08-10T09:27:30.251-05:00

I'm having such fun right now! A new LYS has opened up right down the road from my home, and I'm happily teaching my first knitting class in almost a year. Socks are fun to teach, fun to learn, and such a wonderful summer project! I have five wonderful students, all at different stages of their knitting life, and they're providing both a challenge and a camaraderie that I've been missing

PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624177.post-51945062524816308852009-07-01T11:09:00.003-05:002009-07-01T11:13:59.204-05:00

Many thanks to everyone who has continued to visit this blog, and leave me lovely comments about what they've learned or enjoyed. What have I been up to, and why has it been so long since my last post? Well, things change during our lives, and sometimes they change in most unexpected ways. As you can see from the photo above, I've done a little travelling this last year. Italy was

PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624177.post-66589716286170865852008-03-03T14:14:00.003-05:002008-03-03T14:16:17.008-05:00

About three years ago we went through one of those periods at work where it seemed that everyone was having a baby. You know what that’s like – you get one person making an announcement and next thing you know there are five, and you’re seriously debating the merits of bottled water as an alternative work-time liquid!Since three of the people bursting at the seams were friends of mine, I started

PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624177.post-61426566372700230762008-01-14T12:13:00.000-05:002008-01-14T12:29:57.091-05:00

I’ve been busily knitting since the holidays – mostly several versions of Knitty’s Ice Queen in Kid Silk haze of blue and bright pink, followed by the wimple below in a pattern of my own devising. “How can you possibly make up your own patterns?” is something I hear all the time from both knitters and non-knitters. So I thought I’d detail the process that led to this leaf-lace wimple, and share

PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624177.post-69399377547512825882007-11-02T10:08:00.000-05:002007-11-02T10:12:57.265-05:00

Dribs and DrabsWork is interfering with my fiber life to an incredible degree right now, and I don’t like it! However, work is necessary to pay the everyday bills as well as underwrite the fiber things, so I can’t complain too much.I have made two interesting fiber-related trips in recent months. First, there was The Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia-Silverdale Washington area over Memorial Day week. The

PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624177.post-79292280048490511442007-04-25T14:29:00.000-05:002007-04-25T14:32:41.625-05:00

I received an email the other day from a local knitting group asking me to talk to a group of knitters about spinning. They didn't really want a spinning demonstration (it couldn't be that easy!), but rather a discussion of what knitters need to know about fibers to help them make more successful projects. So I started looking at what I call “Fibers 101,” a course that I’ve added to this blog in

PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624177.post-62071487778365504802007-04-18T11:58:00.000-05:002007-04-18T11:59:10.619-05:00

“Some days you get the bear, some days the bear gets you…” is one of my husband’s favorite remarks. Lately it’s been apt for me, particularly since I feel that the bear has been winning most of the time!I’m oh-so-slowly spinning up 5 ounces of merino-clun forest rainbow space-dyed roving from a dye-in last fall. Progress is being measured in yards, rather than my usual multiple ounces. I’m

PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624177.post-50188685939208411812007-01-29T07:23:00.000-05:002007-01-29T13:00:46.238-05:00

Winter Knitting – Gansey Workshop!My winter (post-Christmas) knitting has been perhaps a bit unusual for me. Socks, socks and more socks, along with a sweater or two! It's been COLD in East Tennessee much of the last month - I mean the kind of cold that takes me back 40 years to my childhood.On the bright side, this should kill off some of the beasties and might mean that you can actually stand

PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624177.post-1163611116206370872006-11-15T12:02:00.000-05:002006-11-16T13:18:09.661-05:00

In Praise of the Humble SockWhat article of clothing is arguably most humble? The “lowest” of all - the sock. Eaten by dryers, mate-less cast aside, maligned by hurried owners,Living in the rear of drawers and atop “to discard” piles,Socks survive.Stuffed into shoes, boots, and sandals,Scuffed shoeless over floors, driveways, sidewalks and yards,Tucked into gift boxes as a last-minute

PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624177.post-1162579501765669232006-11-03T13:42:00.000-05:002006-11-16T13:18:09.496-05:00

We aficionados of the information superhighway tend to look online first for information. And we frequently find it – along with a bewildering array of misinformation! So where does the average spinner and knitter look for advice on that beautiful cashmere or qiviut or superfine merino fiber or yarn? How do you learn how to do a gauge swatch, and what information you should get from it, and

PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624177.post-1159915369676902592006-10-03T17:40:00.000-05:002006-11-16T13:10:06.103-05:00

I’ve been playing with a fairly new obsession recently, and my blogging has suffered as a result. I got an Ipod! A 60-gig video Ipod! Now, if you know what’s coming, you can just cruise on away – you won’t hurt my feelings a bit! There will be some fibery content below – but mostly just unbridled enthusiasm for a very old idea (everything old is new again…and if you’re old enough to remember

PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624177.post-1155939133187632322006-08-18T16:39:00.000-05:002006-11-16T13:10:06.003-05:00

And now for the promised second installment. Thank you all for your kind words - you're generally a much more appreciative audience than my family or the engineers and physicists for whom I work!We covered protein fibers last time - basically anything that originated with an animal or insect. I'll talk about cellulose next, and give some very basic information on the man-made fibers. These

PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624177.post-1155389509979982682006-08-12T08:04:00.000-05:002006-11-16T13:10:05.886-05:00

This is something of a new adventure for me. I’ve been teaching fiber-arts for quite a while now, and rather than have my ramblings pieced out all over the blog, I’ve decided to post some of my more formal class materials here, in sections.I was talking to my son earlier this week. We’d been on a dorm-furnishing shopping spree, and run into some folks in the store who were doing the same thing.

PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624177.post-1151610348082857902006-06-29T14:44:00.000-05:002006-11-16T13:10:05.764-05:00

I’m presently teaching a local spinning class. It’s been going on for a while now, and the students are past the beginner’s usual over- and under-spun bobbles. They’re at the point where they’re comfortable with the process of making yarn. Each of them has his or her ‘default style’ of yarn, I’ve noticed. Some have spun fairly even, fairly fine yarns almost from the beginning, others spent

PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624177.post-1150890217962709002006-06-21T06:41:00.000-05:002006-11-16T13:10:04.968-05:00

Things are hopping at work and at home these days, so the blog has rather fallen by the wayside. Life has a way of interfering from time to time, I’ve noticed. I always make time for some sort of fiber project, though.I’ve been spinning for and knitting lots of socks lately. It’s my usual summer project, for a variety of reasons, and rather comforting to spin for something so familiar after

PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624177.post-1147948716133696732006-05-18T05:23:00.000-05:002006-11-16T13:10:04.860-05:00

I love silk, and once in a while I just have to play! The above was the result of a weekend experiment. I dyed, spun and knitted a silk bell or cap into the cell phone cozy shown. It's the perfect size for carrying my cell around the office building where I work, and has enough extra room to tuck latte money inside as well!Silk is the undisputed queen of fibers. No other fiber has the texture,

PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624177.post-1145281631866017172006-04-17T08:37:00.000-05:002006-11-16T13:10:04.737-05:00

I’ve been quiet lately – working on a sweater which I’ve now finally finished and a photo of which is below – and thinking about some things which have been passing through on the lists. This is the time of year when my creative flow usually takes a hike to make room for the yard and garden and spring cleaning. DH is taking care of the yard, and the housework took second place to some dyeing this

PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624177.post-1143043049739534132006-03-22T10:46:00.000-05:002006-11-16T13:10:04.625-05:00

I’ve talked before about “historical knitting” – now let’s shift the focus a bit to “historical spinning,” or some of the ways spinning has changed in Appalachia in the last 100 years. My grandmother, shortly before her death, saw some of my earliest alpaca/silk blend handspun. She was astonished at the softness, shine and clarity of color. One of the comments she made was “I wish Mother could

PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624177.post-1140644668010148602006-02-22T16:39:00.000-05:002006-11-16T13:10:04.509-05:00

This is another EZ Baby Surprise Jacket, done in Kansas City Chiefs colors for the new baby of a fan. I actually work with both parents - Mom and Dad! Aren’t the colors pretty?Yarn was KnitPicks Merino Style, needles size 3 bamboo circulars, gauge 5 stitches per inch. The buttons are cute - little balloons! The cener one is actually red, although it doesn't show up too much in the photo.I did

PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624177.post-1139951472247419592006-02-14T16:06:00.000-05:002006-11-16T13:10:04.397-05:00

I’ve been working on a baby outfit or two recently. The first shower was last week, and I can now ‘publish’ my work for it without spoiling the surprise. The second installment will come later this month. The picture of the finished cap, socks and sweater is below:The fiber was Finn top, combed from a fleece purchased I don’t remember when from I don’t remember who. I spun a fingering-weight

PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624177.post-1139345720700527552006-02-07T15:54:00.000-05:002006-11-16T13:10:04.288-05:00

I love to spin, and prefer to spin fine. Show me or allow me to purchase a very fine Shetland, Merino, or merino cross fleece and my mind happily explores the possibilities while my fingers are busily at work seeing just how fine I can spin this particular fleece. I bought my current spinning wheels based largely on their ability to spin very fine yarns in a wide variety of fibers. I’ve even

PJ Kitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02835001952770913494noreply@blogger.com8