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Ever since we bought me the nice (used) pair of cute Swedish folk boots with the slighly upturned toes at the annual meeting for the local folk music and dance group I have been wanting to nålbind some liners for them, but made myself wait till I finished the gloves I have had in progress since the trip to France. I finished up the gloves on the way home from Double Wars, so this week I started the boot liners.
I am using a particularily heavy yarn for this project, and a dense stitch as well (Oslo stitch,but taking three threads behind the thumb). As a result I was having difficulties pulling the needle through. On Wednesday that difficulty crossed the line into annoying, and I checked the box of scrap wood and found a huge splinter that had broken off of some board. An hour or so later I had a much longer needle than I have used hitherto and was happily back at work. The longer needle (around 10 cm long I would guess) makes it easier to get a good grip and pull that thick yarn through so many loops. However, after no so much longer the needle started having issues--there is a bending component to the stitch and soon small splinters started to detach from the needle, making it impossible to keep stitching, sincea they catch on the yarn. So I set the project asside and went to sleep.
Thursday evening there was no time to do anything about the needle because we finished making the shelf and shelf support boards for the rope bed headboard. Tonight, however, I was keen to solve the needle problem. So we got out the casting sand and melted down some pewter, and now I have a nice, sturdy, huge needle that is perfect when dealing with the combination of a a thick yarn and a dense stitch. As a result I now have toes done for both liners, and hope to finish the rest of them soon.
In other news, I have gotten to the point of being able to play four different tunes on my hammer dulcimer without looking up what the notes are first, and have started learning tune #5. This one is a bit of a challenge as it has no words, being a Swedish folk dance tune, but it will be fun to learn it.
At work this week I managed to submit for publication the paper from my PhD rsearch (yes, the one I should have had done within a couple of months of finishing the thesis--it is finally done! I am also having fun looking at the thin sections for my samples--I am learning to recognize a variet of minerals that didn't appear in my samples from Tassie.
It is now time for yoga and sleep. We are hosting the end of term bbq for our choir tomorrow, and Sunday will be full of music and dance. Perhaps there might even be figter practice, too; having armoured up once at Double Wars (rose tourney), it would be smart to pratice if I can.
I am using a particularily heavy yarn for this project, and a dense stitch as well (Oslo stitch,but taking three threads behind the thumb). As a result I was having difficulties pulling the needle through. On Wednesday that difficulty crossed the line into annoying, and I checked the box of scrap wood and found a huge splinter that had broken off of some board. An hour or so later I had a much longer needle than I have used hitherto and was happily back at work. The longer needle (around 10 cm long I would guess) makes it easier to get a good grip and pull that thick yarn through so many loops. However, after no so much longer the needle started having issues--there is a bending component to the stitch and soon small splinters started to detach from the needle, making it impossible to keep stitching, sincea they catch on the yarn. So I set the project asside and went to sleep.
Thursday evening there was no time to do anything about the needle because we finished making the shelf and shelf support boards for the rope bed headboard. Tonight, however, I was keen to solve the needle problem. So we got out the casting sand and melted down some pewter, and now I have a nice, sturdy, huge needle that is perfect when dealing with the combination of a a thick yarn and a dense stitch. As a result I now have toes done for both liners, and hope to finish the rest of them soon.
In other news, I have gotten to the point of being able to play four different tunes on my hammer dulcimer without looking up what the notes are first, and have started learning tune #5. This one is a bit of a challenge as it has no words, being a Swedish folk dance tune, but it will be fun to learn it.
At work this week I managed to submit for publication the paper from my PhD rsearch (yes, the one I should have had done within a couple of months of finishing the thesis--it is finally done! I am also having fun looking at the thin sections for my samples--I am learning to recognize a variet of minerals that didn't appear in my samples from Tassie.
It is now time for yoga and sleep. We are hosting the end of term bbq for our choir tomorrow, and Sunday will be full of music and dance. Perhaps there might even be figter practice, too; having armoured up once at Double Wars (rose tourney), it would be smart to pratice if I can.
