StephaniePearlMcPhee

A minor miscalculation.

I'm not going to lie, this wasn't funny when I first discovered it and the period of shock and mourning was real.  After a while I remembered that no matter how badly it's going knitting is very seldom actually tragic, and it got funny fast. 

As a matter of fact, now that I'm getting ready to pull the whole sweater back,  I think it's one of my most spectacular mistakes ever, only made funnier by the fact that I likely haven't learned my lesson. I can't believe how much I...

A Few Field Notes

Here we go, a few answers to questions from the last video, and a look at following a difficult pattern holistically.  Finding the rhythm and rules of a pattern can make it a lot easier, and I take a look at a row of the field sweater to show you what I mean.  

I also do the whole video on my phone because Joe's sick upstairs- we've had a heck of a week.  (I filmed this yesterday, and so far I still only have psychological covid.) A few references that I mention -  2024-01-14 20:43:31 +0000 UTC View Post

Setting up for a Sweater

Ah, the night before a sweater, what a lovely thing.  In this video about swatches and the alternating cast on and why I chose it, and have a look at my fabric and gauge. (It was bang on, first time. Truly a charmed swatch, I tell you.)

I'm sorry it's so late, and that the sound isn't perfect. Joe's still) away (I just hauled a tree to the curb by myself in an epic wrestle that left the house covered in needles and me smelling of sap) and it turns out he's a really, really helpful ...

New Year, Same Me

Hello Knitters, and Happy New Year!

I'm starting the new year with a few new projects, and wanted to update you on those and talk a little bit about the last phase of the silkworms, and what happened. We'll return to silk soon-ish and work with the silk that was produced in a few fun ways, for now though, we're back to knitting.

Today I talk a bit about swatching, probably more to convince myself than you, and it worked, today I'm (sort of) happily swatching away.

The sweate...

Just let it roll over you.

As predicted, it's Christmas Eve, and I have indeed surrendered.  In the 24 hours since I filmed this, a few more members of the extended family have fallen ill, and it turns out that our glorious return to a "normal" Christmas won't be this year. I've already decided to lean into all twelve days and call do-overs and organize alternate get togethers and we'll make the most of it.  (On the up side, it totally gives me more time to finish knitting socks.) I'm going to slide right int...

Romance is in the air

This morning when I woke up, our lady had panicked in the night and laid a few dozen eggs. She put them on a nearby cocoon - a hint to the occupant, perhaps? Who knows what she was thinking, they’re unfertilized eggs of course, and won’t ever develop.  I was starting to really worry for her when I noticed a nearby cocoon wobbling - they begin to rock and wiggle and sometimes roll around when the moth inside begins to make its attempts to get out. A half hour later another one was mov...

Patience is a virtue

Our Lady, she waits. She’s still alone, nobody else emerged this morning and she’s perched atop a cocoon, desperately scenting and hoping, not moving much to conserve her energy for when a mate arrives. I’m rather nervous on her behalf.

The kid was right

Well hello friends!

I've been sitting over here feeling bad that things got kinda wild with the worms - while I was away at Rhinebeck the remaining worms decided to spin, and the ones I was allowing to emerge did so, and it was a mess. While Joe's a fairly reasonable wormsitter, he turns out the be a terrible videographer and I had no idea what to do when I came back and there was nothing but chaos.

In the end, I decided to leave a few more to complete metamorphosis and have a do-...

Now that I have Cocoons

I suspect that some of you saw this coming, but we're at next steps with the cocoons. I also suspect that some of you have big feelings about what those next steps are. Let's talk about it, shall we?

Stephanie

(PS. I'm sure Finnegan is totally not one of the worms who will be stifled.)

(PPS. That will make more sense after you watch.)

In Action

Yesterday I saw these two little worms hard at work, and set up my camera to film.  I left the camera running for just over four hours - and here's the little time lapse that resulted. You can really get a sense of how long it takes them to spin their cocoons.  The worm on the left is spinning the "floss" that supports the cocoon - that scaffolding I've been talking about.  This thread is thicker than the thread that they spin the cocoon from, and it's discontinuous, the worm w...

Little Worlds

The same three worms as yesterday. You can barely see the one on the bottom right now, their cocoon has taken shape nicely. Inside they are still spinning, weaving their head in a figure eight, laying down a continuous strand of silk.  Other than the scaffolding or "floss",  once a worm begins to spin, they do not stop - the strand will be a mile long when they finally rest. 

Of ...

Little Spinners

Out of the 45 mature worms, 10 have decided it is time to spin - some more will decide later today, I'm sure. So far they have all chosen loo roll instead of egg cartons which may mean I'm about to have a worm crisis of some sort, but I've called the neighbours to see if I can come up with some more. 

See the worm on the bottom right? Do you see the way the scaffolding is finished and the cocoon is starting to take shape? It takes about three days for the cocoon to be finished. Onc...

It's happening!

This morning when I got up, things were different. It's go time! 

Some of the  worms are beginning to make little silk structures, the hammocks that will support their cocoons!  These ones are done eating, and it's time to spin. 

I can barely contain myself.  I'm supposed to be knitting a Rhinebeck sweater and all I can do is continue Worm Watch 2023. 

Steph

On the cusp of great things.

Any minute now, those worms are going to spin.  In the meantime, here's how we're living.  (The eating part is speed up by 3x.)  See you soon, hopefully before I run out of worm chow. 

Stephanie 

Worm Chow

I have another video coming your way, with more talking and information, but since it was Thanksgiving here yesterday, I thought you might enjoy this video of a worm eating their lunch. Each worm eats a cube of worm chow about that size (1cm X 1cm) about four times a day. They are HUGE, longer than my fingers, and any day now they'll stop this eating business and spin some cocoons.  When they do stop eating, it will be forever- the last food they will ever eat.  The adult silk moth ...

Your Intrepid Reporter

Here's Elliot, back again with an update on how the worms are doing.  (It's not quite as polished as last time, but he's a one-take sort of performer. ) I wasn't sure what was going to happen with the worms last week - if they'd moulted for the last time and were going to settle in and spin, or if there was another moult - turns out they did all moult again, and quite dramatically since they're so big now. For sure we're now in the home stretch - and things are out of control in the eati...

Victory is mine.

Finally, last night at about 10:30, right when I was ready to give up entirely, a worm moulted, and I was right there to film it.  The video could be better quality, but the lighting wasn't great since the wee beastie waited until cover of darkness to get it done.  To give you an idea of how fast slipping their little skins is, I did speed this video up, but only to make it a bit less boring for you.  I sped it up X2, so "for real life" (as Elliot would say) it took a total of ...

I cross the line.

It's way into the evening, and things are a little weird over here. I thought you'd want to know. 

Fondly,

Steph 

Moving Day

Today we have a little video that's just me moving the worms from one container to the next -hopefully a little more interesting than it sounds. In this little film, several of the worms are still and not moving and foolishly- I questioned their wellness. 

They're totally fine, and since I took this video almost all of them have entered the moult phase, those were just early adopters. I'm still waiting for some of them to finish now, and when they do I'll try and get a good picture...

Reporter for Worm News

One of the really great things about having the worms around is that it's like a built in science unit for Elliot. He's having a lot of fun tracking how fast they are growing, measuring them and keeping track of how many days old they are.  Here he gives you the latest update.  (At the 35 second mark he apologises - he has new pants with big pockets and is helpless not to play with the velcro.) 

Elliot, while noting that the worms are 11 days old and 1.5cm (big, huh?) and...

Still with the worms

Here's another picture of the worms, though even I have to admit that their scene is a little one note. Eat, rest, moult, eat, rest, moult - the only thing that is remarkable at this stage is the rather shocking speed that all of those things happen at. 

Here's a quick picture of several silkworms - Most of them (the lighter tan ones) are 2nd instar - but there's one there on the food that's darker - you see him? (Her? Perhaps it is best to adopt they/them until they declare a gend...

Worm Migration (Video)

Here's the promised film of the worms making their mighty way a few centimetres - I sped up the video more than a little, about 1200%, so what was more than a half hour is just a few minutes.  The worms are cool, but they are not fast. (By the way, Patreon is doing that thing where the video sometimes appears as an empty box, or missing. Click in the box, it's there!) 

Fondly,

Stephanie (who is working on something about casting on in ribbing, because rather unbelievably...

Wormigration

There's a video coming your way as soon as Joe can edit the sound (the sound is me talking, not anything to do with the worms) but I thought you might like a picture of what our wee crawlers looked like as they made their way onto fresh new worm chow. (You can see the dried old chow on the left. All the little specks are poop.) 

I needed to move them from the tissue paper (more about that later) and bribed them with chow on parchment. I'd hoped they would travel from the old food t...

Worm Central

I am enchanted by the worms, and spend an inordinate amount of time looking at them. These ones are a few days old now - though hard to tell exactly how many, since some hatched day one, day two and day three. I think these are some of the oldest ones.  I need to move them from the tissue paper they're on though - so I have a plan for tomorrow.  Three words. Time. Lapse. Video. 

Fondly, 

Stephanie 

Hatchlings!

Look at that! 

Tiny little hatchlings, discovered by Amanda this morning when she went to check on them. It was apparently as thrilling as you can imagine. Here you can see the tiny babies, only 2mm long, the white eggs that are empty, the full eggs that will likely hatch tomorrow, and their food. Bombyx Moro eat only the leaves of the mulberry trees, nothing else, and I don’t live in a ...

Egg Watch - Day 7

I took this picture yesterday with my macro lens, but according to our resident egg-sitter, they are unchanged. The do look bluish though, so fingers crossed that there's magic happening inside. 

Fondly, 

Stephanie 

Egg Watch - Day 6

Well - these look lighter for sure, don't they? 

I think I can even see the pigmentation phase beginning - l spy little dark heads inside those sphere's of potential, do you? 

We're out the door today for a very quick camping trip - we couldn't resist the last of the summer beckoning to us. I was hesitant to go and leave our little silk farm, but honestly they might n...

Egg Watch Day 5

Technically - though I only posted that video yesterday, today is the 5th day that the eggs have been in their takeaway home at warm room temperature, and that means that they could hatch anytime, though I don't think they will. They still look the same as when I settled them in there, and usually they will change colour a bit before hatching, going from dark grey to a lighter grey/blue colour in the day or so before they make a move,  and these still look the same to me, how about you?&...

It’s a weird start, I see that.

Well my Poppets, the other day when I decided to start a series on silk, I did not expect it to go this way, I tell you that.  Someday I‘ll be a grownup who can be trusted with a credit card and access to the internet, but today (or rather a few days ago, because it took a day or two for Joe to get through the sound edit on this one) is not that day.

Let Egg Watch 2023 begin! 

A repair to commercial cashmere

My friend Barrett is a big guy, and he’s not wealthy either, so when the cashmere sweater he found on sale got a hole in it, he was anxious to see if it was fixable. I filmed the attempt -I hope it’s fun* to watch. 

Fondly, 

Stephanie

*By fun I mean ”knitter fun” which is not exactly the same as regular fun, but still is the sort I like.