Thursday, September 27, 2012

I'm Still Here

It's been a while since I posted here on the blog.  I'm still knitting and spinning.

Here's a re-cap of my latest fiber adventures:

Buttercup is finished. It came out well.  I chose to leave the sleeves fluttery instead of doing the banding.

I'm knitting my first pair of self striping socks with afterthought heels.  I just have the heel portions to do. I decided to do a short row heel instead of the toe heel with the side ridges from the decreases.  I think it will feel better on my sensitive feet. The yarn is black, white, and a thin stripe of light pink. It named after Darth Knitter's cat, Fred.  It was dyed by Canon Hand Dyes and feels wonderful to work with.  Part of the purchase price was donated to Alley Cats, which is a no kill cat rescue/shelter.

My first sock from the plain Vanilla toe up with a short row heel pair is finished.  I'll get back to the other sock as soon as I finish the "I Love Fred" sock heels.

A pair of Checkerboard Slippers has been finished.  The pattern was a simple stranded knit.  More of these are in my future.  I think I will sew a slipper bottom to mine because I don't have carpeting in my house, just wood and tile floors.

My Top Down Coat  has been started in my handspun.  I'm about half way through the yoke rows.  I had to up my needles from 10s to 11s to get a better feeling fabric.  The 10s made it too stiff.  Since it's a swing style coat, it won't affect the fit. Plus, I plan to wear a sweater or sweatshirt top under it.

Since spinning the Peruvian Alpaca, I've spun 7 other fibers - Corgi Hill Farms colorways "Frosted Roses", "Roses", and "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang".  Also spun was Fibers4Ewe colorways in pink/purple/sparklies and one I named "Raspberry Dreams".   Frabjous Fibers "Chromatopia", and, Fibernymph's "Primordial Sea" also are finished.   Currently on the Minstrel wheel is Corgi Hill Farm's "Talisman" which is brown, bright blue, and a golden yellow/orange.  This is a merino/silk/baby camel blend.  Since I have 8.7 ounces of this fiber, I plan to ply it on my Sonata wheel with the bulky flyer.  I still plan to get 2 skeins but don't want to fight to squeeze that .7 ounce in.  Not including the fiber on the wheel, I've spun 201.55 ounces since January 1, 2012.

Craftsy had a special on their classes.  I wasn't going to add another one, but, they now have one for floor looms.  My table loom is warped.  Yay!  Now, I just need to sit down and weave on it.  lol. BTW, check out Crafty if you haven't yet.  They offer more than just fiber arts classes.  There's beading, baking, sewing, photography, and more.

Healthwise, I'm doing good.  More weight has melted off, dental issues are almost completely resolved,  and the feet are feeling better since being on the Metanx medicine.

Pat and the animals are all great.  Pooh has been on "patrol" at the window lately.  If he hears a noise or kids playing, he has to investigate.  lol

Well, that's it for now.  I need to try to get some pictures tomorrow and will post them soon.