The Wheel Won

Since I haven't touched my wheel since last Saturday, it won the decision of what is next to work on. This is what I'm spinning up now. It's fiber from Fibers4Ewe Mill which I bought last summer. I was trying to get a good shot of the sparkle. I think the photo on the right caught it pretty well.


By the way, the mac and cheese for lunch was delicious. I ate it before I thought to take a picture to show you how it turned out. Pat really liked his gluten free version too. I made it really simple. Take a cup each of uncooked pasta, milk, water, and shredded cheese. Add a little salt and some Tabasco sauce if desired. Mix together in the casserole pan. Top with a little bread crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees, covered with foil for 35 to 45 minutes. Remove foil to allow for a bit of browning and let bake 10 min. Remove from oven and serve. The next time I will spray the casserole with Pam because it did stick a little bit.

Empty Hands, Lots of Options

I have plenty of projects sitting here in front of me to start or finish. I could spin, knit, crochet, or dye some fiber. The wheels are both calling to me along with my Ditto sweater that needs the yoke re-knit. I could pick up that book and little plastic shuttle and try to learn to tat. I could go in the other room and try to warp the loom. With so many decisions, I don't know where to start first.

Lunch is almost ready to come out of the oven, so I think I will decide while eating my homemade macaroni and cheese.

Ta Da !! Project #3 Crosses the Finish Line!

My last Ravelympic project is finished. The Rocky Butte socks look great! And I had 3 days to spare. :)

Close to the Ravelympic / Knit Olympic Finish Line

The spinning and dyeing events are both finished and posted. Now, I need to concentrate on the rest of the knitting event. Sock 1 is completed and sock 2 is started. I'm on the leg part already. I think I can finish by Sunday if I glue myself to my chair and just knit on it. This is definitely a challenge for me. Since I always take at least a month, and usually longer, to knit a pair of socks, this is a record if I can complete these in time.

I knit the leg a bit shorter on these and they fit my foot and leg perfect. I did change the pattern near the toe slightly. I didn't want the rib stitch on that part, so I did an extra 7 rows of stockinette instead. The yarn is Fiesta Baby Boom in "Raspberry Mocha". Here's a pic of sock 1:

A Fiber Filled Weekend

Friday evening kicked off my weekend with the Olympic Opening Ceremonies. I didn't watch them because I was busy almost up to the lighting of the flame. My Ravelympic/Knit Olympic spinning project commenced with the lighting. Here's the 12 ounces of fiber in the bag, and partially pre-drafted:

Saturday was the monthly meeting of the RI Spinners Guild. We had a good turnout this time with lots of topics discussed for 2010, as well as a demonstration of how to create a boucle` yarn on our wheels.

Sunday was spent with some other fiber loving friends at the second monthly gathering of the Happy Hands Fiber Arts Group in N. Stonington. Here are a few pictures of our "fiber home".

Here's a couple of shots inside the building. I love that the center is decorated for each holiday. It makes it feel very festive.

Here are a couple pictures of some of our wheels:

Today was suppose to be a dye day, but, I have yet to finish spinning the singles. So this means tomorrow will be a day of dyeing instead. With the snowstorm coming tonight, it will be a wonderful way to pass the time. I'll be starting my other Ravelympic project, "Rocky Butte" socks, while fibers soak in the prep solution.

Ggrrrrrrr Or Frogging Half A Sweater

The yoke of my Ditto is finished .... or so I thought. Sadly, the sleeves are a bit too tight underneath making the sweater not fit right. I thought about ways of steeking the arms, and adding a gusset, but that's not going to work. The body needs adapting at the arm hole too.

There's no way out of it. I have to rip out the entire yoke to repair this problem. The good part of this is, I can also add a couple of inches more to the sleeves since they were a trifle short at the wrist anyway. After ripping it back this project will be in time out during the Olympics for the next 2 weeks while I work on a pair of socks, some dyeing, and some spinning.

Off to the frog pond I go..........

Catching Up.....Ravelympics Plans

After all the running around last week, this has been a quiet week. I did take a mini road trip up to Fibers4Ewe and picked up my batts. One kind is Border Leicester and the other one is Border Leicester and the Kid Mohair from Rhinebeck. They came out absolutely gorgeous! If you have any fiber you would like processed, don't hesitate to bring it to Liz. She has the equipment that can handle just about any fleece. I've had everything from a Merino lamb fleece to adult CVM processed with no problems. The plan is to start dyeing up the batts this week. With the snow storm predicted for tomorrow, that might be a good time to do so. I never did make it down to my room this weekend as I had planned.

The "Daffodails" fiber is almost finished. I have 3/4 of a bobbin of singles sitting here waiting to be plied. I know I have another piece of this fiber, which was a sample, in a bag with another blend from Silver Sun Alpacas. I want to add it to the bobbin before plying the last part.

On the Minstrel, I have the Masham. I haven't touched it since last Wednesday night.

The sweater is slowly moving to completion. I am almost at the end of the yoke. That hasn't really been worked on much this past weekend either.

Ravelympics starts in a few days on February 12th. If you don't know what this is, it's run in conjunction with the Olympics. About 8 years ago, The Yarn Harlot started Knit Olympics, which I participated in. My project was the Lady Eleanor Stole which I finished with a day to spare.

For the Ravelympics, my fiber of choice for the spinning event is some BFL "Thin Ice" from Spunky Eclectic. "The Rocky Butte Sock", which was created by Miss Violet of LimeNViolet, is my knitting project for the Sock event. Since I tend to take about a month or longer to knit socks, these might get finished because they are sport weight. I just need to wait a couple more days for the yarn to arrive from The Loopy Ewe. I'm also going to be dyeing some of the batts for the dyeing event. The spinning and socks are also my projects for the Knit Olympics this year.

The Evenstar Mystery Shawl KAL also starts on February 12th. I've yet to wind my skein of yarn for this. It's 2500 yards of laceweight. My plastic ball winder is too small, so a friend of mine is going to help me out by winding it on her big wooden ball winder. I might even have time to start Clue 1 during the Olympics. ha-ha. This coming Saturday and Sunday I will be busy with both my spinning groups, so I hope to get a good chunk of the "Thin Ice" spun up.

It's going to be a busy 16 days of fiber projects. I hope my husband doesn't mind the house and cooking getting a bit ignored during it all..........

Traveling With Fiber and Yarn Projects

It's been a busy week. The fiber traveling started last Saturday with the monthly spin in at RI Handspun, where I managed to finish plying the purpley pink singles I finished spinning earlier in the week. I had bought the fiber at Fibers4Ewe Mill. Six ounces and 641.5 yards of sparkly yarn were the results. Now, it needs a bath to finish it off.

Tuesday was a quiet knit night, also at Sue's shop. I managed to get to the last decrease for the Ditto sweater.

Wednesday was a day of debating. I had been invited to a spin in with the Bayberry Spinners and I was nervous about going over the Fall River Bridge if the temps dropped and the roads got icy. Everyone knows I don't travel when there is snow or ice predicted. Marva offered me a ride, so off we went. We managed to miss the exit, arriving 45 minutes late, but still had a great time. I started spinning the Masham I had dyed a couple of weeks ago. A few of the ladies really liked the colors I used. It isn't as soft as I thought it would be, but I have some plans for it.

Thursday, last night, was a spur of the moment trip. Sandi and Monet were going to the SEConn Stitch and Bitch in New London, CT. Sandi invited me to come along, so off I went. It was a terrific night and I met a couple of wonderful ladies. We had so much laughing, talking, coffee, and sharing, I only managed 2 rows on my sweater. I plan to go again next week if the weather is o.k.

Tonight is spent home and I plan to curl up in my chair in a few minutes with a cup of tea and the sweater. I hope to get the last 2 inches of the yoke finished so I can start the button band tomorrow. My goal is to have this WIP finished before the Olympics start in a week or so.

Tomorrow's plans are for a day in the dye room. Maybe I can even finish washing the last 2 or so pounds of fleece between some dyeing plans. The laundry also needs to get finished. Since I'll be down there anyway, I might as well do that too. :)


In between all the traveling, I managed to spin up some fiber from Silver Sun Alpaca, "Daffodails". All of the 10 ounces is spun except for the last 2 ounces shown here. The blend is Merino, Mohair, Alpaca, and Firestar. I hope to finish this tomorrow as well and get the plying done by Monday.

Hey!! That's My Ice Cream!!

As I sat at the computer checking my games on Facebook and doing paperwork, I was eating some ice cream. My older cat, Megan, decided to check things out. She jumped up onto me, which she NEVER does. I guess she liked the Turkey Hill Duetto "Apple Caramel" flavor. Luckily, I was finished. Sorry for the messy desk.

Blustery Day Knitting..... Sock Casualty

With the wind blowing and tree limbs whipping on the trees, it's been a good day to just stay inside and knit or spin. I chose to do a little of both. Tomorrow will be spent washing some more fleece again. My room does get a little chilly, so Pat set me up with a portable electric heater to use. I also have a t.v. set up in the room as well. This will be nice to have if I feel like watching something. He is also planning to hang a shelf on the wall for me that is the perfect size to hold all my dry dye bottles.

I need to head back down to the dryer for the last batch of clothes, then it will be time to knit some more.

I did finally have to give up my blue socks. They had a huge hole in one of the heals. I didn't see it until I went to put it on and stuck my finger right through it. I had already tried to darn it once, so that was the end of it. I made them about 4 years ago, so they had a good long life. Now, I need to go stash diving and pick out another skein of blue so I can make another pair. Sounds like a good excuse to me. :)

Another Dye Adventure

Last night was spent dyeing up some more fibers and batts. Here's a couple of pics of them drying on the racks. There's 4 ounces of each fiber. Merino and Masham in the left pic and all the fiber/ batts in the right pic.

Spinning a Purple Cloud

On Sunday, I started spinning a fiber I have fallen in love with. It's from Fibers4Ewe Mill in Putnam, CT. Liz, the owner simply calls it Mill Ends. I call it Purple Clouds. It spins with very little drafting and wants to be a fine laceweight yarn. The sparkle is the perfect touch in the fiber. There is a halo in it as well. I'm not sure what the fiber mix is. Just a bit of this and that. I'll let the pictures speak for the fiber. So far, I managed to spin 2 ounces between Sunday afternoon and Monday afternoon, using my Minstrel wheel. Pictures of the plyed yarn will be posted when I've finished the other 4 ounces.

When Plans Don't Go as You Think

My plans for today were to get up early and start prepping for a dye day in my room. This didn't happen thanks to my hot water tank giving up the fight. Pat went down stairs and found a puddle half way across the boiler room. Thankfully, it didn't go anywhere near the wall for my room. All the bins were safe and dry. Luckily, he caught it right after it let go so more water wasn't going into the tank to leak out. It's also a good thing he can install the new one tonight. I'm also glad it didn't let go when he was in the sling with his shoulder surgeries. We would have simply switched to the boiler's hot water system, which is our back-up.

The plan now is to have a dye day on Monday. I already have some of the colors in mind. Trying to not use my favorites of blues, purples, and pink can be a challenge. Lately, some of the finished products have been really pretty and completely outside of my comfort zone. Warm Earth tones are not my favorite. There has been shades of green, orange, black, brown, and yellow used. And the funny part is I really like how they are all coming out. :)

Since I couldn't do the dyeing today, I did some Navajo plying instead. The "Dark Storm" is finished and awaiting it's bath.

Here is a picture of Tiger on the back of my recliner. I have a bin of yarn on the seat to keep them off, but, Isabella decided it would make a comfy spot to snooze anyway. Tiger felt she needed some grooming and had been washing her face. He stopped just as I went to take the picture. Katy is also snoozing behind Tiger. You can just see Katy's ears and top of her head behind Tiger's back.

Now, I'm going to evict the kitties from my chair so I can get comfortable and knit for a while.

A Few Days of Fiber Fun

Last Thursday I spent part of the day in my dye room creating. I dyed up 7 ounces of a Merino/Silk blend and 8 ounces of Rambouillett fiber. I also dyed a pound of Mohair batts. Here are the pictures of the Merino/Silk pieces. I'm planning to blend the Merino/Silk on my drumcarder since the silk is a bit clumpy. The two colors complement each other so it will make a pretty fiber blend. The Rambouillett braids remind me or roses in a Victorian garden at Dusk so I am naming them "Gothic Roses".

Last Sunday was a cold, clear, sunny day. It also was the first gathering of the Happy Hands Fiber Arts group in North Stonington, CT. This is a social group, made up with people who are getting together to share a love of fiber arts, have fun, and learn from each other. It is not a guild or formal group.

It's very diverse. We had spinners, knitters, crocheters, needlefelters, and one person using hand cards for the first time. There were a few people who raise sheep and offered fiber for sale. I did come home with some lovely light gray Shetland pin drafted roving.

The building is bright, airy, and had lots of windows which allow the natural light to come in. We have a complete kitchen that looks out onto the main room. There is a sitting area with a sofa, chairs, and a t.v. if someone wants to use the sofa instead of sitting on a wooden or folding chair. I think the building is only a few years old. There are no steps to go in, just a flat entrance. When the weather is nice, we can sit outside at the picnic tables, or, in order to stay out of the sun, under the large entrance portico. I can't wait for the next gathering in February.

My Sonata accompanied me to this maiden gathering and I was busy spinning some Falkland fiber from Fibers4Ewe Mill in the colorway called "Desert Storm".

Pizza Party!!

Plans were to make pizza last night. Pat and I got busy doing other things, and it got too late. So, we made it tonight instead.

A couple of weeks ago, we found a gluten free pizza crust mix at Whole Foods that sounded good. You have to make the crust from scratch and let it rise for a while. We made a nice cheese and onion pizza with it. The only problem was the crust came out a bit thicker than Pat liked.

This time, we mixed the crust the same way, but I separated it into two pans. After it has time to rise, I smooshed it out to make two nice thin crusts. We used Classico "Four Cheese" Sauce, Sargento Pizza blend Cheese, and Hormel Pepperoni. Doesn't it look delicious? It really is!!

This is one item I can see making a repeat appearance in my house many times.

A Snowy New Year's Eve ..... Looking Back on 2009

When I look back at 2009, I think it was a good year. I learned several new things this year, went to a few new places, and tried some new foods and cuisine. I've also had a new perspective that will carry over into 2010 on many things. My craft room was finished, and, I started dyeing fiber and yarn on my own. The weekend trip to Rhinebeck was fantastic. My travel buddies/roommates were the best company. We had so many laughs and giggles together.

I'm also not making any resolutions for this year. I have wishes and hopes for next year instead. Of course, there are fiber and yarn plans in there. :)

Today started with a super fast snow storm. The first flakes had hardly touched the ground when they decided to come down in full force. It took the street in front of my house a whole 2 minutes to be completely covered. After a few hours we have about 2 inches of the white stuff, making it look like a perfect winter scene. It's a wonderful touch for New Year's Eve.

My plans for tonight include making a gluten free pepperoni pizza for Pat, sitting in my new recliner, and knitting. I've don't drink and have never been one to head out to a party on this night of the year. I'll toast the new year with a glass of Diet Coke at midnight.

Well, enjoy your evening and ....

Happy New Year!!

Spinning, Knitting, and a Sore Mouth

The wheels have been busy spinning away as usual. The 2 ounces of pink Merino/Angora and 2 ounces of a multi Merino/Alpaca/Silk are both plied and now waiting for their bath and will become a scarf of alternating stripes. Both fibers are from the dye workshop with the Painted Sheep last June. All 8 ounces of the "Holly Berry" from CJKopec is spun up as singles right now and waiting for plying which I will be doing some of in a little bit tonight. The purple Rambouillet from Rhinebeck is getting there too.

The second sleeve of my Ditto sweater is about 10 rows from being finished. Then it's on to the yoke.

Sadly, I had to miss Knit Night last night due to a sore mouth. I started having a problem last Thursday. By Tuesday morning, I couldn't take the pain anymore and called the dentist. I was in the office less than 2 hours later, having gum surgery. The painkillers are wonderful things. I can take one every 8 hours as needed. Today, I managed to stretch it to about 10 hours, so maybe tomorrow I will only need one pill. Anyway due to this little hiccup in my daily fiber plans, I've been a bit behind on stuff.

Pat is back to work after his 2 shoulder surgeries, so the house is extremely quiet with no t.v. playing. Even the animals are quiet except for an occasional snore from Hanna the dog.

Happy Holidays Everyone

It's that time of the year when everyone is busy with family and friends, getting ready for their celebrations of the season. Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, and New Years are all upon us again.

My Christmas wish is for peace, understanding, and tolerance among all of us. With all the hustling and bustling around to get that special gift, sometimes the true meaning of the holiday season is forgotten. It's not about the presents, food, or decorations. It's about spending time with people who are important to you in many different ways.

Pat and I will be spending the day with my brother-in-law as usual. It will be a quiet, peaceful day. After the meal is eaten, time will be spent watching the t.v., talking, and I will probably be spinning on one of my wheels.

Well, that's my reflection of the holidays. I hope you are enjoying yours as much as I am mine. :)

Happy Holidays.

A-Humming We Will Go....

What has a long neck, big soulful eyes, a perpetual smile, fluffy dreadlock bangs and beautiful fiber, four legs and hums to talk to you? If you said an alpaca, you are right. I really love these animals.

Last Sunday was spent visiting and spinning at a local alpaca farm, Paradise Farm Alpacas. Ice Pond Farm, and, Rocky Ridge Farm were also there. As you looked around, you saw several areas with these sweet animals in them. Some of these lovely creatures were in the paddock behind our tent. We could watch them as we were spinning. Since we were at an alpaca farm, it was decided we would spin something with that animal's fiber. Some of us spun dyed blends and some natural fiber. I think my favorite part of the day was watching the children leading the young (1 to 2 year old) alpacas through the obstacle course. Sometimes it would be a contest of wills as to if the animal would keep moving at the guidance of the young lady or man. Every now and then the family pet turkey would gobble at us. The farm cats also made friends with everyone.

It was a bit cold as the day wore on. I finally gave in and bought a pair of nice warm alpaca socks. My toes were very happy to have these covering them within a few minutes.

My sweater is growing a little bit at a time. The first sleeve is ready to be attached, and the second one has progressed to the second increase.

Today, I dropped off a couple of fleeces to be processed at Fibers4Ewe Mill. I'm having the Kid Mohair I bought at Rhinebeck blended into one of them. That will be nice to spin. Tonight, will be devoted to laundry and maybe some dyeing.

What I'm Thankful For...

Since it's the day before Thanksgiving, and, I've been reading several blogs lately with thankful lists, I decided to create my own. :

1. I'm thankful for my husband who encourages me to do whatever I want with my life. Thank you God for sending him to me.
2. I'm thankful for my cats and dogs who give unconditional love and companionship to us both.
3. I'm thankful for my friends who I can share my interests and hobbies, as well as my thoughts and opinions with.
4. I'm thankful for learning to spin. It's opened up a whole new area in the fiber world to me.
5. I'm thankful for learning to dye. Sandi N. started me on a whole new path with this.
6. I'm thankful for not having to get up in the morning and go to work. Retirement is great.
7. I'm thankful for having a husband who also helps make retirement possible without a part time job. :)
8. I'm thankful for my health, which could be a lot worse than it is right now.
9. I'm thankful for the patience to deal with situations that are not always pleasant.
10. I'm thankful for the ability to cope with people who are not always pleasant.
11. I'm thankful for my house and knowing I will always have a roof over my head.
12. I'm thankful for knowing I will always have food on my table, clothes on my back, a car to drive, and heat to keep me warm in the cold weather.

I could keep going, but, will stop there. Do you have a "Thankful List"? Leave a comment and tell me yours.

A Busy Fiber Week

Last week was a busy one with fiber related stuff.
Thursday night was my Ocean State Knitting Guild meeting where we had an ornament swap.
Saturday was my RI Spinners Guild meeting where we had plying and needlefelting demos.
Sunday was spent with a group of other spinning friends. Lots of laughter and fun from everyone, including a "visiting" husband. He came in to say hi and stayed, talking and telling us stories.
Monday was a rode trip to a mill in Woonsocket to pick up a huge pile of free cones of yarns. Ann R. had already generously given some to several groups and guilds. She isn't taking orders any longer, but, invited any of us who wanted to go up to the mill to help ourselves. I came home with some more of the mohair blend, wool, cotton, polymide blend, and something else. My loom and needles will be put to good use with these fibers. The dyes will be used on some of the white mohair or cotton as well.
Tuesday was knit night at Sue's.
Wednesday was the official beginning of another fiber arts group I belong to.
This evening, Thursday, will be spent washing some more fleece and maybe dyeing some fiber as I do the laundry.

My mail delivery has been busy too. One of my favorite Etsy shops has been having a cleaning event. I've got some lovely goodies to spin and dye. So far 2 boxes have come in and there should be 1 more. I need to stay away from her shop now. lol

That's all my news for now. Happy spinning and knitting.

WIP Spinning, Ditto Knitting, Winning A Prize

This has been a busy few weeks of plying. So far I've finished some Flawful Fibers Rambouillet in lovely light purple shades, of which the name escapes me at this time. Also, my Tour de Fleece singles, "Cabot", from Creatively Dyed came out lovely.

Halloween was spent at RI Handspun where several of us decided to celebrate the day by either dressing in black/orange or spinning fibers that reminded us of Autumn/Halloween. I spun up the Witch's Brew I had carded at the spinners guild party earlier in the month.

The purple/teal/pink Rambouillet bought at Rhinebeck is spinning up and will be very pretty as a two ply.

"Ditto" is progressing nicely. I've finished the body and started the first sleeve.As I mentioned before, instead of short sleeves, I chose to modify the pattern and make it a long sleeved sweater. Thanks to Sarah for suggesting Elizabeth Zimmerman's book, "Knitting Without Tears". It was easy to figure out what to do.

Sock withdrawal has set in, and, one needs to be started soon. Through the Loops Mystery Sock was tabled so I could start my sweater. The yarn has been sitting next to my desk tempting me for over a month now. It might just be cast on later this evening. :)

Recently I went shopping on Etsy. I found some delicious Milk Silk Latte for sale from CorgiHillFarm. The fiber is so nice I ordered another shipment, along with a luscious batt called "Pomegranate Milkshake". Anna was giving away a $50 gift certificate to her shop with the 500th item sold. I never notice what item number I am when I place an order. I got a happy surprise when I went to check my email and found I had won the gift certificate. Everything in this shop is so tempting, making it hard to decide what to buy with it.

Visiting Rhinebeck For the First Time

As we rode along the highway and roads of Connecticut last Friday morning, the Autumn foliage was breathtaking to see. My knitting needles were steadily moving along on my Ditto sweater as Sandi's car ate up the miles and Monet navigated. We had a detour to pick up some minerals for the sheep, but, this just added to the gorgeous views.

Our hotel was nice, quiet, and conveniently close to Rhinebeck's fairgrounds, which was only about 20 minutes away. There was a fabulous restaurant next door to the hotel where we had a delicious seafood supper on Saturday night. Friday night was spent in our room, relaxing with our friends, Marva and Beth, and spinning on our wheels.

As we pulled up to the fairgrounds and parked, the entrance line was growing. Since we had prepaid for our admission online, we got in very quickly.

The sight of all the fibers, yarns, and related tools and equipment were a sensory overload. I didn't know where to look first. I waited on a bench while Sandi dropped off her fleeces for processing with a mill. This gave me a chance to get my bearings and observe some of the booths/barns.

As we traversed the grounds, the smells from the food vendors was very intoxicating and tempting, especially the artichoke booth. I am very proud to say I didn't buy any fair food. We had made our lunches at the hotel and they were in the cooler waiting for us when we got hungry. The only time I went off my food plan was a little bit for the Saturday night supper. And I lost 2 pounds when I weighed in this week. Yippee!! All the walking helped too.

The food plan wasn't the only restraint I showed. The shopping stayed within my budget too. The only fleece I came home with was a .6 pound Kid Mohair fleece in a beautiful white. One vendor had some luscious Cormo/Bamboo blend that called to me, so I bought 8 ounces of that and a pair of size 10 DPNs. We walked all over the grounds and I didn't buy anything else until almost the last barn of the day where I found Spinners Hill and some lovely Rambouillet fiber. A pound of that came home along with some white. I also got 8 ounces of "Party in a Bag" to spin. On the way to the gate to leave, we stopped at Little Barn where I got some Alpaca/Silk.

Sunday was cold, overcast, and misting rain. We only stayed a couple of hours to do any last minute shopping we wanted. I ended up with another 4 ounces of the Cormo/Bamboo. In the Horticultural Building, I found a pattern for a hooded sweater I really liked. It's a very plain knit, but I am planning to spin for it and the natural shades of the fiber will look great in it.

The ride home wasn't too bad. We only had a little sleet/freezing rain in one area and some snowflakes in another.

Sadly, I never took the camera out of my bag, so don't have any pictures to share of my weekend. I plan to go again in the future. Right now, I am happily spinning my purple/pink/teal Rambo and smiling at the memories of the weekend. :)

Fashion/Trunk Show .... Assessing the Stashes

Wednesday night was the Slater Mill Knitting/Crochet Guild meeting. We were fortunate enough to be given the treat of a fashion/trunk show from Twist Collective. I have narrowed my "must have" list to 4 patterns. Now, I must resist buying them for a little bit. lol

Over on Ravelry, I have joined a group called "Spin Your Stash". The premise of the group is to start to spin from your fiber stash on the Autumn Equinox until the Spring Equinox. There is nothing saying you can't shop, but, I don't plan to. The only shopping exception is Rhinebeck. (New York Sheep and Wool Festival in case you are not familiar with this event.)

So far I have managed to finish plying 8 ounces to be used in the lace part of my February Lady Sweater, which is a free pattern available on Ravelry.

There's almost 4 ounces of singles waiting to be plyed of some lovely hand dyed Rambouillet I forgot wasn't finished. (That one actually frees up a missing bobbin when I finish it.) The next is a Superwash Merino fiber I haven't touched in over a year, which happens to account for another missing bobbin. I did the first 5 ounces, and the other 3 were deserted when some other fiber caught my eye. These last two items were in my WIP spinning bin, so I can now see the bottom of that with only 2 more bags in there. :) I have put a few knitting WIPs in the bin now. ;)

If you are on Ravelry, check out the group. It is a lot of fun. There really are no rules to follow. We are just encouraging each other with our stash busting endeavors.

I also signed up for the "Through the Loops Mystery Sock for October 2009". The pattern is given out in 4 clues. The first one came out today. I now have to go stash diving to find a yarn I think will work with this pattern. A semi-solid seems to be preferred. I do have some Cascade solids and semi-solids, as well as some Knit Picks sock yarns to select from.

"Mystic Embers" is the latest in the series of mystery KALs in the Mystic series. It, too, started this week. I almost missed signing up for this one. Some people are using Knit Picks Shadow Lace for this pattern. Again, I can go stash diving for a nice shade in this yarn. I think I have 3 or 4 different colors to choose from.

My "Ditto" sweater is almost up to the third decrease, so it won't be long before I am simply knitting straight stockinette to the armhole sections. This is my travel project right now since it's easy to work on and I don't have to really pay attention except to measure for the decreases when needed. I do plan to modify it a little and add longer sleeves so I can wear it in colder weather.

I think that is enough projects to keep me busy for a bit. Happy knitting and spinning folks. :)

My Finished Experiment

I took the photos of the alpaca batt now that it is dry.





The color is more purple than it looks in the pictures. The flash made it look pink. The third picture is closest to the real color. You can see the original color of the fiber near the long end of the batt in the first and third photos. The batt isn't felted or flat as it looks in the pictures. If you pick it up, it's nice and fluffy. I tested a corner to see if it would draft easy and it does. There are 2 layers so I can get nice long color repeats. The plan is to spin each layer seperately nice and thin. The ply will either be Navajo or 2 ply to maintain the colors. It's already telling me it wants to be something lacy.

Also included is a photo of the Border Leicester locks you can see peaking out at the top of the second photo above.



This experiment was a lot of fun and I plan to dye some more of the batts at a later time. Right now, I'm in the mood to dye some Halloween colored yarn or fiber.

"Ditto" is Started.... Dye Experiment... Craft room Pictures ...

My Shur'Tugal socks have been finished for a couple of weeks now. This means I was on the hunt for a travel project. I decided to venture away from having a sock as a travel companion for a little while.

After finally washing the yarn I had spun back in February and April, I started the "Ditto" cardigan sweater by Berrocco. It's free pattern and worked in one piece until you get to the sleeves. After you knit the sleeves, you attached them while working the yoke. For now, this will be my travel project until it gets too bulky to carry around. The yarn enjoyed hanging out in the back yard drying.



Today, was spent in my dye craftroom. I have some alpaca which was processed as batts. I wondered if it was possible to dye the fiber since it was in this form. Well, if I didn't try I wouldn't find out. So, I took a layer, wrapped it in tulle, pre-soaked it, then laid it out on the plastic to dye. After dyeing and wrapping, it went into the steamer. It was a very tight fit, but just made it. I did take some pictures of the process. :



The bottom layer of the steamer was some Border Leicester locks I had dyed up as well.

I'll post some pictures of the fiber once it's dry in a few days. I just hope I don't have a big piece of pretty felt.

I also took a couple of pictures of part of the craft room. One is some of the bins and sink; the other is my waist high worktable Pat built me.

Yarn Washing Day and Spinning at the Arts Festival

I managed to wash most of the yarn I've spun recently. Here's a group picture of six skeins of them.




The blue skeins on the ends are from Into the Whirled's Falkland fiber I have named "Seashore". The green is the third skein and the last of my CJ Kopec's Envious Eyes. I love the sparkle from the angelina in this fiber although the camera didn't pick it up very well. The pink is Shady Fiber's "Pink Eeyore" which also has firestar sparkles in it. Peaking out at the top is one of the two skeins of rag yarn I did using one ply of alpaca from Safe Haven Alpacas in CT and one ply of Ashland Bay Merino. I think the color of the Merino is "Woodland".

My garden butterfly also had to get in the photos:



These were also some of the WIPs I've been working on since Tour de Fleece.

Saturday was the monthly spin in at RI Handspun. I took a break from WIP spinning and started another of my DkKnits fibers called "Irish Beach". I might decide to do a simple shawl with it to showcase the colors which range from greens to pinks, and some yellows. It's a very pretty, soft color blend. Sunday was another spinning day with my guild demonstrating at Slater Mill as part of the Pawtucket Arts Festival. Again, I took the "Irish Beach" fiber. I'm just about at the half way point with the first 4 ounces finished. Since the colors have stayed pretty separate while being spun, I'm going to navajo ply this one.

And, lastly, I have started the foot of the second Shur'tugal sock and should have it done in a few days. Another knitting WIP will be scratched from the list. Yay!!

Playing With Dye and Other Fibery Goodness.....

With the sweltering heat of last weekend, I found a cool, comfortable spot in my craft room located in my basement. I turned on the fan, mixed the soak solution, and started the dye process for 3 yarns and about 7 ounces of fiber.

The yarns were all fingering weight. I dyed the first in graduated shades of a robin egg shade of blue from dark to light.. The second is done in 2 shades of pink which I used full strength and diluted. The third is done in 2 shades of purple and a yellow.

Here is the Cormo in different shades of pink. "Dark Pink Peonies"



Here is some Corriedale in a shade of blue, yellow, and green. "Wildflowers in the Field"



I have some more colors planned for the next dye day. I'm not sure which will be yarn and which will be fiber yet.

Currently, the Minstrel is empty. But not for long. I've decided to start spinning the bottom half of my February Lady Sweater. The Sonata has been busy. I'm getting ready to finish spinning and then plying the last of my sea shore fiber so I can submit it for Fiber 4 Ewe's August contest on Ravelry. Then, it's back to another WIP bobbin, of which I have only 3 left to go.

As for knitting, I managed to finish the first Shur'tugal sock and get the ribbing done on the second one. It's a fairly easy pattern and the heel is very different from the usual plain ones in most other patterns. It is holding my interest as I knit it, and works well as a travel project.

Busy Spinning Away

I've been trying to catch up on a lot of stuff lately, but it just seems the more I try to catch up, the more there is to do. I need 30 hour days to possibly accomplish more. lol

I didn't get all of my Tour de Fleece fiber finished. I managed 12 of the 16 ounces. This is really not a bad thing. If I hadn't been trying to finish it, I would not have that much done. My other goal for TdF was to finish some WIP bobbins. I managed to ply up 4 different fibers that have been languishing for weeks, months, and one over a year. It feels good to have them done. Now, I need to take them to the sink and set the twist in all of them.

Saturday was spent at the Foster Old Home Days with some spinning pals at a demo. I've been looking for something to decorate my Minstrel wheel with. A little angel with blue/purple wings and a flower now rides on the tensioner. Barbara and Polly were there with their sheep and were selling their fiber, yarns, and goodies. They also had the Rhody Warm blankets and yarns for sale. The angel was hanging in the shed along with lots of others with different colored wings and/or flowers.

I started a new pair of socks to go along with my Dragon Scale Shawl. I like the pattern picture, but, am not sure if I like the actual pattern as it works up. I might frog it in a little bit. Beads will not be going into the socks. Originally, beads were going to be used in the cuff and at the top of the diamonds in the leg if possible. After some consideration, I decided this might not be good for me since my legs tend to swell. Getting beads poked into me if I cross my ankles would not feel too good.

The garden is still giving me tomatoes, peppers, and cukes. The carrots are doing well. I will try to plant the new lettuce in the next couple of days. The rains have helped everything grow without too much work on my part. I do have to pull the weeds that keep popping up though.

Garden Developments, Spinning Challenges, Junebug's Fleece

There was a second harvest of cherry tomatoes a couple of days ago. Several more are still in the green stage or just starting to turn color. There are quite a few green ones on the big boy tomato plants as well. Sadly, the lettuce is not salvageable thanks to the rains we have had lately. The pot it was in didn't drain well, and the lettuce rotted at the roots. I've another envelope of seeds, fresh soil, and different pots to try again. The peppers are growing. I have one about 3 inches across, but, not quite ready for picking yet. There are a few small ones too. The cucumbers are about an inch long now. I do like the bush plants better than the running ones. I thinned the carrots a bit, but, will re-do that next week after they grow a bit more. The lemon thyme needs trimming again. I can dry that in the house and use it in some cooking. Pat isn't crazy about lemon, so I use it in dishes I make just for me.

It's great to have the canopy up in the back yard too. I sat under it the other day while we were cooking on the grill. It's very cozy under there with plenty of room. I need to drag my wheel out there soon to sit and spin.

Speaking of spinning, I'm still plugging away at the Tour de Fleece. I am just past the half way point with my Seawool fiber. I don't think I will get all of the pound done by next week, but, I'm trying my best.

Today, I went up to the Fibers4Ewe Mill to pick up my "Junebug" fleece. I'll try to take a picture outside in the sun tomorrow. The color is a lovely grayish brown with sutble color shifts in it. It's absolutely beautiful. I am thinking it will become a sweater at least. I might decide to dye a little and see how it looks. I also came away with 8 ounces of fiber dyed and processed by Liz at the mill. Of course, that has some sparklies in it. I took the scenic way home due to road construction on Rte 44. I was going to stop by Holidaze Glass, but, will save that for another day.

It's been a long day, so I think I'll go to bed now. It's after 1:30 a.m. Goodnight.

First Garden Tomatoes and Tour de Fleece Spinning

I picked 4 cherry tomatoes from my garden Saturday.
We washed them and just ate them still warm from the sunshine.

I've decided to spin for the Tour de Fleece again this year. I think I might have over extended myself with my project. I have a pound of "Cabot" Seawool from Creatively Dyed Yarns. So far, I've only managed to spin one ounce. It's definitely a challenge due to it's slipperiness and fluffiness. It tends to drift apart if you don't put extra twist in it. I'm using the smallest whorl on my Sonata for this. Here's a photo of how far I've got on Day 3 of TdF:



and a close up:

The original plan was to also finish some spinning WIPs on the Minstrel. I managed to finish the last of 4 ounces of Falkland from Into the Whirled. I think the seawool take precedence over any other spinning for this. Wish me good luck to get the whole pound spun. Tonight will be devoted to at least another ounce. I'll be spinning next to Pat who had rotator surgery today and is feeling no pain at this time. He is still medicated from the nerve block they gave him, and has pain medicine for later. Now starts the tough part for him - the recovery and not doing everything he usually does.