A Dye Day With Fiber Friends, Spinning & Knitting Progress

Last Sunday was spent with my Happy Hands Fiber Friends at our monthly get together.  This time, we had a dye day.  Dave and Sue generously offered the use of their garage for this.  I forgot to bring my camera so have no pictures.  :( 

It was a cool, comfortable day with lots of experimenting and playing with colors.  Liz, from Fibers4Ewe, did a demo about cellulose dyes and then some of us attempted yarn/fiber dyeing with them.  I did a purple/blue with red/pink colors on some Bamboo/Wool yarn.  The result is quite different from using acid dyes. 

We also used primary colors, mixed from acid dyes, and created our own colors for other items.  Sandi had brought a couple pre-mixed colors as well.  I dyed up some Masham fiber and some of Mr. Attitude's locks.  The locks came out quite interesting since they were naturally shades of gray and white. The color in the picture isn't exactly correct.  The orange seems to be over powering the other colors.  The end result reminds me of Autumn leaves.

In between dyeing, some of us were spinning, knitting, or just chatting.  There was lots of terrific food available from the pot luck lunch/barbecue we had as well.  It was terrific to see everyone again.  A surprise visitor was Liz from Maine who I hadn't seen in a couple years. 

As for knitting progress, I've finished my Flutter By socks.  I really like how they came out.  I have enough yarn to use with a similar color to make another pair of socks later. 

My Evenstar Shawl has seen a good amount of love lately.  As of about an hour ago, I am starting repeat 30.  I'm over half finished with the edging and am looking forward to a completed shawl soon. I've got another mystery shawl to knit, but am forcing myself to finish this one first.  Here's the yarn for knitandknag's Mystic Midsummer Wreath Shawl KAL which started a couple days ago. 

On the spinning front, I finished the DyakCraft a/k/a Grafton Fibers Club January 2009 batt.  I'm quite happy with the results.  I plan to spin the second batt some time during Tour de Fleece which starts in a couple weeks.  I still need to finish the last bit of "Honey Cinnamon" that has been hanging out on my Sonata wheel for a month.  Hmmm. I think I'll got do that now. 

I also forgot to post the picture of my May Project Stash Buster yarn, and the Silver Sun Alpaca's "Lavander Vanilla" batts I had spun up. 

 

O.K. It's time for me to spin for a bit and then get back to that edging.  My goal is to get at least two more repeats done today. 

Socks and Shawl Knitting, Spindle and Wheel Spinning

There hasn't been much happening around here in the fiber endeavors.  My Flutter-by Socks were restarted for the third time.  These were my March Stash Buster Socks that never happened.  I didn't like the way the pattern looked in my first yarn.  I had to give my current yarn a soak to remove some residual dye I was getting on my hands.  Now, it's knitting up beautifully. Since I don't like tall socks, I decided to do two and a half repeats of the pattern. I'm also using another handknit sock to judge length as well.  The only other alteration I made was to do a plain stockinette foot.  Lala of TheKnitGirllls video-cast mentioned the possibility of the "butterfly" floats getting caught in her shoes and I agree with this.  I also tend to like stockinette or less patterning on the foot part of my socks since I have very sensitive feet thanks to my Diabetes. The plan is to get most, if not all, of the foot finished tonight.

My Evenstar shawl did see a tiny bit of love.  Two more repeats of the border have been completed.  That's 16 of 57.  At this rate it may be done for late summer.  lol

I had some fiber on my DyakCraft spindle for a while which I finished spinning yesterday.  I decided to ply it on my wheel just to get it finished.  Spindle spinning is not my strong point and seems to take me forever.  The tendency is for me to spin thin, but I think my spindles are made for thicker yarn and it keeps wanting to break.  Towards the end of the small bump, I had a good rhythm going and accomplish quite a bit.  I just need to really set aside some time every day and do the 10 minutes spin time to get better at it. 

Over on the wheels, the first four ounces of "Autumn Rainbow" Polwarth from CJKopec is finished.  I have four ounces left to spin and plan to try a different technique with that. 

Last Wednesday evening was spent with some spinning ladies  in Tiverton.  I decided to spin some more of  the "Honey Cinnamon" from Wintechog Hill Farms and now I need to finish the last ounce of the first bobbin.  It's coming out such a pretty color with pops of others shades in it.  Maybe I can finish that last ounce before knitting tonight.

Tiger is back to his old self and showing no residual problems.  Pooh is no longer on "nursemaid" duty.  It was cute to see him hovering over the cat and checking on him.  He was like a "Papa" keeping watch over his sick child. 

Spending The Day With Fiber Pals.....A Sick Kitty

Firstly, let me wish all the moms a belated Happy Mother's Day. 

I spent it with some of my Happy Hands friends at our monthly gathering.

My Project Stash Buster fiber for May, "Autumn Rainbow" in Polwarth by CJKopec, (top picture) was started.  But, first, I decided to spin some of my friend Sandi's latest special blend (bottom picture).  It's Baby Coopworth, Cria Alpaca, Angora Bunny, and a touch of Firestar.  The processing and blending was done by Fibers4Ewe Mill in Putnam.  It drafts with little effort and spins like a dream.  After spinning the Rambouillett and Shetland at lace weight, and the "Stormy Seas" at a fingering, I decided to spin both these a bit thicker.

We had a tough weekend with my cat Tiger.  He started throwing up on Friday night.  We called and got him into the vet on Saturday morning.  After an exam and an x-ray, the doctor determined he just had an upset tummy.  We spent two more days of watching and trying to get him to drink and eat.  Today was the breakthrough with him eating and drinking a little bit on his own.  He also finally went to the bathroom.  Tonight, he was sitting in the window watching the activity and birds.  Now, he's sleeping.  I'm glad he feels better and is on the mend.

CT Sheep & Wool 2011 Stash Enhancement, Meeting Jadee

Last Saturday was the annual CT S&W festival.  The weather was wonderful.  The day was sunshine filled with a nice breeze, and not too hot or cool.  It was perfect for walking around the festival.  My husband, Pat, came with me and did all the driving.  We set out with the coolers packed with salads, grilled chicken, cheese sticks, and sodas, chips in the bag, and the GPS plugged in.  

I didn't really buy very much.  My first stop was the fleece barn. My plan was to buy a Polypay fleece, and maybe one or two other items that caught my fancy. 

Well, I did get my fleece, but Pat bought me a couple of items.  He helped me "stuff a bag" of alpaca, (left pic) and bought me some Fibers4Ewe sparkly fiber to spin (right pic).  That's all I came home with.  I did look at a lot, but nothing else really called to me this time.

One of the best parts of the festival was meeting Jadee, the host of Twisted Strandss Podcast.  She is just as nice in person as she is in the videos.  I also got to meet her cousin Bridgit. 

Even though fiber arts are not one of my husband's hobbies, I think he enjoyed the day.  I know he liked watching the sheep dogs herding the sheep.

After riding home, I decided to finish plying my April Stash Buster Fiber.  I got the first 4 ounces done just under the wire for the month.  The second 4 ounces are also finished.  There's a total of 991 yards, 2 ply from the 8 ounces. 

My Corgi Hill Farm "Stormy Sea" is spun and one skein is plied with the total being 350 yards of 2 ply.  Skein 2 is getting plied tonight. The flash is a bit bright on the close up picture.  I was trying to capture the sparkle from the glitz.

 

And here's a couple of pictures of my Megan kitty.  She has commandeered my quilt and wooden rocker as her "kitty bed".  It's a good thing it was a Walmart special purchase and not an expensive one.  At least I got to keep the tote bag it came in.  lol.

The Tortoise Will Win the Race Eventually

Do you remember the childhood story of the tortoise and the hare?  Well, I think my progress lately has been resembling the tortoise.  My Evenstar Shawl's beaded edging has about 8 of 57 repeats finished as of yesterday.  Each repeat is about 20 stitches and 20 rows.  That's not a lot, but the beading takes time and slows you down some. 

My April Project Stash Buster fiber is the lovely light gray Shetland from Groton Family Farm.  I started this fiber during a spinning demo the day before Easter, at the farm on their shearing day.  Since it came from the farm's sheep last year, it was appropriate to spin it while doing the demo.   I'll be spending tonight spinning the last ounce or so of that. Plying the 8 ounces will be tomorrow evening after I get home from the CT Sheep and Wool Festival. I am only going for fleece. I promise. :)

The "Stormy Seas" fiber from CorgiHillFarm has been taking a break. It will be  picked up again after I complete the Shetland.  I had 7.2 ounces and have made good progress with it.  Only the fourth batt is left to spin.

I'm chomping at the bit to start May's fiber, but I know I have to wait until "Stormy Seas" is done to start that.  It's Polwarth in bright, colorful "Autumn Rainbow". 

Whipping Out the WIPs and Re-Learning A Crochet Technique

Last Thursday evening was my monthly knitting guild meeting where one of the members did a demo on Tunisian crochet.  It's been about 15 years since I did that particular technique and welcomed the refresher in it.  Of course, I am thinking of making some pot holders after seeing the ones Jan brought as a display.  I've got lots of worsted weight in my stash that will work well for these. 

Last week was a good one for finishing more knitting and spinning.  The Edelweiss Neckwarmer has the two abalone buttons, along with the anchoring back buttons, and loops sewn on and is now finished.  The second Embossed Leaves socks was knit like lightning.  And the best finished WIP was my "Moonlight" Rambouillet fiber.  The total for that was 8 ounces, 2 ply, with a 1000 yards of lovely, soft, squishy yarn!!  Woot!  Woot!  That's the most yardage I ever got from 8 ounces of fiber.   

Now, Millie Minstrel is busy spinning the second half of my CorgiHillFarm Merino/Glitz batts in "Stormy Seas".  I'm hoping to have that finished in a few days as well.

After I finish this post, I'm going to take out my Evenstar shawl and finally start the edging.  My intention was to do this a few days ago, but I got sidetracked with the spinning.

Here I Go A-Clucking and A-Clicking

I go through phases where I can eat the same general item for several days on end.  Lately, that item has been chicken.  If you hear me clucking and see tail feathers growing out my rear end, let me know. Over the last two weeks, I've made a Mashed Potato Topped Chicken Pot Pie, Curry Chicken Salad, and Baked Chicken Thighs.  Usually, when I cook, there's enough for at least two days of meals, sometimes more.  There was a pot of chili, and broiled scallops in between the pie and everything else. 

 

As for the a-clicking, both knitting needles and wheel have been busy.  I include the wheel because it sometimes "talks" to me.  I finished and blocked both the items I cast on during the Knitting Guild retreat, as well as the green fiber I was spinning then.  "Make It Work!", "Edelweiss Neckwarmer" and the mosaic for the "Troll" handspun yarn are all pictured below. The neckwarmer still needs two buttons and the loops attached.  I picked up a couple abalone buttons at Jo Anne's for this last night.  Also pictured are my Embossed Leaves socks, knit in Kindred Spirit Symphony yarn in the color "Dusty Blue".  The gusset is finished, and, I'm onto the foot of sock two as of a few moments ago.  I hope to finish them by tomorrow.  The toe has an interesting construction. 

Please excuse the appearance of my deck.  When I took the picture, we hadn't power washed the furniture or put the cushions out yet.

 

The other fiber I was spinning at the retreat, "Moonlight", the blue Rambouillet, has seen a good deal of progress as well.  I'm hoping to finish that this weekend so I can move along to my April Stash Buster fiber - some lovely grey Shetland from Groton Family Farm.

A Weekend Away of Knitting Fun

This past Friday morning found me traveling to Plymouth, MA for a 2 day retreat with some of the ladies from one of my favorite groups, the Ocean State Knitting and Crochet Guild.  After checking into the Cold Spring Best Western, we traveled to East Sandwich for some yarn shopping. This was followed with a visit to The Dunbar Tea Room for a delicious lunch.  Then we headed back to the hotel where we knit in a big, bright conference room set aside for us.  Snacks and drinks were set up on the side for our enjoyment as well.

Then it was time to go for supper at The East Bay Grille. One of our servers was nice to take a picture of our table.

After dinner we all headed back to the hotel for more knitting fun.  Audrey and I brought our wheels, so we did spin for a bit. 

 The next morning, we had a wonderful breakfast buffet.  Some of the other ladies came down for the day.  After breakfast, we hit the road again for some more stash enhancement.  Upon our return, we had a lovely lunch and returned to the conference room for more knitting.  

I had started the Edelweiss Neckwarmer, which I am knitting in my handspun "Trillium Lake" on Friday, and the Make It Work! in Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in "Mulled Wine" on Saturday.  Both are very addictive patterns and moving right along. My plan is to have at least one finished by next week.

I'm happy to say I stuck to my resolution not to buy yarn.  I came home with a couple patterns I hadn't seen locally, and a pair of Puppy Snips.  That's it. :)

After getting home Saturday evening, it was time to just relax and knit some more.  :)

A "Green" Happy Hands..."Ditto" Increases are Done

Sunday was Happy Hands and, since Spring is trying to hang around, we had a "green" theme.  Some of us wore the color, and some of us knit or spun it.  There was some good natured teasing going on too.  I was pretending I was going to "steal" Marcia's pretty sparkly batts she was spinning.  The snacks even fit into the green theme.  There was a lovely salad and some cupcakes with green sprinkles on them.  Someone also brought some Girl Scout cookies. I did have two of those.  :)

In keeping with the theme, I was trying to finish up the first 4 ounces of "Troll", but had a little bit left when it was time to go home.  Green is not a color I usually wear, but there was one pair of minty green leggings in my closet that used to fit, but had become a bit clingy when I gained weight.  Guess what???  They fit again, and are even a little baggy.  

"Ditto" has all it's increases in so now it's time to start the yoke.  I chose not to bind off stitches under the arm as the pattern said to do.  It makes more sense to me to just knit the body stitch and sleeve stitch together when I start the yoke.  This is the plan and hopefully, it will work.  Either way there will be a bit of ridge under the arm.  This poor pattern has been used more as a guide than actually knit as directed.  So far, I've added length, made full sleeves, and increased where I was not told to.  It will be interesting to see the final result.

"Evenstar" hasn't been touched all week.   I've got some other things I'm trying to do this week and doubt that will change.  I'll try to remedy that next week. 

I'm going to the wheel now to finish the "Troll" fiber.

Time to Start "Evenstar" Beading,  "Ditto" Progress, "Moonlight" Spinning

Yay!!  I finally got the last rows before the beaded knit on edging of my Evenstar Shawl.  I plan to start the edge tomorrow or Wednesday. 

My Ditto sweater has seen a bit of progress. The yoke is worked in multiples of 10, so I decided to add a total of 20 stitches under the arms instead of 10.  I think it will be more comfortable.  The plan is to finish the increases tonight.

The "Moonlight" fiber from Flawful Fibers is moving along as well.  I finally finished the first 4 ounces.  The second 4 ounces will be worked on during the rest of the month after I finish my "Troll" from CJKopec.  It may take until April to finish the blue "Moonlight" fiber.  It will be interesting to see the yardage I get from the 4 ounces when it's plied.

O.K.  I'm heading back over to work on the Ditto some more. 

Dear Janie, I Miss You

Twenty five years ago today, my life changed forever.  It's the day I grew up.  Twenty five years ago today my sister died.  She was shot and killed by my tenant's son.  Dad had died five weeks earlier. Mom had died almost two years earlier.  My dad's tenant was watching Jane after I had returned to work on second shift, after being home for three weeks. Michael kept an eye on Jane from when I had to leave and his mother got home from work, about an hour and a half.  Jane was mentally challenged, but high functioning.  I had to go back to work but couldn't leave her alone because I didn't trust her with the stove.   She was only 26 and I was 25 at the time.   

For some reason, I'm thinking about her a lot more on this day than I have on past anniversaries.  Maybe because it's the quarter century and about the same amount of years as her life.  I don't know.  A day rarely goes by that I don't think of her, remember something about her, and smile to myself.  It was mostly Mom and I who took care of her with Dad there sometimes. Our bond was so close that when she died, it felt like not only my sister being ripped from my life, but, in some ways almost like my child. 

I know she is smiling down on me, along with my parents, and is at peace.  Janie, I miss you and love you always.

March Project Stash Buster & Dusting Off An Old Knitting UFO

Now that March is here, it's time for the next two bags to be opened.  The fiber is CJKopec's "Troll" in lovely shades of green.  The sock is "Flutter-by"  and the yarn is from DkKnits.  I need to pick a different skein because the one I chose does not show the pattern as well as I would like.
One of my intentions for this year was to work on UFO/WIP projects.  The Ditto sweater has been in time out for about a year now.  As of this past Wednesday evening, it is back in the current project pile.  I took it to knit night and managed to plot the increases I need to make it fit better under the arms and across the bust. Since you knit the entire body in one piece, with almost 300 stitches, it takes a while to get across it.  I actually managed two rows while there.  When I got home I continued working on it for a little while.  Progress was eight rows by Thursday evening. 

My Evenstar shawl is also progressing nicely.  I'm about 4 rows from starting the edging with the beads.  I'm debating doing the last pattern row and saving the knit/purl rows for public knitting with some friends. Once those rows are done, it will be an at home only project.  Beading in public with a crochet hook and about 3000 size 8 seed beads could lead to a disaster if they are spilled.

Sadly, my February sock never progressed past the cuff.  It's now a UFO and in the basket. 

Spinning has seen some progress on the "Moonlight" fiber and the completion of the "Trillium Lake" fiber.  I haven't taken my picture of the finished skein yet but plan to tomorrow before the  rain comes in for the weekend.

It's time to pop in a movie, give the dogs a treat, get a drink and get comfy with Katy cat and knit for a while. 

Bit By The Cooking Bug & Clearing WIPs & UFOs

Don't ask me why because I don't know, but, this weekend has found me spending a lot of time in the kitchen.  Saturday, I had the urge for an egg salad sandwich.  I boiled up the eggs we had left and made the salad once they were nice and cold.  This led to me sending Pat to the store for more eggs after I mentioned deviled eggs to him.  Those were made, and we have been nibbling on them all weekend.  Sunday, found Pat cooking the steaks on the grill while I made mashed potatoes with a touch of shredded cheese, saute`d spinach in olive oil and garlic, and saute`d onions and mushroom to top the steaks with.  Today, Monday, I made Lasagna Bake.  There's enough of that for at least a couple more days.  I make Pat's with his pasta and mine with the regular stuff.  Now, I have a cranberry bread in the oven.  Not to be left out, Pat made his brownies earlier.  My kitchen has been smelling yummy all weekend.   

This weekend also found me spending a lot of time with my wheels.  Millie Minstrel was put to work spinning my Copperpot Woolies "Victorian Holiday" batt 2 which I thought I had already spun up.  It was tucked in with the Sonata and completely forgotten about.  Esmeralda Sonata was set up with the jumbo flyer and engaged in the plying of that fiber as well as 3 more of my Junebug skeins.  Now, I'm back to Millie Minstrel and spinning a  Hanks In The Hood "Trillium Lake" batt.  This batt is gorgeous and so easy to spin.  I signed up to be part of her "study".  She supplied the fiber, and, after we finish it, we post pictures and info about how we spun and plied it.   We have about 3 more weeks to get it done. Here's some photos of it.  There are one rolled up, two opened, and one started on the wheel.  This fiber is also one of the batts she supplies to Knit Picks.  It has lots of green, some brown, bronze firestar, and white bamboo fiber.  Here is the link for the page at Knit Picks.

It's Been A Busy Week of Fiber Arts

Last Thursday, at my Ocean State Knit and Crochet Guild meeting, I was happy to hand over three hats for our charity knitting.  I made them all slightly different sizes to accommodate different size heads.
 

I did get some spinning finished, too.  The "Pie for Everyone" is plied.  "Lovely Lady" is spun and ready to be plied.

 The first clue of In Dreams came out on Friday.  My hope and plan was to be on clue 6 of Evenstar by then, but, I am just now finishing up clue 5.  I got involved in some non fibery stuff and just didn't have time to work on it.  When I get to the final clue 7,  which is a knitted on edging, there are about 3000 beads included. Here are some pics of my current progress, the beads I am planning to use, and the cone of yarn. I pinned out the shawl as much as possible.  Due to the needles not being long enough to lay the entire circle out, I just did a portion starting at the center. :   

Sunday found me at my Happy Hands Fiber Arts monthly gathering where some of us tried our hands at needle felting and then wet felting on fabric and canvas.  Sandi was nice to arrange the activity and bring all the supplies including little tote bags for us to use.  Monet brought extra fiber for everyone in case it was needed.  I had a pretty multi colored mini sample batt from a previous fiber order and I used that to make a cute hummingbird on one of Sandi's little tote bags.   It's going to find a home on my Sonata to hold the oil bottle, hook, and allen wrench.  Here's a picture of the still damp bag.

Plugging Along on Spin & Knit Projects

This past week has seen me still working on the same projects.  While out and about last Thursday, I stopped and picked up some yarn for the charity hat knitting my knitting guild, Ocean State Knit and Crochet Guild, is doing tomorrow night.  I ended up making one already and have another skein to work on tomorrow night at the meeting.  It's a bulky weight acrylic Loops & Thread Charisma in Dark Blue.   I like the yarn but it does tend to slip a bit on the metal needles I'm using.  Evenstar is at the end of Clue 5.  I had hoped to be into Clue 6 before the first clue of In Dreams came out last Friday, but, I didn't make it.  The ribbing of a sock is started for February.  That's as far as that has gotten.

The blue fiber, "Moonlight", on my Sonata wheel hasn't been touched since the spin in.  I decided to finish the pink fiber on my Minstrel first.  It will feel good to have another WIP become an FO and move into the yarn bin.  :)  I did spin up another bobbin of Junebug's fleece which is number 6 waiting to be plied.  I will have to put the jumbo flyer on the Sonata and start plying soon or I'll run out of regular size bobbins.   It's time to head back to "Lady Love" and spin up the last 2.5 ounces left of the 6 that made up batt 2.  Batt 1 had 4 so I have a total of 10 ounces.  I'm hoping for close to 1000 yards of heavy lace weight or light fingering when I'm done. Here's a couple pictures of the fiber.  The skein is from batt 1 which was spun last summer.  It got a bit squished in it's bag inside the other bag with the fiber. 

February Knitting and Spinning Plans

The first clue of the February/March Mystery Sock pattern in the Solid Socks group on Ravelry was release yesterday.  The color theme for February is "Fire" as in the element.  I have a couple yarn choices to pick from so will try them both out tonight to see how it looks.  I'm also getting ready to start the Project Stash Buster sock bag for this month. I think I can manage to get that pair done as well since I have 2 months to finish the mystery sock. Of course, slow progress is being made on my Evenstar Shawl.  I'm still hoping to get at least part of clue 6 done before this Friday.  Seeing how this is Wednesday, I might get to one row if I work really hard to finish clue 5.

The February's Project Stash Buster fiber, "Pie For Everyone" from Spunky Eclectic, was opened and started last night on Millie Minstrel.  I was spinning while watching t.v., and not really paying attention to how fast the fiber was going down. About 2/3 of it was spun already. I just got into it and kept going.  I'll finish the singles tonight and then knit for a bit.  There is a cowl I am thinking of making with it, so the plan is to Navajo ply it to get a bit thicker yarn and maintain the colors which are separating nicely.

 

Over on Esme Sonata, I have a bobbin of the before mentioned "Moonlight".