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Spinning the Spotted Fleece
The testing and planning for this project may just be the most fun part. I have now washed, carded or combed, spun and knit swatches (or small projects) from 4 of my stashed fleeces. I’ve been working with the multi coloured fleeces this time because I wanted some colour texture in my sweater. This one is a Jacob from Great Britain. It’s for Earl. I considered my choices for working with the stark contrast of the colours in this fleece. I could do a relatively homogeneous blending for a smooth mottled look, I could keep the colour separate and ply a white with a black for a ragg look, or…
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Alpaca Avenue – Alpaca Fiber arrived today
Woot! My Alpaca arrived today and I’m in heaven. I ordered a few bags to start with just to see how I liked it and I will definitely be going back again. This is beautiful fiber from ladyolivia Alpaca Avenue by Kerstin Kerr on Etsy. So soft and clean and very fine. It was easy to spin into a fingering weight yarn as 2 ply so I’m sure I could do lace or DK with ease even if I had to go to a 3 ply for Worsted weight. Now, I just have to decide what to knit with it. Mittens or fingerless gloves maybe? ideas?
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A Second “SWatch Cap” Hat
I’m still working on the wool fleeces. I brought 4 of them in and only one was un-usable. It just has so much chaff embedded in the fleece that I find I don’t have the patience or desire to work with this one at all. I’m trying to decide which of the other 3 fleeces I want to use to make the man’s sweater that I have in mind. I need gauge swatches for the measurements but I also need them to see how each of the yarns will perform for me. I know what I want in terms of softness, drape, body, colour and attitude. For my gauge swatch…
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Quicky Rolled Brim (somewhat slouchy) Hat
Don’t laugh, there were no other heads around and I wanted to show it to you on someone! More photos below :0 Unlike you, I am not very fond of knitting a gauge swatch so … after I spun up some of the fleece I got out yesterday … I decided that I would knit a hat to determine my gauge. I really, quite like it. Great fit and not likely to give me “flat head” and definitely very warm. The textured look from the slubs in the handspun give it a wonderful personality. The simple designs helps to showcase the “hand spun-ness” of the yarn. Order the handspun wool…
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Hello Kitty – Horray!
I don’t know about you but I am almost as opposed to finishing as I am in love with knitting. It took a lot of self-control but I managed to put a face on “Hello Kitty” today for my sweetheart Alice. This is her dream hat for this year and she really appreciates the stuff I make her. What an amazing girl she is. I used Beadwhore Knitting’s pattern and it was very helpful. I just adjusted the stitches to my gauge and cast on. I used coins to help me visualize the best placement for the face and outline stitched around them to show me where to go with my…
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Washing a Wool Fleece
Today I got out a couple of beautiful fleeces that I had stored over the garage for a few years. They came from a huge sheep ranch in Australia that specialized in raising coloured sheep especially for the hand spinning market. I was fortunate enough to visit for 2 weeks at sheering time, working in the shed and getting my pick of that year’s sheering. It was an oportunity of a lifetime and I will never forget it. Getting out the fleece today made me so happy. They are still perfect! I attribute this to the storage containers we used. They are a very strong cardboard with metal bottom and…
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Another One – the Reversible Watch Cap / Skull Cap / Beanie again
Just finished and wanted to show you another version of the watch cap pattern that I originally wrote about here (includes the free pattern). This one is knit with Austerman “Peru” Alpaca yarn (now discontinued, I’m afraid). It’s a lovely soft “sport” weight Alpaca. This shows that although a fingering or sock yarn is recommended a sport weight yarn will work just as well. I used the same needle size (2.5 mm) and the same # of stitches. This one is for Aidan. Hope you like it kiddo? Earl (DH) is jealous. He thought it was for him so I’ll get to work on another one. Since I can’t make…
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The Perfect Reversible Watch Cap The one my Guys like
My guys like a light weight but warm hat, one they can scrunch up and stick in their pocket but when they put it on it needs to keep them warm! The folded over “cuff” should not be too deep and when it’s folder over the hat sits just over the tip of the ears but when it’s pulled down against the cold it goes right over those ears completely. I might call a hat with this kind of fit a skull cap or beanie. This little watch cap fits the bill perfectly. Having knit and ripped quite a few times before I got it right I can now present…
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Loss and a Fresh start
Well, I have almost everything moved over to the new host and I love the new site… Hope you like it too 🙂 It turns out that I hit a bump in the road much bigger than an unresponsive host. I lost my precious mother on November 15 2012. She was my anchor, my entire cheerleading squad, my teacher, my mentor. She was an Artist, the person I admired above all others and she was my best friend and now she is my guardian angel. Oh how I wish I could see her one more time, touch her sweet face, somehow try to give her back a fraction of what…
Simply Elegant Timeless Classics – Handspun and Handknit Luxury Heirlooms
