Wheel and Spindle

Yesterday I spun a lot of the brown alpaca. I'm hoping to finishing stuffing this bobbin full soon and then finish a different fiber I had previously started before doing more brown alpaca on the wheel.

I have also been spinning some on my spindle, especially if my back is already sore from the wheel (or dishes or anything else).  I can sit back on the couch and still get some spinning in and feel productive. 

Tour de Fleece 2015

Tour de Fleece 2015 runs from July 4th through July 26th (the same days as the Tour de France race).  They spin, and we spin - see how that works?

This year has been a little more special.  As I prepared to work on my spinning every day for almost a month, my family noticed.  My husband pulled out an old spindle he had given up on and passed on to me and decided to try again.  While helping him get started, my girls found their old spindles (they were in with my tools but each had an initial on them) and some random white roving.  We had a small trip to Webs the day before starting, and my son (who doesn't spin yet) bought some yarn to practice his knitting.

It is hot and humid, and they are still playing video games and spending hours reading books... but fiber is all around the house (actually, it is, the white roving they chose tends to get wispy and stick to things!) and it is pretty nice to see spindles in use before bedtime!  The big question is what will happen when that small bag of roving is gone...

Let's just pretend...

Let's just pretend those last three months didn't happen...

or rather, that they did happen, and got posted about, and life moves on! (I obviously can't do a good job posting regularly right now, I'll work on posting randomly for now, and work on regularly later!)

When I last left you I mentioned I had finished a sweater for my oldest daughter.

Since then I have made at least 4 baby shower gifts:

I learned a new technique for ragrugs and made a little trivet...

and I also finished spinning some yarn.

Each of these may or may not get a post of their own soon.

Tour de Fleece

Tour de Fleece is an event that happens every year. Although I never officially participate I do try to spin during it. It occurs at the same time as the Tour de France and the goal is to spin and challenge yourself while watching the race. I don't watch the racing, but I did manage to spin all but one of the days I think. I tried to spin for at least 30 minutes and most days did more than that.


 I finished this grey superwash that I've been working on forever.  Most of it was done prior to this year's event, but I finally got it done!

The left most skein is blue and purple silk that I got as dyed hankies.  They did look like a pile of fibery handkerchiefs, which I took and spun on a little spindle.  Once again, this has been going on forever, and it is now done. 

The middle skein is something I bought back at my first MA sheep and wool (the same year as the grey yarn above).

The skein on the right is a black bunny fibers colorway that I got several years ago as a present from my husband.

Then, since I had finished up so much that I had been working on for a long time I started something kindof new.  I took three colors of different fiber I had gotten while part of the Southern Cross Fibre Club and I am mixing them all up.  I started it during the Tour de Fleece and then, once that was done I didn't touch my wheel for over a month.  I recently sat and spun some more on that and can't wait for it to be done.  That full bobbin is about 2/3 of the total fiber, so I am on the down hill part of this yarn!

Don't forget to check Monday's post and enter the contest!

Friday Fiber: Spinning again

Sometime ago I realized that I wasn't spinning.  I wanted to, I planned to, I even had exact things I wanted to get done, but it wasn't happening.

I had too much knitting, reading, cooking, cleaning, schooling, and sleeping to do. 

I finally finished all my knitting for other people, and so I brought out the spinning again.

This is silk I recently mentioned here on the blog.  It's been in progress for years and I am finally almost done with it.  The amount on the white winder is what had been on the spindle.  It was too full to keep working with so I wound it off.  The purple that is next to the spindle is all that I have left of the hankies.  As soon as that is done I will join it to the blue on the winder and wind it all into one big ball and ply it.

 

I also recently started the final skein of grey superwash wool.  I've already done two of them and the third has been sitting patiently waiting for months.  This will take a little while, but then I will be done and able to figure out what I'm going to knit with it all.

It feels good to be back in the thick of spinning again.  I am also reading a bunch and trying to finish the homeschool year.  Of course, this means I'm now not knitting much, but that will be back soon I'm sure, as I have a baby shower in a week and a half and some small barter projects to figure out.

silk spinning

Looking back through my blog posts I estimate that I started spinning these silk hankies in July 2009.



That's a long time...

Even if you figure that it'd been a back burner project.

Even if you take in to account that I'm trying to spin it pretty thin so it takes longer.

Even if you remember that I have to have smooth hands to work with it, so anytime I have a catch on my hands I don't take it out.

Even with all that, almost two and a half years is way too long to have this 'in the works'.

So I think this silk is about to get some attention and hopefully get finished soon!

New Grey Spinning

I am working on the spinning still!



I decided to finish as much of the grey as I could before moving on to something else, so, of course, I estimated how long that would take.

I took the next braided skein and divided it into 4 long strips. The first one took me about 3 hours to do, and then the second (when I did less random web and kid stuff) only took me about 2 hours. So I figure that I'm looking at another 5-6 for the second half of the first skein and then somewhere between 8 and 12 hours to spin the third one. Of course, these are each 8 oz, so I'm not feeling too bad about that speed. I just need to keep putting in my ear buds and spinning to my audio book.

Gray Spinning

A while back I read a blog post (I think by the yarn harlot) where they mentioned that you should never knit with grey during the winter. I think that might be my problem with my spinning. I did, however, begin this when it was not grey outside. I just need to hunker down and finish at least the one skein (I have another two to do sometime). Or maybe I just need to make sure all my knitting has color and move to the spinning wheel only after I am color-saturated.

Actually, I am pre-writing this post and I have a couple of days before it will be published, let's see if I can finish this skein and maybe even have it plied and washed before this posts.... but considering all the other things I want to do this week, perhaps not.


UPDATE:
I did finish spinning the first skein. I even plied and washed it:



Pretty right?

...but I won't know what pattern to start until I know how much yarn I have, and to do that I still have two more skeins to spin...

Baby Shower and Spinning

Some time over the summer I just gave up on the blog. I do have something to finally post today through, and we'll see what happens when school starts up again.

I had the first of several baby showers, so I made this blanket:



...and this bear to go with it:


During July, while the Tour de France is going on some crafty people decide to have a tour de fleece and while they are biking, we spin... I had some grand plans, but it ended up being that I spun just a bit (at least 15 minutes, a handful of times more than an hour) every day. It worked out pretty well since I only missed a couple of days. I do have a spindle of fiber that I managed to spin 2/3 of it, but alas, it is not done, so you don't get to see it.

Here is the one large skein that I did finish. Details are on my ravelry stash page for anyone who cares for that, but basically, I took this:


and this:


and made this:


(only one large skein, I just liked how it looked different on the brown vs the white background)

Contest Prize

I finally finished the contest prize that Noel won. She had said to make anything. So... it took me a little while to figure out what to make and what yarn to use.

I had picked up this fiber last May at the MA sheep and wool I believe.


...and then over the summer I had spun it into this yarn.


Then it was just sitting in my yarn bucket, waiting for its turn to be made into something - it is now a scarf:

...and it now belongs to Noel.

...stay tuned for the next contest (not immediately, but soon... ish)

TonT: Reasons to be Glad it's Spring and a Vest

Since I'm behind already, let's not do all ten and do a show and tell instead this week...

I am glad it's spring because I love this:


...and this...


but unforunately when I zoom out...



I have no love after that picture....


I did finish the vest for the little tomato



This was obviously planned during his green period. He is still in it sometimes, but is now in a period of transition. It fits him well though, and I love this new pattern - no sewing! I love it. If you knit and are part of Ravelry you can see it here. I ended up having to undo most of the body and make it more narrow and use the other end to add ribbing and make sure I had enough yarn to finish... but it worked and I ended up with about 6 inches of handspun left at the end!

The little Admiral, aka Tomato

My young son has had two different 'blog' names - I don't know which will end up being his for good, but almost three years old now both still fit.

After finishing a pair of socks for his older sister a week or two ago I looked at some yarn left over from a pair of socks I had made for my husband. I weighed it, compared it to some of my pairs of socks and realized I had *just* enough to make a short pair for me... Yeah, I must not have really wanted them, because as I was starting the toe he declared that he needed socks and those looked good. Now, normally I don't give in to demands like that... but I think he's right. He needed a pair of dress-up socks, and these did look good for his church outfits.



So now Daddy and the Admiral have matching socks. He might even wear them this Sunday if I remember.

I also finished spinning some yarn for a vest for him. At least that's what I hope it will end up being.


It's green. Can you tell? It's also about 8.5 oz and more details you don't care about on my Ravelry page :) I had a goal of 60 oz this year, so I am still on schedule for that... We might discuss the rest of the goals at the end of February....

Back at Christmas my in-laws gave me a gift card to webs, which is just lovely! I ordered some yarn for a sweater for ME and although it was backordered, it arrived this week.


Won't that be nice? I'm thinking it will be a new zipper sweater as my old creme one is pretty pilled.

Christmas and New Years

For Christmas my kids gave me some wonderful presents! 'Curly' and 'Tomato' each gave me a skein of yarn:


The colors are a bit tricky to photograph, but they are purple and maroon. They are meant to be used together as the specific yarn used in a pattern on my new LOOM! :)




Unfortunately the new loom was missing a small hook (which arrived today - thank you webs customer service!) so I started warping it with some of my weaving cotton to practice and learn how this rigid heddle loom works. I look forward to having some fun over the next week or two and then hopefully warping with the new yarn!

My husband also gave me other presents, including a couple of knitting books - Wrapped in Lace by Margaret Stove and Knit. Sock. Love. by Cookie A. both look interesting. He also gave me Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day - which I love the artisan bread book so much I'm excited about these variations.

My other daughter 'Lily' gave me some coupons for extra chores around the house and a whole book of different things I can request of her (running some laundry, sharing with siblings, watching siblings, doing her school work quickly, etc)

I also received a beatles cd and an elvis cd, a gift certificate to webs, and some fun games to play with the family.

During our wonderfully calm (although disappointedly sick) vacation I also finished the fiber that was on the spinning wheel, so I now have this pretty yarn!


We also watched a lot of tv and movies (due to the sickness that travelled through the family) and so I spent a lot of time wanting to work on easy projects - the crochet blanket is pretty simple and straightforward, so I made a lot of progress on that. Currently it is almost big enough for a lap/couch blanket, but I have at least three more large-ish amounts to add and then I'll want to look through both my stash and my husband's for more sock scraps!


I also spun a little silk on the spindle last night, even though my hands are a bit dry it wasn't as bad as I thought and was actually pretty calm and fun.

Baby Showers and Bread

This past weekend I attended a double baby shower. I was planning to make each of these mothers something, but plans, as I said in my last post, got moved up a little bit (They are both due in the early-middle of november) when I heard when the shower was scheduled for.

One family is have another baby boy, and since it is their fourth child I changed things up a bit and chatted with her ahead of time. All set on making a sweater and hat I went to the store and chose some shades of brown.


I decided to go with my wonderful wallaby sweater pattern (which, in one booklet has sizes 2-48") and I actually dropped and did a size smaller than it had, which involved some math, but thankfully not too much.

I wanted to try out a new hat though, so I looked on Ravelry and chose what I hoped would turn out to be a neat baby hat.



Since I didn't get their gauge I did the largest (three month) size and hoped for the best. This is what the hat looks like when it's worn as the largest it can be.

And this is what it looks like when you take it off:


Hopefully, with that range of sizes, it will fit the new baby this winter!


The other family that this baby shower was for is having a little girl. They seemed like people who could take some color, especially as we enter winter, and so, not finding a pink I liked, I made this blanket:


Bright, eh?

I also made them my more traditional baby shower gift of a bear...


It was a fun time, aside from an unexpected allergy attack earlier that evening....


I have gotten many comments, and questions, about the bread I mentioned in my last post. It was this book which I think is well worth the price, or a trip to your library. It really is the best bread I've found for pasta and soups. Anyone who wants to try just the basic dough, let me know and I'll give you that one recipe (I tried it off of a website review of the book several years ago before I bought the book) or I can lend you my book for a couple of days if you are local. They also have a healthier breads version of it that I haven't looked at yet.


I also spun a little bit today (while I should have been starting to sauce my apples....)

One of my friends is making a secret project and needed just a bit of red/orange yarn. I found this small amount of fiber and now it's ready to go to her!

I'm still plugging along on a couple of the other projects - it was nice to get back to them after finishing the shower gifts. I'm at the point in several of my projects where they are almost done, all the fun stuff is over and I just need to put in the time to finish them - which is a lot less exciting then starting something shiny and new, but I will do my best to finish at least something soon!

August and September

So, last we left our crafty tale spinning had been going on a little bit every day and progress was being made...


Fiber was being made into yarn and much fun was being had by all...



...and then came the day I didn't feel so good, so I spun on and off most of the day and then played some starcraft that evening without setting up a good place for the computer mouse. I felt a lot better by the end of the day. Mental Health wise it was exactly what I needed, however, the next day or two I noticed that my wrist was really sore. So after those last two yarns I started another batch but stopped. I spent a couple of days resting it and then slowly, over a week or two, started using it more each day and it's fine again now, but I'm again out of practice with the spinning.

During this time my husband finished a pair of socks for me.

Since he's (mostly) stopped blogging I figured I would show them off here.

I've worn them once since they were finished and now that it's getting cooler I look forward to wearing them some more (along with all of my other knitted socks)


We also have spent some time at local parks (both biking to them and driving on occasion).

This was a day that we biked, fed the ducks, played on the playground, and everyone got to take pictures. Little Tomato took a picture of his pants (and the corner of mommy's sweater)



We have been harvesting and making yummy food. One of the biggest hits was this pot of spaghetti sauce (made mostly from garden tomatoes, supplemented by canned) with meatballs (made from local grass fed beef purchased at our farmers market).


That same night we had a fun artisan bread. I have loved the Artisan Bread in 5 minutes book, but I normally make the same two recipes over and over again. That morning, as I was flipping through the book I came across Spinach Feta Bread.

Yum Yum.

It seriously took about 10 minutes to stir together, left it on the counter for a couple of hours and then 5 minutes to make the loaves and about an hour or so later I shoved them in the oven for 30 minutes - so less than 20 minutes of my time and we had yummy bread.

Along with several other things we grow in our garden every year (cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, chard, eggplant, peppers, etc) we always try to grow squash. The butt of all gardening jokes just won't grow for us, but we did get a couple small cute butternuts this year for the first time.

(measuring cup for scale)

Back in June Curly was given an interesting birthday present.

She got to name and take care of a chicken for a week or two. We were given instructions and enough food for the time and she had a blast. Mommy and Daddy, however, were having more than a blast I guess... we got a little bit attached. So we got permission to keep Sam (Samuel or Samantha) and watched it grow.

and grow....



and grow...

until the past couple of weeks when we started to hear Sam every morning.

The thing is, Sam was spending the nights in a cardboard box just inside the kitchen door, so the crowing in the morning was actually kindof cool (plus, you know you are not morning people when the rooster crows around 8 every morning - and sometimes wakes the kids up).

But then he started to crow outside randomly during the day also, and as much as our neighbors like us, I didn't want to see how much they like us, so sooner or later we knew Sam would be dinner. So last week someone came over and taught us how to take care of a rooster in the city. We did cook up a lovely meal (including those cute butternuts) and talked about the circle of life.... and we look forward to raising some more chickens again in the spring.

back to crafts....

Current Project Round-up:
Back when my wrist was recovering I figured I'd move it in a different direction for a while, so I started a project I've planned for a long time...

I started a granny afghan. I'm using my sock yarn scraps (obviously some scraps are longer than others) and planning to just keep going around the one square until it's as large as I want it to be, so this project might take a while.

I started a tunic cap-sleeve cardigan for my girls to share (yes, two years and one inch apart they are sharing clothes already).

I attended a conference where I had several hours available to knit while listening, so I get it almost done, and then discovered it wasn't nearly long enough for these long-torso girls, so I bought another skein and I need to just keep working and finish it off. It's going on hold for a week or two though, as I have some baby showers coming up....

...and here's a sneak peak at one of those projects!