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!

Another Baby Gift

This has finally started turning into something for my new niece. I know her parents sometimes read this blog, so I won't be posting anything else until it's done and received, but it's such a pretty color and nice yarn that I couldn't skip posting something about it!

Trip to Webs

Almost a year ago I bought a groupon to Webs and gave my husband the same deal also. ...then at Christmas I was given a gift certificate to Webs. Since the groupon was going to expire at the end of the month we finally packed up the family and went (since these had to be used in person it had to be a time when both my husband and I were both able to go). My husband got a cool cloth yarn bowl/box that he let me break in while still in the car (as I was finishing up the dark blue wallaby). Everything else is in the picture below, except two tins of hard lotion (I got the Ginger Blossom and Yarn Bar)



Pictured here:
a braid of fiber for me, dark blue chosen by little tomato, sparkly cream chosen by curly, cool blue chosen by lily, 2 skeins of noro sock yarn chosen by husband, and 2 small skeins (purple and blue on the bottom) that I snagged while checking out the clearance rack with the kids. Actually, the girls have two skeins of each of theirs, as they were also from the clearance rack, but I could only find one for the picture!

Fiber Friday: Grey Skein, the second

Earlier this week I finished the last bit of the second skein of grey. I then plied it, washed it, and hoped it would dry quickly, as people were going to be in the house the next day. It was sufficiently dry to take off the cumbersome rack and leave on a towel on my bed. Once dry I labelled it as the second skein (and the other as the first, since of course, I hadn't done that already), and snapped a picture to compare them.



Only one more left to turn from fiber to yarn before I start figuring out what I can make with it!

Fingerless Mitts for Painting

When my friend Laura heard I was trying to get our upstairs finished and asked if she could do anything I joked about painting, and she looked at me seriously and offered to help again. She ended up using several buckets of spackle, a couple gallons of paint, and many many mornings. I watched her kid while she worked, but then we worked out a deal that she would get 3 knit projects (within reason) done for her. This is the first (I have yarn for the second, and the third is still up in the air).


While trying to decide what she wanted me to make I was showing her the different yarn I already had on hand. I also showed her all the yarn I had spun without a specific project in mind, and she just loved this yarn:


(also pictured here)

I did an advance search on ravelry and found that that skein of yarn was enough to make these mitts, which are lovely.

I had to finish some christmas and personal knitting before I could get started, but once I cast on each mitt only took two or three days of my knitting time and they are done!

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)

A Hat and some Yarn

I had a hat I wanted to make, and some yarn I wanted to use. They actually worked together too.

The only problem is that it was a crochet pattern. I can crochet fine, that wasn't the problem. The problem was that I can knit while I watch tv or movies. I can only crochet if it's a tv show or movie that has a lot of dialogue - not one where I have to keep looking up to see what's happening. So, I started.



I even thought about making this hat the contest prize, but then I realized it was becoming child sized, as the yarn was just a bit on the thin side.

Eventually I did finish the hat.


...and then I had someone almost immediately claim it.



(That's the hat on Curly's head)

I had also been working on some spinning. I had a batt I was gifted, and a spindle I had bought back in November. I finally used the spindle and the batt is now gone. I still need to measure this yarn though.


(It's only one skein - two pictures so I could see both the front and the back)

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.

Catch-up, Yarn and Knitting

Recently my husband saw this project on his RSS ravelry feed and really liked it. Well, thanks to Ravelry I clicked around and found someone who had that yarn and was wanting to sell it.... So a little less than a week later we got this:


...and this...

...in the mail!

I also belong to a barter group on Ravelry and sent off some DVDs I didn't want anymore, but someone else did and sent me this:

some milk fiber


some bamboo


a sock blank (sock yarn that I can dye now)


Some Targhee, which is a breed of wool I haven't tried to spin yet


...and a beautiful batt for me to spin - can't wait to see how this looks!


I've been working on a pair of socks for one of my daughters for almost a month now - and I finally finished them earlier this week!

I started with yarn that matched a tunic I made for her that she loves,


After starting both of them so I could work on them at the same time I had to get both of them through the heel...


Then I just have to keep working on them and trying them on her and working on them some more. This is how you will probably see them normally:


Once it warms up and spring is here though you might see them like this:


The patterning on them matches the tunic, just a little different, and then ribbing on top of course to help keep them up!



After finishing those socks I pulled out some yarn left over from a pair for my husband. I wanted to use at least a bit more of it before sending it to the sock blanket, so I started a pair, and before I could try them on and measure my foot, someone else claimed them.


So, a little boy will have matching socks with his daddy. Right now I am actually finished with the first one and started the toe of the second.

New Year, New Yarn

I had some gift cards hanging over my head that I suddenly felt the need to use before I lost them! I exchanged a couple gift cards for this:



For some reason my husband has placed order with The Loopy Ewe before, but I never had. I got two skeins of smooshy sock yarn and since I had a little left over I decided to try some new lotion. It's the tin that has a pear on it because, it's pear scented. It's a solid lotion that you rub on your hands like a bar of soap - so far it's great! The sock yarn looks wonderful too, but it will be heading to the bins of yarn stash for the moment... I also love ordering from the loopy ewe (or watching my husband open his orders) because they always include just a little something that you didn't order - this time I got a card to keep track of my knitting needles and a couple of sample cards of other yarns.

I had also bought some green fiber for something for my son recently, but when looking for patterns I realised it wasn't quite enough, so I looked on etsy for something green and superwash and found this:



It also came with a little nice smelling satchel that I didn't expect. I love these internet orders that slip something extra in! The little Tomato was very excited to have me open a package and explain that it was eventually for him. It originally came in the mail as one long braid of course, but, since I want to spin them together into one yarn, without carding them completely together, I split them each up into little tiny balls of fiber which I will rotate through as I spin. So here's how they look together:

Warming, in Green

I finally finished the last of the winter stuff for my kids... only about a week after it started to get cold enough for them. After finishing them I took a night or two and just watched tv without crafting before picking up another project to work on during my evenings.

First, the mittens:



Second, the hat/scarf:


I really wanted to make one of these for one of the kids - and the girls didn't need hats or scarves, so Tomato had to be talked into it. It didn't take *too* much talking, but every time I tried it on him he would freeze for a second, then feel with his hands where the knitting ended, and then really quickly WHIP it off while declaring '2 inches'. So, if I needed to actually measure anything I had to do it really quickly while he was frozen for 1.5 seconds.



I think he decided that he liked it though.



He really loves that it matches his mittens and that they are both green.


Speaking of green.... I found a really neat group on Ravelry that likes to barter - yarny stuff of course, but really anything. I swapped my many skeins of lopi yarn for four skeins of this:



At this point I'm not sure if it will end up being for me or for one of the kids, but I am really excited about making something with it in the new year!

New England Fiber Festival

The first weekend in November was a very busy one. Saturday we squished in a lot, and then Sunday we recovered....

The first annual New England Fiber Festival was held on the Big E grounds. My kids were very excited, as they had wanted to go to the Big E and although we didn't make it this year they would at least get to see where such an event would take place.

It was a fun way to spend the morning - some animals, lots of vendors, and many fun things to see. I ended up bringing home a small amount....

(this does not include my husband's meager purchases of one skein of yarn and two patterns - he's already snatched them and put them away)

I purchased my fiber at Spunky Eclectic. This included some fiber for me to use, green fiber for 'Little Tomato', and sparkily fiber for 'Curly'. I also bought a small skein of fiber at the New England Felting Supply booth and a little wet felting kit there also. It was funny to buy from them as they are based in the town my husband grew up in, and I've never been there before... maybe when I use up more of my stash.... I also bought three skeins of yarn - two of them on 50% off sale at Creatively Dyed. Once again, green for the Little Tomato, and pink for 'Curly' and then I picked up some neat rainbow Kauni yarn for a shawl for the girls. 'Lily' wandered around the show with us but wanted to play at the train table with her brother more than she wanted to choose yarn, so we let her do that.

We then had a couple of hours downtime - which was nice since it had been a crazy week.... and then the near-by crazy uncles showed up to babysit so my husband and I were able to attend a Pink Martini concert. If you've never heard them you should check out some of their music - jazz and pop and world music all on the same album. We own all four of their albums (and just got the fifth one - a holiday one - this week) and really enjoyed the show.

Socks, Vest, Tunic and More

When I posted about my birthday one item hadn't arrived yet... I had commented on this listing on etsy to my husband right around my birthday and he surprised me by ordering it for a late present.



I haven't been spinning lately, but I have plans this week to at least start some again.


Soon after he returned from a trip for work I (a month or two ago) had finished brown socks for my husband.



I forgot to take a picture right when I finished them, and he wore them the next day, so if they look a little stretched it's because he just took them off!



He already handed me yarn for another pair which I am planning to start within the next couple of weeks... I love doing the plain socks, I can knit while watching tv or while watching children - which means they got done quicker than patterned socks!


I finished my first steeked project!



Unfortunately I ran out of the green yarn about 1/4 of the way through the neck ribbing! Someone else on ravelry had listed the same yarn, same dye lot in their stash and was willing to swap me it for some of the yarn in my stash! I only had to wait a couple of days (Well, less than a week) for it to arrive. I worked on the brown socks and finished them while waiting and then finished up the vest as soon as the yarn arrived.



I love how the vest looks on me, but you will have to wait until I buy a new shirt to go with it, as I don't have anything that looks great under it yet! I will post pics here or on ravelry or both once I've made that purchase.



I originally made these slippers for my husband, but I left them in the washer felting a smidge too long and while he could fit into them they weren't comfortable. So I promised him a new pair in the fall and I felted these a bit more and gave them to my dad instead. My mom already purchased nice leathery bottoms for them (and got them in the mail) and just needs to sew them on and he'll have a great warm and non-slick pair of slippers!

I also finished the weaving!


I had done one set of napkins already and after christmas I warped the loom for another set. My family loves using large cloth napkins at meals and although we bought a bunch at ikea I really liked the look of the handmade ones. I finished weaving on my birthday in april and then finally took the couple of days needed and finished most of them for my daughter's tea party that she had for her june birthday. A couple of days later I finished the rest and now the loom is returned and the weaving yarn is back with the stash... perhaps sometime for christmas or spring I'll look into getting a cricket loom or another small loom that I can use for a while and pack away otherwise. I did enjoy weaving though!


Last year when we went to the MA sheep and wool was when my daughters discovered their love for weaving and we originally borrowed the large floor loom from my wonderful neighbors. This year we went to sheep and wool and the family enjoyed seeing the sheep, shearing, sheep dogs for the first time, kool aid dying, lots of things for sale, friends (fun bumping into our neighbors and their friends and sharing their fries!), and a tiny hay maze and play area!




We kept our purchases in check as we are slowly realizing how anti-surplus-consumerism we really are (yes we have stashes, mine - yarn and fiber - fit into four rubbermade bins, my husband's fit into another two and I'm comfortable with that amount). We purchased some new fiber for each of the girls (the pink for 'curly', the yellow and half the brown for 'lily', the green and rest of the brown, and the bright colorful one for me) and some patterns and the yarn for them for my husband. All of my stuff is already added into my ravelry stash page - which I love for knowing what is in those four buckets when I find a new pattern I want to make! If you love the look of something and don't want to go searching on ravelry (or don't belong) ask me and I can tell you what it is!


Also for my youngest daughter's birthday I finished a tunic for her!



I was actually shocked, I worked on it for a couple of weeks and she never asked what it was... I guess they are used to me knitting strange things and just being so excited about them that I explain what they are randomly, but she never knew it was for her, until I was *almost* done with it on her birthday... I told her, tried it on her, finished the last set of pattern and then did the bottom edge and washed and blocked it.



She was very excited about it and twirled in it every time she's put it on so far. She couldn't wait to show her friends, so she wore it to a birthday party she was invited to less than a week after her birthday!