Fresh Off the Wheel - I've Got the Blues

 

Lately, I've been at my spinning wheel finishing up projects like trying to complete my yarns before the plys sit around for too long and lose their energy.  The above fiber is from The Painted Tiger and is New England Wool Top dyed in beautiful shades of blue.  Navy blue is my favorite color, besides orange that is, and I love finding it in yarns and fiber as I know it will go with all the clothes I own.  I also purchased this fiber for it's "type' which is really a region and not a specific sheep, basically a representative of American sheep in the Eastern United States.  It's not super soft, but is rumored to be hard wearing which suited my needs for luscious blue socks.  Now, I am still pretty new to spinning (as can be seen in the tangled mass of plys plied in the wrong direction in the photos above) and I realized I should have given this yarn more twist to make it stronger and more durable.  Thus, I am a little forlorn to have gone to so much effort for socks which might not last as long as I want (which is forever of course.)  The yarn turned out to be a bit thicker than planned which pushed me to use US size 3 needles instead of the US size 1s I would normally choose for socks.  They were knit from a general gusseted heel toe up sock pattern from Wendy Johnson's book Socks from the Toe Up.  Honestly, I have yet to knit any complicated sock patterns as the yarn always seems pretty enough in a simple ribbed pattern.  Which is your "go to"sock pattern?

Joining in with Linda for Creative Friday and Amanda for Fibre Arts Friday.

representative of American sheep in the Eastern United States - See more at: http://www.thepaintedtiger.com/category_69/New-England-Wool-Top.htm#sthash.GZdPT2AY.dpuf

representative of American sheep in the Eastern United States - See more at: http://www.thepaintedtiger.com/category_69/New-England-Wool-Top.htm#sthash.GZdPT2AY.dpuf

From Beginning to End - A Hat and Mitten Story

 

I thought I'd show you a picture story of taking fiber to yarn to finished knitted project today.  The beginning starts with some luscious fiber I purchased from Jakira Farms on Etsy.  The vibrant orange/red roving is a blend of Alpaca, Merino Wool and Silk and the soft tan roving is Alpaca mixed with Romney Wool.  I spun singles of each on my Ashford Traditional spinning wheel and plied them together; which is my way of stretching the more expensive dyed fiber to more yardage.  I can't find my note where I wrote down my yardage, but I made enough DK weighted yarn to knit a Rikke Hat by Sarah Young, a pair of Classic DK Mittens in Six Sizes by Joan Janes with enough left over for a small project I'll show you in another post.

The exciting accident the occurred was that this yarn matched a scarf I purchased in Italy about 10 years ago.  I never wear the scarf as had no hat or mittens to match, and I am that kind of matchy matchy person that needs a coordinated set to feel comfortable, but I loved the scarf too much to give it away.  So now it has been pulled from the closet in the bedroom where it languished for a decade to the front closet cubbies where we keep our hats, scarves, mittens and gloves.  I couldn't be happier with the results of this hat and mitten set and getting to finally use a much loved scarf

Joining in with Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On. 

In Search of the Perfect Bunny Rabbit and a Giveaway

Have you ever knit with angora yarn?  It's ever so lovely and soft as it passes through your fingers.  Since embarking on "The Naturals" kitty cat gang and knitting one of the cats from my gray angora hand-spun yarn, I've been a bit obsessed with angora and can't stop knitting and spinning with it.  My fiber comes from a lovely woman named Mary Lou who runs Angora Gardens along with her daughters.  I met her this past Spring at Yarnover, the annual knitting/spinning/all things fiber conference here in Minnesota, and the moment I touched the fibers she had for sale I was hooked.  I purchased her grey cloud roving, which is a blend of 60% sheep's wool with 40% angora fiber, that day to spin my own yarn.

I had plans for the freshly spun angora yarn to line mittens and hats for some extra soft warmth, but my plans took a turn to toys instead.  What better fiber to knit stuffed bunnies with but with bunny fur itself!  So, now that I knew what I wanted to knit with my yarn I embarked on finding the perfect bunny rabbit pattern.  The two I liked best was this one where the bunny is made from a simple square of stockinette knitting and this one which is knit in the round using double pointed needles.  Neither was quite right until I combined them and gave the ears of one to the body of another, thus making, in my eyes, the perfect bunny.  This bunny, along with it's predecessors, are in my shop now for purchase.  But, you can also win one in a giveaway over at Linda's blog Natural Suburbia where I am a new sponsor.  Head on over to Natural Suburbia tomorrow to learn some more about me and my business Simply Playing and of course see how you can win the sweet angora bunny pictured in the third photo below!  

Good luck everyone and have a joyous weekend!

  Bunny number one I thought the ears were too floppy.

 Bunny number two I missed having any back legs and  found the pattern a little too fussy for my taste.

  Bunny number three I just love!  All four legs, simple pattern and ears that stand up - perfect!