Spinning.......

 I got back to spinning before the holidays......not spending a lot of time spinning but I am spinning.  I'm working on some merino/tussah silk/tencel blend dyed by my friend Whitney of Twisted & Dyed Fibers. I got the first 2 braids spun and finished plying a couple nights ago, last night I wound the first of it into a skein. Two more braids to spin. And no, I'm not sure what this will grow up and be, will start thinking about it once I'm done and see how many yards I have.  I'm spinning it between a lace and fingering weight. I tend to spin fairly thin, will have to concenrate on spinning a little thicker after I finish this because I find so many patterns I like that require DK or worsted weight yarn. 

Color abounds

Yesterday afternoon I finally got some time at the loom. Here's the start of the towel warp - I'll weave with this navy weft until I run out, then I'll move to another color, maybe fushcia???  Unfortunately it was a cloudy day so this photo doesn't do the towel justice.

 And here is the colorful handspun all finished - looks like it's a coordinating yarn to the towel warp. It's a polwarth and silk blend.  I still need to wash this skein and count the yardage. Not sure what this will grow up to be yet. 

I'm going to try and get back to spinning in the evenings but I've also started knitting a pair of socks so might work on those for a couple nights. The leg portion of those requires me to pay attention so will have to be selective on knitting while we watch tv in the evenings as some shows/movies require more of my attention.

MIA.......

I have been MIA on this blog, just can't seem to post. Life is stressful dealing with family health and aging issues.  I'm not really motivated to compose a post, too much stress plus I don't really have much to say but I'm trying this morning. I am trying to get myself moving on boxing up some gifts that need to be mailed, today handmade holiday cards will go in the mail. I'm really not accomplishing much creatively.

Last week in-between other things going on in my life I did get a two block twill towel warp on the loom. I only had time to weave 3 towels so far but it's a start and it did my mental state good to sit at the loom threading heddles, sleying the reed and throwing the shuttle. I am trying to use what's in my stash rather than purchase more but I'm running out of my favorite colors of 8/2 unmercerized cotton in addition to white and black. This is not to say I don't have 8/2 - I've got shelves of it, just not all the colors I want.  But I've got loads of greens, I mean loads of it so this warp has 2 shades of green (and natural) and I'm using a teal weft right here, next up a dark green weft. 

 A couple weeks ago I plied this yarn that had been on bobbins for a year. It's bamboo, merino and nylon. I'm not sure what this will grow up to be yet, it's sitting on the shelf 'marinating' for the time being. I am thinking about starting to spin something fun and colorful - I think I said that in my last post but it hasn't happened yet. 

I'm hoping to post more often and have fun creative fiber projects to share in the near future. Everyone stay safe and wear your mask. 

Handspun

 I have been away from the spinning wheel for a long time, over a year.  I was missing it so this last week I plied what had been on bobbins sitting all this time.  The first is this Ashland Bay merino in the Rose Quartz colorway. I've got 3 big skeins in a worsted weight so am thinking a hat, cowl and fingerless mitts for a gift.  I've also plied some merino/bamboo/nylon but it's not been washed yet - picture to come once I do that. Now I feel like I can start spinning something that's been waiting in the wings, something fun, something colorful........I've short listed choices, just need to decide on which but first I'll knit this up. 

Onward to another project......

I had plans of putting another towel warp on the loom but that cone of 8/2 black cotton had other plans. I spent hours figuring out the color order for a draft, then started winding the warp making constant color changes. I got around 5" wound before I cried uncle.  The black, of which there were quite a few stripes, kept breaking - it would break if I looked at it wrong.  Sam found me sitting on the floor trying to repair a break at the bottom peg only to find it breaking over and over again as I tied a knot, I was ready to cry but just got myself up and walked away.  An hour later I went back, pulled everything off the warping board and sacrificed it to the weaving goddess, aka trash can.  At that point I decided I needed to do something different...….

…..and here it is - a quilt wallhanging kit I bought months ago. It has 12 different barn blocks which will be separated by sashing and star cornerstones. I'm loving the look of the blocks I've sewn so far up on my design wall.  And yes, I made the design wall too.  It's a big piece of felt that I hung using command hooks and office binder clips - it's in front of the sliding closet doors in my sewing room. Easy to move out of the way or remove and so much better to see the quilt in progress.  I can't wait to get to the sewing machine today to work on block #6. I'm getting better at matching my points, still not perfect but I'm learning, matching points and working with bias pieces is new to me. Although not perfect I'm happy with my blocks.

I'm still working on my shawl a bit in the evenings. it's slow but coming along. This is my handspun, merino and merino/tussah blends that I blended together on the blending board - a total of 8 different colorways.

Handspun projects....

 I cut the shawl woven from my handspun off the loom today, twisted the fringe and washed it, it's now hanging to dry. I didn't agitate it but did think it might full a bit more than it did. I'll check it after it's dry and see if I need/want to full it a bit.

Yesterday at my spinning group I started another shawl.  It's the Pretty Basic shawl pattern I've knit in the past. I wanted to link to this shawl pattern on Ravelry but it's now discontinued and no longer available......glad I got it when I did...….

This and that.......

I have gotten a little bit of fiber time. I'm nowhere near where I need to be to keep my sanity but I'm trying to work toward getting back to what my normal had been for 2+ decades. How did life change? I need for it to change back, at least partially back to what it used to be or 'funny farm' here I come.

I put some handspun on the loom recently for a double weave/width afghan. Color is not quite right but it's close, and that was after working on it. Newer version of my old camera takes terrible pictures colorwise, just don't get it. Anyhow, that skein on the top is the weft.

Here it is in progress. The join is on the left hand side. When this comes off the loom it will unfold to be twice it's width, which is around 42" before washing.  I'd like to think I would get it off the loom today and be able to start twisting the fringe but I've also got 3 fruit trees to prune and I need to help Sam get the bird netting over the garden structure.

I finally finished a pair of superwash merino/bamboo/nylon socks that have been on the needles for probably a year. A project that I'd just pick up here and there when I needed to grab a quick project to work on while on the go. They feel super soft, with our weather these may not end up on my feet until next winter. Time to get another pair of socks on the needles for my on the go, no thinking necessary, project.

At the sewing guild meeting last week we learned about Swedish weaving, which is not really weaving (as we weavers know) but embroidery on huck fabric - the embroidery sits on the top of one side of the fabric. This is my sample in progress. I think I may be pulling my thread to tight - looks fine but once washed it may pull.....I need to consult my fellow guild member to find out. This is very fun and very addictive......the last thing I need is something else fun to do as I don't have the hours to do what I want but that's ok, I'll fit it in somewhere, sometime.  I'm thinking I need to make myself a couple of towels, maybe even make a few gifts for later in the year.

Busy week ahead.  I'm hoping to find time to start winding a warp for bumbaret towels although I'm learning life gets in the way all too often. All those colors of 8/2 cotton are calling to me to make super colorful towels.

Askew........

Yes, here I am again using my phone camera and pictures coming out askew and no matter how I fix them on the computer when I upload them here they're wrong.  Oh well...…

I've made accessories to match The Sampler Cowl knit earlier.  This upsidedown hat is called Sisters Hat  by JanKnit Designs - a free download on Ravelry. It's named after the Three Sisters mountains in central Oregon around 4-5 hours from here.  I started knitting it using one strand of my handspun but it looked too flimsy so I doubled my handspun and it turned out perfect on size 7 needles.

And I made the Welted Fingerless Gloves to go with the set. This pattern is by Kit Hutchins/Churchmouse Yarns.  I used size 6 needles and a single strand of my handspun, which is around a DK weight yarn. This pattern was a little confusing but I went with what I thought it meant and did just fine. I did 2 purl rows before binding off which wasn't in the pattern.

So, this set is destined to be in my spinning group's display at the county fair this coming summer. I came up with a theme for our display of drawing inspiration from flower seed packets. My seed packet was Penstemon. Hoping it turns out to be a fun display with seed packets hung with items they inspired.  I may do another project since I got this one done early - that one in purples & blues.

New on the needles.....

New on the needles is the Sampler Cowl.  This is out of my own hand-dyed, handspun - merino/tussah silk. I'll probably have enough to either knit a matching hat or fingerless mitts, or both. I'll work on this in the evenings while we watch tv. Here's the link to the free pattern on Ravelry - Sampler Cowl

This and that.......

 I finally got a decent picture of the shawl that I blocked last week, the one that I spun the Inglenook Fibers 12 days of Christmas fibers for. Love how it turned out but in this heat won't be wearing it until fall or winter.

And here are the hexxie pieces hand stitched together so far. They're in sections with the flower and part of the white background. I was laying them out to see how many I'll need for an afghan size. I'm thinking 5 flowers across and 9 flowers down but will decide for sure after I get more stitched. Im undecided if I'll put half flowers on the edges or if it will all be white.....will decide that later too.  No stitching at the moment, finger is still sore but I'll be ready with the stick on thimble once it's recovered.  Don't ask me why pictures with the phone sometimes turn when I upload them to blogger - it's not this orientation on my computer. Technology...……

A bit of fibery fun.....

Got started weaving on the towel warp - only two towels woven though as we had to take advantage of beautiful afternoon weather to prune the small area of grapevines we have. Perfect cheery colors for winter weaving.


Day started out below freezing with freezing fog but by early afternoon it was warm and sunny, warm enough for no jackets. Grapevines hadn't been pruned in who knows how many years.....one of them supported with posts and wire as it should have been....the other had grown into the deck railing and fencing, never had any kind of traditional vine supports. We fixed that putting in posts and wires and after trimming winding remaining vines on the new wire - hopefully it will do well. Fruit tree trimming will be coming up soon, most probably next month. That will be another huge job as those 2 apple & 2 plum trees probably haven't been pruned in many years. Already seeing new buds on the rose bushes and trees - it's only January!

I finished plying the lime/purple spinning. I haven't blocked the skein yet, nor measured how many yards I've got yet. Not sure what it will grow up to be, will go on the shelf until an idea pops into my mind.

Southwest Sunset Shawl

I finally decided to sell this shawl. It's handspun and handwoven. I kept thinking I'd keep it for myself but I haven't worn it so it's time to see if someone else would love this lovely piece. It's handspun merino wool, tussah silk, mohair, bamboo, tencel, ribbon, rayon with a bamboo weft. Lovely autumnal colors. It's listed in my Etsy shop HERE.

A bit of progress.........

 Remember way back last December 25th when I opened the first package of the 12 Days of Christmas spin-a-long from Inglenook Fibers?  Well, it didn't take me too long to spin it all, but it took a while before I found a pattern I wanted to use for the resulting knit shawl. I finally finished it up a few weeks ago but going outside to block it in this smoky hazardous air quality wasn't happening. Yesterday I decided to just set up a table inside to do the blocking. Here it is finished. The pattern is called Be Simple Variations - it's an asymmetrical shawlette.

 I decided to paint the loom room and sewing/craft room before unpacking boxes. I knew once it was all unpacked they would never be painted, I mean never. I painted a bright white which is great since so much of the walls will be covered up and there's only one window in each room. Unfortunately my loom room is a bit smaller than my last one so two pieces of furniture won't fit in and it's a bit tight but I'll make it work. Here's one view of the room.

Here's a view from the other corner. I still need to buy shelving for the closet to store all the books and magazines and whatever else. Above the closet is a 3 ft deep shelf - I'm going to put things I don't use as often up there like my table loom (workshops only), inkle loom, marudai, drum carder, etc. It will take a ladder to take them down but that's ok, they'll be out of the way when I'm not using them.  There is going to be a tv mounted up high so I can see it from my chair at the table and also from each loom. What you can't see is the view out the window is the side yard with roses all along the fence. 

 Here's the sewing/craft room - I've got two tables in there so I have space to work on 3 machines, my Bernina QE440, my Bernina 1350 Serger and my cheapie Brother embroidery machine.....which does a great job. I have another cheapie Brother but it's in a carrier to take to workshops.

Here's looking in the other direction. I didn't get a picture of the closet but it's the same as the loom room with the storage shelf above. Maybe it will be a good place to store roving.......not sure yet.

I plan on starting to unpack all the boxes into these two rooms this week. I'm anxious to be able to find things and get on with weaving. I've got several special orders to weave. I've got some sewing projects I want to get to with making café curtains for the bathrooms and then a special order of embroidered towels.

We have the worst air quality in the nation - the fires just keep burning and it's not just the fires close to us but it's the entire northwest. It doesn't matter which way the wind shifts, there's always smoke. They are making headway on our Taylor Creek Fire - it's now 38% contained. The Klondike Fire, only 5% contained, is getting close to meeting up with the SE corner of  our Taylor Creek Fire. For safety reasons (for fire crews) both fires will now be under one command. It's going to be a long fire season - what's really scary is that we haven't even entered the worst part of fire season yet. We've always had fires but nothing like they've been the last 10+ years - now it seems to be the norm to live with smoke the majority of the summer.

Hanging in there...........

I finally decided to knit the 'Be Simple Variations' asymmetrical shawlette using the 12 Days of Christmas handspun. It will be interesting to see how it turns out as it goes from color to color. It will also be interesting to see how big it ends up. I knit this shawlette using fingering weight yarn but this is more worsted size knit on bigger needles. I'm hoping it turns out big enough or I'll be ripping it out and trying something else. I am knitting on this when I'm not totally exhausted in the evening.

I'm hanging in there with the house buying project although I'm overwhelmed at times......many times. If all goes well we will be signing papers on the new house this week. I finally finished going through the entire house as I refuse to box up and move things I haven't used since we moved to this house 15 years ago. I've started packing so the house shows better............as in packing the weaving and sewing/crafts rooms as the rest of the house shows just fine. We have some work to do on the deck which Sam has started. Not sure when we'll get this house listed but am hoping it's in the not too distant future as we don't want to have an extra house for very long.

I've heard interesting comments from those around me about our move. Friends are feeling bad for us because we're downsizing - huh??? The new house is only a tiny big smaller so I wouldn't call that downsizing, we are downsizing from acreage to a neighborhood and no one should feel bad for us over that - it's what we want to do, it's a choice, we don't have to move, we can stay right where we are but we are ready to take care of less and have more time for the things that are important to us like weaving, spinning, quilting, sewing, beading, knitting, golfing, fishing, walking on the beach, etc, etc, etc.....   So dear friends, if you read this, please stop making those comments as it's starting to get on my nerves. Other than having to go through all the pains of buying and selling, which seem to be much worse this time than ever before, we're very happy...........we're both thinking about now that we don't ever want to move again but who knows what the future holds......

 This was the yarn I spun while demo'ing at the fair - it's blocked and ready to go on the shelf until I decide what it will grow up to be. I still need to count up the yardage so I know what I've got, it's a monster skein off my Hansen electric spinner.

This is what a sunrise looks like when we're socked in with smoke.....this morning it's not yet as bad as it has been but give it a couple hours. We have fires surrounding our area - the smoke extremely unhealthy. Extended forecast for temps 100+ which is never a good thing with these fires. I feel so silly complaining about them with what's going on the Houston region.........that devastation is beyond belief, my heart goes out to all affected and who will be affected for years to come.

Almost forgot

 I almost forgot to take pictures of the circle scarf I blocked this morning - it didn't take but 4 hours to dry outside. This scarf is Pei by Michele Wang - it only takes around 225 yards of a fingering weight or sport weight yarn. Perfect for those small amounts of handspun still on my shelves. I knit this out of handspun merino/tussah from Ashland Bay in the concord colorway - it was leftover from a bigger project.

Here is it doubled around the neck.  I can see there will be more of these in my future - fast knits and a great use of smaller amounts of handspun from fun fibers I/ve spun.

12 Days of Christmas

Finally a photo of the finished 12 Days of Christmas shawl, this was handspun and handknit from fiber from the 12 Days of Christmas fiber from Inglenook Fibers. I spun them in order starting with the gold at the top which was day one. I'm very happy with my finished shawl. I knit until I ran out of yarn and only had 3 feet left by the time I bound off.

Making progress.......

I'm making progress on the shawl, coming down the home stretch. It will look much nicer when blocked and all the holes show up, especially along the bottom few inches.....intentional holes, not mistake holes. If I were not following 'the rules' of spinning each packet of this 12 Days of Christmas fiber I may have rearranged the colors but this is how they came, so that's how I spun them.

I've been having hand problems the past several months so I'll have to let it rest a day before knitting again.....or weaving. I guess overuse is catching up with me............

What to do???

Decisions, decisions.........oh, what to do. Remember starting on December 25th I started spinning the Inglenook Fibers 12 Days of Christmas fiber?  Then I finished it up by plying it with rayon embroidery thread? Well, I loved the look of the resulting handspun but it was laceweight and I started many a shawl only to rip them out, I just didn't like the look and was kicking myself for not originally spinning fingering weight yarn. So, last week I Navajo plied it - a risk since I'd be putting more twist in it but it worked out ok. I started the Pretty Basic Shawl pattern the other evening. Now the issue. I'm using size 6 needles but am now wondering if I should have used size 7 or even 8. It's not a big deal to rip it out because it knits quickly. I tried stretching it out to see how it might look after blocking and still can't decide.........decisions, decisions............ 

Fresh off the wheel..........and on.........

I finally got the 12 Days of Christmas handspun plied - I used a silvery/lavender rayon thread for plying. I haven't counted up how many yards I spun, it's lace weight. I don't know yet if I'll knit or weave with it, I don't know if I'll change up color orders as I get to knitting or weaving. Lots to think about.......so it will sit on the shelf marinating for a bit while I decide what I want to use it for. If you didn't see the spinning check out posts daily starting on December 25th when I opened one little package to spin each day from the Inglenook Fibers 12 Days of Christmas offering for this past holiday season.

And here's what's up next on the wheel, I started spinning yesterday, I've got around 1 1/2 pounds. I'm planning on plying it on itself ending up with around fingering weight yarn. This is merino/tencel, some of my hand-dyed from a few years ago that I stashed. I'm in love with these colors.

I don't watch much news these days - it's too depressing but I can't totally escape what's going on. I will do what I can by writing my senators and congressmen and support organizations that are/will be in need. I'm so embarrassed for our country, our current president continues to say and do embarrassing things. I won't go on because I'd never stop........but when are those republicans going to get some balls and stand up to him and do what's right for our country and people???