Our Wool, Now in Color!

I finally got around to playing in the dyepot the other day. Here's about four ounces of our Rambouillet top in some bright colors:
This particular batch seemed a little hard to spin...I think in my haste to get it finished I may have gotten a little too vigorous in my rinsing and caused it to felt a tad. I tried spinning up some with just pre-drafting, but it still didn't flow as smoothly as it should. So I ran some through the carder and that seemed to work a lot better. The colors, of course, are blended, giving it kind of a tweedy look, but that's okay. I don't like to fight with it as I spin. The plan is to use it in my adult surprise jacket. I've had to rip out several rows of the baby surprise jacket, after I figured out I'd been doing the Make 1's wrong. I guess that's why they say to do the baby surprise jacket before the adult one. Just think how many stitches several rows of that would be!

Baby Surprise Jacket

The other night I cast on for a new project: Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket. I was wanting to make a baby gift and thought I'd give the surprise jacket a try. Here's what's done so far:The pattern seems pretty easy to follow. It's still kind of hard to tell how it's going to turn into a jacket, but you're just supposed to trust the pattern and follow instructions. Kind of like "sit down, shut up, and don't ask questions." So that's what I'm doing. :)

I ordered the pattern that includes the adult surprise jacket pattern, too. I had wanted to make a sweater from the wool from our sheep, and decided maybe this would be a neat idea. You can use lots of colors and odds and ends of different yarns, so this way I can dye up and spin a little at a time and just add it in as I go. No worrying about do I have enough of the same color for the whole project?

I know the adult jacket is an awfully ambitious project for me...she of the Mountain of Unfinished Objects, but maybe the added inspiration of it being from our own wool will help. :)

Felted Mittens

So what did your groundhog say? We've had mostly cloudy weather today, but the clouds may be breaking up a little. Maybe it depends on what time the groundhog looks outside.

Wow, this post is actually about yarn and knitting! Can you believe it? I finally finished some felted mittens I'd started some time ago.I used some KnitPicks "Wool of the Andes," holding two strands together and knit them in kind of a combination of two patterns. (And although it doesn't look that way in the picture, they really are both pretty close to the same size.)

I was in a hurry, of course, to get them felted and forgot to take a picture before throwing them in the washer. I used warm water and a little dishwashing soap, and ran them one time through the heavy duty wash cycle. It agitates faster and longer than the regular cycle on our machine.

It took them two or three days to get completely dry. They're really thick (which makes them a little stiff), and seem like they'll be really warm. You can find lots of patterns for felted mittens on Ravelry if you think you want to give some a try. :)

Our Wool Becomes Yarn

My newest spinning project? Our wool. I finally got around to spinning up a little bit of our Rambouillet combed top that arrived from the mill.
I spun some just as it was. Except for pre-drafting, of course. It wasn't quite as buttery smooth as I thought it might be, but still it was nice. There seemed to be some clumps that were kind of hard to draft, but the yarn came out really lofty and squishy.There were about 80 yards in the first batch. Being impatient, I just spun it up without dyeing it first and then used some big needles and the chunky yarn to knit a little scarf.
I tried putting some of the wool through the drum carder a couple of times for a batt. That seemed to break up the clumps and made for a smoother yarn. It was still nice and lofty, though. The twist was set by washing in lavender baby shampoo and then another rinse with lavender Eucalan. And boy, does it smell nice! :)

Look, An (Almost) Finished Object!

Remember awhile back I started on the Brooke's Column of Leaves Scarf? It's finished, sort of.

The pattern says it needs to be blocked. Being new to lace knitting, I've never blocked anything before. I don't know if it would make much of a difference or not. Here's what it looks like now:
It's about 35 inches long and 6 inches wide. That's not a very long scarf, it's more of a neck warmer, but I just knitted until I used up the skein. It was worsted weight, 220 yards. With the lacey holes, it could probably have a couple of buttons added somewhere to keep it in place. Okay, expert knitters, let's hear your advice!

Newfoundland Mittens

After trolling around on Ravelry one day looking at patterns, I came across these Newfoundland Mittens. I thought they were SO cute! I'm still working on both of the scarves I started, but being awfully bad about starting something new before finishing the project I'm working on, I went ahead and cast on.

I had some leftover yarns in my stash, and used a natural white wool for the body and some hand dyed wool yarn for the rest. This was the first time I'd used a colorwork pattern. I always thought colorwork would be really complicated, but this pattern has been pretty easy for the most part. I had a little trouble now and then figuring out where to start each row for some reason, but it wasn't too hard to get back on track.

I think they're going to be really warm, too, because of the double strands. The first one is done, and the second just needs the thumb and the ends woven in. Surely I can stick with them long enough to do that! :)

More Lace

The other day I showed you my first attempt at a lace scarf. I also said that I had cast on a more complicated pattern just for fun. It was another pattern that was on Ravelry, Brooke's Column of Leaves Knitted Scarf.

This was another of my hand dyed yarns (worsted weight). It starts out as a really pale green and gradually gets darker as you go. The pattern really hasn't seemed too difficult. The hardest thing I think for me about lace is keeping track of where I should be (kind of like the Kitchener stitch). So I did another color coded chart to make it easier, especially when I'm knitting while watching TV. The scarf pattern isn't mine, so I won't reprint it here, but I made up a sample chart to show what I've been doing. Remember, this isn't a real pattern...who knows what it would look like if it were actually knitted! It's just an example of how I wrote out the other one.

I wrote out only two rows on each sheet of paper, the right side row at the top of the page, and the wrong side row at the bottom of the page. Then I took a colored marker and put a box around two or three sets of stitches. Then with a different color, another box around the next few sets, etc. It somehow makes it easier for me to keep track of where I am on the pattern.

This lace is turning out to be more fun than I thought. Who knows what I might try next!

P.S. Be sure to check out the Fiber Arts Friday Blog Carnival at Alpaca Farm Girl!

Lace Knitting? Me?

After all my talk about simple knitting, for some strange reason the other day I was seized by this sudden urge to try lace knitting! Can you believe it?!

So I searched around on Ravelry and found this pattern. It said it was easy, so that sounded like a good one to try first. Here's my progress so far:

I used a fingering weight sock yarn that had been in the shop and didn't sell, and size 3 needles. I did change the pattern a little since the yarn was pretty fine and would have made the scarf awfully narrow otherwise. It has an 18-stitch repeat with two knit stitches at the beginning and end of each row. So I just doubled the repeat, making 36, and added the four end stitches, for a cast on of 40 stitches. The lace pattern repeat is only four rows, and was pretty easy to memorize even for a simple-knit person like myself. I'm kind of liking the way it's coming out so far.

I've even cast on for another more complicated pattern just for fun, but I'll save that for another post. :)

Aaaack! It's the Kitchener Stitch!

Last night I finished the knitting portion of my "seven-needle" socks. Now to figure out what color to make them. What I did last night was to weave the toes with the dreaded kitchener stitch.

This time seemed to be easier than most times when I've done the stitch. I guess it's not really hard to do...the main problem I have is in keeping track of which step I'm on. Here's a trick I use to make that simpler. (Remember I like my knitting simple.) This isn't a tutorial on how to actually do the stitch. This is assuming someone already knows how, and like me, finds it hard to keep track of what to do when. I wrote up a chart with some color coding according to the directions I use for making the kitchener stitch.


The key to my abbreviations:

Step 1
FN, P, LO = insert weaving needle into the first stitch on the Front Needle as if to Purl, Leave On the needle.

Step 2
BN, K, LO = insert weaving needle into the first stitch on the Back Needle as if to Knit, Leave On the needle.

Step 3
FN, K, Sl Off = insert weaving needle into the first stitch on the Front Needle as if to Knit, Slip Off the needle.

FN, P, LO = insert weaving needle into the first stitch on the Front Needle as if to Purl, Leave On the needle.

Step 4
BN, P, Sl Off = insert weaving needle into the first stitch on the Back Needle as if to Purl, Slip Off the needle.

BN, K, LO = insert weaving needle into the first stitch on the Back Needle as if to Knit, Leave On the needle.

Then......(this is sounding more complicated as I'm writing it than it really is)...as I repeat steps 3 & 4, I can look at the chart and think "red," "yellow," "green," "blue" as I do each step and look at the corresponding directions for each color.

Wow, I don't know if that will help anyone or not...after seeing it written down I'm thinking maybe I'm just weird. :) But who knows?

Two-at-a-Time Sock Progress

My "seven-needle" socks are coming along. I've started down the foot and have maybe another inch or less to go before starting the toe decreases. It's been kind of slow going, but this is fast becoming my new favorite way to do socks. As I said before, it might have been easier to use separate balls of yarn, but then you would have had to divide your original skein exactly in half. So in the long run, this way might be simpler after all.

Did you remember this is sport weight yarn? I'm kind of liking it, too. I have kind of narrow feet anyway, so thicker socks might help some shoes to fit a little better. And besides, winters can get pretty cold here sometimes. A few more evenings of knitting, and the "seven-needle" socks should be ready for color!

Fulled Slippers

I thought I'd show you a little knitting project I finished up...my first knitted and fulled slippers. I used sort of a combination of patterns. They're based on the Fuzzy Feet slipper pattern, but also on an old faithful sock pattern I use for regular socks (from Learn to Knit Socks by Edie Eckman). The sock pattern calls for sport weight yarn and #3 needles, casting on 48 stitches. Instead I used worsted weight yarn and #6 needles, also trying to knit rather loosely. I did the cuff in stockinette like "Fuzzy Feet" called for, then did the foot like the other pattern. Except that the foot had to be 12 5/8 inches long! I wasn't sure how much yarn I'd need, so I knitted them first and then dyed them a bright red color. Here they are after coming out of the dyepot:

And after fulling:

I ran them through the spin cycle to get most of the water out, and wore them around for an hour or so over two pairs of fairly bulky socks to give them a custom fit.

And boy, are they ever warm and comfortable!

Starting on the Sweater

The needles I ordered came a few days ago, so I set right to work on my alpaca/Merino sweater. Here's the progress so far.

It started off really quickly, because the yarn is fairly chunky and I only had to cast on 60 stitches for the neck. Of course, as you do the increases on every other round, it takes longer and longer to do each one. But still, it seems to be coming right along. The yarn is handspun singles, giving it a nice textured look and it's oh, so soft! The knitting is enjoyable just from feeling the yarn in your hands! The pattern I'm using is the sweater generator found here. It's really simple so far, which is the kind of knitting pattern I like. :) I'll try to keep you posted as I go along.

Jaywalkers on Hold

Well, the progress on my Jaywalker socks came to a stop a couple of nights ago. They've been giving me kind of a struggle anyway. I had to rip out probably at least an inch first, and then one of the needles broke! I was using wood #1's. I noticed one evening that one of them looked kind of bent, but kept on knitting. Then later...snap! So now they're just sitting there in the basket. I'm thinking of trying some metal ones, especially with the double decreases on the Jaywalkers. I guess I can still do my regular sock pattern with the other four wooden ones...it only uses four needles. I was hesitant to try the metal ones, thinking they might be too slick, but I think that's what I'll order. I started on a pair of mittens from some of my handspun to do in the meantime.

The wool/nylon blend sock yarn arrived a few days ago, and I got the first one painted yesterday. After I get this posted, I'm going to go rinse it out and hang it up to dry. I did it in my "Prism" colorway, and from what I can tell, it looks like it's going to be bright. I'll try to post a picture when it gets dry.

Sock Report

I've been working on the socks I'm knitting with the sock yarn I ordered. I forgot to mention when I posted about dyeing the yarn that I used the solar dyeing method this time. I had tried it before with some roving I think it was, but it wasn't a sunny enough or hot enough day, and there was still a lot of dye left when I rinsed it. This time, though, we'd had some 90 degree sunny days. I put it outside in the late morning and brought it in in the late afternoon. When I rinsed it, the water was practically clear right off the bat. I'm working on the gusset now. Here's a picture:

I'm not by any means a very experienced knitter. I learned to crochet years ago, but didn't really seriously try knitting till the past two or three years. And then I've mostly done small things like caps or mittens. Last year I was in a yarn shop and saw a book about learning to knit socks and thought it looked interesting, so I've done a few pairs and found I really enjoyed it. I've so far just done simple patterns...ribbed cuffs and stockinette foot. I kind of like not having to concentrate too hard or do much counting when I'm sitting there watching TV. Lazy, I guess:) Maybe one of these days, I'll give one of those fancy patterns a whirl. I don't know, though, I kind of like having a really variegated color yarn and just letting the color do the work!

Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook

I had ordered the book, "Spinning for Softness and Speed" by Paula Simmons quite some time ago from Amazon, and finally found out that they can't get it from their supplier anymore. (It turns out that you have to order it directly from Paula Simmons herself.) Anyway, instead of getting a refund, I ordered the "Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook" by Lynne Vogel. There's lots of information about designing and knitting socks, but also TONS of material on color and different dye techniques that I was especially interested in. I've already been using the new ideas (new to me anyway) on my next batch of yarn. Part of it is done, and the rest is soaking, waiting to go in the dyepot. I'll try to post pictures next time. Thanks for reading!

Ta Da!

I finished the first alpaca sock! I guess I'm not a very fast knitter, it took about a week and a half for one sock! It feels really good on, so different from regular cotton socks. Alpaca is supposed to be really warm, so I may have to store these till winter. I need to hurry up and start on the second, so I don't get distracted and start on something else, leaving an odd sock.

Also, I've started on the new roving. I divided it up into sections of about four ounces each. The first batch I spun up into a little bit of a textured yarn. I'll paint this one after spinning. Another batch I hand dyed first...it's hanging up to dry. It will probably be ready to start on by this afternoon. Here it is:

The inspiration for this one was the Indian Paintbrush flowers that are just starting to bloom in the prairie hayfield. They are usually some of the first prairie flowers to bloom in the spring, with lots more to follow.

Better go for now...thanks for reading!

The Roving's Here!

Well, the Merino roving that was on backorder finally came! Two pounds of it, just waiting to be spun into some soft, cuddly yarn. Now I need to put on my thinking cap and come up with some ideas for colors.

The alpaca socks are coming along. Last night I finished the heel flap and turned the heel, ready now for the gusset. They're like Charmin...squeezably soft.

It's Fiber Friday at Etsy. I don't have anything new to list right now, but I may jump in and feature one of the yarns with lots of views. Better go for now...thanks for reading!

Alpaca

If you've ever worked with alpaca fiber, you'll know why I like using it. It is soooo soft, and the natural colors of it are beautiful. The yarn in the picture is some I spun from some roving I bought at a sheep show last summer. It's a pretty fine weight yarn. I made a mitten with it earlier, but the needles were a little big, which left the fabric too open for a mitten I thought. So, rrrrrrrip. I'm a fairly new sock knitter--I made a pair from Corriedale yarn this winter and wore a hole in the bottom before very long. Of course when you wear them every evening instead of slippers, (they feel so good on your feet, don't you know) they get a lot of wear and tear. Anyway, I decided the other day that maybe my alpaca yarn would make a great pair of socks. So here's my effort on them so far. The roving was really neat...it was white and dark brown together, and gives a tweedy effect after spinning.

I'm thinking about ordering some more alpaca roving to spin up for the shop. Maybe I'd better look into that... Better go, thanks for reading!