Tag Archives: Spinning

Fiber Artistry and Equipment, Homesteading

The Return of Winter

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Spring is coming, we know it is by the flocks of robins, the few springlike days we have had in the past couple of weeks.  The past two days have exceeded 60ºf ), absolutely delightful weather.  The weather encouraged outdoor time, to clean the chicken coop, to give them free range time, and to allow Jim to take a jaunt on his motorcycle.

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Yesterday afternoon it clouded up and by evening, it was a steady cold rain with the temperatures beginning to drop to the current 28º (-2º) and headed for tonight’s 8º (-13.33º).

By the time I awoke this morning, the rain had turned to sleet, then snow.  The snow is falling steadily and accumulating.

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The weather prognosticators are warning us of 6 to 12″ of snow, depending on which source you choose to believe.  I’m hoping for a much lower amount and a return to the weather of the weekend, but it looks like winter is back and here to stay for at least another week.  I’m ready to do more than think about the spring garden.  Instead, I will knit and spin, make a warm comforting stew for supper and sit tight.

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What I’m knitting, Beaucoup in Happy Feet, a light baby sweater for a spring baby, and Honey Cowl of Green Dragon Terminator color is Heat Wave.

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Fiber Artistry and Equipment, Uncategorized

Neglecting friends

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As I have posted before, we don’t travel much, but somehow have found ourselves away from home as a couple for more than 40 days this past year, plus another couple of weeks where I alone went to help out one or the other of our kids for a few days to a week.  This has cut into my friend time.  My friend time is going to Knit Night on Wednesday night or Spunsters (my spinning group) on Thursday afternoon.  This week we aren’t snowed in, we aren’t away from home and I committed to going to both groups and enjoying the company of those friends.

On Knit Night, we meet at a local coffee shop, they kindly let us take over a huge table from about 5 pm until we go home.  Most of us buy dinner, we sit and socialize, share patterns, trade yarn, tell tales and knit.  The core group is the same with assorted others that come when they can and we always have a good time.  A couple of the husbands will come and sit off at another table and read or if our group isn’t too big or too naughty, may sit with us for a while.

The Spunsters, meet in a conference room at the local library.  Some bring their wheels, some knit or crochet, do finish work on weaving projects or just sit and visit.  This group is at the mercy of the conference room use and sometimes we convene at someone’s home for a potluck.

Both groups challenge me to keep learning the fiber crafts and to improve my skills and socialize.  The spinning group has many fiber raisers and we help out during shearing times which is a season that is starting.

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My current spinning project is a full pound of undyed Sheltland Wool.  I don’t know what it will become.  We will have to see how many yards of yarn it becomes then I will decide and dye it for a handknit, homespun project.

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My current knitting project is a cardigan sweater for me, the pattern is Estelle from Quince and Co. with their Lark yarn in Delft blue.  This is a cute pattern with a ribbed empire waist and feather and fan bands down the front and as a bottom band.  Their yarn is a delight to knit.

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Then queued up is a cowl, either the Honey Cowl or the Basic Lace Cowl from this Unplanned Peacock dk weight in Botanical colorway which I bought after one of my knitting friends and I saw a very colorful weather map of the potential winter storm aimed at us.  We enjoyed a playful banter with Natasha, the owner/dyer of the yarn about the beautiful colors.

It is great to reconnect after a fall and winter of absence and sporadic opportunities to see these friends.

Fiber Artistry and Equipment

Collections

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I don’t generally post more than once a day, but I couldn’t resist this one. As I was reading a blog that I follow, http://divineknits-infiknit.blogspot.com/ she had a post entitled “You collect what…?” a discussion of the various types of collections that people gather and what each of these types of collectors are called.  That post sent me back a bit.  As a kid, I collected postcards when we traveled which was not varied and involved an annual trip to a mountain retreat and a spring or fall trip to the Outer Banks for a camping.  Then in my late 20’s, I took up snow skiing and those trips were more varied, we wore knit caps on our heads then instead of helmets, and I started collecting the little souvenir pin badges from each ski resort and wore them on my knit hat.  The postcards are long gone, the badges might still be stashed in a drawer, but I no longer buy them when we go to a different resort.

But I do collect, functional but beautiful things now.  I do not want clutter about our home, but I love handmade items, so our home is a collection of hand thrown pottery, functional items.  All of our dishes, mugs, service pieces, canisters and crocks to make pickles or hold cooking utensils are pottery.  As well as candle holders, pitchers and platters.

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I also collect baskets, many that I made, or were made for me by a friend that I crafted with, several that are ones purchased by artisans in organisations that are attempting to aid poorly compensated artisans to a fair wage. But they don’t just hang around, they are used lovingly to gather produce or eggs from the farm or to store fiber and yarn.

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And I can’t forget the fiber and yarn that I spin and knit into beautiful garments to wear or gift.

Life is good on our mountain farm.

Fiber Artistry and Equipment

Selfish knitting

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The holiday knitting was completed, the baby set, the finger puppets, 3 pair of kids socks, the scarf for my sister. That one required that I first spin the wool/silk blend, ply it, then knit the scarf.

Now it is my turn. A couple of years ago, I purchased a 3 13 ounce bag of wool/silk blend fiber from Green Dragon Yarns at a fiber festival.  The color way was called Tidal Pool, predominately teal with other seaside accent colors.  This bag of fiber has been in my stash since then. Today I decided to spin it into a single. Santa brought me a new wool coat for Christmas, so I don’t always look like the marshmallow man when I go out in my ski coat. My Ruby scarf and hat look great with it, but I wanted choice and decided that this new yarn to be is a good color.
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I know there isn’t enough to ply for a hat and scarf.  Recently when looking for yarn for the baby outfit, I purchased two skeins of Green Dragon Yarns fingering weight called Cypress.
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The colors looked very complementary and though I have never plyed homespun to commercial yarn before, I knew it could be done and decided that was an excellent way to extend the homespun and make a yarn that would look great as a hat and scarf.

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This is one skein of the plyed result. This is about 245 yards of yarn. When the rest is plyed, it should be enough for the scarf and bottom couple of inches of the hat, with the crown just the Cypress color.

The scarf is The Yarn Harlot’s pattern, One Row. Homespun Scarf. The hat will be a new design utilizing her stitch pattern from the scarf.