Tempus fugit 🕰

Wow, 2023 speeds ahead.  Using the wayback machine, I need to catch things up since last September. We went to Ireland the last week of October. We visited friends along the way and made it up to County Donegal.  It was a treat to see Studio Donegal, where the tweed continues to be woven by hand.  

The mill shop at Kerry Wollen Mill, Co Kerry, Ireland.

It is where I bought the Kerry Gold color way of KWM

Aran Wool 3ply.

A lovely green tweed warp. The sound of the 
shuttles going back and forth was nice to hear.

Looking down at the at the warping room and all

the cones of yarn. A look just to the left, and on to the...

Cutting and sewing room. Pattern pieces hanging

at the ready.

  A closeup of some lovely wool tweed pieces

for garments.

Piece by beautiful piece. 

I produced quite a bit of knitting the past year, and expanded the sweater choices for the Pick A Sweater class at beWoolen.

Blomst

Forêts Paisibles, Ris, Anthology,
and Dreaming of Provence 

Cassis, Goldwyn Folly (with a dash of Anthology), 
and Inovec

Of course there are WIPs. One is fingering weight, which I love (but what was I thinking?!) and the other two are Aran weight.  

Simple Sweater TCK

Classic Cardigan, TCK

Lara by Di Gilpin is a fun and quick knitting project.
Donegal tweed for the body and some leftover KWM
in Kerry Gold from the Cassis for the neckband.

WIPUFOS

Yesterday I tackled the room to see how much spinning fiber is there and to organize yarn not in the cubbyholes...oh, and the WIPs and UFOs.  It took time and I got my 10,000 steps in easily without a walk outside.  While I like the room, it is small and fiber takes up room.  My drawing table faces the window, which is good, and my computer is next to it, but I find the bulky fiber stuff distracting at times.  The art supplies are stored in the closet, organized and out of sight while the fiber-related things are visible and bulky.  Hummm...it's a process and I'm working through the fiber and projects downsizing along the way.

Finishing the almostsixyear project was huge for me.  I started it August 3, 2011 and finished it July 31, 2017.  The yarn is Spud and Chloe Fine, a wool/silk blend with beautiful color and drape.

The photograph below shows the steeks with the red yarn marking exactly where to cut after securing the stitches on either side with machine sewing.  After securing and cutting the steeks, I was picking up the stitches for the band and yarn moved.  That is something one doesn't want to see when cutting the knitting.  Back to the sewing machine I went to re-zigzag and then the vest went in a bag in the corner of the room to be in time out.  I like to think the steeks were healing.  Three years and many projects later, I revisited the vest and finished the band around the fronts and neck and partially hand stitched the facing to the inside.  The only knitting left to do was for the simple armhole bands.  At that point other projects and activities took over, life happened, and just opening the bag and peeking in was enough to make me shudder.

Fast forward to summer 2017.  Determined to finish those pesky projects (the vest included) majorknitter's Ravelry group Finish or Frog It Friday members to finish projects during the month of July.  I managed two sweaters and this vest (just qualifying under the wire).  It was just the motivation that was needed to light a fire under my rear and get those needles busy.

2011

 Ta-da!  It turned out beautiful and I will be happy to wear it on the first day it's cool enough.  I named it Tangled because one of the hanks of yarn was just awful to wind.  It is Kasuri Chanchanko, from Folk Vests by Cheryl Oberle.  Kasuri is the Japanese form of ikat weaving, using resist dyeing before weaving the fabric.  The process gives a softened or blurred effect to the designs on the fabric. This is the fifth vest I made from the book making Folk Vests one of my favorite sources for vest patterns.

I popped a bit of color inside the facing.

The other sweaters I finished are Knitting Pure and Simple V-Neck Neck-Down Cardigan #994 in Debbie Bliss Cotton Denim DK and Tulgey Wood (so named because of the yarn color--Frabjous Fibers March Hare), which is really Acorn Trail minus the cables.  To find just the right buttons for these sweaters, I took a dive into the button stash and organized the buttons in the process.   I don't remember where I purchased the buttons for the blue sweater, but the three for the brown sweater are from Treadle Yard Goods in St. Paul, Minnesota.  

Rather than making buttonholes, I made button loops on the bind-off row.

The perfect cotton cardigan for cool days.  I had Mary snap a photo by my studio space at Anoka Fiber Works.

The wait is on for sweater weather!

WOW

Wiping out works in progress...I am making great strides on the Puffin Mantle and should finish over the weekend.

The Beaded Beret stopped because I ran out of the beads.  I have new beads and will take out the row and possibly mix the beads.  Must think about this one a bit.

The cotton sweater is coming along.  I am at the mind-numbing stockinette stitch body.  The Debbie Bliss Cotton Denim DK is lovely yarn in pale denim.

The orange project is an entrelac bowl (it was a short phase some years ago) like the one (that needs to be fulled) beside the snowman, one of three that have been in a basket for longer than I can remember.  I have a lace sweater that needs to be frogged and the yarn re-purposed, as well as the vest that needs armbands.    Single patterns are now organized and filed and books are easier to find, as I rearranged them.  Patterns for classes are pulled and ready to use.  Samples are all finished, documentations are turned in, and I can focus on other projects.  Projects include paintings, weaving, spinning, and wet and needle felting.  Making progress is good!

WIP Wipeout 2016

Okay, it's time to clear the needles, use up the yarn stash,  and spin down the fiber stash.  I have been downsizing and that includes not just the stuff in drawers/closets/basement/garage, but also the art/fiber art materials.  This year is the year of whipping the personal WIPs (works in progress) and UFOs (unfinished objects) done.  It is easy to let those projects go because I do sample knitting for the shop and occasional sample knitting for Blue Sky Alpacas and test knitting. 

For the shop I have the Celtic Rowan Pillow on the needles.  It is the first time I have turned corners while cabling using short rows.  Once the knitting progresses it becomes easy to keep the momentum going.  Pictured is the border that will go around the central motif.  Thankfully the back of the pillow is plain!  The yarn is Aztec by James C. Brett, a good choice for this project in an acrylic/alpaca blend that is machine washable (no dryer, though!) and the stitch definition is pretty good.  Also on the needles is an Arne and Carlos doll for which I have no photos.  It is a fun, fiddly project to knit and the clothes are really cute.  She will be finished soon.  The next project is for a cardigan with new yarn from Rowan, Softyak DK.  It is so new that it is not on Ravelry as of this post.  That project has to be ready for yarn tasting in March.

Tori, of Torirot's Stitches needed test knitters for her English version of  Pysje mæ alt and I did not hesitate to take the opportunity to knit a pair using Ella Rae Sport from my stash--the first stash down project of the new year.  Her patterns are very well written and easy to follow.  I like the options for the bands between the stranded sections and mixing up the colors for a mismatched pair is a fun touch.  I will miss  o{]:-(  this yarn from my stash because it  is wonderfully woolly, light and lofty and is perfect for stranded color work.  The colors are heathery and coordinate nicely together.  When the yarn was clearanced at the shop I bought enough to make the Angry Sheep cardigan.  

I will be posting my progression through wipeout projects here and on Revelry throughout the year...there I said it...now I have to hold myself to it!

Knit knit knit

The seemingly endless squares are getting finished.  I am over halfway there!  The colors are just beautiful together.

 

The other project is the fingering weight cardigan, Greta.  Just about an inch and a half left until I can join for the yoke.  This is my third sweater in lightweight yarn.  Being a solid color  it seems to take forever, but I see light at the end of the tunnel.  It will be a classic cardigan and the Rowan Finest yarn is just beautiful.



The third project is Endgame by Michelle Hunter, the Knit Purl Hunter, and is a KAL.  I especially like that the pattern called for HiKoo Kenzie, one of my favorite yarns.  I chose one of the new colors, Saddleback.  It is a pinkish tan with yellow flecks.   Clue 1 is finished and clue 2 will be released on Thursday.

FOs and Old Man Wool Farm

Did you hear the latest? Deb of Old Man Wool Farm and I are dishing the dirt in front of the Debbie Gossip wheel.

It is time to post some finished projects.  I have been burning up the needles, spinning wheel, spindles, and loom with projects for work.  Here they are (not necessarily in order of completion).

30.10.14  Lots of projects going at the same time around here.  I have three samples for Blue Sky going (sorry, I cannot show them), some of the class samples are finished and on display at Amazing Threads, the Kaffe Fassett KAL is coming along.  I need to finish two of the squares in time for  the release of Clue 4 tomorrow, and it is time to cast on for my Custom Fit cardigan.  I am making the Acorn Trail with Frabjous Fibers March Hare (worsted weight) in Tulgey Wood, a lovely deep dark brown.  This yarn is special as it is dyed and spun in the USA and the inspiration is from my favorite story book Alice in Wonderland.

The Gansey Headband is a quick project and great stash buster.

Customized P Chullo hat.  Initials on the earflaps, 'I love wool,' and sheep adorn the top.  

Timber Mitt before cutting the loops.

Wavelength is a striking scarf.

Kaffe Fasset Mystery KAL from Rowan.  Clue 1

Clue 2

Clue 3

Intarsia in the round cell phone cozy.  Good tutorial.

Gansey Legwarmers.  I will need these soon!

Earlier this month AFW had a field trip to Deb Peterson's Old Man Wool Farm/Ewespun Fiber Mill.  It was a gorgeous day to visit the farm.  Deb fired up the card and blended a Jacob fleece with blue silk noil she dyed.  I purchased some fiber from Hidden Valley Farm and we loved the colorway called Dark Side of the Moon, a Coopworth/silk noil blend.  With half of the fiber spun into a single, I can spin the pound of Deb's into another single and then ply the two together.

It is fun to visit the sheep.

The llama was happy to butt in and get an apple treat.

This beauty had one of the top fleeces at Shepherd's Harvest this year.

One of Deb's wheels, a delicate French beauty.

The card had leftover colors, which looked really nice.  

Blue silk noil blended with Jacob.  This will go with my Cormo/silk noil blend.  Watching the roving come out is mesmerizing

Autumn was particularly colorful and the weather was just perfect this year.  

Pretty colors in the small wildflower garden.

The birch trees are always watching.

Some neighborhood turkeys joined me on my morning walk.

One of the yard critters.  We call them mini-bears at Philmont.  

I do not know how it happened, but this was a most unusual split!