Fiber, knitting, and a little Shepherd's Harvest

May has been a busy month.  A few weeks ago was Shepherd's Harvest Festival.  This year it was cold and a bit rainy, but that just gave me an excuse to bundle up and wear woollies.  On Friday, Linda taught the felted sheep rug class.  I was prepared to stomp around in a baby pool, but the weather was far too cold for that.  We worked by hand instead.  It took time and muscle, but the results were delightfully sheepy.  I was particularly happy the locks I placed around the sheep and at the forehead felted maintaining their curl.

Linda had the prefect heads finished.  We made our eyes and lightly needle felted them on the faces.  To the left is my wool spread out in the ring ready to felt.

I see you!

On Saturday morning I demonstrated top whorl drop spindle spinning.  It is always fun to meet new people and see familiar faces.  There were lots of folks wanting to learn how to spin.  After spinning, I walked around to check out the vendors.  I stopped at the Anoka Fiber Works area and Kathryn told me about some very nice Shetland laceweight yarn from Sandy's Palette.  I bought two light and two dark skeins.  I am going to use one or both colors for a hap from The Book of Haps by Kate Davies.  

My favorite thing to do at Shepherd's Harvest is to visit the sheep barn.  It was early enough to see some of the sheep before shearing.  I picked up my Jacob fleece from Marcia.  She contacted me before the festival for ChiChi's fleece.  This year Marcia brought along a few sheep from her flock.  ChiChi was not there.  She likes to hide under the llama, making her difficult to catch.  The fleece was slightly smaller than last year's at just over two pounds.  

Pictured below are a few of the sheep that were in the barn...baaa, we're ready for our closeup.

The Jacob sheep were freshly sheared. 

When I got home I readied the fleece for scouring by separating the dark and light sections.  Like having a new box of crayons, I always dumped the box of 64 and arranged them chromatically.  ChiChi's fleece is a lovely grayscale.    

I have about equal amounts of black and grays with most of it being white.  Marcia does a good job of skirting, so very little veggie matter or dirty bits.  

Below are the goodies I bought at Shepherd's Harvest.  I just took more time to enjoy looking and visiting than purchasing.  

Oh my, look at the lovely Shetland laceweight!
This was my monochromatic Shepherd's Harvest year.

Linda had sheep pin kits in her booth inside the barn.  She was doing a demo when I was there.  I wanted gray, so she switched out the white.  That will be a much quicker project than the rug!

The night before the demo, I took the time to card a batt with Finn roving as the base and added a bit of gray wool, hemp, sari silk, and white alpaca with color bits.  Naturally, I forgot to add it to the bag.  After winding off the yarn from Stella, I spun a couple of pretty skeins of tweedy goodness.  

spinknit

It is a busy time of year--yarn tasting at the shop, sample knitting, classes and spinning.  My project for yarn tasting the Snowy Woods Hat made with HiKoo Tiara.  It is a wool blend sprinkled with beads and sequins.  I typically do not use shiny objects in my knitting, but this was the perfect yarn for the project and it bloomed nicely when I blocked the project.  The pattern is part of a collection of six patterns and is available as an e-book or single pattern.

Snowy Woods Hat for Yarn Tasting

A beautiful autumn sky...

...and a cloud of BFL to spin

Colorful leaves...

...colorful yarn

Newsflash! WIPs turn into FOs! Making my way through the projects.

More finished objects.  Slowly but surely I am working through all the projects on the needles and not starting anything new, which is difficult.  I also finished spinning the Icelandic/Shetland blend and whatever I knit will be called Rollo after Andrea's sweet puppy.

The yarn is made from Black Cat Farmstead's Icelandic/Shetland blend.  

I finished the Beaded Beret.  It stayed on the needles far too long, but I enjoyed finishing it.  The project is perfect for trying out adding beads to knitting.  It is a shop sample so I may have to dig into the stash after I finish other projects to make one for spring.

Beaded Beret--The stippled colorway, Twyla Brae, of the Richard Devries yarn is named after a remote village in Scotland.  The beads can remind me of raindrops.

The Kaffecushion is sewn together and is at the shop.  The colors are so pretty and it is a good project to show off both the color and yarn.  Rowan Pure Wool Worsted is very nice to work with and the colors are just beautiful.

The cushion is 24" x 24" and propped against the little cupboard my father made for my sister the year I was born.  It is a piece of furniture I treasure.

Next is Greta, the fingering weight cardigan.  I joined the sleeves and the body last night.  It is a good thing the cable on the circular needle is long to
accommodate the 457 stitches!  I will scout out some buttons next time I am at the shop.  Photos will be posted when the yoke has progressed.

Last week I got an email from Blue Sky to do some sample work--not knitted--and I am excited to work on it.

Saturday was spin-in at Anoka Fiber Works.  We had a pretty big crowd and had to move the circle bigger.  I may not be buying yarn, but when I saw the gorgeous clouds from Linda, I could not resist.  I have the light art yarn spun from the batt I made while visiting Joanne in Texas and the colors would look good with the blue and white cloud.

Dark Side of the Moon, a blend of Cormo wool and ink blue silk noil.  It is not  finished yet, but I made good progress.

A soft, fluffy cloud of BFL.

Millefiori

I think that is an appropriate name for the yarn.  It was fun to spin batt #2 into a single.  I went to Joanne, ETC in search of plying thread or yarn.  It is like choosing buttons for a garment, which takes time to find the perfect color and shape.  The silk noil bits, dyed mohair locks, and silk add texture and sheen.  I found some 40 wt Coats machine embroidery thread in neon colors.  The neon salmon attracted my eyes right away, but I also liked the neon green.  I purchased both.  The salmon popped out and looked great, however, the green enhanced the yarn--green was the choice!

Measuring 3 ounces of wool, silk, and color bits.  It is a bit like picking the best ingredients for a favorite dessert recipe.  Some of this, a pinch, smidgeon, and a dash of that...

The wool and bits were blended in two rounds through the drum carder.

The wool is spun into singles (the silk noil bits are sticking out).

Plying the single with machine embroidery thread.  I hold the thread in my right hand while keeping it straight toward my body and the single is in the left hand at an angle with my index finger guiding it while it feeds onto the thread, and then I feed the length through the orifice.

The yarn plied perfectly balanced!!!!
With all the color, it reminds me of Millefiori.

Now to set the twist and add this to something wonderful...
Yum...eye candy!

Upcoming classes in 2013

I am enjoying teaching Learn-To-Knit classes at Amazing Threads, which are scheduled through April.  On the schedule for the next year are classes for an array of projects to satisfy all skill levels.  For more information check out Amazing Threads and The Shepherdess on the web!

Gelato Bag:  This is a good project for new knitters to build knitting confidence and skills, plus it can be a small project bag!
Date:  Monday, January 7, 21, and 28, 2013
Time:  6 pm to 8 pm
Location:  Amazing Threads

Brynn:  I made this sample for the shop and it is a wonderful little shrug knitted with tweed yarn using a slip-stitch pattern--only one color per row!
Date:  Please check with the shop
Time:  6 pm to 8 pm
Location:  Amazing Threads

Brynn is made with Rowan Tweed
featuring an easy slip-stitch pattern.

Cabled Pillow Cover (Rutland Cushion):
Date:  Monday, February 4, 11, and 18, 2013
Time:  6 pm to 8 pm
Location:  Amazing Threads

Drop Spindle:  Learn how to spin your own yarn with a spindle and some wool!

Date:  Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Time:  6 pm to 8 pm

Location: The Shepherdess

Learn how to spin your own yarn
with a spindle and wool roving or batt.

Adams Ribs:
Date:  Thursday, February, 14, 28, March 14, and 28, 2013
Time:  6 pm to 8 pm
Location:  Amazing Threads

Gaugeless Hat:  This is a fun project to make and a great skill-builder for learning about gauge, changing and choosing colors, and multiple sizing options.
Date:  To be determined!
Time:
Location:  Amazing Threads

The stocking cap is made with Ella Rae Classic
and Plymouth Gina, one skein each;
and knitted from the top down!  

EZ Pick One, from (Knit One Knit All):
Date:  Wednesday, March 13, 20, and 27, 2013
Time:  6 pm to 8 pm
Location:  Amazing Threads


Countess Mitts:  I made samples of these for Blue Sky Alpacas and they are a joy to knit and really lovely!
Date:  Wednesday, April 10, 17, and 24
Time:  6 pm to 8 pm
Location:  Amazing Threads

Projects, projects, projects!

It has been a productive long weekend!  Once the monkey was finished and in his new habitat, I got busy with other projects.  The fish hat is always a fun project and the hand dyed wool I did a while back worked well.  The colors are lovely for the main color.  Next was the cup cozy.  Now I can finish the beret I started.  It should be a quick finish, as it is made with chunky wool from Kathy's sheep.

Dead fish hat 

.

I love how the hand dyed wool looks with the solid stripes

Monkey cozy

Naner got into the coffee candy at spinning on Saturday and...

...got into my basket, found my new spindle, and
proceeded to teach himself how to spin.  He was
very dizzy and tired when I left.

Blue cotton on the left, blue plied with brown Fox Fibre
and my brown single.

I managed to spin and ply the blue cotton roving into yarn in August and then started the  Fox Fibre roving on Saturday.  Little Hortense is a great little wheel for cotton because she spins like a top, as does Naner!

Spinning

Yesterday was a nice day to spin at the shop.  Mary's husband, Rob has been making spindles.  Mary brought Turkish spindles for us to try.  They are lovely and come apart for easy storage.  I particularly like the bottom, which has a graceful shape.  Janelle will make some hooks to replace the eye hooks, which will really be nice to center the single and make the spindle stable when it is spinning.
Jenny was minding the shop and knitting, and then three of us were spinning.  Janelle had her Ladybug and I had Hortense with me.  Mary was focusing on her spindle spinning.

Jenny happily knitting away.  

Rob's Turkish spindles--we enjoyed trying them out.

Mary spinning and Janelle checks out the spindles.

Action shot!

Mary perfects her technique.

Janelle's Ladybug wheel.

Hortense and me.

We all agreed that we will keep Rob challenged and busy with woodworking projects for spinning tools!  The fun part is when we are able to try out the tools.  He makes various versions, which is helpful.

Olympic knitting

The Ravellenic Games are in progress and I am knitting away on Little Red (Top Down Cropped Jacket 1720, Plymouth Yarn Company).  Although I am making good progress on the little sweater, I do not feel as dedicated to the process as in the past.  Needless to say it has been an eventful spring and summer thus far.  There may be enough leftover yarn from this project for the Hat Toss event.  Red is a great hat color and the Urchin pattern is one of my favorite patterns because it knits up quickly and using cotton yarn makes the hat a perfect choice to wear for just about any time of year.

Little Red in progress.  I lengthened the sleeve a bit.

Yesterday was our wedding anniversary--36 years!  Jim had been car shopping for Ben and found a nice Honda, which we checked out on our way to the zoo.  Jim took the day off and we enjoyed walking through the zoo.  It was a nice, although hot, day.  We were just in time for the bears to show off how they communicate with trainers.  They are amazing animals and have mannerisms just like humans.  I believe I got some good photos of them, but none to compare with the ones I took last year.  

4.8.12  I now have the front band to finish today and I can hit the finish line for Little Red.  Today is Spin-In at the shop, so I'll grab some fiber and sprint with the Handspun Heptahlon event.  I may not finish all my projects, but it is good to have lofty goals--it is, after all, the Olympics!

Something fun to add...I scored a book at Half Price Bookstore recently.  What made it even more interesting was the letter folded up in the front of the book.  It must have been a sample, because it is an introduction letter.  A fun find, and some classic patterns.

I really love the sweater dress on the cover!

I finished two events today, Handspun Heptathlon and Sweater Triathlon!

Spinning with little Hortense there was overtwist in the
singles, but it plied nice and balanced.  I like the texture.

Little Red is now finished!  It was about 10 pm CST
so the photo is dark even with the flash!  

Finishing UFOs

Once I got past the band heel (I had to wrap my brain around the instructions again), my SECOND sock is going well. Sock monkey and HD are helping by modeling them. The Kaffe Fasset yarn has lovely transitioning color bands. The yarn I really want to use is the NORO sock yarn (I will not start any more socks for a while!). It's not particularly soft, but the colors are absolutely gorgeous. They would be great socks to wear with hiking boots. It will be nice to finish these and then the bamboo socks. They are great take-along projects. I have to focus when I'm working on the Lopi cardigan. Working the motif into the increases of the sleeve is putzy, and I'm picky about how it looks. Now that swimming's over I can reclaim the house and begin to purge more stuff from the house for the troop yard sale and Goodwill. I'm also going through craft supplies and getting some together for Sharefest projects at church.
As long as I'm talking about color...here's the yarn I spun at the retreat. Joanne gave the roving to me when I visited her last year. To spin the roving, I used Louie (my Louet S10). The only reason I have the drop spindle there is because I showed someone how to use it. It's nice, soft, lofty wool. Don't know what it'll be, yet--need to know the yardage first!