NorCalKnitter

Name:
Location: Crescent City, California, United States

I love to make things with my hands. My current passions are knitting and spinning.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

More Finished Projects

Since I posted last, I have had family visiting for a week, and have been covering at work for someone who is gone on vacation. I have noticed that the busier I am, the less time I have to be down. I have also noticed that having some time, even if it is only 30 minutes per day, to work on crafts really helps my mental outlook and is cheaper than going to a therapist.

The first prlject that I finished for September was a pair of felted slippers that I made for my Mother-in-Law for her birthday. I had them felted and gave them to her before they left so that I could see what she thought of them. She was tickled.

The second thing that I did was to spin a skein of yarn. There was a picture of the roving in my last post. And this is how it turned out.



Specs: Fiber - Blue Faced Leicester


Color - The Lady of Shalott by Snake River Fiberworks

Weight - aprox. 4 oz.


WPI - 14-16 (between sport and DK weight)

Yardage - aprox. 277 yards.


I have never spun BFL before, but I really enjoyed it. It was easy to work with and was prepared very nicely, in fact I don't remember seeing any vegetable matter at all in the fiber. This fiber has a nice soft hand, although not quite the same as Merino, it was still lovely. This skein will be going to a good home as I have several friends that were wanting to buy some handspun yarn.

The third project that I finished so far this month, was another gift..........



Pattern - Fake Isle Hat by Amy King (originally printed in Mag Knits, November 2006)


Needles - US size 6, 16" circulars, Addi Turbos (what else!!)


Yarn - 1 skein Schoeller and Stahl Limbo color #2539, and 1 skein Cleckheaton Country 8 ply in black.

There was about 1/2 of a skein of each yarn leftover. I have been contemplating knitting a pair of matching fingerless mitts. Of course that means designing my own, and I haven't done anything like that before.

Next on the Needles is the Printed Silk Cardigan from the Spring 2008 issue of Interweave Knits. n I have started knitting the back but have had a few false starts trying to get the gauge to come out right.

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Friday, September 05, 2008

ACS - finished!!!

I finally finished my Auburn Camp Shirt about a week ago. Please visit this site to see finished pics. I sure like the way it turned out, but am alittle concerned about how to keep the cuffs on the sleeves from flopping down when I wear it. Should I tack it in a few places with needle and thread? After taking the pics, I think I will sew the buttons down flat and directly on the sleeve.

Last weekend, my youngest son and I have flew to Wyonming and back for my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary. It was nice to have that time alone with him since he has been gone alot this summer.

My husband was already back in Wyoming as he had driven his Harley back there on a roadtrip with his brother. He couldn't quite convince me to ride that far on the back of a motorcycle- after all, how would I knit? !! I did finish this gaiter for him to wear on the cold part of his trip to help keep his neck warm.

Specs: Pattern - Gaiter, from the ONE SKEIN book by Leigh Radford

Yarn: alpaca silk dk by Debbie Bliss in black - very soft and luscious

Time to knit: about 2 days

I have been doing a test knit for Chrissy Gardiner who is in the process of writing a book. It has been a fun project to work on and is almost done. I hope to finish it tonight. She has had sock patterns in several of the Interweave KNITS magazine over the past year. You can visit this site to see some of her retail patterns.

Yesterday I got side-tracked on gift-knitting. My mother-in-law's birthday is at the end of this month. I love making things for her as she is very appreciative of anything I make her and tends to get good use out of it. I am making her some felted slippers. I started them yesterday, and finished the first one today. Maybe I can get the other one done by Monday? Then I will only have 499 projects left to do, that is if I can resist buying anymore yarn for a few weeks! I am doing a good job of supporting my LYS at least!
I also got a request for some handspun yarn, and have been working on that this weekend. I will have pics when it is done. The fiber I am using is the bottom center color. It is hand-dyed BFL by Snake River Fiberworks. I have never spun BFL before and am loveing the feel of it and the ease of drafting. The bright pink is "Pink Panther" by the same company. The light aqua is an unknown breed of wool (um, no label and I forgot to write it down--oops!).

The pic below is 8oz. of Targhee Top, colorway Sweet Lavender. I believe it is from Mountain Colors.

This is some fiber that I purchased at the Black Sheep Gathering from the Fantasy Fibers booth. Two skeins are colonial wool, the other two are Merino. All this fiber should keep me busy spinning this winter!

Well, I think I might have enough eye candy here to make up for not posting for two weeks! Hopefully it won't be that long before I post again!

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