Alan's Sweater

Another UFO finished! I started this yoke sweater last year for DH but when I got to the neck, I put it down. I picked it up yesterday and finished it. Unfortunately when he tried it on, we both decided it was too "girly", so now it's mine. Back to the drawing board.

I used Lion Brand Wool Ease with 2 strands together on size 13s. It's knitted from the bottom in the round. I used the methods in Knitting in the Old Way. Love that book! This was my first yoke sweater. Next time I'll be more adventurous with the actual yoke . When I was finished I could see why they traditionally have all of those colors! When it's in a solid color, the decreases are pretty visible. Not that I mind that -- I think it adds an interesting texture.

Shauna's Poncho

After three years, I finally finished it. It's been a joke between us -- it was a birthday gift, but it wasn't finished. I gave it to her unfinished and then said, "Okay, give it back so I can finish it." The pattern came from Sally Melville's book The Knit Stitch. I love Sally's books! Anyway, Shauna finally got her poncho. My New Year's resolution is to finish my UFOs! We all know how that goes -- at the end of the year, we'll see how I did! :)

My New Scarf

Okay, I know it's been FOREVER!!! I've just been way too busy to keep up. Anyway, this is my new scarf. I got the pattern from my pal Dana. I think she got it from www.knittingpatterncentral.com. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of the pattern. The yarn was part of one of those felted bag kits from JoAnne Fabric. They had a bunch of kits on clearance -- didn't care much for the bag but loved the yarn, so I bought it -- 4 skeins of single ply bulky wool for $8 -- couldn't go wrong. I wear this with a black pea coat and get tons of comments!

Chaos and Alchemy

Chaos and Alchemy -- these are a few of my favorite things! I've been working hard to get ready for Burnham Community Day which takes place tomorrow. Each year Warp 6 does a sheep to shawl demo there and Mary Anna and I have a sales booth next door. Below is my latest batch. The Chaos colorway is on the left and Alchemy is on the right. The Chaos skeins are Merino dyed with KA. The fiber for the Alchemy skein was purchased from eBay as a Mystery Batt. The seller had thrown all kinds of luxury fibers into the picker with a wool base. Beautiful, huh?

A Skein Just for Me!

I got this fiber from Ebay in the form of dyed locks in various shades of blue. I was so anxious to play that I carded without picking. What I ended up with was some neppy yarn! But it's all good! I need a new felted bag!

Kool Aid Hats from Fiber Space Designs

Hats and bags are two of my favorite things to make with Kool-Aid dyed yarn.

This hat is a really simple, no-pattern thing I made up years ago. It's so easy to make and easily becomes as much a wardrobe staple as your favorite jeans. I've had strangers come up to me and ask where I got mine. It's an opp to hand out a business card!

Anyway, to make the hat, I CO 68 st on 10.5 circs and knit until I find a length I like by trying it on my own head. Then I k2tog once around, switch to dpns, and k2tog 2x until there are about 9 st left. Cut the yarn, leaving about a 6" tail and use a yarn needle to weave the end through the working stitches that are still on the needle. Tie off and weave in ends, and you have a rolled-brim slouchy hat that's nice and warm. There's no shaping on the crown and the fast decrease leaves an interesting star-shape on the top.

As with my yarns, you can find them at The Pen & Thread, local arts and craft shows, or directly from me.

My Stuff at The Pen & Thread

This is the Fiber Space Designs display at The Pen & Thread. Mary Anna made the sign for me. Isn't she a great friend?












These are spindles and lucets made by my husband. Not only does he do nice knotwork, but he also does nice woodwork!









I think we've seen these yarns somewhere before!













These look familiar, too!












Oh, yeah, and I make bags, too! Also available at the P&T and local craft fairs.

More About The Pen and Thread

Here's a close-up of some Misty Dell yarn -- natural colored Romney.









The bags are called tagaris -- traditional Greek bags in which workers carry their lunches and other things. These are all handwoven by Mary Anna, who is of Greek descent.









These are two of the first shawls that our team made during sheep to shawl demos.








Two view of Mary Anna's loom. From the front, you can see some of the hangings and table runners she's made, and from the back, you can see piles of carded wool waiting to be spun for a custom job she's working on.
Mary Anna & I both do custom spinning. My last job was spinning a large trash bag full of combings from a Great Pyrenees dog. His mommy loved him so much that she wanted a scarf made from his hair. I would love to make something from Jet's hair, but it's just too darned short!

Happiness Is . . .

. . . a rack full of freshly dyed roving!!! I dyed a pound of Merino with Kool-Aid this morning and I just hung the last of it out to dry. Jet the Wonder Schnauzer and I are going to head on over to the Pen & Thread shop a little later to deliver some finished yarn. I'll try to take some pics over there and post them later tonight or tomorrow.

I Named It!

Okay, remember this skein from a few days ago? I finally thought of a name for this colorway. I'm calling it Candy Dots That Come on a Roll of Wax Paper. Remember those from when we were kids? Well, from when I was a kid, anyway! Did I just date myself? Okay, for anyone who's really that curious, I was sleeping soundly in my crib when JFK was assassinated.

Party in a Bag

That's not my name for it! I bought this stuff from a vendor at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival a few years ago. She basically threw everything she had lying around into the picker and this is what came out the other side. This is all I've spun so far. I have 2 more lbs to do. I'm not going to ply it. I like the singles just fine as they are. What do you think?

Latest Kool Aid Skein

This is the latest batch of KA yarn from Fiber Space Designs. I don't have a name for the colorway yet. Suggestions?

Only One Bobbin? No Prob!

There are many reasons you might want to ply from a center pull ball rather than from your bobbins. For instance you might only have one bobbin. You might have two bobbins, but only one is full and you don't to waste any of your singles. Just wind into a center pull ball and ply from both ends. A word of warning, though: No matter how lazy kate is, she's not going to help you with this! And the outside will always unravel at warp (;>) speed compared to the inside. This can lead to some serious tangles if you're not careful. When using this method, I always use a drop spindle instead of a wheel. I've found that placing some sort of weight on each side of the ball helps. Placement must be strategic, though, so it doesn't impede the movement of either strand. I've become adept at using my left foot to control the draw. Don't worry -- I always clean my feet and the yarn gets washed again before the finishing process to set the twist!

Pastel Experiment 2

Okay, this isn't really a separate post. I just didn't have the pics ready the first time. This is just a picture of the full skeins of the pastel experiment. Feedback welcome!

Pastel Experiment

This is my latest work. I tried diluting the Kool-Aid by using less than usual and adding more water than usual. In the roving, I got a very nice lavender, but the blue and pink were a little too "baby" for what I was going for. The yellow was pretty much what I expected. This is the finished product. You can see the singles still on the bobbins if you scroll down the page.

Latest Batch of Kool Aid Yarn

My specialty is yarn that's been dyed with Kool- Aid brand drink mix. I know that's a registered trademark. Apologies to Kool-Aid. I haven't yet figured out how to use the symbol on my blog, but at least I'm giving them props, right?

I wrote a tutorial a few months ago on the KA dye process that was printed in a fiber-related newsletter that is published by Mary Anna at the Pen & Thread shop in my hometown. In the near future, I'll post it. There are plenty of places online to learn about it. I like it because it's safe and easy. No harmful chemicals and you can dump it down the drain when you're done. I do it my the kitchen all the time. I love to just dye up a bunch of roving in different colors and then spin it randomly -- I do two bobbins and ply them together, creating fun randomness that I love because you never know what you're getting until it's done. The three skeins on the right are this type. Recently I've started experimenting with creating actual colorways that I can reproduce. The three skeins on the left are that type.

Jacob Lace Scarf

This is one of the first things I made with my handspun yarns. A friend of mine here in central PA who raises Jacob sheep gave me some fleeces. In return I spun and knitted scarves for his wife and sister-in-law. The picture looks like b/w but it really is a color photo. I spun the black and white wool together to get varying shades of gray. I spun it to to something between a lace and a sport weight and knitted the scarves in feather and fan.