yarn and things

my niece! doesn't she have beautiful eyes. snapped this photo of her fascinated with my son's ear!

spun up all the FatCats merino. in three bunches.

3-ply (navajo plied)

sport weight??

@66yds

don't like this so much. didn't like how the color combinations were turning out. so if anyone is interested, let me know. i love trading.

2-ply

light fingering

@136 yds in two skeins

love it! so soft. beautiful color combinations.


progress on my made up version of Olive.

i am finally past the armholes and working my way down the body.

more

Finished my yellow (project spectrum: may/june) razor cami just a tad shy of the deadline. oh well. i love it!

Project: razor cami
Yarn: knit picks sport shine (4.5 skeins)
color : butter
needle : US4
lots of mods. see ravelry page.

been working on my alabama chanin skirt. i have two panels complete with two to go!

spun up the australian wool that i hand dyed. hate it! loved the experience but the yarn is just too scratchy for me. anyone want to trade?

specs:

australian wool

charcoal

2-ply

2 balls : larger ball (276 yds) smaller ball (121 yds)

currently spinning fatcats merino in fingerpaint colorway

love it! it is so soft and colorful. going to navajo ply this. hopefully this week!

working on my own version of the Olive shirt. details so far on ravelry.

and what have my boys been up to...

go-carting! don't worry completely safe. the thing only goes about 3 mph. it can't even make it up a small hill. they have to push it. but they love it anyway! that is my 4-year old monte above and flint the 5yr old below.

info

kate asked me about my flyer hooks. whether they were fixed or not?? well no, sadly they are not. but i am forging ahead anyway. i am kind of afraid to mess with them. but one of these days i will get up the nerve to try.

Thanks for the comments ladies, especially about my tank. i just love it too!!

another update

Roving...

Bought some FatCatKnits merino roving in a color called Fingerpaints for project spectrum RED. can't wait to spin this up!

Knitting...

started knitting the razor cami with my knit picks shine in butter.



finished tuxedo sleeveless tank. LOVE IT! fits great and i love the buttons. see ravelry for details.

Sewing...

finally started stitching my skirt. this design comes from the alabama stitch book. loving it. but it is going to take forever to finish.

Dyeing...

this is come Australian wool in a boring white.

put it in the remaining dye from dyeing the anne elliot spencer shrug.

came out in shades of grey like kettle dyed.

going to spin this into a 2-ply.

ready to spin up.

spinning progress so far. this is really going quickly. probably since it is pencil roving and pretty much ready to go.

new things

Warning! Picture heavy post.

First up...

Sewing.

I took this old dress from college and made it into a skirt.

I cut it just below that lovely decorative top. Folded it down to make a casing. Threaded some elastic through there and now I have a beautiful skirt. I need to think of something to do with the top portion. It is just too gorgeous to let go to waste. But the dress was just too boxy for me to wear. So a skirt is more practical. Any suggestions for the top portion?

Here is some of the detail around the bottom of the skirt.

Don't mind my son eating his cereal in his undies in the background!

Next, I took this rummage sale men's size Medium shirt ($0.25) and made it into a more girly looking blouse. NOTE about shirt: When I went to remove the front pocket, I found $12.00 in it. So I made money on this!! HA HA!

What my husband called a maternity top and forbid me to wear.

Ok. Looking at this photo, I think that he has a point. I am thinking of making it into some kind of cropped top. What do you think? The top and sleeve portions are just too cute to let it go to waste.

Cut a rounded neckline. Added pleats. Sewed neckline done about a cm all around. Added a pleat to the back to bring the shoulders in.

Cut a slit in the bottom trim of the sleeves and threaded in some elastic for slightly poofy sleeves.

And now for some spinning.

This is some left over of the big patch of 2-ply that I made (pictures of that follow). This is some roving that I traded for on ravelry. It is wool but that is about all I can remember. Here's the info:

3-ply

Navajo plied

color : ambrosia

weight : dk (guessing)

yardage : about 66yds

fiber content : wool

spun: on my Louet S10

This was my second attempt at navajo plying on my wheel. I think that it came out great. I think that yarn looked much better as a single though. Now the colors seem to washed out. But the pictures of it came out great.

Close-up of the twist.

Big batch of yarn.

2-ply

color : ambrosia

weight : fingering (again guessing)

yardage : 577 yards

fiber content : wool

spun : on my wheel Louet S10

All this fiber came from about 8 oz of roving. I am amazed at how much it made! But again I don't really care for it too much. I have put it up for trade on ravelry, if anyone would like it let me know.

Close-up on its twist.

A view of the big batch.

On the knitting front, I am almost finished with the Sleeveless Tuxedo Tank. I have one more placket to do and then I have to see how well I can crochet. It has a crocheted trim all around and crocheted loops for the buttons.

I am using Southwest Trading Company Bamboo. It feels great and the color almost matches the one from the magazine perfectly.

Also working on my own design. I cross between the Olive shirt and the Coral tank from Helga Isager. I love both of those tops. I like the neckline on the Olive so what I am going to try and do is make the neckline rounded like Olive but make the body of the tank like Coral. I am doing this by just looking at the pictures so we will see how it goes.

having fun

summer...

my boys have been catching frogs!

Monte (4yrs) and Flint (5yrs) with Hoppy the Frog.

spinning yarn.

2 - ply bamboo/merino spun on the spindle and plied on the wheel.

knitting.

bracelet from Leethal's patterns. linen stitch. 10yds of wool yarn. two buttons from Leethal.

Back again as soon as i can!

sadness

first, Kate asked where the roving from my last post came from. sadly, i don't remember. i got it through a bartering group on ravelry. but i can't for the life of me remember who it was. i am horrible about that sort of thing.

second, another look at my new (used) wheel. it is a Louet S10. i am thinking an older model because the footman looks nothing like all the ones that i have been looking at on the net lately. the only thing that bugs me about it is the fact that the hooks are rusted. this thing was covered in some kind of film when i got it. i cleaned it up and now it looks pretty good and works great, but i am kind of afraid to spin any really light colored yarn on this.

i have asked a few spinners about replacing the hooks. it sounds possible, but if i don't do it right i am going to have to buy another flyer. not looking forward to that. a new flyer costs half of what i paid for the whole wheel! crazy. i will have to wait and see and think it over some more i guess.

third, sadly i won't be posting as frequently anymore. this is the last day of school and therefore my last day near the internet everyday. i will be online at least once a week at the in-laws to work on my graduate homework, so i hope to steal some time to blog than. please stick with me ya'll. i like getting comments!

lastly, i wanted to get some pics of the leethal bracelet's that i have been making but alas, i forgot last night! ah!

oh yeah. i have scratched the idea of the bella blouse with my bamboo yarn. now i think that i will make the tuxedo tank from an old interweave knits.

well that is all for today. have a great summer and i hope to be back here next week with some exciting projects. i have a couple sewing projects lined up for this weekend. fingers crossed.

goings on since the giveaway

i sent bought leethal's bracelet kit. it is wonderful. recycled paper, recycled yarn and buttons. beautiful photos. plenty of information on how to make them. wonderful use of some left over yarn.

i have already made two. one with the give yarn and one with some of my handspun. photos soon i hope.

i also received this over the weekend. it is called ambroisia. looks like a mottled mess but...


spins up beautifully. you can see the shifting colors much better spun up. this is my first yarn on my new (used) wheel. hoping for a fingering weight 2-ply. we will see. one set of singles is done. will be starting the next batch soon.

also received my package from julia.

a wonderful card, a cute little owl, a handy notebook for jotting things down and an awesome wrap for knitting projects.

here is the wrap up close from the inside. small and functional. my next project will be going in there very soon. getting ready to start the bella blouse out of some bamboo that i had original bought to make a skirt and have since talked myself out of.

spinning

here is julia's yarn. (hey, julia. i think i forgot to tell you how much is there. the smaller skein is 70.9 yds and the larger one is 129yds.)

Project: 3-ply BFL in a
color called DEEP SPACE
by Frabjous Fibers.
I navajo plied it on my spindle.
at my guess it is around a sport weight.


not super even all over. it took me part way through each one to get the hang of it and get an even balanced yarn. but i love the color combinations.

this foto is a more accurate representation of the colors. i hope you enjoy julia. if nothing else it is fun to look at!

some project spectrum spinning. this month's color is yellow. this is some gorgeous bamboo/merino that i started spinning this weekend.

it is a dream to spin. it is so soft and silky feeling. it is destined to be a 2-ply. the color is called milk and honey and it is from KnitItUp.

P.S. don't forget to come back tomorrow and check out my giveaway items. i will have something for the knitters out there and the sewers.