You’ve Got To Love A Friday!

Yes, I know it’s not really friday.  For me, though, it is – so yay!  Not that I don’t enjoy my job because I actually do, it’s just a matter of balance.  My crafts are exactly what balance me 🙂

And now I get to spin 🙂  For two whole glorious days 🙂

This is some of the very lovely cotton which I bought from an excellent seller I found on Ravelry, from Kentucky.  I bought two pounds to give it a try – it was raw…I love learning new things from the ground up!

It came like the bit on the left – on the right is some of the cotton pulled off of the seed.

I held the seed and pulled off the fluff…

In the end I had a cloud of very clean fluff with just a bit of vm left.

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Just because I’m me (lol, of course!), I had to try spinning it both ways.  I carded some and rolled it off the card from side to side…

I think both methods work well and don’t have a real preference yet 🙂  I ended up all distracted and started spinning and knitting for a lovely thin knit alpaca cardigan – 2 ply just-a-little-more-than-lace-weight.

I have more yarn to ply…I’m finding the weaving bobbin rack and winder sooooo useful!  Best thing ever.

It’s an absolute star for storing the singles and plying from too!

Oh! And I must show you the baby boy!  He’s growing like a weed and getting cuter every day!

The spinning wheel is calling…Have a fantastic couple of days folks – I know I will 🙂

Wow

I know it’s been a while since I posted here on the blog!

If you’re sitting down, I’ll show you the most shocking of the ‘what’s new?’ first…

Ok, I shaved my head. Yes. Really.

Before…

After…

And today (did it last night)…

Most shocking?! I’m still me 🙂 As it turns out, femininity is not necessarily in the hair 😉

It was the scariest and most empowering thing I’ve ever done. LOL. When it grows in, I’m going to get one of those really sexy/cute short haircuts. The thing is…I’ve ALWAYS had long hair. Always.

The weirdest thing? It feels GREAT. Seriously great. Doesn’t, perhaps, look so great, lol – but it’s good. And it’s only hair – it will grow back.

And, I’ve been busy – doing lots of things.

Right now I’m a little obsessed with a knitted coat called the ‘silver coat’. It’s a pattern a lady made herself from a coat she saw in a store and she’s generously shared it on ravelry. I’m trying it with my coned ‘wine’ spinrite wool. My guage is way off but I’m making the necessary adjustments to the pattern. It’s a long coat with a full skirt and cable details – an a-line design and very attractive, I think!

I knitted a scarf out of my handspun “unspun” yarn (in violet) – the Prismatic Scarf pattern…

I knitted a sweater for myself, after spinning the jacob super bulky first. It’s a Drops pattern, modified…

I changed the neckline to be a scoop neck, and shortened the yoke…

It’s super cozy…I just need to sew on the buttons, which I already bought (and was shocked at the price of) but haven’t sewn on. A perfect loose knit summer sweater – our house gets really cool even in summer!

I finished the Fishie quilt, for our cousin in Quebec…

I think it turned out fantastic…so bright and colourful! I hand quilted it with a blue thread…

Have a fabulous day! 🙂

What I Did Today :)

Yes, sidetracked, AGAIN! I made a beautiful doggie blanket style dog sweater for our shitzu, Dora…

She loves it!

It was a simple pattern, based on one I found on the Drops site (102-40). I used various wools and a seed stitch pattern with striping. I did not have the correct needles for the pattern so I used what I had and modified the pattern, stitch wise, while following the basic form as they had it. I depended on the dog’s measurements to decide the width and the length.

I love how it buttons on and has no legs. And, of course!, how it knits up in one day 🙂 Now I suppose I need another two…one for the daschund and one for the basset…

Getting Ready For School…

So, yesterday we went back to school shopping with a couple of the kids. We ended up getting some very nice clothes…thank goodness for sales!! I noticed that knits are EVERYWHERE – as they should be, lol 🙂

Earlier this week I super cleaned the house – there’s more to do yet but I’m getting there. I always feel so much better when everthing is in order at back to school time. Somehow it feels like it all gets away a bit during the summer. The house looks great and my son was so cute. I mentioned that I feel better when it’s all done (walls were washed, carpets were steam cleaned) and he answered ‘we ALL feel better!’. Made me feel good and reinforced what I’ve always felt – the kids are happier and calmer when the house is clean and organized. Less stress for everyone!

I’ve spent the morning looking around the ‘net for patterns that my daughters may like. The current styles seem to be fitted, a lot of short sleeves and three quarter length sleeves, plenty of cables and lace done on larger needles as layering pieces…and lots of argyle patterns. Not as easy to find in the knitting patterns BUT I’ve found at least one…

It’s Drops pattern 100-6, if anyone is interested in making it. The pattern calls for cotton but I’m going ahead and subbing wool, probably superwash handspun – yet to be created 🙂 I could see this for my daughters or for myself, we’ll see!

I’ve been working on the crazy carpet blanket, crocheted from yarns in my stash…

I’m really enjoying making this 🙂 Really a lot of fun!

Drops Sweater…

My son loves it!! It’s so satisfying to see him so happy 🙂 It will be part of his back to school clothes this year.

The pattern was pretty straightforward, other than the ‘rise’ section at the end — I ended up doing that in a way that made sense to me rather than trying to follow the directions to the letter since they were simply confusing. I’d recommend it though — it’s a nice design, not at all ‘girl-ish’, or so I’m told 🙂

A couple more views…

I should be getting back to my unfinished projects…I’ve been a little bit scatter brained this summer and have too many of those right now!