Fibre Friday

I have been trying to get through some fibre lately.  I am not very quick at processing but I have been working on this Corriedale/silk blend and it is an absolute joy!

The Corriedale fibre is from one of my girls (or boys) and has been fully scoured by me.  Once scoured I pulled out the locks to dry individually then bundled them up in a bag ready for flicking.  On Friday nights I have flicked out the locks then blended them with the raw silk fibre on the hand carders.  I have to admit that the first few rolags were difficult to produce as I had truly lost my hand carding skills.  100gm later and I seem to have my mojo back.  I am planning this fibre to be a bulky yarn for a hat from Weekend Hats.

On the drum carder I did up another 100gm or so of a random fibre I found in the stash.  It’s some sort of wool that I used in a natural dyeing day I did with the local guild several years ago when we first moved back here.  I don’t know what it was dyed with but it’s not the best colour.  I am planning on spinning it for socks but our new kitten has other plans for both fibre and the spinning wheels!  Given I prepared this fibre several weeks ago I feel that it may be a while until it’s a usable yarn.

 

Getting back on the horse

Week 1

I have taken a tip from my daughter who, after a very nervous first riding lesson, got back on the horse for a second week and firmly planted the seed of desire to become a proficient horsewoman.

Week 2

Occupying himself during the lesson

No, I didn’t get on a horse but I did finish the first Socks on a Plane sock after a very nasty accident with my DPN going about 1cm into my palm.  I have now begun the next one…

 

Breaking the Silence

It’s been a looooong time since I last posted here.  I have been knitting – things that have been on the sticks for months if not years which I have noticed seemed to be a bit of a theme in the blog world for a day or two.  I have worked on some pretty sweet children’s clothes like this skirt, that dress and a couple of versions of this bolero too.  I have no idea if I have photos of the finished items but I will take the time to search them out at some point.  I have also almost finished up a scarf which I think I may have started about 6 years ago and done a few of the Yahoo Groups Monthly Dishcloth KALs.

In celebrations of finishing some long suffering WIPs I have commenced some more!  Now I have a pair of socks on the go, this scarf and Blank Canvas by Ysolda, a favourite designer of mine.  I think both of the last two projects will be long term WIPs for me but time will tell.

I have also been playing with fibre but more on that another day…..  I’m off to an education day about dead lambs which should prove very interesting.

 

The Year of Knitted Gifts – Gift 9 – Solitaire Beret

This gift was completed before the event but not posted in time.  The Solitaire Beret by Natalie Larson from Weekend Hats – originally I had borrowed this book from the library but it was so good I bought a copy.

I knitted this version in Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury.  Next time I’d knit it in a needle size smaller to give a firmer feel to the fabric otherwise I am pretty happy.  I am going to post this off to it’s recipient tomorrow and it will be a bit of a surprise as I gave her a gift last week so she wont expect it…

 

Knitting – The Year of Knitted Gifts – Gift 8

During the School Holidays I finally finished Gift 8 – it’s Jacques Cousteau Hat by Lalla Pohjanpalo.

Knitted from handpun Hornfels Ridge Corriedale it is a lovely hat.  My husband wants one the same….

Traveling home after visiting the cousins.

The holidays were a lovely break from routine but we packed so much in we were quite exhausted by the end and ready to get back into routine!  I have so many projects to update and blog that you may see a little action here over the next few weeks.

 

 

Spinning: Hornfels Ridge Corriedale

I am falling behind on the Year of Knitted Gifts creation – with my Dad’s birthday passed and four birthdays in April that I can think of right now – so a bit of quick fibre preparation and targeted spinning was just what I needed to get the next project rolling.  What better time to start spinning that on a Saturday night watching football – first game of the season and we lost but it was still great to watch!

I decided that I would spin 1/2 the tub of wool I had flicked but in the excitement of the game of I got through 3/4.  So, while I am behind, I am ahead of schedule on this one – 8 days to knit up the intended project and I think it will take me one or two.

This yarn is spun from some suint washed Hornfels Ridge Corriedale.  It is light & springy, not super soft but not scratchy either.  Spun S, plied Z, it’s 12 WPI, approximately 187 metres & weighs about 105 gms.

The pattern calls for 11WPI & 214 metres so it looks like, once again, I have not spun enough yarn.  I need to start this project anyway and see how far I get with the small hope that my measurement of metres is not correct and that I will get through without spinning more.

 

Knitting: The Year of Knitted Gifts – Gift 7.

I have completed Gift 7 – I did have it finished on the recipients birthday but due to me having the dates all wrong it did not get there on the day.  A quick knit using the same of hand spun, hand dyed, Finn/Corriedale Cross as it has no prickle and therefore makes great head wear.  Not sure how my niece will like it but if she doesn’t I think her sister will!

This is the Lilliput Hat by Meg Myers.  As the yarn used has a bit of a halo the true beauty of the design is slightly lost but it was still good to knit.  This pattern was quick and satisfying and simple enough to knit while away on a girls weekend.  Overall I am quite happy with the result.  It has now been posted off so I hope my niece likes it enough to wear once or twice over the Winter months.