An Aran for Frederick: The Beginning

Well, as much as I would love to say that I have high hopes that I will be able to spin and knit for the KAL that runs from January through the end of March, I don't think I can say that. I can say, though, that I'll have at least spun and knit a little bit! I'm going to do my best to finish all of the yarn and most of the knitting by the end of March. I'm going to be posting progress throughout the combing, spinning, and knitting.

The Pattern
The pattern is An Aran for Frederick by Kathleen Dames. The suggested yarn is worsted weight, but I find that worsted weight sweaters don't get much wear by me. I prefer lighter weight sweaters. There have been a few people who have modified the sweater for DK weight yarn. The designer has offered her help via the KAL thread in her Ravelry group. I'm going to modify the sweater to have a textured back with fewer cables, and a lower neckline.

The Fleece
I have an absolutely magnificent fleece from a Shetland lamb, Ondine. She is one of the Shetland in a friend's flock. It's a lovely dark color, with very slightly bleached tips. I think I want to see what her fleece looks like next year too...

The Yarn
Is yet to be spun, but it will be a DK weight n-ply.

The Sample
It's hanging to dry in the bathroom... it isn't a very big sample, by any means, just a few yards. But it will at least let me know what WPI the singles should be for a DK weight n-ply. I don't expect that the sample that I've spun will be the only one - the sample yards will probably bloom way more than I expect!

WIP Wednesday!

I don't have much in the way of WIPs to share this week... I'm sad to say that life has gotten hectic! Ty has an ear infection, roomie needed a ride to the airport, work, extra work, barn chores, extra barn chores because of Ty's ear infection, extra barn chores because we're having a heat wave and the frozen-to-the-ground horse poop and poop that was hiding under a blanket of snow is finally able to be picked up...

But! I do have a few things to share!

And, because adorable, I have to show you guys who napped on my lap in the funniest of positions!

Happy Winter Solstice, everyone, and I'll see you guys in a couple days with a post on a fleece and spinning for a project.

Episode 24: Single Mindedness

It turned into a very cold, very icy, very snowy week! Monday was a late day at work, Wednesday was a leave work early day, and Thursday was a late day again. That said, I did get quite a bit of work done! I baked bread and scones, knit a whole beanie, went to the bar on a really snowy night with Ty and our roommate, and finished the whole third section of my circle shawl.

WIPs
Shreds, self designed circle shawl using handspun Romney and IF Princess Bride
Alma Park Alpacas "Cafe au Lait" spin

Planned Projects for 2017
Pair of socks every month
An Aran for Frederick, modified
Winter Camp 2017

FOs
Turn a Square by Jared Flood, using Cascade 220 leftovers in shades of grey

What do you think? Spin my own for the sweater or use one of the 3 yarns I have in stash? Which of the stash yarns, if I use one of those?

And, cause it's what was distracting me during the recording, the easy peasant bread recipe that I was using! It truly is very easy, and it's a recipe I turn to over and over again. I actually have it memorized!

And today we have... WIP THURSDAY!

Yup, a day late. I'm doing my best not to make this a habit!

SNOW!!!

If you're here for fiber or knitting related things today, please, just skip on by. 

We had a snow fall. 

I went in to work late.

We went around the block a few times with the dogs. 

And then when I was at work later, I was sent this picture...

I think she wanted to go back out! 

Podcast Holiday

Well, this weekend has been a weekend off pretty much everything. I have had a sore throat and body ache. I have a headache, still, and only want to eat soup and drink tea.

As such, I'm taking the weekend off from podcasting. However, in place of the video of the weekend, I'm going to share a bit of what I've been working on. In spite of my weekend off, I have been working on some knitting and spinning!

I've finished up a cowl, knit by my own design.

I've finished up another pair of slippers, they just need to be felted. (Knit while watching The Great British Bake Off) (and yes, they are buried in that lovely pile of knitted things!)

I've gotten a bit further on my pi shawl. (Knit while watching Tale of Tales)

I've knit the cuff on the second sock for my Winterfell SKA MOCK. (Knit in bed before sleep)

I've worked a little bit on some new rolags that I carded up. (While watching Agatha Raisin and waiting for bread and brownies to bake)

I've spun a little sample on a new-to-me corn maiden goddess. (While I could, in between running errands last Thursday)

I've spun a teeny tiny bit more on my laceweight cormo with one of my Jenkins. (While waiting for yummy, yummy thai food)

Breed Study: Icelandic, First Impressions

This Icelandic fleece that I picked up at the OFFF parking lot sale was just too convenient not to get. It was already washed, it was a breed that I wanted to sample, it was a reasonable price, and the friend that I was with was happy to split it with me because it wasn't something she'd tried either.

photo from icelandicsheepworld.com

The fleece is from a wether. The seller said that it was actually the last fleece from her favorite wether before he passed away. I want to be able to do the fleece justice, being from her favorite wether!

Icelandic sheep aren't big giant sheep. They aren't known for their huge size or for their kind temperaments. They can survive and live off the land in Iceland, so they're pretty hardy sheep! Because of the landscape and their breeding history they tend to be more like feral sheep than pet sheep, though once they've warmed up to their shepherd they can be friendly enough. They make excellent mothers and I guess they frequently give birth into their early teens. More than 1 lamb per mother isn't unusual.

Their fleeces are double coated. The inner coat is called thel - it's soft and warm. The outer coat is called tog - it can be very long and is quite coarse. Separating the sections is fairly simple. It's easy enough to pull the tog out of the thel while locks are lashed onto a set of combs.

I have separated a little bit of the thel and tog, and spun up a sample of thel. It was an interesting fiber to spin. I don't know if it's just the way the fleece is jumbled in the bag, but the locks that I pulled out were fairly short stapled. The thel, once most of the tog was removed, was easy enough to comb. It spun up in a sort of clumpy thick and thin kind of way though. I think with more practice I'll easily be able to control the singles better. Though, I'm also toying with the idea of just making the thel into rolags...

My plan for the thel is to spin enough to knit a fingerless mitten and beanie set. It's a good basic color that will match everything in my wardrobe! I hope to have enough of the tog to spin it into a good strong yarn. I want to pair that yarn with horse hair from Dream and weave him a halter.

WIP Wednesday

Shreds: A Self Designed Circle Shawl

Using my handspun to create a circle shawl has been a goal of mine for a long time. Circle shawls require a lot of yarn! Using handspun and making such a large cozy object is, in my mind, a huge undertaking.

I spun up the Inglenook Fibers Princess Bride sicklebatt set to be a laceweight yarn. It was just a beautiful blend and prep to work with, so I wanted to enjoy it for as long as I possibly could! I used a range of support spindles. Each sicklebatt fit onto its own spindle. It made color management really easy. I kept each color separate from one another, so I ended up with 6 mini skeins.

I entered that yarn into the local fair and it won a special ribbon!

I knew I wanted to turn the yarn into a shawl, but decided that I wanted to turn it into a circle shawl after I spun up a little sample of the Romney that I had begun processing. The colors just blended so very well with one another!

So, then I spent some time processing the Romney into little hand combed bundles of top. I spun the top into singles with my Pocket Wheel. I plied some of the singles. I wasn't really sure what my yardage was like, so when I filled 2 bobbins with 2-ply I decided to wash the yarn and see what my yardage was like. Well, I had plenty of yardage to knit a circle shawl using both the Princess Bride yarn and the Romney!

Now I've gotten through with the very center of the shawl and I'm up to 244 stitches (I think; either that or 288 stitches). I'm using Elizabeth Zimmerman's pi shawl math.

I'm into a color block of the Romney, but I know exactly how I'm going to use the rest of the Princess Bride colors once I'm through this section and it's going to look amazing!

Episode 23: Progress is Happening!

Hi again! It's been another week. I'm making a little bit of knitting and spinning progress, but time management has been an issue... I have tons of time, especially during the weekend, but I just seem to get stuck doing things that don't have to do with knitting or spinning!

WIPs
SKA MOCK "Winterfell" in BohoKnitterChic "Ravellenic 2014" and Cascade Heritage Sock in lime green
"Shreds" circular shawl in IF Princess Bride and Romney handspun yarns
Icelandic fleece processing + sample spin

FOs
(halfway) Moonkoosa boots - they just need to be felted!
Whiskey Lemonade handspun - 3.6oz, approx 200 yards, 8-10 WPI

Goals
Cast on and get through right before the second Latvian braid on the MOCK
Work on the Latvian Sampler KAL
Felt the Moonkoosa boots
Make progress on the Icelandic fleece!