Holly wrote: Big Snip
So, what else is everyone else working on?
HI,
Let's see. I guess I've had a nice and full of fiber summer. My pet ewe gave birth on May 3 to two beautiful girls, that have grown like weed and are sporting about 4 inches of pretty 3/4 Shetland/1/4 Costwold wool. I see some socks, a scarf or two and maybe a baby blanket while they run on the grass. I finished knitting my bulky weight handspun cotton sweater. I am happy with the outcome, specially the eight pointed star pattern I knitted on the yoke. I also just finished a chore cap that looks like a gathering sac, as it is very long and wide so I can roll it a few times during those cold days that I have to break two inches worth of ice from the water pails. I knitted it in garter ridges with unspun top (merino and merino/silk). It is nice and soft. Currently on the wheel is the flax top I experimented with and sort of rainbow dyed part of it in shades of gold yellow and straw and another part with a purplish brown. It is spinning fairly well and I will eventually crochet a half moon shawl with a basket weave stitch I came up with (I think....). The spinning is going to go slow as I can only spin for an hour or so a day, otherwise my left wrist starts to ache. I have a total of 300 grams of fiber to spin and that should give me plenty of yardage for my shawl as I am probably getting about 100 yards per 25 grams of fiber. I am also planning some knitted socks. One is from Regia sock yarn using the love patten in the Fall Interweave Knits magazine, but instead of buying a bunch of balls of yarn for the intarsia pattern I got one ball of white, divided it into five skeins and oven dyed it with Sabraset dyes. The colors came out surprisingly good and similar to the ones asked in the pattern (dark red, bright red, dark green, bright green and black). They are now drying in the kitchen, and I should start the socks in another week or so.
Finally I am progressing on my plans for a "Cookie'" cardigan for the hubby. Cookie is my Cotswold/RomneyxShetland ever changing color wether. I purchased him as a two month old pure black lamb. After the first shearing at 6 months he started to turn, first getting lots of thickish white wool and finally becoming silver grey as a three year old. He produces a medium quality wool with a staple length of 10 inches and the hubby asked me to make him into a cardigan. I do not have a lot of experience knitting for men but in this issue of Knits they had a nice men's cardigan that will work well with cookie's fleece, plus they had the article with June Oshiro's DNA pattern. Did I mention the hubby and I are science geeks? :-) When he saw the double helix of course he wanted it in his cardigan, therefore I am adapting the cardigan pattern so I have the DNA strands instead of the knot work on each side of the front and back. I still have to wash the fleece, so the cardigan won't be getting ready anytime soon.
I also have two ounces of rainbow dyed silk I want to turn into ankle socks. Anybody has some tips on spinning silk for socks?
Carla
in Durham, NC
Where is has been nice and cool for the last couple of days which makes me want to be out of the lab and playing with fuzz!
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