Sheep Thrills In Brooklyn

New Things!

2011-11-08T11:34:00.000-08:00

I have completed the handspun shawl. It's the swallowtail shawl by Evelyn A.Clarke made from merino/soysilk handspun lace yarn on size 5 vintage nylon needles. I love how it turned out!

I've also finished the kneee high socks for my husband.

I also purchased two new spindles from the Spanish Peacock. They both spin like tornados!
This is a Russian spindle made of Zebrawood. It's 25g.

This one is a Tibetan Spindle. I forgot to ask what woods are involved.

Here are some recent thrift store finds:

CVM 3 ply

2011-09-16T14:46:00.001-07:00

CVM 3 ply
Originally uploaded by nkosit1968

Ok, so I finally finished spinning the CVM into a three ply yarn. It turned out fabulous! Washing made the yarn bloom very nicely. It's so creamy and quishy! I'm very, very proud of this yarn. It only took me forever to finish, but it's done! There is about 560 yards of yumminess in this skein.

Update

2011-08-23T05:08:00.000-07:00

I've been working very long hours and when I get home I'm too tired to do anything. That's the reason I haven't posted anything in a while.

I am still trying to squeeze some knitting in on the train ride to and from work, but the spinning is almost at a standstill. My hands miss it terribly.

Here's an update on some things I've been working on. Hope to finish both of these projects very soon.

This is the swallowtail lace shawl by Evelyn A. Clarke. It's coming out very nicely, and after a few rough patches in following the pattern, I'm thoroughly enjoying knitting this. The shawl has been competing fiercely with my other project for my attention! I'm not sure that the yarn I'm using is the best choice for the pattern, as it is such a dark and variegated color. This shawl would probably look best with a single color yarn. However, this yarn is my handspun merino/soysilk (fiber received a couple years ago at a fiber swap)which I really wanted to use in a lace pattern. Hopefully everything will work out and I'll be wearing this shawl soon.

Here are the hubby socks I previously posted about. I had completed them already and they turned out too short in the foot. So, I had to rip out the toes, add length to the foot, and now I'm about the do the toes again. Hubby is anxiously waiting for them to be finished so he can wear them!

Long time no post!

2011-06-26T13:19:00.001-07:00

Well, it's been quite some time since I've posted. It's because I've been working crazy, long hours. When I get home late at night, I'm just too exhausted to do anything! And, as a result, this blog has been sorely neglected. I'm going to try my best not to let so much time pass again before I post again next time.

I really haven't had much time for crafting either. I've been squeezing it in here and there when I can. It's been really hard doing that, but it is what keeps me sane and I can't be away from my fibers for too long :).

Here's some things I've been working on lately:

Phang spindle purchased through a destash with some unknown fiber that accompanied the spindle

This phang is a good weight and it spins pretty well. I really enjoy working with it and like the color of the wood a lot. Good fiber prep is really the key to working with these types of spindles.

Carded cotton on a hookless tahkli spindle

Absolutely adore spinning up cotton. This hookless takhli is a nice tool. While it doesn't spin as fast as the hooked Indian takhli I have, it sure does hold way more fiber. I'm challenging myself to see how much fiber I can pack on it.

California Variegated Mutant wool being 3 plyed on a CD spindle

I'm almost done plying this wool. I had a blast spinning this fluffy, springy white wool. I have lots more of it to play with too!

Cashmere on a handmade wittled phang and simple toy wheel support spindle

The cashmere loves these two spindles. It spins so effortlessly! The phang works surprisingly well for me, now that I've gotten some good practice time in. I love it so much. Thanks Janet!

I was also gifted these two beautiful bead whorl spindles and cotton samples from a Ravelry friend. Thanks Jame! They spin very well, making a nice, thin thread. Cotton with silk nubs is on the clear glass bead spindle. I'm always fortunate to come in contact with some very generous fiber folks on line.

I'll be going on vacation in the coming week and I should have plenty of time to play with my fibers! It's hard to choose what to take with me. LOL!

Score at the Thrift Store and Street Finds!

2011-03-09T10:37:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I went thrifting. Not really looking for anything specific, just checking out the merchandise. I found this really nice, interesting looking chair for $5.00 (it was half off). I love the shape and simplicity of the chair. I'm wondering what, if anything should I do with it. Any suggestions?

I also found these sweet milk glass vases for $.50 a piece,

and this old tarnished silver platter for $3.50 (again, both half off). Check out the little feet on her!

I decided I could use them to change out the display on my dresser. Now, I'd seen vases like these before and simply passed them by. But, after seeing a lovely vignette somewhere out in blogland, I decided to give them a try. What could it hurt at that price? Turns out I love the way they look on my dresser.

This morning while taking my girls to school, I spotted this lovely cane back chair on the sidewalk. Apparently, the owner had put it out to trash. Well, now that I've gotten the thrifty decorating eye, I quickly got out of my car, inspected it, and finding it to be in great shape, threw it in my trunk. Talk about score!!!! Oh yeah!!!!

And it goes well with the other piece I had gotten from the Salvation Army a while back.

Looks like I got my work cut out for me with all my recent furniture finds!

Knitting and spinning

2011-03-01T10:07:00.000-08:00

I started making a pair of knee socks for the "man." They are long overdue. I kept knitting and ripping until finally settling on just a plain knit sock. I'm using Filatura Lanarota's "Fashion Toes" which is a 90% superwash Merino Woll , 10% Nylon yarn. I love this yarn! Knit on size 1 needles makes a nice fabric for socks, and the socks are turning out well. Still have about 4-5 inches of leg left to do, then the long (size 12)feet to go.

Also, I finally finished spinning up the bit of llama that accompanied the spindle that Janet gave me. http://www.ravelry.com/people/popsicletote . The spindle took a little getting used to, but it the end I was able to spin it as I wanted to. Fiber prep is extremely important when using these phang spindles. It really makes spinning much easier. The llama is really soft and nice. I wouldn't mind getting some more of this.

I think I'll eventually ply this bit of llama with some Romney lambswool (in the same natural color) that I'm working on and make a pair of lace wrist warmers-if there's enough yardage.

Freecycle Finds And Street Finds

2011-02-27T08:06:00.000-08:00

Yay Freecycle! I've mentioned what Freecycle is in a previous post, so I won't wasate time going into again.

Here are some free cycle items I've gotten recently.

Not sure if I'll repaint that table, since I like the paint job.

Something is obviously missing from this table. I have no idea what was there, and the owner was using it as is to put shoes in. I'm going to fill the open space with baskets for storage.

I'm going to sand and paint the dresser, as I'm not loving the loving the look of it right now. I'll also change out the knobs. Then it should be fabulous.

Check out the old casters on the dresser legs!

I absolutely love the Vintage singer sewing machine table! The machine is not included. The owner had been given the table by a friend whose family had it for three generations. She says she didn't have room for it anymore. I gladly took it off her hands.
The detailing on the drawers is amazing! And the foot pedal still works!

Check out the high boy I found on the street. A neighbor, 3 houses away was throwing it out, and I rescued it as it was in great condition. Only the finial in the middle is missing. I have no before pictures, unfortunately. It was a blah honey brown color. This is how it looks now, after I sanded and painted it.

You know, it's strange. I never thought I'd be one to like antiques or vintage furniture. But now that I'm furnishing a new place that old (in age), it seems appropriate to have some vintage pieces. I also have been extremely inspired by the vintage furniture I've seen on so many decorating blogs. Finally, vintage pieces are perfect for the non-existent decorating budget, especially when it's FREE!
I like an eclectic mix of vintage and contemporary. That suits my style very well, I think. And speaking of contemporary...I rescued this lamp someone had put out one day when I was running errands.

It's made with some kind of paper!

I'm absolutely thrilled to have gotten these things. Free can be good.

Some of my favorite things

2011-02-26T15:58:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share some of my favorite things. I've found that I'm a rather simple person really. Things found in nature bring me great pleasure. The tactile feel of things is really inspiring for me. Shells, stones,rocks, flowers, clay.... I have some others too, but I'll just share these for now.

Projects and things

2011-01-21T06:55:00.000-08:00

WARNING
This post will be sort of jumbled, and jumping from thing to thing - Just like my state of mind right now! :) But, it's all good, as I'm still getting things done.

Since moving into the house and having a $0 decorating budget right now, I'm really heavy into renew, reuse, recycle. I wanted a new look on my bathroom window sill, so I decided to reuse some emerald green sparkling cider bottles to decorate with. They match with the green marble tiles on the floor. I may embellish them a bit more later, but, so far, this is what I've come up with. It looks kinda neat to me.

Here's a look at some of my lovely plants:

Here's my finished Dane Shawl, first shown in the October 27, 2010 post. It turned out great. This one is from sheep to shawl. For those of you who don't know what that means : I got the raw fleece, washed it, dyed it, spun it into yarn, and then knitted it into this shawl. I love it and it's happily on display in my craft room.

I made some new bead spindles. I made one a couple years ago (it's shown here in my December 30, 2010 post, and my November 27, 2009 post). But, after seeing similar bead spindles in an online friend's post on http://www.ravelry.com, and on her blog, http://www.fiberdrunk.blogspot.com, I had spindle envy and decided to make some also. They are made with African beads and bamboo for the shafts. One has a vintage no.3 steel double pointed knitting needle as a shaft. Three of them spin very well (including the one with the steel shaft), but one has a little wobble. That's the one with the cotton fiber on it. I'm hoping that a bit more fiber on it will make the wobble disappear, as sometimes happens with spindles.
Here's what they look like:

I was gifted an interesting spindle by an online friend, Janet, I met on ravelry. It's called a PHANG spindle, and is used in Asia. If you go on youtube.com and type in phang, you will be able to view videos of women using them. For some strange reason, I can't insert links here. Maybe someone out there can tell me what I'm doing wrong.

Janet makes these spindles by hand whittling them from wood in her area of the country. I saw her post showing some she'd made and I was intrigued so I asked if I could buy or trade for one, and she decided to gift me one! The selfless generosity of Fiber folks never ceases to amaze me! Anyway, along with the spindle came some lovely llama fiber to practice with. I've been practicing and getting use to the feel of the spindle. Since I'm already familiar with support spinning, it's not too difficult. But, there's still a learning curve. :) Here's a look at the spindle:

Lastly,my 7 year old recently lost her mittens on the bus on the way from school. I'm making her another pair from handspun yarn (made on a spindle) I made about 5 years ago. I'll be smart this time and make an I-cord to run through the sleeves of her coat, so these won't get lost! The handspun actually looks very good considering it was one made during my first year of spinning. They are being knit on bamboo double pointed knitting needles that I made from bamboo skewers. They are a size 4 and they knit very well.

A shot of the needles

Some things I'm working on

2010-12-30T09:44:00.001-08:00

I've been working on some cotton that I have ignored for some time. I started spinning it with a vengeance since I've been home with the kids over the holiday break.

Variegated green cotton! Photo is not so clear and doesn't show the colors too well. The colors on the spindle show pretty well though. Spun directly from the hand ginned bolls.

White ginned cotton carded on wool cards

Progress on the CVM wool
Here is my progress on the CVM wool I posted on before. I've rolled 3 plying balls as I'm planning on making a 3 ply yarn.

Cool Socks!

2010-12-30T08:56:00.001-08:00

Cool Socks!
Originally uploaded by nkosit1968

Finally finished my socks. These were knit with Red Heart superwash wool and nylon with Aloe! Pretty good stuff. I love the colors.

Freecycle finds

2010-12-16T14:44:00.000-08:00

Today, I scored well on Freecycle ( an organized yahoo group in your local area where people list things they have to give away, and people request things that they'd like - all for FREE!). Yay Freecycle!

I went to meet a lady who offered a small antique table. It had been stripped of paint, as she had intended to fix it up, but never got around to it. I got it and painted it. Should have taken some before pictures, but didn't think of it.

From this same lady, who was apparently cleaning out her apartment, I got a large, old, wooden frame that was gold in color and detailed with flowers or something. I painted that too, and put an old corkboard I had in it. Since the corkboard didn't fill the entire frame, I used a bit of burlap to cover the area . Now it's a message or picture board! I also forgot to take before pictures.

I also got a large potted plant and an old sign.

Here are the pics:

Pretty Things!

2010-11-16T10:17:00.000-08:00

I just had to share these really cute items I scored recently while thrifting. Generally, when I go to the thrift stores, it's to seek out hand made pottery and ceramics. But, I think I did well to find these really pretty cups. I love to drink tea, and drinking out of a pretty cup just makes you feel oh so pretty! LOL!

Mikasa "Ivory China"

Unnamed yellow teacups with flower print and gold rim

Cotton grows in Brooklyn????

2010-11-10T10:17:00.000-08:00

Yay! I'm doing a happy dance!

Folks, I love spinning cotton, and so, I wanted to experiment with growing it here in Brooklyn. Now, last year I tried growing some cotton (from seeds I ginned from purchased cotton bolls) when we lived in an apartment. I put it in bright sunny, west facing windows with no luck. An online friend said she had gotten some to grow in her south facing window in Ohio! So, this year, when we moved into our home, I decided to try it out in little pots in my north facing back yard. Well, let me tell you...cotton takes a long time to grow! I had two pots outside all summer long. One plant flowered and grew a boll. The other didn't. When the weather gold cold, I brought the pots inside and placed them in a very sunny south facing window. The boll grew and grew until finally, today, I noticed it had popped open! Inside is really some white cotton! Can you tell how thrilled I am? The second plant flowered and has a tiny boll growing on it. I never thought the plants would last long. They were showing signs of death. Leaves were drying up and falling off, even with watering almost every other day. But, those little plants are survivors!

Enough with the talk.... Let me show you what I"m talking about.

Well, well, well! I'll be......! Cotton can grow in Brooklyn! And I did it! Yes, sirree, I did it!!

New Projects

2010-10-27T10:06:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a while since my last post! I've finally made some time to list some of the projects I've been working on lately. My life has been so stressful lately, and these projects have helped me maintain my sanity. I can't express how good it feels to work with fibers. The feel of the fiber in my hand; the smell of it; the look of it - it makes me feel happy! I love the process so much. The finished yarn and project are secondary for me. Anyway, here are a few of the things I'm working on currently. There's one finished item also!

Merino/Viscose pencil roving on spindles. This wool was gifted to me by a good internet buddy and handyed by me.

Dane Shawl made from handspun, easter egg dyed corriedale wool fleece. Can't wait to finish this!

CVM wool on spindles. I love this wool!

Crocheted Hat for the man! Made with my handspun superwash wool.

Socks for the man!

I'll try to be a good blogger and update more regularly. I'll also have some more pics of my thrift finds! Love, Love, Love.
Peace!

I'm back!!!!

2010-08-30T10:44:00.001-07:00

t's been so long since I've blogged. So much has happened since my last post.
We moved into our house! That was a nightmare. I've put away just about everything and just have to figure out where I'll hang the pictures. I have some storage issues, so i'm looking for a solution to display some cherished items in the kitchen. I realize it's going to take some time to acquire some just right pieces. We didn't have much furniture in our apartment, so the house is sparsely furnished. That's actually fine with me, as I am trying to stay away from the clutter that was our apartment - mainly my crafting supplies.
I'm still getting accustomed to 3 floors plus a cellar. It's a lot of house to clean and there's always something to be done. I am trying to enjoy the house, but it's hard when you don't have all the things you want. I must nevertheless take time to give thanks for all that we do have. I'm very grateful.

I'm still spinning, knitting and crocheting. A bit less than usual though. Trying to get back into my grove. What I've been doing quite a bit of is thrift store shopping. Finding cute, functional things to decorate the place. It's a lot of fun, and looking for the bargains is a blast. Whether alone or with a friend, I'm totally enjoying myself.

I have some photos of some things I've accumulated lately that I want to share. Photos were taken with my blackberry, so excuse me if they don't look too hot.

Small trinket box made of colored glass, with a mirror insert

Inside of a pea pod - bowl?

Milk glass planter

Two soup bowls - Hull pottery

Another milk glass planter

Milk glass bowl -flower

"This old house" canister

Clay pottery - lipped pot

Old "Farmhouse" milk bottle

Too much going on!

2010-04-11T11:01:00.001-07:00

camsilkwool2
Originally uploaded by nkosit1968

There has been so much going on in my life the past few months. It's been very stressful and hectic. But, through it all, I've been squeezing in little snippets of time to spin and knit.
I've been working on some camel/tussah silk for a while now. After finishing that singles, I then spun some rambo/romney fleece and plied the two together. I spun each single rather thin, as I was hoping to achieve a 2-ply lace weight yarn. Well...success! Here's a pic of the final yarn. It turned out rather nicely and I'm so pleased with it.

And here are the before shots:

RamboRomney2
Originally uploaded by nkosit1968

Rambo/romney fleece on the spindles and camel/tussah silk on the roll.

Rambo/Romney fleece:

RamboRomney1
Originally uploaded by nkosit1968

Camel/Tussah silk on a tiny bottom whorl spindle

Cameltusahsilk
Originally uploaded by nkosit1968

cotton punis

2010-02-20T09:59:00.001-08:00

cotton punis
Originally uploaded by nkosit1968

Hey folks! There's been a lot going on in my life lately. Talk about STRESS! But, I've been keeping busy with my spinning and carding.

Here's a pic of some punis I made up recently. These punis are from machine ginned Acala cotton that I've had for a few years now. Believe it or not, I used my regular wool carder to make these, and they came out pretty nicely, IMHO. The last time I tried to make punis from this ginned cotton, they didn't turn out well. I realize now that the problem was that I wasn't fluffing out the cotton first being loading the carders. This stuff was pretty compacted, so fluffing it out first was a necessity in order to allow for a smoother spin. Now that I'm doing that, the punis are coming out way better.

This stuff, as with most of my spinning has been by trial and error. I'm glad I finally figured out what I was doing wrong. I think my preference for cotton spinning is still spinning from the freshly ginned bolls. The whole process is one that I enjoy.

The Never Ending Polypay Fleece Project

2010-01-17T08:50:00.000-08:00

I have this 3lb polypay fleece that I bought about 3 years ago. I dyed the entire fleece in shades of pink and purple, and set out to spindle the entire fleece. Well, I have completed my 5th skein! Mind you, this is something I work on from time to time, because the staple length is short and I have to comb out each lock with my pet comb. When I set my mind to it, the combing out can go very quickly. So can the spinning -when I choose to work on it. I've been very happy with the way my skeins have turned out - all in the 260-290 yard range, fingering weight, and tightly plied.
I've been trying out a new way of plying as I normally ply right off the spindle. This time, I've wound the fiber from two spindles onto a paper towel roll and plyed from that. Much easier, less tangled, and most importantly - much faster plying. I also did all the plying via thigh rolling as this increases the speed tremendously.
Please excuse the pics as they were taken with my blackberry. And without further ado...Here are the pics.

First Yarn of the New Year!

2010-01-17T08:23:00.001-08:00

first yarn of new year
Originally uploaded by nkosit1968

I actually finished this yarn around the 3rd or 4th of January, but had computer issues. I took the photo with my blackberry, so they aren't the clearest, but it'll have to suffice.
This is a 430 yard skein of romney/corriedale fleece spun up on my columbine wheel. It will be good for a pair of long socks as the wool appears to be very strong. I think it's also destined to be overdyed as it is a very pale green color.

New Yarn and a finished object!

2009-12-30T16:50:00.001-08:00

mmma
Originally uploaded by nkosit1968

This is a blend of merino/mohair laps fiber that was blended with mulberry silk on my hackle and then plied with angora. Love, Love, Love! 646 yards of luxury!

merino/mohair/mulberrysilk/angora
Originally uploaded by nkosit1968

Here are my fingerless mitts made with handspun merino/mohair and angora. I did this yarn about 2 years ago and finally found the perfect thing to make with it. I got this pattern from my LYS (The Yarn Tree) when I purchased some angora yarn some years back. It's knit flat, then sewn up. Hated sewing them up, but they turned out well. My blocking skills....well, that's another story. LOL!

Cotton yarn

2009-11-27T10:02:00.000-08:00

Well, I've finished another cotton skein. This time, it's a pharmaceutical grade cotton that a friend from my spinning group and I split. It's pretty linty, but I got it to experiment spinning cotton on and it's working out pretty well, I think.
You'll recall the yarn from a previous post:

I decided to make a 4 ply skein with this yarn. I first wound the 4 spindle cops off onto a single paper towel roll, and plyed it off of that. This was a much easier choice than plying off the spindles itself. No tangles! The plying went really quickly too. Then, I skeined the yarn on my niddy noddy and got 196 yds. There was some left over on 2 of the spindles, but I just left that yarn and will add on to it later for another skein.

I'm very happy with this skein. Cotton is totally addictive. The spinning is very soothing and almost meditative, more so than wool, IMHO.

New Yarn

2009-11-18T14:30:00.001-08:00

I've had some bits and pieces(some very substantial) of various shades of brown fleeces already spun up and couldn't decide what to do with them. So, I came up with the idea to put all those pieces together to create a somewhat unique yarn. I had small spindles of babydoll and merino, then some alpaca, bond, cvm, rambo/romney and shetland. Here's what I did with it:

I made a 3 ply yarn and got 270 yds! It turned out much nicer than I anticipated.

Fish

2009-11-17T10:46:00.001-08:00

Goodies!!!

2009-11-13T09:43:00.000-08:00

I got some goodies this week.
I received these beautiful polymer clay spindles from Jame in NC. I met her on Ravelry and fell in love with her tiny bead spindles. We arranged a trade - some of my fiber for 2 of her spindles! I'm really happy with them. Aren't they cute?

Last year around this time, I ordered some colored cotton bolls from Laura in NC. I ordered Erlene's green, Nankeen and Rust colored cotton. Well, I ginned the nankeen and spun that up. I saved the seeds and sent some to Joan in MS, who so graciously agreed., to plant some for me. The weather this season wasn't the most ideal due to lots of rain in MS. However, Joan did manage to salvage quite a bit of the bolls. She sent me a big box of nankeen cotton! Here it is:

Teri (whom I met through Spindlers yahoo group and on Ravelry) and I have done some trading in the past also. Earlier this year, I traded her some of my polymer clay bead spindles for a nice little spindle she made. Recently, Teri got some fiber from Dean's cotton Farm in NC. They have a cotton maze which they bulldoze at the end of the season. GASP! So she asked if she could have some of the cotton. I inquired about it and she volunteered to share some with me. Here it is:

Maria, a friend from my craft group, came to the last meeting with this cool apron that she'd sewn, and I thought it would be really cool for holding knitting and spinning supplies on the go. I asked her to make one for me. She suggested we should barter for it instead of spending money. Her little girl needed some fingerless mitts, so we decided to barter those for the apron. She received the mitts today and I have my apron. Here it is:

Craft people prove time and time again to be some of the most generous people around. Seriously! With the exception of Maria, I have never met any of these ladies. All of our dealings are done online. All of the online friends I've made through crafting have been so kind, generous and genuine. Thanks to all of you.

The Four Year Spindle Project!

2009-11-05T05:39:00.000-08:00

Yep! You read it right. I have a spindle project that took me four years to complete! I didn't intend for it to take that long. Really, I didn't. Let me tell you the story.... Four years ago when I taught myself to spin, I bought a 4 lb fleece from a nice lady shepherdess named Sandy at http://www.homesteadwoolandgiftfarm.com. It was a beautiful natural colored Border Leicester/Romney/Suffolk fleece. I carefully washed it and then begun spinning it on spindles (that's all I had at the time). Well, later a wheel came along. But, I had vowed to spin the entire fleece (minus a few ounces which I shared with a couple friends)on my spindles. But then the spinning obsession hit in HARD! I started accumulating other fleeces and fibers and got side tracked. The spindle project was forever a work in progress (WIP). Well, finally, four years later, I'm proud to say that I'm finished with that project! The skein before this final one was a struggle because my spinning was getting finer over the years and I had to use my CD spindle (what I started spinning the fleece on) and force myself not to spin fine. I used my four spindles that my friend Marion so lovingly made for me to finish up my last skein and got 644 yards from that! Could have gotten way more yarn on the final spindle, but I finished the fleece. The final skein (which I finished plying yesterday) was spun at a much finer grist than the others because I just gave up fighting to keep it thick. I'd planned to make a sweater from the yarn. I'll just use the thinner yarn for socks or a small shawl. See all my hard work?

I'm really proud of myself right now. It took four years, but I'm finished now and I'm happy with my yarn. Now ask me how long it will take to make my sweater. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha...........................

What a week!

2009-10-25T08:21:00.000-07:00

I spent three days this past week attending a Continuing Legal Education seminar. Three days from 9-5 each day!! It was interesting information on Family Law issues, but boy was it ever long. I had to do something during the breaks to keep from going batty. And on the last day, I even did it during the seminar. What did I do? Knit of course! I made 2 and 3/4 pairs of fingerless mittens for my girls. It was a very simple pattern that I could keep it my head and just do to pass the time. Here they are:

These mitts were made with left over scraps from other projects. As you can see, i ran out of yarn for the purple mitts. Dang it! Of course, they couldn't be finished, as I need more yarn. Now I have to go buy a whole skein just to finish the blasted thing. I don't want to buy yarn. It's almost a sin to buy yarn, with all the yarn I already have. But, I want to get these finished already. So, I'll have to suck it up and buy a skein.

BTW, these little mitts are a great way to use up scraps (obviously you want to have a significant amount, or you can do stripes of different colors. Should've thought of that before now! Duh!) And they do look so cut on little hands.

Finally!

2009-10-10T11:44:00.000-07:00

HELLO!

I'm so late getting on the blog band wagon that it's ridiculous. It's not for want of willingness, but for want of time. I had to do it now, or never.

It's a busy time for me with high school search for my son, finalizing a home purchase, starting a second career in addition to the first, and dealing with everything else in life. Talk about pressure and stress! Whew! I have to keep sane somehow. So what do I do? I knit and I spin, I think about knitting and spinning, I dream about knitting and spinning, and I even read a good book every now and then.

Here's what I've been working on lately.

Colonial wool from Coppermoose on a spindle from Spindlez on Ebay.

Camel/tussh silk blend that I got at a fiber swap at Spincity meetup group meeting. It's being spun on a tiny stone drop spindle made by my friend Marion at http://knittingspinningsewingcrocheting.blogspot.com

Wool fingerless mitts for my Son.

Border Leicester/Suffolk/Romney Lamb fleece on spindles by Marion.

Angora fiber (batt) from Silkmothspinneryon Ebay. Luscious!