Author: LDSVenus

Polypay Yarn!!!

/ LDSVenus
Polypay Fleece

Polypay Fleece

 

Polypay Yarn

Polypay Yarn

To the left is the Polypay fleece I was gifted from a friend this spring.  Because I was very busy with little ones this summer I did not have time to spin 😦 ,  so I decided to let The Shepherd’s Mill go ahead and spin it into yarn for me this year instead of just processing it into fiber to spin.  I do heavily skirt the fleeces because they do not put coats on them and the fleeces are pretty dirty and loaded with vm (they are raised as meat sheep rather than for their fleeces, tho because the ewes are Polypay they have a softer fleece.)  I take off the really ugly stuff and pull out all the vm that I can and send in the fleece to the mill, they wash it (usually twice) and process it.  I sent in about 4 lbs of skirted fleece and received 2.55 lbs of yarn (picture on the right) and a little left over roving that I will spin.

I will knit a hat for my friend’s husband and son from their own sheep as a thank you :).  I’m sure they will appreciate the extra warmth this winter :).  Now to pick a pattern to knit and colors for the yarn :).

 

Stress Zebra Bag :)

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Stress Zebra Knot Bag

Stress Zebra Knot Bag click on picture to enlarge

I had some nice heavy plain fabric and I thought it would look nice to do some embroidery on some knot bags.

Stress Zebra Knot Bag b

Stress Zebra Knot Bag b

I have some nice knitting and spinning designs among others to choose from and it will be fun choosing them to put on the bags.

I have cut out another Minions bag (new fabric) and some Ninja Turtle fabric for a little one (family) who wanted one, but I’ve been been under the weather the last few days and haven’t felt like sewing.  I”ll put pictures up when they are done, maybe Monday :).

I have been knitting on some wash cloths as well, will try to get a picture up on Monday of those as well.

The Cowboys play the Eagles tomorrow (their big rivalry).  I hope they do well, I know the Eagles fans are hoping it’s the other way around :P.

Small Pumpkin Bag Made!

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Pumpkin Bags, medium and small

Pumpkin Bags, medium and small (click on image to enlarge)

Ok, I know I wasn’t going to sew any more until I got some of my knitting done, but…. I just couldn’t resist seeing how the small bag looked :P.  You can see them side by side.  The medium bag is 11 inches wide at the widest part and 8 3/4 inches long from the top of the neck area to the bottom (no handle length included).  The small bag is 8 1/4 inches wide at widest part and 6 1/2 inches long from the neck area to the bottom (no handle length included), I made it at 150% of the pattern size.  The small one would be good for your knitting accessories and maybe some small projects.  The Medium one is good for socks and maybe the start of a shawl, I made it 200% of the pattern size.  I will make a larger one to see if that will serve me better for sweaters and larger shawls, I haven’t decided if I want to go 275% or 300%, I don’t want it huge.  Back to knitting :P.

And it looks like the Cowboys won their first game last night against the NY Giants, with a big push down field the last min or so. 🙂  Gotta love replays :).

Pumpkin Bag is Done!!

/ LDSVenus
Halloween Knot Bag full view

Halloween Knot Bag full view

I was able to find the time to sew another Knot Bag this morning.  I used the pretty pumpkin fabric I got at JoAnn’s.  Yes I know it’s Halloween fabric but I loved the brightness of the jack-o-lanerns :).  It will definitely be easy to pick that out from other bags I have knitting stored in that I am working on :P.  Altho’  these are not hard to sew, all the pinning so the pieces stay together as you sew in steps is a pain, a necessary pain but a pain never the less :P.  The finishing around the outside of the handles is fiddly too as it’s a tight area at the bottom and you are turning edges in and sewing them down as you go.  I did pre-iron the 1/4 inch seam fold to make it a little easier this time and it did help but at the very bottom it is a tight turn and you have to be careful not to sew gathered pieces as you go around the tight circle.  I used the same blue fabric for the inside as I did on the Minions bag I made earlier.  🙂  I think it turned out very nicely and I am very pleased :).  I found another Minions fabric and will try sew another one next week, time allowing.  I have a lot of knitting that I need to be working on so I can’t spend to much time sewing :P.

Never Forget 9/11

/ LDSVenus
Twin Towers

Twin Towers

As we remember the 14th year since this heinous attack was perpetrated, may we take a moment to remember all those who died on this day 14 years ago and thank those who helped in the aftermath. I would like to salute those heroes on flight 93, and all those who, on that day, willingly and unselfishly sacrificed their lives to save the lives of others. I also salute those in our armed services who have given their lives and those who continue to fight, selflessly putting their own lives in jeopardy to protect us and others from terrorism. They are all heroes to me and I will never forget.

Minions Knitting Bag Done!!

/ LDSVenus
Minions Knitting Bag

Minions Knitting Bag

I finished sewing a Minions Knitting Bag, Woot Woot.  The first one I’ve done so there are a few things I will change about the way I sew it next time for the pumpkin fabric.  The written instructions were not super clear to a basic sewer but I did figure them out even if one was after the fact (link is to Martha Stewart’s website to the pattern and a little video that was helpful but not in-depth instructive for the written instructions – tho I’m sure an experienced sewer will have no problems at all).  Mistakes help understand instructions sometimes :P.  It is a medium sized bag.  There is another pattern I want to try as well to see which one I like best.  I will definitely make this one again. 😉  I’ve put up two more pictures of the bag so you can see the fabric I used on the inside and what it looks like with the long handle looped through the little one.  I like it, it’s MINIONS!!!  I’ll work on the pumpkin bag on Saturday when I have more time.

 

Minions Knitting Bag 2

Minions Knitting Bag 2

Minions Knitting Bag 3

Minions Knitting Bag 3

All Stressed Up and Nowhere to Go

/ LDSVenus
Stress Zebra Bag for larger view - click on image

Stress Zebra Bag
for larger view – click on image

A friend and I were chatting via email and she reminded me about a shirt I had embroidered for her with a zebra with it’s stripes falling off.  I started laughing as I remembered the “Stress Zebra”.  I NEED one of those I told her.  So I found some of the canvas bags I had purchased to embroider on and put the stress zebra on it.  It always makes me laugh to see that poor zebra.  I’ve put a closer image of the zebra below.

I’m close to having that shawl done that I have been working on for my friend so I should have another picture to put up in another day or so of the finished and blocked shawl.

Stress Zebra for larger view - click on image

Stress Zebra
for larger view – click on image

I bought some really cute Minion and some pumpkins fabric at JoAnn’s Fabrics on Thursday (big labor day sale :P).  I want to make some knitting bags, one like the canvas bag shown (but using regular fabric rather than canvas) and one called a knot bag.  I have a pattern for the one like the canvas bag, but did not find a knot bag pattern at the fabric store.  I’ll have to go online and look to see if I can find a good one.  I’ll post pictures when I am finished with that as well.  I have ideas on what I want to do with the regular bag, tho my sewing skills may not be good enough for what I want to do.  Good thing I have some friends that sew well :).  I might get one of my friends to make a pattern for me and teach me how to sew it :).  I’ll have to work on that.  Not sure why the interest in sewing all of a sudden, but hey, creativity is all good.

Hope you all enjoy your Labor Day Week-end.

 

 

Are You Ready for Some Football? 2015 and Some Knitting :)

/ LDSVenus
Are you ready for some football?

Are you ready for some football?

Yep it’s FOOTBALL season again!!!  I am excited to see how “The Boys” will do this year.  They were pretty decent last year, a controversial call did them in at the end of the year.  They have lost their first pre-season game, but it’s just that pre-season :).  GO COWBOYS!!!

sock yarn from SpinningStreak

sock yarn from SpinningStreak

This is some beautiful sock yarn from SpinningStreak ‘s Etsy shop (she’s in England).  She has some gorgeous yarns.  I saw this yarn and tho the shipping from overseas is not cheap, this yarn was talking to me.  I have a friend who recently lost her sister and I wanted to so something special for her and  I knew this yarn was it.  The comfort shawl I have decided to make is called Ethereal Shawl .  It’s very basic and simple but because it’s a light weight yarn on large needles it will look light and airy, and should knit up quickly.  I’ll post a picture when I am done.  She also sent it in a really lovely organza drawstring bag.

 

 

July and August knitting

July and August knitting

I have been watching some family little ones this summer and have been very busy and haven’t had a lot of time to knit, but here are some things I did work on this summer.  A comfort shawl for a friend who had to have a defibrillator put in in case she has a heart attack, she’s really young for this kinda of thing  :(.  I don’t add the fringe when I make them, but that is just my preference.  I like having something easy to work on, keeps my hands busy and keeps me grounded when I feel overwhelmed or stressed out and the dishcloths are perfect for that.  The one on the left  is called In-Thirds-knit-cloth by Michelle Crimm .  It’s a free pattern from Ravelry, easy and very pretty.  I love using the Sugar’n Cream cotton Stripes for this cloth, sooooo pretty.  I made another one that I already gave to a friend and so I put the left over skein so you could see the lovely colors she got :).  The dish (or face) cloth on the left is the old standby Grandmother’s Favorite dishcloth .

 

I packaged up and sent off the Polypay fleece my friend gave me earlier this year.  Because I still have roving from the last fleece she gave me and I wanted to get a couple of hats for her husband and son out relatively quickly before it gets cold , I opted this year to have them process it into sport weight yarn.  Cost me almost double but when I get it back  in 5 to 6 weeks it will be ready to dye and knit :).  It should be about 3 lbs of yarn.  I always err on the side of caution when I skirt the fleeces and skirt it more severely because the sheep are not covered and I left too much ugly stuff in the first time and the roving was still full of stuff and noils because I also did not remove the short lengths from the longer back fiber.  I don’t want to ruin nice roving because I didn’t skirt it enough.  Her husband and son each will have a hat made from the fiber of their own sheep.   Should help to keep them warm on their farm ;).