Yarn

Some New Housemates and Some Spinning

/ LDSVenus

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Meet (yellow and green) Princess Peach, and (teal on the top and blue on the bottom and some white) Yoshi.  My son and his spouse weren’t having enough time for these love birds because of their alpacas and shows to sell their alpaca yarn, etc.  So I inherited them.  Unfortunately they are both females so they have to have separate cages because, tho they like each other, it’s from afar, lol.  I didn’t realize just how noisy and loud love birds can be, they make a call similar to the kookaburra, :P.  They also have quiet noises as well.  You can’t see the color well on the teal/blue love bird, but she is beautiful.  They are not friendly so I have to love them from afar as well :P.  They are very intelligent as most parrots are, Miss Peach figured out how to get out of her cage and I had to secure all the doors on her cage, she is naughty :P.

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Ok, re-posting the finished spool of singles and the progress on the 2nd spool and showing the rolag with it.  I have four more rolags not counting the one I draped across the wheel, however I have the 1st spool about 1/2 way full and tho I can get more on it, if I have 2,  more than 1/2 full spools, I worry that it will be overfull after plying, and my  Baynes wheel doesn’t do plying well once that happens.  So I might have to just spin what is left over, after filling this 2nd spool 1/2 way, and ply the left over singles from a center pull ball and use it if I need it for the scarf that I am planning on making with this yarn. I’m hoping to have this done tomorrow evening or Monday sometime, been a long time coming with this skein :P.  Then I can concentrate on continuing learning to spin on the Rick Reeves double drive wheel ;).

There Be Socks!!

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Hermiones Everyday Socks finished

Finally done, I have a finished pair of Hermione’s Everyday Socks!!  The family member I knit these for will be very happy indeed.  These would have been done much faster if my knitting mojo wasn’t so hit and miss lately.

The yarn Dreams in Fiber I used was actually dyed by the same person who wrote the pattern for this sock, and the match up wasn’t on purpose, so as Dumbledore would say it was “by some happy circumstance” :).  The yarn was wonderful to work with and I love the pattern :).  Thanks Erica :).

Hermione’s Everyday Socks have Heels!!

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Hermione's Everyday Socks have Heels

I did finally get the heels in this pair of socks.  I will just stick to the heel I was taught until I feel that I have mastered it and can move on to different sock heels :P.   Now it’s just the feet and toes which will hopefully not take as long as the heels.

I have been lazy in finishing the heels, no not really lazy, unmotivated is more like it.  I lost a child right after Mother’s Day almost 8 years ago, and this time of year leaves me lacking the desire to do things.  I know he’s with our Heavenly Father, I just miss him. It just hits harder at this time of year, maybe because it’s so close to the anniversary of his death and the combination of it being so close to Mother’s Day.  I try to keep everything tucked in so it’s not apparent to others that my emotions are trying to leak out as tears.  Some people tend to think, because it’s been more than a year,  you don’t grieve anymore (sure we do) or that you can just pick yourself up and get back into your old life.  Well life is never quite the same after a death, it changes everything in your life, it turns everything upside down and it will never really be back to normal again, like that picture on the wall that never sits quite straight again after it falls.  Oh it does eventually get easier to handle during other times of the year as the years pass, but there are still those very tender times during the year that are hard for others to understand because you tend to isolate yourself so others won’t see your pain.  Times when you miss his phone calls, or miss laughing at something silly he said or did.  I know I will see him again when my time comes to return to our Father in Heaven, but until then, I just miss him.

Oh My Gosh More Snow! – Sock Update

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More Snow 4-8-18

Well we got about 1 to 1 1/2 inches of snow last week end, Sunday April 8th, evening and over night.  Close to the same is suppose to hit us tonight into tomorrow.  Sigh, we hit almost 70 this past Thursday and now we are in the lower 40’s today, cold relative to Thursday’s temps.  Tho’, in all honesty it’s not really considered cold in IA :P.  The picture was taken during the early part of the storm and it melted off by mid Monday afternoon.

 

Knit Picks Hawthorne Fingering

First, I’m sad to say I did have to frog the heel in the Hermione’s Every Day socks, sigh.  I will just go back to the heel I’m use to, the one this pattern called for made no sense to me, but I’m not an experienced sock knitter, yet :P.

This picture is of a sale yarn I ordered from Knit Picks, it is their Hawthorne Fingering Klamath Falls Tonal Hand Paint colorway (I like when sock yarn is on sale so I can afford a skein of sock yarn for special things.)  I wish my camera would get a realistic picture of yarn colors, but it doesn’t.  It is a dark blue but it has some brighter highlights that just aren’t showing up.  Because it is 100 grams but only 357 yards instead of 400, it’s a little heavier, and that makes me I wonder if I should go down a needle size and if I will have to play yarn chicken with the socks :(.  I bought this so that when I am finally finished with the socks on my needles now, I can start these for my dad for Father’s Day.

Hope you are all having a great week end.  I’m watching a Star Wars marathon on TNT. 🙂

General Conference – Happy Easter!!

/ LDSVenus

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Easter Day.  I am enjoying it as I watch our General Conference with many wonderful spiritual lessons, such peace!

General Conference is televised on the BYU channel and on the internet link supplied above.  It is wonderful talks by our leaders on Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm central time USA and 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm (those times are for both days).  It is so uplifting.  General Conference happens twice a year, in the spring and in October.

While I am watching and listening, to keep my hands busy I knit.  I finished two dish clothes, In Thirds and a waffle stitch dish cloth I don’t have where I got it from but there are several on Ravelry you can chose from :).   I had started the dish cloths some time ago and never got back to and started another new born 2X2 ribbed hat.  I am using the beautiful heart stitch marker I purchased from Yarn Candy Studio and the beautiful enameled progress keeper that came with my order from Gretel Creations, you can also see the embroidered knitting bag I made myself.  What better way to spend these spiritual days than to knit charity gifts and listen to uplifting messages :).  Hope you all have had a blessed Easter week-end.

 

More Progress :)

/ LDSVenus

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Here is our progress on our Diagonal Garter Stitch scarfs.  We are coming along.  Glad I didn’t have as many stitches as Keri :P, but she has much less time to knit than I do :). Looking forward to the color changes on her scarf :).

Te Ara Mitts progress  I’m coming along on the Te Ara Fingerless Mitts.  I will have this finished by Saturday and ready to give to my friend on Sunday :).  They match the 3 Color Cowl I made for her.  I hope she will enjoy these.  🙂  I’ll get a picture of  them finished before I give them to her.

Hope everyone is enjoying the first day of February.   It’s the last official month of winter, YEA!!!!  Spring is just around the corner I can hardly wait :).

 

Progress on the Diagonal Garter Stitch Scarfs and on the Te Ara Fingerless Mitts

/ LDSVenus

 

Here is an update on our progress on the Diagonal Garter Stitch Scarf.  My friend is a EMT so she has less time to knit, but to be fair I am using a bulky yarn and she is not so mine appears to go faster :P, but I do have two skeins to her one, so it will equal out and it is not a race, just a KAL (knit a long).  My colors change faster than Keri’s do, so it will be interesting to see her finished scarf :).

Te Ara Fingerless Mitts progress 2

Here is the update on the Te Ara Fingerless Mitts I am knitting.  I still have to finish the thumb and have decided that I will make it match the upper part of the mitts in the lighter speckled yarn.  To see more about the yarn I am using check this page out.  I will just keep my fingers crossed that I will now have enough of the navy blue to do the other mitt :P.

Diagonal Scarf Along – With a Friend :)

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I taught my friend to knit when I lived in TN and we use to have Harry Potter Marathons and eat popcorn.  Ahhh those were fun days :).  We have missed doing those things together, as I now live in another state, so we decided to have a Scarf Along.  We have picked out our yarn and needles and our plan of attack for the scarf.  I wish I could tell you where I got the pattern, I hand typed it out and have had it for years so no telling where the pattern was from originally so I can’t share it, but there are several on Ravelry that are Diagonal Garter Stitch Scarfs.

The pictures above are the yarns we chose, I neglected to get the brand of yarn she got for this project, but it looks like Lion Brand tho’ I could be wrong, I’ll check back with her and update this(**Yes it is Lion Brand yarn  Mandala, thanks Keri :).)  My yarn is Yarn Bee Aspyn from Hobby Lobby, it is 80% acrylic and 20% alpaca and very soft and is a bulky weight tho the pattern calls for a DK weight and a US size 5 needle.  We both decided the 22 stitches cast on was to narrow for us.  My friend, Keri cast on 44 stitches and went up 2 needle sizes and I will also be using the US size 7 and I am casting on 32 stitches.  We should have pictures of our progress to show soon :).  I am excited to get to do something with my friend again :).

I am coming along on the fingerless mitts.  I decided to add the 3rd color from the cowl on the top of the mitts because I was getting very nervous about the yarn chicken game with the navy yarn, lol.  So I will frog some of the top area of the mitt I am working on and add that 3rd color.  I should have one mitt to post a picture of soon as well.  I started with the navy, then added the beautiful turquoise color for the pattern area, then back to the navy and the top few inches will be the light speckled yarn.  It will be a perfect match for her cowl. 🙂

Year of Spinning

/ LDSVenus

This year in the Fiber Pusher Podcast on Ravelry we are working on spinning.  This month it’s getting things finished that are on our wheels.  I had finished the first spool of singles last year, and had started the 2nd spool so am now working on finished that 2nd spool.  I’m excited to see this 2nd spool finished and plyed with the 1st spool because I know it will be a beautiful yarn.  My yarn usually ends up being a light sport weight.  You can see the rolags I am spinning from, here.  I’m trying to commit to at least 20 min of spinning a day, but at the very least 3 or 4 times a week.  That way I won’t feel bad if I miss a day or two because of odds and ends unplanned things that happen in life.  Would love it if things never happened unexpectedly however…. :).  I haven’t decided what I want to make from it yet.

I will still be working on the mitts, but I have decided that rather than chance I will fail at the yarn chicken game (made me nervous to see the ball going down faster than I had hoped)  and I really did not want to have to frog two mitts to redo them with another color yarn, so, I am going to insert one of the other colors where the design is so it will be a two tone mitt and better match her 3 color cowl :).  I’ll post a picture when I have passed that design point and you can see it better.

I have also promised that I would finish the socks I am working on for someone for their birthday (next month) and I need to make two hats for two little ones as we are in the throes or a polar express here :).  We were at -21 yesterday (New Years Day and this bitterly cold weather started with the early afternoon on New Years Eve) with wind chills dipping from -30’s to -42 and it was still very cold earlier today, tho now, late afternoon, it’s only -2 with a wind chill of -14.  woo hoo, a warm up :P.  So I should have a very busy next few weeks with spinning and knitting :).

My Christmas Knitting Done :)

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Basia Hat

My last knitted gift for Christmas, YEA!!  This pattern is call Basia and is a really interesting and easy knit.  Just enough texture to keep your attention but an easy texture to memorize :).  I kettle dyed this with an acid dye and it is a deeper blue than my picture shows, I’m not much of a photographer.  This is my 2nd Basia hat (made one as a Christmas gift last year) and I knit this with the same sport/dk weight yarn I had processed at the mill from the Polypay fleece I was given.  I have only one more skein of the yarn left out of 11.  I do have two more fleeces in the trunk of my car, but haven’t had the extra money to have them processed into roving or yarn.  If my car would stop being a money pit I could send them off to process :P.

1st Snow 2017-2018 This was the first snow of our 2017-2018 winter.  This was a week & 1/2 ago or so.  I should have put it up before, but…  It wasn’t much, just a dusting, and it has since melted.  We are suppose to get some snow tomorrow morning and Monday, so just in time for Christmas, tho it isn’t suppose to be much, maybe a 1/4 to 1/2 inch.  This, so far, is a very low moisture winter for us, and I won’t complain about the warmer weather, much better than -40, tho I think Jan will bring much colder temps than  we have been having.