Life

Project Done!

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My project was my Little Lace Cat’s Paw Scarf design with my hand spun yarn.  I’ve knit this little scarf several times and still enjoy it.  The colors on the scarf are blown out, it really is a medium teal color instead of the lighter color that shows.

I am working on spinning on my Rick Reeves spinning wheel, but the tension is a bit finicky (it’s a double band drive tensioned wheel and I’m use to scotch tension).  I won’t give up, I’ll get it eventually, it’s the only wheel I have at the moment that does not need some repairs, so learn on it I must :P.  I’ve got quite a bit of practice fiber, so I will keep working on it and save my nice fiber for after I have the learning curve down :).

Our weather has gotten much better, rain instead of snow and we have been in the 30’s, 40’s, and today and tomorrow lower 50’s!!  WOOT Spring is almost here, we will be back in the 30’s and 40’s after today.  I say almost because we can still get snow through April.  But I will be keeping an eye open now for the Robins, who are my true signal that Spring is finally here :).  I love Spring!

Still More Snow! Working on a Project

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More snow mid Feb 2019

Yes more snow!  It’s been snowing since sometime last night and they say will continue until sometime tonight.  We are expected to get between 4 to 6 inches.  I left this picture a little bigger than normal, so you could see the snow flakes, I could have made the picture bigger but you can still see all the white dots in the picture :).  I can’t believe I actually got a picture of the snow falling!  But, you know there is always a but, it’s because they are huge flakes :P.  I took this a littler earlier around 1 pm.  Also it looks like more snow this coming week and next Sunday, sigh.

I am working on a project with the yarn I spun from the rolags, but won’t comment on it yet.  When it’s done and safely in the mail, I will post a picture.

Hope if anyone else is getting snow from this rather large storm, that you are safe and warm :).

More Snow and Basia Hat Finished

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More Snow Feb 2019  We got 2 inches of snow on Sunday morning/afternoon, and from yesterday evening until this morning when I took the picture we got a little over 3 more inches of snow.  So the ground is once more white with snow, and more snow is on the way on Thursday or Friday, sigh.  I just keep saying Spring is right around the corner, Spring is right around the corner, Spring is right around the corner…..

Jennettes Basia hat1

I finished the Basia hat, and gave it to the intended recipient.  She was very pleased.  I knit this on size 4, 16 inch circular needle for the ribbing and changing to size 6, 16 inch circular needles and (at the end when it got to small around for the 16 inch needles) size 6 double pointed needles for the crown,  instead of going up a needle size for the slighter heavier wt yarn, causing it to be a bit denser and heavier.  I used the sport/DK wt Polypay, which dyed up a lighter brown, and a dark brown alpaca, which I hand spun as heavy fingering wt.  These two yarns used together was a heavier weight close to, but maybe a little heavier than the worsted wt called for and oh my it will be so warm.  I had promised my family member that I would hand spin alpaca for her hat, but since the Basia hat she chose calls for worsted wt and I truly did not want to want to have to do the math for the lighter wt yarn (I’m not a math person :P), I added the Sport/DK wt wool I had on hand which made it a little heavier than a worsted wt.  She is happy with the hat, and with the sub zero weather we have been having I’m sure it will be a welcome addition to her winter wear :).  I think you can see better the lighter and darker browns together and how they play well with each other :).  I forgot to get a picture before she left, she was kind enough to send me one for my blog ;).

Mid-Winter Thaw and Basia Hat Progress

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1st picture is what happens to 19 inches of snow when the weather is warm for 2 days,  We generally have a mid-winter thaw in the middle of January so it’s a little late but at least we have one.  The temps were 38 on Saturday, 43 yesterday and suppose to be 45 today but a cold front will be here later today so tomorrow we will be back in the 20’s during the day, but that is still much better than the sub zero temps we had last week.  If the ground hog is wrong about there only being 6 more weeks of winter, I’m going to make a big ground hog stew and invite you all over :P.

As you can see I didn’t get the Basia hat done, but I did work on it yesterday and only have 2 inches left before I start decreasing for the crown area, so it should be done tonight, yea!  My daughter will appreciate it now that the cold weather is back.  I really like the marled effect using the two colors of brown, adds a lot of visual to it.  I’ll try to catch that better when I get a picture of the finished hat :).

Hope you all are having a great first part of Feb, SPRING IS COMING!!!

Cold Temps and Another Hat

/ LDSVenus

jan2019snows This is a picture of the back yard of a friends house so you can see all the snow we have had this Jan.  We also got another 2 inches today, that would make about 19 inches this month, sigh.

We also had some pretty low temps the past 3 days.  Tuesday night got down to about 25 below zero Fahrenheit and with wind chills was about 40 to 45 below zero.  Last night we broke a record with a low of -30 below zero and with wind chills it got down to about 55 below zero.  Our daytime temps were in the lower 20’s below zero  and with wind chills close to 40 below (that is in the day time!), On Wed the post office actually closed and said no postal deliveries.  We got up to -1 today!  Tomorrow should be 18 above and by Sunday we should be around 40 above, a heatwave!!!!

Another Basia Hat

The hat my daughter chose for me to knit from the alpaca I hand spun (a fingering weight) for her was the Basia hat, unfortunately it calls for sport weight, so I added my last skein of the polypay yarn (a sport weight) from the last fleece I sent in a couple of years ago.  I died it brown and tho it is much lighter than the alpaca (I knit them together) it is a very pretty marled color.  I think she will be pleased.  She could have used it this week :P, but it will be done hopefully by the week end.

3rd Substantial Snowfall for Winter 2018-2019

/ LDSVenus

3rd snowfall for winter 2018-2019 We got more snow over night.  The weather station said 5 inches but I think it was more like 4 inches, still it’s added to what we had last Friday into Saturday.  The biggest add on for this one was that yesterday morning was mostly freezing drizzle so we had a thin sheet of ice under the snow that happened later in the evening.  Yeah, slippery roads.  Also forecasted to have substantially below 0 temps on Thursday night (- 20F) and 0 on Friday, so with wind chills that could be very cold, and forecast for more snow Thursday thru next Monday, we will see how well the weather forecasters called it.  Good day (and week end) to stay in and maybe spin or knit :).  Hope everyone is safe and warm.

 

Baby 2X2 Hats

/ LDSVenus

I have a friend who had a baby girl about 2 months ago so I decided now that my hand was better to make her a simple baby hat (my hand still tires easily and gets nerve pain when I over do, but it’s slowly getting better.) I certainly can’t leave her 3 year old brother without a hat, so after finishing the 2X2 rib hat from 5 Easy Pieces – Knit Newborn Hats (Circular), (free pattern on Ravelry) for her daughter, I started one for her son.  I choose the 2X2 rib because it’s, easy (to knit and on my hand) and soft and squishy.  I used a size 6 for the newborn size (the pattern called for a size 7, I knit loosely so I  usually go down a needle size to get gauge)  and used the size 7 for the 3 year old’s hat and added 12 stitches.  I will also add length so it will cover his ears :).  **There use to be a way to magnify the pictures on Word Press but I can’t find it anymore, so even tho you can’t see the yarn very well, it’s Yarn Bee (from Hobby Lobby) Soft and Sleek, the pink is pink stripe and the blue is Denim Blues.  It is very soft stuff and knits nicely.  I believe Hobby Lobby is having a yarn sale in the store this week (Monday Dec 24th – Saturday Dec 29 2018) for 30% off.  Incentive to buy some more :P.

I am still working on the spinning.  I finished that rolag and weighed the bobbins with the singles and first one is a little heavier so I decided to get another of the rolags to spin (that will leave 3 left) and put 2/3 of the rolag on the lighter bobbin and the rest on the other bobbin, hopefully that will balance it out.  We will see.

Tomorrow will be baking day, rolls for Christmas dinner on Tuesday :).

**Update:  I discovered that if you choose the pictures side by side choice that you can click on them on the blog and they will enlarge in a separate window, however if you chose the single pictures they will not.  So there you go.

Some New Housemates and Some Spinning

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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 ;).

Happy Thanksgiving!

/ LDSVenus

Thanksgiving DayHope everyone is having a Happy Thanksgiving Day.  My thoughts and prayers are going out to those who suffered devastating losses in the California fires :(, and all those who had no family to celebrate with.   My heart is breaking for them.

I may not have much according to the world, but I have enough.  I have my faith, my family, a warm place to live, food on my table and clothes on my back.  I even have some things that I wanted, a spinning wheel (that was given to me – could not afford to buy one), my knitting needles, some yarn to knit and fiber to spin, a computer (a gift from my dad).  I have an older car that allows me to get around in town and a working sewing machine I’ve had for about 20 years, that allows me to do some sewing (repairs and gifts).  I can not complain because there are others who have less.  I’m grateful for the things the Lord has provided for me.  I wasn’t always grateful because I saw the things others had, but as I saw the lack and needs of others who had less than I did,  I began thanking our Father in Heaven for those things I had neglected to recognize as blessings in my life.  It has given me a sense of peace and comfort to see and recognize all the Lord has blessed me with.  I hope you find things to be grateful for too even tho there is so much strife and drama in the world, there are things in our lives that are blessings and tender mercies.  Sharing what we have is a blessing to others, not only lifting them but us as well.  I hope we can all find ways to bless others’ lives.