Finished Gnome

The last clue of the mystery knit along came out today and I finished the gnome!

Surprise! It's a girl gnome - apparently all gnomes have beards, although this one is a leaf, and she has long braids. It was lots of fun to make. She is 12" to the top of the leaf on her hat. The pattern is Gnome MKAL by Sarah Schira - she is planning another mystery gnome in the fall.

I finished a skein of yarn. This one is from a very coarse section of a raw fleece. I thought it would be perfect for a weaving project. It is about 84g and 200m.

Since there isn't much crafting going on around here, I thought I would share a couple of photos of what else I was up to this past week.

I scraped stipple off the ceiling! Luckily it had never been painted, so came off relatively easy.

It is just really messy/dusty. Amazing how much stuff was up there.

The walls and ceiling are being patched where walls were removed (a little 'railing' was left where the stairs to the basement are). We have opened up the area where the kitchen, living room and dining room are.

Something I learned from Instagram this week was how to peel a mango with the edge of a glass - it works so well.

the little cat has her collar off 

The snow is really starting to melt,

and geese are migrating! Spring is here!

All the best!♥︎

A New Collar

The second clue for the Gnome Mystery Knit Along was released recently and now the hat is made.

The hat is finished with a cute little leaf (seems to be a theme...).

I finished spinning the sock yarn I made with some raw fleece that I had cleaned, dyed and carded.

I started a pair of toe-up socks. The pattern is Plain Sight by Lisa K. Ross - from the newest issue of Knitty (a free online knitting magazine).

Our little outdoor friend got a new collar this week-

she is trying to back out of her Elizabethan collar

Since she seems to be here to stay we decided to take her to the vet - she has had her shots, been spayed and tattooed. She has adapted really well to being inside and has turned out to be such a nice, easy going cat (if you had told me that two weeks ago I would never have believed you). She loves watching TV - especially hockey, also might be addicted to the iPad, and loves sitting on laps. Our children had hamsters and fish when they were younger but this is our first pet that walks around the house - she is quite entertaining.

bird watching

Renovations are in full swing at our house (as you can see from the photos new floors are going to be put in - hardwood instead of laminate and vinyl flooring). My son made little steps out of the boxes for the cat to look out of the window since she wasn't supposed to jump.

All the best!♥︎

Finished Sweater and Socks

I am so pleased with my new sweater!

It came out really nice, and is lovely to wear.

Check out the almost 5 foot snow drift in front of me!

I also finished knitting a pair of socks-

This was another take-along project.

More details about these projects can be found on Ravelry - link for sweater, and link for socks.

I started another knitting project-

This is the first clue of a mystery knit along - Gnome MKAL by Sarah Schira, that started today and has four clues (the last clue comes out on the 25th of March).

All three of these knitting projects are knit with yarn that I spun from raw fleece that I was given from a local farmer.

All the best!♥︎

Still Progressing!

My sweater is still progressing nicely - I just have a bit more to knit.

I did finish combing another bit of raw fleece - this one just over 100g.

As part of my experimenting with the raw fleeces, I tried dyeing it in a pot for a change. I find that the spun yarn is easy to dye, but the unspun fibre doesn't take the dye as easily. Dyeing it in a pot seemed to work really well.

I am making a three ply yarn, I hope for socks (the above photo shows the dyed fibre, drum carded fibre and the first spun bobbin).

cleaned fibre drying

I also washed up another raw fleece.

The big news at our house is that finally renovations have started! So many different kinds of baseboards and trims.

the cat watching the partridges from her perch

4' high drifts and more blowing snow

All the best!♥︎