Week 45 of 2026

This week I finished spinning the raw fleece I washed and dyed last month -

Ended up with over 600g/1100m of about DK weight yarn.

I spun a three ply yarn to make a round yarn, and to blend the colours better (I didn't want a striped sweater). I could have dyed the yarn after spinning, instead of dyeing the fibre and blending it, but when knitting with hand dyed yarn it is recommended to alternate skeins, and I don't enjoy knitting that way.

I started knitting the Climb Every Mountain sweater by Heidi Kirrmaier.

This past week I also finished a personal challenge to paint/draw a bit everyday. It started November 1st 2025, I thought I would do the month, loved it so much decided on 100 days, still loving it, challenged for a year. It was tough during the summer when days are full - some days it was a very quick sketch, but I am so glad that I stuck with it, and I am definitely going to keep going, just maybe not every day.

I am still working on my 60 mini watercolours (2"x3") to celebrate my 60th year.

The youngest chickens are blending in well now.

All the best!♥︎

Week 44 of 2026

This week I finished knitting a cardigan -

The pattern is the TANi cardigan by ANKESTRiCK.

I knitted it with handspun yarn that started as this bundle of fibre. 

Some natural wool (white and brown) from local fleeces I was given years ago (I washed and combed it), that I drum carded with beige cashmere, white Angora, a bit of green sparkle (trying to use up my fibre stash), and cut up scraps of handspun (for flecks of colour).

I ended up with these batts (the ones on the left had the scraps of yarn, and the batts on the right had the sparkle, for a two ply yarn with different add-ins in each ply),

and spun them in to this yarn - about 400g/750m of sport weight yarn.

I am so happy with how the cardigan turned out. The pattern has really nice details.

More details can be found on my Ravelry project page.

The new chickens are settling in OK, still very skittish, but I think they will always be since we didn't raise them from day old chicks like the other hens.

All the best!♥︎