Some Finishes

I finished a few things this past week.
The Granny Stripe blanket made from leftover fingering weight handspun-

It is 26"x55", the perfect size for laying on my legs or putting around my shoulders. This is my second Granny Stripe blanket and once again I loved making it, I will miss this project. The pattern is free from Attic 24.

I crochet a little edge around this one for a change.

I also finished sewing a robe, from some fabric I was given.

The pattern is from this Japanese sewing magazine (vol 10).

These patterns are very easy to follow (no need to be able to read Japanese). I added pockets (the pattern from a different design in the magazine) and replaced the ties with buttons and a snap (my Mother had made one and didn't like the ties). If I was to make it again I would make the bodice a bit longer and add darts in the back.

Since it is Tour de Fleece time I finished a couple of skeins of yarn-

This is the blend of 5 fibres. I ended up with 440m, 106g of fingering weight yarn.

 This is the first skein of wool from the raw fleece I prepared. It is about a Dk weight.

We have had more rain this past week than we had had since the start of the year (we set records for the driest first 6 months of the year and than set a record for the most rainfall in one day, then had more rain days).

The garden (or the yard) hasn't had a chance to dry out, but it is growing really well.

The perennial garden has lots blooming,

This lily is one we brought from our old home.

Photos for around-

a walk in the woods

a twelve spotted skimmer dragonfly

our road on the other side of the highway-corn on one side and oats on the other

 All the best!♥︎

Canning

 Today I canned the first batch of produce from the garden -

Stewed rhubarb. This is the first time I have canned rhubarb (I just bought a magazine all about canning, and there are lots of recipes I hope to try over the summer).

I did end up putting away the knitted vest for the week to work on the Granny Stripe blanket. I think it is almost done, so I will continue working on this project (this is the second one I have made and both have been the most enjoyable projects).

I did get some knitting done this past week too - toe-up socks. This is my take-along project, and with three appointments in the city last week, there was lots of time to knit. The yarn is a commercial sock blend (merino/nylon) that I had dyed a while ago. I like the grey for the toes (and cuffs), but the pink came out a lot different than I had hoped when I dyed it, although it is knitting up better than I expected.

a double daylily in the garden

All the best!♥︎

Not Much!

This past week I have added quite a few rows to the Granny Stripe blanket (free pattern from Attic 24).

I am making mine with all kinds of leftover hand spun yarn, all about fingering weight. This is such an easy project to just pick up and work on for a bit.

The vegetable garden is all planted now, lots of things are starting to pop up. The bird baths were frozen solid on Sunday morning, so I was glad that I had waited to plant the tomatoes and peppers.

Around here photos -

Seven Snow Geese and a pair of mallards by the pond.

A Western Kingbird (blends in well), 

there are also Eastern Kingbirds around.

 A well framed Grackle.

Some new flowers-

Allium

Flowering Almond Bush

All the best!♥︎

Finished Fleece

I finished spinning the third raw fleece I was given last fall.

1583m and 639g of yarn! I will dye most of this yarn.

This is how it all started - the raw fleece before washing, combing and spinning.

Here is my 1880 Sampler Sew Along block from the Temecula Quilt Company for this week (a 4" block).

My stack of "orphan" blocks is really growing. The plan is to make blocks until the end of the year, and put them together into a quilt top.

Because I missed having a crochet project to work on, I started another Granny Stripes blanket, this time using leftover handspun yarn that is all about fingering weight. This one is about 70cm/28" wide.

a pair of Goldfinches at the feeder

All the best!♥︎

Granny Stripes Blanket

I am so pleased that I have finished the Granny Stripes Blanket!

Lots of firsts for me with this project (major project from raw fleece, blanket, major crochet project...).

I started this project at the beginning of the year, and I thought it would take me all year to finish. Cleaning and combing the fibre became faster with practice, so did crocheting (at first it would take me about an hour to complete a stripe, but by the end they took about a half hour). I thoroughly enjoyed the whole process of this blanket, and not once wished that it was finished.
It is about 130cm x 180cm (50"x70") and weighs 1225g (2 lbs 11 oz).

I have about 300g of yarn leftover.

I have been combing another fleece to spin, just one bag left to fill ;-)

Here is my 1880 Sampler Sew Along block for this week (from Temecula Quilt Company).

All the best!♥︎

Appliqué Block and Yarn

This week I made a block for my 'orphan/leftover/abandoned projects' quilt. It is invisible machine appliquéd, and 16".

It is an Oak Leaf and Orange Peel block from Barbara Brackmans' book Encyclopedia of Appliqué.
I decided to make this block because I didn't want to make last month's block for the Antebellum Album Quilt Along on Barbara Brackmans blog Civil War Quilts - the block involved templates and Y seams, which although lovely just aren't for me.

Here are all the blocks I have so far as part of this 'leftover block' quilt project I am working on for the year.

This is the latest block from the 1880 Sample Sew Along from Temecula Quilt Company, to add to the other blocks (a 4" block).

Last Manitoba Fibre Festival I bought a little bag of sari silk (bottom in the above photo), and thought it was about time I try it out. I blended it with silk, kid mohair locks, merino wool (50/25/25 percent) and a small amount of gold Angelina (for sparkle).

The finished skein is 90g and just over 400 yards of fingering weight yarn.

The sari silk threads add nice pops of colour, and some of the kid mohair locks are still visible. It is so soft with a bit of a halo.

The next big spinning project that I will be working on will be spinning during Tour de Fleece (an online spinning event held during the Tour de France), July 7th-29th 2018. In anticipation, this week I skirted another raw fleece and started washing and combing it. This one is quite clean and amazingly soft. I'll wait and see how much spin-able fibre I get before I decide what kind of yarn to spin.

The Granny Stripes blanket is progressing nicely - it is now a square (50"x50") - I am hoping to have enough yarn so that it reaches 70". Thanks Sally - it really is a blanket now!

All the best!♥︎

Handwoven Tunic

This week I finished sewing a tunic with a piece of fabric that I wove a few weeks ago -

The warp is all yarn that I had spun and the weft is mainly commercial yarn with some handspun, woven in a Soari style.

It is a very simple pattern,

from a Japanese sewing magazine (Amazon link). The tunic is so nice to wear! Sewing something with handspun, handwoven fabric is very rewarding.

~1967 England

I had a similar outfit when I was little (red shoes too),

so did my twin brother (our Mother made these - how she found the time to sew with 5 young children I have no idea!).

I made a couple of coasters with some leftover fabric.

A tip that I have about sewing thick fabric is to use a piece of wood when pressing the seams to really flatten them.

I know that there are fancy tailors clappers, but I just use a piece of 2x4 with a steam iron. After a burst of steam the piece of wood is pressed on the seam for a few seconds.

I also use a piece of 2x4 in front of the pedal for my sewing machine. I find it easier to control the speed of the machine when just my toes are on the pedal (really important when free motion machine quilting).

This is last weeks 1880 Sampler Sew Along block from the Temecula Quilt Co.

My Granny Stripes Blanket has reached the half way point! Just over 36" and about 650g of yarn used, so I should have plenty of yarn.

All the best!♥︎