Happy Canada Day!

A few weeks ago I finished combing another raw fleece, and this week I dyed almost half of it (the other part was left natural).

I dyed most of it shades of grey and then small amounts different bright colours.

Using a drum carder I blended it all together.

Here the fibre is ready for spinning. I chose to divide the colours into two colour groups so that I could make a marled yarn (each of the plies will be a different colour).

I wanted to create yarn for a grey sweater with a bit of interest. I spun and knitted a small sample to see how the blend would work, and I am happy with how it turned out. Tour de Fleece starts on Saturday and this will be one of my spinning projects that I hope to finish during the tour.

These geese held up so much traffic when we went to the city.

yellow wildflowers by the pond

yellow wildflowers in the grass

All the best!♥︎♥︎♥︎

Farm Life

Renovations are coming along - all the kitchen cupboards have been installed and mostly filled. It is so nice to have a stove and kitchen sink again!

Not much time (or energy) for crafting - I am so looking forward to unpacking my sewing machine and have been planning projects I want to make.

Around the farm new plants are growing - 

This is a Three Flowered Aven-

I am so glad to have rhubarb here too -

A pair of Canada Geese are making their home here -

 They seem to spend a lot of time on the septic field!

There has been quite new birds at the feeder - this one is a Blue Jay (there were 4).

And Goldfinches.

A goose likes to stand on the workshop roof every morning - a Crow didn't seem to like it and dove at him.

Also another pair of geese seemed to challenge him too -

It was amazing how loud three geese honking, and stamping on a metal roof was!

The ponds in a light rain on the weekend -

Some wildlife caught on the trail cam-

We knew a skunk was in the area -

But were surprised to see a racoon!

All the best!♥︎

Weaving

 I recently wove a table runner for my sister -

The brown warp was a commercial yarn (Harrisville Design Shetland in the colour way Teak), and the natural was some hand spun yarn from one of the raw fleeces I was given (the person who gives me the fleece is a friend of my sister). The style of weaving is Overshot - a two step weave, with two colours/shuttles.

fresh off the loom

With the warp I experimented with different treadling patterns to create different designs. More details can be found on my Ravelry page.

This was the first time that I wove a whole project in overshot, and I can't wait to try it again.

The overshot sampler project was from this book - Next Steps in Weaving by Pattie Graver (I really recommend this book if you are a new weaver or what to experiment with different types of weaving).

Now for some photos of our area -

a flock of swans!

water in the ditch at sunset

wide open spaces!

All the best!♥︎

Working on One Project!

Usually I work on a variety of projects at a time, but this past week I have just been knitting on a sweater I am making with some yarn that I spun.

I love how it is knitting up and I can't wait to see how this sweater turns out.

We have also been spending lots of time outside, mainly shovelling snow.

There doesn't seem to be snow in the forecast, and the weather is getting better, so we finally cleaned off the pond to skate.

The cat joined us on the rink today, but she was mainly stalking the hockey puck and bits of hard snow.

There has been lots of walks in the sunshine!

We see so many different animal tracks in the snow lately, mainly jack rabbits, but some that we can't figure out.

 The snow is so sparkly-

The wind packs the snow so hard, with lovely patterns.

All the best!♥︎

Another Chair Pad

Since I loved the first punch needle chair pad that I had made with handspun yarn, and I had enough leftover yarn, I had to make another.

To finish this one I again traced around the outer edge with a compass (it is about an inch)-

as a guide where to serge the edge to finish it.

For this one I added a layer of wool batting for a bit of extra padding.

I whipped stitch the hem in place through the batting and in to the back of the punch needle.

After I stitched a backing on to the piece.

I also added a couple to ties just to hold the batting in place (again through the batting and in to the back of the punch needle).

I made it a circle that was the inside diameter of my hoop for hand quilting just to make it easier to work the punch needle, and it turned out just the right size for this chair.

A bit of a windy day

Ice crystals in the air created this rainbow around the sun.
The snow covered fields look like the ocean.

 All the best!♥︎

About Time I Blogged!

Almost a month has gone by since I blogged, I am still making things - life is good! Picture heavy post.

I machine quilted a quilt top that my Mother pieced - 

The pattern is Emma by Bella Moon. It is a great fat quarter pattern.

This quilt is a fraternal twin to a quilt I made earlier in the summer (these will be gifts).

I have a few knitting finishes -

Hand spun socks,

and a bulky cowl - this is the Tanis Fibre Arts Year in Colour project for September.

I also started spinning again (I took a month off after the Tour de Fleece) -

This is Polwarth wool that I spun lace weight.

It is from this wool top that I gradient dyed.

Now I am working on a blended yarn - 

I started with Merino wool that I dyed shades of pink, purple, red and black, natural Gotland Grey wool and black silk.

I blended it on a blending board.

The above photo is of the rolags (the cinnamon bun shaped fibre), spun yarn and knitted sample.

Fall brings a bounty from the garden, and I have been doing some preserving - yum! 

Fruit Chutney

Tomatoes ready for roasting

After roasting and being pureed into tomato sauce

Lots of Canada Geese in the field behind our home - a sure sign of fall too-

This was the best photo I managed to take of the lunar eclipse on Sunday- it was a perfect evening to watch it.

butterfly in the garden

freshly unfolded poppy in the morning light

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥︎