A Weeks Worth

Last week there was an update for my Mac computer and I ended up with the new 'Photo' for my pictures, and it doesn't allow photos to be edited with other apps, so all week I have been trying to figure out how to resize my pictures to add them to my blog (I refuse to pay blogger for storage space). There really wasn't much information out there, which surprised me - I couldn't have been the only one with this problem! I ended up finding a simple fix - drag the photo to the desktop and then drag them to the app (I found the solution here). So now I have a weeks worth of photos to show.

Last week I spun some fibre (super wash merino and nylon blend) that I had dyed (twice - you can see remnants of the original dye job in this photo - spots of green and pink, it didn't turn out like I thought, so I overdyed it shades of purple). I divided the fibre into 3 for 3 ply yarn.

one smaller section before predrafting

I also divided each section into smaller sections (4 or 5) and predrafted it.

The above photo is after predrafting and you can see that it blended the colours more (it also made sure that the fibre was easier to spin, since I had dyed it twice).

 I spun it a bit thicker than my last attempt at spinning for socks.

the three bobbins ready for plying

The finished skein - 96g, ~360m, fingering weight yarn. This one should work for socks!

Last weekend my husband made me a stand for my table loom.  Now I can use my feet to operate the loom - it is so much easier! We got the idea for the stand from Daisy Hill Weaving Studio (link found here). My loom was a bit bigger, so we just modified the measurements..

Of course I had to try it out, and gathered leftover yarn from various projects (all my hand spun, I didn't end up needing the gray yarn).

The warp is all from fibre that I dyed, but the weft was from fibre that was commercially dyed. Mostly Merino wool, with some silk and Polwarth wool.

I was able to quickly make a scarf.

It came out so soft! More information for the weaving can be found here.

I have been free motion quilting too (plus I did some teaching this week, and another class tomorrow!)

The little red squirrel has been cleaning out the feeder.

 Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Silk and Merino Yarn

I finished spinning a skein of Merino and Silk (the fibre was from a dear friend). It spun beautifully and came out super fine (for me).

Almost 500 yards, 68g of lace weight yarn. I plan on using this for weaving a scarf. This will be the warp, and I will dye/paint it after measuring out the warp.

Snow this morning.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Flowering Snowball Blocks

I pieced a few Flowering Snowball blocks, just to see how they would look. I think they are going to make a very nice quilt, and I see other possibilities for quilts using this die (they are cut using a GO! cutter). Thirty three more blocks to sew. These are 12" blocks.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping.♥

Leftover Quilt Block

When I was stash busting a few weeks ago I found a leftover 7" log cabin block, as well as lots of 1.5"x2.5" pieces. I put them together to form an 11" block. Added 5 light 1.5" strips to one side, then embellished it with appliqué.

All to make a little (11"x16") table mat for my sewing room.  I used two layers of batting (cotton with wool on top - just what I had in that size). The appliqué is invisible machine appliqué. The free motion quilting is done with 100Wt Invisafil thread - straight lines and feathers, just for fun.

A pretty sign of spring.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Spinning Wheel

I got a new spinning wheel - an Ashford Traditional Double Drive.

It is a joy to spin with - I was amazed how different from my other spinning wheel (an Ashford Kiwi - which is a really good wheel too, just different).

I spun my first skein of yarn on the new wheel - it came out very even (the fibre was easy to spin).

This was the fibre - 75% Superwash Merino and 25% Nylon (Bare Stroll Roving from Knit Picks), that I dyed with an odd assortment of colours (I am trying to step out of my 'colour box' when dyeing).

The bobbins before plying.

The colours were beautiful to watch spin, and I look forward to seeing how it knits up. I was hoping to make socks, but (surprisingly for me!) it came out a bit too thin. I might try making gloves with this yarn.

This week I also crocheted something - it has been a long time since I have crocheted anything (when I was young I made a lot of things in crochet), and I really enjoyed it.
I know I have two 'crochet' patterns on Ravelry, but I consider Romanian Point Lace a type of embroidery.

I made a little bag to attach to my spinning wheel, to hold the oil bottle, yarn gauge etc. I felted the bag when it was finished.

The colour is better in the top photo. I used some of my first hand spun yarn from two years ago.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

FMQ Class and Progress

First I just want to mention that my Free Motion Quilting Class is being offered again this spring. The class is listed online here. The class was very successful last fall and I am really looking forward to this one. This time there will be four classes.

I did some free motion quilting last week when I finished piecing this leader/ender project. Little thimbles that are just over an inch tall. Hard to believe this mug mat is made up of 198 thimbles. It is 11"x19" (after washing).

I used some 30Wt Sulky variegated thread for the quilting. Here I "auditioned" the thread (I chose the  green one in the top left hand corner). I used a #90 Titanium needle for this thread, with regular sewing thread in the bobbin (a dark beige colour).

All the seams were spiralled so they would lay flat (the top of the thimbles are 1/2").

I chose an all over meander for the quilting, because I love quilting this design and I like the crinkly look it gives after washing. The fabric is "Old is New Fabric" by Lecien.

Since it is for hot mugs I used two layers of cotton batting- cotton lays flat, and two layers really protect the table from heat (I don't always have foil batting, but I have small pieces of leftover batting). Two layers of cotton are also great because they can absorb a whole mug of hot liquid (ask me how I know!).

I have been sewing Courthouse Steps blocks, 34 so far with 20 left to sew.

The last of the snow is almost melted,

and the tulips have started growing!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Stash Busting

For the past week I have been stash busting - whittling my 4 containers of fat quarters and smaller pieces down to 3 containers.

Since it is the same amount of work to cut out one quilt as three, that's what I did.

Pieces for a Flowering Snowball quilt cut with the GO! (the link for the die). I used some yardage for this one too. Here is a link for images of this quilt pattern.

12" blocks. The plan is for 42 blocks, with a 6x7 layout, the blocks alone will be 72"x84". I might add borders - big enough for a bed quilt.

Pieces for a Tumbler quilt (again cut with the GO! - 3" Tumbler die). I love this die and have used it many times, it is a really great way to use up the odd pieces leftover from cutting out other blocks.
There are just over 650 tumblers, and this quilt should be about 56"x78" (26 rows with 25 tumblers per row).

Pieces for a Courthouse Steps quilt. One of my favourite quilts is a Log Cabin quilt I made two years ago. I had a few leftover pieces, and I wanted to try something different. This style of quilt is a fabulous stash buster - 1+1/2" strips . I really enjoyed piecing the Log Cabin, so I am looking forward to this one.

9" blocks. The plan is for 54 blocks, with a 6x9 layout, resulting in a 54"x81" quilt.

With all the small leftover pieces I cut about a million (probably exaggerating, but there are a lot in that container!) Thimbles - these will be 1+1/4" when sewn. I like them as leaders/enders, and they will make pillow covers/table mats... without much thought.

Now comes the hard of deciding which one I will make first.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

March Year in Colour

The Year in Colour (a yarn club from Tanis Fibre Arts) yarn for March was a lovely 100% Merino wool,  DK weight, soft yarn.

The colour is called 'Spun Sugar" - a soft pink/lilac.

The pattern that came with the yarn was for this cable hat.

It was a lovely pattern to knit. I wore it for the first time today, and it is a bit small for my large head (it stretches, but then it is too short, even though I made the ribbing extra long because I knew this might be a problem). I am considering knitting it again with an extra repeat of the cable and bobble section.

Time for some nature photos from the past week - 

an amazing sunset

the ground was hopping with little Juncos after some snow

a red squirrel visiting

 Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Spinning for a Shawl

Thanks to everyone who left such kind comments on my sweater post. I wore it yesterday for the first time, and it is just lovely! So soft and warm.

Now I have been spinning for a shawl. I love knitting patterns from Boo Knits and there is another mystery knit along coming up in May. The pattern (Be With You MKAL) calls for two fingering weight yarns, one plain, and one variegated and fuzzy, plus beads.

I used a blending board to combine fibres for spinning - this one is silk, BFL wool and a small amount of baby alpaca. These fibres are their natural colour.

the rolags ready for spinning

The yarn was lovely to spin, and because of the silk has a lovely shine.

I dyed almost half of the fibre for the second skein very pale shades of pink to blend with the natural fibre. This one is BFL wool with silk, baby alpaca and a small amount of angora for a fuzzy yarn.

I am all ready for the May 4th release date!

Sunrise this morning.

 Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Finished Sweater!

 I am so pleased to be finished knitting my first hand dyed, hand spun sweater.

I started with 2 lbs/almost 1Kg of pure merino wool fibre (from Ashford in New Zealand, purchased from Fibre Detours in Quebec). I divided the fibre into 9 bundles (just over 100g each) to make dyeing easier.

I dyed it (how I dye is described in this post). I had way more fibre than I ended up needing (but better than not enough).

I spun 800g of the fibre.

Here are the 3 skeins of yarn that used for the sweater.

The final sweater!! Before weaving in all the ends, washing and blocking - I just couldn't wait to show it off.
The sweater is a top-down, raglan sweater. I didn't use a pattern, but these types of sweaters are so easy - there is a basic formula once you figure out gauge and the number of stitches that need to be cast on for the neck. After that it is just trying it on and increasing and then decreasing as needed. more details of the sweater can be found on Ravelry (you might need to be a member to see this page). Top-down is a great way to knit a sweater because they end up fitting perfectly.
This project took exactly one month - I started spinning on February 26th, started knitting on March 4th - finished March 26th.

Yesterday we had a snow storm with heavy wet snow (all the old snow was almost gone).

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!♥

Sweater Progress

I finished the sleeves on the sweater, and should have lots of yarn left to finish the body (hopefully this week).

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥