Some Things, Completed!

I've actually managed to FINISH some things these past couple of weeks. This may or may not be snow related:



First, this gigantic bundle of handwoven Wensleydale came off the loom. This is handspun Hello Yarn Club Fiber from August 2010 in the "Heirloom" colorway - I spun it into a 2-ply and wove it up on my rigid heddle loom. I currently have one looooong piece of cloth, at about 10 feet x 22 inches (or so). I'll be starting the process all over again in order to get enough cloth to cut up and make a cute swingy jacket. Eventually. Hey, I'm halfway there, right?



Second, I finished this Golden Wheat cardigan, using handspun made from leftover test bundles when I co-dyed with David at Southern Cross Fibres. Mods? Of course. I knit this on US 7 & 9 needles, made it a little bit longer, and I'll be adding a buttonband backing of grosgrain ribbon this afternoon. This sweater is so comfortable and soft! The yarn is delightful - I had some concerns about the skeins not blending well enough, but I'm pleased as punch with how it looks. The fiber that I started out with had no business plying together into something this awesome.



Third, these divine mittens! Okay, I made these a few months ago but they were a test-knit so I couldn't talk about them. BUT HERE THEY ARE NOW. "Flocked Mittens" from Adrian Bizilia, knit in Quince&Co. "Lark" in Split Pea and Glacier. The lining is some brown alpaca that I had hanging around. These are super comfy cozy warm. These have become my go-to shoveling mittens around here.

All of this spinning and weaving and knitting (and teaching!) has been fantastic, and completing things is a good feeling. But I've also got one project looming, this quilt project:



A few weeks ago I made the mistake of fabric shopping with Kelly & Maritza. Kelly had this luscious bundle of solids out, and we each decided to get a half yard of each color to make one big quilt with. So all these rich colors, and white. Those are the only rules. I've been thinking maybe a double wedding ring quilt? Any ideas, suggestions, thoughts on this or OTHER quilts would be great!

Fiber on the Brain, In the House, On the Loom

The cooler weather has kicked the knitting and spinning into high gear. I realize I'm knitting on my first real "garments" for myself this year. I'm not counting shawls and socks here, kids.



I scavenged a bit to get a sweater's worth of this Hello Yarn Club offering from May 2009 - this is "5 Plum Pie" in lovely Falklands wool. I've spun up enough for a sweater, and I still have about 1.5 pounds left. I accidentally cornered the market on this.

And I was anxious to get it on the needles:



Body done, sleeve number one is almost done! hopefully I will have a new sweater by the end of the week!

Also, the spinning:


(Hello Yarn - "Spring Loaded", "Fresh Start", and "Kale")



(Hedgehog Fibers - gift from weetsie! - Merino/Silk blend, "Glow")



(Fantom Farm Fibers)

....and I finally got the loom warped:



That's some 8/2 Tencel, set to be (hoepfully) a holiday-gift scarf. But as my first attempt on the floor loom, we'll see how it ends up.

Alright! promises, promises....I'll post more frequently :)

Say Hello To My Little Friend

So much to report, and many pictures!

First off, the new loom!



This is the 24" LeClerc Compact loom. It's a 4-heddle/6-treadle loom with the ability to go to 8-heddles. I have a 10- and a 12-dent reed for it. I had to replace the side knobs and the crank, but other than that, it's all ready to go! Sadly, I am a participant in this year's Tour de Fleece, which I am focusing most of my energy on, and I don't think I will get to any weaving until the end of July......



These are my outrageous goals for the TdF - I know, it's a LOT! I'm hoping to make sweaters out of the top bundles, a 5-ply (!!!!!!) with those center batts, and break it all up with some lace and what-nottery with the rest. I AM a huge fan of the Tour de France, and plan on watching it every day, so why not spin through it all as well? Please, no betting on how far through this pile I'll get.

As "training" I cleared off all the bobbins, finally getting around to finishing this:



That's about 200 yards of New Zealand Polwarth from Southern Cross Fibers in the "Budgie" colorway. It's absolutely delicious and squishy. It was wonderful to spin and maintained a TON of springiness when it came time to ply.

Anyway - I'll be doing fairly frequent TdF updates, and I have a book review for the rest day. See you soon!