Wooly Days

I spun, dyed, knitted and felted these fingerless gloves that I hope to sell someday. I am also spinning some Cormo-Romeldale fleece that I got at a fiber festival - check out the pics. I plan to ply it and knit up some nice soft socks. The wool is so dreamy to spin - Cormo is so on my sheep wish list!
In other news, the peas are being eaten and the squash and melons suffer from powdery mildew. I plan to use enzymes to kill the bugs and spray the mildew with diluted milk - heard about the second tip in Grow Great Grub, by Gayla Trail. Great book, she also wrote You Grow Girl. Grow Great Grub is definitely more guy-friendly, and has great tips for growing organic edibles in small spaces. So, what's going on in YOUR gardens and fiber workshops?

A dream to spin

I went to the Indiana Fiber and Music festival last week, and got a pound of Cormo-Romeldale cross wool, and 12 ounces of Suri alpaca! I started spinning the Suri and it is tricky, but so soft and such a long staple length, it is just begging to be knitted into something lacy. I am also knitting a sweater from Ethnic Knitting Discovery (the Dutch Sampler Pullover, actually) out of some handspun a friend gave me. Fun stuff!

What I'm Knitting

I currently have nothing to spin, so I am knitting a top-down seamless raglan pullover out of brown Lion Brand Fisherman's wool. Maybe SOMEDAY I will actually manage to spin enough for a sweater! But for now I can just knit. I am almost done with the first sleeve, and my hair is a mess. You can see me modeling the unfinished sweater. I know it's a bit late for wool sweaters, but the last two years we have had a March blizzard - PLEASE not once the tomatoes are planted!
This post is part of Woolly Wednesdays at Spinspiration.

Eye Candy

Check out these beaded cuffs by Nelkin Designs!
https://id306.securedata.net/sandrasingh.com/merchantmanager/product_info.php?cPath=76_699_708&products_id=3321
I won't be buying this myself, but it is fun to look!

Felted Wooly Moccasin Slippers

It only took me a couple days to knit these 'moccasins'. I found the pattern on Knitting Pattern Central. I doubled some Ella Rae wool with my scratchy handspun Lincoln, and the result was not too scratchy. For some reason they wouldn't felt by hand so I ran them through the dryer. I will give them to a friend.

Christmas Eve

It is Christmas Eve as I am writing this, but since at St. Michael we do a midnight Christmas service, it is as though the holiday begins tonight. We are waiting until 9 pm to leave, and we just finished Narnia and are about to put in A Year Without a Santa Claus. Fun Christmas movies, and if you're interested, Little Women and While You were Sleeping also include Christmas. Sadly, I never did finish that lace scarf. Too many mistakes. I also made a CRAPPY pair of Fair Isle mittens with numerous mistakes, so now I am making some wool socks that will probably be Fair Isle so I can improve my techniques. If you haven't read The Opinionated Knitter by Elizabeth Zimmermann (actually it is a collection of newsletters) you must if you are a knitter. It takes you to another time where most if not all yarn was wool and patterns were a thing to design yourself or share, but not sell. It is among the most charming books I have read (the other one being Barbara Kingsbury's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, which I am reading right now).
Strange though it may sound, as we have yet to celebrate Christmas, I am already anticipating spring! My sister accused me of wanting to have no Christmas in order to have 'plant season' year 'round. (No! I do not! Winter is what makes spring special!) But I am looking at the price of strawberry and raspberry plants online, and homemade potting soil recipes to save money. I am also cutting up grocery bags to crochet more plant pots and eagerly doing chores to make a few extra bucks before spring planting time. Well, I am off to do more knitting and plant research - Merry Christmas (Eve)!
Oh, by the way, that tomato plant in the bathroom is still alive, and I am hoping to keep it alive until spring - and also take the ginger out so it can GROW in the summer sun! And I have permission to weed and plant the abandoned church garden! Well, that's really all, this time!

Adventures in Knitting : Arctic Lace

I already made a scarf from Knitted Lace of Estonia, but unfortunately it is wrapped for Christmas so I cannot take a picture. I also checked out a book called Arctic Lace, which is about native Alaskan knitters, knitting with qiviut (musk ox down), the warmest softest fiber in the world! I can't afford that stuff, so I just am making a scarf with Patons Laceweight. There is a picture of one pattern repeat at the top.

How things are going (and growing) . . .

Well, it is almost September and my tomato plant (yes, singular) is finally producing three beautiful yellow flowers. Knowing the weather around here, I might get a few tomatoes before it gets too cold. This one I actually started from seed . . . outside. That's why it isn't making tomatoes yet, because I planted it outside in late June. But I've never had any luck with starting seeds indoors. Trust me, I tried.
Other things in my garden: chammomille container, sweet potato hanging bucket, and purslane planters. I cheated with the purslane and just transplanted some wild weeds of it into containers with potting soil. Hard to believe they are a succulent, considering how plump and juicy they get with lots of water. I will probably only get enough chammomille for a few cups of tea, but it will be extra special because I grew it myself. The picture up top is how much dried chammomille I have so far.
As for other things, well, good news. I don't actually have schizophrenia. Just anxiety and depression. This is such good news! Glory to God! Nowhere near as disabling! We all hope I can go off the Geodon, me included of course! And I am working on the purple section of a handspun orange, red and purple knitted shawl. I dyed the yarn with Kool-Aid, and the orange came out a bit orangey-brown, since the wool was gray to start out with. There are a couple mistakes, so maybe I can keep the shawl if I can't find anyone to give it to. And the local apartment complex crabapples are getting ripe, so maybe my sister and I can go PICKING tomorrow!

Helping Haiti in little ways

It seems that everyone is wanting to help Haiti since the earthquake. When I got on Ravelry looking to see if there was any charity accepting items made with cotton yarn
(I got it for Christmas), I found that there were already groups set up that were trying to help Haiti. There ARE charities accepting cotton washcloths, which put my cotton to good use. Also someone is collecting toys for the children in Haiti, and I said I would help. This led me to make the most ADORABLE knitted bunny using sock techniques. Isn't it cute?

Handspun Neckwarmer (no button yet)!

Here it is, the first knitted thing from my handspun: