Looking out the window I finally see the sun shining after days of grey and snow......yes snow......and rain. The rest of the week looks sunny and in the 60's.......could it be that spring is really here? We have burned more wood in March and April then we did in December this year.......crazy weather.

Lot's of fibery fun was happening this past week. I made progress on my daughters shrug. I am more then half way now and have the pattern memorized.  Just keeping my fingers crossed that it fits. Since she is in Canada I am using her sister as a model so all should be good..

I finished a skein of Apricot the Alpaca. It ended up 380 yards of fingering weight. I've decided to spin up the rest in natural and will be doing a 2 color shawl. The yarn is soft and squishy with a light halo......really lovely.


 I pulled out the triangle loom that I borrowed from my Guild. And got totally enthralled with the rhythm of weaving. I am using handpsun and the colors are making me think of autumn and how much I will enjoy having this shawl to throw around my shoulders this fall.


  Thanks to my new friend Nicky I also pulled out the dye pots this week and began a new adventure. I will be sharing a post about my experience later this week but here is a look at my end results. I used a natural dye extract, Logwood and a few different methods and had so much fun with it. I involved the kids in the process and am calling it science for our schooling this week!!


I am still reading Knitlandia and loving it. So fun to hear about all the fibery places she has been! Joining Ginny for the Yarn Along. Happy Knitting!!!

I'm at that point where I am trying to find balance in my crafting. A rhythm maybe that allows me to be productive yet spontaneous. For many weeks I have had a few projects that I needed to start. Casting on a shrug that my daughter needs. Continuing to spin for my #acrossthepondsalkal which I will have to explain in another post. Starting the wedding shawl for my daughter, also another post. I have been avoiding some dabbling in others and finding myself on Ravelry day dreaming of other cast ons and things to make.

Wedding Shawl Yarn

 Enough! It's not that the projects are not enjoyable, they really all are. I think I was just a little over whelmed and not at all organized. Yesterday I decided on a plan. I cast on for the shrug, caked up the wedding shawl yarn and decided to spin one batt a day. I also decided on a few goals. Flexible goals. And now that I have a simple plan things are moving forward!


 The shrug is a pretty one that my daughter picked out. Matrimonio Bolero and it's free on Ravelry she says and so I head over to the site and it's in another language, in lace weight and we have fingering, and she wants long sleeves not short. OK this might have been why I was putting it off. I hate math.....really hate it. But there is an English translation and I figured it all out. Turns out it is a fairly easy knit and I am almost done with one sleeve. The yarn is Voolenvine's in the Succulents colorway and I picked it up at her trunk show a couple weeks ago. where I actually got to meet her. I love her podcast and she was just as sweet in person!


On the wheel is the Apricot the Alpaca. I have finished blending up big squishy batts and now it is on to spinning all of them! It is such a fun spin and I am loving watching how the colors are coming together.


The book you see peeking out from under my knitting is Angora A handbook for Spinners. I linked to this book yesterday in my post about our rabbits. You can check that out here if you are interested in how we harvest our angora fiber. This book is just so informative and I have been reading and gleaning new insight into angora fiber every time I pick it up.

I am looking forward to moving ahead in my projects now and trying to reach my goals. I say trying as I know in our busy household things things hardly go as planned. And that my friend is just as I like it!

Joining Ginny over at Small Things for our weekly Yarn Along! Happy knitting!

I had a productive week in some ways and in others I feel like there was not enough time. I think I just did not do a good job of balancing my to do list. I have a post almost ready to go about our Angora rabbits but I just did not have the time I needed to get it done. I hope to put it up tomorrow!

But there was knitting and playing with fiber!! Of course there was! But we won't talk about the housework that needs to get done......no let's not go there!

I finished my Snowfling Mittens!! Such a fun pattern! And thanks to my 5 year old for the great shot of me with my mittens!


I also cast off on the test knit I was doing for Susan Ashcroft. Everyone should knit this pattern! It is such a relaxing knit and the end result looks like far more work then it actually is! I used my handspun for it but it would be a great pattern for any type of yarn. It is the perfect size and it has been cold enough for me to actually wear it this week! (what happened to Spring???) It's called the Little Big Wrap.


Don't even ask me what I am reading........at the moment I am knee deep in cataloguing our spinning guilds library of resources. When I offered to take over the library I never realized the benefit of having these amazing books and DVD's stored at my house!!! 6 bins of them!! Maybe next week I will start sharing if I can chose one to start with!

I hope everyone that celebrates Easter had a lovely Holiday. Ours was a bit quiet and simple but sometimes those can be the best ones. Our chickens gave us a nice Easter surprise and starting laying and there were great big Easter hugs for our 4 legged friends.



There was a bit of spinning on the wheel this week but I am saving that for another post of it's own! I finally have a plan for Apricot the Alpaca's fleece and I want to share that this week!! But here is a sneak peek at what I have been doing.........


 Joining Ginny over at Small Things for the yarn along this week. Happy knitting!

Most of my time this week has been focused on a test knit for designer Susan Ashcroft aka stitchnerd on Ravelry. The pattern is Little Big Wrap and is set to be released in April. Not only has it been a delightful and relaxing knit but also a stash buster as I am using early handspun from my over flowing shelf of handspun skeins.



  Early handspun really means it was early on or actually with these skeins, in the first year of my spinning "career". Not sure career is the right word......no it's not .......but at the moment I can't think of another one.  So if you look at these early skeins and the skeins I am making now there is a big difference. Earlier skeins are not very consistent and tend to be a bit lumpy in spots. I am still proud of my earlier handspun. We all must start and learn and progress. And with spinning it is all about the practice. So when I look at these skeins I see how far I have come. All that to say these "early" skeins can still look amazing in a knitted project. I am finding that the knitting or weaving can make your handspun shine. And isn't that why we spin anyway. At least for me......I spin so I can create beautiful things and this pattern is really making my heart sing. It is designed to show off a beautiful skein of yarn, hand spun or commercial. I am excited to get this finished today and blocked. We might just have a few more colder days that I can actually get to use it!


I also finished my latest spin. I ended up with almost 900 yards of this lovely and soft fingering weight. I shared the fiber and the process in last weeks Yarn Along and here are a few finished photos.







I finally cast on for my March socks! Let's see if I can finish them before the end of the month! I'm just doing the Hermiones pattern on my toe up 2 at a time.

Mr. Happy Jackals

We are busy this week in the Rabbitry! I will be doing a post on how we harvest fiber from our angoras later this week. So if you are interested come back and check it out. I also did a post on the sheep shearing we went to last week and you can find that here.

So many of you are reading Knitlandia so I had to pick it up and start. I am really enjoying it!! Joining the Yarn Along over at Small Things today. Happy knitting everyone!

Some days there is more time for sitting and crafting then others but really I do sit and knit and spin almost every day. Because on the days when I don't.......well those are not good days. Not like I become mean and nasty but that I am aware that something is missing. Something which makes me sit and be in the moment and become aware and create. I am a person that needs that .......every day. With 7 kids living at home and 5 of them being home schooled our days are full and busy. Making that time to jut sit and create is so good for my mind and my spirit. I know most of you will totally understand and relate!

I was spinning last night and looked up over my bobbin and spied my youngest daughter sitting at the loom weaving on her scarf. I wish I had my camera right there to snap a shot of that but I have it in my memory and that is good enough. My kids need this time too and that is what I truly love about our fiber arts. The whole family can join in and participate. We have seasons were everyone is knitting......lately there has been a lot of needle felting and weaving. And spinning is being learned as well.I find my boys especially love to work with their hands and they might not sit still with a book for long but put them at the loom and they are absorbed for an hour or more.

I believe we are created in God's image. Our God is the most awesome creator of all and so of course we have a need in us to create as well. So making time for that creating is important and I am realizing that more and more!

I have been caught up in spinning this week. We are having an Unexpected Combo Spin a long in the Three Waters Farm group on Ravelry. The color combinations have been amazing and I had to jump in! I decided to use a braid of super fine merino in the Sunbleached Colorway and Light in the trees on organic polwarth. I'm spinning up a bobbin of each and will ply them together.

Sun Bleached Bobbin

 

Light in the Trees Bobbin

 The spin is going along quickly and I will be plying these together over the next couple of days! I'm very excited to see the resulting yarn!

I am also working on a test knit using hand spun. It is a crescent shaped shawl. I always love knitting with my hand spun and this pattern is so much fun. I will let you know when the pattern is released.


Yesterday my son and I attended shearing day at a local farm. I will be doing a blog post all about in a day or two. If you are interested come back to hear all about our adventures! This is one of the cormo cross sheep we had the pleasure of meeting!


 I picked up Knitlandia this week as everyone else has been talking about it! I'm hoping to start reading it today! I'm joining Ginny over at Small things for the Yarn Along. Happy knitting everyone!!

It's been a busy week. I am finally feeling stronger and the weather has been warming up and that means hiking and spending more time outdoors. I got one of my mittens done and it fits perfect. I was worried between the extra yarn from the color work and then the lining. But it really fits like a glove.....sorry I had to go there!!


I was able to cast on the second mitten mid hike yesterday. The kids and I took a trip to Promiseland State Park and hiked Conservation Island. We brought a picnic lunch and the kids explored on the beach of the lake and Mom sat and knit. It was almost 60 degrees and I enjoyed feeling the sun when it peeked out. Spring is on the air and we are all so ready!!

I had a lot of fun getting started making batts with Apricot the alpaca. I could not resist getting some on the wheel right away and I was not disappointed!
I pulled apart the batts and made little nests of fiber which spun up like butter! I am in the process of sampling to see if I want a 2 or a 3 ply yarn.




Our guild met this past Friday and one of our members who is a master spinner gave a program on spinning singles. I brought along a braid of Shetland in the fall leaves colorway from Three Waters Farm. I tried to spin consistent with a slow treadle and my hands moving faster. Trying not to let too much twist into the fiber. I was a little worried when it cam off the bobbin as it looked over twisted. but after a warm bath and a little thwaking it balanced out and became a very soft and beautiful yarn. I am leaning towards knitting a shawl with this.




Here are a few photos from our last hike. Apparently I am raising monkeys.....so yes this is my circus and yes....those are my monkeys


I'm joining Ginny for this weeks Yarn Along.....Happy knitting my friends!

 Two weeks ago the flu swept through here and took us down in a mighty swoop. Now the kids bounced back fairly quickly. But with my immune system still so weak I have not been able to get my health back to normal yet. You know you are really sick when you can't even knit on a plain sock to pass the time.It was brutal.
The past few days I was able to get knitting again and I finished my Waiting for Rain Shawl. To say I am happy with it is an understatement! This is my new favorite shawl and one I will be wearing a lot. It is just the right size and I love the color combo. It was a very fun knit and I highly recommend it!



Yesterday I cast on a pair of colorwork mittens. I only knit here and there but one mitten is almost done! I still need to knit the liner but I might be addicted to colorwork mittens so fun and fast!


We had some warmer weather this past weekend with some hints of spring in it! The kids and I are heading out hiking again on a daily basis. I am hoping it helps to bring my energy level back up! It was not a bad winter here but we are all very ready for Spring to arrive!


Being so sick there was no spinning this week but we did wash Apricot's fleece and we plan on getting it on the drum carder this week. It is going to make some super soft lovely alpaca yarn!



I'm joining Ginny over at the Yarn Along and I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone is up to this week! Happy Knitting!!

It has been a crazy week.......(when is it not??) And my youngest is fighting a stomach bug and I am so hoping and praying that it does not make the rounds!

My February socks flew off the needles this week! I knit these in the  January club colorway from Highland Handmades. The blend is Targhee and nylon and it was a joy to knit with. The pattern is the Blueberry Waffle Socks that everyone seems to be knitting at the moment!



The weather dropped to the coldest it's been all year. We were in the negative temps for a couple of days. I felt bad for my girls so we made them a big pot of oatmeal and they seemed to really enjoy it.


 On the coldest day of the year we ventured to a local Alpaca farm where we had an appt. to meet some adorable faces.



 Meet Apricot the newest member of our fiber family! We are sponsoring her for the year and we will learn all about how to care for her and what it is like to raise alpacas. Which might be something we want to do in the future. She is so cute and personable and the kids loved leading her around and getting to know her.




 And of course we came home with last years fleece! I think the kids made the perfect choice when they picked Apricot as she has one of the best fleeces in the herd! And the color is almost a soft pink cream.....mmmmmm. The kids and I are excited to know the animal whose fleece we are going to process and use!


This week we warped the loom for Hannah Grace. She has been weaving on my project and I knew she was ready for her own. She picked her yarns and I warped it and she has gotten quite a lot done on her scarf. She keeps telling me it is her loom now. I guess I will have to get her an account on Ravelry so we can keep track of her projects!!



I've been reading mostly cookbooks lately, trying to find some new recipes. At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen has been a great read. I picked it up when everyone was talking about it last year and just now am getting a chance to sit with it. I feel like I am in a cooking rut and need to get some new recipes into the rotation.

I'm joining Ginny over at Small Things for the weekly Yarn Along. Happy knitting everyone!