aura borealis scarf

i am so pleased with the way my scarf turned out. it was a very ambitious process which began with roving from our very own cheviot ewe, roxie. the roving was hand painted at a workshop held by our local guild. i hand spun the yarn and then knit the scarf with a pattern specifically chosen for an upcoming display that the guild is working on. following, i have documented the steps... (although in reverse order!) :

here is a close-up of the stitches.

all year i have been choosing knitting patterns that would teach me a new skill or stitch, including using double pointed needles, circular needles, the trinity stitch, gussets on mittens and socks. and, in this case, the drop stitch. i think the variegated yarn is well suited for the wavy effect of this stitch. it was the look i was going for in keeping with the theme of moving colors of the aura borealis.

on the spinning wheel

my hand painted roving ready for spinning

in july our weaving and spinning guild held a dye workshop. it was a beautiful day to work on our goal of creating hand painted roving to spin and warp for weaving projects. we will be creating a display at next year's midwest convention in the theme of "moving colors of the northern lights." we had a very successful and enjoyable day working together! here are a few pictures from our day:

i am in the top left picture and B on the right. we are squirting dye onto our prepared roving.

B really loved the workshop and created some beautiful roving.

everyday gift: creating!

a noste-who-ee?

a nostepinne! well, actually, it is an antique spool that has been re-purposed as a nostepinne, that is, a Norwegian ball winder. i can wind my skeins of yarn into a handy center pull ball. clever!

from skein to ball

i finished spinning the rambouillet wool/angora blend roving that i purchased at the iowa sheep and wool festival. it was very nice to spin. the angora gives it a very luxurious feel and will make my cowl even warmer. i found this easy pattern at crazy girl yarn shop and adjusted it slightly making it several inches shorter. i didn't want quite so many folds. around my neck.

i got a few strange looks when i knit this cozy neck warmer while the sun was blazing in july and temperatures soaring in the 90's! but i was hoping to knit some of that heat into my project. come january, i'm going to need it!

the finished product

everyday gift: storing up the summer sun :o)

highlights from the weekend

this is actually about 4 blog posts rolled into one, but as you may have noticed, i have not been very good about sitting down to my computer and getting things logged in. life happens around here faster than i can type, it seems! so in a whirlwind post, here are a few pictures and highlights from our weekend..

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i recently came in contact with a local alpaca breeder while trying to find a shearer for our alpaca. we had a nice visit about raising such interesting animals and i mentioned that since we lost our llama last year, i was concerned that she didn't have another friend of her own kind to hang around with. sheri remembered that comment and called me last week when she decided to sell her gelding. i had to do a bit of negotiating with mark, but i decided to bring him home. he has got the softest fluffiest fibers! isn't he cute?!

meet "Thorn".

i spotted this carding table at the alpaca farm and snapped a picture. it is a frame with a bottom of wide screen. it allows you to sort through your fleece and fibers while the dirt and vegetable matter fall out. i am hoping to convince someone to build one for me!

another opportunity came our way in the form of a free rabbit! an english spot rabbit to be precise. B is delighted with her new friend. she named her "Violet".

B learning some tips on raising english spot rabbits



a bunny farm

my new friend sheri, from the alpaca farm gave me these pumpkin blossoms with instructions to prepare them like morel mushrooms. that is to say, lightly breaded and sauteed in butter with a little salt and pepper. i love trying new things!

the weaving and spinning guild held a color/dye workshop this weekend with abi hutchison teaching and demonstrating some techniques for hand painting yarn, roving, and warp. what a really neat time we had experimenting with colors and working on ideas that will fit the theme of the aurora borealis. what an incredible inspiration in nature to use for a workshop on color, don't you think?

roxie's cheviot roving

dyed in a progression of colors: yellow sun, spruce, emerald, sky blue, and brilliant blue.

i am really looking forward to spinning this!

everyday gift: new friends

iowa sheep and wool festival

a few weeks ago B and i took another mother-daughter road trip. it was a wonderful weekend adventure at the iowa sheep and wool festival. (i would like to take a moment here and say what a blessing it is to have a daughter! we have the best time together, sharing so many interests, having heart to heart talks, and laughing a lot, too. i am so thankful for our special relationship!) okay, back to the regularly scheduled blog post... B took a beginning spinning class and was able to learn how to use the wheel she got for christmas. her wheel is a beautiful louet s15 that has been stained green and decorated with a fern motif.

hurray! success on the spinning wheel!

B spinning on a drop spindle


carding fuchsia wool

B and i in the bleachers watching the sheep dogs herd their little flocks through the course...

i also took a class and learned a few techniques to spin specialty yarns using mohair. it was rather difficult and i'm not sure if was very successful, but it helped me to break out of my "spinning comfort zone".

left to right: spinning directly from mohair locks, a loopy yarn, spinning onto a core thread

i wanted to try some new fibers so i bought this beautiful silk/merino blend.

this is a wool/angora blend.

i am spinning it now and looking for some kind of cowl/hood/mobius pattern to use with the yarn. do you have a favorite?

everyday gift: a weekend with my girl

road not taken

a basket of homespun yarn

wool, compliments of jubilee, shetland ewe

i found a beautiful book at the library called: a fine fleece: knitting with handspun yarns by lisa lloyd. it is filled with beautiful patterns and insights into knitting with these special yarns. one pattern in particular caught my eye, a lacy scarf which the author called "road not taken". it calls for a fine yarn, but all of my yarns are thick and woolly. so rather than try to spin up a new skein, i decided to use a single strand already on the bobbin instead of a plied yarn. i was not sure how my experiment would turn out since plying a yarn causes a counter twist which balances the yarn. you can see in the picture how the yarn has a little kink to it.

but it was worth a try. i found the pattern to be very forgiving of that extra kink, the variations in yarn thickness, and my mistakes. i loved spinning jubilee's oatmeal colored wool and found it just as nice to knit. i am so thrilled with the outcome!

the author's comments on the pattern inspired me, "...I realized that the zig-zag pattern represents the different directions and roads that we can take with knitting and spinning. I am always thinking of alternate versions of garments and wonder just how many different roads could be explored. small projects such as this scarf allow unlimited possibilities. So many choices, so many roads to take."

and yes, i had to go out and buy the book! if you know me, that does not surprise you!

the finished product

everyday gift: learning new stitches

a few february projects

at the beginning of the year i decided that i would dedicate myself to learning some new skills in 2010. making yogurt was a start. it was much easier that i had expected. i don't have a yogurt maker so i simply heated the milk on the stove top with a makeshift double boiler. then i kept the cultured milk warm on top of a heating pad and covered it with a dish towel. i chilled the yogurt in quart canning jars. it is wonderful! i have been experimenting with new recipes using my newest favorite ingredient making carrot ginger soup, spinach yogurt dip, and simply sweetening it with homemade raspberry jam. i am currently reading the stonyfield farm yogurt cookbook. yes, i know, i do tend to take things to the extreme. :o)


now, you may be wondering why i am including my wool and spinning pictures in the same p0st as my yogurt. i realize that my yogurt and spinning really have nothing in common, except, maybe the fact that both of them have kept me away from everydaygifts this month...

this is some dark brown roving that came from our shearer. i don't know the breed of the sheep, but based on the color and softness of the wool i would say it was shetland. i have spun a few skeins of it and i am looking forward to knitting with it.

here it is on the wheel

meet hosanna.
i mentioned her when i posted about my mitten project, but could not find a picture of her. well, here she is, my very sweet shetland ewe. her wool is a lovely grey.

hosanna's roving and yarn on the bobbin

a hand spun skein

success! i completed a matching pair and learned so much in the process. the first one i thought looked pretty good. the second however did not match the first. the third, i thought, would match one of them to become a pair. but i discovered an error in my knitting while making the third and with the correction, it really turned out to be the best one yet. so i had to knit a fourth, finally making a pair! now i am ready to take on SOCKS!

are you keeping your mind and hands active with learning and productive projects? i think i would go crazy with all of my required activities (you know, the cleaning, lunch packing, laundry, cleaning, taxi driving, did i mention cleaning?) if i did not have these enjoyable diversions!

everyday gifts: warm woolen mittens and yogurt!

hosanna's mittens

hosanna's wool is wonderful to spin. it is so soft and springy. i am spoiled now to spin anything else. i have been searching my photos for a good one of hosanna, i wanted to post it here and introduce you all to my sweet shetland ewe. but she is apparently camera shy. i will have to rectify that problem. shetland sheep produce a wide range of wool colors and hosanna is officially "grey". it sounds rather dull, but actually it is quite interesting. it has a pearly cast to it and the variations of dark and light give the yarn a lovely depth of color.

grey shetland roving on the bobbin

i am following the pattern of ann budd in
the knitter's handy book of patterns.

because of my large stash of roving and growing stash of handspun yarn, i figured i had better get busy and increase my knitting skills so i am able to do something worthy with it.

so here is the progress i have made:

i had to consult youtube to figure out how to use
these double pointed needles!

everyday gift: gentle lambs, warm wool, homegrown mittens!

hand spun christmas

a basket of handspun skeins by members of the guild

B and i belong to the local weaving and spinning guild. i joined several years ago when we began raising sheep. these women have been such a wealth of knowledge, teaching me to spin and reintroducing me to weaving. B is a jr. member and is eager to learn to spin as well. i am so tickled that i have a daughter who shares so many interests with me.

(these pictures were taken on the day we helped decorate a room in the historic home where the guild meets. this mansion is kept open to the community for meetings and events. and at Christmas time the halls are decked for an open house. it is a lovely setting for our meetings.)

B learned to make these adorable little yarn doll at a swedish festival

and she has gone into production!

this one is made with my hand spun wool.

a miniature skein of hand spun shetland wool to decorate the tree

everyday gift: hand spun ornaments

ready to spin

well, i finally came to the realization that the 18 raw fleeces stored in the garage were just too much for me to handle. the slow process of washing and carding such a large amount of wool was overwhelming. and then we had to move it somewhere when we sold the house. so i took a little trip to High Prairie Fibers and enlisted abi to process my wool. i cannot tell you what a relief it was to have that job taken care of. last week i went back to pick up the processed wool, it is now in clean fluffy strips of roving, ready to spin, and there is A LOT of it! almost 40 pounds worth of roving! several of the fleeces i took in ended up being of inferior quality, not worth keeping. sadly, bathsheba's black fleece was among these. but the rest came out beautifully. i will be spinning all winter long!

B and i love to visit abi's little farm/mill. in addition to their sheep and wool processing, they take in and care for abandoned, homeless, or sick exotic birds. they have an entire building devoted to these birds. B came away with a large flight feather from a blue and gold macaw, it is a prized possession!

a rainbow of wool

dark brown wool from a jacob sheep (?), gray jacob, shalom's gray (cheviot/shetland cross), hosanna's silvery gray (shetland), jubilee's oatmeal (shetland), snowflake's yellowish white (cheviot), roxie's bright white (cheviot).

sweet hosanna's wool on the spinning wheel

everyday gift: wool in a rainbow of natural colors, waiting to be spun

moving house...be back soon!

in case anyone has been wondering, i have been buried in moving boxes. i have so many pictures to post, so much to blog about, but, alas! i don't have internet at the "summer house" yet. and there are more boxes to move and miles to go before i sleep. so for now, i will leave you with a picture of what i would rather be doing...

spinning yarn!

my spinning wheel with my lazy kate.
i am plying single yarns into a two ply yarn.

spinners and weavers

i am fascinated by these spinners of silken threads and weavers of delicate webs. we have this in common. i love to feel the fibers zipping through my fingers changing from fluffy clouds of wool to thin but strong yarns winding onto the bobbin of the spinning wheel. i love to see the pattern emerge on the loom by the repeated passes of the shuttle through the warp threads.

*****

She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands...

In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers...

She makes coverings for her bed;

she is clothed in fine linen and purple...

Proverbs 31:13, 19, 22

*****

have you read all of this passage in proverbs 31? how did this woman find time for it all? ah, go read verse 15, it sheds a little light: servant girls. where are my servant girls?! ;o) i do struggle with measuring up to this woman. but really, one thing i glean from this passage is that i need to be busy serving my family; providing for their basics needs of food, clothing, security. this is my ministry. do i measure up to the perfect woman? no way! but i keep on and rejoice in the role and purpose God has given to me at this time. cloth is woven one thread at a time, back and forth, back and forth. each thread appears insignificant. little progress is made, it seems. like the day to day tasks that i do repeatedly. each glass of juice poured, another meal served, dishes washed, laundry folded...but the tapestry of my family is being woven this way. am i weaving joy into my family with these tasks or am i weaving impatience and discontent? if i am honest, i will tell you that there are both threads in this cloth. but i strive for joy.

*****

everyday gift: spinning yarns and weaving my family's tapestry