Hello and Happy Friday!

I have an in-process shot of a yarn still on my wheel.  It's handpainted  merino roving I'm spinning thick and thin.  Haven't decided if I'll ply it yet or not.



Thanks for looking!  Who else has a yarn to share?

I had 90 yards of a yarn I spun myself (a mix of corriedale, merino, and plied with a mystery synthetic yarn I got at a thrift store.)  I made the free Lion Brand earflap hat.

Here's the hat, sorry for the lighting -- my son refuses to model for me anymore, and I can't seem to get a good self-portrait indoors.


And here's the yarn, which shows the colors better: 


Here's a link to the free pattern:  http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/cwe-earflapHat.html

Hello and Happy Fiber Friday to all!!

I have a finished object to share, from a yarn I spun ages ago and just finally figured out how I wanted to use it.

First the yarn, Raspberry Puff, which I spun last year:  


The yarn is a blend of merino and corriedale, which I blended a couple of different ways.  I combed some of that, found it tedious, and made faux rolags for the rest, which seemed much faster and more fun.  (Now a drum carder would be most fun of all, but since I don't have that, faux rolags it is.)  It's plied with a mystery fiber raspberry yarn from a thrift store.

I used the yarn to make an earflap hat.  I only had 90 yards of the yarn, and used every last inch of it for the hat.  (Sorry the photo quality is not great.  I can't get a decent self-portrait and my 6 year-old refuses to model for me anymore.)


Here's a link to the hat pattern.  It's quickly become my favorite way to use up small skeins of bulky yarn:  http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/cwe-earflapHat.html

I found the sweetest set of vintage animal embroidery patterns in the Hoop Love group on Flickr, and just knew I had to stitch them up for a friend who just had a baby.  They are embroidered on birdseye flat diapers, 36" square, which were just about my favorite all-around baby item with my son. (Swaddling blanket, burp cloth, changing table cover, diaper...just super useful!)

Zebra with sunflower:


Bunny with carrot:


Lion with periwinkle:


Giraffe with morning glory:


There are two more I want to embroider for her.  Maybe I'll end of making those up for the first time I go to meet the baby.

Thanks for looking!!

Here's my first attempt at a sock monkey.  I made it for one of my son's teachers, who just recently had a baby. It was a lot of fun to make, and I might have to try making some other sock creatures.  I used the instructions in the good 'ole Pack-o-Fun "How To Make Sock Toys" book by Edna Clapper.  Maybe the elephant will be my next project.

Just Chillin'


3/4 View


With detachable cloth napkin "cape"


A blank canvas (no face yet)



Here's a link to the book:  http://www.amazon.com/Make-Sock-Toys-Pack-o-Fun-Books/dp/B0007EXHZE/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346779684&sr=1-1&keywords=how+to+make+sock+toys

Thanks for looking!

Hello and Happy Friday!

After long last, I finally have something to contribute to Fiber Friday.  It's 366 yards of super-soft corespun yarn from a mixed batt.  The batt, "Sick Day", is from Gritty Knits and contains merino, bamboo, seacell, tencel, firestar, shetland, corriedale, tussah silk and carder scraps.  The batt was just 2 oz, and I really focused on just drafting the tiniest amount possible to corespin, and I'm really pleased I got 366 yards out of it.



a better view of the colors:


What do you all have this week?

I found this vintage pattern in the Hoop Love group on Flickr and couldn't resist stitching it onto a a tea towel.  I gave it to my sister-in-law for her birthday.  It's all done with two strands, and almost exclusively stem stitch.

This pic shows the detail:


And this pic, though not as good, shows a little of the cute stripey edge of the Aunt Martha's towel I used (towel from JoAnn Fabric)

Hello and Happy Friday!!!

I had fun with my yarn this week.  I've wanted to spin a feathered yarn for ages, but spinning actual feathers just wasn't working well for me and the quills are scratchy.  Then I got an idea -- shredded silk kinda looks like feathers, right?  So I shredded up some silk chiffon scarves I had laying around the house and threaded them onto some green commercial yarn I had left over from a baby gift.  Then I plied it with some white commercial yarn, also left over from a baby gift.  I'm actually really happy with how it turned out.  "The Green Fairy" - 98 yards

Hello and a happy Friday to you all.

My yarn this week was a first attempt at spinning foreign objects into a yarn.  Each bead and sequin was threaded onto a bit of roving and then spun into the white singles yarn.  I threaded lots of the objects onto purple, pink and turqoise bits of roving to get a little variation, and thought of rainbows and unicorns while I spun.  Then I plied with a fuschia semi-sparkly thrift store yarn of unknown fiber content.  I call it "Sparkle Princess," 150 yards.

Hello everyone!!

I've been inspired by LaughingLark's recent recycled sweater yarns, so I had to give the technique a try.  I cut an old merino sweater into squares about 3"x3" and unraveled them into individual little yarn squiggles, and then spun the yarn bits like locks.

"Forest Green Shag" is 112 yards of a super bulky shaggy yarn.  It does not photograph well, so I'm kind of sorry mine is the photo starting out Fiber Friday, but in person I really love it!  I plied it with navy blue thread.  Although I love my handpainted rovings, it is nice to have a yarn in one nice, rich color to work with.  I'm imagining a cowl or hat.  Again, wish the photo conveyed the yarn better, because I really like it.



What do you all have this week?