Podcasts about Corriedale

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Corriedale

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Best podcasts about Corriedale

Latest podcast episodes about Corriedale

All the Wool A Podcast for Hand Spinners, Knitters, and Yarn lovers
Processing wool for handspinning and knitting socks from YouTube

All the Wool A Podcast for Hand Spinners, Knitters, and Yarn lovers

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 8, 2025 44:42


Handspun: a podcast all about handspinning yarn, processing wool, knitting, owning a wool mill, farm life and everything in between.To watch this episode on YouTube:This episode starts with me on the farm hanging out with June the rescue pony. Then a little tumbling llama in the barn before we head to the mill for washing, loads of picking, carding and a little handspinning on the Lendrum wheel. This episode I work with Corriedale, Rambouillet, Romney, Border Leicester and llama fibers.Join Ewethful's Patreon Communityhttps://www.patreon.com/EwethfulFiberMillTo join the Ravelry discussion for the spin to knit alonghttps://www.ravelry.com/discuss/ewethful-fiber-farm--mill/topics/4342433To ask me a questionhttps://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdkoshX7grvAiOcNxwAlUqFskm-opVlE1h_L6jmdO-CvGX8kg/viewform?usp=sf_linkFree hand spinning resources - " Ewethful's Wool School"https://www.ewethfulfiberfarm.com/pages/wool-educationFor details and to purchase the online course to  learn to handspin on wheelhttps://www.ewethfulfiberfarm.com/pages/lets-make-yarn-landing-pageFor details and to purchase the online course to learn to spin longdrawhttps://www.ewethfulfiberfarm.com/products/2256545Shop for Ewethful handspinning fibershttps://www.ewethfulfiberfarm.com/collectionsSocks I am wearing by Imperial YarnsSock patterns shown in this episode:Natural colored with purple Guan-Xi Socks by Tiffany ChenNatural colored with teal Affiliate link if would like to support me while buying from these companiesWooleryhttps://woolery.com/?aff=352Mission at Ewethful:My mission at Ewethful Fiber Mill is to fill making hands with small batch American grown yarns and fibers. I strive to produce lightly processed products that maintain their character, have low environmental impact and tell the stories of the animals and shepherds from whence they came.Find me at:https://www.ewethfulfiberfarm.com/Instagram@ewethfulfiberfarm https://www.instagram.com/ewethfulfibermill/FacebookEwethfulFiberFarmandMill https://www.facebook.com/ewethfulfiberfarmandmillRavelry group: Ewethful Fiber Farm & MillBlogging at http://www.beingewethful.com/

podcasts – Yarns at Yin Hoo
Corn, Cormo, and Corriedale

podcasts – Yarns at Yin Hoo

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 29, 2024 30:24


It's all about the knitting and the cooking in this episode. I'm working toward a Rhinebeck sweater and a wool skirt to match. Plus project planning and lots of cooking — with corn and other vegetables. And a poem in defense of an overgrown garden. This episode is full-on summer!

Wollkanal
#60 Kevin mag kein Merino

Wollkanal

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 30, 2024 160:41


Shownotes Heute haben wir für euch die Segmente Färbezeug Wollfestzeug Wollprojektzeug Spinnzeug Strickzeug Backzeug Kaufzeug Gelerntes Zeug Das gute Zeug Danke, Antje, für den tollen Stoff! Danke, Eeva, für das finnische Lakritz! Stricken auf dem Apfelhof:  am 3.8. / Mittags-ish / zwischen Köln und Bonn / Wenn ihr Interesse habt und mehr Details wollt, schreibt eine Mail an wollkanal@stilles-kaemmerchen.de Färbezeug Lauras Färbezeug Adventskalender 2024: adventskalender@spektralwolle.de Wollfestzeug Kielgeholt im Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord Rheinischer Wollmarkt in Euskirchen im LVR Industriemuseum Wollprojektzeug "Mama, ich bin im Fernsehen!" Schur in Düsseldorf ist durch Düsseldorfer Wolle von letztem Jahr wird diese Woche gesponnen Kardenband ist schon da Spinnzeug Lauras Spinnzeug Einiges zum Vorzeigen auf Handspindeln ca. 300 g “Reste” von John Arbon, mit Nadelmaß vorgeDizzed auf dem Vicky Rolags aus Merino, Seide, Leinen, BFL, Corriedale, Angelina auf dem Eel Wheel Nano Zwei ;) Strickzeug Lauras Strickzeug Rock aus PRU 4 Monday Sweater von PetiteKnit aus Aurinkokehrä DK Maschenproben Maßgestrickt von Claudia Eisenkolb Mohairprojekt Friedas Strickzeug Big love von Ankestrick - immer noch auf den Nadeln Sweater No.19 von my favorite things fertig Socken aus Retrosaria Rosa Pomar Mondim - Hibernal Socks von Summer Lee - mit Herzchenferse Premiere: Socken aus rh:ool trino Wonderwall Shawl von Melanie Berg aus rh:ool bloom Solo Scarf von Caidree aus WOF Merino Yak DK (altes Stash-Schätzchen) mit anderen Zunahmen und anderem iCord Backzeug Friedas Backzeug Treberbrot 300 g Treber (beim zweiten Mal 200 g davon mit 120 ml Wasser püriert) 260 g 550er Weizen 100 g Weizen-VK 5 g Frischhefe 13 g Salz (1 geriebene Möhre für längere Frischhaltung) Wasser nach Gefühl Kaufzeug Lauras Kaufzeug Zwei Stränge Mohair bei Elke BOHEI Taschen von Second Soul Factory Spinnrad geschenkt bekommen Etwas Wolle bei John Arbon Friedas Kaufzeug Kielgeholt Flusiges Yak bei Elke BOHEI Textiltag im Freilichtmuseum Lindlar Tasche aus Feincord bei Anju'z Scrunchie aus altem Leinen mit Hammer Flower Print Familientreffen Lana Grossa Gomitolo Collina Gelerntes Zeug Friedas gelerntes Zeug zwei Maschen iCord ist wahnsinnig viel dehnbarer als drei Maschen iCord "Plüsch" ist ein Fachbegriff und hat einen Plural: Plüsche! Lauras gelerntes Zeug Watercolour auf dem iPad, YouTube & SkillShare Das gute Zeug Lauras gutes Zeug Mind the Tech Podcast Strickmuster Editor: https://www.stitchfiddle.com/en Stricktreff im Iglu in Köln Electro Magnetic Field & Spinnworkshop Spinnsession mit Imke => Hättet ihr Interesse an Spinnkursen im Rheinland? Friedas gutes Zeug Netflix-Doku “Hack your health” Ginger Bug again Freibad und Sandwichtoast Netflix: Kaulitz und Kaulitz Wo ihr uns findet Podcasting auf Deutsch Gruppe auf Ravelry, dort und auf Instagram kündigen wir auch an, wenn eine neue Folge online ist www.wollkanal.de iTunes wollkanal@podcasts.social auf Mastodon Wollkanal auf Instagram 🕵🏻‍♀️🤓 Laura: als @Philaine auf Ravelry und als @spektralwolle auf Instagram Frieda: als @craftraum auf Ravelry und Instagram und als @rhoolyarn auf Instagram

Stilles Kämmerchen
[wk] Kevin mag kein Merino

Stilles Kämmerchen

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 30, 2024 160:41


Shownotes Heute haben wir für euch die Segmente Färbezeug Wollfestzeug Wollprojektzeug Spinnzeug Strickzeug Backzeug Kaufzeug Gelerntes Zeug Das gute Zeug Danke, Antje, für den tollen Stoff! Danke, Eeva, für das finnische Lakritz! Stricken auf dem Apfelhof:  am 3.8. / Mittags-ish / zwischen Köln und Bonn / Wenn ihr Interesse habt und mehr Details wollt, schreibt eine Mail an wollkanal@stilles-kaemmerchen.de Färbezeug Lauras Färbezeug Adventskalender 2024: adventskalender@spektralwolle.de Wollfestzeug Kielgeholt im Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord Rheinischer Wollmarkt in Euskirchen im LVR Industriemuseum Wollprojektzeug "Mama, ich bin im Fernsehen!" Schur in Düsseldorf ist durch Düsseldorfer Wolle von letztem Jahr wird diese Woche gesponnen Kardenband ist schon da Spinnzeug Lauras Spinnzeug Einiges zum Vorzeigen auf Handspindeln ca. 300 g “Reste” von John Arbon, mit Nadelmaß vorgeDizzed auf dem Vicky Rolags aus Merino, Seide, Leinen, BFL, Corriedale, Angelina auf dem Eel Wheel Nano Zwei ;) Strickzeug Lauras Strickzeug Rock aus PRU 4 Monday Sweater von PetiteKnit aus Aurinkokehrä DK Maschenproben Maßgestrickt von Claudia Eisenkolb Mohairprojekt Friedas Strickzeug Big love von Ankestrick - immer noch auf den Nadeln Sweater No.19 von my favorite things fertig Socken aus Retrosaria Rosa Pomar Mondim - Hibernal Socks von Summer Lee - mit Herzchenferse Premiere: Socken aus rh:ool trino Wonderwall Shawl von Melanie Berg aus rh:ool bloom Solo Scarf von Caidree aus WOF Merino Yak DK (altes Stash-Schätzchen) mit anderen Zunahmen und anderem iCord Backzeug Friedas Backzeug Treberbrot 300 g Treber (beim zweiten Mal 200 g davon mit 120 ml Wasser püriert) 260 g 550er Weizen 100 g Weizen-VK 5 g Frischhefe 13 g Salz (1 geriebene Möhre für längere Frischhaltung) Wasser nach Gefühl Kaufzeug Lauras Kaufzeug Zwei Stränge Mohair bei Elke BOHEI Taschen von Second Soul Factory Spinnrad geschenkt bekommen Etwas Wolle bei John Arbon Friedas Kaufzeug Kielgeholt Flusiges Yak bei Elke BOHEI Textiltag im Freilichtmuseum Lindlar Tasche aus Feincord bei Anju'z Scrunchie aus altem Leinen mit Hammer Flower Print Familientreffen Lana Grossa Gomitolo Collina Gelerntes Zeug Friedas gelerntes Zeug zwei Maschen iCord ist wahnsinnig viel dehnbarer als drei Maschen iCord "Plüsch" ist ein Fachbegriff und hat einen Plural: Plüsche! Lauras gelerntes Zeug Watercolour auf dem iPad, YouTube & SkillShare Das gute Zeug Lauras gutes Zeug Mind the Tech Podcast Strickmuster Editor: https://www.stitchfiddle.com/en Stricktreff im Iglu in Köln Electro Magnetic Field & Spinnworkshop Spinnsession mit Imke => Hättet ihr Interesse an Spinnkursen im Rheinland? Friedas gutes Zeug Netflix-Doku “Hack your health” Ginger Bug again Freibad und Sandwichtoast Netflix: Kaulitz und Kaulitz Wo ihr uns findet Podcasting auf Deutsch Gruppe auf Ravelry, dort und auf Instagram kündigen wir auch an, wenn eine neue Folge online ist www.wollkanal.de iTunes wollkanal@podcasts.social auf Mastodon Wollkanal auf Instagram 🕵🏻‍♀️🤓 Laura: als @Philaine auf Ravelry und als @spektralwolle auf Instagram Frieda: als @craftraum auf Ravelry und Instagram und als @rhoolyarn auf Instagram

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures
Chicken Mania!

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 8, 2024 63:04


Lots of project updates and project planning in this episode. Plus join our Out-of-Hibernation-Along. Look in those closets and pull out long forgotten projects. Let's finish ‘em, frog ‘em, or toss ‘em! Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android Marsha's Projects Alpaca Shawl: Finished. I learned so much about weaving on this project. I had so many broken warp threads that I've gotten really good at repairing them. Camella Hat: by Katie Pomper. Using Meeker Street Olive's Outerwear DK in the colorway Dragon's Breath.  Nanny Meier Tea Cozy: Inspired by Lily Pulitzer colors. Using Cascade 220 in hot pink and lime green. Cast on the second side. Fine Sand: by Heidi Kirrmaier. Using West Yorkshire Spinners Illustrious. Finished the second sleeve but I don't really like the sweater. Bringing to California for Kelly to give me her thoughts. Socks: The Artful Ewe Clackamas. Starting toe of first sock. Baby Surprise Jacket: by Elizabeth Zimmerman. Went to buy yarn at Fiber Gallery to use my gift cards but they have moved and not yet reopened the store.  Mountain High Combo Spin #3: Cast on and about halfway done with the yoke. Combo Spin #4: I needed something a bit mindless at the beach so I started my fourth combo spin in red.  Bloedel Reserve Churchmouse Yarns Kelly's Projects The Trailer bedroom curtains were finished and installed in time for our trip. The cord at the bottom worked great. I'm going to wash in hot water and dry in the dryer one more time, then I might just rehem them a little shorter so they will hug tighter to the window.  Almost finished with The Drifter by Tamy Gore, Narrow Path Designs. I probably have about 30 rows left in the pattern.  For Out of Hibernation I've been spinning the batts of Corriedale x Merino x Targhee that I washed, dyed, and carded last summer. The blue is now finished and I'm working on the red-orange. Also for the Out of Hibernation Along, I finally got all the Spin-In prizes sent out! I started another Classic Knitted Ripple baby blanket using the Red Heart from my mom. There were two grays, black, white and a partial skein of red. I decided I needed to use the white and the pink. The blanket is wider than a typical baby blanket and will take more yarn.    I started a sock out of another skein of Comfort and Joy Enjoy. This one is also an Oopsie colorway. I'm thinking of it as Wine and Cheddar or maybe Wine and Mustard. I'm finished with the cuff and debating about what patterning to use on the leg.  Chicken Mania Are you knitting an Emotional Support Chicken by Annette Corsino? We are thinking about joining in the chicken mania!  Ravelry Tips and Tricks Sarah Salpal1 says:  It's not a secret, but the Ravelry tip that helps me the most is the ? Button next to “preview” on the posts. It tells how to do all kinds of formatting things, which is very helpful. She showed (for example) how to make a spoiler alert so that your text will be hidden unless someone clicks on it.  Out-of-Hibernation Along  February 1 - June 1. Have you started? Find something that has been in hibernation and get it out and do something. Back to active status, frogging and reclaiming yarn, giving away, throwing away, composting–this is spring cleaning for your project list. Check in with your progress in the Ravelry thread.  Winter-Weave-Along  Ended!  Prize Drawing Next Episode. Seattle Opera Production of Barber of Seville Friday, May 17th 20% discount on tickets with the code KNITTER20 Seattle Opera is having a Relaxed Performance of our production of The Barber of Seville. While there will be no changes to the performance, the experience for the audience will have some alterations including: • Lights being dimmed in the theater instead of fully dark • A relaxed atmosphere allowing patrons to talk and vocalize as they wish • Being able to leave and re-enter the theater as needed • Special areas designated as a technology use area …and much more. These adaptations are designed for a multitude of people and as a knitter myself, I couldn't help but think this would be great for groups of fiber artists to attend and craft throughout the show! While I can knit a basic pair of socks during a performance, having the lights up alone will make it easier to find any dropped stitches or check a pattern. More information about the production can be found at www.seattleopera.org/barber. More information about what a relaxed performance entails can be found at www.seattleopera.org/themenights. Meg Stoltz Associate Director of Marketing and Knitter Thank you Meg for offering listeners a discount on tickets. It should be a fun event.

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures
A Ridiculous Amount of Slouch

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 18, 2024 56:20


Oh that Sockhead Slouch hat! Find out just how ridiculous Kelly's is! Our Winter-Weave-Along ends soon and our Out-of-Hibernation-Along is underway. Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android Welcome to our first new patron of 2024, Jill P! Thank you for your support of the show and our community. Marsha's Projects Camella Hat: by Katie Pomper. Using Meeker Street Olive's Outerwear DK in the colorway Dragon's Breath.  Nanny Meier Tea Cozy: Inspired by Lily Pulitzer colors. Using Cascade 220 in hot pink and lime green. Cast on the second side. Fine Sand: by Heidi Kirrmaier. Using West Yorkshire Spinners Illustrious. Finished first sleeve and almost done with second. Alpaca Shawl: I've woven 36”. I thought I would keep alternating twill patterns but I was really struggling getting any kind of rhythm throwing the shuttle. Decided to make larger sections tabby and smaller sections (1-1.5”) twills. Going much better! Socks: The Artful Ewe Clackamas. Halfway down the foot of the first sock. Baby Surprise Jacket: by Elizabeth Zimmerman. This morning I ordered her digital book that has modifications. 30,000+ projects means it must be a great pattern! I'd like to make a hooded jacket modification.  Combo Spin #3: Made a swatch of my green combo spin. Trying to decide on a pattern to knit. Combo Spin #4: I needed something a bit mindless at the beach so I started my fourth combo spin in red.  Water's Edge Fiber and Dye: taught by Kathleen Adams Olsen. We dye with indigo. Class held in Kathleen's home in Seabrook, WA. Her website is under construction but you can subscribe to her newsletter to be notified of events. I messaged her via Instagram (watersedgefiberanddye) or Facebook (Kathleen Adams Olsen). Kelly's Projects I finished my Ultra Slouch Sockhead Hat with Punk Rock Unicorn Dirty Neon. Ridiculously slouchy hat with a cozy folded brim that can be a double or even triple layer for my ears. I finished the weaving for the Trailer bedroom curtain project.  I bought the cord to go through the bottom casing. Now Robertt needs to install the hooks and attach the cord so I can measure one last time and then sew the two rod casings in the curtain fabric. I've stalled a little with The Drifter by Tamy Gore, Narrow Path Designs. I'm on the decreasing end of the long triangle. Dozens of Little Squares I now have five strips sewn together and it's about 17” wide. I've slowed down on this because I started two new projects. For Out of Hibernation I've been spinning the batts of Corriedale x Merino x Targhee that I washed, dyed, and carded last summer. It was half a fleece from Black Sheep Gathering in 2017 (about two pounds). During the summer I spun up a violet and a blue-green 3-ply yarn. I've now spun up the red-purple and I'm currently spinning a bright blue. The final color is a red orange. Between the two colors I have about 12 ounces left to spin.  I started another Classic Knitted Ripple baby blanket using the Red Heart from my mom. There were two grays, black, white and a partial skein of red. There are also two different pinks, but I don't think I'll use them.   A book recommendation from Kelly–Never Alone: A Solo Arctic Survival Journey, by Woniya Dawn Thibeaut. The author describes a lot of fiber arts in preparation for her time on the reality TV show.  Ravelry Tips and Tricks Do listeners have any tricks to share? Out-of-Hibernation Along  February 1 - June 1. Have you started? Find something that has been in hibernation and get it out and do something. Back to active status, frogging and reclaiming yarn, giving away, throwing away, composting–this is spring cleaning for your project list. Check in with your progress in the Ravelry thread.  Winter-Weave-Along  Ends March 31. Join the fun in our Ravelry group! Seattle Opera Production of Barber of Seville Friday, May 17th 20% discount on tickets with the code KNITTER20 Seattle Opera is having a Relaxed Performance of our production of The Barber of Seville. While there will be no changes to the performance, the experience for the audience will have some alterations including: Lights being dimmed in the theater instead of fully dark • A relaxed atmosphere allowing patrons to talk and vocalize as they wish • Being able to leave and re-enter the theater as needed • Special areas designated as a technology use area …and much more. These adaptations are designed for a multitude of people and as a knitter myself, I couldn't help but think this would be great for groups of fiber artists to attend and craft throughout the show! While I can knit a basic pair of socks during a performance, having the lights up alone will make it easier to find any dropped stitches or check a pattern. More information about the production can be found at www.seattleopera.org/barber. More information about what a relaxed performance entails can be found at www.seattleopera.org/themenights. Meg Stoltz Associate Director of Marketing and Knitter Thank you Meg for offering listeners a discount on tickets. It should be a fun event.  

RNZ: Country Life
'It's the most sustainable fibre in the world'

RNZ: Country Life

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 25, 2023 22:25


Sheep farming and wool innovation took centre stage at the New Zealand Agricultural Show. The new Wool Zone section showcased the versatility of sheep and educated visitors on the myriad uses for wool.

Head Shepherd
Corriedales and Progeny Testing with James Cusack

Head Shepherd

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 19, 2023 29:27 Transcription Available


In today's episode, we have James Cusack, a fifth-generation farmer and Corriedale breeder hailing from south-west Victoria.While James grew up on a farm in Western Australia, he spent time completing a diesel mechanic apprenticeship before returning to farming in Victoria. James explains, "I was always told I had to do something else, so becoming a diesel mechanic was a practical skill to have. It's come in handy in various ways, but ultimately, my heart was in farming."Now located in Skipton, south-west Victoria, James manages his family's farms, including the original Corriedale stud in Australia, flock number one, a lineage established in 1911. In 2012, James inherited the stud and has since dedicated himself to ramping up production and genetic improvement across both wool and meat.James' dedication to improving his flock led him to join the Performance Corriedale Group. This group of passionate Corriedale breeders collaborates to enhance the breed's performance, particularly in meat quality and growth traits. James elaborates, "We aim to change the traditional look of the breed, improve rearing ability, and boost lamb weaning rates while maintaining the valuable wool characteristics."To achieve this, the Performance Corriedale Group established a progeny test. This project involves joining 270 commercial ewes to 11 different sires, including Corriedales, Border Leicesters, Dorsets and maternal composites. The goal is to assess eating quality and growth traits in the offspring: "We're looking forward to processing the lambs in the new year and analysing carcass traits such as shear force and intramuscular fat."James is optimistic about the future of Corriedales and believes that projects like these will help showcase the breed's potential. He emphasises the importance of encouraging other breeders to embrace objective measurement tools and select for desired traits.To stay updated on the progress of this exciting project or get in touch with James Cusack, visit the Performance Corriedale Breeders' Twitter account or email James at jocusack94@gmail.com. Don't miss their field day on 1 March  2024, where you can see the progeny on display and learn more about their findings first hand.If you have any questions about anything mentioned on this podcast, or one for our upcoming Q&A, email us at info@nextgenagri.com or leave a voice note here: https://thehub.nextgenagri.com/c/ask-your-questions-c7d0a4/ Head Shepherd is brought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com.Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex, and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand.These companies are leaders in their respective fields and it is a privilege to have them supporting the Head Shepherd Podcast. Please consider them when making product choices, as they are instrumental in enabling us to bring you this podcast each week.Check out Heiniger's product range HERECheck out the MSD range HERECheck out Allflex products HERE

South Australian Country Hour
South Australian Country Hour

South Australian Country Hour

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 4, 2023 55:13


The Country Hour is live from the Royal Adelaide Show, featuring the latest on biosecurity and animal welfare in school ag diplays, the Beef Cattle & Led Steer competition, alpaca judging, the feature breeds Polwarth and Corriedale, and much more!

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures
Falling Out of Love

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 18, 2023 86:20


Sometimes we fall a little out of love with things. In this episode we talk about needing a break from our projects and things we love so we can fall in love again. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects Anzula Socks: Finished. Bankhead Hat: Finished. Noromania: I am using 42 skeins of Noro Kureyon (Aran weight) to make a blanket for Mark. I've knit 76 inches and used 39 balls. I'm beginning to feel the end is in sight. Flowers from My Garden: Starting a spinning project with fiber I bought at Stitches in March. I've spun three 3-ply skeins. I've been having problems with my Dreaming Robots EEW 6.0 espinner for a few months and it stopped working while on my beach weekend where I planned on spinning the whole time. I emailed Maurice at Dreaming Robots and he diagnosed that the electric motor is defective and is sending me a new one. Not happy the motor failed, but very happy with the quick response from Maurice. Snowflower: by Heidi Kirrmeier. Swatched for gauge and hope to cast on today. Nanny Meier Tea Cozy: Inspired by Lily Pulitzer colors. Using Cascade 220 in hot pink and lime green. Santa's Laundry Line: by Eleonore von Castelmur. Using Lang Yarn Jawol fingering in red, green and cream and some left over fingering weight gray. Great Wall to Wall Carpet Removal Project Kelly's Projects Finished knitting the Pride socks using Weird Sisters Wool Emporium yarn. They turned out really pretty and I'm excited to give them away.  I'm still working on processing a Corriedale x Border Leicester from 2016. I'm flicking the locks before I feed them into the drum carder, trying to keep the fibers as aligned as possible (as is done in combing). I'm pulling the batts off the carder through a diz and making nests of pseudo-combed top. I've done another 2 oz of this relatively slow process.  Finished my mom's Chicks in a Basket and finished the antlers on her reindeer ornaments. Why, oh, why did she choose these patterns? Finished the dyeing up the remainder of the Corrie x Targhee x Merino fleece that I started this summer with the purple skeins. Once it was dry I started carding the red/orange dyed fleece into batts. I also have blue/green, blue, and a red, purple and natural batches to card.  Events Summer Spin In: Memorial Day - Labor Day, May 29 - September 4 SF Pen Show August 25-27 in Millbrae  Monterey County Wool Auction–September 4 at Monterey County Fairgrounds Lambtown October 7-8 in Dixon  

Humans of Agriculture
We went LIVE @ Sheepvention with Elders

Humans of Agriculture

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 8, 2023 43:57


This week your host, Oli Le Lievre travelled out to the Hamilton Sheepvention to discuss 'The Importance of Evolving within Agriculture' with Mark Gubbins, 'Coolana' Managing Director and Brendan Rinaldi, Elders Vic/Riverina GM. The Elders marquee was full to the brim, so a huge shout out to the 100 or so people in the crowd! We finish this episode with questions from those that attended. When we talk about 'evolving within agriculture', certain words like succession come to mind. Mark farms nearby and he chats about how his family and the property has changed over the years. Change includes navigating different eras like the dispersal of their Corriedale stud, seasonal conditions and market fluctuations. Mark is currently handing over the reigns to his children so we talk about what's keeping him occupied these days and it sounds like a lot of fishing might be on the cards! Brendan took a different path, opting not to be on the farm but instead pursuing a career in finance and agribusiness. We are putting that down to his first memories on the farm cutting burrs from wool... Just kidding! He describes himself as a bit of an academic and an 'accidental farmer'. Brendan now co-owns the farm with his brother, looking after the books and economic side while overseeing Elders Victoria & Riverina regions.   A huge thanks to Elders for sponsoring this episode and inviting Humans of Agriculture to be at the 2023 Sheepvention. The audio is a bit crackly in spots, not our usual quality but hoping you can bear with us considering we recorded live!

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures
Why Block A Sock?

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 30, 2023 59:21


Why do some knitter's block socks after washing? We don't and are wondering if there is an important reason to do so. We need input from our listeners. Plus, project updates, and lots of spinning as part of our Summer Spin In. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or  Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects Noromania: I am using 42 skeins of Noro Kureyon (Aran weight) to make a blanket for Mark. I've knit 70 inches and used 37 balls. I'm beginning to feel the end is in sight. Flowers from My Garden: Starting a spinning project with fiber I bought at Stitches in March. I've spun three 3-ply skeins and am back to spinning singles. Spun one bobbin Bankhead Hat: Using Dimond Laine Elmer Tweed worsted from Lamb & Kid in the colorways Fir and Farmhouse. Here are links to the tubular cast on tutorials from Brooklyn Tweed and Purl Soho. About to start decreases for the crown. Great Wall to Wall Carpet Removal Project In planning stage of Snowflower by Heidi Kirrmeier. Bought a different fourth color…rose! Also bought lime green and hot pink Cascade 220 to make a Lily Pulitzer inspired tea cozy to go with my Lily Pulitzer tray. Also bought Lang Yarn Jawol fingering in red, green and cream to make Santa's Laundry Line by Eleonore von Castelmur. Suppose to use sock scraps but I don't have any in Christmas colors. I do now!  Kelly's Projects Finished socks for myself using the yarn from Purl 2 Walla Walla called Epicurean Kitchen. Currently knitting socks using a skein of Gay Pride Flag from Weird Sisters Wool Emporium . I finished spinning the Corriedale x Targhee x Merino fleece where I dyed the wool and then carded.  This is a Black Sheep Gathering fleece from 2017. I still have about 2 lbs of this fleece left and I was losing about 10% in the carding process on this fleece.  I started and finished a 3 ounce braid of mixed BFL that was overdyed by Two Guys Yarn. It's a two ply yarn in muted primary colors.  I'm still working on processing a Corriedale x Border Leicester from 2016. I'm flicking the locks before I feed them into the drum carder, trying to keep the fibers as aligned as possible (as is done in combing). With this fleece I'm pulling the batts off the carder through a diz and making nests of pseudo-combed top. This process has resulted in about 20% loss. I worked on the quilt and completed the eleventh circle of quilting out of twenty.  Events Summer Spin In: Memorial Day - Labor Day, May 29 - September 4 Flock Fiber in Seattle August 4-6 Magnussen Park Monterey Wool Show Fleece Judging–August 12 at Monterey County Fairgrounds SF Pen Show August 25-27 in Millbrae  Monterey County Wool Auction–September 4 at Monterey County Fairgrounds Lambtown October 7-8 in Dixon  

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures
Summer Spin In Pop Up Winners

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 17, 2023 58:29


Our Summer Spin In continues with winners of our Pop-Up Giveaway. Plus project updates with fiber and beyond. An automotive project named “Raven” and “The Great Wall to Wall Carpet Removal Project” are in this episode.  Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Weird Sisters Wool Emporium Chelsea and Megan of the Weird Sisters Wool Emporium in Aberdeen, Washington, offer our listeners a 13% discount with promo code: TwoEwesAndWeirdSisters.  Code is active through July 31 Marsha's Projects Noromania: I am using 42 skeins of Noro Kureyon (Aran weight) to make a blanket for Mark. I've knit 67 inches and used 34 balls. I'm beginning to feel the end is in sight. Anzula Socks: Using two shades of Anzula Dreamy (blue) and Squishy (coral) that I bought at Stitches 2022. Working on the foot of the second sock. Flowers from My Garden: Starting a spinning project with fiber I bought at Stitches in March. I've spun three 3-ply skeins and am back to spinning singles. Bankhead Hat: Using Dimond Laine Elmer Tweed worsted from Lamb & Kid in the colorways Fir and Farmhouse. Here are links to the tubular cast on tutorials from Brooklyn Tweed and Purl Soho. I'm about half way done. Using 2 stripes Farmhouse and 5 stripes Fir. Rose Colored Glasses Towels: I'm calling these finished. Used a weaving kit from Gist Yarns to make two monk's belt hand towels. I learned a lot on this project:  Great Wall to Wall Carpet Removal Project Kelly's Projects I'm continuing the pair of socks for myself using the yarn from Purl 2 Walla Walla called Epicurean Kitchen. I'm on the foot of the second sock. I have a skein of Gay Pride Flag from Weird Sisters Wool Emporium waiting to be cast on for my next pair of socks (for a gift). I finished spinning the Cormo x Merino x Wensleydale fleece. I have about 1500 yards of a 3-ply that is about fingering weight. The staple length gives the yarn a nice sheen but it is soft enough that most people could probably wear it in a pullover. This is a Black Sheep Gathering fleece from 2016. I still have another box of this for another project. I'm now spinning the Corriedale x Targhee x Merino fleece where I dyed the wool and then carded. The batts are a nice heathered blue/purple and I'm spinning woolen. I have 9 ounces of the purple carded batts to spin. This is a Black Sheep Gathering fleece from 2017. I still have about 2 lbs of this fleece left and I was losing about 10% in the carding process on this fleece.  I am also working on processing a Corriedale x Border Leicester from 2016. This fleece has nice long locks so I am doing the same as with the black fleece. I am flicking the locks before I feed them into the drum carder, trying to keep the fibers as aligned as possible (as is done in combing). With this fleece I'm pulling the batts off the carder through a diz and making nests of pseudo-combed top. This process has resulted in about 20% loss.  I think I'd like to finish processing the whole bag (about 36 ounces). I've processed about 8 ounces in the first batch and ended up with 6.25 ounces of nests.  I will probably use this for rug yarn.  Pop Up Giveaway:  Valley Oak Wool Mill: California Red Roving 8oz Targee/Alpaca Roving 8oz  Debouillet Roving 2 oz Shetland Roving 4 oz Events Summer Spin In: Memorial Day - Labor Day, May 29 - September 4 Monterey Wool Show Fleece Judging–August 12 at Monterey County Fairgrounds SF Pen Show August 25-27 in Millbrae  Monterey County Wool Auction–September 4 at Monterey County Fairgrounds Lambtown October 7-8 in Dixon  

Gin & Spin with Crafty Housewife Yarns
Worsted Style Spinning On Corriedale wool

Gin & Spin with Crafty Housewife Yarns

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 6, 2023 4:22


See video format on Youtube In honor of my new little E book for new spinners the secrets of yarn spinning I'm breaking it down topic by topic! find it on amazon or even better get it free here! Https://craftyhousewifeyarns.com/the-secrets-to-yarn-spinning-e-book If you Enjoy my fiber arts content please like and subscribe it truthfully really helps me out and it's free! More on yarn spinning here ( join the yarn cult for free)! https://craftyhousewifeyarns.com/courses

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures
Summer Spin In Ends September 5th

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 3, 2022 67:20


This is the last weekend of our Summer Spin In. Be sure and post your finished object in our Ravelry threads and Instagram using #summerspinin2022 by September 5th. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects:  I finished spinning the two 8 ounce braids I bought at Black Sheep Gathering. A Corriedale cross and 70/30 merino/silk. I have seven skeins (two ply of each single) and have about 1,790 yards/16.6 ounces. I think it is fingering weight or a very light sport. Happiness by Kyle Kunnecke using Yarn Snob PowerBall in the colorway Happiness. I have finished the front and have knit about 3” of the back armhole.  Spinning: I have started spinning the Manx Loaghton again. I have spun 768 yards, or 15.2 ounces, of a 2 pound bag of roving. I've started spinning on this again. This spinning project is going to be in the works for a while. Kelly's Projects: Finished spinning and plying yarn from a black Shetland. This fleece was purchased in 2017 at the Monterey County Wool show. I got 1,290 yards out of 19 ounces. I've continued carding the Wensleydale X Cormo from Black Sheep Gathering in 2016. On average the fiber is about 4 inches long and very fine. It isn't carding up like a long wool at all. The staple length is longer than the Shetland, but the batts are super dense and puffy like a cormo or a merino would be. I won't be spinning this right away since I need a break from spinning black yarn! I'm still considering which of these blankets to make, but now I'm leaning toward the knitted Creeper. Minecraft Blanket Creeper Blanket Adventures From our listener Wendy:  “Hi there! Love your Podcast...you asked about my LYS...well, I live in New York but my favorite LYS is River City Yarns in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada...the owners, two sisters, (Barb and Cynthia) have been absolutely wonderful at creating, and maintaining, an amazing fiber community which has helped sustain its members throughout this pandemic. Most of us have never met and live thousands of miles apart...yet, we are friends....I will be forever grateful for friendship, the tutorials, knitting supplies, quick shipping and fiber information as well as the ongoing Monday evening Zoom meet-up. Check out their Podcast on YouTube. They deserve to be recognized.  They have online classes going almost every week with nationally recognized instructors, constant KALs and this summer they assisted with and participated in an online summer-long yarn store crawl wherein each Sunday 4 yarn stores are given 15 minutes each to introduce themselves and their specialty areas. Except for River City Yarns, all of the stores are located in the US. Through this program, I discovered a weaving supply shop in Texas; through which I placed and already received my first order... I've knit a lot of years and I've never seen store owners work this hard to inspire and motivate people.” Thank you Wendy for letting us know about Barb and Cynthia and their yarn shop. Listeners may message us stories of their favorite LYS or send an audio story via Speakpipe. Wool Show judging at the Monterey County Fairgrounds: Kelly attended the judging and tells us about the variety of fleeces she has her eye on when the auction takes place September 4th. Marsha plans to attend Fiber Fest in the Valley October 1st, 9:00am - 4:00pm Ellensburg, Washington Summer Spin-In  Started June 1 and goes until September 5. (US Labor Day) If you are on Instagram use #summerspinin2022. You can also post in the Ravelry group. We have a new prize of Gotland Yarn and Roving from Sarah Sousa of Wandering Fleece Fiber Mill in Massachusets. Check out her shop to see yarn, fiber, gifts and housewares.  Other Prizes:  Shibui yarn hat kit donated by Dagmar (Dagger51) Alpaca sample fiber set from Cathy (Straightfork) and a pint of maple syrup from Cathy,  A 3 ounce braid hand painted wool/flax blend in the colorway Key West by Purple Fleece from Sarah (Salpal1) Fleeber Farms Breed Study Sampler from Marsha (betterinmotion)

Down Cellar Studio Podcast
Episode 227: Unicorns, Sunshine & PRIZES

Down Cellar Studio Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 28, 2022 57:39


Thank you for tuning in to Episode 227 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. Full show notes with photos can be found on my website- click here. This week's segments included: Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Brainstorming From the Armchair Knitting in Passing In my Travels KAL News Ask Me Anything On a Happy Note Quote of the Week Off the Needles Unicorn Macaron Amigurumi Pattern: Unicorn Macaron Amigurumi free crochet pattern by Anitha Domacin available on their website. Yarn: Knit Picks Brava Worsted in white and various other colors. Small bit of silver metallic yarn from Stash Hook: C (2.75 mm) My Ravelry Project Page On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Blue Kamakaze Socks Yarn: ThreadHeadKnits Co. Plump Sock (100% Superwash Merino 4 ply- 438 yards/100g) in the Blue Kamakaze Colorway.  Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams $5 on Ravelry.  Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) My Ravelry Project Page Mr. Fezziwig Socks Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Yarn: Woolens & Nosh Corriedale Sock in the Mr. Fezziwig Colorway Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) My Ravelry Project Page Click here for Wiki page on Mr. Fezziwig from A Christmas Carol Kim's Christmas Stocking Pattern: Christmas Stockings to Knit and Crochet from Family Circle Magazine. Available in this web archive link. I've also saved it to my podcast Gmail Google Drive in case it disappears! You can find that PDF here.  Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Cherry Red, Hunter Green and White Hook: G (4.00 mm) My Ravelry Project Page Brainstorming Check out this Granny Square Chain. It's a free Crochet pattern from Homemade@MyPlace From the Armchair The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link.Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases. Knitting in Passing I met my cousin Chris' fiancee's grandmother who will soon be 98 years old. She told me she used to knit and crochet. I found some lovely handkerchiefs at my Mom's. I think some of the edges were trimmed by my grandmother and my great-aunt Rachel. In My Travels Tune in to hear about our trip to NH to Ski at Loon Mountain.  We visited Woodstock Inn & Brewery and One Love Brewery.  We checked out the Three on the Tree Boutique- check out their Instagram feed.  We went to the Ice Castles which was so cool.  We played Penny Drop- available on Amazon (Affiliate Link).  Riley practiced with her new Cat Eye Stamp using the iMethod Eyeliner Stamp- click here for my Amazon Affiliate Link KAL News Pigskin Party '21: is officially over! WOW! Sponsor List (Google Doc) Check out your standings (and others') on the Players Stats Sheet (Google Sheet) 278 on Roster this Season 135 people earned 1-25 entries 66 people earned 26-50 entries 58 people got between 51-100 entries 14 of you earned more than 100 entries or more entries towards grand prizes.  Only 5 did not post any points.  Pigskin '21 Teams & Conferences Our Teams were Part of 2 Conferences this year- Alpaca Conference (Commissioner: Wendy) & Llama Conference (Commissioner: Jen) Llama Conference won- 508,420 points Alpaca Conference had a strong showing with 456,414 points Highest scoring Team was also in the Llama conference- Team 2- Llamaste- 62,849 2nd Place goes to : Team 10- International Llamas- 50,896 In 3rd Place from the Alpaca Conference is: Team 24 Suri Longnecks- 50,721! Congrats to all of our players and teams! Tune in to hear if you won a participation prize or one of our 10 GRAND PRIZES! Ask Me Anything How do you knit for Massachusetts winters (Elisa.knits) Layers! Worsted weight hats and shawls. Make fingerless mitts or mittens. Purchase gloves if you prefer those and the idea of making them doesn't sound appealing. Which fiber did you spin with when you began to spin (kmac0107) Corriedale. Highly recommend! What do you want to hear “my name winning a prize? Smile- Mom updates that you are willing to share” (javajennie) & related question “How's Mom doing? Sending good vibes her way “(bayoumamaLA) She's doing well.  We recorded an update video and shared on the Down Cellar Studio YouTube Channel at the end of January. You can find that video by clicking here. Updates also shared to CaringBridge if you'd like to subscribe-  https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/dianelassonde On a Happy Note Random dance parties during Ski weekend. I only fell once skiing in two days! Sharing IPAs with my brother. So much fun with Snapchat filters. Millie made everyone participate. I got to see my friend Laura's new apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. My cousin's fiancee's bridal shower.  Visiting with my former boss & totally losing track of time.  Quote of the Week “You don't have a right to the cards you believe you should have been dealt with. You have an obligation to play the hell out of the ones you're holding and my dear one, you and I have been granted a mighty generous one.”-Cheryl Strayed Thank you for tuning in! Contact Information: Check out the Down Cellar Studio Patreon! Ravelry: BostonJen & Down Cellar Studio Podcast Ravelry Group Instagram: BostonJen1 YouTube: Down Cellar Studio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/downcellarstudio Sign up for my email newsletter to get the latest on everything happening in the Down Cellar Studio Check out my Down Cellar Studio YouTube Channel Knit Picks Affiliate Link Bookshop Affiliate Link Yarnable Subscription Box Affiliate Link Music -“Soft Orange Glow” by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/ Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.

Down Cellar Studio Podcast
Episode 223: Finishing all the Things

Down Cellar Studio Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 31, 2021 57:55


Thank you for tuning in to Episode 223 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. For full show notes and photos check out my website. www.downcellarstudio.com/223  This week's segments included: Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Brainstorming From the Armchair Some Years Later Crafty Adventures Knitting in Passing KAL News Life in Focus Ask Me Anything On a Happy Note Quote of the Week Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Mermaid Tail Socks Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in the Mermaid Tail colorway Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) My Ravelry Project Page Crochet Squirrel Pattern: Crochet Squirrel by Junuen Lisunia (free crochet pattern on Ravelry) Hook: C (2.75 mm) Yarn: Worsted Weight Acrylic from stash in light brown and dark brown Ravelry Project Page Among Us- Blue Pattern- Among Us Amigurumi by Tiffany Horton- free crochet pattern available on her website or $2.50 Yarn: Knit Picks Brava Hook: C (2.75 mm) Ravelry Project Page Ravelry Page shows Among Us Characters alive and dead (dead is when they have a bone exposed) and with a crown. But the “without a bone” and “crown” instructions are not actually included in the PDF. See below for option that has the bone. Among Us- Yellow with Bone Pattern- Among Us Amigurumi Dead Version by Tiffany Horton- available free on her website Yarn: Worsted Weight Acrylic Yarn from Stash- in Yellow Hook: C (2.75 mm) Ravelry Project Page Camp Out Fingerless Mitts Pattern: Camp Out Fingerless Mitts by tante ehm- Free Knitting Pattern available on Ravelry. Yarn: Fully Spun Sock Yarn in the Blue Hole Colorway (blue) with a strand of fingering weight Corriedale handspun yarn. Needles: US 7 (4.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page Mom's Christmas Headband Pattern: 108-18 Knitted Hair Band by DROPS Design. Free Pattern available from DROPS website & on Ravelry.  Yarn: Fully Spun Sock Yarn in the Blue Hole Colorway (blue) with a strand of fingering weight Corriedale handspun yarn. Needles: US 7 (4.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page Riley's Christmas Cardigan Pattern: Everyday Cardigan in Merino No. 5 by Loopy Mango Needles: US 15 (10 mm) Yarn: Bernat Blanket in Misty Green (sage color) My Ravelry Project Page Pattern calls for Seed Stitch but I'm just using the basic instructions and using cables and ribbing for the body/sleeves.  For the front bands I did HDC through back/front loop. Pink Moon Sweater Pattern: Pink Moon by This.Bird.Knits. $8 US Pattern available on Ravelry and on the This.Bird.Knits Site. Needles: US 5 & 7 (3.75 & 4.5 mm) Yarn: Sweitzer Fiber Mill unknown (gray)- Rhinebeck 2019 Lisa Daschinger Wools (mustard)- Farm Fiber Day's Russell's Market January 2020 mur yarn merino cashmere fingering (pink)- Barcelona 2019 Rowan Alpaca Classic (pink) Staci's Stitches- LYS Marroon- Handspun Ravelry Project Page Brainstorming I purchased, for the first time, the complete set of Knit Picks Felici. 10 colorways. 1 50g ball each (I subsequently ordered another set). Considering purchasing from Knit Picks? Consider using my Knit Picks Affiliate Link Designs- when I have a bit more mental bandwidth… We found my grandmothers rugmaking supplies at Mom's house. Need to do some googling!  Spinning. From the Armchair 2021 Knitting in Review 90 finished knit/crochet projects 2 cardigans 5 tops 19 toys 5 shawls 24 pairs of socks 4 headbands 1 pair of mitts 1 knitted tree decoration 1 Christmas stocking 12 hats 7 blankets 2 jar cozies 7 garlands Spinning- 4 projects, 11 skeins, 1,686 yards of Yarn (8 spinning projects in 2020 but they were smaller) Crochet- 38 projects. Knitting 52 projects Click here for a link to my 2021 Ravelry Projects Tab. Some Years Later In July, I gifted my niece Gabriella a teddy bear crochet with Bernat Velvet yarn. She bumped her lip on the way over for a Christmas visit and grabbed her bear for comfort so they brought it with them. Lots of ends sticking out. I took a cable needle and shoved them back in and she looked pretty great after that! Gabriella's Velvet Bear Pattern: Velvet Valentine Crochet Bear by Sarah Zimmerman- available on Yarnspirations website. Yarn: Bernat Velvet in the  Misty Gray Colorway Hook: G (4.0 mm) My Ravelry Project Page Crafty Adventures Making banana ice cream with Garret. We use this recipe. Making Pizzelles- tasted delicious but looked kind of crumby but confectionary sugar hides many sins.  Knitting in Passing During a recent sleepover, Millie wanted help with a knitting project and per usual she claimed she didn't remember how to knit, but when she sat down and started, she picked right up where she left off. We have learned though that she does not enjoy bamboo needles so I need to work on getting her a short circular, metal needle replacement for the cowl she's working on. Riley's current project is a cowl from Lion Brand in a fun color changing yarn. It turned out a bit too big and so instead, she wants to make it into a top for Millie. She's learned to make i-cord to use for straps and we'll sew those on when she's done. KAL News Pigskin Party '21: Official Hashtag: #DCSPigskinParty21 Important Links: Official Rules (Google Doc) Register to Play! (Google Form) Points Tally Form (Google Form) Sponsor List (Google Doc) Questions: Ask in the Ravelry Thread or email Jen (downcellarstudio @ gmail.com) Prizes- see details in this Ravelry Thread Coupon Codes: find details in this Ravelry Thread or on my website (coming soon) Pro Shop Sponsor Exclusive Items: find details as they're posted in this Ravelry Thread or on my website (coming soon) Use the Points Tally form for official entry but celebrate with everyone in the End Zone Dance Ravelry Thread and using #DCSPigskinEndZoneDance Check out your standings (and others') on the Players Stats Sheet (Google Sheet) Fumble your entry on the Points Tally form? Use this Support Form (Google Form) Pre-Game Chatter on Ravelry can be found in this Thread. Monthly Scavenger Hunt (December clues have been posted): Figure out these fun clues and earn points each month. Check out this Ravelry Thread or this Google Doc. December Interception: hosted by Knitty Natty. Find details in this Ravelry thread or in this Google Doc. Cast on 12/1/21 or later. Deadline to post 12/31/21. Check out Natalie's patterns for ideas- Ravelry Link. Life in Focus Starting my annual Year in Review process. I shared about this last year on my YouTube Channel. Check out that video here Tune in to hear how I did with my 21 for 2021 list. Hear more about these lists on the Happier Podcast w/ Gretchen Rubin I also reviewed my Word of the Year and primary goals for 2021. Ask Me Anything Shana “Savers, duh!”- Check out the Christmas Thrifting Video on my YouTube Channel. Marilynknits- “Could you talk about you learned to crochet? I think you probably already shared but I forget. Maybe you could also share a source for your favorite crochet tutorials. I am learning how to crochet!” Crochet School Videos on the Crafty Minx Website knit_read_sleep: “How the cling wrap game works. That looked so fun”- tune in to hear my description & check out our video of the Cling Wrap Game Video on the Down Cellar Studio YouTube Channel. francesgiff-knitting plans for 2022 Handspun garment A new hat for me. Spinning I want to make more garlands for my house. Christmas themed one would be fun.  Genna-with-a-gee: “What are you best methods for having a successful year? Keeping low stress?” Build habits that get you headed where you want to go. Figure out not just what you're aiming for but concrete steps of when, where, how you'll do things to move in that direction. Be grateful. Look for the good things happening around you and you'll find those. Remember that life isn't all good. It's a mix. We're supposed to be sad, angry, overwhelmed. Personally I don't find it useful to try to find a way out of that. Experience it. Lean in, and then…when it feels like it could pass, move on. Try to move back towards more positive emotions.  On a Happy Note Thank you for all of your kind notes, comments, cards etc after we announced last episode that Mom is battling lung cancer. We truly appreciate it. After a grueling experience with the special pharmacy, Mom has finally started her gene therapy treatment.  Visiting with Maria who was visiting from Barcelona. Check out the Day 17 Vlogmas Video  to see the treats my friend Marta and her sons sent over for Dan and me. Thrifting with Mom & the kids followed by a 4 kid sleepover.Check out the Day 18 & 19 Vlogmas Video for more. Patrons, check out your Patreon feed for an even longer video with lots more highlights and funny moments from the kids. In addition to fun pancakes- we also scored a sea themed waffle maker at Savers so we made Dolphin, Seahorse and Crab waffles! Babysitting my niece Gabriella. Singing Christmas Carols by the fire even if it was freezing outside!  A quieter Christmas Eve than we planned that turned into a lovely night. Christmas Day with our families. So much fun and laughter. Check out Vlogmas videos for more.   Continued adventures with Helen- the mannequin head- we discussed on the last episode. Millie and Dan got into hijinks on Christmas! Quote of the Week “Satisfaction is always available. It is just not always looked for. If, when you enter any experience, you enter with curiosity, respect and interest you will emerge enriched and with awareness you have been enriched. Awareness of enrichment is what satisfaction is.”  -Ann Hastings Thank you for tuning in! Contact Information: Check out the Down Cellar Studio Patreon! Ravelry: BostonJen & Down Cellar Studio Podcast Ravelry Group Instagram: BostonJen1 YouTube: Down Cellar Studio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/downcellarstudio Sign up for my email newsletter to get the latest on everything happening in the Down Cellar Studio Check out my Down Cellar Studio YouTube Channel Knit Picks Affiliate Link Bookshop Affiliate Link Music -“Soft Orange Glow” by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/ Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.

The Sheep Show podcast
How you can influence the taste of your lamb!

The Sheep Show podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 15, 2021 26:14


Who knew we could influence our lamb taste so much! Research for this podcast includes:Foods | Free Full-Text | Odd- and Branched-Chain Fatty Acids in Lamb Meat as Potential Indicators of Fattening Diet Characteristics (mdpi.com)What does lamb taste like? - Chef's Pencil (chefspencil.com)This episode was inspired by this great article written by Bill Williams. His original article is below:Six factors that influence the flavour of lamb before the chef starts work (which you will never know if you buy your lamb from a supermarket!) 1. The breed of the sheep. What are you actually eating? Merino, Corriedale, Border Leicester, Suffolk, Dorset, Ryeland, Southdown, Romney? I guess I must mention Dorper and Damara. LIke different grape varieties, sheep varieties produce different tasting and textured meat. I produce Wiltshire because that's the breed that yields the dining experience I personally like best. They may not be the fastest to reach a marketable weight, but the wait's worth it! Another example of slow food.2. The age of the sheep. When was the last time you saw "old ewe" or even mutton labelled at the supermarket? Not that mutton can't be delicious if prepared correctly, but seriously, if you go to a saleyard more than half the sheep sold usually aren't lambs or even hoggets. Where do they go? My theory is that most of them turn into "lamb" when they leave the abattoir.3. Diet. Are they feedlot finished? Or perhaps they've been raised on improved pasture made up of just one or 2 grass varieties in high rainfall or irrigated grazing areas where the native grasses have been wiped out by broad acre round up applications? In my experience lambs raised on a wide variety of native grasses and shrubs like saltbush taste much sweeter with a less fatty taste. Of course what they have been eating also effects how fat they are, too.4. Water. Water quality and availability are extremely important to sheep health. Consider the difference between sheep that have to walk a long way to a muddy dam compared to sheep grazed in close proximity to a flowing stream of fresh clean water. Good water access also enables sheep to browse and digest roughage more easily.5. Animal husbandry. Have the sheep been dogged? Consider the journey from the paddock to the abattoir.....especially for sheep sold through saleyards. Many supermarket lambs end up affected by adrenaline and fear. I don't like to road transport sheep in summer....it's just too hot most days.6.How long have the carcasses been dry aged before being cut up into kitchen ready cuts? If the carcass is given at least a few days to "set", the muscles relax and the meat matures. Dry aged lamb is much more tender and flavoursome than freshly butchered lamb.What do you think? We would greatly appreciate any comments about which factors you consider most important in determining lamb quality.

Campo e Batom
Campo e Batom #75 - Mulheres na Expointer 2021 #04 - Inovação Feminina (Mariana Cherubini /Paula Hofmeinster )

Campo e Batom

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 30, 2021 38:35


A jornalista Alessandra Bergmann entrevistou duas jovens dinâmicas que já assumiram papéis de liderança e cooperação em diversos setores do Agro. Mariana Cherubini, administradora, criadora de gado Devon, integrante da comissão jovem da ABCDB, e da comissão de Jovens da FARSUL, da Sociedade Rural brasileira, do Sindicato de André da Rocha no RS e Paula Hofmeinster, Diretora na comissão de jovens da Farsul, Diretora na Associação Brasileira de Criadores de Corriedale, Diretora no Sindicato de Pedras Altas e Engenheira Ambiental. Campo e Batom tem o apoio de SENAR-RS e pode ser acompanhado pelos canais da Rádio Press: Youtube.com/radioress – https://www.youtube.com/c/RADIOPRESS/videos Facebook.com/radiopressportoalegre – https://www.facebook.com/radiopressportoalegre/?ref=pages_you_managepressportoalegre/?ref=pages_you_manage facebook.com/campoebatom – https://www.facebook.com/campoebatom

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures
Ep 166: Shut Up About the Basement

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 26, 2021 61:51


Heritage sheep breeds, ink as the new souvenir sock skein, and Marsha's realization that she needs to get out of her basement are all on the agenda this week. Plus, a reminder that we have just over a month left of our Summer Spin In. Show notes with full transcript, photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects Spinning the brown and green merino.  Atlas (Ravelry link) by Jared Flood using Navia Tradition. The pattern is also available at his website. I have completed the body to the armholes and almost completed the first sleeve. I've washed and blocked it to  see how it looks and to be able to measure the body. Kelly's Projects I'm continuing the Oxford spinning. I am still keeping my options open for a 3-ply where I'm more careful about the twist. I'd like the yarn to be more loosely plied than my 3-ply sample. I have almost three full bobbins of singles and plenty of fiber left. I carded about 400 grams. Here is the project page for this handspun. Information about Oxford fleece: Livestock Conservancy status is “watch.” Fewer than 2,500 annual registrations in the United States and an estimated global population less than 10,000.“ originated as the result of crossing Cotswolds and Hampshires. imported into America in 1846. one of the largest breeds of sheep and is only surpassed in body weight by the Lincoln. Not only does it lack uniformity in body type and size, but there is also considerable lack of uniformity in color markings and in the weight and quality of the fleece The new breed that we know as Oxford today is a bit smaller, only 200-250 pounds, a result of that push in the 1930s for a more compact animal followed by the resurgence of the older type. staple length, generally around 1-2”. remains rare in the United States, having been supplanted by the Suffolk. This situation is difficult to explain, as research has shown time and again that the Oxford excels as the sire of market lambs and the breed's overall profitability may be second to none. I've made good progress on the Dark Green Forest cardigan (Ravelry link) by Christina Körber-Reith. She also has the pattern at her website, Strickhauzeit. I'm using handspun 3-ply (fingering to sport weight) from a CVM (Romeldale) fleece that I overdyed. I've gotten down to the pockets. The sweater has a ribbed front band and honeycomb cable down the sleeve and on the pockets. It has saddle shoulder construction and a square “sailor” collar that also has ribbing.  Information about CVM sheep: status is “threatened” with fewer than 1,000 annual registrations in the United States and an estimated global population of less than 5,000. American fine wool breed, and the California Variegated Mutant, or CVM, is its multi-colored derivative. Romney-Rambouillet crosses were bred for several years and became known as Romeldales. colored lambs appeared in the Romeldale breed. Glen Eidman became interested in these sheep and linebred them for several generations Sheep breed resources: Livestock Conservancy, Oklahoma State Breeds Directory. Other Discussion  Marsha talks about mistakenly donating some of her favorite children's books by Bill Peet.  Ella Elephant, Jennifer and Josephine Great documentary on Netflix by the actress Geena Davis about equality in the media. Here is a link to the YouTube trailer of This Changes Everything. Pens--SF Pen Show August 27-29. Held about 35 miles south of SF in Redwood City,  Kelly and Robert will be there Saturday, August 28. Summer Spin In - Ends September 6th Just over a month to go! Prizes from Three Green Sisters Full Show Transcript Kelly 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha and this is Kelly. Marsha 0:05 We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at to use fiber adventures.com. Kelly 0:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects, Marsha 0:29 and I am betterinmotion. Kelly 0:31 We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Both 0:36 Enjoy the episode. Marsha 0:43 Good morning, Kelly. Kelly 0:44 Good morning, Marsha. How are you? Marsha 0:46 I'm doing well. Kelly 0:47 Good. I want to ask you a question. Okay, so Marsha, what knitwear Are you wearing today? Marsha 0:55 Not a stitch? Kelly 0:57 Not a stitch of knitwear. Kelly 0:58 No. Kelly 0:59 Well, now, that actually makes sense. Because what season are we in here in the Northern Hemisphere? Marsha 1:07 High summer? Kelly 1:08 Yes. Marsha 1:10 And... but not where you are I take it, based on this question. Kelly 1:13 And I'm not complaining. I'm just providing you information.But I am currently wearing ...although probably some of it will come off. Marsha 1:23 Wait a minute, let me get a pen. I have to write this down. Kelly 1:25 So I'm currently wearing from head to toe... I'm currently wearing my Rikke hat. I'm wearing the Habitat sweater that I crocheted. And I'm wearing handknit socks. Marsha 1:40 Kelly Kelly, you need to book a flight ASAP to Seattle. Kelly 1:43 I heard that, that there's, you know, all this heat going on all around the country. And I feel bad for everyone who is you know, going through all the heat and the fires and, and, and then there's, you know, flooding. I hope that all of our listeners in Germany are okay, so I don't want to complain about my lot in life. But let me just provide you with some information. Anybody who's suffering from heat should come to Monterey County, because in the last month... I looked up the history in the last month, we've had two days above 70 degrees. Marsha 2:22 Oh, my goodness. Kelly 2:23 And guess how high we got in those two days above 70 degrees? Marsha 2:25 71? Kelly 2:29 Yes. And 72. Oh, my God, it was a heatwave. Yes. So yeah, we do have some higher temperatures coming. Next week, we get one... But by the time it gets here, the the prediction of these high temperatures almost always goes down by about four degrees, four or five degrees. So we have 80 predicted for Tuesday of next week. So we'll see if that happens. You'll have to check back. Good thing I have knitwear that's all I have to say. Marsha 3:06 It was interesting thinking about these changes in the weather because it's happening around the world and and some terrible, terrible things are happening. But that heatwave we had here in Seattle, where it was you know, 110? There's been many effects of it. I mean, people died. That's terrible. But I was listening to our local NPR station. And they were saying that over 50 people have become ill by eating shellfish. Because it got so hot. There's a bacteria that forms in shellfish in hot weather. People have been getting sick because the temperature is so high. They also lost a lot of oysters and other shellfish because they literally cooked in their shells because it was so hot. Kelly 3:59 Oh my gosh. Marsha 4:01 So it's really... There... that heat way we had is going to have a real impact on food production here in the Pacific Northwest, just those few days now. Kelly 4:12 Yeah, Marsha 4:14 It's really interesting the impact that Kelly 4:16 well, not just the shellfish. I know when we have had high temperatures here, they typically will come in, like in September, sometimes even as late as October. But when we get those high temperatures in September, we've had apples on the trees, and they're like applesauce. I mean, if you don't have the apples off the tree by that time, then after those couple days of you know, high 90s or mid 90s. Those apples are terrible. So I can imagine the impact that has had. Marsha 4:53 Well I wonder if this cool weather you're having is going to have an impact impact on production because you live in an agricultural country community, right. And they're kind of cool weather crops. Kelly 5:03 Yeah. Marsha 5:04 But this is awfully cool for them. Kelly 5:07 So we grow a lot of strawberries here. Lettuce is not having any problem. There are... there are more and more berry fields-- regular berries. And I don't know, I don't know if the lack of heat has has affected them at all. We have an apricot tree and a plum tree and the apricot are just now starting to get ripe, which I think is really late for apricots. I don't know because this tree hasn't produced very well in the past. So I don't know what its typical timing is like, but I seem to remember apricots being a more early summer fruit when I was a kid. We had an apricot tree when I was growing up. It's probably not super abnormal, honestly, for us to have this kind of weather here in Salinas. I mean, it's not-- I don't think it's normal, normal, but I don't think it's super abnormal. If I went back and looked at the history, I mean. I remember when I first moved here, I didn't take off a sweatshirt all summer long. It was-- I was freezing to death all the time. And that's kind of how I feel this year. And maybe I just like to complain! Well, and the house would be warmer if I closed the windows, but I have to have open windows in the summer. [laughing] And that's dumb because it's not warm outside. But that's just the way it is in summer you open the windows and sleep with the windows open. So anyway, yeah. Marsha 6:42 Okay, this leads me to something Kelly. Because we are...are we complaining? Kelly 6:49 No, Marsha 6:50 a little? Kelly 6:50 I'm not gonna... we're not... Marsha 6:54 just a tad. Anyway. So I I have something just I have something to say. So the last episode, I was walking Enzo and listening to the episode. And about halfway through the beginning before we got to any fiber stuff. I texted you. And my text was, Oh my gosh! Shut up about your basement! Marsha 7:24 And I was... I don't remember know what your response was. But anyway, I went back and it was like 10 minutes, Kelly, that I talked about my basement. As I was walking along my thought was first like, Oh my goodness, shut up about that basement! Nobody cares. And my second thought was, You need to get out of that basement. Kelly 7:44 Marsha, get a life! [laughing] Marsha 7:47 And so I'm here to announce. This is the last time I'm going to talk about my basement. It's not healthy. And I got out of my basement and I went last Tuesday or this... Tuesday of this week. This is Friday that we're recording this. Tuesday, I went up to Index, Washington and for people who are out of state, that's a small former mining town up on highway two. It's near-- on the way to Stevens Pass, which is you know, big mountain pass Kelly 8:17 And north on you right? Marsha 8:18 North of me. Yeah. And the reason I went up there is Ben, my son is working up there on and off during the summer. He met up... Well, I should back up and to say Index was originally a mining town. That's how it started. But now it's become a huge destination for climbers. And apparently it's world renowned, this area, for climbing. They have great rock. Like I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm just quoting Ben, because I'm not a climber. Kelly 8:49 Yeah, like what makes a great rock as opposed to just a rock? Marsha 8:55 So anyway, he goes up there and climbs. And there's a guy who lives here in Seattle who goes up there all the time and climbs. A guy named Richard. Apparently he bought a house up there, a small cabin. And so Ben has been going up and helping him fix it up, make it sort of... It's it's kind of rough. And so he's been helping him and so he goes up there for about five days at a time and then comes back. So I thought a nice outing would be to go see Ben in Index and do a hike. So I went up on Tuesday, I finally found Ben. That was kind of, well, I will, well... Do you want to hear the story about how I found Ben? Because he said to me, Index is really small. I have no idea what the population is. A tiny, tiny town and there's like two streets when you come into town. You can go left or you can go right and so he says, when you come into town you go left and you just go down to the--you know, keep going down the road and you'll see the house. I go into town. I go left. I can't find the house. I'm driving all the way almost to the end of the road, I'm now getting into Forest Service land. I'm going-- I go back. That can't be right, I go check again. So I go up and down this road about three times trying to find him and I finally gave up and thought, I'm just going to go walk the dog around the town and check it out. And then I'm going to go do my hike. And I was just getting ready to leave when I get a text from him because there's very poor, so there's no real cell service there. It's very hit or miss, I get a text like, I'm glad you're coming. You'll see the house. It has a whole bunch of free stuff out on the road. So I'm like, Okay, well, I'll go down this highway, you'll go left down this highway, which I did. And I finally see some free stuff by the side of the road. But it looks like it's been there for a long time, because there's like weeds kind of growing through it. And I don't see his car at that house. But I see there's like a driveway and kind of a long like alley kind of thing. And so I decided to go down that maybe the house is down that road. And I go down this little driveway and I see a guy working on a house or a garage or something and I just get out and I said, Are you Richard? And he said No, I'm not. And I said, Oh, I said. Well, do you have a minute to hear my story? And he's kind. He said, Yeah, I have a minute to hear your story. And so I said, Well, my son is up here working for a guy named Richard from Seattle who bought a house and I give a little story because there's a little story about how he got the house and who used to live in the house and how they got that person out of the house. And he says, Oh, I know that house. Because it's a tiny town anyway. You're probably ahead of me in the story. It's that when you come into town you turn right. Not Left. [laughing] Kelly 11:51 Right. Oh my god. Marsha 11:53 The details, right? Kelly 11:54 Yes. Marsha 11:55 So I go. Oh, I know. Yeah. So anyway, I and I, because I said to him, Well, it's a small enough town. I figured somebody would know the story. And he said yeah, I know the story. That was really funny. Anyway, I went back the correct direction, found Ben, immediately saw the house. We chatted for a little bit and then I went on my hike. So I did do a hike. So that was really nice to see. So this is the point of my story it's-- what's the phrase? Oh, the devils in the details? Kelly 12:27 Yes. Marsha 12:27 That's the phrase? Yeah, yeah. Kelly 12:30 Yeah. Well, I'm glad you got out of the basement, Marsha. Yeah. So it sounds like you had a nice a nice little outing. Marsha 12:37 Yeah, it was really nice. And it's beautiful up there. Really, really beautiful. And, yeah, so that's the last time that wore is going to cross my lips in this podcast Kelly 12:49 Ok, right! Good to know. Marsha 12:54 Let's see if I can do it now. Kelly 12:57 Oh, funny. Anyway, all right. Well, okay, since you aren't going to talk about the thing that will not be named. What about your projects? Marsha 13:09 Well, I...not a lot, well, not a huge amount to report. I've been spinning. So I have ... I'm almost done with a second bobbin of the brown for that brown and green that I'm making. Okay, and so I have one more bobbin that I need to spin and then I can ply that together. So I work on that in the afternoons. You know, sit out on my deck, and spin for a little bit. And so I'm making progress on it, but it's not, I'm not working on it exclusively. And then I do have progress to report though, on the Atlas pullover that I'm making for my brother and I have knit the body. Keep in mind though, I have not done the ribbing yet, because I did a provisional cast on. But I've knit up to the armholes and then set that aside. I did wash it though, and block it. Because as you know what we talked about the last episode, it looked like a holiday wreath, a big sausage tube kind of. So I did wash and block it and I can... now it's laying flat, so it'll be much easier to measure. And then I did a provisional cast on for the first sleeve. And I'm almost done with the first sleeve I have about 10... Let me look at my pattern. I have about six more rows. And then I will set the sleeve aside and start the second sleeve. So it's going pretty quickly. I think because it's on size seven needles. I find it's not really...maybe it's because I am normally working on three to five somewhere around... or socks or on ones. Yeah, I find it's a little more challenging to knit with. It's like, I've heard this before. Sometimes with larger needles and thicker yarn, like this is a worsted weight. You're a little harder on my hands and there's something about this yarn too. It's a little hard to knit with in the sense that it doesn't really slide along the needles very well. And it's interesting. Kelly 15:29 You have you have metal needles? Marsha 15:32 Yeah, right. Kelly 15:33 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Marsha 15:35 And it's much better. I'm doing okay, Kelly, I'm drawing a complete blank. What's the technique called where you have the long circular needle? Magic loop! Oh, my God. Okay, now I remember that. Magic loop. [laughing] I'm doing that and that's pretty easy. The body was I was kind of struggling with it. I finally put it on long a longer cable and it seemed easier, you know, having a longer cable for some reason. They seem like they slide it slid better along the needles. I don't know why that would be. Kelly 16:06 Well, maybe because they're just not so tight. I don't know. Marsha 16:09 Yeah, maybe. I don't know. It was interesting, too. This is, I don't think I mentioned this in the other episodes that the, I've mentioned, the name of the yarn is this Navia or Neyvia? tradition. But it's from the Faroe Islands. Oh, and I, which I had forgotten. And when I looked at the label, later on, I realized that and when I washed it, it kind of bloomed. It's still a woolly wool. You know, you definitely would want to wear this over like a flannel shirt or something. But it's, it feels a little softer having been washed. A lot of dye came out of this yarn, too. This is a bright green and a lot the water it just--the water was almost the color of the yarn. It really lost a lot of dye Kelly 16:58 Did it fade? Marsha 17:02 It didn't fade. It had excess dye. Which might affect the feel of the yarn.It had excess dye in there. So it feels it feels different. It's it's never gonna, I mean it's softer. It's never gonna be a soft yarn at all. Kelly 17:20 right Marsha 17:20 I mean, you're always gonna have to wear a shirt, you know, under this, but, and it kind of bloomed. It's very hairy, kind of. It's really it's really nice yarn. And I think it's gonna be super durable, too. Kelly 17:34 You'll have to put a picture in your project page, as I'm looking at your project page right now and you just have the wreath. I guess you'll need to take some more pictures now that it's been blocked and flattened. So you can actually see it's a sweater. Marsha 17:49 Yeah, I'll do that. And I'll put the sleeve in there too. I did think I was talking to Mark and we were talking about the sweater and I said this sweater is going to be the kind of sweater that you wear to the beach. You wear it when you work in the garden. I mean this is gonna be a working sweater. Just like, remember the sweater that you made for gardening at 90? Kelly 18:09 Yeah, Marsha 18:11 Yes. And I said to him, You cannot-- you not cannot save this sweater for something nice. Not, you know, I don't just mean to abuse it because you never abuse anything but it's not going to be a fine sweater that you save. You go out and you chop wood in this sweater. Actually it would be too hot chopping wood. You go sit outside Kelly 18:34 during Snowmageddon in this sweater. [laughing] Marsha 18:36 Yep. Anyway, no this--it's like it's a working sweater is what it is. Kelly 18:45 Yeah, nice. That'll be really nice. Anyway, looking forward to see to seeing it. Marsha 18:51 So that's all I really have to report. I've not picked up my socks and not picked up my simple shawl at all. So nothing to report on those. Kelly 18:57 All right. I had thought the last time we recorded that I would get the blanket finished. The Faye's Flower blanket, that Persian Tile Blanket, by the next episode because I wanted to be able to talk about it but I did not. I've been screaming along on my other project. So the sweater. The blanket is just still sitting with not very much left to do in terms of sewing it together but then quite a bit of edging to do but none of that happened so I probably shouldn't even be talking about it. But what I have done, worked a lot on, is the the sweater that I'm making out of handspun it's... The pattern for that sweater is called Dark Green Forest. And it's by Christina Korber-Rieth or Reith, I think is the way it's pronounced and it has that square... What did you call it? Sailor collar? Marsha 20:04 Mm hmm. Kelly 20:05 Which I think is the right way to describe it. Saddle shoulders with the cable. Anyway, I am all the way down to the pockets. In fact, I'm right now I'm working on it. I'm on the third of the honeycomb cables that goes down the pocket. So I think I have maybe... 2-4-6? I maybe have about six or eight more rows to go before the pockets are finished. Marsha 20:37 Wow! Kelly 20:37 I know! Yeah. I'm excited about how fast it's going. And so then once I finished the pocket... Its top down. So once I once I finished the pocket, or you know, the body down to the bottom of the pockets. I think there's a there's no ribbing at the bottom. I should have looked. Let me just check here. Yeah, there's the regular, you know, the the ribbing on the front band. Oh, yeah, there is a ribbing at the bottom of this sweater. So the pocket cables, open up into a ribbing. So that's all that will be left. Once I finished the pocket. All that will be left is the ribbing on this on this sweater. And then of course finishing the sleeves. Marsha 21:32 So I guess I'm not understanding. Are the pockets are knit separately and attached to the sewn on front of.. the front side of the sweater or is that pocket the front side and there's a piece in the back? Kelly 21:45 Yeah, I'll have to go in the back and make the back part of the pocket. Oh, you open up a slit. Marsha 21:54 And okay, I do have to say I have never made-- I've never made pockets before. Kelly 21:56 I haven't either. Well, no, that's not true. I made pockets in the orcas run sweater. That's the only sweater that I put pockets in. But I did make pockets there. I do have to talk about something odd in this pattern. Not, not bad. Just it cracks me up. I don't understand it. You do the colla, gotten done with the collar and the yoke, the yoke of the sweater, you're into the body. So you divide it for the sleeves, separated the body and the sleeves. And then you get into the step that's called "finish the body." Step six. So you do like three and a half inches under the... after the underarm after you split. And then it says, "set this aside and prepare the pocket edgings." And I thought well, that's weird, because the pockets aren't until you get to the bottom of the sweater. So I was confused about why you would do that. I read it like, I don't think I have to set this aside now and do the pocket edgings. So when I got to the place where I needed to put in the pockets, I went to do the pocket edgings the pocket edgings are literally four rows of ribbing that you then attach. You like split for the pocket. And then on the-- you put some of the stitches-- at the top, you put some of the stitches at the top of the pocket hole on waste yarn, and then the bottom of the pocket hole you attach this ribbing so that it kind of the ribbing kind of pokes up above where the hole of the pocket will be. Marsha 23:32 Mm hmm. Kelly 23:32 Why would you set aside your sweater at the armholes, do four rows of ribbing twice, then set them aside? If you're me, something that small could actually get lost doing it so much..so early. Like, I don't understand it! Marsha 23:53 because you don't need it for I mean, how many more inches? Kelly 23:55 For another like 12 inches? Or ten inches at the least. Marsha 24:00 I have a... I have a theory, okay. Maybe it's like, you know, when you're doing socks, you know, you do the ribbing and you do like top down, you do the ribbing. You do the ankles, you know the length of thing and then just as you're getting bored and sick of that you start doing the heel flap, maybe and then we and then when you get tired of all that detail of heel flap, turning the heel, the gusset Oh, you get to back go back to that mindless stuff. Kelly 24:27 Maybe it's to give you a break. Maybe. Yeah, maybe. My original thought was that it was to prevent you from you know, have you do it early so that you wouldn't just skip the pockets because you were afraid do you have enough yarn. But they're only four rows. I mean, this would not even get you... four little rows. This wouldn't even get you... this much yarn wouldn't even get you one round. Right? It wouldn't even get you all the way around the sweater. Marsha 24:56 Yeah, maybe it's a joke. Yeah. It's maybe the pattern designer thinks, You know what, I'm going to mess with you! Kelly 25:03 Yeah. She's messing with my mind. Because literally, that when you get to the body, you work three and a quarter inches like this. And this is for all sizes, you work three and a quarter inches after the armhole. You know, after separating. That's step 6A and finish the body. And step 6B is prepare pocket edgings. And then you go to Step 6C and that's when you do your shaping and knit for rows and rows and rows and rows and rows and rows and rows before you get to the pockets. It's a mystery. But, but I did them when I needed them put them on. They look great. Because I always like everything I knit, right?[laughing] It all looks great. So I'm really happy with this. I'm really happy with the progress. It's going really fast. Seems like it's going really fast. So yeah, I'm loving this handspun sweater it's going to be another one of those sweaters, I think, that gets a lot of that gets a lot of wear. Marsha 26:08 Mm hmm. Kelly 26:09 The only other thing I've been working on....Oh, let me just say a little bit about this. I will put some information in the show notes about the two different sheep breeds that I'm working with. Since it is the Summer Spin In. I put some information... But this is CVM. And that stands for California Variegated Mutant, which is the multicolored version of the Romeldale. Remember the judge Mark Eidman. I think his first name was Mark, Marsha 26:41 Who just passed away? Kelly 26:43 The one who passed away. It was his father who discovered some colored lambs that were appearing in his Romeldale flock, and instead of culling them they actually bred them for the color. And so that's where the California Variegated Mutant comes from. And I have a CVM fleece in the garage, it's a darker than this one, it's more of a, it's more of a dark gray. This one was more of a beige that I overdyed. But I really like it. It's not, you know, they call it a fine wool. I wouldn't say it's like, a super fine, at least not this one. It's not a super fine wool. It's a little it's a little more fine than like a Corriedale. It's gonna be a nice sweater, and I like CVM to spin. And then the other thing that I have been spinning is Oxford. And I have a little bit of information about the Oxford sheep also. They were imported into the US in the 1840s. And it says that it's one of the largest breeds of sheep, only surpassed by the Lincoln. Although this fleece was quite small. I think it was quite small. It's probably about five or six pounds. And that's I mean, if I when I bought a Lincoln fleece, they've been bigger than that. So skirted heavily, or maybe a smaller or younger Oxford sheep. I don't... it didn't say lamb, but it was in the market class, I'm pretty sure. Anyway. The staple length is one to two inches, which is true. That's what I'm finding in this, this fleece that I have. So it's one of the livestock Conservancy breeds as well as the CVM is also a livestock Conservancy breed. So... but I've been spinning that I'm, I'm on my third bobbin. I decided to spin all my singles first and then ply them, which I hardly ever do. But I still was kind of undecided. Remember, I talked last time about how the three ply seemed too tight. I mean, that's kind of silly, because I can just ply it more loosely. That's not a characteristic of three ply, so much as it is a characteristic of my spinning. So I'm still, I'm still debating whether I'll make a two ply or a three ply with this. But if I do a three ply, I want to experiment and, you know, ply it loosely. I don't want to ply this really, really tight. I want it to be kind of a fluffy, fluffy yarn. So I have enough bobbins, I think, that I can just spin the... well maybe not the rest of this, but I can at least spin four bobbins and then I can either ply three of them together or I can ply them two and two so I think that's what I'm planning to do is spin four bobbins and then decide whether I'm going to make a two ply or or three ply. So yeah, I'm I'm making good progress on that spinning, it's a little bit boring because it's a white. It's a white fleece. I think I'll dye the yarn when I'm done. Well, that's it for my projects, Marsha. I know that you aren't going to talk about a certain part of your house, but you were doing some cleaning out. And I have a question about that. So you posted on Instagram that you were taking two big garbage bags full of yarn to destash at the Goodwill. And I just thought it would be interesting to hear, like, how did you decide what you were going to get rid of? Marsha 30:42 Well, it actually was pretty easy. I'll tell you what I got rid of. It was spirit yarn that I got from the Goodwill. Kelly 30:50 Okay, Marsha 30:50 Those days when I would go to the Goodwill. I have used some of it. Like, for example, I remember I was getting all kinds of worsted weight yarns for that Afghan that I made that I used my dad's old sweater then took apart and combined it with other yarn. Kelly 31:09 Yeah. Marsha 31:10 So a lot of that worsted weight Goodwill yarn went into that. Kelly 31:14 Yeah, it wasn't that wasn't that blanket, like five pounds or something? I remember you weighed it. You went to the pet store or the vet. Yeah. [laughing] Marsha 31:19 Yeah. Yes. I went to the vet to use their scale. Because my scale wouldn't hold it. It wasn't big-- you know, the scale, my bathroom scale wasn't big enough to hold it. But I and then I still kept a lot of that worsted weight yarn that I got at the Goodwill because my plan was to make an afghan for my brother. And I'm still determined to do it. If I don't do it in the next couple of years, then I'm going to have to just get rid of that yarn. Kelly 31:47 Oh, okay. Marsha 31:48 And then a lot of it came from the destash room. So if Gayle and Charlene and Barb and Tracy are listening to this... Do you remember the first year we went to the knockers retreat? And I could not believe! I could not believe people were giving away yarn for free, I could not believe it. And I was like going in there and like, feeling guilty that I was taking it and they're all laughing at us because we-- I was sneaking in there Every time I left the room. Kelly 32:15 Every time you couldn't see Marsha it was like, Oh, where's Marsha? I bet she's in the destash room. Marsha 32:24 Well, here's my takeaway. There's a reason why all that yarn was at the Goodwill. And there's a reason why it was all in the destash room. But I was just, you know, I was so excited. And I had all these possibilities of things I was gonna make and how could anybody possibly get rid of it? It's so wonderful. And I have used a lot of it. I have to say I did use a lot of that yarn. Kelly 32:48 Yeah. Marsha 32:50 And there's some things I did. But I thought, you know, I've not used it in how many years? And I have so much yarn that I purchased at Stitches, and yarn crawls, and two trips to Scotland and a trip to Iceland. And I'd rather be knitting with that yarn, that I've invested money and it's beautiful yarn. Kelly 33:12 Yeah. Marsha 33:12 And so I thought it was pretty easy decision to make... to decide. But I did think it was funny people's reactions to the Instagram post about what I was getting rid of. Because one person's comment was, "Is it wrong that I'm trying to read the labels?" So funny. [laughing] And somebody also wanted to know what Goodwill I was dropping it off at, you know. And then it was interesting, on--because I have it set up when I post something on Instagram it posts to Facebook. And there was one woman that commented that-- I can't remember how she worried but basically, oh, that I've reached that age where? Because I think my comment in my post was-- and I was joking. I truly was joking when I said this-- I won't live long enough to knit all that yarn. She really thought.. like her response was, Oh, you've reached that age where... and that, you know, I'm preparing for my death by clearing out my house so that my heirs won't have to deal with it. And it's like, okay, I never--that is not what I was thinking at all.[laughing] That is not at all what I was thinking I don't consider myself to be that age. I just tried to lighten my load and I somebody else should have it. Kelly 34:35 Yeah, who who is this person? A friend? A friend would not consider you to be old! [laughing] Marsha 34:44 Anyway, so it was... that was amusing to me that comment because that's not how I see it. You know, I was really... I guess you have to be careful. what I think is funny is not what other people think! Kelly 34:56 Right? Marsha 34:57 Or some people think when I say things I think are funny, they take it literally like I'm preparing for my death. Kelly 35:04 Right, right. Well, thinking about the the feeling of being so excited about all the yarn at the destash room at the NoCKRs retreat and how there's a reason some things are in destash. I remember when I was doing the Master Gardener class and they started having, cutting, you know, cutting giveaways and seed giveaways, and they started encouraging us to bring things that we were...you know, bring cuttings and so they'll put stuff out in the patio, and oh my gosh, it was like, you had to be careful not to get elbowed in the ribs or, or knocked aside, when all these gardeners would just, like, practically make a run for the patio. And, I mean, honestly, it looked like a bunch of yard waste. [laughing] Marsha 36:02 Yeah, Kelly 36:02 You know, I mean, that's literally what it was, was people's yard waste. And, and, and I just... I was right in there, you know, getting excited and throwing elbows to get my thing that I needed. And then I found out about this cutting day that they had in Monterey and I went to that and I got some of that, you know, some of the stuff that people were giving away and when you plant it, you realize why they're giving it away. Like not not that they're getting rid of it out of their yard. Marsha 36:36 Mm hmm. Kelly 36:37 But the reason that they can give you all these cuttings is that it's super invasive and spreading all over, they have to dig it up every year to get rid of some of it. Like Alstroemeria was one of them that, you know, there was just always always somebody bringing Alstroemeria And anyway, I don't have to go into all the... Marsha 37:02 I have it in my alley. That alstromeria in the alley and is it just takes over you know, yeah, it takes over. Yeah. Kelly 37:09 Which is good in some settings, but, it's just kind of funny that it's the same, you know. Yeah, free plants. Destashing plants causes the same sort of frenzy. Marsha 37:23 The other thing I was gonna say about the NoCKRs retreat, and that was the first time I experienced that people are just giving this yarn away and my... But many of the attendees didn't even go in the room. Right? Or they went in the room to put their stuff there and they never went in, or they just go in there casually look. And, and I really, but now I understand. They were able to do because they have so much at home, but they could exercise restraint, probably because they had so much. Kelly 37:52 And maybe had done the same kind of clearing-- done the same thing. Marsha 37:56 Yeah. So I'm sure at the time, people were like, Oh, yes, she will learn. Kelly 38:02 Right, right Marsha 38:03 Give her a few years. And she will learn! Kelly 38:05 Yeah, everybody's at a little bit different, different stage in that in that process. Marsha 38:11 Yeah. But I will say though, I did order plastic boxes. Well, I should say I had all my yarn in, you know, these plastic like drawers. I got them at the Goodwill. And when my stash... and I had one and then a my stash got a little bigger and then I found another one, it got bigger. So they're all from the Goodwill. Anyway, I just pulled all the yarn out. And the stuff that I decided I was going to keep I just temporarily put it in paper bags labeled it and then I ordered plastic bins and those arrived actually just yesterday. And so last night I started putting my yarn in there and then I'm gonna be... because some of the...I will say some of the wool, one batch, like a sweater quantities worth of yarn, actually, I discovered had some moth damage. So I I just threw that in the garbage. And I didn't even give that away. I just threw it in the garbage. And then I... so I have cedar and lavender which I'm going to put in those bins to protect it somewhat. It'll be much easier to see what I have, too, because some of the bins were clear. Some of them that I had before, and some were not clear. It was in bags, it was just all kind of random. So now it's going to be much more organized and I can actually can see what I have, visually being able to see everything every time I go down into that place in the house because I can't say the word. Both 39:39 [laughing] Marsha 39:45 Oh no, I'll call it the cellar. There we go! When I go down to the cellar. I think then it it'll be reinforcement. No you don't need to buy anymore. I really don't need to buy any. So like I'm going to show up at NoCKRs... Kelly 39:58 We'll check back! Marsha 39:59 Yes, I'm going to show up at at Stitches when it happens again. And when Black Sheep happens again, I'm going to show up, but I am really going to try not to buy anything because I seriously have enough yarn. And it's a crime to just buy something and put it in your stash and not use it, I need to use it. It's not a crime, that's too harsh, right? Kelly 40:20 It's just, it would be nice to use it. if it's a crime. everyone listening to this is a criminal. [laughing] Marsha 40:29 That's true. That's too harsh. It's not a crime, but it'd be nice to knit with it, you know? So anyway, Kelly 40:36 And if you truly aren't going to knit with it ever, and you know, you're not going to ever get to it, then yes, it is. It's time to get rid of it. It's the whole, you know, I mean, that's what all those seed packets and cuttings represented. And that's what yarn in the destash room represents. It's like, hope and possibility. You know, I can... I mean, I still have that have that feeling about some yarn that's been sitting in my stash forever. And like, really? Is there still a possibility or a hope that I'm gonna use it? Um, yeah, maybe? Marsha 41:16 Yeah, I think that's hope. And I think also a lot of it, I was just inspired by it. Oh, just, you know, oh, this is... I have these ideas about what I was going to do with it. And it'll go to somebody else's idea. So, right. Well, and what about you? I see we have a note here about fiber books. Kelly 41:37 Yeah, I still...So there's the inside studio, it's been painted, there's a bookcase there now. Actually, yarn shelving that, you know, that was was put in. It's still not painted, but I've got my stuff on it. But the boxes of stuff that came out of there, I still haven't put away. They're still sitting in the living room. And I was looking at them the other day thinking, Okay, I've got to do something with this. And, you know, there's not enough room on the shelf, the shelf unit, to put the books and the yarn. So now I have to make decisions about about books and, and some of them are not knitting books. And those are going to be hard, hard decisions to make. But I have a whole box...probably box and a half maybe--of fiber books. And so I just have to figure out what I'm going to do with them and whether I'm going to destash them. What am I going to keep. Marsha 42:39 Do you look at them? Kelly 42:43 Some of them. Yes. Like, I know for sure I have the book. It's old. It's called Socks, Socks, Socks. And it's just a whole bunch of different sock patterns. I have. And I've made, I've made quite a few pairs of socks out of it. And then I used it a lot before I really was experienced knitting socks to know like, how many stitches should I cast on given the given the, you know, the height of the sock or the type of yarn, you know, I go and look at the cast ons for the different socks to know how many stitches I should cast on before I just kind of got to the point where I just know what to cast on. But I think I'll keep that one because because I've used it so much. And so there's not just there's not just useful information in there and patterns that I might use again, or patterns that I might use. But there's memories about my early knitting days connected to that book. So like that book, I'll keep but I bought, I bought two really nice hardback books by Nicky Epstein of edgings. So one is called like knitting on the edge. And the other one is called something else. So there's, there's two different types of edging, I can't remember now. There's, like edgings that are part of the garment and edgings that you add to the garment. It's kind of like a stitch dictionary, but of edgings. And they're beautiful books. I've never looked at either one of them past, you know, just like flipping through when I first bought it and then flipping through when I put it in the box to put it away. And will I ever really use that to create an edging on something? And probably not, you know, but then I think oh, but there's so many really cool things I could do. And then I keep them so... And they're really pretty books. Marsha 44:35 And they're so small and you have a big house. Kelly 44:37 Oh, they're not small. These books are not small. They're a lot more like coffee table Marsha 44:40 They're big and you have a big house. Kelly 44:43 They're more I mean, they really are like the coffee table. They're an odd size. Actually they don't fit on the bookshelf there. They're like legal size length. sideways. Like they're oh they're wider than they are tall. So they're an odd shape. They don't fit on the bookcase. So they'll probably end up going, but but you know, there's a lot of things kind of in between that spectrum of I'll definitely keep this and, and these books are pretty, but I will never use them. Marsha 45:17 Yeah. Kelly 45:18 And so I have to make some decisions there about what I'm going to do with them. So I kind of don't want to even open the boxes. Because I know I mean, I know that the number of books that I can actually keep on that shelf is, is small. And they've been in boxes for like, two years. Three years, maybe. Yeah, I haven't missed them. Yeah, right. So yeah. And then I have the other books. I have a box of dog books. Dog Training books, dog picture books, dog breed books from, you know, the, when we had labs and water spaniel, and, and there's just too much emotional connection to all that stuff that I know I don't really want to think about it, but I don't need it. I clearly don't need those books. They've been in a box for a really long time. There's been only a very few that I've dug into the box to get. Marsha 46:24 Yeah. Well, I mean, I in terms of books, I have cookbooks, you know, my cookbooks. and then combined with my mother's cookbooks, and I some were duplicates. So I got rid of duplicates, obviously. But... Kelly 46:39 And those are possibilities and hopes of what you could cook. Marsha 46:42 Exactly. And and I you know...But there's I don't know, like I...the truth is, honestly, there's just certain cookbooks, I make stuff out of all the time I go back to. The rest, I don't really look at that much. And then a lot of times I get inspiration. It's like, Oh, I have these ingredients. What can I make out of it? And I just do a little Google search. Right? And so I'm actually using the internet a lot more. Kelly 47:10 Yeah, Marsha 47:10 but I....ugh... someday. I'm not ready. Kelly 47:14 Right, right. Marsha 47:14 I'll go through them and get rid of things. Kelly 47:16 Yeah. But you have a...you have a bookcase for them. Right? They're all sitting on the shelves. Marsha 47:22 Yeah, they're all in the library. Kelly 47:25 I knew when I got rid of those shelves, that I was gonna have to get rid of a lot of books. And I did. But it's gonna take me several rounds of destashing to get rid of the number of books that I need to get rid of. Because they're just... there's... Yeah, there's some emotion attached to them. So... Marsha 47:45 Well. All in good time. Kelly 47:47 Yeah, yeah, that's true. That is true. The the closet behind me got cleaned out. I don't know if I was talking about that I wanted to do that. But the closet behind me here in the... where I record, the dressing room in the other bedroom? We got that cleaned out and I got it put back together, there's a lot of room in there now. I could put the boxes of books in there and not think about them for another three or four years. [laughing] And at which time that I might be ready to get rid of them. We'll see. Marsha 48:20 So I just... I just... as we're talking about this, I'm just thinking about emotional attachment to books. And I I've gotten rid of pretty much all of Ben's books that he had when he was a little kid you read to him and he had a lot of books because I worked in a bookstore, right? So I would just buy stuff, which I realize now in hindsight, I should have just gotten them from the library. But there were some books that I hung on to because I loved reading them to him so much. And all this whole series of books by the author Bill Peet. Do you know him? Kelly 48:53 That doesn't ring a bell, no. Marsha 48:56 Last name is P-e-e-t. And he was the author illustrator of these books. And I love the the art, the illustrations, I love them. And then the stories were great. Like there was-- Ella was one of them. And Ella was an elephant from the circus. And she she lives in... she was very pampered. And she got a little bit too big for her head and decided to to leave. Run away from the circus. So she runs away from the circus. And she gets captured by a farmer who realizes that this is really great to have this elephant you can work on the farm, to work on the farm. And it's a story basically, you know, sort of be grateful for what you have, because it's not necessarily greener on the other side. So there's that story. There's another one that we loved to read called is Jennifer and Josephine. And now I can't remember which one was which. I think Jennifer was a cat. And she lived in this old car. Kelly 49:57 Oh, I see the illustrations. I went to his website. And I'm looking at the illustrations, so cool. Marsha 50:02 Yeah, anyway, Jennifer and Josephine and I think Jennifer, as I say, was the cat. And Josephine was the car. And it's like an old Model T. The cat, this is her home, and some salesman comes and buys the car, and they throw some new tires on it. And Josephine is shocked that she's now being driven. She's been sitting for years in this junkyard, and the cat's distressed and driving crazy and the salesman is just a horrible person. He treats Josephine the car terrible, he doesn't realize the cat's in the car. And he crashes the the car, and it goes into the river. And so the cat goes and sees a farm, goes to the farm and gets... draws attention...A little girl, the farmer's daughter goes out and finds the car, tells the dad. The dad comes and gets the car and pulls the car out of the river. Saves the car, saves the cat. They're excited to have this cat now. And he's excited to have this car because he couldn't afford a car. So he he now fixes the car up and Josephine the car is super happy because she's never driven over 15 miles an hour. I don't know. They're such charming stories. He was so charming. Anyway, I'm going off on this, telling about these stories, about the this author Bill Peet but I used to read those to Ben all the time. And there was another one Lyle, Lyle Crocodile. Kelly 51:42 Oh, yeah. Marsha 51:42 I don't remember the author. But Lyle is a crocodile that lives in New York City in a bathtub in some family's apartment. And he's very erudite and and is a good conversationalist. And that people invite him to tea parties and cocktail parties and stuff. This crocodile. And we would read those all the time. And so when I moved, I had saved those books to come to the house. And there's bags of books to go to the Goodwill and of course, you're ahead of me. Mark took them all to the Goodwill. All the Bill Peet books are gone and Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile are gone. And I was devastated. I'm still kind of devastated by it. Now the reality is, am I ever going to read those books again? Probably not. Kelly 52:27 And some child is getting to read them. Marsha 52:30 Yes, exactly. Kelly 52:31 Which is what books should have. A book that's not being read is sad. Marsha 52:36 Yeah. Right. Kelly 52:37 I mean, I don't know if books actually feel sadness. But... Marsha 52:41 You know, anyway, they were just...Maybe what I should do is just go out and buy a copy of Ella and Jennifer and Josephine, because those were kind of my two favorite from that. Those books anyway, of that from that author, anyway, Kelly 52:55 Well, I'll put the pages in the show notes. Okay, because I was just looking at the pictures while you were talking. And they are. They are really cute. Very cute. Marsha 53:10 And since we're talking about it, since I was not planning on making a book recommendation, but I here's that that was a recommendation. I've been watching Netflix and working on Mark's sweater. And I watched a documentary the other day, which I just wanted to mention that because I thought it was really interesting. And it's called, people have probably heard of this. But if you haven't, it's called This Changes Everything. And it's a documentary made by the actress Gina Davis. It says here in 2004, Davis launched the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which works collaboratively with the entertainment industry to dramatically increase the presence of female characters and media. So this documentary talks about her, why she started this institute. And then different actresses' experiences female directors' experiences trying to make it in the film industry. And how most media are... a lot of the entertainment that we watch in the United States and around the world is coming out of Hollywood and how women are portrayed on film. And how... so it's it's an excellent documentary, and I highly recommend it. It's really good. I will say the one thing that sort of...At the end of the film...One of the things they talk about is how difficult it is for women directors to get jobs, directing films. And they actually have lists of when studios are going to make a film. They have lists of directors that they pass around that you know who's made it. This is who you want to consider first, this is who you would consider second. If none of those are are available, way down the bottom of the list are these, are the people you might want to consider. And one of the women--who is way, the only woman on the list--who was way down at the bottom was Kathryn Bigelow, who won an Academy Award for The Hurt Locker. So she's an Academy Award winning director, but she's at the bottom of the list, right? Because men are getting the these jobs. Anyway, this does not take away from how good the documentary is. But at the end, I'm reading the credits. And you know who directed the documentary? Kelly 55:24 A man? Marsha 55:25 Some guy named Tom! And I'm like, I'm sorry, what? Kelly 55:34 Oh, yeah. Marsha 55:36 Now, that doesn't take away from it really, because it was an excellent, excellent series or documentary. I recommend it because it really sort of opened your eyes to how women are portrayed in film and in television shows. And how many women who when they do get a chance, how much money they're making for the industry. Kelly 55:54 Yeah. Marsha 55:56 Interesting. You know, but they still selected the man. Not to take away from the man either right? He did a great job, but it's just humorous to me. But anyway, I'll put a link in there. Kelly 56:09 That'd be good. Marsha 56:10 What else we got going on here? Are you going anywhere at all? Or? Kelly 56:13 Well, in August, I am going to be at the San Francisco International Pen Show. Marsha 56:21 Yeah, who knew? Kelly 56:22 I know. Well, you know, they have a conference for everything. Marsha 56:28 Right. Mm hmm. Kelly 56:30 I'm sure that the pen people would be surprised that there's something called Stitches. Marsha 56:35 Yes. Right. Kelly 56:36 So I'm going to go check it out and see, see what that... see what that world is like. And I'll be there on the Saturday. It's in Redwood City, which is actually south of San Francisco. That's actually really nice. It's it'll be an even an easier drive to get there. But yeah, we're planning to-- planning to go and take a look at the the pens and if any of our listeners are going, also planning to go to the Pen Show I'd love to love to see you will have to let me know. Marsha 57:13 Say Kelly, pens don't take up very much space in your house! Kelly 57:17 Yeah. But you know, what's funny, is, you know, the the sock yarn skein that you buy the souvenir sockyarn? Apparently, in the pen world, the equivalent of that is ink. I saw an ink cupboard on Instagram yesterday. Like, oh my gosh, that is definitely more ink than you could use in a lifetime. I mean, because every time you you put your put ink in your pen, I don't know, three to five milliliters, I think. And these, you know, jars of ink are like 20 milliliters, 30 milliliters, some of them are like 70 milliliters. Marsha 58:06 Wow. Kelly 58:07 So definitely more ink than you could use. It's definitely an ink collection. As opposed to a stash of ink for use, I think. But yeah, you know, because you can buy a bottle of ink depending on the ink you can buy a bottle of ink for you know 10 bucks. Whereas a pen Marsha 58:26 Cheaper than... cheaper than yarn! Kelly 58:29 And, and then you know, some of the pens are some of the pens are quite inexpensive. Some Chinese fountain pens are quite inexpensive, they're you know, their pens, you definitely... you can get for under $20. But a lot of pens are more expensive than that. And so yeah, if you don't have... if you can't satisfy your collection urge by buying a pen, you can get a souvenir. You can get a souvenir bottle of ink wherever you go. So anyway, that's on my that's on my agenda for August. And I'm really looking forward. Really looking forward to it. Marsha 59:12 Yeah, it'll be fun. Kelly 59:15 It'll be interesting to see another, you know, another world. So another hobby world. Marsha 59:22 Mm hmm. Kelly 59:23 But my box of pens, my one cigar box that I converted into a pen box is full. And so I'm calling my collection complete. Marsha 59:34 But I happen to know that you have more than one cigar box. [laughing] Kelly 59:36 I do. Yes. And actually. Well and that Mark. Mark did yeah, I have three of them. So but only one of them has been outfitted to hold the pen so far. Yeah, but we did go to dinner with a work friend the other night and he gave me, he gave me a Chinese fountain pen that he had, like, Oh, this is really nice. And he's like, yeah, I think it was about five bucks. And I can't believe you bought this pen for only $5. He's like, why don't you take it? So, so in full confession, I do have one pen that doesn't fit in the box. So I could start a second box, but I will not do that anytime soon. So, but I might find something that I like at the pen show. We'll see. Yeah, yeah, I'll definitely bring home a souvenir bottle of ink Marsha 1:00:39 Well, I guess the last thing that we need to talk about Kelly is the summer spin in. Just to remind people it's going on. And it... we just have about a month to go before it ends. Labor Day, which is September sixth. We'll have some prizes from Three Green Sisters. And we'll have more details. But... Kelly 1:00:59 Yeah, and I have also some fiber from Sincere Sheep. That will be... I never took a picture of it and put it up on the thread. But I also bought some fiber from sincere sheep. That'll be our prize too. Marsha 1:01:11 Okay. All right. Yeah. So keep spinning. Yes. All right. Well have fun at the pen show! Well, I'll talk to you before that. Kelly 1:01:17 Yeah, it's not till the end of August. We'll record again. Marsha 1:01:19 Yeah. Yeah. Okay, well, then I will let you go so you can get out there and start spinning. Kelly 1:01:24 All right. Marsha 1:01:26 All righty. Kelly 1:01:26 Bye bye. Thank you so much for listening. To subscribe to the podcast visit Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Marsha 1:01:34 Join us on our adventures on Ravelry and Instagram. I am betterinmotion and Kelly is 1hundredprojects. Both 1:01:41 Until next time, we're the two ewes doing our part for world fleece. Transcribed by https://otter.ai

RNZ: Country Life
Ag students breed sheep at school farm

RNZ: Country Life

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 9, 2021 7:55


Waimate High School teacher Stuart Albrey wants students to develop a passion for farming and it's working. His ag classes are full and a Corriedale sheep stud on the school grounds means hands-on learning is just a hop, skip and a jump away from the classroom for students, who relish any on-farm learning

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures
Ep 164: Pooling on the Left Breast 2.0

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 28, 2021 69:25


How to select a wool fleece and where to purchase a wool fleece are today's topics. This might cause money to fly out of your wallet so beware! Also, some interesting pooling shows up in an FO. Show notes with photos and links, as well as a full transcript can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects I have a finished project! I finished my Walk Along Tee by Ankestrick. I love it and it fits so well. I highly recommend this pattern. I had knitted halfway down the foot of my second Drops Fabel socks when I realized I had not turned the heel. So now I need to frog to the heel flap. Not happy with myself. Picked up a long dormant shawl called Simple Shawl by Jane Hunter that I started in March 2018. Using Michael CWD in the colorway San Francisco Fog. Started swatching for the pullover Atlas by Jared Flood for my brother. The yarn I'm using is Navia Tradition. It is a very wooly wool. Mark likes his sweaters to be slim fitting but I think this sweater should have some ease. Also, I'm not great at colorwork so this sweater is going to be a challenge. I'm still spinning on my green/brown merino.  Kelly's Projects I finished a Perendale braid from Sheep Spot. I spun 3-ply and used a fractal technique. I split the fiber into 3 pieces lengthwise. Spun the first one, split the second one into two and split the third one into three.  Found two more bobbins with Santa Cruz Island singles. I have some carded fiber left so I guess I should spin the rest of it onto a third bobbin and ply it off.  No knitting or crochet this week, but lots of dog training! Beary is doing great, his thyroid is stable and he's lost twenty pounds in the 8 weeks that we've had him.  Summer Spin In Topics Don't forget your tetanus shot! Selecting a fleece what to look for http://livestockconservancy.blogspot.com/2019/07/selecting-raw-fleece.html Spinner's Book of Fleece, Beth Smith The Great Fleece Makeover, Emonieiesha Hopkins, SpinOff Magazine A great article on how a fleece that is not a coated, prize-winning, spinner's fleece can still be a good experience and make good yarn.  Where to buy a raw fleece Wool/Sheep Festivals: Black Sheep Gathering: Show cancelled for 2021 but there is a list of producers selling their fleeces. Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival: Festival also cancelled this year and there is also a list of vendors selling raw fleeces Oregon Flock and Fiber 2021 in Albany, Oregon, October 23-24 Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival 2021, October 2-3 Natural Fiber Extravaganza, July 9-11, Lebanon, Tennessee Knitters Review Fiber Festival directory Check out your county fair website Shave ‘Em to Save ‘Em directory Direct from farms:  I did a quick internet search and found these Nistock Farms: Still have 2021 fleeces available. Informative website. Located in the Finger Lakes region of western New York state. Sanctuary Wool/Homestead Wool: Located in Wisconsin. Their fleeces are from rescued sheep. Also, Fibershed Directory for California For example, Red Creek Farm, Peggy Agnew emailed her for information about purchasing.  On Etsy: Lots for sale by the pound or the entire fleece Check out your local spinning guild! Sources for braids and roving--including my most recent purchases: Huckleberry Knits  Sheepspot has dyed fiber braids using less common sheep breeds.  Sincere Sheep Fiber is locally sourced (California) Valley Oak Wool Mill has roving. Show Transcript Marsha 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha and this is Kelly. We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com Kelly 0:22 and we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects Marsha 0:29 and I am betterinmotion. Kelly 0:31 We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Both 0:36 Enjoy the episode. Marsha 0:42 Good morning, Kelly. Kelly 0:43 Good morning, Marsha. Marsha 0:45 Well, how are you today? Kelly 0:46 I'm doing fine. As we were talking about earlier before we started the podcast. I thought I'd have a nice quiet morning to record and apparently the city has to come inspect our roof work that we had several weeks ago now, maybe months ago. Anyway, so there may be someone on the roof outside my window looking in as we're recording. Marsha 1:10 Okay. Kelly 1:11 If I suddenly scream in surprise, that's what happened. Marsha 1:17 Well, I have lots going on too. We were a little late recording because I was on the phone with the plumbers. I'm having the plumbing redone in the basement. Well not completely redone but I had a leaky waste pipe. So I have that replaced and I'm having a new washer dryer delivered in July. And so they had to redo the plumbing for that. I'm relocating them and that's been quite an endeavor. But the big waste pipe was leaking. So I was all excited to go down there the first they came. They were here two days. And the next morning I go down there look at the floor to see, Oh, it's gonna be all nice and dry and everything. I won't have to have my five gallon bucket there anymore. And there's a cascade of water down the Kelly 2:03 No! Marsha 2:04 So I called. I thought well maybe just one of their seals didn't seal or something. Come to find out that it's actually the the four inch waste pipe that goes up. The vertical one that goes up between the two bathrooms. So I now have a hole in the wall in the main floor bathroom, and I cannot use the second floor bathroom. Which is the one I use. So they're coming Friday. This is what? Wednesday? They're coming Friday to fix the pipe in... the big four inch pipe in the bathroom wall on the main floor. Kelly 2:42 That's not too long. Marsha 2:44 No it's not too long but it is a challenge living with it. I didn't realize... okay this is gonna... This is gonna make me sound very elitist when I say this and very privileged what I'm going to say. I haven't lived in a house with one bathroom and multiple people for a long time. And so you know I I'm living with Ben. He's living with me right now. And so I have to run down in the morning. You know, I have to run down to the bathroom, but he's in there. And so what do you do? Well, Kelly 3:17 coffee can in the basement! Marsha 3:20 Worse than that! Kelly 3:22 Backyard! Marsha 3:23 Backyard! I went out in the bushes in the backyard and tried to find a place where the neighbors wouldn't see me but I thought afterwards maybe I should not have worn my bright red bathrobe! Kelly 3:35 Right exactly. Like when we used to go to hunt tests. I learned when we used to go to hunt tests that that was when I did not wear my white underwear. That's when you have your darker colored underwear so that you're not flashing white in the bushes! [laughing] Marsha 3:51 Do you remember your Civil War socks for Robert? Kelly 3:54 Yes. Marsha 3:55 Wasn't that part of the things-- they had to be a dark Kelly 3:57 yes Marsha 3:57 you didn't want to take your boots off and then be seen and shot... so anyway... Kelly 4:03 You need a camo bathrobe. [laughing] Marsha 4:05 That's probably way too much information. But anyway, I was delayed because I my point of bringing all this up as I was delayed this morning because I was on the phone with the plumber. So yeah. Anyway, Kelly 4:15 well, yes. This is the old house version of the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Marsha 4:21 Yes, I know. Anyway... Well, that probably was probably the whole world did not need to know that but desperate times call for desperate measures. [laughing] Kelly 4:36 Exactly. Marsha 4:37 Well, after all of that, let's get to the projects, shall we? Kelly 4:42 Yes. And you have some big news, huh? Marsha 4:45 Yes, I have big news. I finally finished the Walk Along tee! Kelly 4:48 Yay. Marsha 4:50 Yay, very excited. It fits great. And I really recommend the pattern. Now. It's true. I didn't do it exactly. Actually, I really didn't modify it that much. I just really what I did is I made the sleeves a little bit longer, not the, because the pattern is either like cap sleeves or full length sleeves. I just made the sleeves a little bit longer, but not full length. And then I just didn't add the sort of the look of having the sweater under a sweater. Marsha 5:19 Oh, yeah, Marsha 5:19 I didn't do that. But it's very nice. And I I really like it. Marsha 5:24 All right, I saw the pictures. It looks really nice, I think. Yeah, I love the color. You have to wear it. You have to now wear it to Seabrook. Marsha 5:34 Yes, I will. I'll wear it Kelly 5:35 Down to Mocrocs. Is that the the name of the town or the beach? Marsha 5:41 Well, the official town, I think Seabrook is actually in Pacific Beach is the name of the town, but the actual beach that I believe Native American name is Mocrocs. Kelly 5:53 Okay. And that's the name. I mean colorway. Yeah, that's to let everyone know why I suddenly made this divergence. Marsha 6:02 So Kelly, I just wanted to.... are you on Ravelry? Can you see my... Marsha 6:07 Oh, no, I am not. But I can get there soon. Keep talking. Marsha 6:11 Well just... I want you to take a look at my picture. And I look at it and I really love the T shirt. But it does.... We've talked about this before. I believe I have a little pooling on the left breast on this one. [laughing] Remember, I was talking about that in something else? Kelly 6:11 Yes. Marsha 6:11 So just take a look at this. Let me... nobody's commented, but I look at it. Now when I wear it, I will not see it because I will be wearing it. But when I look at the photograph,[laughing] Kelly 6:44 oh, yes, you do. [laughing] Kelly 6:54 Okay, so pooling on the left breast and peeing garden. In the same episode. [laughing] Marsha 7:01 Oh my gosh, [laughing] Kelly 7:03 we might have to have a an explicit rating. [laughing] Marsha 7:11 But wasn't there something I've ... Kelly 7:14 You have a little matching pooling going on the right hand side, too. [laughing] Marsha 7:22 I started laughing because I thought, do you remember the endless discussion about how I was blending the yarn? Kelly 7:30 All the yarn management! Marsha 7:35 So much yarn management. And I have Kelly 7:38 but it's really pretty. And I don't t hink it's a big deal. I mean, when you look at the picture of it hanging kind of flat on the on the dress form, it's different than when you actually are in it. Marsha 7:50 Yes. And I think I'll have to actually try it on and post another picture because that mannequin is not my dimensions necessarily. Oh, well, that's life. Kelly 8:05 It just goes, it just goes to show you that that sometimes all that yarn management turns out to be no different than if you had just worked from one skein? I mean, who knows? It might not be but Marsha 8:21 yeah, cuz it's, you know, it's hand dyed. Kelly 8:23 Mmm hmmm. Marsha 8:24 And you can actually, if you look at it sort of below the pooling, there's a little sort of diagonal striping going. Do you see that? Kelly 8:32 Yeah. Marsha 8:32 It's just so again, it doesn't really bother me. I just think it's... I find it kind of amusing. And I, I really don't understand how it happened because I was so careful. And I had labeled everything. And that part where it happened is I'm not doing any shaping. at that point, right, I'm just going around. And I also use that great technique that helical knitting where you... Now the helical knitting, I will say, You're... the point where you change yarns keeps moving around the sweater. So because you're in that point where you change. Yeah, Kelly 9:14 So that makes it a little different than if you had always changed in the same spot. Marsha 9:19 Yeah, and I don't know if that has something to it. Kelly 9:21 Yeah, I don't know. The people who do planned pooling might be able to tell you more about that. But I've never done it. Marsha 9:27 Planned pooling? Kelly 9:27 Yeah, there's I mean, there's patterns for that where you... remember we saw at Stitches Marsha 9:31 Your, your sock? Well, yes. And then your socks. You did the Kelly 9:35 Oh, right. For Dennis, the Bengal socks? Marsha 9:39 Yeah. Kelly 9:40 Yes. Now those were a little different because it was planned pooling but then you also did short rows to turn around and go back the other way to make this to make the point at the end of the stripe, like so where the where you you know, because the tiger stripes have don't go all the way around the tiger. You know what I mean? So anyway, yeah, very interesting. And I think your sweater, your your tee, looks really nice. Your sweater turned out really good. All laughing aside. Marsha 10:15 Oh gosh. Okay, and then um, so I'm still spinning on the green and brown Merino. I've just been working on the brown. Then what else? Oh, I started knitting Well, I've been continuing to knit on the...my Drops Fabel socks. But the other night I finished the Tee shirt and so I thought Okay, I'll go pick up my socks and start knitting on them. I thought... I went to measure them against the... I'm halfway down the foot of the second sock. And I went to measure it against the first sock to see how much further I had to go. And I thought that's weird. Like the heel looks different. And then I realized I didn't I did not turn the heel. Kelly 10:57 Oh, no! I've done that before. Marsha 11:02 And it's like, What is wrong with me? Like I like how did I not do that? I that's so weird. And I what's also really weird about it is I remember my when I did the gusset. My numbers were way off. Anyway, I should have known. So now I have to rip back. Kelly 11:21 Oh, well. Marsha 11:22 Yeah, that's something to keep me busy. You know, start again. It'll keep me off the streets, you know, out of bars. And then I... Oh, I forgot to put this in the show notes, Kelly. But what I'm knitting on right now is... I had to look it up. I cast this on probably two years ago. It's a shawl. It's just called Simple Shawl. Oh, yeah. It's from hedgerow yarns. This was yarn that I bought down in San Francisco. Kelly 11:50 And I'm looking at it right now. That's pretty Marsha 11:52 Yeah, it's a... Kelly 11:53 Kind of denim looking. Marsha 11:55 Yeah. And it's... I bought this at Atelier Yarns in San Francisco. Actually, I bought it in 2017. And I think that was the time when I met you for Stitches West. And then I went into San Francisco, right. And just went to some of the yarn shops and I think that's when I bought that. Anyway, the colorway is called San Francisco Fog. That's why I love the colorway. And it was hand dyed. And it just says on the label Michael's CWD so I don't know anything about them. He's not you know, in that there's really no information about that company but anyway, it's very nice. It's kind of like denim, it has... okay, it reminds me of dirty jeans. You know, muddy jeans because it has that denim blue, but it also has some brown. Yeah, kind of a cocoa brown in there. Like you have mud on your jeans. Kelly 12:49 Yeah. And it's pretty I like it. It's a pretty color. Marsha 12:52 it's really nice. And it's kind of... what I think is kind of nice about it is it's it's quite a kind of a neutral yarn, where a lot of the shawls I make have lots of color in them. Yeah, this one's kind of neutral, which I think will be a nice. Kelly 13:07 Yes. Marsha 13:08 Let's see, when did I cast this on? Oh, I cast on in 2018. Kelly 13:14 Yeah, well, it'll be nice. Your your point about it being a neutral is, is a good one because I have a shawl that I made... Oh, man, way back when I started-- first started to spin. And I didn't even really know how to make a shawl. I mean, I didn't have a pattern. I started at the bottom and then I just made increases on the sides. Like I was doing... I had a dish cloth pattern that did that. And I thought oh, I could do this for a shawl. So I did. So it's with my handspun but it's like three different colors of blue. That kind of blue gray, Blue, a blue gray, and then a more tealy kind of a blue. Anyway, it turned out really good. And I use that all the time. That shawl. I mean it just it's just a good color with almost anything I'm wearing. I can grab it. Yeah, I think you'll be really happy with it once it's done. Marsha 14:04 Yeah. Yeah. Kelly 14:06 It's probably happy to be out of the knitting bag! Marsha 14:09 I know. Well, it's been... you know, it's funny, because it's been to Scotland. And it's been... I took it to Iceland. Kelly 14:15 Oh, it's kind of like the Pismo Beach socks. Yes, you're gonna have to, you're gonna have to bring it with you now everywhere you go. Marsha 14:22 Yeah. And then I started swatching for another project. And it's the Atlas pullover by Jared flood. And this is for my brother. Do you remember when you were up here? I think for the dye workshop that we did. And we went over with our friend Janis over to Tolt and Mark was our driver. And he bought this yarn for me to make a sweater. And so it's Navia Traditions. Kelly 14:51 Yeah, that's gonna be a really pretty sweater. Color work yoke. Marsha 14:55 Yes. And so he he likes color. So I think a lot of people would have reversed these colors, but he's using a really bright kind of grass Kelly green for the body. And then the color work there's the color work is in that grass green. And then two other colors. In his case he picked navy and a kind of a bright blue light, like robin's egg blue. And so I did the swatch I not really proficient color work. So I'm going to need a little help on this. I think I'll be asking questions probably. You are great though. Because I called you other night when I was doing the swatch because they said obviously you want to do the swatch in the stockinette, which is the main body of the sweater. And then it's a color work yoke. And then you want to do a swatch in the color work, which I did. But I was swatching, you know, color work knit side and then purling back color work. And I said... my comment to you was isn't my my gauge going to be off? Because the whole... when I do the sweater, the color work is all done in the round. In stockinette. So all on the knit side. And so you said what a lot of people do is you knit on the right side, then slide your swatch to the other side and leave a huge long loop in the back and pick up the yarn and knit again. Yeah, so that's what I did. And it worked out a lot better. I do think-- I think doing color work in a swatch is going to be very different than doing the actual sweater. It was very slippery. Because I you know, it's I mean, I made a pretty sizable swatch, but it's still not like having all of that weight of the sweater and all those stitches, you know, to get any kind of rhythm. Yeah, so but it looks pretty good. And I think this is a very well written pattern. And I-- and also when you get to the part where you're doing the color work, it tells you of the three colors that you're using, which one is supposed to be the dominant color. I'm assuming, and listeners can give me some feedback, that I'm assuming that the dominant color is the one that you're going if you are throwing the dominant colors in your right hand. I'm assuming Kelly 17:21 Yeah, I don't know. Marsha 17:23 I have to read up on that. Or as I say if anybody wants to weigh in on it. The other thing about this sweater, too, is Kelly you and I talked about this. That Mark likes his sweaters to be very slim fitting. He's slim and he likes slim fitting sweaters. I think because this wool is it's worsted weight and it's it's a very woolly wool. The kind I think you probably want to wear over a flannel shirt. Yeah, I think he's gonna want more ease in it then he thinks he wants because it does... what does say the pattern say? Three to five inches of positive ease and I think he's gonna want that. So we're having some...we're in discussion right now. Marsha 18:09 And then and I'll talk more about this too when I start doing it but I think Jared Flood is also the designer of the other sweater that I made for Mark which I am now drawing a blank on it. What was that that blue one I made for him? Oh, here it is Cobblestone. The sweater is designed that you you you do a tubular cast on at the bottom of the sweater, do the ribbing and knit up to the armholes. Put the body aside, do the same thing with the sleeves and attach them and then do the yoke. But I found I did not do that with cobblestone. What I did is I provisional cast on for the body, knit up to the armholes, provisional cast on for the sleeves, did stockinette up to the armhole, attach the sleeves, did the yoke and then I went back and I actually had to knit some stockinette down before I did the ribbing to get the correct length. And because what I find interesting about this method that the pattern says is how do you know where the armhole is going to fit? Is it gonna be you know, an inch from the armpit or two inches from the armpit? So and that makes a difference on how long the sleeve is going to be? Right, depending on where the armhole hits on your body. So I don't... I can't really wrap my head around doing that method. I think. So. I'm going to do this method. Kelly 19:34 Yeah, I think worked with the other. I think it's a good idea that you had when you did that last sweater. Mm hmm. Marsha 19:41 So anyway, that's what I'm going to do on that one. And then that's it for me for projects. Kelly 19:46 All right. Well, you have more than I do. I did spin a four ounce braid, which was good. I had done a little bit of spinning for the last episode with that Santa Cruz Island which I need to talk about a little bit more, but I had a Perendale braid and Perendale is kind of a medium, I would say a medium to long wool. A little more woolly than Corriedale, which I consider to be usually like a medium. Or a little less against the skin than a Corriedale. I probably wouldn't make a hat out of this. But it's... but it's not. It's not as coarse as I thought it was going to be just based on what I had read about Perendale. And when I got this braid from Sheep Spot, and she has a lot of interesting breeds to select from. And I bought this last year, I think I bought it when I was buying prizes for the for the spin in and I bought it for myself. But anyways, blue and yellow. And then of course green where the blending happened in the braid, and I decided to do it as a fractal. It's a three ply fractal spin. So just to describe what that is, the way I got ready to spin this... For those of you who don't know, I divided the braid into three parts, because I was going to make a three ply. So vertically stripped it into three parts, vertically. And then one part I just spun it straight from the from the start to the finish, you know, I didn't do anything different, I just spun that. And so that gave me relatively long color repeats. My sections of color were were pretty long. And then the second bobbin, I took one of those strips that I had stripped out and I had weighed them and they were all roughly the same weight, I had to make a little bit of an adjustment as I was pulling it apart to make sure that I got this, you know, equal, kind of equal sizes. The second one I then split into, I split that one into two pieces vertically. So I had thinner strips, and I spun. And so I spun those. And I spun, you know, the first one end to end and then got the second one end to end. And I kept track of what order, you know, what was the start of it, and what was the end of it? Marsha 22:15 Right. Kelly 22:15 And so my color repeats are less, right? They're smaller. Because the fiber was... the piece of fiber that I was spinning from was was more slender. And then the third bobbin, I did exactly the same thing. But this time I did it in three, three parts. Yeah, three parts. And so it was 1/3 of the braid, split lengthwise, and then I took that 1/3 and I divided it again into three parts. Marsha 22:47 Okay, Kelly 22:48 And spun that. So now my color repeats are even smaller. So I've got one bobbin with longer color repeats, one bobbin with a little bit shorter color repeats, and then one bobbin with even shorter color repeats and I a plied those together. And that's what they call fractal spinning. I'm really pleased with the skein. I'm not sure it looks any different than if I just like, spun randomly, and then plied it together. But when it's stripes up, when you when you knit it up, it does have a different... I've seen in a couple of books or articles about fractal spinning compared to other ways of managing the color in your braid. It does look a little bit different when you knit it up. So it will be a little bit stripy, when I knit it up, but pretty blended. I mean, there's a couple of sections that are all blue and a couple of sections that are all yellow, and mostly it comes out... it reads green even though the the braid by itself just looking at it was more blue. This this yarn actually reads more green when you look at it, but it came out really nicely. And I plied it kind of loosely. I didn't i didn't ply too tight. Like I usually try... I usually like to ply tightly. But since Perendale is kind of a longer staple, I thought, Well I'm gonna ply it more like a longwool without so much twist in it. So that's what I did. I'm really happy with it. So that was kind of a fun experiment. And then I took what was left I'm not sure I'm gonna have enough to really be able to tell... but I took what was left over after the first bobbin ran out. And then I just plied a two ply because I want to do a little swatch of each and compare the two ply fractal to the three ply fractal spin. But I am going to do a little swatch of both of these so that people can see the difference and I can see the difference between a two ply fractal and a three ply fractal. The one thing that you will definitely be able to tell is there's not as much color variation in the two ply. Partly because it was only two bobbins worth of color playing together. Marsha 25:04 Right. Kelly 25:04 And partly because there was only a very little left on the bobbin. So you know, it didn't really have enough yarn to get all the way through all the different colors. But anyway, it'll be an interesting little experiment to make a swatch with both of those and compare them side by side. Yeah, so that was my spinning. Going back to the Santa Cruz Island, fleece. I was so excited because I had emptied bobbins of the Santa Cruz Island. And it's like, okay, I can call that finished, you know, even though I still have some fleece left, but it's like, okay, I can call that spinning project finished, right? Marsha 25:42 Yeah, Kelly 25:43 I was looking around in my stash for what else I had that I could just do a quick little spin with. And I found two about third full bobbins of Santa Cruz Island singles. Two, not three, two. And it's... I want to make, you know, to match the yarn I already had, I wanted to make it... I would make a three ply. Not that I really need any more of that. I was gonna make socks with it. And I have plenty for a pair of socks, but just kind of like Oh, no. So now, I do have some more fiber that's already carded. I did find that too, when I was digging around. So I will spin the yarn that I have, or the the fiber that I have that's already carded, and spin the third bobbin. And I just want to be done with this project. But you know, the little bits that I didn't want to throw away on those other two bobbins are insignificant compared to the mountain that's on these two bobbins Marsha 26:49 right, right Kelly 26:50 In comparison. I could have easily thrown that away. But anyway, I I now have another Santa Cruz Island job to do. So. I will do that. I like that fleece. It's really fine. It'sjust, it's tricky to spin. I mean, I have to do... I talked last time how I really am doing kind of an inch worming technique. And then I had to stop and pull out little neps of tangled fiber every so often. So it's not it's not exactly rhythmic Zen spinning. Marsha 27:26 Yeah. Kelly 27:27 So I did no knitting and crocheting. In my... since the last time we talked, I mean, I didn't even do any. I finished the last dish cloth. And I didn't even... I didn't even get any more on those. So that's kind of strange, but I've been doing a lot of dog training. Nothing formal, and not any real formal stuff, but you know, walks and, and trying to keep them from fence fighting. And so Beary's here sort of crunched into the corner where I'm recording right now. So you know where I am Marsha in the dressing room. Right? Well, he could be lengthwise and have plenty of room. But he's crosswise. So his head is jammed up against the cabinet. And his rear end is jammed up against the closet. The size of him is you know, the whole width of this little dressing room area. So, but he's, he's snoring. So he's happy. He doesn't mind being crunched in the corner here. Marsha 28:40 Well, and he can probably curl up into a tighter ball now because he's lost so much weight. Kelly 28:44 Yes, yes. He had a vet appointment last week. And so we got to, you know, get him weighed and get his result of his thyroid test and all that. He had a new thyroid test. But yes, he lost. He's now 113 pounds. Marsha 29:00 Wow. So that's amazing. Kelly 29:03 Yeah. Yeah. So just just to kind of recap for people. When he got to the ASPCA in January, he was 163 pounds. When we brought him home, he was 133 pounds. And now he's 113 pounds. In like ...it was about seven weeks, seven and a half weeks that he lost the 20 pounds. Marsha 29:27 Wait a minute, I say 50 pounds. Yeah, he's lost 50 pounds. Kelly 29:31 Yeah, he's lost 50 pounds. So he's got another probably 10 to go maybe. Maybe? I don't know. At first I thought he would... He was you know, he was shepherd and just heavy and needed... He could be probably 90 pounds would be his his final weight. But he may be crossed. Well, we talked about that. Marsha 29:54 Yeah, he's big, big boned. You know Kelly 29:58 He's got something in him that makes him bigger so it may be that he only has another 10 or so pounds to go so we'll see. But But yeah, the vet was really happy and his thyroid is stable. It's good, it's all in in the good ranges and the vet said keep doing what you're doing which is a lot of exercise and training and organized, you know, chewing activity like the frozen Kongs filled with dog food mush, doggy milkshake. Marsha 30:36 Did you like my comment? You posted that on Instagram. And it was like everyone thought Oh, it looks like milkshake. Yeah, but knowing what's in it, I think it looks disgusting. But the dogs love it. Kelly 30:48 Yeah, it is. It is pretty disgusting. I have some turkey fat from Aunt Betty made a turkey. Like a turkey breast roast last night for dinner. So I have some turkey pan drippings that are gonna go in the next version, the next round of the of the frozen Kongs, and it's funny because you know, I had to I wanted that magic bullet so that I could, you know, make smoothies and stuff. And I got it one year for Christmas. And I did use it for the first year. But, you know, before we got Bailey, it hadn't been out of the cupboard for months and months and months. And now that's what I use it for. Making dog milkshakes to pour into the Kongs to put in the freezer. So anyway, yeah, the dogs are getting healthy. I don't know about me, I'm not having my kale smoothies anymore. [laughing] Marsha 31:44 That's really good news. Kelly 31:45 Yeah, yeah, Marsha 31:46 It really is good news. Because he's just... I'm sure he feels so much better and you know he can move so much better. Kelly 31:55 He had the the senior dog blood panel because we know they told us he was eight at the ASPCA. But I have never had an eight year old dog acting this lively. And I'm pretty sure he's not eight. I mean, just watching him with Bailey and the, the constant playing that they do and all his I mean, just the things that he's doing now it's like, Okay, this dog is not eight, I just can't believe it. And his teeth. I mean, you can't always tell by their teeth. You know, we had one dog whose teeth were good for her whole life. And then the other dogs, you know, their teeth got bad right away. So you can't really tell. But his teeth are good. And his his energy level is high. So I just think he's not eight. But there's no way to know except, Marsha 32:48 yeah, Kelly 32:48 how long he lives, you know? Yeah, if he lives another 10 years, then he's definitely not eight. Marsha 32:54 Yes. Yeah. Kelly 32:55 But we won't know that. Yeah, so huh. So anyway, yeah, Beary's doing great. He starts obedience class at the SPCA on Saturday. And I got an email with homework that was like 10 videos. I was like, Oh, my God, I have to watch 10 videos, because I am not a video learning person. But I did. I watched them. They were all really short. But they were good. So I have homework before we go to our class. So he's supposed to be doing his name. And, you know, responding to his name and a couple of other things that I need to do. I have been working on down with him, but he doesn't like to lay down. I mean, he lays down fine when he wants it. Marsha 33:42 Yeah Really! Yeah. Kelly 33:43 But he's not he doesn't follow a treat to go down, which I've never had a dog that wouldn't do that. Marsha 33:51 So that's interesting. Yeah. Kelly 33:53 He, he pops up. And I've tried all kinds of different ways to keep his rear end from popping up. And it doesn't seem to work. So I need some tips and tricks from the from the trainer on that when we go to class, maybe. I've been just waiting. Mostly just waiting until he's tired. And then I tell him to sit and then I just stand there. And then when he does finally lay down, I tell him down. He's getting there, but that's going to be a tough one. Marsha 34:22 Yeah. So anyway, he doesn't really like to be told what to do. Kelly 34:28 Right. That is true. Yeah, he's getting better. But yeah, Marsha 34:33 He didn't come that way. We know he's learning. But Kelly 34:36 yeah, yeah, he's already... he's doing some crate training now, too. He's doing great now that he can, you know, he's thin enough that he can actually turn around in the crate. He's using the Wolfhound crate, and he fits great. And he goes in there just fine and he's quiet. And he doesn't break the crate. Marsha 34:54 Yeah. Kelly 34:56 So that's a nice fresh breath of fresh air compared to Bailey. Marsha 35:00 Well, good. That's really good to hear. I mean, I think that that's just really good news that he's lost so much weight and his panels are all good. Kelly 35:06 Yeah, his health is great. Yeah, his health is doing really well. So, yeah. Well, now that we've talked about all our projects, including our plumbing and dogs and all of that kind of stuff. We have a summer spinning topic for everybody. Marsha 35:21 Yes. So we thought we would talk about the whole process of selecting a fleece and where to buy a raw fleece. And so let's just dive right in. Okay. Kelly 35:33 And before we do that though, I just want to remind people that if you are going to be working with raw fleece, you should just make sure that your tetanus shot is up to date. Marsha 35:46 Oh, that's a good idea. I wouldn't even have thought about that. Kelly 35:49 It seems like every time you have an injury of any kind that could be tetanus related they give you a tetanus shot anyway, even if you're ...even if you just had one almost But you should have had a tetanus shot, I would say, because it's easy to... it's easy to have a puncture wound, using carding equipment or wool combs or being stuck with a sticker in your fleece. It's easy for that to happen. So anyway, Marsha 36:21 that's a good idea. Yes, that's good, because I would not have thought about that. So and you probably just get that at the pharmacy. Don't you think? You can get so many vaccines now just at the pharmacy? I mean, if you can get a tetanus Kelly 36:33 maybe, Yeah, probably. Marsha 36:35 I don't know. I have to look into that. Okay, so I have about selecting a fleece. How do you start just buying a fleece? What do you look for? Kelly 36:42 Well, Marsha 36:43 Kelly, any thoughts? Kelly 36:45 I tried to buy a fleece this morning from Instagram. And I don't think I'm going to get it because there was somebody else who was interested in it before me. But so what did I look for? Well, it was Wensleydale, a Wensleydale cross, which means it was a long wool, which always attracts me seeing those long curly locks. Just gets me. So that's what I look for. It was six pounds, which is a decent size. Again, that's what I look for. I am not... I'm not wanting to buy fleece, you know, oh, I'll just take a pound of that. Or, Oh, is it three pounds fleece? Now six pounds is a good size for a fleece. It's kind of like cones of yarn, you know, big and juicy. So, so that was an attraction. And then, and then it was gray, which is also an attraction for me. So long wool, gray, six pounds. And the price was right, it was priced at $50, which is about $8 a pound. And I think that's pretty... I think that's that's excellent. And then plus shipping. So for for a long wool that's a good price.You're not going to find... you're not going to find Merino at that price. But Marsha 38:14 Right, right, Kelly 38:15 But for a long wool. So that's what I look for. I wasn't thinking of a project, I wasn't imagining what I was going to do with it. Nothing like that. It was just like, oh, pretty long, curly, good pric-- buying! Marsha 38:33 Well, I will confess, before we really get into this, I will confess that online, doing some research, I was looking at producers and Etsy and there was many that I wanted to click buy. But I had to restrain myself. And what really gets me in this is excellent marketing. And if there's any producers who listen to this, this is excellent. This is how you get people to click buy. If you have a photograph of the sheep that the fleece came from, or just the name of... just the name of the sheep makes me want to buy because there's like this... I don't know it's just sort of... it's very... it's like a story and anytime there's a story about a product I get more and more tempted to buy it. Kelly 39:26 Yeah, well it's the same as a yarn having a name like Mocrocs Beach as opposed to you know the colorway Kelly 39:36 or San Francisco Fog. I bought San Francisco Fog because I liked the name. Kelly 39:39 as opposed to color number 5973. Marsha 39:44 Or I remember at... now we're getting a little off of the topic of buying a fleece but I remember one time at stitches. I do not need another skein of hand dyed sock yarn, but I bought one because the name of it was It Was Comic Con and I Was Drunk. I had to buy it, right? So, yeah, so if there's a backstory or something it's really very appealing for me anyway, personally. But so anyway, but what I was gonna say the first thing is... I was gonna say is online, there's... The Livestock Conservancy has an article about selecting a raw fleece. And I would really recommend that, because it talks all about staple length, coated versus not coated. What else Kelly? Kelly 40:38 it talks about the health of the lock and looking at health, the strength of the lock or the health of the sheep. It talks about the different breeds. Marsha 40:49 And so I-- that's just a great source, I think just start there. You get much better information than well, we could, and concise information to what we could give in just the podcast. But I think that's excellent. And the other thing we were sort of talking too before we started recording about-- let me just back up. When I, the first time I bought a fleece, I was like, Oh, I want it. This is what I want to make out of that fleece, I'm going to buy that. I think I bought a Shetland fleece at Black Sheep gathering. And I didn't know anything. No, I take that back. It wasn't, it was I split it with a woman down there. And it was now I don't remember now I think was like a Merino Corriedale mix, I think or something. And I didn't know anything. And I just thought, Okay, I'm gonna buy this. And then this is what I'm going to make out of it. Well, I don't think that really is. ..Maybe if you're really knowledgeable, you can get to the point where you can say-- you can look at a fleece and know how it's going to spin up and know how you're going to-- what you're going to make. Yeah, but I kind of think I think as a beginner, you probably just have to buy the fleece that you will like, and after you wash and card it and spin it. It will then tell you what you should make out of it. Kelly 42:00 Yeah, that's true. Marsha 42:02 Because you may have an idea that you want to have yarn, a yarn that really blooms, but that particular fiber is not going to do that. So it doesn't mean that it's going to end up being a bad yarn. It's just a yarn that's not-- it's gonna be a beautiful yarn that's for another purpose. Kelly 42:23 Yeah, yeah, that's true. I mean, so my love is when I see fleeces that are silver, silver gray longwool. Marsha 42:37 Yeah, Kelly 42:37 So I that would not be a good choice if what I wanted to make was a you know, a light fluffy cardigan. You know, like my Funky Grandpa sweater. If that was what I wanted to make, that would be the wrong choice. If I'm going to buy a romney for example long wool, I might be able to make like a coat kind of sweater, cardigan. Or blanket, or you do some weaving with it, weave a blanket, but I'm not going to be able to make a light fluffy cardigan out of a romney wool. So a lot of it depends on on what it is you want to do with it. I mean, you know, my, my advice is you just spin to spin, right? And see what happens. And so my advice would be for first spinners it would be to try all the ones that you just you look at it and you love it. Yeah, if it sings to you, and you go, Oh, my God this is so gorgeous. Get it! You know, if the price is right, and you're up for the adventure, I would say just go ahead and get it. And then you'll see what what the yarn is that it makes. And you don't have to spin the whole thing. You can, you know, and you don't have to buy the whole thing. Sometimes you can split fleeces with somebody. Or you can, I know on Etsy you can buy... sometimes people are selling them by the pound and so you can buy just a pound of a particular kind of fleece. So Marsha 44:08 If you do buy a whole fleece though, I think there's a couple things to sort of keep in mind. Find out if it's been skirted. And that's when they remove all of the wool that's not really usable and the tags which is manure. And you can buy a fleece that has all of that, but just know that you're paying. You're gonna be throwing away a lot that you're paying for. Kelly 44:29 Right right. Yeah, so if you're searching on Etsy, I would say one of the things to put in your search is spinning or hand spinning. Just to make sure that you know you're going to... you're going to get something that people are at least calling a hand spinners fleece. Although we will talk later, I found a great article on those bargain fleeces or free fleeces and how do you, you know, make sure that you can use a fleece like that. So, yeah. Marsha 45:03 And then the other thing and I, I've never had this experience, but they talked about it when we went to the Black Sheep Gathering. Well what they had said and people who were there, the general consensus is if, if you're buying a fleece that's been part of a show, you're going to get a good fleece. Just because people have carefully prepped them for showing Kelly 45:27 And spent money to put them in the show. Marsha 45:30 Right? Yes, there's an investment to show them. And so you really couldn't go wrong buying any of those. We did have though, do you remember the one judging where the fleece had an odor to it, like a sour odor or something? And they said that it was, I don't know, I don't remember now what was wrong with it. But I guess what the general... what I would take away from that is smell the fleece. If it just doesn't smell like that delicious, wonderful... which we like. Some people hate but we like that lanolin woolly smell. Then avoid that one. If it has any kind of weird sour or off putting odor that doesn't smell right. Kelly 46:15 A dirty dish cloth. Marsha 46:16 And so anyway, I was gonna say that the... I think that the Livestock Conservancy website is really good. And we'll have the link in the show notes. Yeah. And also the spinners book of fleece by Beth Smith is really good. Kelly 46:27 And that can help with you know, like, what kinds of fleeces will do what kinds of thing. What breeds will do what kinds of things, you know. Is it a medium, fleece? Would it make that fluffy cardigan? Is it better for outerwear? Will it be just good for rugs and blankets? It will give you a good idea of of that. Yeah, the other thing to think about too, is what kind of preparation you're going to work on. What kind of ability do you have to wash it. So like, if you're gonna buy... If you don't have a good capacity to wash a fleece and you're gonna have to wash it, you know, little by little, and you're not sure how it's going to work, you might not want to buy a Merino--a really greasy fleece like a Merino. You might, or you might want to, if you do buy a fleece like that, you might want to have someone else do it, have it processed. Marsha 46:45 Yeah, Kelly 47:21 Or even just washed by a processor. I mean, that's a possibility. That you can have a processor just wash your fleece and send it back to you clean. Just because that that does take a lot of water, a lot of soap, a lot of time to get all that grease out of the fleece. And so depending on what your washing situation is, you might be better off having a fleece that's not quite as greasy. So the article that I did find about the kind of fleece that I've always liked, the bargain fleece, is called The Great Fleece Makeover. And it's by Emmioneisha Hopkins in Spin Off magazine. And she talks about three different fleeces that she had and, and they were, you know, dirty in different ways. They were flawed in different ways. And yet she was still able to make beautiful yarn out of them. Time, you know, there's a time investment to that. If you have, you know, flaws. So for a lot of people any kind of veg matter in their fleece: stickers, hay, anything like that is just a no go. And I've never been like that. That has never been something that I totally just you know been put off by and I think partly because when I started spinning, coated fleeces were very rare. And so you know, you always had some of that in your fleeces, but now with coated fleeces, you can get, you know really pristine fleeces without any of these problems. But you pay the price, right? So if you get a free fleece or you have the opportunity to get some fleece for a very good price, I would really recommend this article The Great Fleece Makeover. So you can see, you know, what kind of things does she look at? And what kind of things does she do? Wool combs are what she uses, because they take out a lot of the garbage you know, the short cuts of wool, the really short pieces, you know. If the shearing is inconsistent, they take out a lot of the vegetable matter if there's a lot of that, and they make a really nice preparation. So wool combs are a really good thing to have if you're interested in working with the bargain fleeces. A carder also gets out a lot of the stuff that's in it. A drum carder, or hand cards, but not as much as combs do. So anyway, that's a good article that I would recommend to people looking for a fleece. But there is just something about walking around a fleece fiber festival looking at all the fleeces and just falling in love with one. And and if, if that doesn't happen to you, then maybe you're just not a spinner for fleeces, for raw fleeces, right? If you can walk through a fiber festival and you don't feel pulled... drawn to fork over money for at least you know, three or four of them and have to rein yourself in, then, you know, maybe braids are your are your jam. And that's okay. You know, yeah, processed fiber might just be what you are in love with. Marsha 50:41 Well, and the thing about the processed fiber you said about time and like, you can just start right away. I like that. And that's nice. Like I've used... it's all been, you know, the commercially processed roving that I've used for the combo spins. Kelly 50:51 Yeah, Yeah, I'm in a really bad place right now because this Perendale was my last... was my last dyed braid. I have a couple of braids of Coopworth that are natural color. And that's it. So you know, I don't have anything that I could just grab. Which is kind of on purpose because I have a lot of stuff that I need to process. [laughing] So how do you buy one? If you are going to fall in love? If you think you might fall in love, where would you find those fleeces? Marsha 51:34 Well, so the first place I know where I bought all of mine was going to some sort of festival. So now, the pandemic has, has changed all of this because a lot of these festivals are not happening. So Black Sheep Gathering is always in June. That's also been cancelled. But a lot of them have online sales. Kelly 52:01 yes. Marsha 52:01 Or a list of the producers and you can contact the different producers. So we have links to the Black Sheep Gathering in the show notes. There's the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Kelly, you added the Ore`gon Flock and Fiber in October is that on? Kelly 52:16 Yeah, in October, it's on. And they moved it to Albany so it's in the same location where Black Sheep Gathering was the last time we were there. Marsha 52:26 Oh, Kelly! Kelly 52:27 I know. Marsha 52:29 Maybe! Kelly 52:29 It's a possibility. Marsha 52:33 Oh, but school's in session ... Oh, no, but you're Kelly 52:35 Yeah, but I'm online. Marsha 52:37 Ah. Oh Kelly! Kelly 52:38 So I yeah, there's, there's a possibility. Yeah. Marsha 52:45 Okay. Kelly 52:48 Vermont Sheep and Sool festival is also happening in October, according to their website. They have dates in early October. So and then I found another one that's actually happening coming up fairly soon. That's the Natural Fiber Extravaganza in Lebanon, Tennessee. And it's July 9 through 11th. It's a mostly alpaca. It's put on by an alpaca association. But that looked, that looked interesting if you're in that part of the country. And then I also found Knitters Review has a fiber festival directory. Now I put the link to that in the show notes as well. A lot of them when you go to the website you see the 2020 information and you see "cancelled" but if you're willing to like search out your area. If you're looking for a particular area you can in a particular month you can narrow it down pretty well to just look at the ones that are, you know, pertinent to you and see if they have them. And then our county fair last year I kind of spaced and didn't even think about it but the Monterey County Fair last year they had their wool show, their wool auction, they just had it online. Marsha 54:04 Oh yeah? Kelly 54:06 So and then you had either pickup or shipping of the fleece that you had bought. I didn't even know about it until after it was already done. It was already done is when I realized. Marsha 54:20 Yeah, and I know the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival that one actually I think that was in May. It didn't actually happen but it was all online. But there you could check it out and see if there's still things available. And as I say, they all have vendors listed that are still selling their fleeces. Kelly 54:37 Yeah, the listing of vendors is the nice thing. Yeah, in these websites, so. So yeah, check out your county fair website. And then the other thing I just put in there, I know we've talked about the Shave 'Em to Save 'Em, and that's through the livestock Conservancy. The same website that Marsha mentioned about selecting a fleece. But they have a directory. And you can find different, you know, the rare breed fleeces there. And then also, there's the Fibershed directory. California has the Fibershed, I think Canada, Canada has a Fibershed organization. I don't know if other areas have a Fibershed organization. But if you have a Fibershed in your area, you can look at their website. And they usually will have a directory of producers of all kinds of things, not just wool. I think there's a, there's a hemp farm, and a flax farm on the Fibershed directory. And so there are some other websites, so lots of resources in this set of show notes. Marsha 55:45 So I just, I also just googled where to buy a raw fleece, you know, and the first one that came up was a farm in, it's in the Finger Lakes region of Western New York State. It's called Nistock farms. And they--you have to reserve the fleece. But they still have some available. But it was interesting. They have an interesting website just to read it too, because they they have a lot of information about processing your...washing fleeces. They also are part of the Livestock Conservancy. And they're members of the livestock Conservancy. And they talk a lot about how their... how important is to keep their their flock healthy. So they no longer take their sheep to to be judged at shows because they don't want to expose them to all the different diseases that sheep can get, apparently, and they don't bring in rams from outside the farm for breeding. They just have their own rams. And then, and now I'm getting into something I really don't know anything about. But the breeding of sheep. You can't breed them too many times because you have to bring in new Kelly 57:08 Right, genetics. Marsha 57:09 So when they do bring in a new ram, they have to be quarantined, they're tested and then they have to be quarantined for a certain merit amount of time before they enter the breeding program. Very, very interesting. I mean, if you if you want to go really deep into it, it's a very interesting website. And then the other one I found and I just think this is just sweet. And Kelly, you said we had talked about this before but the Sanctuary Wool website. They're located in Wisconsin, and their fleeces are from rescued sheep. This is the one where they have their pictures. And you know... Kelly 57:45 Which, I'm looking at them right now. Oh my gosh. Marsha 57:49 I know. Kelly 57:52 Good looking fleeces, too. I know when we first mentioned them, one of the caveats was, you know, we had not bought fleeces from them. And I don't know if they even had a website at that time or I don't think it had any pictures. So it was kind of, you know, I don't know what this will be like, but here's some information about it. But these look beautiful! East Friesian Polypay. And that's another thing! That.. so that's another thing that gets me-- a breed I haven't spun before. Yes, when I see a breed-- that's how I ended up with the Santa Cruz Island fleece. Marsha 58:31 Right. Kelly 58:31 It's rare, and I had never spun it. And it was just intriguing. And this one is also intriguing East Friesian Polypay. Marsha 58:41 Huh? What is that? I know there's Friesian horses. I think they're from Holland. Kelly 58:47 You're asking me a question I don't know the answer to. I really don't know what East Friesian sheep is. And I don't... I know Polypay is is a relatively newer breed. Anyway, one pound six ounces for $18. Wow. Add To Cart! Tthe lambs fleece, the locks average four inches long and there's very minor debris remaining to remove. So I anyway, I would say take a look at this. If you don't worry about the danger to your wallet, take a look at this website. [laughing] Marsha 59:06 Well, and there was another. I don't know if was this website or there's another website I was looking at. And what I wanted to put in the cart the name of the sheep was something like Big Gal, something like that. Anyway, but she was an older sheep and so they said as she's gotten older, more and more gray hair is in the fleece. Oh and that one I just like oh, I want it! Yeah, because of her story, she's just this old lady, you know, and I kind of wanted the old lady fleece. But anyway... Kelly 1:00:08 Sally's Fox on her Vriesis website would sometimes have her older sheep fleece. And she would describe it in such a way that just made you want to buy it. Marsha 1:00:22 Yeah, yeah. Oh my god very good marketing. Kelly 1:00:25 Yes. Marsha 1:00:26 For those of us with no self control, Kelly 1:00:29 I'm clicking closed now. I'm having self control, because I already tried to buy one this morning. I do not need any more fleece. How many do you think I have in my garage? Marsha 1:00:43 I don't know. Because I know how many I have. Kelly 1:00:45 I think I might have I think ten. Marsha 1:00:48 Oh Kelly, I think I have eight. Kelly 1:00:55 You know that True Confessions will be next next episode. [laughing] Marsha 1:00:59 Actually, I take that back. I think I have nine because I think I'm not counting the... my friend of mine in the knitting group gave me the alpaca fleece. So I don't think I'm counting that one. And that thing's a monster. It's huge. I didn't know alpaca had such big fleece but this thing seems huge. I don't know what I'm going to... I don't know but I was hoping during this our summer spinning that I would.. I obviously I can't wash and card all of it. But just some of it. Just because I've never spun alpaca. So anyway, the other place to buy, too Kelly, is... I didn't even think about this. You recommended it, Etsy. So that was another thing that I started sort of doing a deep dive into Etsy and there's tons and tons and tons of fleeces on Etsy Kelly 1:01:46 And if you know the name of the farm, that's a good way to look online. I follow some farms on Instagram. And so you know i've been, I follow them for you know, they might have lamb for sale, or they might just post nice pictures, or but some of them if you go to their website will have, you know, might have some fleeces for sale or might have processed fleece for sale. So that's another resource, too. If you're still not able to find a fleece, there's another way. Marsha 1:02:22 Anything else you want to add about where to buy a fleece? Kelly 1:02:26 Another thing to look at is fiber ills. So Valley Oak, she's the one that that posted this morning about the fleece that I almost bought. Marcaile at Valley Oak Wool Mill, but she also has roving that she sells, you know. She doesn't usually sell fleeces. She's helping someone else sell a fleece. But she does have roving. And so if you have a wool mill, that you know about, near you, or you know, that that you follow on Instagram or whatever, check out their website and see if they have their own roving for sale, and you can buy already processed fleece from them, you don't just have to buy a fleece and send it to be processed, you can just buy wool that's been been processed. So you know, your local, if you have some local mills, you can take a look and see if they have anything on their website. But then there's also those people who you know, there's a real nice thing about grabbing a braid and starting to spin. And I just my recent purchases, I mentioned Sheep Spot already. And I purchased a couple of braids of fiber the other day, which I think are going to be prizes, from Sincere Sheep. Her fiber is locally sourced. And then I also love the colors of that Huckleberry Knits has. That's up by you. Up in up in Washington, and there I mean, there are lots and lots of other people who have braids, but these are some examples of places that I've recently purchased. Marsha 1:04:10 The other thing I forgot to mention this is spinning guilds. Sometimes somebody will have something that they want to sell, or they know a producer that has too many and they're just looking for like, maybe they'll give it to you but if you pay for the shipping, right? So but that's also a resource. So I belong to the Northwest Spinners Association here in the Pacific Northwest and they have a Facebook group. And lot of times they're posting things.They post things, you know, funny articles, funny spinning cartoons and stuff, and interesting articles. Sometimes the equipment for sale, and then sometimes there's been fleeces too, that's another good source just to find, you know, they're all good sources. Kelly 1:04:58 So yeah. Yeah, we have lots of ways to make your money fly out of your wallet. . Marsha 1:05:05 Yeah, really. [laughing] Anything else on this topic, Kelly 1:05:10 I think just the main thing is that, you know, if you're interested in, in that process that you know, fleece to fiber, that whole, you know, the whole spectrum of the process, I would say it's, it's definitely worth doing once. And after you do it, you'll know what parts of the process you like, and what parts of the process you don't like. And then you can you know, you can decide. No, I'm just going to buy already processed braids of fiber, or I like washing fleece, but I have to wash it in small batches. So I'm only going to buy fleece by the pound I'm not going to buy entire fleeces. Or you could be like me, and if it's 10 pounds, that's even better. And so you really want, the bigger the fleece, the more attractive it is. Marsha 1:06:04 That is true. Like that was when we went to, I don't remember, I think it was the Monterey County Fair. And they had the auction. We got a really good deal on those. Like remember, we got a 10 pound fleece or something or a 12 pounds. I mean, it was a huge fleece that we got. And it was really quite inexpensive. And part of the reason is because it is so much for a hand spinner, right for hand spinner to go through 10 pounds Kelly 1:06:31 Really, Yeah, Marsha 1:06:32 Now granted... Oh, I one thing we didn't say is when you do buy a fleece, too, that when you wash it, you do lose. The weight will go down, right, because that weight is debris in the fleece Kelly 1:06:44 And when you card it, when you card if you do your own processing, or if you send it out to be processed, when you card it, there will also be waste. So you could lose, you know, you could lose as much as half by the time you have, or more, by the time you skirt it, wash it and process it and have it ready to ready to spin. Marsha 1:07:10 Because every time you do something to it, you lose. Right? Kelly 1:07:13 Right. So like I carded yesterday, I have an Oxford fleece that I started carding yesterday. I didn't put that in my projects. And I carded. I picked which means you pull the fiber apart. I picked and put through the drum carder what was 100 grams. So I decided I was just going to do it in 100 gram batches. So I did 100 grams. And then I put it through the carder. And when it got through the carder, it was only...When it got, you know, done being carded the first time, now it's only 95 grams. And I'm going to put that through the carder probably two more times, just to get it really nice. And by the time I do that, I'll probably be down to, you know, 75 or 80 grams. But yeah, the big fleeces are attractive to me. But they're not attractive to everyone. You know, it's helpful if you have a friend who will split it with you right, Marsha? Marsha 1:08:09 Yeah. So I'm always, I'm always willing to split. Kelly 1:08:15 So. All right, well, I think that's a, I think that's a good amount of information for someone who was interested in how to go about purchasing a fleece for the first time. And what are we going to talk about next time. Do you remember? Marsha 1:08:33 So the next episode, we're going to talk about carding of fleece, blending, prepping and process. Okay. So that's the plan. Kelly 1:08:41 All right. Marsha 1:08:43 So good. We have to do some research. Yes. Kelly 1:08:46 Well, I have one on the carder too right now. So I'll start now. I'll do my research. Partly do my research that way. Marsha 1:08:54 Okay, cool. All righty. Okay, well, with that we'll say goodbye. Kelly 1:08:58 All right. Marsha 1:08:59 We'll talk. Kelly 1:09:00 Okay. Bye. Thank you so much for listening. To subscribe to the podcast visit Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Marsha 1:09:08 Join us on our adventures on Ravelry and Instagram. I am betterinmotion and Kelly is 1hundredprojects. Kelly 1:09:16 Until next time, we're the Two Ewes doing our part for a world fleece. Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Fiber at the Speed of Life Podcast
Episode 24: I've got big bobbins you know that!

Fiber at the Speed of Life Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 17, 2020 52:50


  Sponsored by Weavolution If you would like to support the show, become a Weavolution Patron and get access to exclusive Patron content from Erica. Where to find us: iTunes, please leave us a review on Podcast FB Page! E-mail! We have an e-mail account, please feel free to e-mail us! Podcast Instagram: fiberatthespeedoflifepodcast Michelle is Ravelry: MichelleTF Instagram: michelletfcrafts Facebook: Valdelia Maker Erica is Weavolution: Erica J, Jahanara, or Weavolutionary Ravelry: weavemage Instagram: weavemage Facebook: Intro and Outro Music: Sundown by Joseph McDade, thank you!   Shearing day: Michelle and her daughters attended shearing day at Queso Cabeza farm. They go whenever they can to help schlep fleeces, skirt, round up sheep and whatever else they can do to help Laura and Rick on the day...and to play with sheep and fleece, of course. They have about 45 Icelandic sheep in their herd. The weather was good and they had a good time, as always. Michelle learned that Icelandic fleece grows at about an inch a month, so they're plenty warm for the winter despite being sheared in October. The shearer does most of the work along with Rick and Laura.   This may be a fleece that followed Michelle home.   Thing 2 helping skirt. The sheet on her head was used to transfer the fleeces from where the shearer was shearing to the skirting table The shearer is quick, so they didn't get to fully clean any of the fleece before having to roll it up and bag it to start on the next.   Ryder the guard llama.   Thing 2 and Stevie, one of the bottle lambs.   This fleece followed Michelle home after the sheep "undressed".           Finished Objects! Michelle: Michelle finished skirting one of the Icelandic fleeces that followed her home. She plans to try tail spinning this fleece.       Michelle continues to spin down her stash. Here is a selection of what she has dyed and spun. The fibers include Polworth, Falkland, Targhee (she won't be spinning more of that) and Corriedale.         Erica: Erica finished weaving over 4 meters of purple damask with red weft! This warp was wound 1.5 years ago! Erica can hardly believe this cloth is all finally woven. Can you believe she first talked about her warp calculations woahs in Episode 2! She thought she might have a bit more warp on the loom to weave more cloth in another weft. Now she is contemplating whether to use this 4+ meters for a Sasanid Wrap or a Sasanid Robe.     Erica is also super excited that she has finished knitting another sock! This is sock #1 of pair #2 for her husband, Oli! Once she really got going on this sock it really was quite fast, but life, etc. means that this sock was 2 months in the making, definitely at the speed of life!     The magic swatch! Erica swatched for Weasley jumpers and got gauge on the recommended needle size. She actually got gauge on the first swatch. Erica and Michelle did not think that actually happened to people! :)   Works in progress   Michelle: Michelle is currently skirting the second of the Icelandic fleeces that followed her home.         Michelle is also spinning a Cheviot/Dorset cross white fleece. She's decided to use some of these singles for tail spinning the Icelandic. The rest will be plied and possibly dyed.     Erica: Erica continues to work on knitting a shawl for herself. ?This fingering weight semi-circular shawl is very fun to knit. Erica is glad she is back to knitting on it most days. She is using Replenish Rambouillet yarn in Persimmon from Two Ewes Fiber Adventures Shop. Her knitting pattern is: K2, P2 K2, P2 P2, K2 P2, K2 Erica thought this was double seed stitch, but now she thinks she may have not written the pattern down correctly, still, it is quite beautiful and she really loves it. She is excited to finish this knit, so she can compare wearing a shawl with wearing a cardi with a shawl collar.  

agri-Culture
Ep 082 Hermit Pond Farm: Cashmere, Kashmir and Houses of the Holy

agri-Culture

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 28, 2020 22:31


No, we're not in India for this one, if you wondered about that after that title.  We're closer to Rhinebeck, New York for this week's podcast.  On October 17-18 the New York State Sheep & Wool Festival will be held – albeit virtually – so we're taking you back to remember the fun from last year.  We're celebrating all things fiber, including the beloved cashmere sweater.  Okay, so this podcast is not so much focusing on the sweater (that's Elara's vote), as it is focusing on the goat.  That is a slang term for the Greatest Of All Time to many, and we think the cashmere produced by some breeds of goat is pretty amazing, at least when it comes to that wonderful feeling you get when you wear it at just the right dressy occasion.Our guest is Pam Haendle, of Hermit Pond Farm in New York.  She brought a wonderfully educational booth and the sweetest little goat to Rhinebeck for the mad gathering.  She was gracious enough to speak with us about her goats, her kids (ha), and what on earth cashmere and pashmina are, anyway. It's all about the marketing.We have a book to recommend as well, for all of you fiber people out there (no, we're not paid for this, but we have high hopes eventually).  Ever wondered what all that corgi hair might look like in a cable knit?  Corriedale?  Buffalo?  Yak?  We found out.  We kid you not -  we bought the book.Remember that we're posting daily on the Backyard Green films YouTube channel, so tune in for more visuals from the livestock barns, arenas, and vendor halls at Rhinebeck 2019.  Or you can join us on the 17th and 18th as we follow the virtual version of the New York State Sheep & Wool festival 2020.  Think on the bright side - no traffic this year!Links:https://sheepandwool.com/ https://www.facebook.com/pam.haendle https://hermitpondfarm.com/ https://www.facebook.com/hermitpondcashmeregoats/ https://cashmeregoatassociation.org/ https://cashmeregoatassociation.org/post.php?pid=17 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cashmere_wool https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camelidae https://threadcurve.com/types-of-sweaters/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmir_(song) https://www.google.com/search?channel=tus2&client=firefox-b-1-d&q=kashmir+lyrics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Spafford https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Is_Well_with_My_Soul https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0543790/?ref_=nmls_hd https://www.storey.com/books/the-fleece-fiber-sourcebook/ https://www.amazon.com/Fleece-Fiber-Sourcebook-Fibers-Animal/dp/1603427112/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=fleece+and+fiber&qid=1601245442&sr=8-2 Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/agriCulturePodcast)

Fiber at the Speed of Life Podcast
Episode 23: The great pile of dyeing!

Fiber at the Speed of Life Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 26, 2020 59:55


Sponsored by Weavolution If you would like to support the show, become a Weavolution Patron and get access to exclusive Patron content from Erica. Where to find us: iTunes, please leave us a review on  Podcast FB Page! E-mail! We have an e-mail account, please feel free to e-mail us! Podcast Instagram: fiberatthespeedoflifepodcast    Michelle is             Ravelry: MichelleTF             Instagram: michelletfcrafts             Facebook: Valdelia Maker     Erica is             Weavolution: Erica J, Jahanara, or Weavolutionary             Ravelry: weavemage             Instagram: weavemage             Facebook:  Intro and Outro Music: Sundown by Joseph McDade, thank you! Finished objects! Erica: Erica completely finished her 7th C Persian Cowl made from her handwoven damask silk! This has been a long term goal. This is one of the things she really wanted to weave when she decided to purchase her drawloom over 10 years ago! I turned out beautiful and she really feels like a Persian Countess when she wears it. :) The campervan arrived, finally!!! Erica and her family have also finished their first camping (or glamping) trip in the van! The top photo shows Erica in her Hogwarts camping pj's and the shawl she wove 8 years ago. She also enjoyed wearing her hand-knit socks on the trip! The second photo is Erica roasting a marshmallow over a camp stove, she really needs to get a small fire pit just for S'mores. ;) You can also see camping with her family includes a lot of art supplies, yarn, knitting, drawing, coloring, etc. :)       Michelle: Michelle did a bunch of spinning and dyeing. She has been having fun dyeing gradient/variegated combed top using one color of dye. Here is a sample of one in the dye pot.   Some of the colors she's dyed:       Michelle has confirmed that she doesn't like spinning Merino wool. Targhee is enough like Merino that she wasn't really enjoying that either, so she's braided up what she dyed with a plan to sell it. She had lots of undyed Targhee top from her Washtenaw Wool days. Most of it is in the picture above. Some of her spinning:     Here's a couple samples of how the gradient yarn spins up when 2-ply. Michelle loved the result of the first few she spun, so she kept up that style of dyeing. Works in Progress: Erica: Erica's glamping trip helped her get some good progress going on the second pair of socks for her husband. She finally feels like a sock knitter. Erica  has set a long, long term goal of knitting about 5 pairs of socks for everyone in her immediate family. She is on round 2 and will keep a pair of socks on the needles until she reaches her goal. These socks are being knit on 2 mm/ size 0 Chiaogoo needles with a 37" cable. The socks are knit in Crafty Jak's Tough and Tender Pine Needle yarn. When the trip started Erica had only knit a few inches, by the end of the weekend trip she had knit over 3" and changed to the main gauge needle! Erica has also picked up knitting on her semi-circular shawl, which she also knit on her camping trip. The shawl was more van driving knitting than hanging around knitting. :) She has made it past the halfway point, in terms of the number of rows. However there is still 1 increase row left, which will double the number of stitches in each row, but we're not going to do the calculations to see if the halfway point in the number of stitches has been reached yet. :)   Erica and TJ are now weaving the hem reinforcement band together! This long thing band of plain weave linen, will be used to finish and reinforce the seams on her handwoven 7th Persian wool jacket/robe. While handing out in the studio with Erica, TJ asked if he could weave on this warp. Erica was happy to show him how to weave this. Can you tell where TJ was weaving and where Erica was weaving? Erica is so please that TJ is interested in weaving on this warp! Erica is still weaving on her damask warp with the red weft. It is coming along and Erica is excited to be nearing the end of this weaving!     Michelle: Michelle is spinning  some purple Corriedale cross that she dyed and playing in her pottery studio.  

Down Cellar Studio Podcast
Episode 192: Pumpkins & Party Time!

Down Cellar Studio Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 15, 2020 64:44


Thank you for tuning in to Episode 192 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. Check out full show notes & photos on my website: www.downcellarstudio.com/192  Thank you to this episode’s sponsors: Knit Wit Yarn Shop & YumiYarns Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Gno Fun Like Gnome Fun (Ravelry Link) Pattern: Gno Fun Like Gnome Fun by Sarah Schira $7 Canadian knitting pattern Needles: US 4 (3.5 mm) Yarn: Body: Gale’s Art Super Star DK (mustard), Hat: Madeline Tosh Tosh Vintage (in a one of a kind blue/green). Beard/skin: Cascade Eco Alpaca, Natural Flat Crocheted Pumpkin: Ravelry Project Page Pattern: Special Holiday Issue of Workbasket Magazine Oct/Nov 1993 Hook: D (3.25 mm) Yarn: Scraps DK   Pumpkin  Pattern: Pumpkin Garland by Eva Polaripop (free crochet pattern). Ravelry Link, Website Link. Hook: C (2.75 mm) Yarn: Leftover DK weight scraps On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Spinning Shetland 4 oz Ravelry Project Page Singles are done. Need to wind off and ply. 3 ply.  Freewheeler Sweater Pattern: Freewheeler by Kristen Finlay (Ravelry Link) $11 AUD (~$8.35 US) Needles: US 7 (4.5 mm) Yarn (held double): Holiday Yarns (in a gray colorway); CeCe’s Wool Yarn Baby! 1120 yards fingering weight Superwash Merino in the Cherries Jubilee colorway Saw this sweater on Rose Hip Knits Podcast on YouTube. The host, Hanna, was a test knitter.  Vampire Vibes Socks (Ravelry Link) Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in the Vampires Vibes colorway. Holly Press Fibers Sheepish Sock (heels) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Fall Garlands Acorns: Ravelry Link, Website (made 2) Pumpkins: Ravelry Link, Website (made 2) Owl: Ravelry Link, Website (made 1) The September Leaf: Ravelry Link (made 2) Oak Leaf: Ravelry Link, Website (made 2) Teenie Tiny Pumpkin: Ravelry Link, Website (made 1) Baby Ghost: Ravelry Link (made 1) Itty Bitty Bat Amigurumi: Ravelry Link, Website (made 1) Fall Oak Leaves: Ravelry Link, Website (made 1) Materials: Yarn: DK & Worsted scraps Hook: C (2.75 mm) or D (3.25 mm) Plan is to make a garland for my niece Emelyn who just moved away for college; and a set for myself. One might be more Halloween themed and one more fall themed. Black is the New Orange Socks- Ravelry Project Page Link Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Yarn: White Birch Fiber Arts 80/20 SW Merino, Nylon Self Striping in the Black is the New Orange Colorway Using my handmade Hello Kitty Halloween Project bag.  Scrappy Sparkly Halloween Socks- Ravelry Project Page Link Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Yarn: Some scraps. Some Knitty & Color minis  Brainstorming I purchased all of the new Patons Kroy colorways available from Yarnspirations website.  I purchased some fiber. Some from a destash & some from Wound Up Fiber Arts. I purchased some Corriedale. Shawl wearing Thanks to IG user: spincess514, Diana, who mentioned the #shawtember hashtag. I want to knit all the sweaters. Colorwork. DK. Swoncho. Boxy. Browsing Ravelry, IG, Pinterest. Do you have any favorites? From the Armchair Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy Also referenced Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown Nice White Parents podcast series by the New York Times  Little Red Mitten Youtube Podcast with Kerri & Jolyn- makers behind Leo and Roxy yarn and owners of the Little Red Mitten shop. Knitting in Passing Tune in to hear a review of my Virtual Vogue Knitting live classes  1. Legin Innovation Uplifting Crochet Class with LeginKnits. 2. Josh Bennett’s Design Workshop: Building Your Design Identity- highly recommend. 3. Five Crochet Shawls: An Exploration of Shapes and Constructions Cecilia Losada KAL News Quarterly Quests! Get all of the details here. Quarter 3: July 1- September 30 – Lessen the Library– check out the Ravelry Thread here. Quarter 3 Sponsors: Sunsoaked Yarns, Apple Fiber Studio, Cookie and BeesDon’t forget to post on Instagram #QuarterlyQuests you can also add one for the Quarter:#FreetheFavorites #LessentheLibrary #SlaytheStash   Check out all of the details you need to know either in the Start Here Thread  on Ravelry or on my website.  Important Links: Rules– see what’s new and exciting this year.  Sign up Form– get your name on the Roster! Points Tally Form– earned some points? Get credit! Support Request Form– mixed up something when entering points. Let us know. Scoreboard List of Pigskin ‘20 Sponsors Pro Shop Sponsors Exclusive Items Coupon Codes Prize Thread Questions Thread End Zone Dance– come celebrate each other’s finished projects (this is not where you enter your FOs for points in the 2020 season. See Rules for details) Updates in this episode: This year, everyone is a team to provide you a small group to chat with and get to know. The teams roll up into 3 Conferences. Wendy heads up the Alpaca Football Conference (AFC), Lisa heads up the Sheep Football Conference (SFC) and I’m heading up the Llama Football Conference (LFC). Play around with the Points Tally form to practice. That will be wiped on Friday night 9/18. Participants can enter any pre-game points they’re eligible for starting on Saturday 9/19 (but remember you cannot cast on until 9/25).  Stay tuned for a 30 Day Challenge that will help us get to know each other. Join us for our Virtual Kick Off on 9/25 & 26. Details can be found in the Ravelry Groupand on my website. I will be sending out an email newsletter later this week with key Pigskin reminders and links. I am also creating a PDF printable that lets you plan out your projects if you’re the paper planner type. Not on my email list yet? Sign up now and you’ll automatically have it sent to you 24 hours after you sign up.  It is never too late to join in the Pigskin Party. Fill out the Sign up Form anytime. We’d love to have you. Events Stash Dash, hosted by the Knit Girllls, ran from May 22- August 22, 2020. Thank you to everyone who posted/commented that you enjoyed challenge between Jasmin and me. Jasmin shared the results on the Knitmore Girls Podcast Episode 593. Results: Jasmin- 18,816 meters. Jen- 28,557 meters Tune in to hear my breakdown by craft and project type. In theory, the loser our of little private competition donates money to charity, but it’s become something we both have committed to regardless of the outcome. This year, with employer matching we were able to give $200 each to Black Lives Matter, the NAACP & ActBlue. If you’ve gotten something out of this challenge, we encourage you to donate to one of these causes or something that speaks to your value. Festive Sock Along with Amy Florence of Stranded Podcast. Stay tuned to her podcast Ravelry Group for details. October 1- December 1 #Festivesockalong2020  Beth MDQuilter (Instagram) and Abigail Covert_Knits (Instagram) teaming up for #gilmorealong2020 on Instagram. Begins on 9/22. I bought yarn from Area 51 Fibres. Can’t wait! Contest, News & Notes The Knitmore Girls’  Operation Sock Drawer book will be published October 20th. Call Hicklebees or check out this link to order a signed copy! I already ordered mine. Ask Me Anything Happyjustknitting asked: With Stash Dash over, do you still have WIPs or are you working on casting new things/spinning? Tune in to hear my answer. Timenow13 on Instagram Megan asks “Hi, I have two questions. I have recently found your podcast and love it, I’ve listened to it backwards to episode 91 on Apple podcast and I would love to listen to the rest but I’m not sure if they are available anywhere? My second question is if you have any tips for being in a transitional knitting place? I have only ever done flat things mostly washcloths and baby blankets, I finally finished my first piece of lace. I want to start doing hats or mittens or maybe ever a sweater but it all seems like a big jump. Any tips?” You can listen to all of my back episodes directly from my podcast host Libsyn. Click on the POD icon next to the episode name to play an episode. This should work well on mobile or desktop. Taking knitting to the next step- my best advice is “Go where your interest lies.” After scarves I went to hats. I started top down with the Hill Country Hat (Ravelry Link)  by Clara Parkes, which isn’t typical but I thought that would be easy to measure. The great thing w/ hats is they don’t take long and it will fit SOMEONE. Other easy patterns I tried: Neighborly- Ravelry Link (kid’s vest) by Jennifer Casa (Free) & 5-hour baby sweater (cardigan)- Ravelry Link by Courtney Filner (free) I also recommend Tin Can Knits Simple Collection- Ravelry Link. On a Happy Note Starbucks Cold Brew with Dark Cocoa Almondmilk Foam Found a new longer trail local nature preserve! Big upgrade at work has gone well and more importantly- its mostly behind us! Dan bought me a Li’l Sebastian Mug (which he purchased online as we binged Season 7 of Parks and Recreation) Great to see my cousin Gayle who came down for a visit! Fridge and freezer broke (not so happy) but with a recommendation on a local repair shop, it was fixed the same day we called! Cool enough weather to wear handknits- I wore to my Soldotna for visit to Staci’s Stitches.  Quote of the Week Humor is the antidote to overthinking. It’s a way of saying that life is paradoxical. Humor contains contradictions; it does not resolve them but revels in them. It says that the right way to exist among the contradictions, paradoxes, and absurdities of life is to cope with them through laughter. — Bob Mankoff Contact Information: Ravelry: BostonJen & Down Cellar Studio Podcast Ravelry Group Twitter: Instagram: BostonJen1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/downcellarstudio Sign up for my email newsletter to get the latest on everything happening in the Down Cellar Studio!

Down Cellar Studio Podcast
Episode 189: Stockings, Skirts & Spinning in Summer

Down Cellar Studio Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 31, 2020 53:53


Thank you for tuning in to Episode 189 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. Full show notes with photos can be found on my website. Click here.  This week’s segments included: Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Brainstorming From the Armchair Crafty Adventures Knitting in Passing KAL News Events Contest, News & Notes Life in Focus On a Happy Note Quote of the Week Thank you to this episode’s sponsors: Holly Press Fibers  Many links below are links to Ravelry, but where other links were available I have noted that specifically.  Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Teddy’s Christmas Stocking Pattern: Granny Square Christmas Stocking by Family Circle Magazine (Non Ravelry Link) Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Worsted in Red, White and Everglade Heather Hook: F (3.75 mm) A very special thank you to listener- Annette- Readorknit on Ravelry who sent me her copy of Family Circle 1977 that contains this pattern! Stash Dash total: 460 meters Altered Denim Skirt Yarn: One Twisted Tree Prime in the Gulf Colorway  Hook: B & C Hooks Pattern: None Yarn: One Twisted Tree Prime base in the Gulf colorway  Yarn leftover from Riley Rose shawl sample- Caribbean blue waters. Bought the skirt at Savers & thought it would be perfect to jazz up with some crochet trim.  10g used for bottom trim and pockets. Belt- C hook. 18g used 117 meters Stash Dash Cake Party Christmas Socks Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams Yarn: Wisdom Yarn Pix in the Cake Party Colorway + Patons Kroy in Red for heels, cuffs & toes Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Finished socks used 72g total: 44g of the main and 28g contrast color, so I have enough to make another pair.  Stash Dash Total: 271 meters To Knit or to Hike Socks Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams Yarn: Holly Press Fibers Sheepish Sock in the To Knit or To Hike Colorway Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Finished socks are 64g. Stash Dash: 270 meters.  Summer 2020 Wash Cloths Round 2 Pattern: Solid Granny Square by Lullaby Melodia (Non- Ravelry Link) Yarn: Lily Sugar’n Cream  Hook: J (6.0 mm) 70 granny squares (4 rounds each). I also did one large hexi, 1 large circle and 2 small circle cloths for make up removal  Stash Dash: 1518 meters Spinning 3 ply- 2 Corriedale, 1 BFL 24 grams 67 meters Stash Dash total: 268 meters. Beesy Bee Fibers- Cream Corriedale Total 2 ply 210g  1,258 meters Stash Dash Total= 3774 Beesy Fibers 4oz Natural BFL Total 2 ply: 98 grams 431 meters Stash Dash Meters: 1,293 This episode’s Stash Dash Total: 18,881 meters On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Sweet Tea Triangle Shawl Yarn: Queensland Collection Perth in the Alice Springs Colorway Pattern: Sweet Tea Triangle Shawl by Michelle Ferguson (crochet pattern $5) Hook: G (4.25 mm) Solid Granny Square Scrap Blanket Yarn: leftover fingering weight yarn + 2 skeins of Lion Brand Sock Ease marshmallow  Pattern: Solid Granny Square by Lullaby Melodia (free crochet pattern) Hook: D (3.25 mm) 3 rounds per square Summer Camp Socks Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in the Summer Camp Colorway Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Cedar River Blanket Pattern Cedar River Blanket by Kat Goldin (free crochet pattern) Non Ravelry Link Yarn: Loops & Threads Impeccable in White, Light Gray, Yellow, Dark Charcoal & Black Hook: I (5.5 mm) Spinning  Blueberry Chick Yarn – 4oz Cheviot in the Splash Pad Party Exclusive – Tequila Sunrise  Brainstorming Purchased yarn from Legacy Fiber Artz– Winnie Sanderson-Mini Sock Skein Set I ordered a bunch of new Knit Picks Felici colorways! From the Armchair Check out the Knitting with Knitboop hosted by Ya Ru on YouTube PodcastYa Ru is also the host of the Quiet Queers Craftalong, for which I’m a sponsor.  Crafty Adventures/ Knitting in Passing I finished my Photo album for January- June 2018. I made my pages in the Project Life App and am printing through Picaboo. I order the 12×2 Lay Flat books. They’re pricy but the quality is beautiful.  Riley told me she’d like to make a cushion for a little nook in her room so I started teaching her crochet. Garret, 10, took a bit of interest in my wheel and specifically the Tequila Sunrise colorway. While Garret petted the wool, Riley dug out old Picaboo calendars that have collages of photos of the family and made pages for her own scrapbook.   KAL News   Quarterly Quests! Get all of the details here.  Quarter 3: July 1- September 30 – Lessen the Library– check out the Ravelry Thread here. Quarter 3 Sponsors: Sunsoaked Yarns, Apple Fiber Studio, Cookie and Bees Don’t forget to post on Instagram #QuarterlyQuests you can also add one for the Quarter: #LessentheLibrary Splash Pad Party – Check out the Start Here Thread for Details & Links to everything you need Pro Shop Sponsors: 2 Guys Yarn Company Adoreknit agirlandherwool BedeSisters & Blueberry Chick Yarn Fibernymph Dye Works Jennifer Lassonde Designs Prairie Bag Works Rising Tide Fiber Co Sunsoaked Yarns Yumi Yarns Designs Snack Shack Sponsors Anne Beady Designs Apple Fiber Studio Cookie and Bees Fair Winds Farm Irocknits Designs Keegan Lane Designs Kino Knits Knitters Brewing Company Legacy Fiber Artz NähSt Design Pearl and Plum Progress Keepers by Meliabella The Sensible Stitcher Pigskin Party still going ahead as scheduled even if the NFL Football season is altered or canceled. I moved the start date to 9/25/20. We will kick off with virtual events on 9/25 & 26. More details to follow! I am still looking for sponsors. Do you want to sponsor? Check out this page on my website and fill out the Google Form. Already signed up? Check your email for a confirmation email from me. Pro Shop Sponsors are given the opportunity to sell exclusive items before & during the KAL. This is the paid option ($60 for Pigskin Party). There are a max of 20 spots per KAL. I believe I have 9 left at this time so please fill out form soon if interested.  Interception Sponsors (Pigskin Party ONLY) host a challenge within the Pigskin Party ($25). There are a max of 5 spots.- 3 already filled.  Snack Shack Sponsors will donate prizes but will not be sell KAL Exclusive products. This is free option and there are unlimited spots. Events Stash Dash, hosted by the Knit Girllls, runs May 22- August 22, 2020. Check out the Chat Thread & the Rules in the Knit Girllls Podcast group. Contest, News & Notes Check out this YouTube video on how to more easily Download Ravelry Library. Thank you to ladies of Tipsy Knits Podcast for mentioning it. Just a reminder that my patterns are available both on on Ravelry and LoveCrafts.  Life in Focus I reviewed my progress on my 20 for 2020 list. Tip- can’t get to your local museums? See if they have an email newsletter to keep you posted on virtual events. Plastic Free July- I admitted I’m not quite as committed as last year. Need tips? Check out this Article on How to Reduce Plastic on a Budget Social Justice Learning/Work Updates Check out my cousin’s husband, Trey Ellis’, Interview with John Lewis I attended (Virtually) the Monumental Change: Addressing the Legacies of Systemic Racism in Public Art Presented by BU Arts Initiative and WBUR The ARTery at Online/Virtual Space. It is available to watch now on YouTube I’m working on the Me & White Supremacy Workbook by Layla F. Saad & listening to So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo via Hoopla in conjunction with my local library system. Learning so much!  Great resource for becoming anti-racist and supporting Black Lives Matter causes On a Happy Note Love me Stand in the Gap tumbler. Collaboration between GGMadeIt & Magpie Fibers (Gaye Gillespie).The proceeds go to The Conscious Kid who This focuses on bringing Anti-Racism into the schools. I completed a huge studio clean out.  Kayaking with Megg, Oisin and Hattie.  Will’s track meet.  Zoom morning workouts are still going well.  We enjoyed celebrating our nephew Will’s 13th birthday  Quote of the Week “When you lose track of time, you are either living your best life or wasting it.” James Clear Thank you for tuning in! Contact Information: Ravelry: BostonJen & Down Cellar Studio Podcast Ravelry Group Twitter: Instagram: BostonJen1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/downcellarstudio Sign up for my email newsletter to get the latest on everything happening in the Down Cellar Studio!

Down Cellar Studio Podcast
Episode 188: Home Sweet Home

Down Cellar Studio Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 15, 2020 55:31


Thank you for tuning in to Episode 188 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. Full show notes can be found at www.downcellarstudio.com/188 This week’s segments included: Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Brainstorming From the Armchair Knitting in Passing In my Travels KAL News Events Contest, News & Notes Life in Focus On a Happy Note Quote of the Week Note- most links below link to Ravelry pages. If Ravelry is not accessible to you right now, please email me at downcellarstudio at gmail.com and I’m happy to find you another accessible link or share more information Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Quarantine Socks Yarn: Berroco Sox in Colorway 1415 Portsoy (self striping grays and blues) Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) 10.5 inch leg and foot. Just a little more than 3/4 of the skein.  305 meters Blue Raspberry Matchy Socks Yarn: Patons Kroy Socks in the Blue Raspberry Colorway  Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) 259 meters  Chevron Scrap Blanket Pattern: Chevron Scrap Blanket by Maria’s Blue Crayon Yarn: Various acrylic worsted weight yarn from stash Hook: J (6.0 mm) Great stash buster. I used 16g to make one stripe of 7 rows. 10g to make a corner Total: 1028 meters  Donner Pattern: Donner by Elizabeth Doherty Yarn: Ellyn Cooper’s Yarn Sonnets Jenny Needles: Body US 3 (3.25 mm). Ribbing US 1.5 (2.5 mm)  Ripped back to make it shorter so I’ll wear it more. 716 Meters  Abington Mitts Designing mitts- to coordinate with Abington Hat (part of Point Counterpoint Vol 5) Yarn: Goosey Fibers Squish DK. Pepper Spray First. More details to follow 139 meters. Stash Dash Total to date: 10,910 meters- goal is 20k! On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Sweet Tea Triangle Shawl Yarn: Queensland Collection Perth in the Alice Springs Colorway Pattern: Sweet Tea Triangle Shawl by Michelle Ferguson (crochet pattern $5) Hook: G (4.25 mm) Solid Granny Square Scrap Blanket Yarn: leftover fingering weight yarn Pattern: Solid Granny Square by Lullaby Melodia (free crochet pattern) Hook: D (3.25 mm) 3 rounds per square. Summer Camp Socks Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in the Summer Camp Colorway Needles; US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Spinning: 8oz of Corriedale. Ready To ply with 4 oz of BFL. Dan helped me out making a DIY bobbin winder with a drill with help from a blog post from Oak Blue Designs. Blueberry Chick Yarn – 4oz Cheviot in Splash Pad Party Exclusive – Tequila Sunrise  Brainstorming PRIDE Socks by Matt Akers Ebook Cedar River Blanket by Kat Goldin (free crochet pattern) From the Armchair Best Day Ever Crafting Podcast: check them out on YouTube & Ravelry Group Earthtones Girl: YouTube & Ravelry Group Knitting In Passing  I shared stories about Riley and Millie using my spinning wheel for the first time and about Hattie’s first time asking to knit with me (at age 2 1/2) In My Travels  Dan and I were lucky to get to spend a little over 2 weeks at my cousin’s lake house in New Hampshire. We did a lot of kayaking including a trip to the nearby Saco river with my family. I talked about how I take my good habits with me on vacation and some of the highlights of our trip. KAL News Quarterly Quests! Tune in to hear if you’ve won a Quarter 2 Prize! Quarter 3: July 1- September 30 – Lessen the Library– check out the Ravelry Thread here. Quarter 3 Sponsors: Sunsoaked Yarns, Apple Fiber Studio, Cookie and Bees Don’t forget to post on Instagram #QuarterlyQuests #LessentheLibrary Splash Pad Party Check out the Start Here Thread for Details & Links to everything you need Pro Shop Sponsors: 2 Guys Yarn Company Adoreknit agirlandherwool BedeSisters & Blueberry Chick Yarn Fibernymph Dye Works Jennifer Lassonde Designs Prairie Bag Works Rising Tide Fiber Co Sunsoaked Yarns Yumi Yarns Designs Snack Shack Sponsors Anne Beady Designs Apple Fiber Studio Cookie and Bees Fair Winds Farm Irocknits Designs Keegan Lane Designs Kino Knits Knitters Brewing Company Legacy Fiber Artz NähSt Design Pearl and Plum Progress Keepers by Meliabella The Sensible Stitcher Tune in to hear if you won a participation prize! Pigskin Party ’20 Because inquiring minds want to know- YES, the Pigskin Party still going ahead as scheduled even if the NFL Football season is altered or canceled. We’ve been good at Virtual parties for years. This will be our 7th annual Pigskin Party. I hope you’ll consider joining us. Official dates: September 10, 2020 through February 8, 2021. Do you want to sponsor? Check out this page on my website and fill out the Google Form. Already signed up? I’ll reach out soon to confirm your details.  Events Stash Dash, hosted by the Knit Girllls, runs May 22- August 22, 2020. Check out the Chat Thread & the Rules in the Knit Girllls Podcast group Tour de Fleece: Saturday June 27 to Sunday July 19  Contest, News & Notes I am extremely disappointed in the Ravelry response to recent user issues with their new redesign. I sell my patterns on Ravelry but want them to be accessible to everyone so you can now find my self-published patterns on LoveCrafts. Life in Focus This week’s segment focuses on #PlasticfreeJuly: I talked about what I kept from last year, how I’m giving myself grace this year during the pandemic and I give some product recommendations. Plastic Free Product Recommendations Bamboo Toothbrushes. Lena Menstrual Cup  supplemented with a couple organic lines & tampons Compostable plates & bowls & silverware for big gatherings (not that we’ve had any in 2020) TruEarth laundry strips Still working through Shampoo bars Toothpaste options. Best so far- Lush Toothpaste Tabs (out of stock online) Come chat in the #PlasticFreeJuly Thread in the Down Cellar Studio Podcast Ravelry Group!  On a Happy Note Kayaking with my cousin Jamie. Oisín’s baseball game.  Seeing the doe and two fawns who frequent our backyard.  Seeing a bald eagle at the lake! Hamilton on Disney Plus (yes, I’m late to the game) Walgreens Wood Panel prints that I ordered for my guest room of the nieces and nephews’ sleepover photos. Zoom workouts with my bff.  Going to the Lake and also returning home. Quote of the Week It’s not about time, it’s about choices. How are you spending your choices. -Beverly Adamo Thank you for tuning in! Contact Information: Ravelry: BostonJen & Down Cellar Studio Podcast Ravelry Group Twitter: Instagram: BostonJen1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/downcellarstudio Sign up for my email newsletter to get the latest on everything happening in the Down Cellar Studio!

Down Cellar Studio Podcast
Episode 186: Rainbows & Reflections

Down Cellar Studio Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 15, 2020 62:42


Thank you for tuning in to Episode 186 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. This week’s segments included: Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Brainstorming KAL News Events Contest, News & Notes Life in Focus Ask Me Anything On a Happy Note Quote of the Week Thank you to this episode’s sponsors: agirlandherwool & Fibernymph Dye Works I started the show with a bit of my perspective on and support for Black Lives Matter. Tune in to hear the details. I also shared a quote from Gretchen Rubin from Episode 267 of the Happier Podcast. “The things of ordinary life can seem trivial especially at times like this but big things coexist with little things— and by taking care of little things– and our own lives —we strengthen ourselves to take action on big things. And to turn outward— and to think about other people and the right action we can take in the world.” Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Mixed BFL Mixed BFL: Call Me Row-Bear from 2GuysYarn Wheel: Kromski Minstrel  2 ply yarn  312.7 meters.  Stash Dash Total: 938 meters Christmas Stocking for Jenna & Cecilia Pattern: Granny Square Christmas Stocking by Family Circle Magazine 1977 (not available online anymore) Yarn: Patons Classic Worsted in Bright Red Hook: F (3.75mm) 912 meters  Happiest Blanket Ever 2  Pattern: Happiest Blanket Ever by Tamara Kelly (free crochet pattern) Yarn: Lion Brand Pound of Love (Pastel Green) for Main Color. Lion Brand Ice Cream Big Scoop in the Tutti Fruitti Colorway  Hook: K (6.5 mm) Cast on for Baby Size. Chain 154. MC- 783 meters, CC: 429 meters: about 90 meters for last round of border in a salmon color. Total: 1304 meters for stash dash FO= 51 inches long  and 37 inches wide 2 Blues 32oz Jar Cozy Pattern: None Hooks: 3.5 mm (E), 3.75 mm (F),4.0 mm (G) Yarn: Lion Brand Re-Up in Sky and Denim 46 meters   Rainbow Cozy Large (32oz jar) Pattern: None Hooks: 3.5 mm (E), 3.75 mm (F),4.0 mm (G) Yarn: Lion Brand Re-Up- Black, worked my way through rainbow. Purple to red. Black body. Pink round at the top. 59 meters   Stash Dash Summer Dishcloths Round 1 Yarn: Lily Sugar n’Cream Hook: J (6.0 mm) Pattern: Solid Granny Square I’m trying to work through my entire stash of Lily Sugar n’ Cream cotton. My firstbatch of summer washcloths = 32 cloths. 454 grams/ 704 meters Stash Dash Total (to date): 6,670 meters On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Quarantine Socks Yarn: Berroco Sox in Colorway 1415 Portsoy (self striping grays and blues) Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Finished first sock- 38g.   Almost through leg of second sock.    Misfit Scrappy Sock  Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Yarn: Mint Rain Hand Dyed Yarn Twist Sock in the We R All Misfits (self striping). Holly Press Fibers Sheepish Minis in 2 colors of green   PrideSockathon2020 Socks Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in the Rainbow Colorway & Paton’s Kroy (black) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams Cast on for Abigail of Covert Knits Video Podcast Pride Sockathon 2020 runs through June.  Abigail is donating money to The Trevor Project for each pair she finishes and I think I’ll do the same.  Natural Tans BFL Fiber: 4 oz BFL from Beesy Fibers. Wheel: Kromski Minstrel Plan is to spin 8 oz cream/undyed Corriedale and spin a 3 ply.  C2C Blanket Pattern: Corner to Corner Start tutorial by Lauri Bolland Hook: I (5.25mm) Yarn: Vanna’s Choice 3 skeins each of (pink) and (light gray) Thanks to walshcentral- Maryann for inspiration and link to pattern on Ravelry. I found this tutorial very useful to get my head around the construction. I used this link for Border help  but found that I was getting too much flare, so after first round of (chain 3, sc) instead of DC in each chain, I did 2 DC, then DC in the SC below.  Brainstorming Chevron Scrap Blanket by Maria’s Blue Crayon Graceful by Kristina Smiley free crochet pattern for Expression Fiber Arts KAL News Quarterly Quests! Get all of the details here. Check out the Quarter 2 Thread April 1-June 30 – Free the Favorites Knit any projects you have “hearted” over the year with the hopes of knitting them someday. That day will arrive. Knit as many as you can. You will receive extra entries for any pattern that was favorited over 5 yearsIt can be something you’ve made before Thank you to our Quarter 2 Sponsors: Prairie Bag Works, NahSt Designs, Yumi Yarns Designs, agirlandherwool, Holly Press Fibers. Don’t forget to post on Instagram #QuarterlyQuests you can also add one for the Quarter: #sQuelchtheQueue#FreetheFavorites#LessentheLibrary#SlaytheStash& you can always add #downcellarstudiopodcast Splash Pad Party – Check out the Start Here Thread for Details & Links to everything you need Pro Shop Sponsors: 2 Guys Yarn Company Adoreknit agirlandherwool BedeSisters & Blueberry Chick Yarn Fibernymph Dye Works Jennifer Lassonde Designs Prairie Bag Works Rising Tide Fiber Co Sunsoaked Yarns Yumi Yarns Designs Snack Shack Sponsors Anne Beady Designs Apple Fiber Studio Cookie and Bees Fair Winds Farm Irocknits Designs Keegan Lane Designs Kino Knits Knitters Brewing Company Legacy Fiber Artz NähSt Design Pearl and Plum Progress Keepers by Meliabella The Sensible Stitcher Events Stash Dash, hosted by the Knit Girllls, runs May 22- August 22, 2020. Check out the Chat Thread & the Rules in the Knit Girllls Podcast group Contest, News & Notes My latest knitting pattern is available on Ravelry! The Ice Time Mitts pattern is $5 on Ravelry.   Yarn Main Color: Legacy Fiber Artz DK, 75% Superwash Merino, 25% Nylon. 100 grams, 245 yards / 224 meters. Colorway – Grey Gardens (grey) Contrast Color: Cloudborn Fibers Highland DK, 100% Fine Highland Wool. 50 grams, 164 yards / 150 meters. Colorway – Maize Heather (mustard). Yarn Used in Sample (Medium): Main Color used 30 grams, 74 yards / 68 meters. Contrast Color used 22 grams, 71 yards / 65 meters. Sizes Small (Medium, Large) Finished palm circumference: 6 (7, 8) in / 15.25 (17.75, 20.25) cm Intended to fit with no-ease to a little bit of negative ease. Select the size that is closest to your handcircumference as measured just below the knuckles. If you are between sizes, I’d recommend going down to a smaller size Pattern Info Pattern has 2 linked video tutorials- how to work the 1×1 cable without a cable needle and without dropping the stitch off your needles. How to do the Jeny’s surprisingly stretchy BO on 1×1 rib.  Tech edited and test knit. Life in Focus I talk about focusing on committing to my own anti-racism education and how I can sustain both education and action. Resources mentioned: Me & White Supremacy Book by Layla Saad &  Justice in June  Ask Me Anything Shateen Amanda asked: What is your current favorite lunch or snack? Lunch- Siracha Ranch salad (salad with any veggies I have in my fridge and the Siracha Ranch dressing from Trader Joe’s) Snack- fruit. or popcorn   Limestone knits asked: What are your favorite cardigan patterns I’ve only knit 4 adult cardigans. Rocky Coast by Hannah Fettig, Lush Cardigan by Tin Can Knits, Mezzo Cardigan by Alexis Windslow, Sandbar Cardi- crochet pattern by Toni Lipsey. I’ve learned something through each one- about fit and fiber content… Not sure cardigans are my thing. My favorite of these is the Mezzo Cardigan. On a Happy Note Attending a peaceful BLM protest in Boston. Figuring out what my family feels comfortable with for visiting. Riley and Millie knitting at the pool Kayaking with Dan Seeing a buck in the backyard. Celebrating my 40th birthday! Visiting with family after the kids come here on Saturdays to work in the woods with Dan. Quote of the Week The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but building the new. -Socrates Contact Information: Ravelry: BostonJen & Down Cellar Studio Podcast Ravelry Group Twitter: Instagram: BostonJen1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/downcellarstudio Sign up for my email newsletter to get the latest on everything happening in the Down Cellar Studio!

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures
Ep 135: Finished Knits and Spins

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 25, 2020 63:26


Recording with a Zoom audience again this time! Two finished knitting projects, some “show and tell” and some finished spinning.  Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of  our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com.  Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page. This was another live episode so Kelly had the opportunity to “show and tell” her 1958 Lace Cardigan. This sweater was started before I was much of a knitter and had to be put away for quite a long time while my knitting skills caught up to my plans!  The discussion about how little instruction there was in old patterns reminded Marsha of a series of videos by Arne and Carlos about Norwegian sweaters and their history.  Marsha’s Projects: I finished my Dusk Into Twilight Shawl by Rosemary Hill. I used Two Ewes Fiber Adventures Replenish Rambouillet fingering dyed by Kelly in three colors, Bourbon and Suede, Falling Leaves, and Aquamarine.  Finished the heel flap of second John O Groats. Using Yarns From the Plain sock yarn. Finished  Goro Anamara hat by Valeria Garcia. Using Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd’s Wool Worsted.  Correction: Frank Jernigan’s website is Phrancko.com this is a correction from a previous episode show notes. Frank upgraded my account to premiere and I can get custom patterns for $1. Thinking of using Frank’s program to make a sweater for Ben out of North Ronaldsay yarn.  Kelly’s Projects I’ve finished my spinning using a mixed wool roving from Shaky K fibers. It was a multicolor braid or Corriedale, Columbia and Rambouillet. Such a bouncy blend of fibers and the colors worked well for a 3-ply. I’ve also finished spinning a two-ply of merino and silk from Alexandra the Art of Yarn. It is burgundy and gold and as I started spinning I noticed that the singles  matched well with two skeins of Wandering Wool Udaipur (also a merino silk) in Cranberry Bog. So I think this spin will join those two skeins and become something. A sweater would be nice and maybe it would be my first wool pullover?  The  Mariannes Cardigan, a pattern by Trine Bertelsen may not be completely fine, unlike Eleanor Oliphant. I tried it on and although the “seam” where I am alternating skeins starts out under the arm, it seems to be skewing and twisting so that the seam is more to the front of my body down at the bottom of the tee.. Will this block out? Do I want to find out the hard way? Or do I want to rip back to the underarms and try again? If I put a faux seam on each side I could more easily hide the place where the skeins alternate and the “jog” happens.  Duren Dyeworks Spring Skeins Drawing Laura from Duren Dyeworks was having a sale AND she threw in an extra skein. The yarn is targhee heavy worsted to aran weight. We’ll be using it for prizes for a new giveaway. In the Ravelry thread show us how your used patterns look and tell us how you store your patterns. Marsha’s patterns are folded and mutilated by the end of a project. She has friends who keep their patterns pristine.  Check out the Ravelry group to participate in the thread.  Summer Spin Along? Fiber Adventurers have been talking about the possibility of a summer spin along. We both have plenty of fleeces and think it’s a great idea since we have so many fleeces needing to be processed and spun. There’s currently a thread in the group for planning for this. It will start at the end of May so there is time to think and plan. 

Podcast – creative.mother.thinking
Handgemacht Podcast 145: Faserverzückter Jahresrückblick

Podcast – creative.mother.thinking

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 3, 2020 59:15


Und hier ist wieder eine neue Folge: Gestrickt habe ich:  Hearthstone Pullover: etwas weiter Beerentorte-Socken: angefangen Gesponnen habe ich: den Rest braunes Corriedale auf der Spindel Erwähnt wurde: meine Patreon-Seite Word-Tracker

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures
Ep 122: It Takes 2 Brains to Make a Skull

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 19, 2019 51:29


Troubleshooting a tricky pattern, productive struggle, and planning to Fix It or Nix It are the topics for this week. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of  our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Come join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page. Marsha’s Projects I finished 1898 Hat by Kristine Byrnes with worsted weight.  Leading Men Fiber Arts Box Office Worsted in the colorway Wild Goose Chase. The pattern is available for free on the Seamen’s Church Institute: Christmas at Sea website.  I restarted Shared Rib by Anne Hanson as a cowl. I'm using Old Maiden Aunt fingering that in the colorway Crimson Lips that I bought at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival. I also started Daphne’s Skull designed by Ellen Sibelius owner of Wooly Wonders. To hear more about her designs check out Episode 109. Keep your fingers crossed I finished this by Halloween. ;-) Kelly’s Projects My only project is the pair of Seabrook Socks out of Little Fish Stitches yarn in the Seabrook Sunset colorway exclusive to String Theory Yarn and Fiber. Using a pattern of traveling purl stitches inspired by Hermione’s Everyday Sock pattern. I moved the spinning wheel into the bedroom but still haven’t done any spinning.  Exciting Shop news The Ewes have several new bases coming soon to the shop. Besides the fingering weight Replenish Rambouillet, the show will also have a sport weight and a worsted weight. In addition, there will be two small-batch yarns available--one Romney and another Corriedale x Romeldale. We’ll keep you posted about a coming shop update.  Events Fibershed Wool and Fine Fiber Symposium, November 16th, 9-5 at Point Reyes Station Winter Weave Along--Started October 15 in the Two Ewes Ravelry Group. This weave along goes until the end of March so you have plenty of time for weaving projects. Fix it or Nix It--Starts November 1st and goes through January 1. Join the planning on teh Ravelry group discussion board. 

Crochet Circle Podcast
Episode 47 - Tardy

Crochet Circle Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 4, 2019 60:29


Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 47 – Tardy     My name is Fay and this is my audio and video podcast for those that love fibre crafts, particularly crochet.  It’s a community for people that like to support their fellow humans regardless of race, gender, sexuality, ability, size or age. I hope you feel the welcome embrace and love of the Crochet Clan.  Come on in and stay awhile.     In this episode, I cover Old Dog New Tricks; Final Destination; En Route; Feeding the habit; Quick News Beats; Big Up and J’adore.   This podcast is sponsored by my online crafting company, Provenance Craft Co.  Thanks to everyone who tunes into the podcast whether it is through Stitcher, Podbean, Spotify, iTunes or the YouTube Channel. Your support and engagement are really appreciated and makes running a podcast very special and worthwhile.    If you would like to support the podcast, you can do that through Patreon:   1 – Old Dog New Tricks I have a quick Ravelry tip for you this month.  This feature has always existed, but the good folk at Ravelry have now spruced up the feature a little to make the suggestions more prominent.    If you have a favourite designer that you like and a favourite design of theirs, click into that pattern page and on the right-hand side, at the bottom of the page you will see thumbnails of suggestions for other, similar patterns and a link for “More that people also like…” which takes you through to lots of other pattern suggestions. I think this is a really great way to search for patterns and come across new, smaller designers that may struggle to get known.    Photo: Shows the Ravelry screen having searched for my Criss-cross pattern.  Photo: At the bottom right-hand side some thumbnails will appear showing alternative patterns. Photo: By clicking through to more suggestions, you will see a page of other suggested patterns that have been favourited.   2 – CAL Updates This podcast is titled “Tardy” because that is what I have been!  If you aren’t familiar with the word, it means delaying or delayed beyond the right or expected time.  About 12 months ago I was running the #sockalong2018 and 11 months ago I should have drawn for prizes from Instagram and the FO thread that was hosted in Kathryn from Crafternoon Treats podcast group on Ravelry.    About three months ago I found the prizes in my Stash Palace and figured I may as well wait and mark the occasion a full tardy twelve months later!    So, if you have won a prize, I have already been in touch with you.  On Instagram, the winners were @yarn.adventurous and @fizzcrail.  Over on Ravelry, the random number generator picked Woolwoman2k8, NinaCamilleri and Stasiacrochet.    Sorry, it has taken me this long to do the prize draw, it very much speaks to the reason why I haven’t been doing CALs this year. That said, I am co-hosting a #wiprip2019 with Sophie from A Spring Snowflake Podcast (link) albeit, Sophie is doing most of the work because she is hosting the chatter thread over on her Ravelry Group Page.   The whole idea is that you have from now until midnight on the 31st December to finish up or rip out some or all of your WIPs so that you go into the New Year with fewer projects.   On Instagram, you can use #wiprip2019 for chatter and #wiprip2019FO to show off your finished or frogged projects.  Go to Sophie’s Ravelry group for chatter and I will open and host the FO thread.    From my end, these are the projects that I will be finishing up: 1 – Chapman Socks (knitted) 2 – Verity Vest (crochet) 3 – Anything else I have started and need to finish I have less to go through because I have been trying to be quite a monogamous crafter over the last few months, but there may be projects lurking that need to be sorted out!   Come and join us and let’s carry fewer projects into 2020.   3 – Final Destination Okay, so whilst I don’t have any finished crochet objects that I can show you, I do actually have some knitted ones.  This month I finished off two commission projects for a yarn company, but I won’t be able to show them off properly until well into next year.   However, I have been finishing up a load of knitted socks.  I quite often have a sock on the go because I leave them in yarn bowls when I am at shows to show off their potential and also to talk through my sock patterns.      Now, instead of three single socks, I have three pairs all finished and ready to wear this winter.    ALT TEXT: Three socks on a grey background.  Left is a striped sock in light grey, forest green, bright green, purple, steel blue and hot pink.  The middle sock is also striped and is a dark rusty copper and dark verdigris colour.  The sock on the right is cream with blips of brown, yellow, peach and blue.  This sock has a contrast cuff, heel and toe in soft peachy pink.   The colourful striped socks are in John Arbon Textiles Exmoor Sock Yarn (link).  I was using up the ends from my Kinbaine shawl (link) and Acanthium Mittens (link).  The pattern is my own and it’s called Mini Mania (link).   The copper and green Mini Mania socks are also in John Arbon Textiles Exmoor Sock Yarn but were dyed up by RiverKnits and the colours are no longer available.   The beautiful speckled pastel socks are the Pebbles and Pathways pattern by Marceline Smith (link).  In the pattern, Marce encourages you to go your own way and add your own elements and I definitely did that – mine are cuff down and I added all sorts of extra bits!  The main colour is ‘Orchard’ by Bernie at Bear in Sheep’s Clothing (link) and is 100% Corriedale with no nylon or superwash.  I will be reporting back on how well these wear.  The contrast colour was an unnamed mini by Desiree at Abercairn Yarns (link) and I think is 75% Merino and 25% nylon.   I also attended an eco-printing workshop at my local Weavers, Spinners and Dyers Guild.  You place leaves and flowers on pre-mordanted material, roll it up and steam it.  This sets the vegetation print onto the material with varying results and takes a lot of trial and error.  The below photos show some of the results I got.   If you are interested in the subject of Eco-Printing and creating plant-based inks, I have just listed a book in my shop by Babs Behan called "Botanical Inks" (link).   ALT TEXT: Collage of three photos. Left - a square of undyed silk with Japanese Maple, ferns and purple Heuchera leaves and flower stems laid out on a table.  Below the silk is the broom handle that he silk will be rolled onto for steaming.  Top right - cream wool fabric after steaming.  Eucalyptus leaves have left a rust orange print from the eco-printing process.  Bottom right - another sheet of silk with Japanese Maple and fern.  The second half of the silk has been placed on top to create a 'ghost' print.       4 – En Route The only project on my hook is the Mya Shawl by Helda Panagary (link).  This is my entry into #RhineBIPOCSweater K/CAL – I can’t link to the bundle within Ravelry, but you can get details via Lady Dye’s Instagram post (link).    After a bit of fiddling around with hook sizes and the number of rows, I settled on using ‘Pisces’ by Cosmic Strings (the dyers are Phu and Bea (link)) as the main skein and some Rico mohair as the sort of background colour.    I had been hoping to finish this up and be wearing the shawl as I listened to Helda do her talk on ‘Being a Crochet Designer’ at Yarndale on Saturday.  I didn’t quite manage it and settled instead for crocheting on it whilst she talked.   Had I just stuck to the pattern and not fiddled (I will never learn), then I would have had an FO.  However, because I am doing 4 rows of mohair laceweight (100m per 100g) to 2 rows of 4ply, it’s taking a little longer.  My plan is to use up all of the mohair, which I suspect will leave me with a little bit of the Cosmic Strings teal.    My reason for fiddling is a good one though.  The pattern makes quite a deep, but short shawl and I have quite wide shoulders.  By changing the number of row repeats, I am able to make a bigger shawl that will better fit my body shape.       I am calling it my Slythermort shawl and also entering it into Clarisabeth’s (Crochet Cakes podcast) Mischief Managed CAL (link).  I have until the 31st October to get this finished!     ALT TEXT: Image shows a dark background with a cake of a dark/dirty teal coloured yarn to the left and a flattened mohair cake of stormy grey yarn to the right.  At the fore are a blue metal crochet hook and a striped shawl in the yarn.     5 – Feeding the Habit Did I got to Yarndale and manage to not buy any yarn?  Yup, yes I did!  This is totally aided by the fact that I picked up two loads of yarn from vendors which is yarn support for my patterns.    So, what did I buy instead of yarn?  I bought a knitted pattern book by Jimi Knits (link), some pin badges from Bear in Sheep's Clothing (link) and Nerdbird Makery (link) and a small sewn project bag by Border Tart (link).    ALT TEXT: grey background with Jimi Knits A4 pattern book to the left, linen project bag with sewn scraps of blue fabric overlapping the book.  To the right are folds of soft cashmere tweed and in the fore are two pins on cards, one is the back of a polar bear wearing a kilt and the other is head and of a BIPOC knitter with yarn and knitting needles in her hair.    I’m not really missing buying yarn.  I have so much in my stash and I am really enjoying shopping in my own Stash Palace and using up deep stash in particular.    6 – Quick News Beats 1 - Global Hook Up – I have set the dates for the next few months and will stick to the 8 pm GMT/BST on a Saturday night and 9 am GMT/BST on a Sunday morning.   The details for the next sessions are already up in the Ravelry thread, can also be found below and will be put out on Instagram in advance. The meeting ID number is 475-047-5819 and you will need to join via Zoom which you can do here:  https://www.zoom.us/join If you are joining on your phone or tablet you will likely need to download the software in advance.  If you are joining from a PC or Mac, you can join via the link above.  Everyone needs to use the same ID number to get into the session.    October - Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th   November - Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th   December - Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th   2 – I promised in the last podcast that I would write a quick blog on what apps and podcasts I use to help to run my business.  You can find that blogpost on my website (link). 3 – I had three copies of Eilidh’s print (link) to giveaway and the winners are: Instagram – @craftybritabroad (Amy) Podbean – Marce (BrownBerry Podcast) YouTube – Patty Crochets Well done everyone.  4 – I did the catwalk at Perth Festival of Yarn!  It was a lot of fun and definitely showcased crocheted garments.  However, I had an epic fail on getting photos or video footage.  It was a lot of fun and luckily, Laura from The Lonely Knitter Podcast recorded it all, so you can see all of the lovely crocheted and knitted items that went down the Gala Dinner catwalk (link). To celebrate the fact that I managed to finish my Blurred Lines jumper in time, I bought three kilted bear pins from Bernie at Bear in Sheep’s Clothing.  These pins are made in the UK and I love them.  I already own one that Bernie gave me at Perth and I thought some of you may want to try to win one too!    If you would like to be in with a chance of winning, leave a comment on the threads of this episode of YouTube, Podbean and/or Instagram.  It’s open to everyone across the globe.  I will draw winners just before I record the November podcast.  Start your comment with “bare bear” so that I know you are entering to win.  Why bare bear?  Bears are true Scots – no knickers!   7 - J’adore I had an absolute ball at Yarndale.  I went with a bunch of friends, we laughed, wore pyjamas for most of the weekend, drank gin and generally had a great time.  I met lots of my lovely yarn colleagues and friends and made new friends.  Plans have been hatched, new business ideas have formed and 2020 is shaping up rather nicely.    My sleeves are bulging with all of the ideas, projects, interviews and designs that I want to do in the coming months.      8 – Big Up I already mentioned that I went to see Helda give her talk at Yarndale on being a crochet designer.  Before she started her talk, she was nervous and had no reason to be.  Her talk was genuine, from the heart and fab!  Big Up Helda you were great! Fay x   Instagram: Crochet_Circle_Podcast  Instagram: provenance.craft.co   Instagram: FayDHDesigns YouTube: The Crochet Circle Podcast Crochet Clan on Mighty Network: Invite

Crochet Circle Podcast
Episode 46 - Tipsy Crocheting

Crochet Circle Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 6, 2019 60:32


Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 46 – Tipsy Crocheting!    My name is Fay and this is my audio and video podcast for those that love fibre crafts, particularly crochet.  It’s a community for people that like to support their fellow humans regardless of race, gender, sexuality, ability, size or age. I hope you feel the welcome embrace and love of the Crochet Clan.  Come on in and stay awhile.     In this episode, I cover Old Dog new tricks; Final Destination; En Route; Feeding the habit; Quick News Beats and J’adore.   This podcast is sponsored by my online crafting company, Provenance Craft Co.  Thanks to everyone who tunes into the podcast whether it is through Stitcher, Podbean, Spotify, iTunes or the YouTube Channel. Your support and engagement are really appreciated and makes running a podcast very special and worthwhile.    If you would like to support the podcast, you can do that through Patreon:   1 – Old Dog New Tricks I have two quickie tricks for you this month: 1 – Here is a neat little trick I learned from watching yarn dyers at work.  Have ever popped a skein of yarn onto a swift to cake up and as you start to form the cake, it snags, isn’t as smooth as it is should be and create a tighter tension in your cake than needed?  There is a very simple way around this and it involves what I can only describe as ‘snapping’ your yarn.   Once you have opened up the skein and ensured that the strands are flowing the right way, put both hands into the skein, using your upright thumbs to keep the skein on your hand, ‘snap’ the skein outwards.  This will help to realign the strands back to the way they were initially wound back in the factory.  This realignment makes it easy to get the skein onto your swift and should lead to tangle-free, even tension cakes of yarn.   2 – If you find yourself short of a locking stitch marker and desperately need to hold a stitch, check your hair.  I found myself in desperate need of a cable needle the other evening and really could not be bothered to go downstairs for it.  Instead, I used a Kirby grip/bobby pin that was in my hair.  It did the job perfectly and is great for securing stitches and being lazy!   2 – Final Destination Sound the trumpets!  I have finished my Blurred Lines by Deanne at Addydae Designs (link).  As I record this podcast, it is Wednesday the 4th September and I am due to wear the jumper down the runway at Perth Festival of Yarn on Saturday (I will pop some pics up on Instagram Stories  (@crochet_circle_podcast) if you want to see what goes down).   I have added full project notes on Ravelry, so you can see any changes I have made. I just need to add some final photos.    ALT TEXT: Fay stands in her dining room, in front of an open fireplace with a small table and lamp to the left.  She is looking down with hands in pockets, wearing jeans and her newly finished Blurred Lines Jumper which is a grey/teal blue main colour (top and bottom) with a middle variegated section in cream/pink with little pops of yellow, teal and blue.   I also have a couple of little things that I have crocheted up.  These are samples for the online shop and for shows.  I have started selling craft books, but only wish to sell ones that I have worked from personally and can therefore recommend.  It’s not about fads, it’s about well-written books and patterns.    I finally managed to make something from my Crocheted Succulents book by Emma Varnam (link).  I had this book on pre-order last year but just couldn’t find a window of time to make something from it.  I crocheted up a Mexican Snowball succulent using 50g of Rowan cotton glace that I had in my stash.  It was really easy to make, and the instructions were lovely and clean.  It took me about 5 hours in total and I can see many more cacti and succulents in my future because I struggle to keep house plants alive!   ALT TEXT: Corner of the Crocheted Succulents book by Emma Varnam is in the bottom left.  In the middle sits a white pottery reused candle holder with a sage green crocheted succulent (Mexican Snowball) on top. At the bottom of the pot lies a pink crochet hook, little worm of the leftover sage green cotton and a pair of snips shaped and decorated to look like a crocodile.    Another book that has been sitting on my crafting shelves waiting for some attention is Laly Lalas Beetles, Bugs and Butterflies book (link).  Of all of the gorgeous little creatures in this book, I chose to hook up a moth!  I was working on the basis that this is the only moth that is actually allowed anywhere near my yarn!  This took me about 7 hours to make and used up lots of little odds and ends of cotton from my stash.      ALT TEXT: Two images - both with very dark grey backgrounds.  Image one shows the Beetles, Bugs and Butterflies book by Laly Lala.  The front cover shows lots of crocheted bugs as examples and to the right of the book is the front of a moth I have crocheted up from the book.  The moth has detachable wings and har with antennae.  Image two is the back of the moth, which shows clearly that the top of the wings are off-white edged with grey cotton and the bottom is blue.  The main moth body is a green/yellow and the hat id a mustard yellow.     It was really nice being able to quickly plough through a couple of crochet projects, even if they are small.   3 – My Life This is not going to be a regular segment, but I thought I would just offer up a little slice of what this year has been like so far and how I dearly want the last three months to unfold.    Most of 2019 has been spent bombing up and down the UK road and ferry network, attending yarn shows all over the place.  It had been a busy year so far which I love because I get to see so many of you Crochet Clanfolk and it really helps to put my business on the map! The downside though is the impact that it has.  I. Don’t. Stop.    If you have ever met me in real life, when you watch my face, you can literally see the cogs turning.  Most conversations make neurons ping in my brain and the ideas flow immediately.  My brain is always on, it is never quiet.    As you listen and watch this podcast I will be up at the Perth Festival of Yarn – my last yarn show of 2019!  I am really excited to be vending at this show but if truthful, I am just as excited about life calming down a little.  I am planning on having a relaxing week, next week after I have counted the stock back into the shop.    Relaxation for me means audiobooks or courses and sitting with my feet up, crafting.  I may even set myself a little crochet goal.  See what I mean?  I have already set myself a goal for my time off!  There is just no hope for me.    When you are driving and sitting on ferries you get a lot of time to think.  My main focus for this year was ‘structure’ and I have done a lot around that for the business, podcast and design work this year which has really helped to streamline my work focus.    My recent motorway mile shave given me time to think about what I need to concentrate on in 2020.  It feels like it will be a big year, even if it’s just because of the repetition of the numbers!  My focus for 2020 is going to be around the word ‘centre’.  It is ‘centre’ because “no” or “selfish” just felt too negative!  So, my focus is about saying no to things that other people want me to do for them, so that I can say yes to the things that I need to do for myself.  My problem is that I want to be helpful and supportive and therefore take on too much because I hate letting people down.  So, by saying no and centring back to what I need for my business, my family and me personally.          Saying to something is never saying yes to just one thing because there are always mini-tasks that lead to that final completed yes.  My theory is that saying no to one thing is actually more like saying no to ten mini-tasks, which frees up ten things that I can then do for me or my business.  It’s not all about saying no, it’s also about focussing some time back to me and creating a strong personal core from which to work.       Would anyone find it useful for me to write a blog post on what software I use to help with this and what podcasts I listen to for business/creative inspiration?  Ping me a message if it would be useful and I will pull something together.   So, if you need me in October, November, December 2019, I will be chilling a little, drinking more tea and hopefully doing a lot more crafting and designing.    4 – En Route As I record this podcast, I have no crocheted project on the go.  However, I have two that I want to start:  The first is the Mya Shawl by Helda Panagary (link).  This is going to be my entry into #RhineBIPOCSweater K/CAL – I can’t link to the bundle within Ravelry, but you can get details via Lady Dye’s Instagram post (link).  As for the yarn that I want to use, I think I am going to crochet the shawl with ‘Orion’ by Cosmic Strings (the dyers are Phu and Bea (link)) as the main skein.  As you know, I am on a yarn ban until 21st December, so I can’t buy any mohair which is what the pattern calls for.  Instead, I took to my stash (deeeeep stash) and found some Rico mohair that I can use instead.  Whilst this isn’t strictly within the parameters of the CAL, I’m not going to break my yarn ban when I already own something suitable!      ALT TEXT: Image one shows crochet designer, Helda Panagary standing side on in front of cream tiles, holding a  ball of dark arn in her left hand and a crochet hook in her right.  Helda looks beautiful long dark hair that curls at the bottom.  Image two shows a dark background with a skein of a dark/dirty teal coloured yarn to the left (ball band reads 'Cosmic Strings' and two flattened mohair cakes of yarn piled to the right.  These are is a very stormy grey colour.   ALT TEXT: Image three shows the same model twice, (Back and front), showing off Helda's Mya Shawl.  It is triangular and shows subtle stripes in pinks where different yarn blends have been used.  Each corner has a corresponding tassle. I am off to Yarndale the last week of September and have a ticket to see Helda talk on Saturday afternoon.  I would love to be wearing my version of Helda’s Mya Shawl when I sit and listen to her talk on life as a crochet designer.   The second is the Bark Sweater by Sidsel Sangild (link). I will be using John Arbon Textiles British Breeds 80% Romney/20% Corriedale blend and a 5mm hook.  I can’t link to the wool because it was a special and only available to Mill Members on their website. I have a ridiculous self-imposed goal that maybe I could be wearing this at Yarndale too…   If I whizz through that, then I will also try to work up Claudia’s Encanto Wrap (link) which is her first-ever design! ALT TEXT - A split image showing a very smiley Claudia from Crochet Luna on the left, wearing her first design around her neck.  The textured wrap shows stripes fo bright green and purple leading up to her neck and a more solid purple around her neck.   The second side of the image shows the wrap on a mannequin that has a black dress on.   5 – Feeding the Habit Still, no stash additions and my Solstice to Solstice yarn ban is going well.  I am still tempted by things but have managed to just say no! There have been other things though: Last month I showed off a lovely print that I received in the post from Lorna (@neveratalooseend).  It was done by her daughter Eilidh (@by.eilidh on Instagram) and I love her style.  I contacted Eilidh to say that I wanted to buy some prints from her to pass to friends and unbeknown to me, some more just arrived in the post!  Needless to say, when I see Lorna at Perth Festival of Yarn, I will be passing her money to pass to Eilidh so that I can properly purchase the prints.  More on this in Quick Newsbeats.   I have started selling Yael’s crocheted necklaces in my online shop and at shows (link).  Her work is beautiful and I want to be able to support a fellow crafter.  Because Yael is naughty, she snuck a notions pouch into my order – and it’s beautiful.  Yael also makes beautiful linen project bags and I encourage you to check out her Etsy shop (link).   ALT TEXT:  Black background with a patchwork linen notions pouch in grey/browns, pink and a navy with white dashed fabric and pastel yellow zip to the top left.  Colourful print to the right in purples and corals, saying "All wool is yarn but not all yarn is wool" on a scarf that is wrapped around fibre giving animals (bison/Alpaca/goat/sheep/rabbit). Two large paper clips with material covered tops to the bottom left.  One has a black and white cat on the fabric and the other has the head of a sheep.   While I was vending at Yarnfolk in Northern Ireland, I met Jean and not only did she bring me a can of pop to keep me going in the afternoon, she also gave me two large fabric button clips.  One has a sheep on it and the other a black cat – not unlike Pom!  These are perfect for marking which page you are on in a pattern!    6 – Quick News Beats 1 - Global Hook Up – I have set the dates for the next few months and will stick to the 8 pm GMT/BST on a Saturday night and 9 am GMT/BST on a Sunday morning. The details for the next sessions are already up in the Ravelry thread, can also be found below and will be put out on Instagram in advance. The meeting ID number is 475-047-5819 and you will need to join via Zoom which you can do here:  https://www.zoom.us/join If you are joining on your phone or tablet you will likely need to download the software in advance.  If you are joining from a PC or Mac, you can join via the link above.  Everyone needs to use the same ID number to get into the session.  September - Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th – NOTE THAT THIS IS A DATE CHANGE!   October - Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th   November - Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th   December - Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th   2 – Over on Instagram, I was showing off a vegan soup I was making on Stories and some of you asked for the recipe.  I have created a blog post for it (link) and it’s a really hearty spicy tomato soup that is made mainly from store cupboard ingredients.   3 – I have three copies of Eilidh’s print (link) that I want to give away.  It looks beautiful framed (I have one up on my studio wall).  To enter, simply respond on YouTube, comment in Podbean or on Instagram.  I will draw one winner from each platform and get in touch with you to say that you have won. 4 – I still have an unclaimed prize of one of Deanne’s patterns.  Angee Stitch 78 from YouTube, you were a winner but haven’t responded, so could you please get in touch to claim your prize. 5 – I always provide links within the show notes, but sometimes people struggle to find them.  From this month onwards, anything that I talk about and provide a link for, just look for “link)” and that is where to click to get to the relevant web page.   7 - J’adore There is a very definite Autumnal nip in the air.  I can feel my hibernation senses tingling and I am excited about woolly socks, fires, endless cups of tea and lots of crafting.    As I said earlier, it has been a very long year so far and it’s time to take life down a few notches and recharge my batteries.    I love the excuse to snuggle up under a blanket with an audiobook and my crochet.  Also, the colours of Autumn are my jam – I am so inspired by these few months of all things earthy!   I will be back on Friday the 4th of October. Fay x   Instagram: Crochet_Circle_Podcast  Instagram: provenance.craft.co   Instagram: FayDHDesigns YouTube: The Crochet Circle Podcast Crochet Clan on Mighty Network: Invite  

Crochet Circle Podcast
Episode 45 - None (Yarn) Shall Pass

Crochet Circle Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 2, 2019 62:31


Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 45 – None (Yarn) Shall Pass.    My name is Fay and this is my audio and video podcast for those that love fibre crafts, particularly crochet.  It’s a community for people that like to support their fellow humans regardless of race, gender, sexuality, ability, size or age. I hope you feel the welcome embrace and love of the Crochet Clan.  Come on in and stay awhile.     In this episode, I cover Old Dog new tricks; Perth Project Runway update; Final Destination; En Route; Feeding the habit; Quick News Beats and J’adore.   This podcast is sponsored by my online crafting company, Provenance Craft Co.  Thanks to everyone who tunes into the podcast whether it is through Stitcher, Podbean, Spotify, iTunes or the YouTube Channel. Your support and engagement are really appreciated and makes running a podcast very special and worthwhile.    If you would like to support the podcast, you can do that through Patreon:   1 – Old Dog New Tricks I have a quick top on how to satiate that thirst to start a new project when you still have a bit to go on an existing project.  Before you have finished the existing project, do the swatching and wet blocking for your new project. That way, if you have to play about with gauge, you have time to do that and hopefully, be ready to start your new project the moment you have finished the other one.    2 – Perth Project Runway update Progress is going really well on my Blurred Lines by Deanne at Addydae Designs.  This is one of the best patterns I have ever worked from and the fit is really good, even though I came down to a 3mm hook.  I have been keeping my project notes up to date on Ravelry, so you can see any changes I have made.     I am currently working on the sleeves even though I haven’t yet finished the main body.  I have chosen to do this because I have now finished using the contrast colour on the main body, which freed up the yarn to do the sleeves.  I find it bulky and cumbersome to add sleeves when you have the near full weight of a jumper and you are constantly moving it about to complete the short rounds of the sleeves.  So, I am doing the sleeves before I finish the rest of the body.  This also means that I won’t be stranded on sleeve island!   The other thing I would like to highlight and encourage you to do is swatch with your different cakes of the same yarn.  Even is the same colourway is from the same batch, there can still be differences.  By swatching with all of them, you will quickly see if there is a difference and whether you need to alternate skeins in your project.  This is particularly applicable to garment making.   As I mentioned in the podcast. there is a slight but noticeable difference between two of my contrast colour skeins and it seems very likely I will have to rip back about 350m of crochet.     Will this be finished for Perth Festival of Yarn?  Hell yeah!     ALT TEXT: Blurred Lines jumper progress is shown on an old mannequin   Semi tonal blue yarn with a real halo to it and it’s called ‘Sprucey Bonus’ because it is the colour of the underside of a Spruce Tree.  It is paired with a yarn called ‘Sulk’ and is on an ecru pink base with small patches of teal blue, acid yellow, sea green and plummy purples.   You can see the difference betweek the two variegated skeins.   Remember that there is a very informal MAL.  You have from now until 7th September to make or finish off a garment.  WIPs are allowed, it can be in any craft and any garment pattern, you just need to use the #crochetcirclemal and I have also opened a Ravelry thread for you to add to.   3 – Final Destination I only have one FO to show you.  By the time you hear and see this podcast, I will be busy setting up my stand ay Yarnfolk festival in Northern Ireland.  I was fortunate enough to be asked to create a crochet design for the festival and came up with Kinbaine.  I talked about it in Episode 43 and showed off the saturated colour version.  I wanted to make a second version using just two colours and used a collaboration yarn between John Arbon Textiles and RiverKnits.  This yarn has now sold out and the shawl is with Becci and Markus at RiverKnits, but I can at least show you the shawl and the yarn colours caked up.      ALT TEXT:  White background with a vintage mannequin covered in the Kinbaine shawl.  The shawl is thick stripes, using two different semi-variegated colours.  The main colour is copper and the contrast is green with hints of teal and brown.   Kinbaine is now live on Ravelry and up on my website.  It’s the standard price on Ravelry and I have the pay what you can option on my website.    4 – En Route Monogamous me means that I am just working on the Blurred Lines jumper at the moment as a personal project, but taking my own words of advice, I have swatched for a new crocheted garment – the Bark Sweater by Sidsel Sangild.    I tested out the John Arbon Textiles British Breeds 80% Romney/20% Corriedale blend on a 6mm and a 5mm hook to see which gave the best stitch definition and gauge for the project.  I definitely preferred the 5mm hook stitch definition and also as a size of hook I my hand.  The 6mm just felt a bit cumbersome and slow.    The swatch is now dry and now I can work out what size of Bark Sweater I need to make and whether I want to make any alterations.   ALT TEXT:  Black background with a ball of wool top right in a mushroom brown colour.  In the foreground is a crocheted swatch showing lines of front post treble crochet and chains that make up a bark pattern.  This is the swatch for my Bark Sweater.   5 – Feeding the Habit My Solstice to Solstice yarn ban is going well.  I have been tempted by things but have given myself a good talking to and remembered why I am doing this!  I have enough yarn!  I actually feel a little overwhelmed by how much yarn I have and all the things I want to make with it.  So, there have been no stash additions this month and I am clearly working my way through some of the garment quantities that I have bought recently, which is great.   Whenever I see something that I *must have, I pop it into a list and if I still feel that way about it on 21st December 2019, then it may be a contender for my first skein after six months of no yarn.  So whilst I haven’t bought anything, I did receive a lovely print through the post from Lorna (@neveratalooseend).  It was done by her daughter Eilidh (@by.eilidh on Instagram) and I love her style.  I suggest checking out both of their accounts.  Lorna also has a blog which is jam-packed, full of the many, many crafts she does.  I am hoping to see Lorna when I am at Perth Festival of Yarn.     ALT TEXT: Black background with a pink, coral and purple print featuring goats, sheep, alpacas and rabbits.  Text is placed over the animals saying “all wool is yarn but not all yarn is wool”.   I was also given a lovely watercolour painting by Charlie (@love.charlie) for my birthday present.  It's a particular view that I love - Glencoe.   ALT TEXT: Framed painting in soft greens and blues.  Deep sides of a grassy glen with a road and a small cottage.  Clouds in a blue sky.   6 – Quick News Beats 1 - Global Hook Up – I have set the dates for the next six months and will stick to the 8 pm GMT/BST on a Saturday night and 9 am GMT/BST on a Sunday morning.   The details for the next sessions are already up in the Ravelry thread, can also be found below and will be put out on Instagram in advance. The meeting ID number is 475-047-5819 and you will need to join via Zoom which you can do here:  https://www.zoom.us/join If you are joining on your phone or tablet you will likely need to download the software in advance.  If you are joining from a PC or Mac, you can join via the link above.  Everyone needs to use the same ID number to get into the session.  August - Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th September - Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd   October - Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th   November - Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th   December - Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th   2 – The ‘Healthy Crochet’ interview with Lyndsey from Phoenix Occupational Health is now live.  I have been getting great feedback from people on it – so thank you for that.  Video version is here and the audio version is here. 3 – I have a giveaway for two tickets for the Southern Wool Show on the 31st August and the 1st September at Newbury Raceground.  If you want to be in with a chance of winning, leave me a comment in the show notes or on YouTube starting with the words Southern Wool Show. I will pick a random winner on the 9th August.  I will also be vending at the show, so do come and see me for a hug if you are coming.   7 – Big UP There is an amazing collaboration between Lady Dye Yarns (Diane will be vending at Perth Festival of Yarn) and Jasmin from the Knitmore Girls.  To create some proper inclusion at Rhinebeck (New York Sheep and Wool Festival) they have devised the #RhineBIPOCsweater CAL/KAL.  There is a massive bundle of designs to choose from in a Ravelry bundle.  You can filter that bundle to show just crocheted designs and every single design has been created by a BIPOC designer.  You use or buy yarn from a BIPOC dyer/ producer and ideally in the following colours: purple, green, blue, golden yellow, and black. Use the #RhineBIPOCSweater and show off your make and support for inclusivity with pride!   I will be crocheting up some form of garment and looking to my stash to promote BIPOC/BAME dyers that I have already purchased from.  The festival is on the 19th and 20th October, so although the dates of the CAL/KAL haven’t been nailed down yet, but working towards the 19th of October is a good call.   Our friend Claudia from the Crochet Luna podcast has started a twitch channel.  Twitch is an interactive platform and you can interact with Claudia when she is on her twitch channel doing crochet.  You can send her messages and links and she can respond live.  The sessions stay online, so if you wanted to join her or go back to old videos and have somebody crochet alongside you, then it’s perfect.    I didn’t have to set up an account, I could just go straight into twitch and search for Crochet Luna.  It’s never a bad thing to sit and spend time with Claudia!   I will be back on Friday the 6th of September. Fay x Instagram: Crochet_Circle_Podcast  Instagram: provenance.craft.co   Instagram: FayDHDesigns YouTube: The Crochet Circle Podcast Crochet Clan on Mighty Network: Invite      

Crochet Circle Podcast
Episode 44 - Go Garment Go

Crochet Circle Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 5, 2019 66:17


Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 44 – Go Garment Go.    My name is Fay and this is my audio and video podcast for those that love fibre crafts, particularly crochet.  It’s a community for people that like to support their fellow humans regardless of race, gender, sexuality, ability, size or age. I hope you feel the welcome embrace and love of the Crochet Clan.  Come on in and stay awhile.    In this episode, I cover Old Dog new tricks; Perth Project Runway update; Final Destination; En Route; Feeding the habit; Quick News Beats and J’adore.   This podcast is sponsored by my online crafting company, Provenance Craft Co.  Thanks to everyone who tunes into the podcast whether it is through Stitcher, Podbean, Spotify, iTunes or the YouTube Channel. Your support and engagement are really appreciated and makes running a podcast very special and worthwhile.    If you would like to support the podcast, you can do that through Patreon: 1 – Old Dog New Tricks Have you ever looked to buy a skein of variegated yarn and struggled to see how it might look crocheted up?  I know that work has been done on how stocking stitch knits up and it’s because of SpaceCadet’s brilliant blogpost that I am doing this work for crochet.   Many yarn dyers have samples of their yarns knitted up but fewer do that same for crochet.  I am pleased to report though that this is changing and more crochet is being sighted as swatches and samples at the yarn shows I am attending.  We are having a positive impact! Reading a skein of variegated could really help you to work out whether it is going to work for you or not.  I have done some of the work for you, but if you really want an accurate gauge, you need to do some swatching too!  I have written and illustrated this for you in a blog post: 'How to read a skein of variegated yarn for crochet'.   As a rough guide, here is how many centimetres each stitch takes in 4 ply and DK, my favourite two weights of yarn: 4 ply/light fingering weight dc (US sc) uses about 3 - 3.5cm per stitch using a 3mm hook 4 ply/light fingering weight htr (US hdc) uses about 4.5 - 5cm per stitch using a 3mm hook 4 ply/light fingering weight tr (US dc) uses about 6 – 6.5cm per stitch using a 3mm hook DK dc (US sc) uses about 5cm per stitch using a 4.5mm hook. DK htr (US hdc) uses about 7cm per stitch using a 4.5mm hook. DK tr (US dc) uses about 9cm per stitch using a 4.5mm hook. So, next time you are thinking about buying a variegated yarn in person, you can measure the length of each colour change (you will need to take a little measuring tape with you) to see whether the colour changes are right for you.   As a general rule, I prefer variegated yarns with quick colour changes for crochet.  I think that it leads to a nicer looking, more cohesive finished project.  You may prefer otherwise, and either way, it’s good to understand where your preference lies so that you buy yarn that you are more likely to want to use.    Please don’t just walk into a yarn shop or to a yarn vendor at a show and start opening out their skeins of yarn.  If you ask them nicely, they will most likely be happy for you un-skein the yarn and take a look at it.  Often there are hidden colours inside anyway that you may not see when it is all twisted up.    2 – Perth Project Runway update The votes are now closed on the five garments that I short-listed (I have kept the list below in case you want to take another look at them).  The top that won by one vote (between Instagram and Ravelry votes counted at midnight on Thursday 13th June) was Blurred Lines by Deanne at Addydae Designs.  This was a pattern that was suggested time and time again by many of you and so I am unsurprised that it came out as the favourite.  The Citizen Pullover by Kabila Sri Punnusamy (Tunisian crochet) was the next favourite.   ALT TEXT: Blurred Line jumper is being worn outside.  It is a light grey with a faded core down the trunk and arms of a light grey/teal variegated yarn.   ALT TEXT: Citizen Pullover is being worn outside beside a city building.  It is a light grey with coral pink stripes running on diagonals.  Quite a long pullover with short sleeves.   1 – Citizen Pullover by Kabila Sri Ponnusamy 2 – Liza Pullover by Yuliya Tkacheva 3 – Blurred Lines by Addydae Designs 4 – Bark Sweater by Sidsel Sangild 5 – Bruni Top by Elven Handmade   On the Friday of Woollinn Festival of Yarn I scooted over the marquee to see Bernie at Bear in Sheep's Clothing to choose a variegated yarn to go with the teal blue that she had custom dyed for me.  This was the day that Bernie was launching this new base which is called Corrie Halo (50% Corriedale and 50% Mohair).      ALT TEXT: Semi tonal blue yarn with a real halo to it and it’s called ‘Sprucey Bonus’ because it is the colour of the underside of a Spruce Tree.  It is paired with a yarn called ‘Sulk’ and is on an ecru pink base with small patches of teal blue, acid yellow, sea green and plummy purples.      I know that when Stasia made her version of Blurred Lines, it took three weeks and she was working on it almost constantly.  Although I have until the 6th September to get this jumper crocheted, it’s still going to be a tall order with all of the other things I have going on at the moment.   The lovely Catherine asked whether I was going to host a make along for this project.  I wasn’t but I am now!  It’s all very informal and you have from now until 7th September to make or finish off a garment.  WIPs are allowed, it can be in any craft and any garment pattern, you just need to use the #crochetcirclemal and I have also opened a Ravelry thread for you to add to.   3 – Final Destination I only have one FO to show you, my latest version of the Arria shawl.  I finally finished this just before I headed up to Cumbria to vend at Woolfest last weekend.    This version is in John Arbon Textiles Harvest Hues (4ply/light fingering 400m/100g) in shades Russet and Blue Spruce and I am loving the shawl in solid colours.   ALT TEXT:  White background with a vintage mannequin covered in the Arria shawl.  It has a deep V front with dark petrol blue triangle segments running in a spine up the centre of the shawl.  The rest of the shawl is in a russet brown/orange colour.    4 – En Route Monogamous me means that I am just working on the Blurred Lines jumper at the moment as a personal project.  There is a design project on the go at the moment but I will show you that in a future episode.  So, for the next couple of episodes, it may just be all about Blurred Lines because it needs up to 600g of 4 ply yarn  - that’s 2,400m of yarn to crochet!    So, here’s my progress so far.  I have completed the neck ribbing and the second round of increases.  I keep on trying the project on to make sure it fits nicely.  If you are interested in making one of these, I am making notes for each stage that I pass through in my Ravelry project.  If you want to take a look, simply search for ‘Perth Project Runway Blurred Lines’ under projects.  I will also be adding updates to Ravelry.   ALT TEXT: The collar and beginnings of a yolk in a mid teal blue sit on a grey background.  To the right is  a small ball of the same coloured yarn and above is a cake of the variegated pinky/ecru yarn which is the contrast colour.   I am hoping to get to the contrast colour in the next couple of days and am intrigued to see how the variegated skein will work up.   Deanne, the designer of Blurred Lines is an absolute star and has offered up some free patterns.  To be in with a chance of winning one of her brilliantly written patterns, simply leave a comment in YouTube, Ravelry (there is a specific thread called Garment Make Along in time for Perth Festival of Yarn) or on the Instagram post for Episode 44 over @crochet_circle_podcast   5 – Feeding the Habit Oooh, it has been a bit of a month and all of my purchases probably seem ridiculous, but I have plans, oh yes, I have plans!! Mwahahahahahahaaaa!   My biggest plan of all is that I have signed up to a solstice to solstice yarn ban with a friend.  So, design yarn aside, I won’t be buying any yarn until the winter solstice on the 21st December.    In 2017 I only bought design yarn, so know that I can manage 6 months.  It is time to work through some of my stash!   ALT TEXT: Two handmade bags on a grey background.  The one on the left has a deep brown base and the top is bold autumnal coloured flowers and seed heads with a drawstring.  Little balls of different coloured fibres are spilling out of the top and some ocean-inspired stitch markers are nearby.  The bag to the right has a material handle and is cream with shop fronts of cafes and coffee shops.   These two bags were lovely gifts from friends.  Marceline and I agreed way back at Edinburgh Yarn Festival to do a bag swap as we both aim to improve our machine sewing skills.  The date was set for when she was over vlogging Woollinn Festival of Yarn. You can catch up with Marce’s trip to Dublin and the festival from her YouTube Channel.  While I was vending at this festival – one of the friendliest I have ever been to – I was also given a bag by Sophie from A Spring Snowflake Podcast.  I am so spoiled!   Then there is some yarn!  I have been at the John Arbon Open Mill Weekend, Woollinn Festival of Yarn and Woolfest in the last month.  Here is what has come in.  The John Arbon wool is a mill special; before the open weekend they spin various colours together, so they are one-offs and sometimes move into a bit of a fade.  I bought a jumper’s worth of this in a 4 ply and it will fade from a blue and cream into teal and cream. I also have a jumper’s quantity of the undyed Romney that I initially bought for my knitted Canisp jumper.  I finished Canisp and the shape didn’t look right on me but looked fab on Juliet and she insisted on replacing the finished jumper with the means for me to make myself another. The Romney Sportweight is now destined to become a Bark Sweater which will be my next crocheted garment after I have finished Blurred Lines.    ALT TEXT: Four skeins of marled yarn on a grey background.  The skeins are all marled with a grey/cream but fade from teal to blue.   ALT TEXT: THree skeins of a mushroom brown wool lie on a grey background.  The labels have sheep on them and sat Romney.  The twist of the yarn is obvious and squishy.   At Woollinn I picked up a couple of skeins for a one-skein shawl design that I am working on.  The first is a beautiful blend of Alpaca and silk from Tara at Irish Artisan Yarns.  I love that Tara is inspired by the colours of her home turf of the Antrim Coast in Northern Ireland.  The second is a skein of Alpa-Si-Li (50% Alpaca, 25% silk, 25% linen) in colourway Passion, by Dye Dye Done.  I was vending along from both of these lovely vendors at Woollinn which was an absolute delight.  Dye Dye Done is a husband and wife team.  Hanna is an extremely talented knitwear designer and Daniel is the yarn dyer – what a duo!  They also have vegan yarns.     ALT TEXT: Grey background with a skein of pale, delicate and luxurious yarn at the front from Irish Artisan Yarns.  It is pink, purple and grey.  Behind it sits a ball of yarn with the tail pulled forward.  It's plummy purple/scarlet with silver slivers running through it.   On our way up to Woolfest in Cumbria, we stopped off at Blackwell Arts and Crafts House.  It is a stunning example of arts and crafts architecture and interior design and well worth a visit.  It’s right beside Lake Windermere.  While I was there, I picked up a Japanese book on embroidery called ‘Simply Stitched’ by Yumiko Higuchi which is stuffed full of beautiful projects that you can use odds and ends of wool and cotton for.    ALT TEXT: Grey background with the 'Simply Stitched' book lying flat.  The front cover shows examples of embroidery motifs (trees, flowers, a chicken), all sewn with wool thread.    6 – Quick News Beats 1 - Global Hook Up – I have set the dates for the next six months and will stick to the 8 pm GMT/BST on a Saturday night and 9 am GMT/BST on a Sunday morning. The details for the next sessions are already up in the Ravelry thread, can also be found below and will be put out on Instagram in advance. The meeting ID number is 475-047-5819 and you will need to join via Zoom which you can do here:  https://www.zoom.us/join If you are joining on your phone or tablet you will likely need to download the software in advance.  If you are joining from a PC or Mac, you can join via the link above.  Everyone needs to use the same ID number to get into the session.  July – Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st August - Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th September - Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd   October - Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th   November - Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th   December - Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th   2 – The good folk behind The Craft Bank on Ravelry, Lisa and Sophie are hosting a gift-along.  You just need to go to The Craft Bank Group on Ravelry and fill in the very quick online survey that is linked and then you will be paired up with a partner.  I have already signed up, so some lucky, lucky soul will be getting a dodgy project bag from me… 3 –  I have a handful of yarn shows left that I am vending at in 2019 and the next one to let you know about is Yarnfolk in Northern Ireland on Saturday 3rd of August.  It’s a one-day show in Whitehead (accessible via train from Belfast) and is such a friendly show.  This will be my third year vending there, which says a lot really.   7 – J’adore While I was up in the Lake District with my friend Annabel, our lovely hosts Sarian and Andrew took us for a picnic to Derwent Water.  It was a cracking evening by the lakeshore and I went swimming! In the lake!   ALT TEXT: A lake with mountains in the background.  Some stones are in the foreground with various people out swimming and a man and his dog on a paddle board.  I am one of the swimmers!   I am now a little obsessed with the idea of wild swimming.  It wasn’t as cold as you might think!  My very lovely Papa Bear has asked me to go to Iceland with him in November, so I see a lot of trips to geothermal plunge pools and outdoor pools in my future.    I will be back on Friday the 2nd of August. Fay x Instagram: Crochet_Circle_Podcast  Instagram: provenance.craft.co   Instagram: FayDHDesigns YouTube: The Crochet Circle Podcast Crochet Clan on Mighty Network: Invite    

Crochet Circle Podcast
Episode 42 - The Craft Bank

Crochet Circle Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 3, 2019 65:17


Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 42 – The Craft Bank.   My name is Fay and this is my audio and video podcast for those that love fibre crafts, particularly crochet.  It’s a community for people that like to support their fellow humans regardless of race, gender, sexuality, ability, size or age. I hope you feel the welcome embrace and love of the Crochet Clan.  Come on in and stay awhile.  In this episode, I cover: Update review of KnitPro ball winder; Craft Inclusivity; Perth Project Runway; Final Destination; En Route; Feeding the habit; Quick News Beats and J’adore.   This podcast is sponsored by my online crafting company, Provenance Craft Co.  Thanks to everyone who tunes into the podcast whether it is through Stitcher, Podbean, Spotify, iTunes or the YouTube Channel. Your support and engagement are really appreciated and makes running a podcast very special and worthwhile.    If you would like to support the podcast, you can do that through Patreon:   1 – Review Last month I reviewed my super-duper snazzy new KnitPro wooden ball winder and I thought that a month on, I should give you a bit of an update.  Put simply – I love it even more than I did last month.  I have now tested out how big a cake it can wind and the answer is big!  I managed to wind 350g of 4 ply before the cake went wonky and created its own planetary rings.    On the downside, at one point, the bearing cone came off.  I think that is my fault for caking up anti-clockwise rather than clockwise.     ALT TEXT: A massive cake of yarn (350g of 4 ply in a light bluey grey colour with mid-blue neps) on a grey background with a standard cake of 100g yarn for contrast.     2 – Craft inclusivity Update on the open letter and resources to yarn dyers, yarn shops and vendors – this piece of work is ongoing and something that I will sound you out on in the next podcast.  I don’t want to go out with the open letter until I have the resources ready and available.  I’m not trying to bash people with a crochet stick, I genuinely want to be part of force for change for crochet to be given the respect it is due.  More to come on this.   I am also really proud to tell you about a group that my friend Lisa (@lisa_raspberrycrochet on Instagram) has pulled together on Ravelry.  The inclusivity discussions on Instagram have moved into the realm of pattern and yarn prices and how as dyers and designers, we can make those goods readily available for all.     Lisa has created a group in Ravelry called The Craft Bank.  The premise is a simple one.  If you have yarn that you are destashing, you can offer it up for free or an affordable price.  The idea is that the yarn can be passed on to someone that will use it and is unlikely to be able to afford to purchase it otherwise.   There is a second thread in the group whereby, crafters are offering to buy patterns for crafters and designers are offering up their patterns for free.   By the end of this bank holiday weekend I will have done the following to ensure that I am contributing positively to this: 1 – For all of my electronic patterns on my website, I will have incorporated a payment scale for patterns.  They generally sell for £4 per pattern and there will be a scale of £2 - £6 for each pattern.  The concept is that you pay what you can afford and would genuinely like to see people on lesser incomes, taking me up on this offer. 2 -  I will have added to give-away patterns to The Craft Bank Thread (crochet and knit). 3 – I will have added some destash yarns to the yarn thread and will probably keep on adding some little and often.  Due to the cost of postage, this will be open to UK residents only – sorry. So, if you have a yarn stash that you want to decrease or want to know that you are directly supporting fellow crafters, I encourage you to go to The Craft Bank Group on Ravelry and see what support you can lend.   3 - Perth Project Runway I have something very exciting to tell you.  Not only am I vending at Perth Festival of Yarn with my company, KNIT IT – HOOK IT – CRAFT IT, but I am also looking to create some crochet gorgeousness to send down their runway!   On the Saturday night, there is a Gala Dinner and as part of that dinner, they have a runway fashion show of knitted and crocheted items.  Eva heads up the Perth Festival of Yarn team and we have been in conversation about more crochet representation at the show and she asked whether I might be able to crochet a garment for the runway.  Ehm, yeah I’ll do that!  The thing is though, that I would like the Crochet Clan to be part of it too.    So, here’s what I would love your help with.  I need to find a suitable jumper/seater/top pattern.  You know what my style is and ultimately this needs to be something that I will want to wear after the event.  I am looking for something really contemporary.  They yarn that I am going to use is a new base that Bernie from Bear in Sheeps Clothing is launching at Woollinn this year.  It’s a 4 ply (395m per 100g, light fingering weight) yarn and a blend of 50% Corriedale and 50% Mohair – so, think soft, silky, drapey with a fluffy halo! I can stretch to 6 x 100g of 4 ply, but I would prefer something around the 4-500g mark.   Let’s talk about granny stitch and granny squares.  I know lots of you love them, but I just don’t and that isn’t the image that I want to portray for contemporary crochet going down the Perth Festival of Yarn Runway.  So, without being rude, please don’t send me ideas of crocheted garments that have these elements.  I really want to show how crochet is moving on from what people already perceive it to be. So, here’s what to do if you want to be part of Perth Project Runway: 1 – Respond with YouTube comment or Podbean comment or DM me @crochet_circle_podcast (on Instagram). 2 – Let me know what the garment is called and who the designer is. 3 – Don’t worry if the design is for DK or worsted weight rather than 4 ply.  I can make changes to the pattern to make it fit and be able to use Bernie’s yarn.    In next month’s podcast, I will have looked at all the options sent to me and whittled it down to 3-5 patterns that I would be happy to make and wear.  You then get to vote on the final pattern choice and your decision is final, not mine!   I will make a bundle of all of your suggestions in Ravelry so that you can easily see all of the suggestions in one place. I will pick up the yarn from Bernie in June (it will likely be a custom dye lot) and then get hooking away from mid-June, ready for Perth Festival of Yarn on the 7th & 8th September.    Festival tickets went on sale last weekend and it is looking like a fantastic show.  I think there is still a handful of tickets for the Gala evening – it would be lovely to have some Crochet Clan folk there if you fancy it?   It’s all very exciting!   4 – Final Destination This is my one and only FO this month and I finished it at the beginning of the month when I was in Scotland!  I was vending at two, weekend shows, which has taken up most of my time. I don’t seem to like this jumper until I put it on and then I like it.  I seriously considered ripping it all out this morning and then I put it on to record the podcast and thought “you’re not so bad!”   ALT TEXT a flat lay of my Esja Sweater on a wooden floor.  The sweater is crocheted using a mid-blue grey yarn as the main colour and a speckled mid-blue, teal and rust yarn for the crocheted brioche areas of the yolk.     5 – En Route I don’t have much to show here either – sorry.  I am just about to finish off another Doppio Colosseum that I have crocheted for Kate at Northern Yarn in Lancaster.  She is keen to have more crochet in her shop and as part of her 3rd Birthday celebrations this Friday, she has had some of her Poll Dorset lambswool custom dyed by an indie dyer.  Two skeins of the wool were passed to me to crochet Doppio Colosseum.  The colours and indie dyer are under wraps until Friday night, so I won’t be able to share it with you until then.  Needless to say, I will show it off as an FO in the June podcast and post about it on Instagram this weekend.   I have also made a start on my Canisp jumper using the Romney/Corriedale yarn that I showed off in last month’s podcast.  It’s just rounds of knitted stripes for now, and so I won’t show you that until I am a bit further in.   The Romney/Corriedale is working up a treat though and I plan to have this off the needles, ready for the John Arbon Textiles Open Weekend at the beginning of June.  If you fancy coming to that, just follow the link above – it’s a great day trip out, but you have to book.   6 – Feeding the habit I’m trying to slow down on my wool purchases.  My Stash Palace is bulging at the moment and it’s starting to make me feel a little uneasy.  That said, I still have some Feeding the habit for you this month, but a fair amount of it was given to me as presents.   If you watch my Instagram stories, you will know that I was at the New Lanark Mill in Scotland at the beginning of April.  I first went there as a Conservation student, about 23 years ago.  If you want to know more about the mill, follow this link. It’s a very interesting place and happens to now spin Scottish wool on their original machinery.    ALT TEXT: New Lanark Mill in the sunrise/set, nestled by the river at the bottom of a steep valley.  Lots of mill buildings glowing orange with green trees surrounding the site.   ALT TEXT: Inside New Lanark Mill with arched windows and vintage machinery the length of the long hall.  Old tiled floor and a worker keeping the machinery going.   I had promised myself a jumper’s quantity of wool from there as my birthday jumper wool this year.  What I didn’t expect was to find such an utter bargain.  There was a random hank of 4 ply yarn that was labelled up as £22.50.  I asked them to check whether that was right, because it seemed like a lot of wool for such little money, and I was assured that it was correct.  When I got it home, I discovered that it was a 450g hank!  So, this is destined to be some form of colour-work birthday jumper – probably knitted because of the low twist on it.  See photo from ball winder cakes for New Lanark wool purchased (Donegal Silk Tweed 4 ply ‘Light Limestone’ 90% wool/10% silk)   I also had a very good discussion with them about crochet and crocheted samples.  They don’t have any out in their shop, but I am going to design something in their yarn – probably next year.  Think – thistle based colour-work shawl and you will be spot-on.   When I was vending at Wonderwool Wales last weekend, my stand neighbour was a lovely lady called Helen from Nellie and Eve.  We share the same environmental ideals and Helen’s naturally dyed British breed yarns quite honestly took my breath away.     ALT TEXT: Photo 1 is of Helen at her stand surrounded by lovely skeins of pastel, soft wools.  Photo 2 is a close up of the two skeins of 4ply British wool I bought from Helen.  The light siege green skeins lie on a grey background with white skein bands.    Helen is keen to have crocheted samples on her stand and I want to help her achieve that.  So, I bought two skeins of wool (75% BFL/25% Masham in a 4 ply) from her and the ideas for them are starting to filter through.  It may be next year before any of these designs come to fruition, but I am happy to be able to support companies that really want to have crochet as part of their offering.   I also received some very lovely, surprise gifts through the post from Tania and Edwyn.       ALT TEXT: Photo 1 - three skeins of creamy Dorest Down wool.  One lies on top of the other two, with white/green labels and the black TJ Frog logo. Photo 2 - Grey background with a linen, zippered bag with a print of large Dorest Buttons on oranges, browns and black.  Green TJ Frog tag lies to the left.       Photo 3 - grey background with a "crochet Workshop' book by James Walters.     7 - Quick News Beats  1 – Winners of 3 year podiversary were announced and I have been in touch with everyone.  Thank you for entering and giving so many great comments on what crafts you would like to master in 2019. 2 – Thank you to everyone that is supporting me through the Ko-fi account.  I was really quite bowled over by the response.  During the course of the weekend I promise to go and grab a coffee on you and sit in my local town, crocheting and chilling out.  Thank you also for leaving comments, tagging me on Instragram, following me.  It all makes a massive difference to the algorithm and helps to wide our community.  3 – May Global Hook Ups are on Saturday 11th May at 8pm BST and the 12th May at 9am BST.  Everyone is welcome. 4 – I am recording the interview with Lyndsey from Phoenix Occupational Health in a couple of weeks, so you still have time to get some questions in.  The interview will likely come out in July because of other time pressures. 5 – Happy 50th Birthday to Katherine- you know, the one with all the cats on Instagram!      8 – J’adore I have a new to me podcast for you - Quirky Monday Craftcast by Caleisha AKA @nadiratani Caleisha is based in Florida and is primarily a crocheter but dabbles in lots of other crafts too.  She is bright, positive and full of energy!  Go watch her, she will most definitely help to top up your positivity batteries.   I will be back on Friday the 7th June. Fay x   Instagram: Crochet_Circle_Podcast  Instagram: provenance.craft.co   Instagram: FayDHDesigns YouTube: The Crochet Circle Podcast Crochet Clan on Mighty Network: Invite  

Crochet Circle Podcast
Episode 40 - When in Barcelona

Crochet Circle Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 1, 2019 72:32


Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 40 – When in Barcelona.   My name is Fay and this is my audio and video podcast for those that love fibre crafts, particularly crochet.  It’s a community for people that like to support their fellow humans regardless of race, gender, sexuality, ability, size or age. I hope you feel the welcome embrace and love of the Crochet Clan.  Come on in and stay awhile.    In this episode, I cover: Inclusivity; Final Destination; En Route; Designs in Progress; Feeding the habit; Quick News Beats and Big Up.   This podcast is sponsored by my online crafting company, Provenance Craft Co.  Thanks to everyone who tunes into the podcast whether it is through Stitcher, Podbean, Spotify, iTunes or the YouTube Channel. Your support and engagement are really appreciated and makes running a podcast very special and worthwhile.    If you would like to support the podcast, you can do that through Patreon:   1 – Inclusivity Following on from last month’s podcast and the actions I said I was going to take to increase inclusivity within our fibre community, here is what I have been working on:  Claudia from the Crochet Luna Vlogcast has been putting in the hard miles, pulling together a list of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) crochet designers. She has created a permanent list in her Instagram ‘BIPOC Crochet Designers’ Highlights.  From that list, I have created a ‘BIPOC Crochet Designers’ blog post giving you the designers names, Instagram handles, Ravelry Designer names and other selling platforms.  If the designers have a podcast, website or Etsy shop, these have also been listed. If you are looking for a decent article on the topic of inclusivity in the fibre community, I encourage you to read this one: The Knitting Community is Reckoning with Racism by Jay Saxena.  If for whatever reason, you have been in the fringe of the conversation or come to it late, this article gives a very good breakdown of what has been going on.  I meant to talk about this article in the podcast and through lack of organisation on my part, it slipped through the net.  You will notice from the show notes below and video podcast (if you watch rather than listen) that I have started to show the makers behind the goods that I am buying. My intention is to create a greater connection between the makers and those watching the podcast and/or reading the show notes.  I want to showcase the faces that put all the hard work into the fibre community whether they are designers, spinners, dyers or yarn shop owners.  I continue to use ALT text on my Instagram posts and within the show notes. My intention is to also expand this out to my website photos and blog posts (which I have started the process of).    2 – Old Dog New Tricks I want to touch briefly on gut instinct and using that to shape your colour choices and pattern following.    You know that feeling when you have pulled colours together for a project, but your gut is bubbling, telling you that something isn’t quite right?  I have had that quite a bit recently.  I tend to think I am pretty good at choosing colours but of late, I have been asking for second opinions, mainly because I knew they weren’t right.    The same can be said for a part of the pattern design within my Esja jumper.  I could see that the short row shaping was creating a different look within my jumper but I persevered with the pattern.  My gut told me I was wrong to do so but I ignored it – I won’t do that again.   Here’s a quick trick for testing your gut feeling on something.  Using colour choice as an example; you have two choices, grey and yellow or grey and pink.  You assign each choice with a side of the coin.  Toss the coin high in the air and before you move your hand to reveal which choice has been made, listen to the voice that is telling you which one you are actually hoping for.  That is your gut reaction and the one you should actually listen to, regardless of what the coin toss actually tells you.   I use this for all sorts of decisions that I make.  It’s a surprisingly easy way to make decisions and stop procrastinating!   3 – Final Destination I have some quite varied finished objects this month.  I finished off my latest version of Doppio Colosseum in ‘Worn Denim’ (4ply 50% Merino/50% Silk) by The Wool Kitchen.  It was a great reminder of how much I enjoyed designing this pattern and wearing it.     ALT TEXT: Mannequin against a white and teal painted wall.  The shawl draped over the shoulders of the mannequin is in denim blue colours and you can just make out some of the lace lines of the pattern.   Did I mention I was in Barcelona?  Whilst I was there, I was completely taken with an amazing building on Passeig de Gracia – Rocamora Houses.  There is a ceramic turret that inspired my latest design.  I wanted to capture the colours of the turret and the transition between them.      ALT TEXT: Rooftop of Rocamore Houses, Passeig die Gracia, Barcelona.  Bright blue sky with three ceramic tiled turrets showing on the skyline.  The tiles are in earthy shades of brown, orange, yellow and cream.     ALT TEXT: White surface with crocheted cowl doubled over. A wooden carved crochet hook lying on a nest of egg yolk yellow yarn in the forefront.  The cowl is in a gradient fo four colours from cinnamon brown to cantelope melon orange, to egg yolk yellow to a pinky cream colour.   I visited All You Knit is Love, a yarn shop in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona run by Jennifer and Miquel, and bought some of their K2tog yarn which is 70% wool and 30% milk.  It’s beautifully soft and they had the perfect colours for the design.   I suspect that the design is going to be called Rocamora.    Finally, I have been on a bag sewing mission.  I only meant to make one and ended up with 12.  I used a couple of different YouTube tutorials for these and consider myself to be a novice sewer: Zippered box pouch Double drawstring bag    ALT TEXT: Cream surface with three machine sewn project bags.  The top bag has a teardrop coral shape and turquoise, charcoal and grey details.  The bottom right bag had a navy background with pairs of cats facing each other in pinks, corals, mustards and greens.  The left hand bag is woven grey wool fabric with a light mustard coloured zip and it's a boxy baggy.    4 – En Route My Esja jumper (to be made with yarn dyed by my friend Bec of Black Horse Yarns and Socks Yeah! in the colour 'Chryso'.  I am now on sleeve island and am desperate to finish this for Edinburgh Yarn Festival.    Pattern: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/esja-sweater   Main Colour Yarn: https://coopknits.bigcartel.com/product/coop-knits-socks-yeah-yarn Contrast Yarn: https://www.instagram.com/blackhorseyarn/       ALT TEXT: Light blue jumper yolk with a variegated detail with blobs of orange and teal.  The stranded texture from brioche crochet is visible.   5 – Designs in Progress The one crochet design that I have on the go at the moment is the Rocamora Cowl.  I want to make it again using some other chunky yarn so that I can test the theory that it can be made with any yarn and almost any quantity.       ALT TEXT: Cream background with the same four coloured cowl at the top left.  Three chunky, loose skeins of yarn are at the bottom of the photo.  L-R they are a mid-grey, dark grey and a fox orange.  They look springy and full of character.   The next version will be a short cowl using some number 2 yarn that I bought from Die Mercerie in Munich.  It’s a Bavarian yarn of some description…    More on this next month hopefully.   6 – Feeding the habit Hmmmm, there is quite a bit and not all of it is mine. First up, the things I brought back from Barcelona. All You Knit is Love shop is run by Jennifer and Miquel.  They have their own yarn label (K2tog and others) and Jennifer also dyes her own yarn called Mur.       ALT TEXT: Blue background with a photo of Jennifer and Miquel from All You Knit is Love yarn shop, sitting on their sofa, knitting.   K2tog in shades Cinnamon Toast, Cantaloupe, Egg Yolk and Yellow Jade. 70% wool and 30% milk 105m/100g     ALT TEXT: Dark grey background with four skeins of yarn at the top.  The chunky, soft yarns are in a cinnamon brown, cantaloupe orange, egg yolk yellow, and pinky cream colours.  Ay=t the bottom of the photo lies a fifth skein in gentle variegated colours of teal, green, mustard and a mid purple is dominant.   Murmur in colourway ‘Guide’.  75% Merino and 25% Cashmere, 400m/100g.   Lalanalu shop is run by Eva and Kiara and they had lots of crochet and yarn from some local yarn dyers.       ALT TEXT: Blue background with a photo of Eva and Kiara from Lalanalu yarn shop, stood side by sde with wool int eh background.  They are smiling straight at the camera and wearing knitted and crocheted shawls.     Ovejita Be! – in shade Greenery and Les Retrouvailles (the mini didn’t had a shade)  75% wool, 25% nylon, 425m/100g.   ALT TEXT: Blue background with a photo of Teresa the yarn dyer of Ovejita Be!  She is sitting on a sofa with a multicoloured crochet blanket over the back of it.  Teresa is looking down at three balls of yarn in her hands.   Soc Una Troca – in shades Ratafia, Golden Hour and Oberon. 75% Merino, 25% Nylon 420m/100g.      ALT TEXT: Blue background with a photo of Laia the yarn dyer of Soc Una Troca!  She is stood in front of her wooden company sign, wearing a green top and smiling.  To her right is a hook with some skeins of yarn dangling down.   I also came across an amazing fabric shop called Nunoya and bougtht this amazing selection:    ALT TEXT: Lots of different coloured fabrics arranged into a swirl.  There are cat , moon, bear, bat, sock, llama, cherry, umbrella, raindrop and bee patterns.     At Unravel I bought these bits and pieces:  Frida Kahlo by Helen at The Wool Kitchen,  75% BFL, 25% Nylon, 400m/100g.      ALT TEXT: Blue background with a photo of Helen the yarn dyer of The Wool Kitchen. She is stood taking a selfie with her phone and a Frida Kahlo phone case.  Helen is wearing a purple checked shirt and a purple hat that she had=s just finished knitting.      ALT TEXT: Cream background with a single skein of Thw Wool Kitchen yarn, called Frida Kahlo.  It is a mallard green base with "zips" of colour at one end of the skein in luminous yellow, pink, orange, green and turquoise.   John Arbon Textiles new Exmoor Sock Yarn in shades Blooth and Hemel.  60% Exmoor Blueface, 20% Corriedale, 10% Zwartbles, 10% Nylon,  200m/50g.  I will be pairing this up shade Mizzle which I already had in my grubby little hands.  These are going to be made into Acanthium Mittens by Katie Green and hopefully, ready for Edinburgh Yarn Festival.    ALT TEXT: Blue background with a photo of John and Juliet Arbon.  They are sat down with their mill machinery in the background.  Both are facing forward and smiling.  John is in fawn dungarees and Juliet's curly dark hair is in pigtails.      ALT TEXT: Cream background with a photo of two skeins of Exmoor Sock Yarn.  One is a dark forest green and the other is an aubergine purple.  Both have a white skein band with yellow bubbles and an old fashioned sheep drawing.    I also came across a new to me dyer, Tara, from Irish Artisan Yarns.  I love that her yarn dying is inspired by the landscape of Northern Ireland.  I bought a Carrick-a-Rede inspired colourway from her, 75% Merino, 25% Nylon, 400m/100g.  And she kindly gave me a mini in a little goody bag.         ALT TEXT: Cream background with a photo of a full skein of Irish Artisan Yarn in subtle blue and greens.  Above it is a mini skein in all the denim blues.  Both have white skein tags with "IAY" on them.   7 - Quick News Beats  1 - Global Hook Ups – The next dates are Saturday 9th March 1t 8pm GMT and Sunday 10th March at 9am GMT.  The links for the sessions are all available over on the Ravelry thread. 2 – If you are anywhere North Wales, Nikki from Ewe Felty Thing is having a party on Saturday 16th March to celebrate the first birthday of her yarn store. I will be there from about 12 – 5pm and would love to see you there. 3 - I am heading to Edinburgh Yarn Festival on the Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.  On the Thursday I will be on Tanya’s stand – TJ Frog.  Please do pop along for all things Dorset Button, Dorset breed wools and generally lovely goods.   8 – Big Up If you are looking for a non-crafty podcast, I heartily recommend David Tennant Does a Podcast With…   He basically interviews his friends and it is very funny and also sweary, so not for everyone.   I have also been relishing The Great British Sewing Bee – an hour of sewing escapism every week and just the nudge I needed to get my sewing machine out again.   I will be back on Friday the 5th April! Fay x   Instagram: Crochet_Circle_Podcast  Instagram: provenance.craft.co   Instagram: FayDHDesigns YouTube: The Crochet Circle Podcast Crochet Clan on Mighty Network: Invite    

Unraveling ...a knitting podcast
Episode 53 - Greg Likes Pom Poms

Unraveling ...a knitting podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 25, 2019 69:11


In Episode 53, Greg and Pam discuss Peruvian Highland Wool, Romeldale CVM and Hat Trials. SPONSORS We are Knitcrate Ambassadors! Are you the kind of knitter who would enjoy receiving a surprise package of yarn in the mail every month? Then you need to sign up for a Knitcrate subscription. Every month, you will receive a selection of curated yarn, a pattern specifically paired to use with the yarn, and a treat. Use code KD20 at checkout for 20% off your first package when you sign up for a subscription. FiberCrafty's  independently owned shops are stocked with yarn, fiber, project bags, stitch markers and more. With filter terms specific to yarn and fiber, the ability to save favorites, and a secure checkout process, it's better than a 24 hour fiber festival! For shop owners, our easy to use interface makes selling online easy. FiberCrafty is owned by one woman that has a crazy love of yarn and knitting. Greg's favorite feature? Pants are optional. Shop for your next project at FiberCrafty. NOTES Greg's Projects Greg finished Joey's scarf. It was well received. Greg finished his Emmen hat (project page) Yarn is The Fiber Seed Sprout Sock. Greg finished the Coffee Shop Hat out of mystery yarn (project page). Greg continues to work on socks: Lana Grosa Socks in Lana Grossa Meilenweit Ashbury yarn Christmas Is Coming Socks in Dyeabolical Sturdy (version 1) yarn. Pam's Projects Last time Pam forgot to share a hat she finished called C'mon, Cat Happy by Pattymac Knits for her niece. She used Malabrigo Chunky (not Bulky as was said in the podcast). Pam finished her Fish Lips Kiss Heel socks. She's using Lang Jawoll Cotton Stretch Color. Pam is on color 3 (of 3) on her 150 Fade by Fiber Me This. She's using some Plymouth Happy Feet she had dyed. Pam started a test knit for her friend Martha. She is using Anzula Nebulaand APL Crafts Handmade in Blue Galaxy. Pam is casting on Elizabeth Zimmermann's Sideways Gloves with merino/angora yarn from BaaBerry Farms. Pam mentioned 2 sock patterns she wants to try by Sarah Jordan. Non-Euclidian is the cuff down version CPCTC is the toe up version Pam swatched for the Stripe Domination KAL. Misc Things Safari Nation is a fun place in Greensboro for kids. Greg's Coffee Shop: A Special Blend Peruvian Highland Wool: As Greg shared, it's a cross between Merino (for softness) and Corriedale (for strength). After consulting The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook (affiliate link), this breed is not mentioned but the authors state there are so many Merino crosses that their information on merinos is incomplete. The Livestock Conservancy Shave ‘Em to Save ‘Em Challenge List of Conservation Sheep Breeds Carolina FiberFest: 2019 Knit Along Fiber Friends Shawl by Cori Eichelberger. Cori's book is Minnesota 52 2019 Crochet Along Carolina Chevron Cowl by Jennifer Rosenfeld 2018 Knit Along – Spring Drops Cowl by Martha Emily Podcasts and Designers We Love Twinset Designs KinoKnits Behind The Wool Sarah Jordan Designs knit.fm Current/Upcoming Unraveling Events Join in on our KAL! Let's explore color dominance with the Stripe Domination Hat by Ellen Silva. See the KAL thread in the Ravelry Group for a pattern discount code. Upcoming Events Where You Might Find Us Carolina FiberFest (March 22-23, 2019) – In addition to the main event, CFF will be hosting a casual community even on Saturday March 16 in the Expo building at the NC State Fairgrounds. We will have more details soon, but if you might be able to join us, put it on your calendar! FiberCrafty Sarah Jordan's shop is Fluvial Fibers – she has beautiful handspun in a wide variety of fiber breeds Ellen's shop is Zephyr Creek Farm and she has Romeldale/CVM sheep. Romeldale/CVM is considered a threatened breed. Pam purchased some of the mill spun yarn and it is SO soft. The weekly FiberCrafty newsletter always has a list of current coupon codes! And other fun stuff. Pam writes it, it's good. You should subscribe. The Opinionated Knitter (affiliate link) We had a lot to talk about this week! We will discuss Leaflet #6 next time, pages 36-41. Affiliate Link Disclosures This post contains affiliate links. That means that if you click on a link to Craftsy, Cooperative Press, Amazon, or Knitcrate and subsequently make a purchase, we'll receive a small commission from the sale. You pay the same, and the commissions will help cover our podcasting expenses. Our opinions are always our own, and we're never compensated to endorse any particular product or service. Find us all over the Internet Subscribe in iTunes: The Unraveling Podcast Podcast RSS Feed: Unraveling Podcast Twitter: @UnravelingPod Facebook: Unraveling Podcast Instagram: @UnravelingPodcast Periscope: @UnravelingPodcast Ravelry Group: Unraveling Podcast Greg is KnittingDaddy on Ravelry, @KnittingDaddy on Instagram, and also writes the KnittingDaddy blog. Pam is pammaher on Ravelry, @FiberCrafty and @pammaher on Instagram, and owner of the FiberCrafty  marketplace.

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures
Ep 106: Schemes and Dreams for 2019

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 20, 2019 70:03


Scheming and dreaming about all the yarn and fleece projects for 2019. Did you know Marsha and Kelly both love the smell of fleece? Have you heard about the woven ruana and the sheep tea cozy a few too many times? What does it mean to raise your default level? It’s all in this episode. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com.  Join the community on Ravelry  or email us with your thoughts. Email us at twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com We’d love to hear your 2019 Dreams and Schemes! Project Updates Marsha continues to work on Cloud Cover by Heidi Kirrmaier. It has an unusual construction. Knit yoke, then sleeves, then body, then collar. Marsha is hoping she doesn’t run out of yarn before that big shawl collar is done. Marsha has carded a bunch of Wensleydale x Corriedale x Merino fleece and has been spinning it. This fleece is a gorgeous dark espresso color! More spinning is in Marsha’s plans for 2019. Kelly has also been mostly monogamous on the knit front with the Mystery Knit Along with Cozy Up Knits.  She’s using the Two Ewes Replenish Rambouillet and loving the feel of the yarn.  The shawl pattern is interesting and will result in a 3 color shawl in 5 weeks. No pictures of the full project because it’s a mystery! 2019 Dreams and Schemes Kelly and Marsha are both training for distance walking this year.  Kelly will be walking the Big Sur 21-Miler in April with her Dad who will turn 79 in March. Marsha got a copy of her training schedule and plans to follow the training, but not do the event. Join in the Ravelry group discussion if you have a fitness goal for 2019 and want some structure and encouragement or want a place to brag! Events Northwest Regional Spinners Association Fleeber Farms Twisted Straight Fibers Whidbey Weavers Guild Stitches West Black Sheep Gathering

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures
Ep 105: Ringing in the N-Ewe Year 2019

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 6, 2019 68:11


Ringing in the New Year with lace knitting, a vegetable terrine, lots of project planning, and a geographic survey of our listeners. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com.  Join the community on Ravelry  or email us with your thoughts. twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com is our email address.  We’d love to hear from you! Project Updates Marsha continues to work on Slack Tide by Poststitch and is making steady progress. The yarn is Concentric by Hikoo, which is singles that are not pied. It’s very “splitty” and difficult to knit with especially on knit two together, but it’s beautiful fabric. Marsha is waiting for a day to herself to work uninterrupted on Rabbit by Claire Garland.  Marsha is also knitting Cloud Cover by Heidi Kirrmaier. It has an unusual construction. Knit yoke, then sleeves, then body, then collar. Marsha has finished first sleeve and started second. She’s still planning for SnowFlower by Heidi Kirrmaier  The natural yarn arrived and she’s been thinking about colors. The “snowflower” will be the natural color but the CC can be anything! Marsha has carded a bunch of Wensleydale x Corriedale x Merino cross and has been spinning it. This fleece is a gorgeous dark espresso color! Kelly joined in the Mystery Knit Along with Cozy Up Knits.  She’ll be using the Two Ewes Replenish Rambouillet for a 3 color shawl in 5 weeks. She is also participating in the 2019 Herbert Niebling KAL and the Yarniacs Self Indulgent Knit Along with some Niebling lace patterns.  Her Glocklein is finished and she is planning for two more of these fun lace patterns. 2018 Statistics of Interest Kelly: 31 projects including 8 pair of socks (4 argyles, 3 slipper socks) and 3 weaving projects Marsha: 13 projects including 5 sweaters and 3 pair of socks. Most popular podcast episodes of 2018: Fiber Adventures in Scotland Ep 86: Events, Knitting Tips, and Bee Talk Ep 92: Sweaters and Blankets in Summer Ep 89: Spirit Dress Forms and Uncanny Coincidences Bonus! Argyle Socks and Edinburgh Sights Ep 85: A Two-Ply of Joy and Sorrow Ep 91: Project, Color, and Design Ideas from Listeners Ep 90: Naughty Knits and Combo Spinning Ep 93: Gathering Together   Most popular episodes from previous years Ep 83: One Ewe's Year in Rev-EWE (12/31/17) Ep 20 a: Textiles on My Travels seriesPart 1 Part 2 Part 3 Ep 1: Who Are Ewe and What Are Ewe Doing Here? (2014)   Geographic location of listeners--top ten countries United States Canada United Kingdom Australia Sweden Denmark Netherlands Germany New Zealand Other interesting and surprising locations! The Two Ewes have listeners in places around the world, including the Isle of Man, Uzbekistan, Latvia, Peru, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore. Events: Author Stephany Wilkes has a book event at Books Inc. in Berkeley, California on January 8, 2019 at 7 pm.  In February she will be speaking at the Treadles to Threads guild meeting February 27 in Contra Costa. Stitches West! Thursday, February 21 through Sunday, February 24. Marsha and Kelly will be attending the meet-up hosted by Yarniacs and 2 Knit Lit Chicks on Saturday afternoon in the lobby bar area. Madrona Fiber Arts Thursday, February 14 through Sunday, February 17 in Tacoma Washington. Marsha will be there with Kim aka KMDesigns.

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures
Ep 104: Flurry of Finishing and Starting

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 21, 2018 54:28


Lots of finished knitting, a fleece processing and spinning project, and a new warp are all on the show this week. We also pull two winners for Stephany Wilkes’ book, Raw Material. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com.  Join the community on Ravelry and discuss the episode, or contact us with your thoughts. twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com is our email address.  We’d love to hear from you. Kelly finished the Unice Unicorn Hood for her grandniece.  She also finished a second pair of Jo’s Perfect Slipper Socks. They are in one of the Western Sky Knits merino cashmere sport weight skeins that she has used for criss-cross colors in argyle socks.  This is a perfect gift knit! The bulky-weight, 6-shaft weaving is finished, too.  It turned out a little too narrow to be a loom bench cushion so it is now out in the cat’s house as a warm and comfy sleeping pad. It was a great way to sample bulky weaving and the 6-shaft draft and to get used to the Macomber loom. The argyle socks are almost finished.  The knitting is done and now the ends need to be woven in and the back of the leg and sides of the foot need to be seamed. Kelly wound warp to make a new weaving project for the 4-shaft table loom.  The yarns are fairly thin and the sett will be 24 ends per inch.  She plans to use this to warp back to front for the first time as part of the Winter Weave Along. Join in the weaving fun in our weaving discussion on Ravelry. She made a video (click here for part 1 and here for part 2) showing her stash and selection process. Marsha hasn’t made any progress on her scarf, Slack Tide -  Poststitch or her Rabbit - Claire Garland. But she has been busy working on her cardigan, Cloud Cover - Heidi Kirrmaier and her “vanilla” socks with Austerman Step with heels and toes in Knit Picks Stroll. Marsha also pulled out a fleece she bought two years ago at the Black Sheep Gathering. It is a 6 pound Wensleydale x Corriedale x Merino cross she split with Kelly. The color is a beautiful dark chocolate espresso bean. Marsha talks about carding the fiber and using her diz for the first time. Marsha also talks about her planning for her next sweater, SnowFlower, a pullover with colorwork and plans for dyeing the contrasting colors. Kelly is planning to join in the Mystery Knit Along with Cozy Up Knits.  She’ll be using the Two Ewes Replenish Rambouillet for a 3 color shawl in 5 weeks. Stephany Wilkes has donated a copy of her book Raw Material: Working Wool in the West and the Ewes donated a second. We’ve chosen winners.  Check out the episode to see who won! Stephany has another book event at Books Inc. in Berkeley, California on January 8, 2019 at 7 pm.  In February she will be speaking at the Treadles to Threads guild meeting February 27 in Contra Costa.

Crochet Circle Podcast
Episode 35 - Sockdale

Crochet Circle Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 5, 2018 91:54


Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 35 – Sockdale   In this episode, I cover: Old dog new tricks; Sock CAL; Final Destination; En Route; Feeding the habit; Quick News Beats; Big Up and J’adore?   This podcast is sponsored by my online crafting company, Provenance Craft Co.  Thanks to everyone who tunes into the podcast whether it is through Stitcher, Podbean, Spotify, iTunes or the YouTube Channel. Your support and engagement are really appreciated and makes running a podcast very special and worthwhile.    If you would like to support the podcast, you can do that through Patreon:   1 – Old dog new tricks I was in our Ravelry pages the other day and came across a link that was helpfully posted to try to help people understand what kind of crocheter they are.  You may be a yanker, rider or a lifter.  Your style affects whether or not you are going to hit row tension/gauge and by crocheting in the Rider style, you should be able to hit gauge with most patterns (unless the designer is a Yanker or Lifter).  This can help you to get the right number fo pattern rows/rounds and in the case of a Yanker, stop you from having to use more yarn to get the right length of the project.   I thought I would raise this because a Crochet Clan member said that they managed to get gauge on their stitches, but not rows and their way around that was to add more rows.  This has happened to me in the past too.    Yankers – tend to pull the golden loop (first loop pulled up from yarn round hook) and create shorter stitches because they are yanking down on the loops as they work through each stitch.  With this technique, you are likely to create shorter projects unless you do extra rows/rounds, Riders – this is really where you want to be because your hook is being worked parallel with your row/round and the height is where it ideally should be.  When you pull through a loop from your first yarn round hook, your hook should almost be pointing diagonally down so that you are not extending the loop and you can continue to build the right height as you do the remaining parts of that stitch.   Lifters -  A lifter is the opposite of a Yanker because they extend the golden loop every time, creating a taller stitch.  With this technique, you are likely to create taller projects overall.   If you want to know more about this, I thoroughly recommend looking up Deje Jetmir’s YouTube video.  She takes you through what a difference it makes and how to overcome being a Yanker or Lifter.   2 - #SockAlong 2018 CAL This CAL is well and truly underway and I am mightily impressed with how many socks are being crocheted and the progress so far! It runs from Saturday 29th September – 31st October 2018. There is a series of blog posts taking you through the intricacies of crocheting socks. You can join in with crocheted or knitted socks. The chatter thread is on Claudia’s (Crochet Luna’s Ravelry page), the FO thread will be hosted by Kathryn from the Crafternoon Treats podcast Ravelry Group and I am heading up the Instagram #SockCAL2018 #SockAlong2018. Sock patterns are available from various designers. There will be prizes for winning entries into the Ravelry FO thread and those using #SockAlong2018FO and I showcase some of them on the podcast. The FO thread is already open in Kathryn's Crafternoon Treats Ravelry Group and there are entries already! Here are the links to all of the blog hop folk: #1 Sat 15th Sep - Sock Making Tips - me (http://www.craftyescapism.com/) #2 Sat 22nd Sep - Yarn Choice - Fay (https://www.knitit-hookit-craftit.com/) #3 Sat 29th Sep - Knit vs Crochet Socks - Caroline (https://www.mindandmusecrafts.com/) #4 Sun 30th Sep -  Sock Anatomy - Deanne (http://www.addydae.com/) #5 Sat 6 Oct - Toe up vs Cuff down Socks - Jo (http://jojotwinkletoes.blogspot.com/) #6 Sat 13th Oct - Colour & colour patterns - Marta (http://mrsdaftspaniel.blogspot.com/) #7 Sat 20th Oct - Customising socks - Kathryn (http://crafternoontreats.com/) #8 Sat 27th Oct - Crochet Sock Heels are not Scary - Karen (https://www.karenwhooley.com/)   These designers have offered a discount or free pattern: Karen Whooley - 20% off all her sock patterns and books through Ravelry.  Just use code socktober2018 at the checkout.  https://www.ravelry.com/designers/karen-whooley Deanne from Addydae Designs - 20% off Baseline Socks using code SOCKCAL2018 at the Ravelry checkout.  https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baseline-socks  Vicki Brown - free Magdalen Sock Pattern on Ravelry https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/magdalen-socks  Kathryn from Crafternoon Treats Podcast - free SuperSonic Socks on Ravelry https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/supersonic-socks  Caroline from Mind and Muse podcast - free Miniature Hooked Socks and My Sweet Socks on Ravelry  https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/mind-and-muse-crafts/patterns    Here are some of the prizes that have been coming in for the CAL:   1 - Shawl pin by Vesna and her Etsy shop UstvarjalniNavdih 2 - Yarn by Bec at Black Horse Yarn with a Votes for Women badge I found at Yarndale 3 - Yarn via The Wool Stop in Bristol but dyed by Deb at Crafty Cat Knitty Bits 4 - Stitch markers by Lisa  5 - Stitch markers by Kathryn at Crafternoon Treats   3 – Final Destination I have a couple of finished things to share with you this month.  I managed to do my project with the Blacker Tor, the birthday yarn I was sent by Blacker and it’s everything Jo said it was in the yarn review was spot on.  It’s bouncy, crochets brilliantly and is beautiful to work with.  I made myself a little bag for all of my essential crochet designers kit.  It’s just big enough to carry my design kit of stopwatch, calculator, notepad, scales and pen and fit inside a project bag.     I am pleased to have finished the crocheted version of Arete.  I had to steek this project and it seems that steeking crochet IS NOT A THING.  It is now.  It works.  My stitches haven’t come undone and the world didn’t implode! Yay.  I plan on writing a couple of blog posts on steeking crochet because I really think it should be incorporated into more designs.  I much prefer tapestry crochet in the round rather than in rows.  So, here is the design and the ways I liked to style it:   Discount codes are set up on both patterns on Ravelry.  Use CROCHETCLAN at check out to receive 50% discount. I also finished my knitted version of Arete and here it is too.     4 – En Route It is all about socks!  Crocheted socks.  I have two different pairs on the go.  Both are using the same Fallen Leaves pattern by Vicki Brown.  I am making both pairs with some of Kathryn from Crafternoon Treats yarn so that I can do a side by side comparison.  Both are 80% Corriedale and 20% nylon, but the bright pink one is non-superwash and the light blue is super washed.      I am intrigued to see the difference between the two and so I am making them both into the same crocheted sock pattern.  My plan is to wear both pairs one day each week for a number of months, put them both through our weekly wool wash and test them side by side to discern whether there is any material difference between superwash and non-superwash.   The yarn is working up really well and is giving great stitch definition with the Fallen Leaves which is beautiful.   5 – Feeding the habit Well, I was at Yarndale.  I am now on a bit of a yarn ban again and I think I am going to try to take it right through to 2019 and assess the situation then. So, here is what has been in my shopping basket this month, bearing in mind that much of it is for designs:     Left - 'Orchard' in Bear Twist by Bernie at Bear in Sheep's Clothing Middle and right-hand side yarn are both Crafternoon Corrie Sock from Kathryn at Crafternoon Treats   Right photo shows all the lovely gifts I have receievd during the month.  Lost of sticth markers and notions.  There were chocolates and tablet...     Left - Alpaca Rose yarn from Border Mill Right - crochet hook roll and bag from Clarisabeth from Crochet Cakes Podcast and DaintyByCrochetCakes Etsy shop, Chocolate bag and Patons Kroy sock yarn from Claudia at Crochet Luna Podcast and esty shop     Left - BFL, mohair and Pecora Brugno from Officina del Colore Naturale  Right - Poll Dorset Lambswool from Kate at Northern Yarn   6 - Quick News Beats  Global Hook Ups – The next Global Hook Up is due to be on Saturday 13th October 2018 (BST) Time: Saturday 13th October 2018 8:30 PM London BST Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://zoom.us/j/4750475819  The meeting ID number is 475-047-5819 and you will need to join via Zoom which you can do here:  https://www.zoom.us/join There is then a second one on Sunday 14th October at 9am (BST) Time: Sunday 14th October 2018 9:00 AM London BST Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://zoom.us/j/4750475819  The meeting ID number is 475-047-5819 and you will need to join via Zoom which you can do here:  https://www.zoom.us/join Making Things App - A new pattern app is in the making.  It is called Making Things App and you can take a look at their website and Instagram.  This is quite a different take on how you can access patterns form designers.  Think of a Netflix monthly payment with access to all of the patterns on the app.  I will report back when I know more about a launch date but what I can say is that as a designer and user of paid-for patterns, I am excited about this new platform. C2C CAL - Rosina of Zeens & Rogers podcast is hosting a corner to corner (C2C) CAL.  It starts on Sunday 7th October and runs until 17th November.  You can get all the details here in the blogpost.   Glasgow trip – I am heading to my favourite Scottish city on Saturday 24th November.  If anyone fancies meeting up, I will be heading to The Queen of Purls for about 3.30pm.  The yarn shop is at 1069 Argyle Street, Studio 8, Second Floor, The Hive, Glasgow, G3 8LZ and is open until 5pm. So, if you are in or around Glasgow and fancy squishing yarn with me and going for a coffee, please drop me a line.   8 – Big Up My friend Sophie has taken up podcasting.  She is quite a few episodes in now and you can catch her easy breezy, positive catch ups and see her massive WIP pile over at the A Spring Snowflake Podcast over on YouTube.   Yarndale organisers – it is a fabulous event that is very crochet welcoming and I think becomes more and more crochet friendly every year.    Everyone with a zombie apocalypse plan.  In a short and unscientific poll at Yarndale, three out of eight people do not have a zombie apocalypse plan.  In case you don’t have a plan, here are some tips:  https://comicvine.gamespot.com/profile/masterkungfu/blog/my-zombie-apocalypse-survival-plan/101215/   9 – J’adore Song – I listen to a fair bit of folk music and Spotify brought me ‘Dark Honey’ by Martin Simpson, Andy Cutting and Nancy Kerr.  It is just beautiful.  Claudia – Claudia from the Crochet Luan podcast was over for Yarndale.  We had a blast.  It is just as well we live far apart because I don’t think the world is ready for the amount of naughty we would create together!   Fay x   Instagram: Crochet_Circle_Podcast  Instagram: provenance.craft.co   Instagram: FayDHDesigns YouTube: The Crochet Circle Podcast Crochet Clan on Mighty Network: Invite          

The Woolly Thistle podcast
NH Knits Ep 082 - Silver Forest

The Woolly Thistle podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 20, 2018 41:51


Welcome to Episode 82 of New Hampshire Knits, where I share the latest news at The Woolly Thistle, and all about my latest FO, Silver Forest.  There's plenty on the needles too  and plans are coming together for TWT Fall Sweater KAL -  I hope you join me for this episode and start planning your own sweater knitting ready to join in the KAL.  Thanks for listening!.   Show notes & links: John Arbon Textiles - Knit By Numbers DK Little Grey Sheep - Hampshire DK   Susan Crawford's Fenella and Exelana   Silver Forest Yoke Sweater by Jennifer Steingass @knit.love.wool   Jamieson & Smith Shetland Supreme 2003, 2005, 2001, 2009   Calix by Elizabeth Doherty @bluebeestudio  Blacker Lyonesse Balvraid Hap from Blacker Yarns   Birlinn Yarns Peaty Brown 4ply Voe Vest by MJ Mucklestone     TWT Fall Sweater KAL on Ravelry, #TWTsweaterKAL2018 Faithmead of Wales: Teeswater, BFL, Corriedale, Leicester Longwool Louise from Knit British: #naturesshadesalong     Einrum from Iceland   Erika Knight 100 Blue   Tuku Sock and Tuku Fingering   Rauma Yarns   “Bloomsbury” by Marie Wallin calls for Rowan Felted Tweed DK    “Vintage Shetland Project” by Susan Crawford is in it's second's printing coming in the next few weeks.  Click here to be notified when preorders go live.   Laine Issues 1-5 now available Handy Woman by Kate Davies, coming to TWT soon   Kits:   Peerie Flooers by Kate Davies in Jamieson & Smith Ola Sweater Kit by Ella Gordon - sold out, more to come Burra Cowl in Jamieson Spindrift - sold out, more to come Paterson in Susan Crawford's Fenella - cover design on Vintage Shetland Project - kits available Fair Isle Cap Kit in Jamieson & Smith Heritage yarn

silver kal bloomsbury fo ravelry knits bfl twt fenella kate davies susan crawford corriedale elizabeth doherty marie wallin knitbritish new hampshire knits
Two Ewes Fiber Adventures
Ep 93: Gathering Together

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 9, 2018 59:23


The Two Ewes are back home after a fun weekend at The Black Sheep Gathering. This year the festival was held in Albany, Oregon June 29th - July 1st. Kelly and Marsha discuss the highlights of festival. Marsha had twelve hours of knitting on the round-trip train ride from Seattle plus knitting time the festival. She is almost ready to start the ribbing and short row shaping on her Summer Fjord tee by Trin-Annelie. At the BSG Marsha fed her addiction with more braids for a combo spin in, this time in red. She also bought two braids to go with a white, grey, and yellow braid she bought a year ago. She is not sure how she plans to spin these braids. Will it be her Combo Spin 5?  Marsha gave into temptation and bought a beautiful Corriedale x Romeldale fleece in steel gray.  Kelly also bought a Corriedale x Romeldale fleece, this one is white. And she succumbed to a beautiful steel gray Romney fleece that was for sale in the non-judged market. Her purchases at the BSG were restrained because after the Gathering she picked up a Great Wheel style wheel that she was buying from a fellow adventurer. The wheel was made by Bill Wyatt in 2001. In addition to exciting additions to the spinning wheel flock, Kelly was able to make great progress on two projects. The Argyle socks are coming along nicely and the Clover, Bee, and Revery Pillow is almost done! For full show notes, including pictures and all the links, go to https://twoewesfiberadventures.com/blogs/podcast

We Are Yarn
Episode 170 – And So Ends Quarter 2!

We Are Yarn

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 3, 2018


DQknits you’re quarter 2 winner! Please message me with which giftable sweater pattern you’d like! I finished that Lemongrass! The Veronika will be next. I continued working on the Deschain, and noticed how life can affect your gauge. I am so near finishing the Depth cowl! And, I am slowing spinning some undyed Corriedale to make into a Japan Sleeves Thanks for visiting with me today!

Yarn in the City
Episode 59: A Decade

Yarn in the City

Play Episode Listen Later May 9, 2017 64:51


This year is the tenth anniversary for lots of different institutions in our knitting world, but the one we talk about in this episode is Ravelry - the website that has changed the landscape of fibre arts and community. In addition, we’ll have quick run through upcoming events for May and June and share what’s on our needles, hooks and bobbins. News and Events 13-14th May: Wool@J13, Lower Drayton Farm, Penkridge, Staffordshire ST19 5RE 27 May: Highland Wool and Textiles Fair, Dingwall Auction Mart, Scotland From 1st June – end September: Exhibition of Dutch Ganseys, Sheringham Museum, Lifeboat Plain, Sheringham NR26 8BG 3rd June: Leeds Wool Festival 10th June – World Wide Knit In Public Day - come join us at the Village Haberdashery! 10-11th June: John Arbon Textiles Mill Open Weekend 23-24th June: Woolfest, Mitchells Lakeland Livestock Center, Cockermouth, Cumbria CA13 0QQ  Make Happy – aka – What we’re working on Rachel is onto the collar of the Kippen Cardigan (by Kat Goldin of The Crochet Project), and a pair of two at a time toe up socks in handspun Romney from the Lab Goddess Fibre Club (January 2017, Diving into the Deep inspired by geologist and cartographer Marie Tharp). She's also finished spinning up some special collaboration yarn, and is now obsessively spinning sock yarn from some Sock Blend top (50% Corriedale/25% Southdown/25% nylon in the Network colourway) to knit Kate Atherley’s new sock pattern. Allison is still working on her crocheted baby blanket, but has also started a crochet tie for Harrison for his school show. Also on needles: the Martinique Beach Cowl by Fiona Alice from Take Heart in SweetGeorgia Trinity Worsted. the Maple Leaf Shawl by Natalia @ Elfmoda and the Foolproof Cowl by Louise Zass-Bangham. A Decade In which we discuss the demise of Knitter's Magazine, the rise of Ravelry and what the next ten years might hold for the knitting world. Wrap up Many thanks for joining us for another episode! You can find the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher Radio (please rate, review and subscribe!) and you'll find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, in our Yarn in the City group on Ravelry, or in person on Wednesday nights at our knit night at The Goat on the Rise  between 7 and 10pm. Have a great couple of weeks and we’ll chat with you soon!  Music credits (available on NoiseTrade) Ridiculously Happy (feat. Twilight Meadow) - Owl City

Crochet Circle Podcast
Episode 14 - Unchained Melody?

Crochet Circle Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 3, 2017 88:26


Hello folks, come on into The Crochet Circle Podcast. Here are the show notes from Episode Fourteen - Unchained Melody?   In this episode, I cover: Yay Crochet or Nay Crochet; FOs; WIPs; Feeding the Habit; Tunisian CAL; Festivals; Big Up and What's Good?   This podcast is sponsored by my online crafting company, Provenance Craft Co.  Thanks to everyone who tunes into the podcast whether it is through Stitcher, Podbean, Spotify, iTunes or the YouTube Channel. Your support and engagement are really appreciated and makes running a podcast very special and worthwhile.    If you would like to support the podcast, you can do that through Patreon:   1 - Yay crochet, yay crochet, yay crochet and a wee bit more yay crochet! I love to learn, and so when I come across a new technique I like to dive in and understand its pros and cons rather than just accept that is naturally better.   I was coming across comments on Instagram about how many people preferred to start their projects with a chainless foundation, rather than the traditional chained foundation because it was quicker and they preferred the finished effect.  Hmm, time to get my hook out and investigate.   The below photo shows you the times, sizes, pros and cons that I found between chained and chainless foundations.        Bella Coco has a great YouTube tutorial on how to do a chainless foundation.   2 - Finished Objects I always get through more projects that I think.  Through the guise of #StashBingo I have been using some really lovely yarns that otherwise would have remained at the back of the Stash Palace.  I have really loved working with the Jamieson & Smiths Shetland wool and it comes in a fantastic range of colours.     1 - J&S 2 ply Jumper Weight (100% Shetland wool): Blue is shade FC41, dark green is shade 65, light green is FC62 and the fawn is actually J&S 3 ply jumper weight in undyed shade 2008/Katmollet.  I was testing out whether the 3ply was better for the beginning of the cowl because the colourwork strands mean that the patterned areas are heavier and contain more yarn.  My conclusion is that it is best to double up on the 2ply where needed rather than use the 3 ply. 2 - J&S 2 ply Jumper Weight (100% Shetland wool)  Cream is shade 1A, orange is shade 125 and the dark red is shade FC62.  I have been working on these projects as part of #StashBingo but also to design projects that can use up yarn straggles and look good.   I also did a bit of investigating on the best place to buy Jamieson & Smith wool from and the cheapest source was Purlesence.  They offer free UK and EU postage for orders over £25 and I believe that their non-EU shipping is also very reasonable.  25g of J&S 2 ply is only £2.90.     3 - This was a Corriedale pencil roving that I bought from Queen of Purls in Glasgow, but it doesn't seem to be listed on their website anymore.  I used it to crochet a hat for my niece Darcie, which you can see below. If you like the look of this yarn then you may want to try Erika Knight for John Lewis XXL which is a slightly chunkier version or Drops Eskimo.  The pattern is Super Chunky Bobble Hat by Jo Janes on Ravelry.        4 - Wolle Rodel Sport and Strumpfwolle in shade 16915  75% wool and 25% polyamide. 5 - Regia 4 ply 75% wool and 25% polyamide in Ocean (06629).  I think this is what the yarn is...   The pink yarn is West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 ply, 75% wool (35% is Bluefaced Leicester) and 25% nylon in shade 545 Sarsaparilla.   To share the love with listeners and watchers of the podcast, I want to test giving out a 50% discount code for my patterns.  I am starting this off with my latest pattern Doppio Colosseum and so between 3rd and the 17th March (midnight GMT) you can get 50% off the pattern in Ravelry by using code DOPPIO50%. This is what Doppio Colosseum looks like and it requires 200g/800m of a 4ply fingering weight yarn.           3 - Work in Progress I have two main WIPs on the go at the moment, one crochet and one knitted.  From now on in the podcast, I am only going to talk about my knitting projects when they have become finished objects.  I want to make sure that the podcast remains predominantly about crochet but I still need to be able to reflect on the other things that I craft because they also give me inspiration for my crochet makes.   Here is my second #StashBingo project (project bag number 4).  This is some really course British wool that I picked up at Wonderwool Wales almost two years ago with the thought of making housewares with it.  I then dyed up some of the wool when I ran the dyeing workshop last September.  There was no real thought to how I dyed it, I was just helping to exhaust some of the wool in Gill's dye pot. The result is lovely with a shift in the depth of colour as you get to the outer parts of the skein because the dye couldn't penetrate the inner part of the yarn cake as readily.   I am holding two strands of wool together to make this rug, starting with two strands of undyed.  When the first cake of undyed had been crocheted, I added the lightest of my dyed wool in and continued to crochet with two strands - one undyed and one dyed.  This is adding a really nice sense of balance to the rug because the undyed yarn is visible throughout the whole piece.  I have then moved onto the next darkest skein of dyed yarn, and so on and so on.  I love it! This will be an FO on the next podcast.     Here is my knitting WIP.  It is Stream by Isabel Kramer and I am using one of my sock club skeins from Life in the Long Grass and Socks Yeah! in Sphene (104) the mustard colour and Sugilite (112) the plum colour.      4 - Feeding the habit I am still being good.  I have bought Top-Down Crochet Sweaters by Dora Ohrenstein and my subscription of Pom Pom Quarterly has turned up and here is a link to the Hanbira cardigan. I continue to focus on the MANY gorgeous yarns in my stash.     5 - Tunisian CAL is GO GO GO! This new CAL started on the 3rd March and runs until the 16th April.  We are being expertly guided by Sol through this CAL as she already teaches Tunisian crochet, has tutorials on her blog and is providing patterns for the CAL. Tamara (long-term listener and group member) has also pulled together her top Ten Tunisian Crochet Tips as a blog post, so give that a read too. There are three categories: 1 - Sol's Cobbled Streets Cowl which is free of charge pattern and needs one skein (400m) of 4 ply yarn, a 4mm (G6) hook and a 30cm cable, though you may be able to use a long-shafted hook instead. 2 - Sol's Ocaso shawl which is a paid-for pattern and needs three (1 x Yarn A and 2 x Yarn B) skeins of 4 ply yarn with about 380m per skein.  You will need a 4mm hook (G6) and an 80cm cable.  Use code TCCPODCAST to get 50% off this pattern in Ravelry. 3 -  Anything goes.  The pattern of your choice, it just has to be Tunisian crochet. A Ravelry thread has already been opened and you can use #tccTunisianCAL on Instagram.   If you are looking at joining in under category three, then you may be interested in a couple of new patterns: 1 - Zoe Halstead has a Tunisian shawl in Inside Crochet issue 87. 2 - The Crochet Project has a new Shawl book coming out and there is a Tunisian Crochet shawl in that.     Here are the yarns that I am thinking about using:     The one on the left is Denim 4ply (50% Merino/50% silk) 100g/400m by The Wool Kitchen and this is definitely going to become a Cobbled Streets cowl.   The second two yarns are another sock club skein from Life in the Long Grass 100g/400m and some Araucania Yarns Ranco 100g/344m (PT 2109) but the jury is out on these colours as I may change my mind.  Again.   6 - Festivals I didn't make it to Unravel but Helen did and has added a review to the thread in our group in Ravelry and also to get a new blog - thank Helen!   I am heading up to Edinburgh Yarn Festival on the 11th March and will be pulling together a vlog on my antics.   I will also be vending at Wonderwool Wales on the 22nd and 23rd of April and you can find me at stall H2.  Come and say hello!          7 - Big Up Here are some blogs and podcasts that you may want to check out:   Helen's making blog Making at Number 14 Chrissie Crafts on YouTube talking about her crochet and embroidery projects. Crochetcakes on YouTube talking about her life in Puerto Rico, crochet and knitting.     8 - What's good?   I am back in the room and that is what's good!      Until next month.   Fay x   Instagram: Crochet_Circle_Podcast   YouTube: The Crochet Circle Podcast Ravelry Group: Search for The Crochet Circle Podcast in Groups Pinterest: Crochet_Circle   Twitter: Crochet_Circle        

Farbenspielerei
Farbenspielerei Folge 19

Farbenspielerei

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 15, 2016 68:57


Stricken: Antonias Trachtenjacke ist fertig; Spinnen: TdF und viel zu dünnes Corriedale; Gefärbt und Kardiert: Sonnenfärben, die (endlose) Coburger Fuchs-Wolle); Bullet-Journal Update; Rezept für Insektenschutzmittel und After sun; Und dann war da noch: Die Firmung und meine neue Spiegelreflexkamera.

Knit Spin Farm
Episode 134 - In Love

Knit Spin Farm

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 7, 2016


Knitting that makes my heart go pitter patter.Finished:Wee Chickadee  by Ysolda Teague in Louet Gems Spinning: 3ply2waysCattywampus club colorway from Into the WhirledDon't You Find it So? on Corriedale from Hello YarnIn Progress:Stay Shiny club colorway on Merino/nylon from Into the WhirledSnake Skin by Ashley Solley in  Another Crafty Girl Come and Play minis and Leading Men Fiber Arts London FogClarke Pullover by Jane Richmond in handspun merino from Into the Whirled, colorway Godrick's Hollow and Cascade 220 natural.Book: In Defense of Food by Micheal PollanKSF Shop - Updates Thursdays 7/7 (batts) and 7/14 (bags) 7 pm Eastern

Podcast – creative.mother.thinking
Handgemacht – Folge 64: Nähen mit der Hand ist toll!

Podcast – creative.mother.thinking

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 20, 2016


Gestrickt habe ich: Ringelsocken aus handgesponnenem Shetland: fertig Hausschuhe aus handgesponnenem Corriedale: fertig Braid Hills zum zweiten: fehlen nur noch die Knopfleisten Gehäkelt habe ich: Walden aus handgesponnenem Baby-Alpaka: etwa zwei Drittel fertig Gesponnen habe ich: grüne Merino/Seide auf der Bosworth Mini weiter gesponnen, das vierte Achtel weiter rot-schwarzes BFL/Seide weiter kardiert und die erste […]

Knit Spin Farm
Ep 127 - Meanwhile, last week...

Knit Spin Farm

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 7, 2016


Also available on YouTube.Review of Knitting Pipeline Retreat. Finished knitting and spinning. I recorded this so long ago, these notes may be incomplete. Please let me know if you have any questions!!Finished:Shaelyn by Leila Raabe in Fresh from the Cauldron sock yarn, colorway Painting the Roses RedHandspun socks - striped from Into the Whirled Targhee in colorway Great MindsBoostrap Paradox club colorway from Into the WhirledSwamp Gas on Corriedale from Quillin Fiber ArtsPurchases:Ghoul Friends on BFL from Daizie KnitsAnother Crafty Girl: Come and Play mini sets and Twinkle Sock to make a Shard by Romi HillKSF Shop - spring bags and batts just added

Knit Spin Farm
Ep 125 has a title

Knit Spin Farm

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 5, 2016


Watch and Subscribe on YouTube.New Spinning. Old Spinning. Sock knitting. Cables! The winner of Cast Iron, Cast On is announced.SpinningCorriedale in Fall Sunshine from Three Waters FarmBoostrap Paradox club colorway from Into the WhirledSurrender Dorothy batt from WoolPierogiKnittingShaelyn by Leila Raabe in Fresh from the Cauldron sock yarn, colorway Painting the Roses RedHonor the Buffalo socks from Knitting Green in an indie yarnHandspun socks - striped from Into the Whirled Targhee in colorway Great MindsKSF Shop - foxy bags and mini batts just added

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures
Ep 34: What's New with Ewe?

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 17, 2016 62:19


Knitting, some spinning, lots of yarn project planning, and some fiber processing are the highlights of this episode. Kelly and Marsha do some goal setting with two-week goals and discussion of long-term projects. Kelly happily finished two projects that have been on the needles 9 months or more. First, the Hoarfrost sock pattern by Louise Tillbrook was used to make the Frosty Mint Julep socks. Second, Kelly finished the Niebling Doily Herbert Niebling lace patterns have an Arts and Crafts era style that is very distinctive. The Doily Head blog has a great collection of Niebling eye candy for your enjoyment! Kelly started her doily on Christmas day 2014 and finished it just over a year later. It was a fun and challenging project and there will definitely be another Niebling on the needles at some point. Most of Marsha's projects have not seen much progress since she has been working almost exclusively on her Mystery Wool Cardigan (#241 Neck Down V Neck Shaped Cardigan) by Diane Soucy. The body is almost finished. She is also considering three T-shirt patterns for her next project.  Edie by Isabell Kraemer, Brandilyn Top by Quenna Lee, and Ricky for All Seasons by Veera Sanon. Marsha made two goals between now and the next Two Ewes episode. She will walk three times a week and add her training schedule to her calendar. Big Sur 21-Miler, here we come! Her long term project goal is to complete the Garter Squish afghan by Stephen West. This means unraveling the sweater she made for her father years ago to use as the main color. She has been collecting various colors of worsted yarn, plus some blank yarn to dye, to use for the second color. Kelly has two new projects on the needles. She is making a stockinette scarf for her husband. It is being made with a LUSCIOUS merino and silk laceweight yarn from Bumblebirch. Good thing the yarn is nice, because the project is on size 3 needles! She also started a sweater using deep stash handspun!  The Funky Grandpa cardigan, by Maison Rililie Designs, will be a perfect pattern for this handspun yarn in both natural gray and overdyed colors. Kelly's two week goal is to walk the correct mileage during the next two weeks. No cheating on the training schedule. She will also finish spinning 3 skeins of the Corriedale yarn that she is making for her Mom as a substitute for Shibui Pebble. Long-term, Kelly will be working on putting together the quilt that she started in high school over 30 years ago! Join our Two Ewes Ravelry Group to become part of the wonderful and supportive Two Ewes community and participate in knit or crochet alongs. Contribute to the continued running of the podcast and get batts or mini skeins by clicking the donate button on the right side bar of the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures blog and making a contribution of $15 or more.  

Making
Episode 41: David Ritchie, Claire Wilson, Libby Mills and Kate Salomon – Study groups, building a New England fiber mill, growth of a fiber family and Green Mountain Spinnery

Making

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 17, 2015 60:17


Sponsor: Ewetopia is a local yarn shop in rural Viroqua, WI, carrying a beautiful selection of yarns and fibers, including their very own line of hand dyed yarns. One of my favorite things about Ewetopia is it’s generational foundation, the shop was started by Kathryn Ashley-Wright and later her mother Lisa Ashley joined her as partner in the business. Along with Kathryn’s grandmother Gloria and her daughters Stella and Mae…you’ll sometimes find all four generations busy around the shop…what a special thing to have. In addition to the Ewetopia shop and yarn brand, Kathryn and her family have a farm in southwestern Wisconsin where they grow certified organic hay and rotationally graze their flock of 50 ewes…comprised of Corriedale, Border Leicester and Merino crosses, which contribute to their Ewetopia yarn and fiber line. If you’re in the Viroqua area or just passing through, make sure to visit them in person. You can find a selection of Ewetopia yarns and fibers, and more info on the shop and farm online at ewetopiafibershop.com. And find them on Instagram @ewetopiayarn. Fiber folk: To me, Green Mountain Spinnery is one of the staples of the fiber industry, and has been since founded in 1981 by David Ritchie, […]

Yarn in the City
Episode 24: Woolly Wovember

Yarn in the City

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 1, 2015 59:09


It's November folks, and that means it's time to celebrate ALL THINGS WOOL! In this episode we update you on events for the rest of the year, reveal details about the Bath Christmas Craft Crawl, make a brief foray into the realm of holiday knitting, and have a chat with Rachel Atkinson of My Life in Knitwear about shepherds, the UK wool industry and being informed consumers. News and Events: 1st - 30th November - Wovember, a celebration of wool spearheaded by Felicity Ford, Tom of Holland and Kate Davies. 5th November - the kickoff of Curious Handmade's Knitvent 2015! YITC listeners can get a 15% discount on the collection by using the code "YITCknitvent15", which is good until 30th November - signups will open on 3rd November. Thank you Helen! 10th/17th November - Anna Maltz, aka Sweaterspotter, is teaching a lace and colourwork class for her popular Solja sweater at Wild & Woolly. 14th November - A Yarn Story's One Year Anniversary Party. 14th November - We will be at the Porpoise Fur booth at Festiwool, at North Hertforshire College in Hitchin. Also exhibiting are a number of vendors from the Pop Up Marketplace (Travelknitter, we're looking for you!), and our Knit Night compatriot Third Vault Yarns. 15th November - Clare Devine, of Yarn and Pointy Sticks, is teaching "2 at a time anything" at Knit with Attitude. 15th/22nd November - Brioche Stitch Basics with Renée Callahan of East London Knit at Loop. 28th November - the Bath Christmas Craft Crawl! Now with all the details on the Event Page. What we're working on: Allison has a bunch of projects on the go: she's finished the first sleeve of Grettir by Jared Flood, and should have the second done this week. She's also been working on her Quaking Aspen Shawl in The Fibre Co Acadia, and has started Hamlet the Cheetah from Edward's Menagerie. Also on the list of WIPs is the hoodie for a small boy in Canada that needs to be finished ASAP. On the spinning front, she's spun up her Alpha, Beta, Gamma Finn from the Lab Goddess Fibre club into singles and is going to ply them soon. Rachel has finished a Lush cardigan for her new niece, and some fingerless mitts from some handspun Suffolk in the "Flamingo" colourway. She is now onto the front of her Angostura vest by Ysolda Teague, in Blacker Yarns Cornish Tin. On the spinning front, she has been spinning like a possessed thing trying to get enough yarn to weave a bunch of scarves for Festiwool, and has spun up 8 oz of Corriedale, 4 oz of BFL and 4 oz of Fibre Club in the past couple of weeks.  Woolly Wovember: Rachel Atkinson published a post on her blog recently titled "Fleeced" in which she talked about a side of the UK wool industry of which many wool-using crafters may be unaware. We got a chance to talk to Rachel about her story, and discuss where the project is going and what we, as consumers, can do to help. Many thanks to Rachel for taking the time to speak with us, and we will be following along with her project with great interest!   Off the air, you can find us on Ravelry, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Please leave a review for us on iTunes or listen to us on Stitcher Radio, and don't hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback with us. We are always out and about, so come say hi at any of the events we're attending if you get a chance! Everyone is also more then welcome to come join our Wednesday night knit group from 7-9 pm (or longer) upstairs at The Goat on the Rise, Clapham SW11 1EQ.  Music credits (all available on NoiseTrade)Morning Light - The Dirty Guv'nahsLoneliness & Alcohol - Jars of ClayHands & Hearts - Katrina Stone

Making
Episode 39: Jill Draper – Fine arts, color girl, small farm yarns, and Jill Draper Makes Stuff

Making

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 27, 2015 45:08


Sponsor: Ewetopia is a local yarn shop in rural Viroqua, WI, carrying a beautiful selection of yarns and fibers, including their very own line of hand dyed yarns. One of my favorite things about Ewetopia is it’s generational foundation, the shop was started by Kathryn Ashley-Wright and later her mother Lisa Wright joined her as partner in the business. Along with Kathryn’s grandmother Gloria and her daughters Stella and Mae…you’ll sometimes find all four generations busy around the shop…what a special thing to have. In addition to the Ewetopia shop and yarn brand, Kathryn and her family have a farm in southwestern Wisconsin where they grow certified organic hay and rotationally graze their flock of 50 ewes…comprised of Corriedale, Border Leicester and Merino crosses, which contribute to their Ewetopia yarn and fiber line. If you’re in the Viroqua area or just passing through, make sure to visit them in person. You can find a selection of Ewetopia yarns and fibers, and more info on the shop and farm online at ewetopiafibershop.com. And find them on Instagram @ewetopiayarn. Fiber folk: Jill Draper is what I would call one of the OG’s of hand dyed and small farm yarns. From studying fine arts, to […]

Stitched Together's Podcast
Stitched Together Video Podcast Episode 19 - Tonnes of Fluff

Stitched Together's Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 27, 2015


Show notes can always be found on www.stitchedtogether.co.uk by clicking on the Podcast button at the top of the page.Stuff and ThingsThe Crafting With Colour KAL is proceeding well. Finished Objects should be posted in this FO Thread (please no chat there). Please also read all the rules carefully before posting to make sure your project fits the rules.If you want to chat about the KAL, please come and join the friendly thread here.The KAL finishes on 31st August 2015, so still plenty of time to enter.Starting on 1st September, I'll be hosting a spin a long. It's going to be a simple and straight forward SAL, using a minimum of 100g or 3.5oz of fibre and spinning at least 100yds/91m. The SAL will finish on 30th September and there will be two prizes:The first prize that will be drawn was kindly donated by Deb of Fondant Fibre, which I showed a few months ago. It's a set of blending roving made from Shetland/Merino/Bamboo. The set is in 6 colours and weighs 150g in total. The set is called Harlequin Bites.This second prize was very kindly donated by Sara of Sara's Texture Crafts. This is two matching 50g batts of merino in the Porto colourway.I'll open a chat thread for this SAL when this episode goes live and the FO Thread after the start date. Please don't start before 1st September, no WIPs are allowed. It would be even better if you pulled from stash!Done and DustedHoli Party by Joji Locatelli using Noro Iro in colourway 69.World of Wool Superwash hand dyed in the oven using Wilton's Cake Decorating Gels - Set of 8 Food Colour Pastes and white vinegar.SpunRightRound Rambouillet in the Circus colourway. It's a worsted spun 2ply aimed at obtaining a barber pole appearance. It turned out to be a heavy fingering weight yarn measuring 363m.Fondant Fibre Organic Merino Silk and Baby Llama in the Beach Huts colourway. It's a worsted spun 3ply in the worsted weight, amounting to 136m.Nose to the GrindstoneBotany Lace Hitofude using Araucania Botany Lace in the 2118 colourway, bought from Stash Fine Yarns (they have 35% off all yarns including those on sale). The project bag was from Lowland Originals.Nuvem by Martina Behm in Wollmeise Lace-Garn in the Cu colorway. The project bag was from MinaMakes of The Knitting Expat Podcast.Yarn Geek Fibers BFL in the Iron Man II colourway. I am using a Neal Brand spindle in Black Palm and Ivorywood.Into The Whirled 85% Polwarth/25% Silk in the Captain Tightpants colourway. I am using two Spanish Peacock Bead Whorl spindles.Splashed OutKnitty and Color Superwash Targhee in the Early Fall colourway. I have 4oz.Sara's Texture Crafts Polwarth fibre in the Final Frontier colourway and 70% BFL/30% Silk fibre in the Fangorn colourway. Sara also kindly sent me some Mint Choc merino silk batts to try.HilltopCloud Gradient Packs in the Conch and Cabbage Leaf options. Conch is comprised of 50% Merino/25% Shetland/12% Silk/12% Baby Alpaca. Cabbage Leaf is comprised of 55% Merino/30% Corriedale/15% Bamboo. Each pack weighs 140g and is made of 9 colours of blended fibre.Apple Rose Fibers Undyed Cormo Top (4oz). I talk about the #spin15aday instagram spin-a-long where people are spinning 15 minutes a day. BaaBonnyBelle sent me some Cormo locks.OnTheRound Signature Sock in the Silver Lining Tweed colourway. It's a 4ply/fingering weight yarn made of 80% Merino and 20% Nylon and it measures 375m/410yds.Posh Yarn Fenella Sock in the Let's Be Up and Doing colourway. It's a 4ply/fingering weight yarn made of 75% Merino and 25% Cashmere and it measures 355m/388yds.Online CommunityThank you to the purchasers of my destashed yarn. There's still more and if you see something you like that isn't listed in the Trade/Sell category, you can always ask, I might let it go if you really want it.

Hand y Machine Knitting
Hand y Machine Knitting - Episode 10

Hand y Machine Knitting

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 11, 2015 63:48


Episode 10 - Fair Enough Ravelry This podcast now has a group on Ravelry called “Hand y Machine Knitting Podcast”. What Would Ruthie Say? Ruthie would say “You’re never too old to learn and there is always something new to consider.”   Likes & Dislikes I like concentrated garlic juice for mosquito abatement and I dislike houses turned into office space. Events July 22-23, 2016 is the date for the next Monroe knitting machine event in Monroe, Michigan. Contact Cathy Reaume(734)-243-3016. monroeknitseminar@att.net   Stitches Midwest was large and busy and hit my wallet hard this year!   Jackson County Fair August 9-15, 2015. The machine knit gray cardigan won a blue ribbon. Gray ribbed socks made on the Legare 400 CSM also won a blue ribbon. My fair isle hat hand knit this past winter won a blue ribbon in that category. The hand knit lunch hour mittens won a red ribbon as did the 28’s Big Sister 77 shawl.   Michigan Fiber Festival coming up August 15-16 near Allegan, Michigan.   Circular Sock Machine gathering in Grand Ledge, Michigan August 22, 2015. This event is organized by Carol Larsen of Rivers Edge Fiber Arts http://www.riversedgefiberarts.com/  and Eric Wolff of Browning and Wolff  http://www.browningandwolff.etsy.com/   Interknit Machine Knitters seminar with Gini Woodward. October 10-11, 2015 in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. Acquisitions Malabrigo sock yarn in the 859 Primavera colorway. Huasco extra fine merino yarn by Araucania color #014 won on the bus to Stitches. Das Paar 75-25% wool blend by Schoppel purchased from The Fold booth. Ambiente superwash merino sock yarn also from The Fold booth. Miss Babs Tarte sock yarn 75% merino, 15% nylon, 10% tencel in the Bat S**t Crazy colorway. Miss Babs Yet 2 ply lace weight 65% merino, 35% tussah silk in three colors: Lilac, Spread Your Wings, and Moss. Knit Circus gradient stripe yarn in two colors: Wit and Learning Stripes which is 75% Corriedale and 25% nylon and Watermelon Stripes in the 80% super wash merino with 20% nylon. Diana Sullivan’s DVDs and books - 101 Tips and Tricks, Ribber Scarves, Baby Blankets, Finishing Tips The Answer Lady’s Machine Knitting Notebook, Knitting and Sew On, Merry Go Round cardigan pattern, and Every Which Way (all about reversible cables). Color Affection pattern. Hand Knitting I finished the slip stitch socks with Malabrigo sock yarn in the 850 Archangel colorway. The Gusset-Heel Gansey Sock by Katherine Misegades is coming along slowly. I’m sorry once again about the mispronunciation of her name. Knitting with Beaverslide Dry Goods merino wool. Color Affection with the Miss Babs Yet yarns. Machine Knitting Brother’s birthday socks in Lana Grossa Mega Boots Stretch Softcolor in the color #509.  Ribbed socks using Eric’s delicious yarn. The mismatched socks in Red Heart Heart and Sole yarn in the Congo colorway were frogged and reknit. All are knit with either the NZAK 60 cylinder or the Legare 400 72 cylinder. The cuff is 1 by 1 rib, the leg is 3 by 1 rib, short row heel and either a hand knit round toe or a short row toe done on the machine and later grafted. Contact Information My Ravelry name is annejeneer. Send me a friend request and please consider joining our Ravelry group for this podcast. I would love to hear from you - especially if you want to come on the show to talk about your own machine knitting experiences.   Bonus Music Track   Love Song by Nicholas Nugent. 

Knitting in Circles Podcast
EP 32: Don't kick the tripod!

Knitting in Circles Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 21, 2014


FO's:-Trillian shawl.-Thuja sock #1. Works In Progress:-Different Lines for the Knitting Blooms March Challenge. -Thuja sock #2.Spinning:-4oz Wensleydale from Into the Whirled.-4oz Corriedale from Into the Whirled.Upcoming/Queued:-Albina Armwarmers for SSK KAL #4.-Preemie hats for Remembering Remy 95 day KAL.Enabling:-Crocket hooks & DPN's from Tues Morning.-Fiber & yarn from Highland Handmades.-Sheepy Time Knits Doctor Who club yarn.Don't forget…..*You can now subscribe to the podcast on Blip and watch on your Roku through the Blip channel.Plus check out the Ravelry group! Hope you join & thanks for watching!

By The Fibreside
Episode 17: Feedback Loop

By The Fibreside

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 26, 2013 32:58


In which I track all kinds of life information, spin cotton and Corriedale, have a whole bunch of knitting projects that are in various stages of being on the back burner, talk cotton with Jill Holbrook, and feel like I’m actually getting work done on the Tapestry. Thanks for listening! Shownotes: Theme music: leaves by […] more...

AJ Knits
Getting off my Duff or “Return of the Bride”

AJ Knits

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 28, 2011 23:33


AJ explains / makes up excuses for her unplanned hiatus.  Tons on the needles, nothing off the needles, and a good dollop of trials and tribulations.  Aj and Joe snuck off for a date night and while they weren't looking the inlaws have been spoiling B.

Yarnspinners Tales's Podcast
YST Episode 63 Spinning a lock of fiber, spinning from the fold

Yarnspinners Tales's Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 2, 2011 49:10


Spinning a lock of wool is the traditional way to get a very thin yarn.  That is because you can pull a small number of fibers out of the lock, and give the drafting zone a very thin prep of fiber.  In this podcast I review how each of five different breeds of sheep's locks spun and how I made my decision whether to continue to prep the fiber for spinning by lock washing. The five breeds discussed are Cormo/Border Leicester, Corriedale, Romney, Cormo and an unknown ewe lambs fleece. This is one time a video is worth many podcast words, so I have posted a video showing me spinning from the lock on Youtube.  You can find it here. There's a second part to the podcast, discussing spinning from the fold.  This technique is often used with angora, and I've discussed why and how to spin from the fold. Interlude music is by Kevin Wood, and is called 'Twilight of Hope" The closing song is by Lisa Redford and is called "Hope Never Dies" Both can be found on the podsafe music network.

AJ Knits
Lightning Strikes Twice or "They lost their Momma!"

AJ Knits

Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2011 41:02


AJ talks about the demise of her Juno Regina, gripes about multi size patterns, The Daybreak Shawl by Stephen west, MArshmallows, Drippy Cakes, her general lack of kitchen prowess, and much much more! 

AJ Knits
Wool-Aid or "Socks for Geese"

AJ Knits

Play Episode Listen Later May 16, 2011 33:03


In this episode AJ talks about the Wool-Aid charity and the Knit for Tibet initiative, what's on and off her needles,  Smokey Lapsang Suchong Tea, Plarn or Plastic Yarn, Socks for Geese, and The Crooked River Fiber fest.

AJ Knits
Good Golly Miss Molly Or "What hove you done to my knitting!"

AJ Knits

Play Episode Listen Later May 8, 2011 31:01


Happy Mother's Day!  In this Episode Aj talks about what's on her needles, Bahamian Rum Tea, the pattern that has gone awry, finished objects, Zombie BBQs and Vampire Knits!

Yarnspinners Tales's Podcast
YST Episode 38 Selecting a Wool Fleece to buy

Yarnspinners Tales's Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 9, 2009 55:11


Buying a fleece straight from the sheep is the true starting point for many spinners.  In this podcast I talk about thinking through the process before you actually go shopping, and then what to look for when you are finally ready to buy. I would like to include references to two books that I mention in this podcast: Turning Wool into a Cottage Industry  by Paula Simmons In Sheep's Clothing by Nola and Jane Fournier Music is from the podsafe music network  and was the instrumental Change of Autumn by Brian Turner.   As promised: a listing of sheep breed based on the softest possible micron count (the number listed after the name of the sheep): Sheep breeds softest to roughest listing Reference  In Sheep's Clothing  by Nola and Jane Fournier Fine wools                                                                                                       Merino 18   Rambouillet 19               CVM 21                                                                                     Cormo 21                                                                                     Polworth 21                                                                           Romeldale 21                                                                   Targhee 22                                                                           Polypal 22                                                                         Bond 23                                                                             Columbia 24                                                                             Corriedale 26                                    Down Breeds                 Shetland  23  Southdown  23  Clun Forest  25       Montadale  25               Tunis  25         Black Welsh Mountain 26    Ryeland  26  Shropshire  26  Suffolk  26  Cheviot  28      Longwools                                                                  Blue faced Leicester 24                          Texel   26                                                    Gotland   28                                                    Perendale  28                                                        Teeswater  30                                                 Wensleydale 30                                          Romney 33                                               Cotswold  34                                            Coopworth  35                                          Lincoln 36                                                  Border Leicester  37

Yarnspinners Tales's Podcast
YST Episode 8 February Spin In

Yarnspinners Tales's Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 2, 2008 46:53


It's the month of hearts and pink.  It's still wintery here, but spring is in my heart.  Join me as I sit by the fireplace and spin and talk about my history with the internet.   After all, without this vital interactive web, you would never be able to hear this month's Yarnspinners Tale.     There are other pictures on my blog Yarnspinners. All music in the podcast came from the podsafe music network. Be sure to go to this and the musicians websites and support them for their generous sharing of music for this podcast. My Heart by Norman Hedman Tropique provided the toes in the sand feeling.    http://normanhedman.com/ Wren Ross does a song that just made me laugh out loud and I hope you find it just as much fun. You'll recognize the song, but not the words! Her website is http://www.wrenross.com/ The podcast closes with just a modern lovesong in honor of Valentine's Day, The Love Song you Always Wanted.  http://www.deadheartbloom.com/html/news.htm   A big thank you to all that have left comments here, and on my blog.  It truly feels like a gift to read your comments. Spring will be on it's way by the next podcast, and I think it will be time to open up the windows and get out the dyepots.  I hope you will join me then too.  Until then, happy spinning.