New button for Knit Cast

I found a cool button for Knit Cast. So I thought that I would add it:

Baby Sweater

I have been working on a baby sweater as a store model for Knot Another Hat. It is really really cute. Here's the pics I have so far, I have gotten probably another 4 inches done since this, but it will give you an idea of what I am doing. This is pre-Olympics project to keep me busy and not go crazy before the games:

Isn't it cute? I think it is really adorable and if only it was better written I would love it completely. I am doing the sweater version there in the blue to make it even easier. The cute little baby with the adorable pictures sucked me right in, but the pattern just bugs me. It does things like "moss-stitch until piece measures 7"", but the piece, by their gauge, already measures 7.5". It just irritates me because I am one of those anal people that has to make the pattern work out on paper before I really get too far into it. It just makes me want to get a hold of the person and shake them.

Here is my knitting as of my last pic. It is made from Little Pebbles yarn. I'm not sure who makes it, but it is pretty cool to work with. it is 45% cotton and 55% acrylic, so I was really surprised at how soft and comfy it was to knit with. On top of the green it has little tiny color flecks that will probably show up better in my next pic

Joslin Spinning Wheel

Check it out: My Joslin spinning wheel made the pulse:

The Pulse

For the Lovers of Fleece:

Operatic sheep really do grow golden fleece

Joslin Wheel

I have just put up on ebay my grandmother's spinning wheel. I feel kinda guilty selling it since it is handcarved and I don't think my grandmother would totally approve. However, I really wanted a Lendrum and in order to pay for it one has to make sacrifices. I love her wheel, but in a practical sense it really isn't what I want to use. I have a small space and I like to travel with my wheel so that I can spin just about anywhere. Grandma's is just not condusive to it. If you want to check it out in all it's coolness Here it is up on ebay:

Knitting Olympics in Progress

Here is my work so far toward the Knitting Olympics
I have four skeins spun, each is probably a little over 4 oz each, I haven't had time to weigh them yet. Next is to get the twist set, which is about the equivalent of blocking only for spinning. So I think I have another 3 skeins to spin and another 4 to set the twist (including the unspun ones). I am moving right along and should be ready by the time the flame is lit,

Team Wales

I have decided to join Team Wales for the knitting olympics. I figure that I can join as many groups as apply, because this is our Olympics so we can make the rules. To join Team Wales there are some guidelines for joining. My qualifications are as follows:

1. I am of Welsh Ancestry
2. I have a fondness for Sheep and Daffodils
3. I think Wales has a really cool flag
4. I have always wanted to visit Wales
5. I know where Wales is and can point it out on a map
   

I think that makes me 5 times qualified! Yay! So here is the new button and a link to Team Wales:

Sockapaloooza

I signed up for Sockapaloooza today. This is my very first knitting swap, so I am kinda excited. I like the idea of communicating with somebody who is far away and having this common link of knitting, and sock knitting in particular. I love knitting socks and I will post lots of updates as I go along. I got the Sockapaloooza button and as soon as I have a permanent link I will link it to their site:



Also, as long as I was at it, I thought that I would grab a couple of buttons for two of my favorite blogs: The Blue Blog and The Yarn Harlot. So they will be up instead of their links.







Ok, I just had to add this. It is something that my husband found and I am not entirely sure how practical it really is:

Lego Knitting Machine

Interweave Hurt Book Sale

Oh, I am so very very happy. I bought 5 books at the Interweave Hurt Book Sale. It is really cool, they sell off books that are less than perfect, like they have a small defect for 50%-75% less than cover price. There are quite a few books that I had on my list from Interweave that I was glad to get today. I got, before they all sold out:

Color Works, by Deb Menz - I have her first book Color in Spinning and just love it.

A History of Handknitting - My husband really wanted this book so I got it for him.

In Sheep's Clothing - I have looked at this book several times before, but always found something else to buy. It is a great resource because it goes through 100 different types of sheep and tells how to best process and spin each one, then it goes into what types of garments the wool is best suited for. I think that it will be a great read and something that I will refer back to a lot.

Interweave's Compendium of Finishing Techniques - I got this book because I thought it would be interesting to look at. It is always interesting to have a new or different way finish something and I love coming up with my own patterns.

Men in Knits - I got this because I came to the realization that there are not a lot of patterns out there just for guy sweaters. I found this to be really true when I decided to knit one for my husband. I finally found the one below that I am going to do for the Knitting Olympics, but I really would like more patterns to make for my husband.

So, those are the books I got. I am so tempted to go and buy more. They have such good prices. They still have more books, so go and take a look, you may find something that you always wanted but have put on that waiting list behind other books. They have great prices, which can't be beat.

***Note: All the book links are to Amazon, that is because I don't know how long the books will last at the Interweave sale and I wanted you to see which books that I am talking about.

Spinning Wheel

Well, as you can see from a few posts ago that I got a lendrum. That meant that I had to give up my baby, my pride and joy (well sort of), in order to make room for the new one. My old wheel had troubles and such, it was a little touchy at times, but it was still my first wheel. I got used to it and such. So, anyway I posted it up on ebay:

Ashford Traveller

I also put up the Quill spindle that I bought from Asher a couple of years ago, because I figured that since I got my fast flyer for my lendrum that I really wouldn't need something with ratios like that (since I think they are pretty close. So here is the post:

Quill Spindle

I also have up plenty of fiber:

All of my items

I hope you enjoy looking at all of them.

Design Changes

Ok, I think that I am happy with this for now. No promises. I just felt that it needed to be populated with little tiny "lavendersheep." I just feel a bit better for making my blog my own. I hope everyone likes the changes. I am sure that there will be more in the future.

the quacking fiber addict: Team USA button

the quacking fiber addict: Team USA button

Knitting Olympics

I have been so busy lately. The biggest thing has been The Knitting Olympics, which I have gone totally crazy with. I really wanted to start a Knitting Olympics here locally with our just starting baby knitting group. Luckily, Sarah agreed with me and was willing to give whoever actually completed something as crazy as the knitting olympics a $10 gift certificate to the store (Knot Another Hat). It just makes me so happy to have sponsorship and that other people are just as crazy as I am to actually do it.

Here is the project that I have decided to do:


This is another sweater out of the Elsebeth Lavold book. I have really been wanting to make my husband a sweater. We have been married 3.5 years, so I think that it is safe to make such a big project. I am currently spinning the yarn for this beautiful baby. It is a soft fawn llama and I will hopefully have pics up of it soon. I just have to get the over 2 lbs of it spun and washed before the olympics start on February 10! With that I should get back to spinning.

My Black Llama sweater

See the beautiful fiber? It is so very pretty. Now picture it as a sweater, a beautiful sweater. Namely this sweater:


















I just love that sweater. It is so simple and hopefully will take just those two very lovely bags of yarn to make. The fiber came from these two lovelies:






Just look at the staple length on the one on the black and white one! I mixed the two together and I think that it will work wonderfully. They are both super soft and will make a perfect sweater. The llamas are both from Cabernet Creek Farms.

Summer Sweater

This is the summer sweater that I want to do. It is so pretty and I just love it Sarah has had it up in her shop for months and I loved looking at it. It is from Elsebeth Lavold's Viking Knits book and I am going to knit it out of her silky wool just like the pattern asks for. Just I am not going to use white. Who can where white? I most certainly can't. So, instead I am going to knit it with the lovely yarn that you see down below. It looks a little darker in the pic than I would like, but you get the idea. I think this will be simply awesome for late spring early summer.

I came, I saw, I am delighted

I came for a brief visit and liked very much what I saw. It is very hard to see all of this beautiful fiber and not want it all for myself, even tho I am not a knitter or spinner or weaver. Such very nice colors and wonderful textures. I do hope that this blog is a success as it seems like a very nice forum to place ones thoughts, dreams, and aspirations.

I shall visit again soon,

Giric Talesbottle

My husband dyed these beautiful skeins of Merino Wool. They are from Knit Picks. I am partial to their white merino yarn, which is what this was originally. They are also dyed with One-Shot dye. My husband claimed the lime/aqua one & I got the rainbow one. The colors are slightly off, but close enough. 

Dusky Twilight handspun yarn. The pic does not do it justice. It has a slight pink overtone and I can't get it to show it. It is also for sale at Knot Another hat and has my LavenderSheep tag on it. 

Rainbow, my hand-dyed open felted scarf. For sale at Knot Another Hat. 

the horror of frogging

You might have seen this on my blog (sigh), but here it is - my shame this week:

I had to COMPLETELY frog BOTH of my raglan's sleeves! (wails) They were 9" along too. I really couldn't stand the pattern, and they were just too big. Oh, the agony. The shame. The waste of time. And, above all, completely depressing.

I did go shopping afterwards to cheer myself up. Got a bunch of new knitting needles and some wool for the cloche hat...

Fairy Forest, my hand-dyed open felted scarf. For sale at Knot Another Hat. 

My Fire Bag. I just love it. It is made with Cascade 220, my handspun yarn for the base, and then fizz stardust to make it fuzzy and pretty. It is for sale at Knot Another Hat, feel free to message me for quotes. 

This is about 75% of what I dyed the other day. I just love One Shot dyes by Prochemical. All you have to do is add boiling water and it is good to go. No vinegar no other additives =) 

Woodland Woolworks

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Woodland Woolworks? I really really do love them! They are an awesome company and so very very friendly. Well, I have wanted a Lendrum for awhile now, because my wheel isn't very portable and the Lendrums are very portable. I tried very hard to go to The Woolery for them, because I was told that they would be the very best deal I could find. So, I put my order in, but come to find out, they are backordered into March, so I wouldn't be able to get my wheel until then. I was disappointed over this for a bit, but then my Wool Rag (a newsletter from Woodland) came and they had Lendrums set up in pretty much the same setup as what I wanted, but I thought that it would be like $5 more. So, I figured at least I would get it right away and not have to wait. he he he I was wrong. I made sure to put one on reserve, and today my parent's decided why not go and get it today instead of waiting until the 21st. So, I got my wheel, which is a double-treadle regular Lendrum, as you can see in the pics. It came with a very pretty bag (at half price), a noste pinne (which is used to wind center-pull balls of yarn), and a bottle of oil. On back order is the fast flyer, the plying head, and the gauge winder that allows you to wind around at increments and find out wraps-per-inch (WPI). I am so excited! And what is more I paid $30 less than if I had waited and gone to The Woolery. It has been a very good day for me.

In other things, I would have a very lovely pic of my latest knitting project up, but for some reason I managed to not transfer the first 15 pics off of my camera onto my computer. Then, magically, I decided to wipe my camera without checking to make sure they were all off of there. It nearly made me cry, because it also got my beautiful pictures of the dye party I had with my husband. I will post what I have tomorrow, when I have a little time again. That and I want to take pics in the daytime, when the colors are better. Ok, so that is all for now. G'night =)

My adorable husband and my Lendrum (it is hiding in the box) 

My Lendrum in it's box. Strangely enough my Ashford will fit back in this box so I can ship it when I go to sell it. 

My brand new beautiful Lendrum! 

The bag that can hold my lendrum for great portablity. Look it's purple! 

My Ashford Traveller. It will be up and for sale on ebay in a couple of days as my mother has just bought me a double-treadle Lendrum 

The Nostepinne & wax/oil for my new Lendrum. 

Our Molly-dog just got her shave. Much swearing was involved and I was there to witness it. 

woohoo!!

I'm glad you set your own blog up! I expect regular pix of the pretties :D (mwahaha)...

In other news, I don't suppose you could help me figure out how to make this hat?

I offered to be a swap angel, and the girl who got flaked on (poor thing!), seemed really excited about getting a hat like this. I'm also thinking I should make a trial one, you know, that fits me (just in case) to test the pattern and all :D

I definitely want to felt it - not too heavily, but enough to make it resemble a traditional felt hat. I have a ton of wool and alpaca sitting here, begging to be used...

Ideas? I'll be posting a design later... probably on both our blogs - I need all the help I can get!

Introduction

I have been posting for some time on my husband's blog and on my friend Asher's blog. This is a chance for me to set up my own fiber blog. I am a total fiber fanatic. If it is something new I just have to do it, especially if it is fiber's related. I spin, knit, crochet, dye, weave, and do a whole lot of designing. I work part time as a knitting instructor at Knot Another Hat and I sell things on Ebay, including (occasionally) my handspun yarn. I am going to experiment with this whole blogging thing and we will see how it goes. I am not the greatest at posting everyday, but I will try to do so as much as possible.