Saturday, October 31, 2009

Lazy Kate

No, I'm not talking about my daughter (sorry Katie) I'm talking about my new Lazy Katie that Anthony made for me today. We only had to purchase the pegs and dowel. Other than that we used scrap lumber that we had here.
I had 3 bobbins of mohair I had spun and wanted to ply them together. My Lazy Kate on my spinning wheel has a built in Lazy Kate but it only holds 2 bobbins. I was going to make something temporary but after showing Anthony on line what I needed he put it together for me.
The secret of this is the tension string. It works like the Scotch tension on my spinning wheel. It allows the plying head to pull the yarn as it plies.
I'm getting a lovely tweedy looking yarn. I'm hoping to have enough to knit a shrug for Katie. 100% mohair is a bit scratchy close to the skin but I'm thinking this over a shirt will be ok. I think the yarn is beautiful and my Lazy Kate is perfect!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Katie's Leftovers, Louie's Socks Update

Well, there was so much yarn left over from Katie's Pedicure Socks I decided to cast on a pair of socks for myself. I'm doing them toe up so that I can bind off when I run out of yarn but I figure I'll have enough yarn for at least a pair anklets. I love this yarn, its really nice. I bought another 2 skeins of this yarn in another colorway called Chili. It has the same stripe pattern but different colors.

I'm also posting an update on Louie's socks. I've gotten about 6 inches so far knitted up. Another 2 inches and I'll be starting the heel flap.
These are knitted cuff down but since he isn't here for me to try them on I'm going by measurements anyway.

A Fine Day Out

I had such a good time today. I went to The Song and Dance Ranch, home of Howling Wolf Herbs today where I met Regina Dale and a whole bunch of really nice women. It was her monthly Fiber Gab. Regina and her husband, Tony have a lovely ranch in Bartonville and she raises several fiber animals such as sheep, alpaca and goats. She has a wonderful shop where she sells her aromatherapy products. I forgot to get my camera out of my bag (I did remember to take it) so I don't have any pictures to post but I'll try to get some next month. Check out her website and see some of her wonderful stuff. She has weaving looms, a sock knitting machine, several spinning wheels as well as a lovely collection of beautiful drop spindles. We spent our time spinning, knitting and chatting. I'm really looking forward to next month's Fiber Gab.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Shelly's scarf done, Louie's socks cast on!

Wow, I'm really on a roll right now. I've finished Shelly's scarf tonight and last night I cast on my brother, Louie's socks. His socks are knit with worsted weight yarn to make them thicker and warmer. I'm doing them so he can wear them with his boots this winter. Technically they are for Christmas but he knows I'm doing them so it isn't a suprise. I hope he likes them. Hopefully I can get him to send me a picture of him wearing them so I can post it. I'll post a picture of Shelly and her scarf also.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Update on Katie's Pedicure Socks


Just wanted to post an update. Katie got her socks today and sent me a picture of them. She says they fit great. Now she wants a pair in black and gray.... lol

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Katie's Pedicure Socks

I finished Katie's Pedicure socks in record time. I cast them on September 19th and did the final stitch on October 1st. Technically I finished them on September 29th but I had to wait until I could look up a better bind off at the foot to really finish them. This yarn is really soft and nice to work with. It knits up really nice and the self striping pattern is lovely. I will use this again. Its Premier brand Serenity Sock Yarn from the Deborah Norville collection. The colorway is called Paprika. These are called pedicure socks because they end at the toes leaving them free to paint the nails. The reason I made these for Katie is because she loves to wear flip flops and this way her feet will be warmer in the winter! I think I have enough yarn left over to make myself a pair of anklet socks from these. I will have to do them 2 at a time, toe up in case I start to run out of yarn!

As you can see I figured out how to add a progress bar to my blog for the WIP projects I have going. I belong to a group called Ravelry where I can enter my yarn/fiber stash, patterns, projects etc. This new widget pulls information from there. I like this because you have to be a member of Ravelry to see my stuff on there. Hopefully I can figure out how to make it pull all my projects, not just the WIP ones. As always, stay tuned!