Of all things, a dog sweater?

This is the Biscuits and Bones pattern on Ravelry.  First started the large one in the round for Noel, but got confused by the pattern.  Ripped it out and started over flat as the directions have you do, and with the xs size to get the hang of the pattern.  I am more confident about making the larger one, now and am really enjoying the textures and cables. 

Here's a photo of a multicolored rug  that was made awhile back, from t-shirts ( leftover strips) and is quite short.

This one is made from sweatshirts.  When I started it, was also putting red in there, but it seemed too patriotic for a rug, as the light grey looks more white than grey.  The one below is the denim/camoflaug rug I talked about in an earlier post  that was remade from another rug that was hemmed and came apart after washing.

Some placemats

Just finished these place mats yesterday.  It has been an eventful project.  First I tried to make 4 place mats side by side, out of t-shirts to use up the last of the warp.  The left side got tangled and snarled and I didn't have the patience to mess with it. 

So it was taken off and the loom rewarped for the last two place mats.   That went well, for once and then I realized that I didn't have enough material to finish them!   So a trip to Good Will and the other thrift shops with one of our daughters commenced. 

Well, we couldn't just buy the t-shirts to finish up, could we?  We found books, fashion boots, a jacket, and many clothes for my little grandson.  In Good Will it was an adventure, scouring the racks  holding the fabric strips to compare.  We did match the colors, amazingly enough.  And here are the end results.  Hope the next adventure is easier and less costly.

A new sweater project and another rug

This is a sweater for my grandson, size 4, made from Plymouth Encore Colorspun and there isn't a name for the color, I just think of it as Camoflauge.  It's a blend of 75 % acrylic,25% wool and machine washable.  Matthew picked the style of sweater, he wanted a pullover, and it had to be green.

The pattern is from this book.

Here's my latest rug, finished tying the fringe this morning.  Not my colors, but  someone will like it.   Started another one tonight which is a remake.  A few years ago I made a hemmed rug with colored warp and denim/camoflauge canvas fabrics.   Well, it didn't hold up in the washer, and the hem came apart.  It seemed easier to tear it apart and redo the rug. So today was the day to get going on it.http://karensfiberarts.blogspot.com/2007/12/yooper-rug.html  is the original rug, if case you want to see it.

Some pictures of a cat

This rug was finished this morning. 

 It measures 24"wide by 22"long.

 Made from 4 t-shirts, a nice scatter rug size, or just right for in front of the door.

With no tension or selvedge problems.   It was made by laying the strips in the shed and no sewing.  Was in a hurry to get weaving, and didn't want to spend  the time sitting at the sewing machine.   Yes, that's a paw, she had to get the last word in.

Wool, wool, everywhere

 This is the raspberry fleece just back from the fiber mill, Stonehedge. It was mixed with a darker purple and some of the wool ended up a pale rose color, all blended together at the mill.   It will probably turn out a heathery color,and there is a pound and a quarter,so that should be enough to make several small projects.

This is the Cypress, and it is much darker than it looks here.  It is under a pound, probably 1/2 to 3/4 of a pound, but plenty there to keep me busy for awhile. 

This is a columbia/shetland cross white fleece from a sheep named Marshmallow, traded from a friend for some Spin-Off magazines.  The dye was Grape Juice, and you can see the reds in there.   The dye didn't exhaust so they threw some more wool in the pot, and ended up with a deeper purple with more blue in it.  It still hadn't exhausted after that, so they threw in more wool and ended up with an ice blue.    

This is actually the first one I dyed that day, it is Seabreeze and the same columbia/shetland cross fleece.   It exhausted, and I used the recommended amount 3/4 T.

 

There was some purple on the bottom of the  fleece when I dumped it out of the dye pot, residue that wouldn't come off the pan from the last time they dyed.   Don't know if you can see it, but I probably won't leave it in there to send to the fiber mill,there isn't enough of it to disperse throughout the whole thing.   Will get out the hand carders and see what it looks like.   All in all, it was a wonderful day with friends I haven't seen in awhile, knitting, spinning, lots of interesting conversations about fiber and the sharing of ideas and common interests has renewed my spirit.  Thank you Joyce and Kim, for more than you will ever know.

Getting some spinning done, anyways

Now that the cool weather is here, it is time to start working with wool again.   We had a very nice, warm summer, but fall is here, along with some sleet and lots of rain.   This is a Finn/Rambouillet cross roving that I just finished.   I plan to make these mittens from it, if the gauge works up right. http://dailyskein.wordpress.com/2008/11/25/cruiser/

This is a roving a friend and I worked on last summer, then had it sent out to Ziellingers to be carded. The colors are raspberry, orange, purple and a dark blue.   

Here it is on the bobbin,and the plan is to ply it with a denim blue, because when it's plied with the same yarn it is too busy. With the blue, the colors stand out better.  There is quite a bit of blue roving left over from the blue sweater coat that is almost finished,you can see it in the older posts.  It is too small, so for now it's  waiting in the knitting bag until I can figure out what to do about it.  

2012 Fair Entries

This one just needs tying, it got a 1st place anyway.  Has train fabric on the back

Kitchen towels in a vintage pattern.  Bought this as a kit on ebay.

Hand spun yarn, think it's Romney.  Only three entries this year, will have to get busy for the next one.

Cute or what?

 Here is Alice, our kitten.  She is about 9 months old, now and not so little anymore!

She gets along with everyone, even the queen, Muffyn...

Stamped quilt blocks projects

It has been a long time since I have done any hand embroidery, but here are two sets I bought in Branson Missouri last year when my Mom and I went there.   When we travel  I try to find a yarn or craft shop.  These two sets were in a dime store, and just had to get them.  I'll do another blog about this subject soon,and show the finished blankets.  So far the cross stitch animals embroidery is finished, just have to find the right fabric and backing and sew it.  There will be fabric strips between each block, and it will probably go to my grandson.

Back at it

 Here are two top down raglan baby sweaters I ended up making for my friend's twin grandbabies. 

They needed to be gender neutral and this is what I found, the yarn is Plymouth Encore Colorspun. 

 It's nice to be blogging again, we changed computers, and had to learn how to post pictures, etc. all over agan,as well as blogspot has made some changes.   I will be catching up gradually.   Lots to talk about with these fiber hobbies.   It was also a surprise to see that this blog has 4 followers.   Thank you so much! 

what I have been up to lately ( pictures coming later)

This fall has gone by so quickly! I have been working a lot as a home health aide, and a CENA also for home care & hospice, filling in when the regulars have days off. It is going well, but working every other weekend is something I will have to get used to.

Our daughter brought home a new kitten a month or so ago, and she is growing fast and getting along with the other pets around here. I wasn't sure about keeping her, we already have 2 cats and a dog, but she has become part of the family already. Our other 2 cats don't get along very well with each other, but both of them like the kitten, who's name is Alice. The dog even plays with her, although it was frightening at first to see the tiny kitten rough-housing with the dog who is so much bigger and stronger. But so gentle with her and our grandson, we are lucky to have her in our lives.

Alice chewed the drive band for my spinning wheel, so it took awhile to fix it. It's a poly band, so after reading online how to repair it, just melted the two ends back together, and now keep my wheel in a safer place! Am working on some coopworth now that is practically spinning itself, it's so easy to spin.

During the time the wheel wasn't usable, started working on some hand embroidery. Bought these stamped quilt blocks in Branson when I went there with my Mom last spring. I will post pictures later, we had a hard drive crash a week ago and I can't edit & save photos, it goes to paint instead. Will have to wait until my husband wakes up to help me.

My husband surprised me with a tablet for my birthday, and am enjoying downloading e-books. The internet on it isn't very fast, but it works well enough during a hard drive crash to keep me in touch with facebook, sparkpeople and email.

We had lots of fun with our Grandson this Christmas, he had fun opening presents, and spending time with family on Christmas Eve. He recently rode on a dogsled, too.

Wishing everyone a healthy and prosperous new year, I am making a resolution to be more organized, and keeping in touch more regularly with friends and family.

Fall 2011

Here are Matthew and Lori at the Ghost Train event. We rode in the cab, thanks to my husband, who volunteers driving the steam locomotive on weekends!


This is the purple/pink wool dyed last fall, picked and ready to go to the the fiber mill. The plan is to blend the two together, and see what comes back.


More picked wool dyed with the color Cypress.



A friend's daughter is pregnant with twins, so this will be one of two baby sweaters. The yarn is Bernat Softee Baby, and the color is Soft Fern. Click here for the pattern.

White wool yarn hand painted a few weeks ago. Hope to make some kids socks or hats out of this, very colorful and cheerful.

End of summer blues

Finished Matthew's sweater coat, it got a 4th place in the fair last weekend. Hope it fits him. Also received three blue ribbons, for the pink and yellow handspun, a blue green handspun medium wt, and the miniature african violet was blooming, so entered that.

Ended up passing the state CNA test and got hired as a home service aide. Am not using my CNA training much but right now it is working out well, and best of all no midnights! Am not sure where this will take me, but it's time to see what is out there and what path I will follow next.

A friend came up for the weekend to visit, and we spent some time spinning, she was very interested in learning about fiber, and I was more than happy to oblige....

What's new around here?

Here is the finished yarn from the pink and yellow roving in the last post. It was wonderful to spin, I plan to ask if I can buy some more from Joyce on Wed, we are dying wool!!! Have missed our Wednesday spinning meetings a lot, work tends to interfere with things some times.

I was hired as a CNA at a nursing home that is adjacent to a hospital, but didn't make it through the orientation period. Wasn't the right person for the place, so will keep looking for another job. Something will come along, but for now I am where I need to be.

After three months of work/school, and a month of intensive training and work, my house is in need of some TLC, and catch up on family time, too. Our youngest daughter is having her tonsils taken out on Tuesday, and recently we lost a close friend that I wasn't able to travel to the funeral with my family, due to work policy. Also my state test is scheduled for Aug 3rd, will be practicing the clinical skills for that.


This is a Knitting Pure & Simple pattern for a bulky top down sweater. Made from Wool Ease chunky and size 10 needles, it is a fast and relaxing knit, just what I needed. It is for our sweet grandson, hope it fits ( size 2-4).



Part of the house TLC includes painting the kitchen. I have resisted painting because of these stencilled borders, just couldn't give them up, but it's time for something different. The birdhouses were over the kitchen sink and cupboards. The new paint is called Sugared Melon Crush. Today will be the day to cover the stencils with Kilz and have my husband take down some thermostats. Then tomorrow the actual painting can start.

These went around both ends of our kitchen.


These little borders went over a wainscoting of sorts, a wood grain panelling that needs to be replaced one day.

This was taken on the 4th of July, the wind picked up and everything started looking very ominous. They blew away almost as fast as they got here, fortunately.

Taking a break

This roving was a Christmas gift from my Mom, started it today for fun, taking a break from the blue sweater. The second sleeve is about 1/3 of the way done, have been working on it, just needed a renewal today.

Here it is on the bobbin, don't have any idea what to make out of this yarn. Might need some more for socks, or mittens. It is Joyce's wool, dyed then sent out to a mill, probably Zeilinger's, they do the striped rovings I believe.

Had a job interview Friday at the place where I messed up the online application, waiting to hear from them. They will let me know, was there an hour and a half and answered many difficult questions. Some of them not very well, but it was a good experience overall.

Just a little bit of catching up

This is what I have been doing for the past 8 weeks. It has been 28 years since I have been in a classroom, and am really enjoying it! Having a little trouble remembering medical terms, but will just have to work harder... Monday is the final exam, clinical skills test, and graduating! After that, we can take the state board test.

In the meantime, I have turned in applications, and am hoping to hear from somebody soon. One place I went to handed me an application and when I turned it back in was told that they don't take paper applications anymore. Would have been nice to know that earlier. After going to the web site and making an account, the site was having technical difficulties and sent my form in incomplete. They sent a confirmation email, then another email stating that it was incomplete and to resend. Okay. Wonder if I'll get that job?



Here is the sweater coat, still working on it. Wish you could feel how warm and heavy it is. Probably will get lots of wear out of it with our long cold winters.


Mr. Greenjeans, a better picture than the last one! So nice to see green grass again. This will be a fair entry if it's done in time. You might notice a blurry spot in these photos, it is from my grandson playing with the camera. Didn't realize it was there until now, and just wanted to spend a little time blogging tonight then get back to studying so it will have to wait. Matthew's birthday party is Sat., he will be two. Where did the time go?

Bleeding hearts, much bigger this year, and lots more flowers. They are in a mostly shady spot, with poor soil but it seems to like it there...

The primrose are bigger also this year.

One lone pansy that survived the winter and came back.

April

Here is Matthew after getting his face painted at an Easter event for kids. He didn't want to play the games, just wanted the chocolate! I know how he feels...



Enjoyed weaving this one, it went fast, and is only about 24" x 27". Some strips I had sewn awhile back, and just enough to use up the leftover warp. Time to warp again, with colored warp this time and play with some placemats and chair pads for our kitchen. Starting a new adventure tomorrow, will update later.