Black Swamp Fiber Fest

Check out all the fibery goodness I got today at the Black Swamp Fiber Fest! The top picture is Icelandic wool from a Bowling Green farmer, who was very nice and invited me to come see her farm. The middle picture is Alpaca, and the last photo is a wool, alpaca, angora blend. I'm washing the Icelandic wool now and it cleans up very nicely! The fiber fest was fun. It was my first time walking through one and I had to walk around a couple times to figure out where I wanted to shop. I can't for another fest!

The nephew sweater is about done. I just need to get up the energy to buy buttons for it. It turned out great. I really hope it fits! I think it's too big, so that's good.

Ribbit, Ribbit

I had to frog my nephew's sweater the other day. Once I got to the neck shaping, I realized I made a mistake shaping the armholes. I'm now back on track, though, and I'm now to the sleeves. I already grafted the shoulders together and it looks like it's coming along nicely. I think it's too big, but that's a good think because he can wear it for a long time. I've never knitted a baby sweater before, and it goes pretty quick.

I'm thinking of buying a Babe spinning wheel, probably the Pinkie. I want a traveling wheel, but can't afford a Joy, so this one will look like it'll do. They are made out of PVC pipe, and I think they look fun! I would love to teach people how to spin one of these days, or start/join a spinning group, so i think the babe is ideal for that sorta thing. We'll see what happens. Saturday is Market Day! I'm excited to buy local fiber!

Popsicle Socks

Here's my first handspun pair of socks! My husband calls them the Popsicle Socks.

Funky sock yarn

This is going to be some funky ass sock yarn. This is my first time making sock yarn. I had a few breaks (I blame some of them on my niddy noddy, so I purchased a new one today) but it ended up great. I'm going to start on my socks tonight. I bought a spinning stool today from Kromski. I also decided that when I have the money, the next wheel I'm going to buy is a folding one and a Kromski. I also got my yarn to make the Cabana Tee in this season's KnitScene. I have a lot of knitting ahead of me.

Sheep Fleece

I'm just now washing the last bit of sheep fleece I received in the mail yesterday. I bought it from Skyline Farms in Idaho. This is my first time purchasing raw sheep fleece and I have learned a few things in the process:
1. There is a LOT of fleece! I only bought a half-fleece, which came to 4.5 lbs, and I didn't realize how much fleece that actually is. Trust me, it's a lot!
2. It may seem expensive when you buy it, but when you get it and think about it, it's actually not that expensive. Like I said, you get way more than you expect.
3. Sheep are dirty! With the fleece, you have to wash it, and wash it and wash it. Just to give you a sense, I've been washing since 8pm yesterday.
4. You can't get all the vegetable matter out. You'll still have grass and other musings. Just try to pick out the huge pieces. I'm hoping the carding process will help a little with that too.

In the midst of all the washing, I did manage to make a hat out of some shetland wool I spun and dyed. Of course, I have to make a winter hat in the tail end of winter. Right now, we're having a huge snow storm, so my hat may still be needed.

Yarn o' the Month Club

Yarn o' the Month Club is now up on Etsy!!!

Yarn Club and Elizabeth Zimmerman

So, I have a copy of Knitting Without Tears somewhere. when I first read it, I didn't get it and I want to try it out again. Since I bought the book, I have become a better knitting with more understanding of garment construction. I love knitting in the round and i'm not a huge fan of seaming, but I will do it I think it would be a great book for me if I figured it out. I also need to find it.

I'm thinking of possibly starting a yarn club on Etsy. I would sell a club membership for 3 months; the buyer gets x number of skeins a month, my choice of fiber and color, and it'll be all good. I don't know, we'll see if I get myself in order. I'll keep you posted if I do decide to do this.