Ice Queen Scarf

I posted this pattern awhile back in another blog but am posting it here as well.  It's my Ice Queen scarf knit from my own handspun yarns.  The base was corespun from a Loop cloud called "Black Tie Affair" (or something like that) and the locks are from Namaste Farms and they are just heavenly!

Now I'm not a pro when it comes to pattern writing but this is a simple enough pattern and if you have any questions, just holler.

Here's the pattern:

ICE QUEEN SCARF

You will need:
100 yards of bulky weight corespun yarn, or any lofty bulky yarn - This will be "A"
About 8 - 10 yards of tailspun yarn (the longer the locks, the more oomph! for your project!)  - This will be "B"
Size 15 circular needles

With A, CO 125 sts
Row 1:  K1 *YO K1, repeat from * to end of row
Row 2:  K1 and *slip EVERY YO that you did on the previous row, K1 - repeat from * till the end of row
Repeat row 1 & 2 about 3 to 4 more times, depending on how wide you want your scarf.  Cut yarn, leaving a 6" tail for weaving in later.

Next Row:  With B, knit the tailspun yarn onto every stitch to the end of row, taking care to pull out any locks that are trapped between the stitches to they hand freely.
Next Row: Loosely BO with A.

Weave in the ends. 

Be Careful What You Wish For

So Tour de Fleece is here and I've managed to spin a bit each day.  Many of the yarns are currently waiting for wash day and then they're off to dry and maybe then, I can find the battery charger to my new camera and take pics of them.  However, until I find it, blurry phone photos will have to do.

About a year and a half ago, I was busy taking care of my little munchkin and wondering what the heck I was going to do with my life?  I wanted to spend as much time with Lucas and didn't like the idea of sending him off to daycare so I could make an hour trek to my office, see clients, then drive another hour back home.  Some days I would have to drive to my studio for only one client, and that didn't sound practical.

So I decided I'd work one day a week at the studio (or maybe two days, depending on in-laws' availability) and spend the rest of the time working with fiber.  So I started stocking up.  Rovings here, fiber there, lots of locks and fleece as well.  Two drum carders - one 46 tpi and the other 21 tpi - and 4 spinning wheels.  Looked like I was good to go and my little craft room was all stocked up.

Then one day in January, my son returned home after losing his job in November and he promptly moved into the craft room and my craft supplies, well, had to move out.  In August, I was asked to take over some classes at the college which were scheduled at night and weekends, and I accepted the offer.  When they later offered me the main instructor position for the massage program, I accepted that, too.

So now our little cottage is full.  Books and student papers lie about, boxes of fiber and yarn are tucked in the corner but they manage to creep into the main living space now and then.  And the closet - well, at least my closet houses 2 spinning wheels besides my clothes.  The kitchen table is now a mini-office, with a laser printer sitting on top of it and tons of books and papers as I try to design the curriculum for ongoing and upcoming classes.

I look back at the time when I wondered what I needed to do with my life and earn a decent income being self-employed, and well, I got my wish - though not the way I planned it.  Fiber has to take a back seat and even though I'd love to wash, dye, card and spin some lovely fleece and yarn, there just isn't enough hours in the day (or night) for me to do that. 

Am I busy? You bet.  Am I exhausted?  You betcha.  Does that leave me with no time for fiber?  Well, to be honest, it doesn't.  But that doesn't mean I don't sneak it in here and there.

So, I could post pictures of the house in its present state with all my boxes and bins of fiber, and books lying about, but if you're a crafter, a mother, a wife,  a teacher, and a massage therapist, you'd probably understand why I wouldn't need to :)

Has It Been, Like, Forever???

Wow! It's been a long time between blog posts and I can't believe time has just flown by sooooo fast!

Ever since my last post I started teaching more at the college and for my first class I ended up with 23 students which also included tons of stress. Needless to say, most of my spare time has been spent raising my little munchkin of a a baby who is now 17 months old and is climbing everywhere.

>My fiber has been sitting idle although now and the when I actually find some spare time I will find myself spinning a little bit or knitting a little bit. However I haven't been too busy to ignore the stash building aspect of my fiber addiction. I have been stocking up with some fiber from Namaste farms, Funhouse Fibers and Studioloo - to name a few. I even got to attend a few hours of Jacey Boggs' Insubordiknit class during memorial day weekend.

I also got to finally finish a few pieces, most of all my Legolas kerchief that had been destined for a dear friend who passes away from ovarian cancer. I just finished blocking it and will take pictures before I send it on it's way to my dear friend's mother.

I'm in the midst of a crazy teaching schedule in addition to maintaining a private practice and so I've been stocking up on my fiber more than actually spinning it down but I'm optimistic. I may have some down time in the near future and actually get to spin a bit :)

Here's an awesomely soft teeswater tailspun yarn that I spun while back. Love the colors and can't wait to spin some more!

A handspun hand knit shawl I finished from washed Cotswold locks from Sandy of Homestead Wool And Gift Farm.

One of my extreme tailspin yarns that's currently waiting for the right project...

And, oh yes! A new-to-me Schacht Matchless wheel that has come to live at my house. Were currently trying to establish a working relationship at the moment and so far were doing okay :)

One Year Ago...

One year ago today, I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy.

Now he just turned 1 and his grandparents gave him a big party where family and friends came to celebrate his special day with him.  It was an overwhelming day for the little guy, with so many people coming to say hello and all the chatting about that goes with a gathering.

My little prince is now 1.  Hard to believe that a year ago, he was like this:

I am truly blessed.  And I am forever grateful...

A First!

In a few days, my baby officially becomes a toddler and I'm feeling a little sad.

So much has happened in the year that's past and although I'm enjoying every minute of him crawling and cruising around the house, I'm going to miss the time when he was just a little wee bundle in my arms, always sleeping and pooping and nursing.

But I'm loving every minute of being with him and I wouldn't trade anything for the world right now.  I love being a mom!

Lil Sunshine wearing his handspun handknit hat!

New Year, New Shop!

For the new year, I'm opening my Artfire shop!  Please do stop by and check out the fiber and yarns!

Gypsy Caravan Fibers on Artfire

The grand opening isn't till January but you're more than welcome to take a look around. 

As a matter of fact, here's just a sampling of the latest batts in the shop right now!

Merry Fiber-y Christmas!

It's my baby's first Christmas!  It's so hard to believe that almost a year ago, he was born and now it's his first Christmas and in two and a half weeks, he turns 1! 

We're pretty low key this Christmas though.  I had such grand plans - a real tree, lots of lights and ornaments, and in the end, after 5 days of straight downpour (which is quite rare in Southern California), by the time I got to the tree lot yesterday, the only ones left were the giant trees, which were not a god fit for our little cottage.  So, this year, even though I've got the ornaments and the lights and the tinsel, there's no tree.  But we're having a great time anyway!  And that's what matters, right?

This year, for Christmas I decided to get Leo a cheap imitation ipad, the Maylong M-150, which was sold through Walgreens but I bought it from an Ebay seller and when it arrived, I opened it so I could check it and make sure it worked fine.  He walked in just as I was powering it up and asked what it was.  When I told him it was his Christmas present, he said, "Hmmm...I really wanted a leaf/twig mulcher for the yard."

So now I have a cheap ipad-killer and he's getting the leaf mulcher.

So what did Leo get me?  Remember that Fricke coarse drum carder I had wanted to buy?  Well, after finding out that I was 'waffling' over buying it because it wasn't in my fiber budget, he said if I wanted it, "it's your Christmas present from me."

That settled it.  In a week, I was the new owner of a vintage Fricke coarse drum carder from someone whose grandmother used it to card batts for her quilts.  I've carded 2 batts on it and so far it works great!  Now I just need to incorporate locks in it and see if the carder can retain its lock structure and not straighten the crap out of it.

 My first coarse carded batt predrafted

Speaking of locks, I've also been washing my first fleece.  Well, it's not exactly my first time washing fleece so maybe saying "first" isn't exactly true.  I did receive a small box of mystery locks last year which I promptly washed and then almost gagged after seeing all that brown water - in my washing machine!

So what's made me brave enough to try it again?  I've fallen in love with long wools like wensleydale, that's why.  I got 2 ounces of awesome wensleydale locks from Namaste Farms two weeks ago and I've been too scared to dye or spin it.  I want to try out other locks first before I tackle such awesome locks as these:

So I took the plunge during a moment of weakness and ordered my first fleece.  I think it's about 5 to 7 pounds of raw wensleydale fleece that's supposed to be averaging at 10".  When I first received the box this is what I saw peeking as I flipped the box open.

So I started washing the locks in medium bunches.  I've done it twice now and each time I tried a different method.  The first time was done in the tub, however I used 2 Costco sized detergent buckets filled with hot water and then dunk the locks in to soak.  The water wasn't as hot as I would have wanted though and I ended up doing more than 4 washes and more soaks than I wanted.  I was also very stingy with the Dawn, which was one mistake since Dawn, along with really really hot water, is what pulls the lanolin from the locks.

Today Leo pulled out 2 of my roasters dedicated to dyeing  out of storage, and after heating the water at 350 degrees F and a generous amount of Dawn, I placed another bunch of locks (probably 2/3 so I've got one more 'bunch' to scour tomorrow) in a laundry netting bag and dunked it in.  After about 10 minutes or so with the water soooo brown, I pulled it out, let it drain and then dunked it into the second wash in the second roaster with hot water.  Empty out the first roaster and heat some water in it for the rinse and after 10 minutes of second-time soaking with a huge glug of Dawn, I pulled the net bag out, drained it and then dunked the bag of locks in the first roaster for its first rinse.

I ended up doing 2 more rinses in the washing machine this time and then spinning it dry.  The locks from both attempts are not greasy at all.  The locks are matted in some areas, but what can you do, right?  I guess now I've got to do some handpicking vegetable matter (or vm, as fiber lingo goes) to do during the Christmas break.

In the meantime, here's the fleece drying inside the house.

Boy, it sure feels like I've gotten much deeper in the rabbit hole now...

Well, Merry Christmas everyone and have a safe holiday!  You'll find me next to the Madd Hatter saying, "it's pretty crowded in here, too!"

Finding the Time

Today I got to sneak in a few minutes of carding some fibers and got 2 batts carded in half an hour or so.  Although it could have been longer - sometimes time just flies when we deal with fiber and yarn, right?

Anyway, here are my Autumn Sunshine Batts just carded.

 
 I love these!  They're carded using some farm fiber - merino cross, cotswold locks and some romney thrown in, as well as angelina, firestar, and soysilk for bling.  They are such textured batts, too, as I tried to maintain some of the lock formation as I carded.

I have a few more batts but they need to be photographed again since the previous shots didn't turn out too well.

I love carding and spinning but even with myclass over for the year, I've found that it's difficult to find any free time with DH working long hours and not exactly that enthusiastic to give me 2 - 3 hours to myself after he comes home from work.  And weekends aren't any better either. 

Here's hoping that I'll find more time to do fiber stuff in 2011!

Batts! and More Batts.

I've been on a secret shopping spree lately - buying batts online from wonderful fiberistas like Pumpkinhaus, Bohoknitterchic, Loop and Pluckyfluff (I'm sooo late to her party - people have been buying her batts for ages and now she doesn't offer them from her website anymore - at least after I bought mine!).

I am still waiting for a few of them but here are two so far.

Bohoknitterchic - for a SAL that ends in January with a FO to go with the project bag made by Craftpuppylover

And the next one from Pluckyfluff's Lexi Boeger!  It's a crazy carded batt and so far it looks amazing!

Of course even with all the batts that arrived this week, I barely had any time to spin.  I did finish a fingering weight single on Monday night, after it was languishing on my wheel for weeks.  I had started spinning it short draw but by the third week, I'd had it and spun the rest of it (about 1/3)
long draw, so my finished yarn will seem different in places.

Holidays Already?

That's definitely how I feel these days - constantly behind on everything and wondering where I can find time to do things I want to do.

This morning I woke up at 3 am because I kept dreaming I was drum carding some colorful luscious fiber.  Each time I went back to sleep, the same dream would start again and I was always carding, carding and carding.  Come to think of it - how I wished I could card last night.

Plus, I'm totally drooling over some guy's grandmother's carder with 21 tpi (really coarse cloth!) and wondering if I'm willing to pay $350 to get it.  Unfortunately, since I am not teaching the pregnancy class I was scheduled to teach today and next Saturday, there is no extra drum carder budget. 

Fiber just makes me smile, and I don't mind dreaming about it one bit - even if I can't go back to sleep because really, all I want to do is go into the freezing garage and card and spin me some lovely yarn!

Like this one:

Or knit myself a really cool neck warmer like this one:

Or card some funky batts:

Anyway, about the holidays - we haven't gotten any decorations up yet.  We'd like to get a real tree this year but I have to get my butt to the store to buy some decorations and then a small table to put the tree on since Lil Sunshine is now so mobile it's so hard to catch up with him - and he's still crawling, not even walking yet.  However he is standing on his own for a few milliseconds so I know walking's coming soon, in like, two weeks or so.

I hope your holiday plans are going as planned.  I guess I'm just an airhead these days, with so much to do constantly and finding no time to do it.  But it will be a wonderful holiday no matter what!