Category: spinning

4oz, Fiber, giveaway, Grief, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, interview, Job, Kindergarten, Malabrigo, roving, spinning, Wheel, winner

And the Winners are……………

Olof
Helen W and Angela J!!! 
Congratulations ladies!!! 
I have contacted you individually via email and am waiting for address information to be able to send you your prizes.

I have been spinning with the Malabrigo NUBE roving myself and I have to say I really enjoy the color that is coming from it and spinning with it. Drafting it in the places that are colored pretty dark is a bit difficult but I’m new to spinning and that might be normal. I like to draft the roving well before sitting down at the wheel. I have not finished the 4oz roving to actually ply it to make a yarn so that I will leave for another post with pretty photos but I have finished more than half of it and on the wheel it goes pretty quickly. Spinning almost 2 oz in an evening. I think pre drafting it is what takes up most of my time. 

I am so sorry for the delay. I meant to announce the winners last week. I meant to blog about all kinds of things last week but grief has got the better of me. My days roll by one after the other and so fast. I’m sort of lost through the day. Also with that said I have been busy. My oldest is starting kindergarten tomorrow and I had a job interview yesterday. So with getting school uniforms and having to make some purchases for myself to be updated for the interview I have been a little busy.

What have you been up to? Please distract me with your comments.

4oz, Fiber, giveaway, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Malabrigo, Review, roving, spinning

Malabrigo Fiber Giveaway.

Olof
Before my mother’s death I was sent this great fiber from Malabrigo called Nube, which means cloud in Spanish, to do a review and giveaway on my blog. I will be giving two of my readers one each and I will be doing the review of what it is like to spin with Nube when I announce the winner. What I can say about this fiber is that it is wonderfully soft and the colors are amazingly vibrant. The color combinations are beautiful and I can’t wait to spin it and then knit with it.

Deciding on which two to giveaway was difficult for me. Looking at the photo, can you blame me?
I chose to give away The Lavanda and the Zarzamora. The 2 to the right of the photo.
Nube is 4oz or 113gr of 100% Merino wool and is as soft as a dream. 
If you have never spun yarn then you can get inexpensive Drop Spindles and the book Start Spinning is a great reference. Why not try your hand if you win free roving? 
To win one follow the rules listed below.
cascade, ecological, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, itty bitty toys, knitting, Mitered Cross Blanket, odds and ends blanket, recycling, spinning, the wacky windmill, turkish spindle, Yarn

Knitting Update- Blankets and Spinning

Olof

As you can see on my to do list today is write a blog post and I realized that for being a blog with knitting in the title I have had very few posts about knitting lately. I have been busy the last 2 months designing things and making very large changes to my home and family for the better. But as I finished my last design project (having a giveaway tomorrow), I started revisiting some of my unfinished projects.

I have been spinning the fiber I got from The Wacky Windmill and finally plied it yesterday to make my first ball of plied yarn! Then I started spinning some more on my Turkish drop spindle. I have plenty of roving left to make more. Can’t wait to knit something with it.

I then had a ball wound up of odds and ends and in the spirit of not wasting yarn I crotchet it on to my odds and ends blanket. For this blanket I don’t care about the weight of the yarn. All I do is tie the ends together and then with a large crotchet hook, I just single crotchet it on. I love watching this blanket come together because each strand reminds me of one project or another.

Finished another block of the Miter Cross Blanket and started another. I have now finished 7 blocks and only have 3 more left to make before putting it together. The colored blocks are all made from leftover yarn from when I knit the Princess and the Pea while I was knitting through the Itty-Bitty Toys book by Susan B Anderson. It’s Lambs Pride worsted and the outside is Cascade Ecological wool.  I’m trying not to have to purchase anything to finish this blanket but I might need to unravel a vest that doesn’t fit well to use the yarn to finish this blanket. Have any of you ever done that? I’ve been thinking about that a bit lately. Unraveling and re-purposing yarn from projects I no longer love.

What do you have on your needles these days?
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The End of Days?

Olof
It’s December 2012 and out of jest I was discussing with a friend about what we would be good for if, lets say, there was a solar flair that knocked out all electrical devices in the USA. This means that every electronic device would have to be remade and replaced even the ones the make the electricity and the ones that transform it into usable energy for your home. SO lets say that this happens and it could take up to 3 years for the electrical grid in the USA to completely be restored. Even if you don’t believe in the end of the world, scientists have said that we have hit a time in the solar cycle where there are more solar flairs and this could really happen. This is what they believed happened during the gold rush in California, 1859 and all of the telegraphs quit working through Europe and North America and had to be replaced since they were sometimes throwing sparks.

How would you prepared to take care of your family? What are your gifts and abilities?

Here is my list.

I know how to sew by hand and could possibly be able to recreate clothes if I had the original handy.

I know how to spin fibers with a drop spindle, knit with fibers and weave with fibers.

Seedlings from several years ago

I know how to garden and have enough seeds to feed an army (I love trying new seeds and since I have such a small garden I never use a whole packet so I have lots of left overs)

I have a knowledge of human behavior (good old masters degree in psych) so I have a usable trade that does not need electricity.

I know how to ride a horse (Non of the cars will work either)

I do know how to shoot even though I do not allow guns in my home (this would change if this happened for hunting purposes)

I know how to wash clothes by hand and how to make soap.

I know how to make bread and have saved plans of how to make an outside bread oven in my stockpiles of Mother Earth News.

I have the book knowledge of how to slaughter animals humanly even if I have a hard time thinking about having to kill an animal but if I had to feed my family I would want it not to suffer and know how to work the animal.

I know CPR and could take care of basic wounds and after all of my reading I would maybe be a decent assistant at a birth. 

I know how to make fire with sticks and stones.

I know how to grind wheat.

This post is not meant to make any body stress about their ignorance but to take a working inventory of their survival skills and are you able to give yourself a compliment on your own abilities? Since I have taken stock of my abilities the thought of not having electricity does not bother me too much. I would miss friends and family in other countries because there would be photos and messages instantly but there would be snail mail.

What would you miss the most?

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Monday Knitting Update- baby knitting

Olof
So I have been busy knitting since right before baby boy was born (we still haven´t found a name for him).

I knit a blanket for him. Using KnitPicks Comfy Sport.

Hat and socks for a friend that just had a baby. The socks are made with KnitPicks wool of the Andies sport

Finished another block in the Miter Cross blanket using left over of Lambs Pride Worsted and Cascade Ecological.

Been spinning with my KnitPicks spindle Fiber I got from The Wacky Windmill. 

Still sticking to not buying any yarn and haven´t spent any money on my knitting in over a year and a half! So proud of myself and my stash is slowly getting smaller with each project I make. I have had to get very creative with my yarns and colors to make the things I want to make.

Sorry about the pic quality. Hubby forgot our camera at my brother´s.

What do you have on the needles these days?

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Monday Knitting Update

Olof
I have been busy knitting this week. I finished the baby sweater I was knitting and then I forgot to take a pic of it before giving it to my friend. I guess I will just have to get an action shot of it once her little boy is born next month.

I brought out my drop spindle! First time in a while and I´m taking some time getting use to it again. Here is what I’ve done so far. Totally a thick and thin yarn at the moment. The fiber is a little hard to get even. 

I worked on the Mitered Cross Blanket

Then Veronika from Yarn on the House got me knitting on a new pattern when I saw her finished first sleeve and I went to look at the finished product on the pattern page I really wanted to make it. I already had all the material in my stash (a must) so I decided to knit it. It´s called Maxfield Cardigan by Amy Christoffers and sadly I have to say I have had quite a few issues with the pattern. It looks pretty but I find it not very detailed like she was trying to fit this complex pattern on only a few pages when more explanation is needed. There is also only one needle size in the list of materials needed but then it asks for a larger and smaller needle to knit with in the pattern. I do like that it starts with the sleeves.Sadly this is the first time that I say that I feel like I would like a refund on my $7 dollars since this pattern does not seem to be properly test knit yet. I really want to knit this sweater but I might end up just free handing it at some point. I hate writing reviews like this. Makes me feel bad. The sweater is beautiful but the pattern is not reader friendly. I just can´t promote something by knitting it and not giving a proper review of the pattern. I won´t hold this against Veronika LOL. I´m sure she is having the same issues.

Went to Joann’s and found this fabric that I got to make project bags with.

If you don´t follow Veronika at Yarn on the House then you are missing out. She does yarn giveaways on a regular basis and has started knitcations! You know you want a knitcation. I know I do. Sadly I will be giving birth during the time that this knitcation will be and after that we will not be able to afford one for a long while. But the goody bags that they are offering are to die for! You must check it out. I jokingly mentioned to Veronika that I planed on doing a knitstaycation and that I would love one of those bags. Sadly all I got out of that was a good laugh LOL which is what I expected . But I do hope that some of my knitting friends will enjoy this trip and take loads of pics so that I can sit and be totally jealous over them. Hopefully a newborn will make it all worth missing the trip. LOL.

What do you have on the needles or in your craft basket?