Green Mountain Handwork

2010-05-07T12:06:00.000-07:00

This is the turquoise dye from Dori. It is a bit more green in daylight. There is also a lighter shade from a second dyeing when the pot was nearly exhausted.

This batt is made with the light and dark turquoise, with a little black roving from the sheep shed studio and a little silver glitz. It spun up into a pretty yarn. Will post a picture of it when it comes back from the Jamaica Fiber Fest.

This is another view of the same batt. These batts are .75 oz from my narrow Clemes & Clemes drum carder. Last nite at the spinning guild meeting I was able to borrow the Guild carder. It's a standard size Strauch. Sure holds a lot more wool than my little one!

Have been busy for a couple days washing the bale fleece and dyeing some more of it. Also dyed some firestar, some seacell, cotswold locks and a little mohair. The mohair still feels a little gummy to me. Will post more pictures later.

2010-04-16T09:38:00.000-07:00

This is the little sample batt spun up. It's 72 yards, about worsted weight. Love how the colors came out, reminds me of iris.

The fleece is Friesan, Dorset and Tunis, I'm thinking crosses.

2010-04-15T10:38:00.000-07:00

This is the yellow dye from yesterday. Lovely color!

I did a batt with the purple and the yellow. It's .75 oz, done on my vintage Clemes & Clemes narrow carder. Hope to spin it up tomorrow.

2010-04-14T14:30:00.001-07:00

Long time no blog! Have just started a major new project. Bought a 40 lb bale of wool from the Vermont Shepherd to dye and card into batts for spinning. It's quite a fun process, so far. Most of today was spent washing and dyeing a small portion of the fleece.

That's the whole bale. What I did today barely made a dent in it. This wool is really clean, and very little VM. The shearer did a great job, there are few second cuts.

I set up a system of buckets. First I did a cold soak, which cleaned the wool really well. After I let that drain, I did a hot wash, using Dawn. Then there were 2 rinses, and into the dye pot it went.

On the right is in the cold soak.

Nest comes the wash, then 2 rinses.

After the rinses, the wool drains a bit. Next to the dye pot. I am

using some dye I got from Dori from the

Hand Prepared Fibers Yahoo Group.

First was purple. It came out a light purple.

Here is a batt that I made from it, almost

an ounce.

Later will come the other colors.

2009-08-29T06:20:00.000-07:00

Got an email with the link to this cute sheep video, and decided to add it to my blog. It's fun to see this again, and the novelty doesn't seem to wear off, either. The border collies are just amazing dogs the way they herd the sheep.

2009-05-04T07:49:00.000-07:00

Spring is sprung

The grass is riz

I wonder where

The flowers is

They are in my garden for one place! This is my favorite time of the year, seeing all the flowers coming up and blooming. I find I have a lot of early flowers here. This is a double bloodroot that I got from the Putney Nursery many years ago.

Sad to say that they are no longer in business.

This trillium looks

pretty with a little spray of

pulmonaria next to it. The pulmonarias are happy in my

gardens and have self sown in multiple places around the yard.

Don't remember where this white trillium came from. It took several years to get established and bloom.

Planted asparagus last week. This is an investment in the future, as none will be harvested this year, just a little can be harvested next year, and more the following years. Gives me something to look forward to each spring!

Today I planted snow peas. These are dwarf plants, only 1.5-2 feet tall. Tomorrow I will plant the others, they are taller.

2009-02-19T11:01:00.000-08:00

New spinning wheels.
Yep, plural. First came the funky one off eBay, that I thought I could make a treadle easily for and be able to spin art yarn on. Haven't gotten to that, yet. Also need to make a tensioning knob. There's a hole below the flyer to put it in, just have to figure out how to make it.

Then I found a listing on Craig's List for a Great wheel in nearby Colrain at an affordable price. So of course I had to get it. I really don't know what I was thinking, the thing is huge! The wheel itself is 46" in diameter.

I have already spun a little yarn on it. Have to make some rolags, tho. Roving wasn't all that successful. So many projects, so little time!

2009-01-19T09:42:00.000-08:00

Dyeing

It's been a stressful few months here. My dear Mom got sick in October with pneumonia. She has dementia, and each illness has taken away cognitive skills. After several weeks of rehab, she just wasn't getting better. She has had to stay in a nursing home, and has moved to the Alzheimers unit. She is much happier there, as there are a lot of others at her level of functioning, so she has more people she can socialize with. She has always enjoyed talking with others.

I took a week off work to finish moving her stuff from the assisted living facility she had been at for the past years. What a chore! My garage is overflowing! Come warmer weather, I will go thru all the wonderful stuff that she had there, as well as what was at her apartment (and is also in my garage). As a life long crafter, there is plenty to go thru.

Part of my vacation time was also for myself. I had great plans to clean house and organize my stash, what a joke! I think I made more of a mess than I did to clean up

All the wool I've been collecting was calling to me for color. Recently I found the dyepot and a collection of dye stock that had to be nearing 20 years old! So I got busy

On the left is part of a pile of silk hankies that had been languishing upstairs for a couple years. They look much prettier in color! There are still a few white ones waiting... Next to that are some Cotswold curls, in back are more curls in yellow. The pink and light green is Suri Alpaca. The yellow is overdyed light brown. The other assorted colors are mill end merino/nylon.

A little spinning was also done. Finished the first bobbin of slippery merino/tencel laceweight. Now need to spin the second bobbin and ply.

This pretty little batt was spun into a small skein of thick and thin, plied with a Crystal Palace glittery yarn. It's only 20 yards. Spinning art yarn is my next endeavor.
Yesterday I took the drum carder apart, cleaned it, and put it back together. The drums were too close together, there is now a little space between them. Have been reading Intertwined and Ravelry groups for art yarn spinners. Just need to get going with the drum carder now that I have clean and colorful yarn. That will be the subject of another posting, hopefully not too far in the future.

2008-08-02T08:22:00.000-07:00

Mystery Plant

While hauling weeds from the garden a couple days ago, I discovered a few plants I had not seen before. They look like they're in the orchid family. The flowers are small, and are shades of pink and yellow. They are growing beside the driveway in a shady location.

If you have any ideas about these sweet little flowers, please leave me a comment. Thanks!

Many thanks to my friend Jane for identifying this lovely little plant as Helleborine! Sure hope it comes back this spring.

2008-08-01T03:52:00.000-07:00

Needle Felting.

Just what I needed, a new hobby! I saw someone needle felting at the spinners guild, and decided that I must learn how to do this. I had a small kit from fibertrends, but wasn't particularly inspired by it. So I hit the internet and did a lot of looking around. I found Kay Petal's needle felting online class and have been having a lot of fun with it. I have made a gremlin so far and have a couple other people in the works. This is made of some corriedale that I got to spin, but found that it didn't draft well. It has worked well for needle felting, but I suppose I should run it thru the drum carder to make it a little smoother. Someday I'll make some clothes for him, I'm thinking of fabric with a metallic look, perhaps some lame or some other funky fabric.

Before I got the online class, I made a little sheep out of wool that I had prepared for spinning. It's kinda cute, but I haven't decided how to give it some fleece.

Wish I could remember what type of fleece it is, that might help me decide what type of coat to give it.

Next up is a little gray cat. Not too bad for a first, but I can see the need for refinement. The camera made the head look larger than it really is, but it is still oversized some. I shall have to study my models some more.

Other felted projects in the works include a lizard, bear, and a yorkie from a kit.

So many projects, so little time!

2008-06-27T09:09:00.000-07:00

Not only did I spin Hector's hair, I also finished the alpaca fleece that I got at the spinning guild meeting. This one is 144 yards, and it is sooo soft! I plan to knit a lace scarf with it.

2008-06-27T09:02:00.000-07:00

Have been busy with the spinning wheel. Here is a skein of yarn spun from Hector's hair. Hector is the handsome boy-cat that lives with me. He is a little freaked out that this is his own hair, it took a while for him to calm down so I could get a good picture of him with it. There is 58 yards.

2007-10-22T08:32:00.000-07:00

Finished hint 2 for SotS last night and took a picture this am. Looking good so far! Now to get this weeks hint finished in time for the new one friday.

In other knitting, I did a swatch for the Mystic Waters KAL. I doubt that I will use this yarn, but it was available and I wanted to do the swatch.

It is rather interesting in the variegated yarn. It's something from a tag sale last year, 100% wool, and I believe it is a weaving wool.

2007-10-21T16:15:00.000-07:00

I started my first pair of mittens. They are a kit from Fleece Artist, thrummed mitts. The yarn is Blue Faced Leicester, the thrums are lovely soft Merino. The colors are lovely!

I am still working on the SotS, and have almost finished hint 2. Hope to catch up this week.

Down the road lives an interesting bird. Her name is Diamond, she id a Rhea. She has the loveliest big blue eyes!

2007-10-10T07:07:00.001-07:00

Have worked on the SOS project, finished the first hint Sunday. I hope I can keep this up! The yarn is Knit Picks Shadow, color Oregon Coast. I'm using size 4 KP Harmony needles, they are working out great! They're not as slippery as metal, and not as grabby as bamboo. I love the colors, also have tatting shuttles and lace bobbins made of this wood.

The beads have a pinkish inside and brown stripes. They pick up some of the heathery colors in the yarn.

I learned alot from MS3 about lace knitting, that has made this project easier for me to get going. Charts are my friends, they let me see if I've made a mistake or if the stitches are lining up like they are supposed to. Putting beads on the stitches with a crochet hook works very well. Oh yes, I'm using the skp decrease on this. There were 2 choices, ssk or skp, I decided the skp would work best for me.

I still need to go look for stainless welding rods to block with, there are a few places to look locally. It will be a while before I need to use them, though.

Now to wait for friday and the next hint!

2007-10-07T11:15:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I've posted, back when I started MS3. I'm in the middle of clue 4 for that, and it's on hold for a while. A few stitches got dropped, and I haven't felt like tinking back to where it's OK.

That's OK, as I had a bout of startitis. Current projects include Secret of the Stole, a pair of thrummed mittens and a poncho from a kit made in Fleece Artist Dreadlocks. It's really cool, but it's simple knitting so I'm saving that for when I'm tired. Will put up pictures in a bit.

Did little quiz on my personality type, it's pretty close

You Are An ISFP

The Artist

You are a gifted artist or musician (though your talents may be dormant right now).
You enjoy spending your free time in nature, and you are good with animals and children.
Simply put, you enjoy beauty in all its forms and live for the simple pleasures in life.
Gentle, sensitive, and compassionate - you are good at recognizing people's unspoken needs.

In love, you are quiet and sweet yet very passionate. You love easily.
You have an underlying love for all living things, and it's easy for you to accept someone into your heart.

At work, you do best in an unconventional position. You express yourself well and can work with almost anyone.
You would make a good veterinarian, pediatrician, or composer.

How you see yourself: Sympathetic, kind, and communicative

When other people don't get you, they see you as: Incompetent, insecure, and overly sensitive

What's Your Personality Type?

2007-07-12T08:47:00.000-07:00

Mystery Stole 3 Knit Along

Thanks to a kind enabler on Arachne, I heard about Mystery Stole 3. Having wanted to learn lace knitting from a chart, this seemed like a golden opportunity! So of course I signed up. Next I had to go stash diving to find my yarn. The recommended colors were black or white. First I found a cone of black mystery yarn, it didn't have a great feel, but I tried it anyways. Not a good choice. Looked pretty ugly, and melted like plastic in a flame. Put that one away. Next try was some purple Knit Picks lace yarn, but that seemed as heavy as the fingering I use for socks. The winner turned out to be some Forsell lace yarn from England, the label says superwash (right, I'm going to put this in the washing machine) and it has 2470 yards for the 25o gm cone. Knit on size 4 Crystal Palace bamboo needles, it looks pretty good. I first tried a metal circular needle, but it kept springing out of the yarn.

TaDa! Finished clue 1 at 11 am. This is a wonderful pattern, and the charts are amazingly easy to follow. I am really happy to learn how to knit from charts, as there a lots of patterns written that way. Now I want to knit lots of lace!

Sumac

2006-09-11T11:19:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a while since I've posted. May was the last time my life had any normalcy. *sigh*

Onward now. I've been knitting and feltimg some bags. Earlier I showed my first B4 bag, I just finished my second one. This time it's for me!

I don't remember what the yarn is, and I can't find the info at this time. It's a pretty, soft variegated wool, a single with a light twist. I forgot that I wasn't felting Cascade 220, and ran the washer a long time. It made a really solid bag. It's 10.5 inches wide and 6 inches tall. The buttons are from a Delactable Mountain, a local fabric store that specializes in silks and other exotic fabrics.

I also made another Scallops and Beads bag from Knit One, Felt Too. The purple wool I got from eBay, the green and Magenta is Cascade 220. This bag has a 4 stitch I-cord, I felt that the 3 stitch I-cord on my bag was too thin. I like this much better.

2006-05-12T05:43:00.000-07:00

During the winter, I joined the SixSockKnitalong, a yahoo group. It's been fun to knit a pair of socks along with all the other members of the group. The patterns are very nice, they are a great way to learn new techniques. My first sock with the group was shadow knitting a heart on the cuff. Sadly, the second sock has not been knit yet.

The second *pair* is called Glad Ragg. They were knit in Wildefoote yarn with Delica beads on the cuff. I really like them, it was lots of fun to knit the beads in.

To avoid the dreaded second sock syndrome, I am now knitting my socks two at a time on 2 circulars.

Sock in progress is the Sixth Sense Sock. For this sock, I'm using Confetti superwash in color 39109. I had the opportunity to meet the Yarn Harlot when she was on her book tour visiting WEBS in Northampton MA. She was kind enough to let me take her picture holding my socks. Who else would be so understanding! I'm not sure that I will finish this pair before the month is over, but I will keep working on them.

2006-05-12T05:31:00.000-07:00

It's raining today. That's OK, as I have lots of indoor projects to work on. During the winter, I got back to knitting, which I hadn't done for a number of years. New to me is the joy of knitting items to be felted, or more properly, fulled, in the washing machine. I knit this for myself, but a co-worker made me an offer I just couldn't refuse.

This is the B4 bag designed by Trish Bloom

My version has an extra bead section and two vintage abalone buckles to make it a B5 bag. I love the way it came out, and will have to knit another one for myself.

2006-05-11T10:14:00.000-07:00

2006-05-11T08:47:00.000-07:00

Spring has finally come to my yard here in southern Vermont. I am really enjoying the first flowers in the gardens! Most of the magnolias are in bloom, there are 2 left to open. There are lots of daffodils and the earliest primroses.

There are already tiny tadpoles in the frog garden.