Post turkey laziness...

it's what I blame for not showing up here at 6am. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving if you celebrate it where you live. Ours was awesome and I have pictures to prove it...

I even got a little knitting in after dinner.

I've been busy spinning up a pretty single for Andrea. It's taking a bit of time as I'm pulling the fiber out of a Spin Madness bag (made from odds and ends of everything Rita's been dying for the past few weeks) that I got from Yarn Hollow and have to sort through it to get the colors I want. Hopefully it will be worthy of our fabulous FAF hostess when I'm done.

I finished the super soft hat for my friend and gave it to her last Saturday at breakfast. Hopefully I'll get to see it in action tomorrow. Here's a preview...

LittleDog says...

Have a great weekend everyone. Don't forget to check out the other creative folks that participate in Fiber Arts Friday over on Andrea's blog.

And if you'd like to enter a contest for some fabulous prizes, go here.

FAF 11/18/11

This post is part of Fiber Arts Friday, kindly organized by Andrea. When you leave here be sure to stop in and be amazed by the creativity gathered there.

Hello! Hope you've had a great week. I have thoroughly enjoyed my staycation. There have been lots of appointments and lots of knitting/spinning.

I spent most of yesterday organizing the stash. I've been winding all the remnants into balls or skeins and it's so much fun having all that yarn run through my hands.

All the skeins of handspun are piled into one section of the cube...

(all have been spun by me except the blue/grey in the upper right)and moved a few things around to put more of the fiber away...

Today I'll continue with the reorganization. The hope is to have all the fiber in this 9 section cube so I can see everything at a glance...of course this doesn't take into account all the Jacob that I've processed in the past few months...that's hidden in pillow cases in the armoire in the corner. I like to look at the pretty hand dyed roving that I've purchased from friends. It makes the room look so colorful.

Update on the marigold dyed Polypay...

I'm doing a bit of emergency knitting. A friend who is in need of a hat at all times needs a new one. Every time I see her lately she's wearing one of the two hats that I knit for her in the past couple years. I have to do something about that so this is the beginning of a super soft chunky hat and I'm hoping to get it finished today so I can deliver it Saturday morning when I go to breakfast.

The GR Yarnies group had to change locations for our Sunday meetings. We fortunately found a nice shop just a few blocks from where we were meeting. It's bright and cheery and the coffee is oh-so-tasty...

Here's the pretty batt I got from Andrea at the Ann Arbor Fiber Expo. Can't wait to see how it spins up. It was lost for a minute but thankfully found it's way to me which makes it even more special.

Thank you for coming and please remember to leave a comment to at least say hello.

This week's question: Which skein of handspun in the cube is your favorite?

The last rose of winter in my garden this week...

Marigold Dye-ing

Today's post is part of Fiber Arts Friday over on Andrea's blog.  Check out the other creative folks that contribute fun and informative blog posts each week.

Since I only had time for a drive-by blog last week I thought I'd do an expanded version of the experiment with marigold dye. (all photos can be biggie-sized by clicking on them)

4oz Polypay combed top

 mordant the fiber with cream of tartar and alum

 put the heat to the mordant pot and the dye pot

 I put the marigold blossoms into a small sweater bag so I didn't have to do so much straining later (still had to run it through 6 layers of cheese cloth though)

 kept my books handy in case I forgot what I was doing at some point

 after a good rinse the fiber went into the dye pot

 next day it was time for a rinse

 and the next day it was dry and ready to spin

 the fiber color is different under each kind of light you view it under, I believe I'll call it Sam's Feet since it's just about the same color

I believe the experiment was a success.  I was hoping for more of an orange color like it looked when wet but I probably would have had to use some type of after bath to get an orange that would stay orange.  Now to give some of it a spin and see what the yarn will look like...stay tuned.

And for all of you who love LittleDog...

don't you think we should get busy on that holiday knitting?  (please ignore my devil eyes, I'm not a fan of the flash)

FAF 11 07 11

I'm running late today but here's my Fiber Arts Friday blog for this week.  Remember to hop over to Andrea's blog and check out all the other creative folks that participate.

There was an alpaca show...

then there was fiber dying with marigolds...

and then I finished this cute hat...

Thanks for coming!  Have a great weekend.

Congratulations Commentor #9

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!  What have you been doing this week with fiber?

I've been spinning a ball of roving I picked up at the Ann Arbor Fiber Expo since it reminds me so much of the season...

it's always a thrill to see the difference between the roving and the singles.  I'll spin 4 oz on each of two bobbins then ply them.

It's been a pretty crazy week that started with the aforementioned trip to Ann Arbor on Saturday for the Fiber Expo.  We saw lots of friends both shopping and vending.  Nice show in a nice location.  Lunch at Zingerman's Deli was a special treat...thanks Paula!

I've done a little bit of everything this week.  The ends are woven in on The Big Ass Sweater... now for miles of mattress stitch.

the table is 32" x 60", you're looking at the two sleeves, separately and the front and back stacked on top of each other...perhaps this will give you an idea the immensity of this sweater.  Also the fact that it took 14 skeins of Berroco Ultra Alpaca...that's a lot of yarn! I'm so glad that I bought it on sale a while back.

Check out this super cute little bag with a zip top.  It'll make a nice little tool bag. And I like the little alpacas.

Let's hope that the weather is decent this weekend so I can get my dye pot cooking with these...

my kind friend Tamara gave me instructions on using these marigold heads as dye stuff.  I'm pretty excited about it.  I just hope I can figure out the chemistry of it all...I can do accounting all day long but when it comes to figuring percentages of weights I'm a bit of a slacker.

Yay!  The random number generator chose #9!  That means Andrea will be receiving a little package of handspun from me soon.  (got a color/fiber preference?)  Thanks to all who left comments regarding washing techniques for knitwear.

Have a great weekend everybody!  Hop over and say hello to all the talented peeps on Andrea's Fiber Arts Friday blog.


PS:  If you're in the West Michigan area this weekend be sure to stop in at the Delta Plex and check out the alpacas!

Wash Day Contest

What does your handknit wash day look like?

Leave a comment telling me about it or a link to a photo of your freshly washed handknits...how you wash them; hand, machine and what type of soap you use, etc.  We'll have a little contest.  Random drawing from all the comments posted by midnight Thursday, October 27th, 2011.  Winner gets a skein of my handspun yarn and a little surprise to go with it.  If someone says you sent them over, you'll get an additional entry.

Here's a little skein I wound up last night.  Brings to mind snow on a spruce don't you think?  click photo to biggie-size it

I've been spinning directly off combs this week.  Jacob fleece.  Love this technique, learned it from Beth Smith of The Spinning Loft at Michigan Fiber Festival.  I find it amazing how different the singles look when spun in this fashion.  Not only does it appear loftier than when spinning from a batt but it is also practically nep free!  No joke, though, it's a lot of work...all that combing.  I drape a rectangle of vinyl across my lap to protect my clothing (and skin) from the comb tips...they are deadly sharp!

Looks something like this but you'll have to use your imagination a bit and add a drafting hand that during the pic is holding the camera...ignoring the jammies and slippers and dog butt.

Working hard at spinning a bit thicker single in the hope that I'd end up with a nice worsted weight that I could knit a sweater with.

Isn't it amazing how you can get motivated to do things with heavier weight yarn when the weather cools off?  It's certainly feeling like late fall here in West Michigan.  The heat was actually turned on here yesterday morning...The Saint was asking in a rather plaintive way Wednesday how long I was going to hold out before I turned it on.  When I went to the basement yesterday morning for something and it was warmer down there than in the main part of the house I figured it was time.  Are any of you still holding out?  I remember reading a funny post by Stephanie a few years back about the contest she has with her family to see who can hold out the longest.  It made me laugh.

For those of you that are fans of LittleDog here's his favorite blog.  Check it out if you like pugs, great photography and a good laugh.

Thanks so much for visiting.  Good luck with the contest.  Remember to visit the crafty peeps over on Andrea's blog.  They faithfully post for Fiber Arts Friday and I get some great inspiration from them all.  Have a great weekend!  I'll be hanging with my BFF Paula down at the Ann Arbor Fiber Expo on Saturday.  Maybe I'll see ya!

FAF 10-14-11

Happy Fiber Arts Friday everybody!  I want to send a big thank you to Vivian for this beautiful necklace.  Isn't is stunning?  She also sent me this very nice birthday card...

LittleDog did not like the birthday card, at all.  When I showed it to him he growled then barked his head off.  When I laid it flat on the floor he would come sniff it and put his foot on it but as soon as I'd pick it up again and show it to him he'd start with the growling and barking again.  He just didn't get it I guess.

Pictured above with the beautiful necklace and the super scary card is the sock I finished while I was enjoying my day off lunch.  It's knit with Berroco Comfort Sock and it's my new favorite yarn, so very soft.  Several rows of the second sock were done before I headed home.

I had the most awesome day off , ran a few errands that needed to be done then I stopped at Panera Bread and had lunch and knit for 2 whole hours.  I listened to the end of Little Bee (which was a really good story) and enjoyed all that knitting time without LittleDog in my lap.

Also finished in the past week...the naughty socks.

This may be my only attempt at toe up with an afterthought heel socks.  Not a fan of the fit or look of these socks.  I may let these rest a while before tackling that technique again.  The bind off is too tight at the top of the cuff so I'll be taking that out and trying a different type of cast off in hopes it can be made more flexible.

On Sunday the GR Yarnies met at Via Verde Farm for spinning and alpaca petting.  It was so beautiful and peaceful that I really didn't want to leave when it was time.  Thank you, again, Tamara!

A week old  cria greeted us and the alpacas are so tame that strangers can pet them.

You could say it's been another full week here at Chez B.  We hope you all have had a full week too.  Thank you all so much for stopping in and saying hello.

Be sure to visit the other talented fiber peeps over on Andrea's blog.