Just another reason why he's "The Saint"

Welcome to my Fiber Arts Friday post. If you find this subject interesting be sure to hop over to Wisdom Begins In Wonder where Andrea is the hostess with the mostest.

As the title suggests, there are many reasons but the latest is that last Friday while I was at work this man spent a considerable amount of time working to untangle this yarn mess for me. (I had already worked on it for an hour the night before)

Then Saturday morning while I was away having breakfast with the kids he finished untangling it.

He is the best! His patience and persistence allowed me to get started on Rita's second sock. Wouldn't you agree that qualifies him for sainthood?

Kristen, Paula and I drove up to Hillside Jacobs on Saturday. It was super tough buying only one fleece but that's all I purchased, one fleece, Jennifer's fleece. She's an older ewe but still has a very nice "lilac" fleece. This is the second year I've purchased her pretty fiber. I should have enough now to make a couple of sweaters.

It is always amazing to watch the shearer do his work.  The Jacob sheep weigh an average of 100 lbs and that's a lot of sheep to be wrangling around with a sharp clipper in your hand.

When we arrived the shearer was just finishing up the last  Columbia. They were the tallest sheep I've seen so far. They're all white and produce about 12 lbs of fleece per animal according to the breed website.

Here's my favorite Jacob sheep, Jennifer...

and here she is getting her trim...

She certainly isn't modest, LOL  I got a nice fleece from her and will add it to the fleece I got last year and get it spun up so I can do some sweater knitting.

There were also Shetland sheep sheared today...

I like their brown faces. It's so interesting how a sheep like the adult pictured above starts out looking like this little lamby...

It was a fun day!

I hope you all had a great week. Get out and see some fiber animals this weekend if you have a chance. Supporting our local shepherds will assure a good supply of fresh fiber for years to come.

LittleDog's piece of the blog:

Catching the last few rays on Thursday evening. Toodles!

Friday Fiber Stuff

Hey! How are ya? So glad you stopped by. I hope you find something interesting here. Please leave a comment to let me know you've visited. Be sure to check out all the creative and crafty peeps over at Wisdom Begins in Wonder too.

I have my papers together for the tax man appointment today and I'm oh so glad to be done with that little chore. (hopefully they won't have to call me 50 times with questions before they're done)

My knitting failure this week is a hat that I really don't like (on me)...will probably frog it and make something else with the yarn. I knit this whole hat twice...once on size 8 needles (too small) and once on size 10.5 needles (still too small). Not sure what's up with this pattern but the sizing is wak! It looks great on Heddy who has a nice long narrow head but she is certainly not representative of me. Don't you love the yarn though?

My first commission sock (of what I hope will be many) for Rita's festival season samples is finished. Isn't it pretty? The yarn is oh-so-nice and I love the pattern...I believe this is the third time I've knit this sock pattern.

Looking forward to starting the next sock tonight. The pattern is Riff and the yarn is fabuloso! (it has Cashmere) stay tuned for progress photos of that one.

It's shearing season so Paula and I will be heading up to Hillside Jacobs in Sparta tomorrow for the Jacob/Shetland/Columbia sheep festivities. I'm not planning on purchasing any fleece (really, I'm NOT!) but if I happen to run across a nice fleece grown by a pretty lady named Jennifer I might have to bring it home...this is some of what she grew last year...

and in the "lack of anything better to end with" department here's a couple of Pug photos. Enjoy!

 Rena and LittleDog

Time for wrastlin' in the office

Have a great week! Be sure to do something fibery. Thank you again for stopping by.

What a week!

Welcome! Here's this weeks offering for Fiber Arts Friday. Thank you so much for coming and don't forget to visit the other creative folks that participate over on Andrea's blog...Wisdom Begins In Wonder every week.
A lot has gone on this week at home and at work, I'll save you the drama and get right to...

the knitting...

socks commissioned by Rita of Yarn Hollow

Cookie A's Summer Sox.

one Ugly Sock done, second one started

I couldn't resist casting on with the handspun yarn that Paula gifted me. This is going to be Capucine. I purchased a ChiaoGoo 10.5 x 16" circ to knit this project with. I must say, I love the ChiaoGoo (pronounced chow-goo).

These lace tips are wicked! I'll have to develop a few little callouses, since I push the needle tip back with my fingers while knitting. It's a bit uncomfortable at first.

the fiber...
I'm happy to say I had the opportunity to support a friend and add to my fiber stash this week. Emily had intended to re-stock her Etsy shop. She brought in a few braids to show her new colorways and several of them didn't make it back home with her. I promised to post a pic of the ones that came home with me so others could enjoy the pretty. So here they are.

Exact same dye - colors and sequence...the one on the left is Faulkland and the other is Superwash BFL. Isn't it amazing how the different fibers took the dye? Thanks Em, they're fabulous...a perfect addition to my stash.

the pooches...

I know I can't post without a mention (and a pic) of LittleDog so here's today's offering, along with one of big brother Sam (who insisted that I take his pic too)

Sorry for the shiny eyes...I just can't figure out how to avoid them when I have to use the flash.

PS:  Tamara, LittleDog wanted me to tell you that we're sending good thoughts to your family in Syria and we all hope that they are staying safe during this super-scary time. Also, thanks for following us on Pinterest.

Friday Felting Finish

Hello and welcome. We're under a winter storm watch here in West Michigan. Batten down the hatches! Gas up the snow-blower! Find the doggie sweaters...maybe while I'm looking for all the winter tools I need I'll find LittleDog's sweater. It's been missing for awhile and I can't imagine where it may have gone to.

I know you came for Fiber Arts Friday and not to hear about the weather so here is the Big Zig Bag finally, completely and totally done. Yay! In case you missed the pics last week here's what it looked like pre-felting...

and this is the final outcome...

I purchased the yarn for this project at Rae's Yarn Boutique and started knitting it May 7, 2009 and finished by sewing the button on tonight.  That's a shamefully long time for this pretty thing to wait, don't you think?

I had to cut a slot in the tab for the button hole (since I didn't think to thread some cotton yarn through the button hole and it felted itself shut). Then I added one of the beautiful buttons my friend Shine made.

I still have to find a piece of good stiff plastic (I'm thinking an old piece of cutting mat) to put in the bottom to give it some stability.

It has taken up its task of keeping my swift and ball winder safe.

I really like it.

There has also been a bit of spinning going on here. The braid I'd been spinning for quite awhile was finally finished on Sunday...

this is 4.2oz of Rita's Merino Bamboo Tussah Top in the Sleepy Hollow colorway.  Having finished that braid I started on the fiber samples from a Phat Fiber box that Shine is trading me buttons for.  Gotta love the barter system. Here's what I've got so far...

There is some soft, shiney fiber in this box but my favorite is the fiber I'm spinning right now...the most beautiful red and there's some sparkly in it. yum.   In case anyone wonders...the pony holder is to keep the flyer from twirling around during transport. This LadyBug gets around! and sometimes the simplest things make for the greatest tools.

After leaving a comment and letting me know you were visiting here please stop by and check out the other creative folks that participate in Andrea's Fiber Arts Friday blog. Have a great week!

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

I've spent the last 30 minutes surfing around Pinterest...must pull myself away and get this post written.  If you haven't experienced the giant time suck for yourself you should certainly go check it out! It's my favorite dead-brain activity these days.  Lots of pretty pictures and very few words, LOL

Last pic of completely knit Big Zig Bag before felting

Beautiful handspun gifted to me by my BFF Paula...I love the sparkley!

We're both pretty excited about taking a trip tomorrow down to Chelsea, MI for the Spinners Flock Sale.  And hoping we find a good place for lunch. This place looks pretty promising...can't really go wrong at a place called Gourmet Chocolate Cafe now, can you?

It's getting to be the time of year for sheep shearing...Shady Side Farm is on February 25th, Windswept Farm is on February 26th and Hillside Jacobs is on the 10th of March. If you'd like to see some sheep and maybe get some nice fresh fleece check 'em out!

Thank you all so much for stopping by. Be sure to leave a comment so I know you visited. You should go check out all the creative peeps that participate in Fiber Arts Friday over at Wisdom Begins in Wonder. Tell Andrea I said hey!

Have a great weekend!

How do you like my teefs?

Fiber Arts Friday 2-10-12

In the home stretch on the Big Zig Bag that I started eons ago.  It's huge! The bottom is 19" by 13"

Once the knitting is done I'll be felting it.

This project was great practice for two stranded knitting since there was so much of it.

Here is a shot that shows the floats on the inside...

I'm enjoying the double i-cord handle that I'm currently knitting...wasn't sure how that was going to work out as the beginning was a bit wonky but it's taking a good shape now and when felted should be good and sturdy.

I convinced LittleDog to model for size comparison. Can you believe there is green grass in our backyard in February? It was still super cold today despite the sunshine.

He would easily fit in the pre-felted bag. It'll probably take a few days to do the handles as the directions say "repeat double i-cord for 277 rows" and that's a lot of rows! and I have to make two handles and a closure strap for the top. Good thing I like this part. Also, the double i-cord can be worked on straight needles...no cable to fiddle with.

And one more shot, with a flash so you can see the color better...and Tamara can get another look at LittleDog...

I started this project in May 2009...I'm on a roll with the WIPs these days...only have one more big and old project left to finish after this one.

Don't forget Andrea has a great list on her blog of other folks that participate in Fiber Arts Friday. Be sure to pop over there and check them out. Thank you for coming. Have a fibery weekend!

It's Friday! again...

Isn't it amazing how quickly the weeks pass when you're super busy? Unfortunately my busy-ness is at work which isn't nearly as fun as being busy at home in my craft room. I certainly need to be busy with fiber arts. I have way more sock yarn that I could knit in a year and now I have this other problem that seems to be manifesting itself in the same room...

I added a couple of very pretty braids to my fiber stash the past couple weeks. Here they are in order of purchase...

100% Merino, Fish Out of Water from KnitsinClass.etsy.com

80% Merino, 20% Tussah Silk, Red Rocks from ClawTreeFibers.etsy.com

100% superwash Corriedale, Mayim Bialik from (Rule Out): Fiber Addiction, NOS

Some progress has been made on that Ugly Sock...I'm ready to do the heel turn, something I couldn't accomplish last night while chatting at the coffee shop.

Mostly, I've been hangin out with knitters trying to forget how busy I am at work. Not very exciting, I know.

Looking forward to a good weekend though...thanks so much for all the kind words about last Saturday's memorial service. The service was nice but the weather (6" of fresh snow) and the drive (1hr, 15) were not. Saw some old friends we haven't seen in awhile and that was a good thing.

Since I've been so busy at work LittleDog is feeling a bit neglected. He really doesn't like having the chair all to himself...

anybody that is "owned by a pug" knows why the chair is wearing a sheet, LOL, 

between the "fish-butt" and the shedding you "can't have anything nice".

Have a great week everybody! Thanks for stopping in and remember to leave a comment so I know you've been here. You'll find more creative peeps over in the FAF blog circus on Andrea's blog. Go check 'em out!