Recent projects

I have not updated in awhile but wanted to share my most recent projects.

I wove up this cowl for my mother using the TurtleLoom fine gauge hexagon pin loom. I  have her other ones and they are really fun to use. This fine gauge one is meant for sock yarns, which I have lots of .

I then used a loom to knit up a headband for myself using some of my handspun. I bound off a bit tight, but it helps keep the band from sliding down too far. The colors don’t pop on the red background, but they are oranges, some yellow, reds, and a tiny bit of black and white scattered in.

This is another project woven on a pin loom (Zoom Loom for this one). I wore this to Rhinebeck on Saturday and got lots of nice compliments on it.

Another loom knit project is this cowl I made for myself, again using my own handspun. I have it pinned out but I need to finish blocking it.

I also have another weaving project in progress, plus a knitting project I will be starting very soon. Hopefully today when I get home from work!

Ravellenics

This year I participated in the Ravellenics over on Ravelry for the first time. My goal was to only use my handspun yarn.  Most are just small bags since I was using small skeins made from the samples from SpinningBox’s. I also tried a bit of felting, but I did it by hand so it’s not too much. I may throw those items in the wash at some point to felt them up more.

Here are all the items I made!

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January Spin Crazy!

Since I got my Ashford eS3, I have been spinning daily. Right now I am still going through my fibers from SpinningBox’s so they are small skeins for the most part. I just found two more to spin up so I’m off to do that.

Right now I wanted to share the crazy amount that I have spun just in the two or so weeks since I have had my spinner. This is just for January alone. I have not set the twist yet so have not measured anything, but I wanted to show pictures of my new yarns.

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I am having so much fun with this. I am planning on weaving with the smaller amounts but I’ll have to think hard about what to make with the bigger skeins. Especially that last one. I love the Orion Nebula one so much!

Having fun with Oxford Punch

I have been having fun doing punch needle and rug hooking. I found someone selling some Oxford punch needles for a really good deal, so bought them. They arrived awhile ago and I quickly did a project with them.

I made a simple design using some cookie cutters I got for needle felting. I am still using acrylic yarn in my stash while I get the hang of things. It was hard to punch at first, but soon I was whizzing along. I really like this needles!

This is what the project looks right now. I will be making it into a pillow as soon as I decide on how I want to do the back.

This hoop was not the best for this as I had to keep pulling it tight, but it was the biggest I have. My gripper frame is small and I was worried about the teeth ruining the already punched parts. I do have a bigger one on my wishlist that I hope to get soonish.

Cozy, warm hat

Yesterday I loom knit myself a hat. I used my handspun yarn that is a blend of alpaca and angora. I wish you could touch it through the screen. It is so soft that I can’t stop petting it. I will be leaving shortly to go to a party, so will be wearing it. It is only 10* out right now so I definitely want a hat on!

I did not use a pattern and it was made using the green Knifty Knitter.

Christmas Gifts

I only made a few gifts this years since we now do a Yankee swap with one half of my family.  So it is just getting gifts for kids but I’m not making kids anything because they are too picky. The exception is for my two youngest nieces (2 and 4) I made them each a little bear with my Zoom Loom.

For my mother, I made her something that can be used as a trivet or a wall hanging. I still need to put the wool felt backing on, but otherwise it is done. It is rug hooked and the first one I’ve done binding on. It needs work but I don’t think it looks bad. I know my mom will love it anyway. Monogrammed with her initial.

I bought two Oxford needles off of someone on Ravelry so I am looking forward to playing with those when they show up. I am still having lots of fun doing rug hooking as well as more punch needle. More projects for those to come after Christmas.

First time rug hooking

This is the kit that I picked up at the fiber fest last month. I have been wanting to try rug hooking for awhile so found a small kit to try out. It went much faster than I thought. I don’t know the exact time, but it only took me a few hours to do. Maybe only a half hour total to cut all the strips. I definitely want to do more of this!

Pin Loom Woven Shawl

I just finished weaving in all of the ends of my first pin loom woven shawl. This was actually a pretty fast project, and would have been finished ages ago if I couldn’t make up my mind on how I wanted to do it.

I used Caron Cakes yarn (Boston Cream) and cut up the colors separately and wound into balls. I then wove up all of the squares. I did not get the same number of squares for each color, which is why the shawl isn’t perfectly symmetrical, but that is fine. I then decided I wanted to make it triangular after all and added the grey squares to the bottom.

For stitching up, I first had the squares line up so that the teeth all matched each other. This gave it an eyelet/lacy look. After doing each row, I then stitched them up so that the teeth interlocked, like a zipper. I think next time I’ll line them up for more eyelets, but I am still happy with how this turned out. Next one I’ll also be trying an edging with it.

I finished this just in time to bring with me to Rhinebeck (NY Sheep and Wool) tomorrow. It is going to be 70* but in the 30*s in the am, so I’ll be happy to have it.

Loom used: Zoom Loom

Yarn: Caron Cakes – Boston Cream

Pumpkin!

Made a little pumpkin yesterday. I’m going to make more, but I wanted to share this one now. I’m going to try different ways to do them. I like how this looks, but the next will be different.

Spinzilla Final Counts!

So yeah, I fell behind on posting daily like I had planned to, but I didn’t want to stop spinning! Instead, here is one post with everything in it.

My totals are 1,811.8 yards, 2.05lbs, 1.02  miles spun. Spinzilla counts are 3,469.4 yards and 1.97 miles. Either way I spun over one mile of yarn! Last year I made it over two, but I didn’t spin as often this time because I had other things going on.

I have labeled the pictures with the names of the companies the fiber was from, and colorway if available, in case anyone is curious.

Fox Hill Farm – Cormo

Loop – Sea Nymph – Merino

Curly & Ewe – unknown

Cobble Rock – Alpaca/Angora

Greenwood Fiberworks – Arcade – Yak/Silk

Loop – Cornucopia – Merino

Space Cadet – Thrive – Merno/Silk

And a group shot!

Spinzilla Day Three

Today I spun up 100% Cormo fiber from Foxhill Farm. 64 yards n-ply. Cormo is a favorite of mine to spin. If you are a spinner and have not yet spun this wool, then make sure to try it out sometime. You won’t regret  it!

squishy!

Spinzilla Days One and Two

It’s that time of the year again…Spinzilla! Spinzilla started yesterday at 12:01am. I did not start spinning until I got home from work. I got one skein done and I just finished some singles that I will ply tomorrow.

Yesterday – Alpaca/Angora blend. You’ve never felt anything softer! 88yards, 2ply (I’ll be adding up Spinzilla yards later).

Fiber is from CobbleRock Ridge Farm, LLC (bought at The Fiber Festival of New England)

I just now finished spinning the singles of this and will ply tomorrow. 50/50 Yak/Silk blend. Also super soft and also very shiny.

Fiber is from Greenwood Fiberworks, colorway “Arcade” (bought at NY Sheep and Wool a.k.a Rhinebeck)

Tonight was my teams first spin in which is where I spun most of the second one up. This year, like usual, I am on Team Webs! I love have such an amazing store as my local yarn shop. The people there are super nice and there is an amazing selection of products. Our next team spin in is on Thursday, with a pj party on Saturday, then the final burst on Sunday. I can’t wait!

 

Tapestry One Finished! Plus beading!

I finished this awhile ago and apparently forgot to post the end results here.

Ta-dah!

I had a lot of fun learning the techniques, and I know that there are many more still to learn. I am especially happy with how the circle came out! I am planning my next one and it’s going to be an actual picture. I just have to make up my mind on which one I want to do first. It would really be helpful if I knew how to make clones of myself, then I could do everything at once!

The other week I ordered myself another Mirrix loom because I couldn’t pass up the birthday coupon. I got myself the little Lani loom to play around with beading or smaller tapestries if my Big Sister is in use. While I don’t wear jewelry, I want to try doing bead tapestries.

My first time playing with beads I did make a simple cuff. I messed up in a few places and I need to get better at dealing with the ends, but I’m mostly happy with how it turned out. I wore it out the other day and got a compliment on it.

First attempt

I am also planning what I’m going to weave next. I picked up a mixed kit of beads to play with since I only have a small amount and not enough to make anything with. Now I do!

Tapestry – More Progress

Today I tried out some loops, did some more plain weave, then started trying out more rounded shapes. Just one so far but I’ll be doing more. Slowly working up to doing a full circle.

I finally had to advance the warp! Yay progress!

Tour de Fleece – Finished!

At the beginning of the month, July 6th to be exact, part of my spinning wheel broke. I contacted MerlinTree for a replacement part and he said he’d send it right away…except I was having issues with my email which caused a delay. I did not get the part until this past Saturday, late afternoon. I immediately changed out the broken part and then spun like a crazy lady for the rest of Saturday all day yesterday. I lost two weeks of spinning but I wasn’t going down without a fight!

Here are the yarns I managed to spin up Saturday and yesterday. I finished the last one at 11:45pm!

Monster Mash

Monster’s Inc.

Rubies and Amathyst

Sapphire Skies

Smoke and Mirrors

Witches Brew

Black Opal

Changes

While I was spinning, I was putting finished skeins into a bin I had picked up for my craft area. When I took all the skeins out to take a group shot, my cat immediately jumped into it.

This is Black Jack

Here is the group shot of all the yarn I spun up in a little over a week. I spun up a total of 3.69 lbs (pounds!) of fiber. I won’t know yardage until I wash all the skeins. I don’t know when I’ll do that.

16 Skeins of yarn, 3.69lbs of fiber spun.

I am already looking forward to Spinzilla in October. Then the weekend after that is NY Sheep and Wool, a.k.a Rhinebeck. So I’ll get to restock up on fiber. Yay!

Spin on!