Feeling Good!

Hello everyone! I am fully recovered from my surgery (at least to me anyway) and I am even back at work! I feel so much better.

I went to my first Mocha Knits meet up! We met at Panera Bread at Canal and Roosevelt in Chicago, and had a blast. The meet up was centered around a gift swap. I go such a nice treat from my swap partner Nicole and my other swap partner Analisa was happy with her treats too. It was fun all around.



What am I knitting and what have I finished you ask? Well, I am working on
the Love It, Leaf It beret from Knit1 Magazine. I also finished a sweater! Look:




It's my version of the Greenfield Cardigan from New England Knits. Of course, I love the leaves. I knit the sweater in super bulky weight yarn! Quick and beautiful!

My latest reads? Have you checked out the new book by Alana Dakos and Hannah Fettig? If not, go and order a copy of Coastal Knits! It is a beautiful book with beautiful photography as well as patterns. I want to knit the whole book. Alana has the book for sale on her blog: nevernotknitting.blogspot.com. Get one!!!

There you are: quick and to the point! Keep knitting!!!

Updates!!!!!

Here are a few updates for ya!

1. I won 2nd and 3rd place at the Will County Fair for my hat and beaded clutch!

2. I am working on two sweaters at one time. Lots of fun.

Sweater #1: February Lady Sweater





Sweater #2: Greenfield Sweater from New England Knits




I just had to have these!!!!

3. The school year is going well. The kids are good (so far) and they are anxious to learn.

4. Finally, last but not least, I am scheduled for a hysterectomy on Sept. 21st. Can you believe it? 4-6 weeks of knitting time while I recover! I am happy for both the operation (good-bye pain and other unpleasant things to gross to mention on my blog) and the knitting time. I just may finish those sweaters!!!!!

Back to School

I am both happy and sad to say that school will start very soon. I must therefore return to work. But, before I end my summer of fiber fun, I must share some updates on my knitting and spinning!

Here is a photo of the tam that I will enter into the county fair at the end of the month. The pattern is Flower Love, Fair Isle Tam. I used a skein of varigated acrylic yarn to do the fair isle. So, it is really faux isle, but, I love how it came out.




I also will enter this lovely beaded purse. The pattern was Beaded Bags by Valerie Bracegirdle. I used a gift skein of medium weight Socks that Rock in the Cockeyed color way. And yes, I had to string all of those beads. But, it was worth it, right?




I have also started an Etsy shop! Stop by the shop and graze. I hope you like it! Go to http//www.etsy.com/shop/thenappyewe to check it out!

Spinning you say? Well, I have finished the last of my Cicero fleece! I am just letting the plied skein rest before I set the twist. I have also finished a skein of BFL that I named Crown Jewels. This skein, and my first skein of Cicero are on display in my shop.


Here is a peak at the Crown Jewels!

I have also done some fiber swapping with Sherrill of the Belle of the Ball Podcast. She sent me som BFL fleece, and I sent her some Cicero (leicester longwool fleece). That was my first time trading, and I truly enjoyed it!

Finally, to finish off my summer of fiber and knitting, I will attend Stitches Midwest on Aug. 26th-27th. I will take 2 classes this time, along with attacking the market place. I've made plans to have dinner with friends too! Shear joy!

Well, until the next time, God Bless and keep knitting.

Cicero

Hey everyone. Remember that lovely Leicester Longwool fleece that I scored? Well, as you know it is all clean and has been spun into a lovely skein of yarn. Now, I gave some away (I had sooooooooo much), and I still have 3.25 ounces left to spin! But, here is the first skein:




A hat? Mitts? A nice scarf? I will have to let all possibilities marinate.

Take the Quiz here!

Summertime, Fiber Time!!!

Hello!!!! Yes, I know, long time, right? Well as soon as school was out, I went into hermit phase. I slept, knit, spun, and just relaxed after a long school year. Whew, I needed that. Now that July is here, I must get on the band wagon, and get to fiber work. This is the month in which I do the bulk of my fiber work, and also enjoy all that the Chicagoland area has to offer for summer fun!

So, as you know, I bought a fleece in May. I am done washing it, and I am now flick carding and spinning it. This Leicester fleece is my goal for Tour de Fleece. I want to have it carded and spun by the end of the Tour. Wish me luck! Here's a photo of what is spun so far, and the nice, clean locks:




I have also been reading. I got the Interweave Knits Weekend issue. You know, me and magazines are just lovers. I get them, read them, drool over the patterns, and then I do not knit anything from them. I just LOVE TO LOOK AT THE PICTURES AND READ THE TECH ARTICLES!!!! Weird, right? But, I am now waiting for my issue of KnitScene Fall 2011, and also my copy of Piecework. Now, my love for Piecework is truly a love of my "old soul". I love antiques and historical knitting is just lovely. I love to read about it and study it. One day, I will knit something historic and lacey!

Well, I also just picked up my pre-ordered copy of Little Red in the City by Ysolda!!!! What a wonderful book. I am actually taking my time, and reading it. I never have time to read tech books cover to cover, but, this one! It is so helpful. I might actually be able to knit a full sweater without fear now. Every time I try, it is either too big, too long, to tight somewhere. But, Ysolda's book breaks down sizing, how to get it right, and it all starts with the right measurements. So, I will have my mom, who sews, take my measurements, and I will use them from now on to make sure that my sweaters will be masterpieces; not master disasters!

Finally, I got a copy of Knit One, Knit All by Elizabeth Zimmermann. What can I say? This book is great. I love the garter stitch inspired patterns. They are simple enough for me to work on, and they are just plain beautiful.




I am sure that you can see all of the post its marking important stuff!

I also went to the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair on June 24th. I took a spinning class with.... are you ready? Abby Franquemont!!!! YES! I know right? She is wonderful, and such a regular person. Also, she is great with the wheel. Guess whom else I also met, and got him to sign my copy of It Itches? YES, Franklin Habit. I told him I hoped that I was not bothering him and that it was cheesy to ask for an autograph. He said, no it wasn't and that he was honored!!! Such nice folks and they are celebrities too. Well, in the knitting world anyway. I got some stash also. I bought some teeswater locks that are lime green! Ha! I also got two ounces of covered cormo wool combed top. That is a mouth full!

Okay, knitting. I have finished a hat, the Flower Love, Fair Isle Tam. I finally took the full plunge and tackled fair isle. It was fun, and not too hard. I am glad that I did it. Here are a few photos of the hat:




Also, I finished the Skipping Stones Simple Shawlette. I always, ALWAYS have trouble with those damn center yarn overs and stuff. So, my center is, well, off center. But, I don't care! I still love my shawlette. Here it is:




Other than that, the Ladybug is still wonderful, I have lots of spinning to do, and well, I am chillin' like a villain on my vacation. Yeah me!!!!

A Fine Fleeece for Me!

Okay! I know; it is a slippery slope this knitting/spinning/fiber craft. You slide down the knitting slope to fall into the spinning crevice. You dig your way through to spinning success only to find that you are at the summit of another slope: buy and cleaning fleeces. What more can I say? Nothing! Here are the photos:



Here you see the fleece in bags AFTER the skirting and picking that I did. Now mind you, this is my first fleece. I was not sure about what parts to keep and such, so I hope I did okay. I got this lovely fleece from Three Fates Farm in Crete, IL. I was so happy to find a sheep farm with fleeces for sale so close to home. 11 miles away! Thank you to Dr. Karen for her kindness and for allowing me and my two short people into her home to view fleeces. The good doctor has a menagerie of animals including a handsome tom turkey and lamas too! I got a 6 lb. leicester longwool fleece! You know that fleece from the Golden Fleece stories? Well, it is curly like that!!! As you can see, I am using a dog rake and comb for the flick carding. So far, they work pretty well.



Here is my team of cleaning power: Ivory dish liquid, some Borax to soften our water, vinegar to cut the suds down a notch, and Dove Condition to soften the locks. The conditioner and borax ideas I got from a post on the Spinning Daily forums. It makes the carding a bit easier.



Wash and rinse 3 times, with the final rinse being with the conditioner. I let each wash/soak period last for 20 minutes. Finally, they are ready to dry!

I flick card the locks. I do this outside because all of the left over veggie matter comes falling off. The final product looks like this:



Pretty, huh? And soooooooooooooo soft!

Can you believe that I had the nerve to say that I would NEVER do this? Kinda like the I will NEVER spin comment! Ha! God sure loves pulling fast ones on me! Oh, by the way, school ends in 9 days!!!!! Really 8 days and 1 hour! I cannot wait for that uninterrupted knitting/spinning/fiber processing time! C'mon June 10th!

I Met Ysolda!!!!!

Hello! Just a quick little note. I went down to Loopy Yarns located at Polk and Dearborn in downtown Chicago, and guess who I met? Ysolda Teague! She is soooooo nice, and, well, normal. She talked with us, and discussed her new book, Little Red in the City. If you buy a book this year, get Little Red! This book is part technique/knitting manual, part pattern book. Wonderful. I was very excited and nervous about meeting her. But, she was so sweet. She also got a hair cut. It is a little pixie cut. She looks like Tinkerbell in retro glasses! I pre-ordered the book, and I cannot wait to have it in my hot little chocolate brown hands! I am working on an Icing Swirl Hat from Whimsical Little Knits 1, so that I can have some Ysolda under my belt.

Also, spinning on my Ladybug is still wonderful. I have spun and plied two skeins so far. It is amazing to me how nice these skeins look. I know that with practice, they will look even better. Here they are:



Not too shabby, huh? Let me know what you think. I am taking a spinning class at Midwest Fiber and Folk Art in June. So, things can only get better! Talk with ya soon!