Looking Back at 2014 Handspun FO's!

 I just realized that my knitting needles probably had put on several miles of knitting and might be worn out!   I always find an excuse to get new needles.  I love the square wood ones!
This shawl is called Age of Brass and steam, its over on Ravelry.com.
Fiber is BFL which came dyed from Three Waters Farm, and it spun up like a champ, the colors are amazing. Super soft, I love it.

 I love HeartBeat colorway! Its so vintage and this Rouched scarf kit up so cute in it.  This is so light weight and delicate even with all the squished edges.  I think this was also dyed by Three Waters Farm.
I spin pretty fine and like a fingering weight type feel.  Some fibers are more KD, some are more lace.   I often don't use a gauge for my pattern unless I get really picky.  Sometimes it doesn't work, so for 2015 I will do a swatch!

 I LOVE this shawl.  Its called Nirmulintu and knits on the diagonal.  This is a polwarth and tussah silk blend which was dyed by Corgi Hill Farms in a color way called Mango Martini.  I love graduated hand spun yarns.  You can't find that in a store!

 This is probably one of my most used scarves.  Its called an infinity scarf only I didn't want to make it connect, but be long and draping.  LOVE.    Its another polwarth tussah silk blend fiber dyed by CorgiHillFarms and the colorway is called Manits Shrimp.  Their names are so fun, and I wear my shrimp well.

 Opportunity Rocks is a BFL wool, and I spun it as it came off the braid and it did this color changing between sections on its very own, nothing planned out.  This is Age of Brass and Steam again, and it was gifted to a friend.  Again this is a CorgiHillFarm dyed fiber. 

Tuscan Sunset roving also another CorgiHillFarm delight in a interesting merino and black dyed tussah silk.    The black tussah silk gave the yarn such an antique feel, the golds became so rich and these images just don't do justice to the knitted items.   The edging I used on this was part of another pattern which worked nice for this.





As 2014 comes to a close this blog will change over to spinning and knitting for 2015.  Many of my handspuns will be offered on Etsy, it won't be a huge amount as spinning is not a race to the finish, but slow and methodical, a work in progress from start to finish.  A zen experience.   I will still be working on a limited amount of quilted wall art and personal pieces.  See ya all next year.

Message in a Bottle

 Spin on!  Don't you just love how the colors in the fiber just move so gradually into eachother.  This shawl pattern is called Beithe  over on Ravelry.  I was not sure how I was going to like casting on over 400 stitches to start this as it goes from the bottom up!  Once that was done it was a very fast knit and I just LOVE it.  Love the drape of the Polwarth and silk blend of this fiber, the lightness and drape.  I spun almost 600 yards out of my 5 ounce braid of fiber.  The color way is Message in a Bottle and dyed by CorgiHillFarms on etsy.    The biggest challenge was blocking it! 

I have a few patterns in my ravelry library that are just crying out for some handspun yarns.  If you visit ravelry and want to friend me I am timelessdog over there. 

Spinning Delights

 I might as well change this quilting section to just knitting and spinning. I am unable to quit playing with fiber, I confess I am just addicted to spinning and knitting up the hand spun yarn.  I know knitters will understand how much fun it is to knit with special yarns and hand spun yarns.

This fiber blend is a polworth and silk blend dyed up by CorgiHillFarm over on Etsy.  I love their fibers and colorways.  This is called Tidal Froth.  I spun it up lightly, and gave it a two ply in about a fingering /dk weight and sat on it till I found a

 pattern that spoke to me.

The pattern here is a little cowl that only took about 180 yards is called Pei and you can find it on Ravelry.  It was so easy to knit up and was done in two days.  I blocked it and its so light and like a feather weight it will be an amazing little accessory for spring going into summer.  

I am spinning on a Sonata Kromski wheel.  Its great to have my wheel close at hand because when I have knit my hands into arthritic revolt, I can go spin which leads to more ideas for knitting...and the cycle continues!

Seed Packets in Quilting

 To start off the new year I have decided to tackle one of my favorite vintage seed packets as an art quilt.   This idea has played in my head for months and finally I think I might have figured out some ways to bring it to life.

There is some fabric called Stonehedge that will be perfect for the background and the little torn paper look and the writing might be worked out with some printed silk fabric.  I will have to just play with this and hope that it doesn't get frogged to the pond.

I will try and update this as I go along, I have so many other works on the table all of a sudden that when no creativity happens I get overwhelmed with all the things waiting in que,.  I think that is a good thing?

I have some fabric postcards in que, I have blocks from the Naturalist Notebook in que and some beast blocks that are almost ready for quilting . Well lets not forget spinning and knitting!

Hope to show off some fun progress here in the next months.

Happy Holidays!

On the Fence Post

Sitting on the fence post is my last big peice this year and it was a real challenge.  I wanted to add the little barb wire and feeling of an old weathered post in the woods or pasture.   The fines and leaves were the most fun, which is unusual for me, but they were actually the most interesting as they climb their way up the wood.

Its a larger size 21x37 inches so it needs a big space to really show off.  I used quite a few cotton fabrics on this and some batiks fused and quilted in raw edge applique.  Thread painted some light areas on the wood and leaves.  I love this woodsy feel.  Find it over on Etsy!