North Star Alpaca fiber is now yarn

Today I finally finished plying the North Star Alpaca fiber that I've been working on.  It ended up being a light worsted weight.  Now I have to decide what it wants to be knitted into.

more sock knitting

Today was another sock knitting day.  The heels are turned on both and the decreases begun to make the heel flap.

knit hat - finished

Finished up the blue ribbed hat that I started yesterday.

knit hat

Started a new hat today.  I am knitting this following the instructions for the Jacques Cousteau Hat by Lalla Pohjanpalo.

duffer slippers

I felted up my duffer slippers today.  I like how these turned out.  The yarn I used (Green Mountain Spinnery's Green Mountain Green yarn) was a wool/mohair mix which resulted in a very fuzzy slipper once felted.

sock knitting

A quiet knitting day - just made a little bit of progress on my latest socks.

plying

Today I finally started plying my North Star Alpaca fiber.  I have decided to go with a chained 4-ply.  So far it is looking pretty good.

sock knitting

It was a good Thanksgiving Day - a day of food, football and knitting.  I finished up the brown socks that I was working on and started a new self-striping pair.

duffer slippers

Started a new pair of duffer slippers.  I went down to a size 11 (US) needles and added to rounds at the end to raise up the sides a bit.  These look like they will be much better.

scrappy slippers felted

Felted up my scrappy slippers today.  They ended up a little wonky, which I am going to blame on the mish mash of yarns that I used.  The next pair I knit I will use just one kind of yarn and a slightly smaller needle.

I-cord made on a double lucet

 A couple weeks ago while at the Ann Arbor fiber expo I purchased a small double lucet from sistermaide. I have to admit I love small wooden gadgets like this.  Tonight I made my first I-cord with it.  Not having any particular plans for the cord,  I am going to try felting it.  I think it has bracelet potential.

sock knitting

Today I just worked on my latest socks.  

mini mitten

Bought a little mitten keychain & pattern (by knitcellaneous) today at a local yarn store.  Very cute and super quick to knit.  These would make cute christmas tree ornaments.

scrappy slippers

Knitted a pair a duffer slippers out of some worsted weight scrap yarns. The pattern was pretty straightforward and easy to follow.  They certainly knit up quickly.   Now they just need to be felted.  Hopefully the mix of yarns play nicely together and all felt up the same.

knitting

Started a new pair of socks today.  Not the, um, prettiest yarn ever but the person I am knitting these for won't care.

sock knitting

Finally finished up my diagonal socks today.  Love how this yarn feels.  Hopefully it wears well, I will definitely use it again in the future if it lasts.

green felted hat

hat ready to be felted

hat after felting

I decided to try making another felted hat, this time in green.  In an effort to use up what I already have I am  using 3 strands together of Patons Classic Wool to get a super bulky weight yarn.  Tomorrow I just have to finish up the crown decreases and then it will be ready to felt.




Update (11/13/12): the hat is felted and 3 strands made a very thick & dense fabric - 2 strands probably would have been better.

red felted hat

hat before felting

hat after felting

Decided to make a hat out the Rowan Big Wool Fusion I had left over from the red sweater I knitted in August.  I loosely knit the hat on US size 15 needles and washed it with some towels to felt it down a bit. 
I love how nicely this yarn felts. The diagonal pattern doesn't show up well now that it is felted but I love how it fits.

oatmeal cookies #2

Today I made some revised oatmeal cookies, and this time they were not only edible but actually even pretty good  :)



spicy oatmeal cookies (recipe based on the one on the box of Kroger's old-fashioned oats)

1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup agave syrup
1 egg
1/2 teas vanilla
1/2 teas grated fresh ginger
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teas cinnamon
1/4 teas nutmeg
1/4 teas cardamon
1/2 teas baking soda
1/2 teas salt
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup nuts, chopped
1/3 cup raisins

Mix oil and sugars together and beat in egg, grated ginger and vanilla.  In small bowl mix together cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamon, baking soda and salt. Add spice mix to flour, blend thoroughly and stir into sugar mix.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees F for 10-12 minutes.

more knitting

Made a little progress on my current socks.  The heels are turned and the cuffs started.

knitting

A quiet day - just worked on my diagonal socks.

woven scarf

Started a new woven scarf today.  The warp is Noro Silk Garden and the weft a fingering weight wool.

oatmeal cookies

Tonight I made some spicy oatmeal cookies.  Not the best cookies ever - I think that the problem was the that I substituted "regular" sugar with "coconut" sugar.  The last time I substituted in coconut sugar I also didn't care for the results but it was a new recipe so I wasn't sure if the sugar was the problem.  I will give it one more try (it was pretty expensive) before I toss it.

scarf woven from recycled yarn

Today's project was a scarf woven with the yarn that I unraveled from a thrift store sweater in March.  Soft, fluffy yarn may not have been the best choice for the warp.....it was a bit of a pain but I did manage to weave the whole scarf.

sock knitting

Started a new pair of socks today.  I'm using Knit Pick's Gloss Fingering yarn which is a 70% merino wool/30% silk blend.  I've heard very mixed reviews on the durability of this yarn for socks.  Of course  I bought the yarn a few years ago, before I read the reviews on it.  I decided since I already have the yarn I would go ahead and test it out for myself.

yarning

A quiet day - just finished up my chevron socks & purple woven scarf.

weaving a purple scarf

warp on a warping board

Just to change things up a bit, today I got out my weaving stuff.  

I've had my Harrisville Easy Weaver B rigid heddle loom for a few years now but I had not  actually used it to make anything.  It was time to change that.  I had some purple yarn that I haven't been able to figure out what to do with so I decided to use it to make a scarf.  It took me about an hour to warp the loom and so far the weaving is going pretty well.  I think it should end up taking about 4 hours to complete the scarf.

warp on the loom

the scarf in progress