MASON'S BEAR HUGS SWEATER & HAT

Mason is my baby grandson who will be arriving in June. His Grandma has been working on a few projects for him, this one is the latest. It comes as a kit from Plymouth yarns, includes the pattern & the buttons. I had leftover yarn so I made a hat to match. He should be pretty cozy in this come November!

ONE OF MY MANY SWEATERS

Ravelry: geri518's Snowflake Cardigan

SUMMERTIME T-TOP

Ravelry: geri518's Sprout Tee with Lace (NaKniSweMoDo #4)

I knit alot of t-top sweaters for the warmer weather, in cottons, linens, lightweight yarns.

BIRTHDAY EARRINGS FOR THE GIRLS

Ravelry: geri518's Birthday Earrings

I made earrings knitted out of wire & beads for my two daughter in laws for their birthdays this past year. I also made a pair for me!
Just something different, they turned out really cute!

TY'S AFGHAN

Ravelry: geri518's Ty's Afghan

CHRISTMAS AFGHANS

Ravelry: geri518's Knitter's At Home Easy Throws

I went nuts making afghans this year, I did one for each of my sons for Christmas. I also did one for our grandson Ty, in another link.
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GARY'S LATEST SWEATER

Ravelry: geri518's Galway Guy

I've made Gary about 5 sweaters, this one is the latest & most intricate. I need to take pictures of the others I've done for him, he actually wore them to death this winter & was glad to have them!

TY'S TUGBOAT SWEATER

Ravelry: geri518's Ty's Tugboat Sweater

I made this little sweater for our grandson Ty when he was about 4 years old. It was alot of fun!

LINK TO THE COAT I DESIGNED

Ravelry: geri518's Multi-Yarn Coat

I saw something similar to this coat & decided to make it my own, so I made a few changes, did my own yarn changes. It's a very funky yet elegant coat & I actually got to wear it a few times this past COLD winter!

LINK TO BABY MASON'S GIRAFFE & BLANKIE

Ravelry: geri518's Jamie the Giraffe & His Blankie

This is one of the cutest things I've done in a long time! I hope the new baby loves it!

MY NEW BABY, MARIE

This is a photo of the new custom spinning wheel I have on order. It's a Watson Wheel, hand made by Andrew Watson who lives in Ontario, Canada. These wheels are truly a work of art, high in demand by spinners. It will take nearly 2 years before I get it, he's busy with other orders, plus it takes time to make it! I am so excited, it will be a long wait but worth it. The wood is black walnut, the wheel measures 30 inches. I am getting additional bobbins and a lazy kate to match. I have special ordered the flyer on the right side. I also had a choice in having additional spokes, how the spokes are carved , there are a lot of choices to make regarding wood type, finish style, how ornate you want the carvings. There is a victorian style that is much more intricate than this but I think this one is perfect for me. Isn't she gorgeous!!!

NOW FOR THE LATEST FLEECE PURCHASE...PENNEY

This fleece is a Corriedale Bond X, her name is Penney, it is by far the largest fleece I have purchased, coming in at 6 pounds. This fleece is definitely different from the other two I have done, alot finer wool with tons of lanolin in it. I bet at least 40% of the weight will go down the drain with washing out the lanolin. It looks like cotton, feels like cotton, it's unbelievably soft.

I LOVE THAT ALL THESE FLEECE ARE NAMED, IT'S SO FUN! EWENIKA, MINGLE, PENNEY...

Nice fluffy fleece drying...

Poofs of whiteness...

I decided to do something different this time & washed it in the washing machine. Well, not really, the washer was just the container. No agitation was happening, just soaking. This is the first wash water, yuk!!! I did the other fleeces in the kitchen sink, a bag at a time which was REALLY slow going. This way, I was able to do the entire 6 pound fleece in 3 batches. Of course, by batch I mean 2 washes with Dawn dishwashing soap & then 2 rinses, all with really hot water, the first rinse having a big glug of white vinegar in it. Amazing what hot water & a little soap will do, huh?

Sorting the fleece. It was really clean, hardly any VM in it at all. Just LOTS of creamy lanolin.

A beautiful lock of Corriedale Bond X.

The fleece just out of the shipping box. I have no current plans for this fleece, just wanting to get it washed & then leisurely work on it over the summer. I do still have alot of combing to do on Mingle's fleece yet, then spinning, then knitting...lots going on!

MORE FLEECE...MINGLE...I REALLY ENJOY DOING ALL THIS!

This is a photo of Mingle, a black border leicester sheep. This is the first shearing for her, so it's interesting to see the difference in a lamb fleece vs. fleece from an older sheep. Long, silky, lustrous, those are just some of the words...beautiful. There is alot of color variation in this first shearing as you can see from some of the photos below, a lot of brown tips & even some gray! It's going to make a beautiful mix.

After combing, the color is really blending in well. I can't wait to see some of this spun & plyed.

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Sorting locks to be washed, note the color variations.

A single lock.

The fleece still in the bag fresh out of the mailing carton...

The flash was really bright here but it reflected off the brownish bits in the fleece so maybe you can get an idea of what it really looks like.

A much darker photo, although you can still see some of the color variation. I a thinking of making this into the Rhinebeck cardigan if everything works out. We will see!

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

MY GRANDSON'S SEA LIFE ROCKER

My daughter-in-law & son decided to do their nursery in an aquarium theme. They purchased this antique rocker & it needed a cushion, so I decided to do a sea life scene. I drew it up & knitted it. I already had the buttons which I used to add tufting to the tiny cushion. It is just the cutest thing! I hope they will love it! Baby Mason doesn't get here until June/July & it will be awhile before he will be sitting in this chair, but I can't wait!

OATMEAL IS FINISHED!!!!!

Here is my oatmeal cardigan, finished! I can't believe it fits & looks so nice for my first handspun sweater! I am so happy with the way it turned out, now the weather is warm & I won't get to wear it here in FL until November!! There were a few revisions to the pattern, I did not put patterning on the sleeves but just left them plain. I made the body an inch longer as I am 5'9" & usually have to make things longer, the sleeves were re-done with a much more gradual increase so they are more fitted than the pattern called for. Other than that, it was done according to the pattern, size 42. I haven't figured out the total yardage I used yet, but I will be adding a page in my spinning journal with all the specs about WPI for singles, plied, twist ratio, yardage used, etc. & will maybe edit this post then to include all that info. Right now I just love looking at this sweater!

The button needs to be moved slightly so it doesn't gap, or something else needs to be done here to eliminate that gap but otherwise it's great! The buttons were perfect, & they were the only ones at JoAnn Fabrics that there were enough of without having to place a special order. I am so glad they worked out as I was READY to finish this thing up & try it on!

The back looks so COOL! I love the patterning & simple design.

I can't wait for the weather to be cool enough to wear it, maybe a morning or two yet, who knows? They are having snow in ND alternating with 60 degrees (that's where my mom lives), I plan on taking it when I visit this summer. The ND weather is definitely unpredictable!

MORE ABOUT THAT DRUM CARDER I TALKED ABOUT IN AN EARLIER POST

This is the batt rolled onto the empty paper towel roll. This one probably weighs about 3 oz.
This is some of the waste that I don't want to card into the batt, mostly knots & second cuts where the shears didn't get close enough the first time so they made a second cut. The fibers are really too short to do anything with, so it will go outside for the birds to use in their nests.
This has been run through just once. It can be split & run through several more times to make sure it is fully blended & smooth, it's up to you. I will probably run this through twice & call it good.
I roll it onto an empty paper towel roll for ease in removing the batt.
The fiber has been split at the seam in the drum carder & is ready to be removed.
Here I am starting to take the fiber off the drum after carding.
Here I am feeding in some fibers to be blended. They get teased lightly before entering the licker in drum. Several layers can be put on the drum carder, this one has a really nice brush on it that helps pack the fibers down nicely & makes a smoother batt.
This is the drum carder my hubby got me for Christmas, a Straucht Finest, it's the bomb! (He really did good, huh? I mentioned this but never thought I'd actually get it & I was really surprised!) It is really great for blending & carding fibers. Recently I used it on the shorter fibers left from combing my BFL fleece.

PROGRESS ON THE OATMEAL CARDIGAN

Usually, this is what Molly is doing while I am knitting or spinning. She is the sweetest dog ever.
This is my assistant Molly, my 11-year old mini-daschund. Sometimes she is interested in my projects & comes over to check things out.

Second sleeve started. Lookin' good! Not bad progress for 16 days work (on the knitting, that is!)


Body & 1 sleeve completed.
Here is the first sleeve completed & ready to attach to the body for the yoke. I am certainly learning alot about spinning by knitting this sweater! Now, I wish I had done a 3-ply yarn instead of 2-ply as I think that would have helped with some of the areas of thick/thin yarn, but overall I am pretty happy with how this project is turning out!

My First 3-ply Yarn!

My first skein of 3-ply yarn! Still not as perfect as I'd like, but I love it anyway!


Plied, & wound onto the niddy noddy to be made into a skein of gorgeous yarn!
This is a lazy-kate, a tensioning device used for plying.


The bobbins, with the singles evenly divided between 3 bobbins, ready to be 3-plied.



This is a Romney roving, hand dyed by SheepishCreations.etsy.com. I decided to try my hand at 3-ply yarn, so we will see how that goes. The colors are so yummy, it will be interesting to see how they work out. The yarn looks a bit over-twisted on the bobbin, I'm hoping it will work out though.