Little hat for little head.

In nine weeks time I shall be a grandma (Oma) again. Larry' s son and daughter-in-law are expecting their first child, a boy, in February so the knittting needles are out and a little hat and bootees have appeared in the last few days.

It's fun being a grandma and making lots of small things...

 

 

I am a big fan of Tone Finnanger who designs the most delightful things. I just bought two of her books, which I can show you another time. These garden angels are from a previous book, 'Crafting Tilda's Friends'.

If I was a little girl, I would love to play with these little farmers and there would be endless possibilities. As it is I am a big (old) girl but I still like to play.

Star

What are ‘we’ making this week?

Sep12

When I was at the recent Fibre East Festival in a village near here, I had a wonderful time looking at all the yarn, fibre, spinning wheels etc., but I felt a bit sorry for Larry because he wasn’t doing anything like it. He came round with me, gallantly and seemed to enjoy it. However, little did I know that he was taking it all in, especially the weaving looms. He was quiet about it while we were there, but when we got home, he went onto Amazon.co.uk and bought a book on weaving. He read the book twice and a week later a beautiful Ashford weaving loom arrived. After that there was no stopping him and already he has made some beautiful things.

Here is the loom:

He has mounted it on an old bookcase so it hangs and when he sits in the chair, he can have it on his lap and weave away comfortably. This was the first thing he made. It’s a beautiful table cloth for a small occasional table. He made it in blue and white and it’s ever so even. He said I could have it as a tea towel, but it’s much too nice so it’s on display.

On top of the cloth is my weekly project. It’s a baby blanket for my new grandchild – due next February! Strictly speaking it’s a step-grandchild because he/she will be born to Larry’s youngest son Brad and his wife Morgan, who live in North Carolina. We are both very excited about the new event to come.

I am working on the border at the moment, as you can see. I’ll show you again when it’s quite finished.

Now back to Larry’s work. The second item he finished is a beautiful scarf, which he made in an all wool ecru. Here it is, all ready for the cold winds to come:

Each item Larry makes, he tests himself to do a little more intricately. In the scarf above, he has introduced a small pattern – two vertical lines down the sides. Lovely isn’t it.

The next item was a scarf in another all wool product. This one he found a bit more troublesome because the yarn was fluffy and hard to manage, but he finished it just the same and I think it looks lovely.

and lastly, because he had quite a bit of the grey yarns left over, he made a chair back for himself, which will no doubt help to keep his neck warm.

While Larry was weaving, I was finishing off a wall hanging, which I started at the beginning of the summer in my Patchwork Club. Here it is:

We can certainly do with some peace in the world at the moment!

What are you working on at the moment?

A new quilt for the Autumn.

I've just recently finished a patchwork quilt for my bed, see above. After working on Larry's American themed quilt at the beginning of the year,

 I was ready for something 'girlie' and this is the result. It's pink, red and flowery!!! Of course since I've finished it, the weather has turned warmer so I haven't actually used it yet but the time is coming.

It was hard to get a picture of the quilt because it is quite big, but in the end what worked best was Larry holding it up for me. You can see his feet at the bottom!

So now I'm (almost) ready for the colder weather.

What about you? have you started squirrelling things away for the winter yet?

Star

Jane Austen's Knits - Fanny's Chemisette - Fall 2012

 

This is my latest finished project. It's called'Fanny's Chemisette' and it comes from the Fall 2012 edition of Jane Austen Knits magazine.

The pattern is designed by Deborah Adams and can be found on page 112:

 

I had some handspun (by me) alpaca/silk yarn, which I used to make up the back of the bolero. It is heavy and hangs really well, caught up by the tie at the bottom. I used a crochet tie not ribbon as stated in the pattern.

I didn't have enough handspun alpaca/silk yarn to do the whole bolero and I think it would have made it too heavy so the front is worked in a purchased Sirdar yarn called Escape. I used the DK weight.

Here is the magazine with one of the fronts:

This is the back. I crocheted a picot edging around the sleeves because I felt it looked prettier and I stitched down the collar with large tacking stitches to stop it sticking up and being a nuisance.

The bolero is very comfortable to wear and gives that extra bit of warmth for the evenings.

I recommend this pattern to anyone who wants to make a bolero.

Fibre-East Festival - 27th July 2014.

 

These delightful black piggies were part of my day last Sunday, when Larry and I went to the Fibre-East Festival at Redborne Upper School in Ampthill. There is a farm on the school where the pupils can learn animal husbandry. The animals were extremely well kept and happy and the pig-house even had piped music installed to keep the pigs entertained.

 

There was a farm shop, where I bought some fresh eggs and some honey and in the freezer there were all sorts of home produced meats.

Here are some pictures of the fibre festival itself. Larry and I had a wonderful time looking around and it has inspired him to take up weaving!

There was have-a-go spinning for beginners:

 

There were weaving looms galore.

 

Lots and lots of yarn. Here I am checking out some wonderful, purple art yarn.

 

Bales of roving in all natural colours and livid ones too.

 

Hand-made drum carders:

 

I was interested in those but they were very expensive.

 

Just look at these gorgeous colours:

and of course there were sheep!

 

 

 

and a sheep shearing demonstration:

and the fleece was for sale too. I didn't buy one. I am still working on the one I've got!

Have a great weekend, whatever you do!

Spinning and Knitting Project Finished

The above four yarns were spun by me during the last year.  Question was: what to do with them when they are finished? Answer: find a pattern that you like and adapt it.  Easier said than done.

Then I saw this pattern in an old 'People's Friend' magazine. I thought it would be just right. It was just right for someone short-waisted, like me, and lots of opportunities for using more than one colourway.

My spun-off merino knits up like Aran so knitting with 5mm (u.k. needles) I began.

...and here is the finished result. I'm pleased with it.  It's not at all itchy and very comfortable to wear.

The colour panel at the back breaks up the vast expanse of lavender yarn and compliments the front panels.

I like the way it sticks out at the front.

Now on to my next project, but first I need to make something with the left-over yarn from this one. Any ideas?

Star

A New Raw Fleece Cometh

I am currently spinning with this beautiful dark purple roving, which I bought from E-bay. It's a very soft merino. It spins up quite quickly and is a joy to work with.

So far I have several spools of it and some of it is already in use. More of that another day.

However, I am excited about getting a raw fleece to work with, later in the week so I will be back on here to tell you how I'm getting on with that. I'm not sure what I'm getting yet, but it could well be a long staple variety, like the one in the following video. You will see how www.taylormadeyarns.co.uk spins up an art yarn using a Wensleydale fleece. It's quite fascinating. Do take a look:

Oma