My first post in my new home

Doing my best gargoyle imitation

Hello, welcome to my new Blog Home!

I had a few problems at my last home (problems uploading pictures, formatting issues, disappearing text while trying to create posts etc…) so I decided to pack up the yarn, looms, knitting and crochet needles and spinning wheels and move over here. I have some fiber friends who have homes here and it looked comfy  so I thought I would move in.

I am going to work on making this blog a little more craft-oriented and a little less personal in nature (unless it is related to one of my fiber crafts or SCA activities). I need to find a place to track progress of my UFO’s (unfinished projects) and projects I actually finish through the year.

What kinds of things will I be blogging about in here? Arts and crafts of all sorts of shapes and sizes! My main love is all things having to do with fiber. I am currently knitting socks and weaving belts since the weather is so darn hot. I also spin all sorts of animal fibers (sheep, alpaca, plant fibers and worm spit), knit all sorts of garments (from socks to scarves to shawls to sweaters), crochet all sorts of fun things (from snoods to blankets and afghans), and play with needles and thread. I am getting back into sewing (making “garb” for hubby and I for our SCA activities), needlepoint and counted cross stitch.  I enjoy doing things with my raw materials. There are other fun crafts that I will also talk about such as brewing mead, beer and wine and mixing all sorts of adult beverages. I will also share yummy recipes that I find for all sorts of foods and beverages! Sometimes, I will post silly pictures I take (more artsy and craftsy stuff). There will be all sorts of stuff on here in the future.

I will also do some posts about my business – Fiber Cat Farms. My hubby and I are still working on getting the business running and off the ground! Currently, I have a few rovings and a few dyed sock yarns for sale on my etsy site. I am planning to add raw fiber from our 5 lovely alpacas (raw fiber, maybe rovings and dyed fiber in the future) along with hand-spun yarns from our alpacas and other sources. I will be adding more hand-dyed rovings and custom dyed sock yarns (non-pooling, striping sock yarn!) in the future as time permits!

Recent Finished Objects:

Opal Socks

Opal socks using parachute stitch from More Sensational Knitted Socks

This is one of the 2 recent pairs of socks that I have recently finished. This first pair was knit from Opal Petticoat yarn on a size 1 needles.

Side view of Opal sock using parachute stitch

It uses 60 stitches. The stitch pattern is found in the book More Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch on page 93 using the Parachute Pattern. I used a Picot bind-off on this sock to give it a more frilly top.

Second pair of socks

Socks made from Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn color 185

This is the other pair of socks I have recently finished. This pair was knit using Noro Kureyon Sock yarn in color 185. I cast on 56 stitches per foot and did a stockinette stitch in the foot and the leg. I finished the sock with a 1×1 ribbing and a frilled bind off (which doubles the amount of bind off stitches and makes the bind-off looser around the calf).

Side view of Noro Kureyon Sock yarn color 185 - Side View

The coloring changed abruptly in the second sock so they really didn’t match up at all. I really do like how they turned out. This yarn was a little bit “difficult” to work with compared to all of the other sock yarns I have worked with. I had a difficult time getting this yarn wound into center pull balls because it seems to like to “stick to itself” when it is winding. There are also a ton of knots in this yarn.  This yarn didn’t feel very soft when I was working with it for the first pair of socks. After the socks were knit up, I decided I would wait until I had washed and dried the socks before I make a final decision on softness.

UFO’s (New Projects):

New Socks using hand-dyed yarn in lace pattern

Here is a pair of socks I currently have on the needles. It is a lacy pattern (I will put the name of the pattern in the edit). I have a new superwash 2 ply yarn that I wanted to do a test dye on to see how well it takes the dye and how it knits up. Once this pair is finished, I will give them the super wash and wear test to see how the yarn holds up before I dye more and put it up for sale.  So far, it is knitting up like a dream and feels sooooo soft and silky.

 

 

New socks with Noro Kureyon color 102

Here is another new pair of socks I am working on. I am knitting them with Noro Kureyon color 102 (which I am affectionately calling “Clown Urpees”) Yet another reason why you should not eat Skittles while drinking beer… Plain old stockinette stitch, an easy knit for times where I need a bit of mindless knitting…

Tags: Crafts, Finished Projects, Knitting, New Home, WIP