New Fleeces!!

I always enjoy trying out a new breed of sheep wool and when a breeder was advertising a "close-out" sale of 2008 fleeces I just couldn't help myself. I browsed the pictures and descriptions of all the 2008 fleeces before choosing 3.....which arrived today. Yea!! Upper left hand corner is a lovely fleece from an older icelandic ewe. I can't wait to play with this!! The fiber is soft to the touch. Lots of lovely crimp.....and there is even a soft sheen. Plus the color is lovely. This fleece weighs over 5 pounds.

Upper right hand corner is a picture of the Border Leister fleece I purchased. It's from an ewe and looks like it will be a sheer joy to wash up and play with. The fleece is over 6 pounds. I plan on dyeing some of it.

The picture on the bottom left is of another icelandic fleece from a younger ewe. Love the various colors in this fleece. This one weighs about 2 1/2 pounds. Wonder how it will spin. Will I get a lovely variegated natural colored yarn? Or will all those lovely colors blend together? This one also feels very nice, although it doesn't have the sheen the other fleece does. It is lighter in color though. I've never worked with icelandic or border leister. I'm really looking forward to playing with all 3 fleeces and discovering the characteristics of each.

Going from fiber to fabric.....here is a picture of my latest quilt. It is a table topper that was made from half square triangles that were left over from a swap I did eons ago. I had thought all the hst's had been used in a quilt (with matching pillow) project that I did. Guess not. Found these while I was looking for something else. While I wasn't pleased with the batting (the batting was real stiff, but did soften up with washing) I used, the finished quilt did turn out rather nice.

Sheer frustration......

.......is when you have nearly finished a project only to find out that it doesn't fit. This is what happened to me last night. I have been working on a pair of socks for quite some time now. I noticed that I didn't have much yarn left so I decided to try the sock on to see if the foot of the sock was long enough so I could start on the toe. The sock went on fine over my foot. Didn't have problems until I tried to pull it up. It was too small!! I ended up having to frog the entire sock....and I was rows away from finishing it. :.(

The sock didn't look small as I was knitting it. Yes, I did get gauge. And, yes, I did have to go up a needle size in order to get gauge. The foot of the sock fits beautifully. It was the leg of the sock that was too small. I was using the Jaywalker pattern by Grumperina (found on Ravelry) and Panda Superwash (a bamboo blend yarn) so I really don't understand what happened. I know I could simply re-knit the sock in a larger size so the leg would be bigger (which would work), but then I would end up with a baggy foot. Or I could re-knit the leg in a larger size and then try to decrease down to the size I need for the foot.....but I'm not experienced enough for that.....and am not sure I really want to mess with the pattern that much. Right now I have absolutely no intention of re-knitting the sock using the Jaywalker pattern. I may eventually find another pattern that has more stretch and use the yarn with it. There is an upside to all of this though. I learned how to knit a chevron pattern.....and learned that the chevron pattern has no give whatsoever......and learned that I really need to stay with sock patterns that have some give to them. At least for now anyway.

Fund Raising Quilts

I don't know how many of you have experienced this, but I'm starting to think that this is just normal "teenage" behavior. My youngest is an active member in FCCLA (Family, Career, Community Leaders of America.....formerly known as FHA...Future Homemakers of America). Anyway, a small number of them will be competing at FCCLA nationals in July and have started fund-raising for it. One of the fund-raisers was a silent auction for which my youngest volunteered to donate a quilt. "Wonderful!" I said. "And you will be making this, right?" "Yes, mom. I'm going to make it." "Great!" So I gladly provided the pattern and the fabric. Even went out and bought thread to match for the machine quilting. Five days before the silent auction is to happen.....the quilt is sitting on her sewing machine in pieces. "When do you need the quilt?" "In a few days." "Will you have time to finish it?" "No. I was hoping you would do it.....and a second quilt to go with." I was beyond words. Once again, my teenager needed to have something done and waited until the very last possible moment to do it.....and then expected mom to come to the rescue. How many times have I had these last minute requests? Way too many times. I knew I should have simply let her deal with it, but I just couldn't. Thankfully, I had already had another top made (we were making the same pattern together) that could be donated. The question was.....could I quilt and finish two quilts in five days? The answer: Yes!!! But it would mean spending lots of time in front of the sewing machine to do so.




Pictured above are the two quilts that were made and donated to the silent auction. Both are done using the same pattern.....and both are done using fabric from my stash (including the backing). They ended up measuring approximately 57" x 73". The one on the left was made using all Winnie-the-Pooh fabric I had collected over the years....even the backing. It was quilted using an all-over clamshell pattern. The quilt on the right was quilted using a 2" diagonal grid. I had played with a zig-zag stitch so that it was wide and a bit squashed looking. Helped soften up all those sharp lines rather nicely. It took me four hours per quilt to stitch the binding on. And many, many hours at the machine doing the machine quilting. But they both came out really nice and ended up being the top items at the silent auction. Would I do it again? Only if I absolutely had to. I'm not real fond of these last minute fund raisers....and will be happy when my yougest goes off to college. It will mean an end to these last minute things. It will also mean that I will miss her and our quilting afternoons very, very much.

Lime-ade Socks

Happy Mother's Day!! Since I finished a pair of socks for my youngest the night before last, I thought it would be fun to share the pattern with anyone who is interested. It's a fairly simple pattern and knit up rather quickly. I believe the sock yarn is from Red Heart (Heart and Sole). It was a really great yarn to work with. Knit up easily and there was no splitting. Plus the color changes were just so lovely to watch. It was absolutely perfect for using on a nice simple pattern repeat.

Here is the pattern for it. It was written for my youngest who wears a size 5 1/2 (US) shoe. It also has a reinforced heel.

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Lime-ade Socks

Shoe Size: Woman 5.5
Style: Cuff to Toe
Length: Standard
Gauge: 9.00 sts, 11.25 rws per inch
Needles: 4 dpn
Needle Description: 2.75mm US size 2
Yarn Description: Super Fine Heart & Sole

Estimated Yardage: 346

Finished Measurements:
Circumference: leg = 7", foot = 7"
Length: cuff = 2.0", leg = 4.5", heel = 2.1", foot = 8 3/4"


Pattern Repeat
Openwork Rib:
Row 1: *K2, P2. Repeat from * to end of round.
Row 2: *YO, slip 1 st, K1, pass slipped st over, P2. Repeat from * to end of round.
Row 3-6: *K2, P2. Repeat from * to end of round.


Sock Start:
Cast on 64 sts loosely.
Divide sts on 3 dpns as follows:
N1: 16 heel sts
N2: 32 instep sts
N3: 16 heel sts
Join. BOR (Beginning of Round)

Cuff:
Work cuff in (K2, P2) for 22 rnds. [2.0" from cast on edge] End at BOR.

Leg:
Work in Openwork Rib pattern for 52 rnds. Complete sts on N2. Stop. [6.5" total from the cast on edge.]

Heel Flap with Heel Stitch:
Slip N3 sts onto N1. Add 2 sts from N2 for a total of 34 sts……leaving 30 instep sts. While this will give a bit more room in the heel for the arch, it also allows for the pattern to be worked evenly (or symmetrical) on the instep.
With RS facing,work back and forth as follows:
Rw 1: *Sl 1 purlwise, k1. Repeat from * to end.
Rw 2: * Sl 1 purlwise, p to end.
Repeat these 2 rows until 38 rows are complete. [2.1”]

Turn Heel:
Note: Sl 1 = slip 1 purlwise

**NOTE: One more knit and one more purl row may have to be worked
in order to end up with 18 sts remaining.

Round Heel
Rw 1: (RS) K 18, ssk, k1. Turn.
Rw 2: (WS) Sl 1, p 5, p2tog, p1. Turn.
Rw 3: (RS) Sl 1, k 6, ssk, k1. Turn.
Rw 4: (WS) Sl 1, p 7, p2tog, p1. Turn. Rw 5: (RS) Sl 1, k 8, ssk, k1. Turn.
Rw 6: (WS) Sl 1, p 9, p2tog, p1. Turn. Rw 7: (RS) Sl 1, k 10, ssk, k1. Turn.
Rw 8: (WS) Sl 1, p 11, p2tog, p1. Turn. Rw 9: (RS) Sl 1, k 12, ssk, k1. Turn.
Rw 10: (WS) Sl 1, p 13, p2tog, p1. Turn. Rw 11: (RS) Sl 1, k 14, ssk, k1. Turn.
Rw 12: (WS) Sl 1, p 15, p2tog, p1. Turn. Rw 13: (RS) Sl 1, k 16, ssk. Turn.
Rw 14: (WS) Sl 1, p 16, p2tog. Turn. 18 sts remain. Work 9 sts. BOR

Heel Gusset:
With a free needle, knit remaining 9 heel sts. [N1]
Continuing with the same needle, pick up 16 sts along the side of the heel.
Pick up and knit a st from row below the first instep st to prevent a hole. [N1: 26 sts total]
With a free needle, work across 32 instep sts. [N2]
With free needle, pick up and knit from row below the first heel st to prevent a hole.
With same needle, pick up 16 sts along side of the heel and work across remaining heel sts. [N3: 26 sts total] BOR

Shape Gusset:
Rnd 1: (Dec Rnd)
N1: Work to 3 sts from end. K2tog, k1.
N2: (Instep) Work even…..work in established pattern.
N3: K1, ssk, work to end.
Rnd 2: Work even.
Repeat Rnds 1 and 2 until there are 64 sts remaining. [20 rnds total]

Foot:
Continue working in rnds until foot measures 7.25" from base of heel. [about 50 rnds]
Complete sts on N3. BOR

**Note: Instep stitches will be worked using Openwork Rib pattern.

Shape Toe - Classic Standard
Rnd 1:
N1: (Sole) Work to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1.
N2: (Instep) K1, ssk, work to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1.
N3: (Sole) K1, ssk, complete round.
Rnd 2: Work even.
Repeat Rnds 1 and 2 until 44 total sts remain. [10 rnds]
Work decrease rnd only until 20 sts remain. [10 instep sts, 10 sole sts] – [about 6 rnds]

Finishing
Work sts on N1. Slip sts from N3 to opposite end of N1.
Holding two needles together, graft sts using Kitchener Stitch.
Weave in ends.

Work second sock.

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I hope everyone enjoys the sock pattern. If an error is found, please feel free to e-mail me so I may correct it. I was knitting up the socks as the pattern was written.....so it may not be perfect.....and probably isn't. :.)

Happy Knitting!!!

Sheep in Spring

I've been working on this for a while and have finally finished it. The inspiration for this wall hanging (which measures about 35" finished) was a pattern by Janet Claire. It was for a small quilt (9" x 5") with sheep and crow pictured on it. I loved the sheep and crow.....so enlarged those by 200% (or somewhere around there). Then had the wonderful idea of doing a scrappy background using 6" squares.....of which I have a ton of and the number never seems to get any smaller. The appliqued flowers were born one night as I was looking at what was finished so far. The center seemed like it needed something to finish it up. It wasn't until I went outside to see my sheep that I noticed all the buttercups that had sprung up all over the place....in what seems like overnight. This was exactly what my quilt needed. And the buttercups were born. :.)

What makes this quilt a bit different from the others that I have done is that it is the first one that I have ever done on my Pfaff 7550. I decided it was time to see exactly what the Pfaff could do (just about everything!!) and the Bernina really needed to be taken in to get cleaned. I discovered that the Pfaff does beautiful machine applique....is easy to use.....and has several advantages over my Bernina when it comes to machine quilting. I also discovered that the Bernina has a larger throat space and the bobbins can hold a bit more. All in all.....I really love both machines and hope to have them both set up for use someday.

Now a bit on the machine quilting....of which I'm very happy with. :.) In the sky area I chose to do a Baptist Fan pattern. The applique was all outlined and a curly pattern was done in the sheep....with the hopes of giving it a bit more "woolly" look. The flowers (as the bird) were outlined. The grass area was done using a small meandering pattern. The dark areas of the scrappy half square triangles were done using a 1/4" outline....repeatedly. This was so incredibly easy to do with the Pfaff. All I had to do was put on the 1/4" foot (with the guide), put the built-in walking foot down.....and then simply keep the guide on the line that I wanted to follow. The end result was a very nice, very even 1/4" outline every single time.

In the light areas of the scrappy half square triangles I did a feather within a feather type of free motion quilting. Once I got used to the feel of the Pfaff, the free motion went very easily and very quickly. It's a wonderful machine to free motion quilt on. Just need to practice a bit more to keep my stitch size consistently consistent. The corner blocks were done using a flower that kept on going all the way out to the edges of the block. Finally, the outer border was done using a free-hand feather motif. Oh! And I did stitch-in-the-ditch on all the borders, including the dark parts of the half square triangle border. I used a foot that has a guide in the middle of the foot. All you have to do is keep this guide right in the seam....and the needle just follows along behind. Works like a dream!! And, yes, I will be making more quilts on the Pfaff. :.)

Shearing is Done!!

Shearing is done!!! Yea!!! All 21 sheep are now sheared and loving their new look. I finished up the last one a couple of days ago. Feels absolutely wonderful to have it done, too. :.} Now the task of skirting and sorting begins. I have only set a couple aside as mine. The rest of the fleeces will be offered up for sale. And there are some very lovely fleeces this year. :.}

Every year there is at least one fleece that stands out for one reason or another. This year it happened to be a lamb's fleece. It stood out for several reasons. One is the color. This fleece is light gray (almost white in places) at the base and graduates in various shades of gray until the tip is reached.....where it is black. We have pulled several locks from various parts of the fleece and every lock has this same coloration.

The second reason this fleece stood out is that it was so clean.....which is rather unusual for a lamb fleece around here. My lamb fleeces tend to collect quite a bit of vegetation in them. The lambs are always in the feeder, under the larger sheep, under the llamas, or climbing over each other. So it's not unusual to get a lamb fleece that makes you want to say "yuck" when you see it. Usually the worse parts can be skirted and you are left with a pretty decent fleece that takes just a little bit more work than normal to clean up. That wasn't the case with this fleece. Very little skirting had to be done and it looks like it will be a sheer joy to work with. I honestly don't know how this little lamb managed to stay so clean. Especially since.........

Reason number Three.......the staple length of this fleece is ..................14"!!!!!!! Yes, it was hard to believe, but several locks were pulled from different areas of the fleece and measured. Then measured again. The staple length of this fleece is a whopping 14". I have never had a fleece this long before. It's incredible! Plus the fiber is amazingly soft and has a nice soft sheen to it. And all this from a little lamb who turned a year old a couple of weeks ago. Makes me wonder what his adult fleece will be like next year. :.} Needles to say this fleece has been set aside for myself. I can't wait for the weather to warm up (it actually snowed here a couple of days ago) so I can get it washed and start playing with it.

March's Block

Here it is! March's block all finished. I really love this block! It's makes me smile everytime I see it. In fact, all the finished blocks make me smile whenever I see them. This is going to be a great quilt once it is done. Very cheery. :.)

I haven't started on April's block yet. Hopefully sometime this weekend.....if I ever finish up that darn second sock. This pair of socks has been going rather slowly. Don't know why though. The yarn has been really nice to use. Lovely color.....and the color changes have been fun to watch. The pattern has been relatively easy to knit. Maybe it's just due to lack of time......something that will hopefully change once shearing is done.

Shearing is going well. Or at least as well as the weather will permit. We actually woke up to it snowing the other morning. Snowed real hard for most of the morning. The ground and trees were all covered with a blanket of white. Not something you want to see in the middle of April, that's for sure! By the afternoon it had warmed up so much that all the snow melted. There was ice on the sheep's water bucket yesterday morning.....and a light frost on the car windows this morning. But the days have been really nice. Yesterday we were out shearing in t-shirts. Got four sheep done. That leaves us with 7 (out of 21) left to do. Yea!! Out of the 14 sheep already sheared we only had two that were a bit jumpy on the stand. One that actually sat down and didn't want to get back up. Took a bit of persuading to get him to finally stand up so we could finish shearing. And we did have one that figured out how to get out of the head piece and decided to run around the backyard for a bit half sheared. Once we caught him and he was back on the stand, he was great. Very loving and sweet. Had to be coaxed down off the stand once he was done. Guess he just felt he needed a bit of exercise half-way through shearing. :.) All in all, it's been a very uneventful shearing so far this year.....which is a good thing. :.)

And my spinning wheels haven't been sitting idle....unbelieveable as that may sound. I actually managed to finish up two skeins of yarn this past week. One is a skein of polypay-x that my youngest hand-painted the summer before last. I spun it up and then navajo plyed it. Looks really pretty. Unfortunately the skein is about 250 yards. I was hoping for a bit more. I want to make socks for her from it. Thankfully she has tiny feet (size 5) and if I do ankle socks I should have enough yarn. I will play around with a pattern once things quiet down a bit more around here. The other skein is a superwash merino/mystery fiber/icicle top blend. That turned out to be a very pretty 2-ply yarn. It's about 330 yards. Hopefully enough for a pair of socks for myself. I really need to learn to spin my singles just a bit finer if I expect to get a bit more yardage per skein. I'm guessing that both of these skeins are about a dk weight (#2). I am pleased with how they both turned out though. :.) I will be sure to share pictures once both skeins are dry (set the twist on them yesterday).