Kasha's Knits - Handcrafted Fiber Products

Handmade Christmas Gift Roundup

2011-12-15T15:38:00.005-06:00

Phew! I am finally done with all my planned handmade Christmas gifts.

This year, I ended up doing as much sewing as knitting since I have a new machine and it tends to be much faster than knitting.

I had Christmas colored yo-yos made that were hanging out in a bag in my craft area, so I strung them together and hot glued some tiny clothespins on the back. Voila, a lovely garland for my mother-in-laws' mantle that she can hang christmas cards from. Excuse the 6 identical cards of my daughter that I used as an example. You'd think I'd have cards from some other people hanging around by now but I guess I was on top of mine this year!

I made 6 of these wonderful hot/cold therapy packs from the tutorial at Elm Street Life. These were quick and easy to make and in addition to being cute as heck they are very functional! I also ordered several bars of soap from Luxsoap on Etsy to include with some of these gifts.

Last time we visited South Dakota, my mom asked for a hat to match her winter coat. Whaddaya know....I had handspun yarn in my stash that matched her coat exactly. I used the super cute 'Big Bulky Bucket Hat' pattern from Leethal. I think she will love it!

My family often does gift exchanges at our Christmas get together. Rather than spending the money on a store bought gift, I made an extra therapy pack, threw in one of the bars of soap and crocheted a quick bath puff.

My sister-in-law is a professional photographer, so I was thrilled when I found this tutorial on Sew Mama Sew for this cute camera strap cover. My husband often helps her shoot wedding and large sessions so I know for a fact that she has trouble when having to go searching through her camera bag for extra cards for the camera. This strap cover is perfect because it has a little pocket on the bottom where she can keep her bits and pieces during a shoot.

My dad and his girlfriend are very outdoorsy, and they love the hats I make them. Nikki loves orange, so I made her a Calorimetry out of some orange handspun.

And a cabled, ear-flap style snowboarding hat for dad.

I've made these hats for my two Minnesotan nieces and my daughter, so I whipped two up for my niece and nephew in South Dakota. These are SO easy to make, and the square shape makes it look like kitty ears when worn.

And that is everything! Oofta! Time for baking day with my sister in law on Monday then I am totally ready to relax and enjoy the holiday.

Neglect and cormo

2011-11-14T14:50:00.004-06:00

My poor blog has been quite neglected the past few years as I have gone through some big events in life; marriage, pregnancy, and this little lady!
Isabel Victoria (aka Izzie) is 5 months old now, and she's just the best baby ever. We are so thankful to have her in our lives.

She is starting to get better about amusing herself when I am home with her on my days off, so I'm finally back to getting some crafty things done! First up today, I worked on some box bags that I sell on my etsy store. I bought tons of Amy Butler fabric before I was pregnant and I'm slowly working my way through it all. I've been working on fine tuning my method for making these bags so they are a dimension I like. I'm hoping to put up a tutorial soon.

Then, wool!

I've had this big 'ol bag of gorgeous cormo wool for over a year now, so I decided it's at least time to make sure all the lanolin gets washed out of it. This is harder than it sounds, as cormo is chock full of the stuff and it does not want to leave! With the help of Ravelry, I think I've got it down now. The secret ingredient? Ammonia.

This is what I do to wash my cormo fleece:

I wash my wool in the sink in small batches and use one of the little plastic bins with holes in the side for washing. This allows water into the container, and enables you to drain the water out by just lifting the bin out of the water. You can also put a larger amount of wool in mesh laundry bags or tulle and use a top-loading washing machine. I use the washing machine method on less greasy wools, but it just wasn't cutting it for the cormo.

I pile 4-5 layers of locks inside my basket for washing. Then I fill my kitchen sink up with hot water and some dish soap. I use generic soap which is pretty basic. You just need to make sure that if you are using dawn or other brands that there are no 'enzymes' as these can affect the integrity of the wool.

When the sink is full, I slowly lower my basket into the water. I use a rubber glove or spatula to VERY GENTLY push the wool down into the water to ensure all the locks are soaked. I let the wool sit in the sink for a few minutes, then drain the water from the sink and lift the bin out to drain the water. Then I refill the sink again with soapy water for another wash cycle.

During this second wash cycle, I add just a splash of ammonia. It stinks to high heaven, be prepared :)

After draining the second wash cycle, I do two rinse cycles without the soap. During the first rinse cycle, I add another tiny splash of ammonia. During the second, a glug of vinegar. This balances the pH of the ammonia. I've never had any lingering odors left over from either the ammonia or vinegar, either.

Then I drain and dry the wool. Laying it on a towel on the floor near a fan works well, but I will often take my laundry drying rack and secure a mesh laundry bag to it as a drying surface. This allows air to reach under the wool too.

The ammonia really is the trick. Without it, I was left with wool that was clean, but still felt greasy from the lanolin and was kind of yucky to spin. Now my cormo is gorgeous, clean, soft, and grease-free! My favorite way to spin it is straight from the lock.

My batch for today is dry - I think I'll go spin some now while the baby is asleep!

5 months later...

2009-10-13T09:57:00.007-05:00

I know, I know. 5 months without blogging? Shame on me. I've been really busy...I promise!
Well first, we obviously got married on May 2nd.
The wedding was in my hometown of Spearfish, SD. I'd really forgotten how gorgeous it is there. This pic was taken in Spearfish Canyon, in front of Bridal Veil Falls. We had two weeks at home after the wedding to get packed, and headed out on our honeymoon. We blogged about it here.

As a wedding gift, my grandma presented me with a vintage sewing machine which my grandpa had bought for her shortly after they were married. It's a 1963 Singer Slant-o-matic, aka 'Rockette' for the streamlined shape.
Since I've used a sewing machine once in my life (when I was 12 with help from mom!) I've mostly been playing with scrap fibers just to learn everything that the machine will do, and trying to sew straight lines! This machine is really a workhorse. My grandma really only used it for hemming and repairs, and had it serviced before giving it to me, so it's practically like brand new.

I've made a couple of really cute little drawstring bags to hold my projects. I love shoving my knitting into my purse, but I hate getting my keys or other things caught. I also wanted to make these because now that we're watching our nieces, it's hard to be knitting around them if I'm up chasing after them, getting snacks/bottles/bubbas, etc, so it's awesome to have my yarn in the bag with the cord around my wrist...I can knit when they're content, and run around with my knitting still with me, not having to worry about a 2-year old accidentally pulling it apart.
And of course, I've been doing my Christmas knitting like a good girl. I started in late August, and have a few things to show for it.
First is a shawl I knitted for Rick's grandma. She gave me this vintage baby yarn, saying she couldn't crochet with it because it was too thin for her to work with. So I dyed it her favorite color, and set about to knit her a shawl. (Pattern is Gail/Nightsongs) Grandpa is in the final stages of Alzheimers, so I thought gramma might like something special. Every time I completed a pattern repeat, I had Rick say some prayers for her. He'll write about it in her card, and I think it will be really special for her.

The second finished gift is for my mom. Last time she was here we were discussing knits, and she mentioned that she would really love a looong rectangular stole to wrap around her. I improvised an entrelac shawl in Paton's SWS and it turned out phenomenally. The colors are perfect for mom's skin tone, and I can just see her rockin this with a white shirt and some jeans. She'll probably receive this at Thanksgiving when we'll be in SD, since we'll be in MN for Xmas.
We finally got a Christmas tree, so I've also been stash-busting with some teeny tiny mitten ornaments...aren't they the cutest!?!
Another stash-buster, I had a skein of Misti Alpaca Laceweight in my stash, and this seemed like the perfect pattern for it. It's the Qiviuk Webs scarf from interweave knits. Of course it looks crappy right now since it's unblocked, but this yarn is so freakin soft you'd never care. I have no one specific in mind to give this too, but I'm sure I'll think of someone. (Or keep it if I'm feeling selfish.) So, there! I have been busy. And now I'm off to watch some awesome ghostly halloween TV and cast on for a new hat/scarf set to match hubby's new coat.

Surprising myself...

2009-04-08T11:34:00.003-05:00

Ok, so I swear that I hardly ever sew, but I managed to surprise myself with how well I did sewing up the liner for my Brea bag. I started by tracing the individual knit pieces of the bag, leaving some space for seam allowances.

Here's all three of my fabric pieces, ready to sew. I started pinning them together at the bottom/center point.
Here it is all sewn up! Not too shabby, and most of my seams are even pretty straight.
I included a cell phone and regular sized pockets on the inside of one of the pieces. I think this is a touch that will make it much more usable like a store bought bag. I got half of the knitted parts themselves sewn up last night, and will finish sewing it up tonight, and will pin the liner in.

I also FINISHED SOMETHING! (cue triumphant music). This was the Mommes Lysedug doily pattern I've been working on as a wedding thank you gift for my Aunt Becky, made from my great grandmas (her grandmas) old crochet thread. I ended up leaving off the last patterned section from the doily, since I was running out of room for stitches on my circular, I wanted to get it done, and I couldn't quite get the pattern to work out just right after row 100 of the pattern, so I just stopped and bound off. I think it still looks great.

Taking a break from our previously scheduled program...

2009-04-02T12:32:00.004-05:00

With...the AEOLIAN!
I really did want to start this shawl as soon as I saw it. But, there was a little problem. I had NO needles! They sell Addi lace needles at my LYS, but they make my hands smell like pennies and I don't prefer metal needles. I used this as a very good excuse to buy a few sets of fixed KnitPicks Harmony Circulars. They arrived last Friday, and here they are along with the lace weight I had already dyed for the shawl.

Incidentally, I don't know how I EVER knitted without these needles. (I keep petting them and enthusiastically wiggling the cable around, because I can. Normal? I think so.) An interchangeable set will be mine, SOON.
I'm through the first chart of the pattern, and am just starting the transition charts to the next pattern. (I've decided to opt OUT of the 'nupps', since it is apparently a nice word for "this one stitch will make you want to kill yourself") So far, I'm loving this shawl. It's a great pattern to turn to when I've been working on things for the wedding way too much and I need some quiet time to chill. I'm sure that it will also get shoved into my bag to keep me company on the long car ride to South Dakota, along with the February Lady Sweater I have begun. (Pictures of that later when it's a bit more interesting.)

I'm very pleased today, because I got to give someone new the spinning bug! Sarah came over to my place yesterday for lessons. I gave her my old Ashford student spindle that I never, ever use anymore, and a really nice spinning book since she's been hinting at wanting to learn for a while now. She picked it up like a natural, and her first yarn actually LOOKS like yarn! (My first yarn looked like a bag of fleece threw up.) Yay, Sarah!
Other than that, I'm just plugging along with wedding plans, and the required knitting for gifts. I'm headed to buy fabric to line my Brea Bag today, let the hilarity of me trying to sew ensue. (Really, it's pretty funny. I'm NOT a seamstress.)

Bellocq Stockings

2009-03-13T12:17:00.002-05:00

The bellocq stockings are going really fast!! I had a bit of confusion once I got past the cuban heel, but Marnie and another raveler explained it very well and now I'm a few rows away from being done with the calf shaping!

After the calf shaping is finished, I'm going to put this stocking on a holder, and knit the second one to the same length. Then I'll know I at least will have a pair of knee-highs if I don't have time for more than that. If I do have time, thigh highs!

A new spinning project is on the bobbin as well. This is a 60% Merino, 30% Bamboo, 10% Nylon sock blend fiber. I needed a little yellow since we're so anxious for spring here but it just KEEPS SNOWING!
The plan for this is 3-ply fingering weight sock yarn. You should see it soon on the store.

I'm doing a bit of dyeing today as well. St. Patty's day is coming up fast, so I figured I'd best whip up some festive batts. In the pot now is 4 oz of BFL in all kinds of different colors...I have a fun idea for this batt, but I think you'll have to wait a day or two to see the outcome.

I'm also taking some undyed lace weight I've had sitting around, and dyeing it to start the Aeolian shawl from the new knitty. A friend from my knitting group started an Aeolian Knit A Long on Ravelry for it right away, and I had to join in. I'm going to have to order new needles for it though, I'm a little lacking in the lace weight sized circs around here.

For now, back to the dyepots!

Getting back to business...

2009-03-04T08:14:00.002-06:00

Ack! I feel so far behind on everything, even the blog! So, to catch up...
The bain of my existance for the last few months is almost finished. The invitations have the picture and announcement, ribbons, all the required informational inserts, and almost all of the envelopes have addresses printed. Today I'm going to the craft store to get more envelopes (I ran out!) stickers to seal them, and the stamps I ordered online should be here in a day or two.

I feel like I'll be able to breathe again once I get these things out. After that we've only to get details of the ceremony and music in place.

In other wedding news, I've been working on knitting a few thank you gifts. My 13 year old cousin Chloe is my Maid of Honor, so I wanted to knit her something cute that she would love. So, I grabbed some purple acrilyc (Vanna's Choice, it's actually a very nice soft yarn for an acrilyc.) and whipped up a Brea bag.

This bag is way bigger than you think it's going to be!! But a very quick, fun knit. I finished both the front and back sides while watching 2 movies, and the gusset took me an hour or two on a Saturday morning. I definitely want to line this bad boy, which means I'm not going to sew it up until I get some fabric for it. (Don't worry, I'll take some pictures so we can all have a good laugh at my sewing skills.)

Chloe's mom, my Aunt Becky, is going to be coming along with her, and will be my personal attendant. While thinking of a project to make for her, I remembered that I have a large bag full of her grandma's (my great-grandma's) crochet thread. She used to crochet those amazing lace doilies, and my grandma had a stockpile of the stuff and didn't use it herself, so it was passed onto me. I'm knitting lace doilies for both Aunt Becky and Gram from the thread. (Note: not crocheting, my skills there are laughable as well.)

I need to order some circs to continue on this one, and I'm thinking I'll probably try a pair of the Knitpicks harmonies, since I'm not willing to pay $15 for a pair of Lace Addis, which is all my LYS would carry in a tiny circ. (They make my hands smell like pennies, and the brass tarnishes which felts my stitches. Not a good time.)

I'm going to have to prioritize my knitting 'chores' a bit, as it gets closer to the wedding. I have a number of projects that I'm basically committed to finishing before the wedding (or the honeymoon!). Here goes...
Before Wedding...
1. Line the Brea bag
2. Finish Becky's doily
3. I'd like to start/finish a thigh high pair of Bellocq to wear under my gown. I have two months...not SO crazy, right?

Before Honeymoon...
I promised Rick that I would have his University of Illinois sweater finished for him by the time we leave for the honeymoon. There is one sleeve left to knit, and a letter to attatch. We have 2 weeks between the wedding and when we leave for the honeymoon, so even if I don't get this finished before the wedding I should have time to finish it up.
4. Order a chenille sweater-letter for Rick's U of I sweater and get matching orange yarn
5. Knit last sleeve for U of I sweater, finish and attatch letter.

In non-wedding news...
I've been spinning my way slowly through a 4 oz bump of BFL that I yanked from the store. I spun it into a very fine single, and navajo-plied the whole mess and ended up with a good 480 yards of fingering/sock yarn! This isn't the best picture on the niddy-noddy, but I'm so proud of this. It's the best navajo plying job I've done to date, especially considering that the BFL required TONS of twist for the singles to not fall apart, and they fell apart alot while plying anyways.

You should see this up in the store sometime today.
As for my personal knitting, there isn't a lot going on. I started this sock out of some of my hand-dyed as a purse/bed project. It's kind of a treat because I don't knit with my own yarn as much as I should. I really like it! No ugly pooling at all.I'd better get going, the craft store opens in 10 minutes. Might as well get it over with!

2009-01-29T07:43:00.002-06:00

Look what came!!!

It's my Crazy Monkey Skein Winder, perched in its new spot next to my Beka swift! This thing is amazing, all my coned yarn is already skeined and ready to go. I need to order more now!!
Might as well give you a shot of the desk park of my studio too, since everything is pretty clean. I have an entire room here, and so far I only really have this one little corner filled. I have a tiny cubby shelf set up for store stock, but it was supposed to be bigger, so that's probably the next thing on the list for this room. Better storage!
I had received some kind of hand crafted knitting "caddy" from Rick's grandma, but we weren't quite sure how it was supposed to be used. After a lot of discussion on this Ravelry forum, there were a couple different viable uses found for it, and I've been using it for this:
That's a section of the Sampler Afghan from Cables Untangled. I'm using Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool, so the dowels on this fit perfectly through the skein. It's wonderful for projects that stay close to your couch.

I've been on a spinning/knitting with handspun kick lately. I finished a folded brim hat out of some 3-ply worsted handspun, and Rick couldn't help but ham it up a little.
On the wheel are some super low twist bamboo singles, which I actually finished last night. Should be up in the shop in the next few days.

Busy, Busy!

2009-01-22T14:17:00.006-06:00

I've been keeping so busy, I've been having to force myself to stop working for things like food and bathroom breaks during the day. My main focus has been wedding stuff. I really want to get it all done early so I can have a month or two to de-stress before hand and get back to my poor, neglected business!
First, I've been making my own pocketfold invitations, following this awesome tutorial: DIY Wedding Invitations

I think they look really pretty for all the money I saved doing them myself. Rick's sister is a photographer, so she will be taking care of engagement shots this weekend, and then she'll be designing the main announcement with our picture for me to put on them. I already have the info inserts ready to print on my Mac. The envelopes will be easy, since I can print the addresses onto them with the same font right from my printer/computer. Oh, I love technology.

I think after the invitations are finished, all we really have left to do is get my dress fitted (appt already set), get the boys measured for tuxes, and get our readings picked for the ceremony. I'll be so glad when I can rest until May 2nd knowing that there is NO more planning to do. I'm not a party planner. Ish.

On the knitting front, I had a big custom order in shades of purples to do last week, so I did a test regular sized skein for one shade to make sure I had it right. I liked it so much, I knit a pair of monkeys out of it in 2 days flat. (OKAY, I knit *most* of it in 2 days, I've been procrastinating on the very tippy tip of the second toe. But thats up on my schedule after I finish this post.)

For the first year I've been in business, I have not owned a swift, or a skein winder, and only just recently acquired a ball winder. My right arm has nearly fallen off a number of times winding huge amounts of yarn off of cones to be dyed later. I've been saving up for quite a while to get both a swift and a skein winder, and good news! That custom order I had last week was just enough to put me over. Look what I got yesterday!

It's a Beka swift. I REALLY, REALLY love it. I was worried that the traditional umbrella type would be a bit to fiddly and/or might break easily if I use it more than just every once and a while for personal knitting projects, and the adjustable peg type swifts just looked ugly and strange to me. It was love at first sight when I saw this on Ravelry, and I had to have it.

Also, today my Crazy Monkey Skein Winder shipped, so it should be here soon! I can't wait to skein entire cones in no time.

2008-12-04T18:42:00.004-06:00

OK. I admit, I suck at keeping up the blog. I blame it on too many wool fumes and wedding plans. First, there was this little beauty:

I designed this Rock 'n' Roll All Nite Sock for the lovely Sharon of Stitchjones.
Other than playing too much with wool, I've been busy planning our May wedding. We'll be going back to my hometown in Spearfish for it, and afterward we leave for our 15 day European cruise honeymoon! (We got a $4,000 discount on it since I've traveled on the cruiseline before. What a deal!)
Mom came a few months ago to go dress shopping, and we found this gorgeous gown in a store here in MN. It was the only one we had found and liked, but it was $800!

Mom checked some boutiques in SD, and she found the exact same dress in a store there for $300! It should be arriving at my house any day now, and I'll obviously have to get it altered a bit, since the halter was a bit too big for the chesticles.

As for now, I'm dyeing a lot more yarn and fiber for the shop, since last week my hours at my part time job got cut nearly in half. This weekend, though, I'll be busy with these two cuties
No, not my girls. They're my nieces, Katelin and Samantha, respectively. Mom and Dad are going out of town so they're going to spend an awesome weekend at Chez Auntie and Uncle.

Yes Sir, Yes Sir, 3 Bags Full!

2008-07-12T12:15:00.003-05:00

<---------- Look what I got!!

Our friend Erica's parents had kept 2 sheep and a llama as pets until recently, when they had to sell them. They gave me the fleece for free, considering I would knit them scarves from it. No sweat there, I would kill for this llama fleece in any other situation! It's so soft and clean that I don't think I'm even going to wash it before spinning.

This is the Cheviot fleece, which is a breed I'm not very familiar with, but it seems pretty solid with a good staple length and a mild crimp. It'll probably be blended with another fiber to spice it up a bit.

And, the Shetland. I'm not sure if this is the norm, but this particular fleece seems as if it doesn't really have much of a lock formation. It's just kind of a big blob. That may also be attributed to the fact that they probably did not have a spinner in mind while shearing, but I've been able to work around it, and have already gotten some really good, clean, soft wool from this one.

The best part of these is that I got them right when we moved into our new place, where we have a TOP LOADING WASHER! I finished my last fleece washing in it, and it worked like a dream. So much less work than doing it in the sink or the bathtub.

Weird day...

2008-07-09T14:52:00.004-05:00

I've had an..odd day.

It started off with me calling in sick to work, because I re-developed an old painful infection sometime during the night. I went in to the hospital for a lab test, because even though I have had this same thing a bazillion times, this new doctor still won't just call a refill of the prescription into my pharmacy. Whatever.
So I go and pee in the little cup for them, and like I ALWAYS DO after having my lab test, I sit down and wait for the results, and my prescription.
After 45 minutes of waiting, a lab nurse came over, commented on my knitting, and said, "You don't have to stay you know. We'll call you with the results and have your prescription called into your pharmacy"
It would have been nice if you would have said that before I SAT HERE for FOURTY-FIVE MINUTES!!

ugh.

It got better after that, with an interesting trip to my local craft store. I'm out of dye, and I've been putting off ordering more online until we get more settled into our new home. So I decided that a couple jars of Procion MX dye they carry (the ONLY dye they carry that I can use for wool) would hold me for a bit. I ran in, and to the exact spot where I knew the dye was. But, it WASN'T.
After a mini panic attack, I ran to an employee.
"Oh, uhm.............I think we moved it to our closeout store" (Crafts Direct closeout store; crap they got to get rid of for CHEAP)
So I run across the street, hoping, praying that they still have some.
After running around this little shop for awhile too, I have another mini panic attack. I can't find it anywhere.
Turns out, I'm just blind. It was in some far back corner, sitting on the floor. I made out like a bandit; 8 jars for $12; thats half price!

So tonight will be busy dying, and teaching hubby how to help! He's been doing little things to help me like reskeining and picking vm out of fleeces while he watches tv. It's so awesome to have someone who not only respects and admires my little fiber world, but wants to be involved with it as well.

Moved!

2008-07-06T10:07:00.005-05:00

I think I've been going crazy! First we went to South Dakota in June, and now we've been moving for what seems like a month, and I finally have my studio with my computer back up and running!
June 20th was my birthday, and hubs got me the best present ever! I had been obsessing to him about starting a big project of a technique I haven't done much before...either something lace or fair isle. The sucker got me three BEAUTIFUL skeins of Malabrigo Lace! I knew what to make with it the second I touched it, and here she is:

I had my wheel once we got into the new apartment, but I didn't have anything to spin, since I've been waiting to order supplies until we got settled. So I pulled the peacock batt from my store to spin. It's turning out a gorgeous teal, and the gray/silver alpaca is making it beautifully shiny.

Go on with your knittin'

2008-05-17T10:22:00.003-05:00

I love this irish knitting poem; it reminds me of the Beatles. Hubs is obsessed with music, and a million times I've heard the story about Yoko Ono sitting in a corner during a recording session and being told by John to 'tend to your knitting, bitch'. It's a good suggestion!

IRISH KNITTING POEM
When the folks next to you act like those in the zoo
Grumblin', growlin' and spittin'
It's a pretty good plan
To be as calm as you can
And do something useful like knittin'.

When a gossipin' Susan with poison barbed tongue
Comes into the room where you're sittin'
And starts to defame
Some neighbor's good name
Count your stitches out loud and keep knittin'.

When there's been a slight misunderstandin' at the church
And others hint broadly of quittin
Why the very best thing
You can do is to sing
And stay at your post and keep knittin

When Satan moves in with his cohorts of sin
Say, "You'll never find me submittin'"
You irk me I find, so get thee behind
And please don't disturb me, I'm knittin'!

I'm also very excited because I've been asked to have my yarn sold in a new online yarn store being opened by a couple of lovely Portuguese ladies. The store isn't quite open yet, but theres a preview of it at:
www.knit.com.pt
My two latest skeins of handspun will be going up there.

I know I'm a little lackin in the picture department today, but it's for good reason. The knitting project I've been most involved in lately is a sock of my own design.
I'm also working on something that will be a personal project. Hubs and I are huge M*A*S*H fans, and he has always wanted a University of Illinois letter sweater just like the one that Col Henry Blake wears. Well, he's getting one. I stopped at the lys for yarn and some new addis last night, and I've nearly finished the bottom ribbing section. Pictures to come when the progress is a bit more...interesting. I'm using armhole and neckhole steeks for the sweater, perhaps I'll post a tutorial when I get to them.

Knitting Craze

2008-04-30T10:33:00.003-05:00

The tides have turned, and after a month or so of obsessing over fiber and spinning, while almost completely abandoning my knitting, I have flip-flopped.
I find my needles and yarn calling me the instant they come into my sight, and my wheel and pile of fiber to be spun sitting jealously in the corner. I still visit the fiber every once and a while, but right now I am in the midst of a renewal with my knitting mind.
By the advice of Kelley Petkun's KnitPicks podcast, I went and got myself a subscription to audible.com. For $22/month, you get to download ANY two audiobooks, regardless of the retail price. I've always adored reading, but abandoned my books when I discovered the world of knitting. Having a wonderful book on my ipod to listen to makes me want to do nothing but sit on my overstuffed couch, with my ipod and knitting all around me. Also per Kelley's advice, I started with a series of books by Diana Gabaldon. I just finished the first book this morning, Outlander, and I'm obsessed. I can only describe it as a mix of non-stop action, romance, and the rich culture and history of 18th century Scotland.

Anyway. Turning back towards knitting, I found myself noticing that I have very *little* yarn in my stash, especially nothing that would be enough for a larger project.
A few weeks ago, I went to my local craft store, where I found a huge yarn sale. Most of the yarns were fugly novelty, eyelash yarns, but there were a few colors of this silk/acrylic blend. I got 12 skeins of this brown, and 12 skeins of a light tan. These were $1/skein!
Because of the silk content, I wanted a possibly summer/spring garment that wasn't quite a sweater. I've been interested in the construction of the knitting pattern, Ester, ever since I first saw it. So, here it is. I've knit through the whole back section, and am now continuing it with the addition of the "sleeve" sections. This pattern is perfect for tv/movie knitting. Interesting enough to keep me entertained, but easy and repetitive enough that I could easily remember the pattern, and do not often have to refer to a chart.

I had a few blue, yellow, and green scraps of rather scratchy wool leftover from the pound of fiber that came with my carder. I carded these with some super soft white merino and some shiny blue/green firestar. It's being spun up on my joy, I'm thinking that it will remain sock weight singles, or be 2 plyed. I'm not sure yet, I'll see what mood hits me when I'm further along with the spinning.

I received this nice big box stuffed with 2 lbs of border leicester wool. It is well skirted, but still full of small debris and tons of natural oils. I've been slowly plucking the locks apart from each other in those small moments I find myself not wanting to knit or spin.
I had never washed raw fiber before this, and I found that its not nearly as tedious as it seemed from the sets of instructions I had read. After finding myself a small plastic shower basket at target with slots in the side, it was really easy. I stack some locks in the basket with the tips all facing the same way. I brew some hot water in my coffee pot, and fill a white tub with dishsoap and the hot water. Since the basket the fiber is in has slots, it can just be lowered into the hot water without agitation, avoiding frustrating felting. After the locks are washed, I press the water out of them with old towels, and set them aside to dry. I then card the dried, clean locks, and pull the batt gently into little nests of roving.

The clean wool is beautifully white in contrast to the dirty locks.
I'm still not sure what to do with all this fiber! It may ALL be prepared and dyed into tons of small amounts of different colors as filler wool in batts, or perhaps I will spin it undyed first, and hand paint the yarn.
I haven't decided. In either case, I'm sure I'll be working on this 2 lbs for a while.

It's been a while...

2008-04-03T12:02:00.003-05:00

It's been forever since I've done anything etsy related, besides making items. Last week I got a brand new toy! A strautch petite drum carder. Here she is with my first test batch.

I've been carding up a storm since I got it, and have some very pretty fiber to add to the store that will hopefully start going up in the next few days.

Last weekend we had our nieces (Samantha, 6 months, and Katelin, 3 years) while sister and brother in law were at a dart tournament. The kids were perfect little angels like they usually are for uncle and auntie, but unfortunately Michele had gotten sick the last night of their trip, and proceeded to give it to Rick, Katelin, and I. So for the last 3 days I've been at home throwing up again. I'm so sick of the stupid flu, and the fact that every time we have a nice springy day, it SNOWS again! Its April. Quit it. I really need to take a bucket of disinfectant to the entire apartment and let it air out, but I'm sure as hell not going to do it when its cold and snowy yet.

Lazy Sunday

2008-03-16T09:44:00.002-05:00

Its a nice, lazy sunday. I have too many things I want to do today, though!

Like work on this yarn for the store. I dyed white wool in pink and purple, then hand carded it with some white wool. It turned into a pretty skein; I think I'll leave it as singles, because its about a sock weight right now, and it will have enough yards to MAKE a pair of socks! (I think I still have almost an ounce of this fiber left before the spinning is done!)

You may have seen this before! It was posted in my store as roving, but it sat for a few weeks without any buyers, and I started getting antsy because I've wanted to spin it for myself since I dyed it!
Last night I finally took it off the store, and started predrafting.

I'm kind of glad I did; it got a little felty during the dying process, which is weird because I always take extra measure to make sure I let the fiber cool in the dye bath to avoid felting while trying to cool it down with water.

It's making a wonderfully squishy yarn though, and I still love the colors.

It should be reappearing in my store in the form of a skein this time.

(Photo note: Hubby in the background playing Madden '08 on our Wii)

In knitting news, I started this pair of socks last week.
Hubs and I work in the same place. He has to start work at 7; I don't start until 8. Normally my department offers overtime and I just start an hour early. Last week, the corporate office put the kabosh on that, so I get an hour of knitting time every morning. Its pretty nice, even if I do have to do it in the break room.

It's a blurry picture, but a totally cute one of hubs playing football =)

I'm also working on some handmade knitting needles. I love working with polymer clay, and I have tons of it from making beads for hemp necklaces we make that my dad sells to his crazy hippie friends in South Dakota, so I figured I might as well take some lessons from my carpenter father in law and start whittling my own knitting needles, using clay for cute toppers. Today I'll be getting my first couple pairs of needles baked and varnished, and they should be making their appearance on etsy very soon as well!

We just got a 37" TV in near perfect condition from a friend for only $200. I think hubs and I will have fun putting together the new entertainment center for it today, not to mention lifting the huge sucker up onto that thing. Guys, this tv is MASSIVE. Its sitting on the floor in our living room right now taking up about the entire walkway into the kitchen. I'm excited to get it set up; that means we FINALLY get to have a tv in our room again. Yay!

Happy St Pats tomorrow, all! Don't forget to wear green and drink lots of guinness. I know we will.

Just what I needed..

2008-03-09T22:32:00.004-05:00

After spending a week stuck in our apartment, alone with the flu, I was looking forward to spending time with Rick (hubby!) this weekend. He ended up having to help sister in law with an easter photo shoot she was doing on Saturday and Sunday, and it ended up being HOURS and HOURS longer than either of us expected. I got the worst headache ever and couldn't help but just sit here and cry because I have such bad cabin fever. Dare I say, it will even be nice to go to WORK tomorrow, just to get out of this box we call our apartment.

My entire day was saved by a lovely etsian who bought two items from me this evening, which was my first sale of March. It is amazing how much joy you get from knowing that something you put a lot of effort, time, love, and soul into making can find a good home with someone. It made me feel mountains better.

I also finally figured out today how to use my hand card to produce roving that is nice enough to sell, instead of having to just sell it in the form of rolags. I know, rolags are nice to spin from, but I don't know if I would buy fiber in that form if I had a choice between that and roving. Call me obsessive, but I did figure it out.

Flu Day

2008-03-07T08:26:00.003-06:00

Today is the 4th day in a row I've had the flu. Both hubs and I are home right now, sick. At least I'm not so bent over the toilet that I can do some things. Yesterday I threw some fiber in the crockpot and rainbow dyed it. After some drafting, I have a big pile to spin

It's a little over 4 oz of fiber, but I'm kind of sick of spinning really thin sock yarn, so I think this is going to stay as a chunkier single. I love it so far.

I'm off for some sprite. ugh.

Colonel Mustard

2008-03-04T09:19:00.003-06:00

Well, today started off not so good. I had to run to the bathroom as soon as I got to work; the flu is going around. So now I'm just going to sit on the couch with my 7up and work on a fiber project; this mustard colored roving. It started as about 2 oz of bare fiber. I separated it into 4 little chunks and dyed each a different color. Yellow, dark moss green, a salmon/tan color, and left one white. I carded it all together once, yielding this big mustard colored batt.

It's still needs some processing and more color blending, so it's getting one more carding before I pull it into roving, like I have with these:
They'll eventually be a skein of yarn for the shop.
I'm hoping I keep feeling *ok* enough that I can have some studio time today!

Also check out the new skein that will be posted today to my etsy store!

Melonade

2008-03-01T14:53:00.003-06:00

Man. It's seems like it's been forever since I posted anything to my store. I'm just finishing this skein of merino, and it will be up in my store tomorrow.

I'm trying to use and/or sell most of my stash yarn, so I'm using some to make this Trellis sweater from Knitty for my niece Samantha.

I dyed this roving up last in an impromptu dye session while watching transformers. I just posted it to the store!

Open Shop!

2008-02-15T22:03:00.003-06:00

It's a good day! I got off work early, we have some friends we rarely see over to visit, and I opened my etsy shop again, at http://kashasknits.etsy.com

My latest project on my bobbins:
100% Merino

I just finished a couple of bobbins of these singles and I'm working on plying them. I also am working on some hand carded roving with my hand carders.

Long day

2008-02-06T21:02:00.001-06:00

Nothing much new to report on the fiber front. My 9 hours at work were rough, so I've just been curled up with my knitting. Tomorrow night is my big homework night for the week, but I'm planning on a big dye session Friday night.

Fiber Overload!

2008-02-05T19:15:00.001-06:00

OK. So yesterday I got a HUGE order from paradisefibers.com. Without further ado, I give you..

A ball winder!

One POUND of bare Blue Faced Leicester, soon to be dyed and turned into yarn or fiber batts.

One POUND of 16 ct Merino. This stuff is heavenly soft. Ditto with the yarn and batts.

And...the worlds most gargantuan 'hank' of merino yarn!

And finally, 4 oz of very soft 'happy hippie' fiber

My first set of hand cards, and a small pile of batts that proves I'm getting the hang of it. I've already got some calluses on my palms.

So my next task is onto dying the 3 pounds of bare fiber I have now! I spent a few hours the other day with my 5 color dye set and some microwave safe cups, and experimented with a few new colors. These are what I came up with so far.

This set was dyed with differing ratios of blue and orange dye

This set was made with different ratios of violet and yellow in a mix.

I'm hoping that I can get a good start on dying this weekend since I don't have to work. (Though my fiance Rick and I are going to drive to Apple Valley to see U2 3d in the IMAX there.) Then I should be able to start the process of opening my store again on my Wednesday off next week. Considering my professors don't decide that I need to do some huge legal research project.

A sneak preview of my new store!

2008-02-03T15:25:00.000-06:00

I'm taking advantage of my time before the big game to build up inventory for the reopening of my etsy store. I'm opening under a new user name since it doesn't match my business name. Oh well. (*Note: I SHOULD be using this time to do homework, but...I'm not...)

Right now I have two skeins of handspun hanging to dry in the kitchen...

This one is a merino/tencel blend, handpainted by fatcatknits.etsy.com, I handspun it into a 2 ply sock weight.

This is a superwash wool/nylon blend, spun into sock weight yarn.

I also have a few skeins of bare Lion Brand wool I picked up. I handpainted this skein with orange and pink. It turned out very nicely variegated, and I just know its going to be fun trying to get accurate color pics.
Then theres my personal knitting. I fell in love with the Bubble Cable Dolman in the Winter 07 Issue of IK. I attempted it a few times, but got completely stuck with trying to maintain the cable pattern while increasing so often. I didn't really like the initial yarn anyway, so it was a good practice run. But I finally found some yarn (recycled from a thrift store sweater) that was perfect for it. So I'm off and running again, and I'm doing a little better this time. Yay!

Well, off to some homework, then nachos and a football game!