adventure's end

 

After what seems like months of being in UFO limbo, my Chance of Showers cardigan is finally finished. I have to give myself a hi five for not throwing in the towel on this project. Not sure why I didn't....when I ran out of yarn....when I found out the yarn color had been discontinued....when after finally tracking down the yarn the dye lot and color did not match up....when I had to learn how to dye a hemp-blended fabric....guess I'm growing up after all. Was it worth all the headaches? Most definitely! Heidi's pattern was a pleasure to knit. I have a finished cardigan that will get lots of wear. Plus now that I am an expert on fiber reactive dyes, you can call me for assistance with any of your hemp fabric dyeing emergencies.

autumn colors

After a handful of rainy gloomy days, this week we are enjoying some beautiful October weather. I love the colors to be found at this time of year. Red, orange, gold, brown and burgundy all combine to make such glorious viewing. Some of them have found their way into my crafting.

Amazing how just a little bit of autumn color can inject new energy and happiness into all of my projects. I am making pretty good progress on both the knitting and spinning. The first picture is of something that I will reveal on Friday. Very relieved with the fact that I still remember how to crochet after such a long time without practicing. I finally finished spinning all of the Corriedale fiber from Maryland Sheep and Wool. Now I get to practice on this beautiful BFL & firestar combed top from Dyeabolical. Spinning with BFL is quite a revelation. So soft. The firestar gives off a bit of sparkle to the colors. Irresistible. Makes up for the fact that my second handspun is kind of an under spun mess:

On the bright side, this has only given me an excuse to play with natural dyeing techniques. I am aiming for a yellow/gold color. Just need to collect more onions skins. Or inconspicuously sneak some out of the onion bin at my local grocery store.



(linking up with WIP Wednesday)

adventures in grey

First, the good news: I was finally able to track down a ball of the discontinued slate grey hempathy for my Chance of showers cardigan.

Now for the bad news:

Because of the different dye lots, the colors do not even come close to matching. What I have been knitting with is a pretty blue grey. The new ball is a muddy dull grey. Not very noticeable in the above picture, but it kind of looks like I spilled coffee on the collar. So now I am waiting for a shipment of fiber reactive dye to come in, along with soda ash fixer and textile detergent. Because according to the experts, I need all of these things to dye my grey sweater....grey. Oy.

Hope that your current projects are causing you less headaches than mine. Here is something that is making me happy, though.

I finished my first skein of handspun! It is extremely wonky but I love it! It is not going to stay in the skein for long, because I have plans for this one.  'Cause the whole point of making your own yarn is to knit something with it, right?