Stovetop Lichen Dyeing!

 The last batch of lichen that a dear friend harvested for me has been used!  Since I have a jar of lichen fermenting in ammonia on the deck I decided to try stovetop dyeing with lichen.  I am so happy with the results!

Here you can see two bits of Lonk sheep fiber.  The one on the back was stovetop dyed with white mushrooms.  Made a nice light creamy beige color.  Not really impressive.  The front fiber, however, makes me very happy!  It was dyed with lichen.  I am pretty sure I mordanted with cold water alum then, after heating the lichen to simmering for an hour, letting it sit overnight to cool, then added the fiber.  I brought the fiber up to simmering for an hour then shut off the heat and let it sit overnight.  This glorious color is what I found when I pulled it out of the dyebath.  I think I will try again and see if an exhaust bath works!

Sometimes You Just Luck Out...In A Positive Way

 Last week I saw a YouTube channel of a young woman who was a spinner and a knitter.  She mentioned that Hobby Lobby in her town had been having a deep discount on some discontinued colors of yarn.  I knew that this is the week that Hobby Lobby has yarn on sale for 30% off (this happens every other week.  On the off week [next week] the fabric is 40% off.  Good things to know if you want to plan your purchases to save the most money...). I thought I would check it  out.

So yesterday morning after a doctor appointment I dropped in at Hobby Lobby. 

 Let me back up one or two steps...  On Saturday last I went to the Revolutionary War Park in Camden where there was going to be a group of spinners spinning.  They had invited me to attend.  I did attend and did enjoy spinning...though it was a bit hard using new-to-me fiber.  

The other spinner who came, and who helped me with my spinning, mentioned that there was some yarn at Hobby Lobby that one of the spinners in her group used to do a lot of spinning.  It is a roving "yarn" called Showstopper, and while it is only 15% wool, it is good fiber to practice spinning.  I thought I would see if there was any at Hobby Lobby.  THERE WAS!  And it was $2.74 for 10 ounces as opposed to the regular  $10.99.  I bought five skeins!  I think by the end of the time I finish spinning this fiber that I will know a lot more about spinning.  Hobby Lobby also had four bags of actual wool fiber that originally cost $7.99 but went for $1.62 yesterday.  I was pleased since it was the very fiber I was having difficulty spinning.  More of it meant I could learn more on how to spin that type of wool fiber.

So, here is a word to the wise...not necessarily spinners but anyone who wants to see if there is clearance yarn.  Better check out Hobby Lobby this week.  Maybe earlier than later in the week.  Most of these discounted fibers had already been purchased. I felt fortunate to purchase what I did.

Recycling of Yarn

 Well, actually, this is an afghan that I started recycling last year...pulling out more than two/thirds of the wool and turned it into yarn cakes.  This one of the three yarns I used for the Love Knots Blanket project.  The last third of the blanket was on the couch.  

I have semi-volunteered to do another test knit, but this time I told the designer right up front that I would not be able to finish on time so she could choose to include me or not.  She emailed me back to say that the size I want to knit is possibly not going to be chosen but someone else to knit  so she might be able to use me anyway.  We shall see.  This is the yarn I will use.  REALLY trying to use it up!

This is Hilda Yates' yarn, spun and dyed by Bartlettyarns Mill in Harmony, Maine.  I have used the same yarn many times over past years but now my taste in yarn is gradually shifting to finer/lighter-weight yarn.  Of course, this means smaller needs and longer lives to the projects but the item in my lap will not be anywhere near as heavy.  I feel like a complainer/baby when I say that but it does begin to make a difference.

Love Knots Blanket Test Knit Progress!

 Another deadline for the Love Knots Blanket test knit has come and gone.  I did not meet the goal, but still have made a lot of progress.

Here is the progress as of that deadline.  The bottom border is now completed.  Also five of the six inner borders as well as three of the nine blocks.  There are two side borders and the top border to go along with the other six blocks.  Do you think I can finish knitting as well as sewing together by 24 December?!  I don't know.  With this new calling I have discovered a bunch of new activities popping up unexpectedly...!

It is all good.

A New Fast Test Knit: Christmas Angel

 As I was furiously knitting along the bottom border of the Love Knots Blanket test knit at my sister's house over Thanksgiving, I glanced at Yarn Pond and found another test knit that looked quick and easy.  It was a Christmas Angel ornament for the Christmas tree.  I applied and was accepted.

The angel was expected to be knit in #10 Crochet cotton on size 0 or size 1 double pointed needles.  I did not have them, and certainly did not have them in North Carolina with me,  so I ordered ChiaoGoo double points that would arrive the day the test knit was supposed to be completed.  Oh well.  At that point I had not yet been accepted into the knitting pool, so this purchase was totally "on spec".

The next day I checked and found that I HAD been accepted.  The only yarn I had with me at my sister's house was the worsted weight wool from Hilda Yates that I was using on the Love Knots Blanket.  I did have a circular needle free so I cast on and started.  The knitting was going a little slow because of the number of stitches being stretched over the needle. The next day after going with my sister to her hair appointment (where my hair was cut, too...think modified Dorothy Hamill haircut...looked great when he got done.  Not so great today, but...oh well.) I realized that I needed some of the right sized double points if I had a prayer of completing this project.

We went to Hobby Lobby where I found exactly the right needles with nice sharp points like the ChiaoGoo needles at one-third the cost!  We also found gray thread that I needed and a Christmas tree that Dear One hoped we would get but was reluctant to pay the price.  We got the tree.  As it turned out they were half-price.  Since it was Black Friday it turned out the trees were half the price of the half-price!!!  Dear One was really happy.  The tree is very skinny which is what we need for our front porch where we want it.  Yes, of course it it a fake tree, but that is fine down here. I don't want to bring any unexpected wildlife into the house down here!

Speaking of wildlife, when we returned from North Carolina on Saturday night we found that "someone" whose name will be excluded to protect the guilty, had left an open sleeve of Ritz crackers on the island.  It was CRAWLING with ants!  Just plain disgusting.  We had a hard time killing them.  I finally ended up spraying them with vinegar water.  I had hopes they would die out.  Not so.  We may have to get the exterminator...

This is the Christmas angel completed.  Instead of crocheting a string hanger for the top I knitted an I-cord ring.  This is natural colored yarn though it does not look like it.  There were a few issues with the knitting but I did manage to get it eventually.  It helps to actually read the pattern...and have the instructions sink into your brain clearly.  I will probably make another one.  If I had been using Number 10 crochet cotton and size 0 needles, I am afraid I would have been a quitter....  Now having been able to take out the thick wool yarn a dozen times (at least!) I think I might try with the itty bitty needles that came today...just not right away.  Still have a bit more Christmas knitting to do, and then the Love Knots Blanket test knit.

Knitting for the Fort Vancouver Knitting Guild

While in Portland the kind people at the Fort Vancouver Knitting Guild allowed me to come to one of their meetings when they had Cheryl Brunette, one of my knitting heroes, come to speak. I LOVED listening to Cheryl in person and so enjoyed meeting her and speaking with her personally.  She is such a fabulous woman and a knitting mentor to thousands.

When we were at the meeting one of the people did a show and tell about a neckerchief she had made for the Fort re-enactors.  She invited us at the meeting to make and contribute more of them.  I took the pattern fully intending to make one of them. Immediately I went to several local yarn outlets (you might know I would find some wherever I am...) but they did not have the required yarn.

When I emailed the nice lady at the FVKG and told her I was not going to come through for them after all since I could not find the yarn, she kindly sent me some!  So I started the neckerchief right away.  As you will have noticed, over the last two years I have done a LOT of knitting, but only in fits and starts, and the Knitting Guild project got put away as things became more and more busy in life.

Well, yesterday I was a day I needed to do some sitting so I pulled out the bag with the neckerchief in it.  I did not like the way it looked so I tore it out and started again.  This is what it looks like as of this writing:

The brown is the border and the yellow will be close to the neck.  It is all garter stitch and quite easy to do.  You will notice this semi-nice eyelet border.  That took me a bit to get right but only because my head was in some other place, but when I restarted from scratch, something clicked and it is going together well.  There are about 30 stitches in the yellow section. The brown section stays 20 stitches the whole distance. There needs to be 80 stitches in the yellow section so you can see I have a while to go.

Anyone who wants to knit this themselves can go to Knitty.com and find the pattern.  Here is the link.

Yes, that think that looks like a frayed rag quilt on the floor really is a frayed quilt that I made years ago and used to pad some of our more fragile items in the move.  I am using for a rug under my knitting chair until such time as the couch and loveseat arrive and we make other plans...

Knitting: Mittens!

Another knitting project finished:  mittens for oldest grandson.

Years ago my mother-in-law made wonderful mittens for our children.  They were speckled mittens quite often, with two colors on the hands with alternating stitches. This makes a nice thick warm mitten.  I found the same pattern called Fish Scale Mittens on Ravelry, a free download. 

There are a few measurements to take if you would like them to fit nicely:

Wrist to end of longest finger
Thumb bone to end of thumb
Distance across widest part of hand (to help you choose size....these were the smallest size, casting on 40 stitches)

For this pair I used US size 5 needles and US size 6 needles.  When I make them for adults next time I will use size 5 and size 7.  Also I will use double pointed needles for the whole mitten.  Well, maybe not for the cuff, but for the rest of the mittens.  On these I use two circular needles to cast on and knitted the cuff and up to the afterthought thumb stitches then switched to dpns and knitting one mitten at a time.  The reason for this was that the stitches seemed a little tighter with the circs.

Since mittens MUST be made with wool to assure that hands stay warm even if wet,  I chose Lamb's Pride, a worsted weight yarn, in Blue Boy and Red Baron, which I purchased at Country Woolens.

This pattern uses an afterthought thumb.  That makes the knitting go really fast.

When you get to the spot for the thumb, knit x-number of stitches in waste yarn then go back and knit them again with the mitten yarn and continue on until fastening off the top....THEN go back and knit the thumb.

When the top of the mitten is done you just pick up the stitches above and below the afterthought thumb stitches.

Stitches picked up to knit the thumb.  The thumb goes very fast...