The Fiberholic

Calorimeters and Locker Hooking

2009-02-08T08:30:00.005-05:00

Lately I have been knitting calorimeters pattern by Kathryn Schoendorf, from knitty.com. The small pink one is for my Grand Daughter, I used JoJoland yarn and felted it up some. The other colarmeters are knit with 127 print.

I also made a locker hooked rug from our group of spinners for our new local yarn shop, that I just had to show off, The Village Knittery, the owner is such a sweet person.

Haven’t posted in quite sometime

2009-01-22T11:24:00.010-05:00

Well, I made a couple of hats and sent them to my grandbabies.

Knit a pair of socks from Interweave knits Bacchus socks by Alice Bell. My daughter put them on backwards. The branches go on the outer side of the legs.

Spun up some yarn, and beaded a few bracelets from the Bead and Button book. Other then that I am not doing very much lately, I do plan on making a shawl, not sure just yet which one I will make?

Sockcess

2008-10-03T22:45:00.007-04:00

Finally, I completed a pair of socks on one circular needle without having to take one sock off and put it on a holder. Last week I decided to make my husband a pair of socks from the toe up.
I have several books with instructions but just could not figure them out and remembered I loaned one out to a friend. So I went on the internet and did a search for instructions and found www.cometosilver.com 2 toe up socks tutorial, which has great directions with plenty of photos to help with the explanation of the directions. By the time I got to the heal section I realized they called for a short row heal and I wanted a gusset heal. So I went back to the internet and found Glacier Lake Toe up Sock Pattern. The site had the kind of heal I wanted to make. This is usually the place that I end up taking the second sock off the needle, but not this time. I think the way this heal pattern is written is why you can’t make a mistake. The socks are a little bit bigger than I wanted them to be but my husband says they are great, well of course he would. I put them in the wash and ran them through the dryer. They did shrink a little bit, the next pair I make will be better. After making the heals I used a pattern repeat from the 365 Knitting Stitches a Year Calendar, September 29th, Moss-Stitch Parallelograms. When I finished the 6th row of the pattern I realized I had to change the pattern to knitting all rounds, duh. Anyway, I left the previous rows in then changed the pattern to knit every round and continued on. The yarn is from Ball and Skein, I think the color way is End of Winter color?

New Addition to the Family and a Pair of Socks

2008-09-16T19:12:00.012-04:00

Just have to say it has been quite awhile since I have posted. I have been back up to Maryland for the new addition to my family, Baby Madelyn. I did manage to knit a pair of socks for my grand daughter Lily.

You can see her sporting her new socks here.

The pattern is Emily, from 2-at-a-Time Socks, I used Schaffer yarn.

I need to admit I had to take a sock off and put it on hold, and later put it back on. I just can’t quite get the technique down. Maybe someday!

Ripple and Weave Socks and Unfinished Objects

2008-05-23T14:02:00.008-04:00

Well, I have several projects that are waiting to be finished. I can’t find my Luna Moth Shawl. I took it with me when I went to Maryland and now I can’t find it here at home. If it didn’t make it back with me then it’s gone for good, if I haven’t lost it then that means the house swallowed it up and one day I will come across it. I hope.
I did finish a pair of socks though. The ripple and weave pattern from Vogue Knitting magazine, fall 2006. I bought the yarn to make the socks a year and a half ago, and the house had swallowed it up, luckily it spit it back out. I love the yarn color. I just can’t remember who I bought the yarn from. I am pretty sure I bought it on Ebay.

The socks are not perfect, I did a search on the internet for pictures of the socks and found out from another blogger that the pattern had errors, after I had knit half of the socks. So, I made the changes to the pattern and kept on knitting. After knitting them and washing them I found that I had dropped a few stitches on both socks in the same area? So I'll have to fix them. I did try to knit them on one long circular needle and had to take one sock off several times, I just couldn’t figure out how to move one stitch over, and when I was turning the heel.
I don’t know when I will get back to the other projects I have posted, but for now they are going to have to wait because I am going to be knitting a stole with Anna from knitandknag.blogspot, she has posted a new KAL, the Mystic Meadows Stole. The yarn I am going to use is merino/Tencel fingering weight that I dyed myself with three different colors of blue. The Tencel makes the yarn shine. I might add beads? Not sure just yet. If I do I think I will add orange beads. Here is a photo of the yarn and the swatch.
I have to say Happy Birthday to Sarah and Lily Bean. “Happy Birthday”

Mystic Light Shawl Completed

2008-04-25T20:54:00.004-04:00

For the past few days I have been knitting my fingers to the bone. Just joking. I will be busy for the next few days spinning at Middleton Plantation and will be driving up to Maryland on Monday to visit family, and go to the Maryland Sheep and Wool. So I really wanted to finish knitting the Mystic Light Shawl before leaving. So here are some pictures of the shawl drying.

Thank you Anna for this beautiful pattern.

Beading and Knitting

2008-04-13T15:50:00.007-04:00

I have been busy beading lately. I made a pair of earrings which my daughter claimed, a necklace the photo is a little blurry.and a rosary for my step son.

I am still knitting the Mysticlight shawl kal pattern, and it is just beautiful and easy lace knit pattern.

Visting Family

2008-03-28T21:19:00.006-04:00

I haven’t been home for around 3 weeks, so I haven’t worked on any projects, but before leaving for Maryland I did knit up the Baby Surprise Jacket. I also finished weaving a scarf, warped dyed by me, in Tencel. Started to needle felt a Dragon pattern by Debbie McCandlessAnd changed the yarn pick for the Mystic KAL, and am trying to Catch up with the KAL
When I started knitting up the swatch for the Mystic KAL, I decided the yarn was not thick enough, so I purchased some Fleece Artist in Tangerine this past Monday and it came in Today, Friday. The knit along started Wednesday, so this evening I started knitting the shawl, I hope I get this section finished before the next posting on Wednesday.

Keeping Busy

2008-02-18T13:28:00.007-05:00

I have several project that I am working on and here is some info. and pictures.

Yarn:
Well after buying several skeins of yarn for the MysticlightKAL, I have finally decided on Schaefer yarn Anne, Subtle Fire. It is very soft.

I cannot take total credit for finding this yarn. One of the women, Judi, in the group posted a picture of her choice of yarn, and I fell in love with the color.

Knitted Felted sheep, and Estonian puppet projects:
As for my felting projects, my sheep is at a friend’s house to be felted in her washing machine, it just did not work in my frontload washer, and the Estonian sheep hand puppet well lets just say the head came out huge. I am going to try to felt the head some and see what happens.

Fleece:
Well I bought a Polwarth/Merino fleece from Treenway Silksa few weeks ago. I washed, carded, spun and am now knitting the Luna Moth Shawl a free pattern from Elann.com. While carding it I put in some sparkle, Angelina fiber. Here are some pictures.

Weaving:
I have also started a project on my loom. I am weaving a scarf, I dyed the warp myself, it looks like a tie dyed t-shirt to me. I like it. I am using a Lilac, Orchid Leaf, color for the weft. The warp and weft material is Tencel. The weave pattern is from Heritage yarns

Felted Sheep and a few other things

2008-01-27T18:58:00.000-05:00

A couple of post ago, I said I was knitting a sheep to be felted. Well, when I got back home from Maryland I could not find my yarn to finish up the sheep a few weeks later, yesterday, I found the yarn. So last night and this morning I finished knitting and sewing up the seams. I am in the process of felting it now and will have to post the finished sheep later on with the hand puppet I have been working while the other yarn was missing.

The hand puppet is the Estonian sheep hand puppet pattern from Spin Off Magazine, summer of 2006. I am knitting it with Elann Alpaca yarn. It is not quite finished yet. I have been using the Magic Loop knitting technique, pretty nice not to mess around with a bunch of needles. One more finger tip, the neck then the head to knit and it will be finished.
Here are some pictures.

Oh yeah, I messed up on the right side and wrong side with the head of the felted sheep, oh well to late now. Sheep is temporarily stuffed with plastic bags while being felted.

Estonian puppet in the works

I have also been a little busy spinning, really not that busy. The skein on the left is Polwarth roving, the center skein is Alpaca, and I had found the Alpaca the other day in my stash the receipt was from 2003. I have a bunch in my hope chest that needs spinning also purchased in 2003. The last skein is the first skein spun on the Canadian wheel which is roving from the local wool factory.

And lastley a few days ago I joined the Mystic Light KAL and have been searching for some yarn to knit it with when it starts in March, 26th last day to sign up will be March 25th. Very pretty patterns on Anna’s site, knitandknag.blogspot.com, I am sure this one will be as pretty as her other patterns.

New Addition to the Menagerie

2008-01-11T14:33:00.000-05:00

The week or so before Christmas when my sister and I went back up to Maryland to visit family and pick up the Canadian Production wheel we decided to walk around the Amish Market in Southern Maryland. When we were leaving the market there was a lady selling puppies so we decided to stop and look at them with no intention of buying any puppies.

Well, what can I say, I am a sucker for a cute face. This is Pippy a pug and beagle mix. I just had to have him.

What do you think?

The last addition Annie, the kitty, and Pippy get along just fine they love to play with each other and the other dogs have also taken a liking to him. Basha my other cat doesn’t like other cats or dogs, she tolerates them. Now I have four dogs and two cats and a husband to contend with. :') Needless to say, my husband wasn’t too happy about another pet, but Pippy has wormed his way into his heart.

New/Old Spinning Wheel and Knitted Felted Sheep

2007-12-17T19:49:00.000-05:00

Well it has been a while since I have written on my blog. I have been away from the computer lately.

The photo is from the man I bought the wheel from.

Recently I bid on a Canadian Production Wheel on ebay and won, it was a pick up only deal. The wheel was in Baltimore, MD. So the guy delivered it to my son’s house, my son took it to my niece’s house and my sister and I drove up to Maryland to pick it up from SC. It is an old wheel but in working order. I was spinning with it the other night and really like it.

I also brought a sheep pattern to knit while I have been up here and Maryland. I finished knitting the sheep . Now it needs to be sewn up stuffed and felted. I will post a picture of it when it is finished.

Completed the Secret of the Stole Hint # 7 & 8

2007-11-27T16:16:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures of the Secret of the Stole group and my pictures of hints 7 & 8 in the works:

Hint # 6 Finished & Taking The Pressure Off

2007-11-16T21:50:00.000-05:00

Hint # 6 Finished

I finally finished hint number 6. I had a cold last week went to the doctor he put me on antibiotics and I was sick the rest of this week. Anyway, I worked on the stole the past couple of days and had to pull out several rows. I did try to fix the mistake by ticking down but it just didn’t work out so I had to pull out the rows. It took all day to knit a few rows yesterday.

Taking the Pressure Off Myself

I decided to set a goal of completing the hints before the next was posted and I have up to now, but I felt under pressure to get it done and the knitting dragged on and was turning out to be more of a job then fun.

So today I told myself it didn’t matter if I finished it on my schedule that I made up for myself. That it didn’t even matter if I finished the stole before the end of the knit along. Then tonight I went in my room to start knitting and I can’t believe how much I finished in such a short time.

Battling a Cold

2007-11-07T17:19:00.000-05:00

For the past few days I have been battling a cold, so my knitting has been a little slow, but I got hint #5 finished today. I flew through the first ¾ of the knitting but when my cold came along it took two days just to finish about 12 rows.

What a day today. Everyone is sick in my house, I took the kitten to the vets just to come home to a sick dog. Daisy got sick on my bed, and living room chair, good thing I keep sheets on my seat cushions. I think she may have chewed up a nail file and got it caught in her throat? Not sure, but Kelly, my little dog, had a piece of it in her mouth today. All this wouldn't be so bad if I felt a little bit better. Yuk!!!

Bee of Fields Shawl is finished:

2007-11-04T12:28:00.001-05:00

I finished the shawl yesterday and took some pictures today.

Went to visit my Daughter in Law and my Grandbaby this past week, and brought home an orphan kitten and she is a cutie.

So far I have completed about 20 rows of hint number 5 of the Secret of the Stole, and I plan on working on it tonight and tomorrow to get it finished.

Check out my Slide Show!

2007-10-27T16:34:00.001-04:00

Finished Hint Number 4

2007-10-27T15:39:00.000-04:00

Hello,

I finished hint #4 of Secret of the Stole now I can rest until the next Friday. I think it might be a bit to long?

I have a little helper who keeps me company while knitting the stole, so I had to post her picture. This is Kelly to the right.

Well, I just had to show you one of my other helper's, this is Chance, Daisy is hiding and Basha the cat is out on the prowl.

My fiber arts friends are at the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair (SAFF) this weekend. I didn’t go because I already have too much of a stash. I am going to the Maryland Sheep and Wool next year. It is worth the trip up north.

Hint number three finished

2007-10-25T19:04:00.000-04:00

Hint Number Two Finished

2007-10-16T22:28:00.000-04:00

Lets see, I finished hint number two of the SotS, and have been trying to finish up my Bee of Fields shawl, I am on row one of the last Chart. Yeah!

Hope to get BoFS finished before Saturday, but don't think I will have enough time. Really wanted to take it to the fiber guild meeting to show off, maybe next time.

The next shawl to knit will be the German pat tern done by Erich Engeln It is just a beautiful pattern, it has a nice shape to it. Might be a little difficult to read since it is written in German. Google has a translator on their site, it's a great tool so if I get stuck that might help out.

Part One of Secret of the Stole is finished

2007-10-07T18:31:00.000-04:00

This Friday first clue was posted. Here is my progress.

Until the next clue I will be working on the Bee Field Shawl, and will try to finish it up before the next SotS clue.

Secret of the stole

2007-10-01T15:24:00.000-04:00

Well, Today I knitted up my swatch for the Secret of the StoleKAL that should be starting in a few days. No beads yet, I will have to look for some.

I should have been knitting this weekend but spent my time spinning, some silk fiber that came in the mail the other day from Ebay, seller was de-stashing her fiber she bought at The Silkworker, http://www.thesilkworker.com/, and I spun some fiber bought from Abby's Yarns.

First the Silk

and the MOTHER OF PEARL fiber

Baby Booties

2007-09-26T21:42:00.000-04:00

The other day I decided to make these cute little booties for my daughters friend, she is going to have a boy so I knitted them in blue, dug through my button box and found some white buttons. This cute little pattern is from http://www.saartjeknits.nl/

Update on the Bee Field Shawl

Our air conditioning unit went out and had to wait a few days to get a new one put in, so needless to say, I put the Bee Field Shawl up. Just to hot to knit in this weather. I well be getting back to it soon. I also have a couple of other shawls on the needles I need to finish up, the Clementine wrap from Interweave knits and Triangular Shawl from Knitter’s Shawl and Scarves book and the Secret of the Stole is going to start soon.

I had better get busy.

Knitters life line

2007-09-19T19:56:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I had taken out 2 previous life lines. So today I started to knit and that little voice said you should put a life line in and I thought about it, and then decided to do it just incase.

Well I am so glad I put a life line in, whew. I was on row 15 of the bee in field section, 3rd chart, and then found some mistakes on the previous row. I knit 23 stitches and knit two together, the two together happened to be my center yarn over. I don't know where my head was at. I should have knit 22 and two together so on the way back I had an extra stitch in each section. But now I am back to row 13, where I put my life line.

I am sooo glad.

The Fiberholic

2007-09-12T23:22:00.000-04:00

Hello,

I am glad to say I am a fiberholic. I love fiber, Don't know what my life would be without it and don't want to know.

Blogging is very new to me, I am not a writer by any means so please bare with me.

Fiber Arts started to blossom about 8 years ago, when I decided that quality yarn was just to expensive to buy. That sent me on the quest to find a spinning wheel to spin my own yarn.

Well several spinning wheels, weaving looms and many other fiber gadgets later. I have spent more money then I ever would have spent buying that yarn. I think I should have just bought that expensive yarn. NOT!

I bought my first spinning wheel, a Country Craftsman spinning wheel, at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Found a spinning teacher, Jackie, about a 45 minute ride from my home at that time in Maryland, I have since moved to South Carolina. And the rest is history as they say.

What I've been up to Lately: Knitting

Anne Hanson's pattern The Bee Field shawl from knitspot. She creates some beautiful patterns.

Today I dropped a couple of stitches and spent sometime trying to pick them back up without having to take out a couple of rows. I completed the honey comb and swarm section and now I am just starting the third section. Here is a previous photo of the shawl in progress.

When I have completed the shawl I will post a new picture, hopefully soon.

Also, joined my first KAL the Secret of the Stole, and need to knit up a swatch pretty soon.

There are several projects on the needles that need finishing up, but lately I find myself spending more time reading blogs when I should be knitting. Well it's getting late so I better sign off for now.

Happy knitting