Author: denisemor

Cowl, Bags & Book

Been really enjoying working my Esther and Dottie yarn into a cowl-

It’s so soft and squooshy, and the round and round rhythm of the brioche stitch is very satisfying.

Also finally finished up the batch of zipped project bags that I started a few weeks back-

Making a few of these little guys has helped build me confidence in my zipper-installation skills.
I think maybe I’ll try one of her other bag patterns soon- like a tote or a backpack.

And I came across an interesting book the other day at a local bookshop-

Seemed like it might be right up my alley 🙂

Have a great week!

At Loose Ends-

Now that the technicolor dream vest is done, I am a bit scattered, project-wise.

I’m shopping around for a pattern for my 1300 yds of sportweight Chone yarn, but until I hit upon the perfect thing, I’m
playing around with some new tiny circular needles (8 in length- super short tips) I picked up back in January.

It’s taken me a while to get a feel for working on them, but now that I’m getting the hang of it they sure are faster than working on doublepoints! Just finished my first sample mitt-

So I guess I’ve got to make another to match.

I’ve also gotten a smidge more shearing done on Esther-

It’s amazing how fresh and white she is underneath- and she really likes being able to get good neck rubs now 🙂
Her neck wool is so lovely-

Was also able to get a small amount of Dottie wool to blend it with to make some more of last week’s squishy two-ply yarn. I’m working it into a nice, simple garter stitch cowl. Dottie’s got so much wool on her- and she doesn’t appear to have felted over the winter, so that’s a nice surprise-

One other fun thing that I’m playing around with is making felted Peeps.

Here are my first two just after shaping/wet finishing

and now that they have little eyes

I’m pretty pleased with my first attempt. Don’t have any idea what I’ll do with them- but they are just so cute and fun.

Spring Make-cation

Took a few days off last week to take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and play at home with wool.

First priority was putting the finishing touches on the vest- buttons and loops

It is now officially done! And I am so pleased.
Really love how the color transitions worked out, and how the buttons pull it all together 🙂


( I know that one is upside down, but I just liked how the light fell on it from that angle )

And with the vest complete, I took a break from knitting to try my hand at making some cute little project bags

I got two done, and have the fabric and zippers ready to go for three more-

Was fun digging in my fabric stash for color combinations.
I made the medium size- which should be about right for a hat or cowl or pair of socks.

Also did a bit of fleece washing- from top to bottom- Chone, Heidi, Marta

Now, for a very brief time, I can say that I am all caught up! No raw fleece in the house! (until the pasture folk are ready to give up their coats)

And speaking of that, I did talk Esther and Dottie out of a little neck wool yesterday.
Just to let a little of that spring air in.
Was pretty messy, as neck wool tends to be, but after trimming and picking out the crud, I ended up with two nice little muffins.

Which turned into one squishy little skein.

Think this is the first time I’ve blended the two girls’ wools together. Maybe now that they’ve worked out their issues and become buddies they can cooperate on a sweater 🙂

Baking and Blocking

Lamb cake #2 is a winner!

Same recipe as last time, but only filled the face side of the mold even with the edge, and baked for a full hour.

Also incorporated a tip from a vintage cast iron site– flipping the mold after half the baking time.

It’s lovely white fleece is a marshmallowy meringue frosting. Yum.

And in non-marshmallow wool news,

The Fabulous Technicolor Dreamvest is blocking!

So excited 🙂
I found the perfect buttons a few days ago, and sewed them on last night, but I’m kind of thinking that I might go back and rearrange them to use five rather than four. Odd numbers are somehow more satisfying to me.

They are a really interesting color. Kind of a pink-orange. Also yum. 🙂

This weekend was so warm and beautiful. Both Esther and Dottie have started to hint that they’d like to take their heavy coats off…..