Category: Blog

Steeking the StashMo

Remember StashMo?

I can’t believe its been two years.
The poor guy has just been hanging out on our rocking chair most of that time, uncertain of what this future might hold.

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But last week’s steeking class has given me the confidence to turn him into a blanket!

So here we go!

First row of crochet stabilization-

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Second row of crochet-

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Then, I started snipping.

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And before long, it was all opened up!

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FlatStashMo measures out at 46″ by 48″

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Next step- finishing the edges!

Still Reeling from the Wool Fumes

BlackSheep Gathering was awesome.

I steeked-
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Spun-
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Bought one fleece-

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Oooh-ed and Ahhh-ed over fabulous things at the marketplace-

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I still don’t know how I resisted buying one -or more- of those sheep. Here are some more of them-

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And then there were all the cool real live sheep-

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This little cutie wanted to come home with me, but we had no space for him in the car-

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This sheep was an exceptionally good sport about being the shearing class volunteer-

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I took in some fleece judging, too. Missed the Shetlands, because I was in a class Saturday morning, but I caught the colored finewools and some mediums too, and it is always fun to listen to Judith McKenzie talk about sheep and wool.

It was all so much fun. I need to do this more often.

Blacksheep Homework

Less than a week until the Blacksheep Gathering in Eugene, OR!
So I thought I would finally do the homework for one of my classes-

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Just three 30 x 30 swatches, but next Saturday morning they’ll be steeked!

Never steeked before, so this is uncharted territory.
But I’m way excited to learn new skills that open up all kinds of interesting sweater design options.

Taking a locker hooking class and one on shearing too.

Also hope to take in a little bit of fleece judging.
I just love listening to people talk about wool 🙂

Pretty Swift

I’ve been a knitter since 2002, spinner since 2005.
and had always been a “back of the chair” yarn winder.

But I was recently gifted a some-assembly required amish-made antique swift.

Here are some of the pretty pieces-
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I think it’s cherry.

A couple of little chunks in the hubs needed gluing-
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The trickiest part of the assembly was getting the extender thingees to stationed in the hubs. The key was securing them with thread, and having some extra hands on standby.
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Then all the other sticks attach around the outside-
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And here is is all together-
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At least I think it is.
The thing is, I wonder if I’ve got them on wrong, or too tightly or something. It doesn’t seem to want to extend fully.
That last photo is about as wide as it gets before it binds up.

Anyone out there with swift experience? A little help?