Category: Blog

I got the new issue of Spin-Off this week (thanks, Mom), and was pouring over it when I came across an interesting article about knitting with unspun, pre-drafted rolags.

And lo and behold,, I just happened to have a pile of rolags handy,

as I am experimenting with blending fibers to achieve a tweedy-type of effect. So I thought I would give it a try.

It’s kind of a delicate business, and you can’t put any tension on the wool while you’re knitting it or it will come right apart. But the results are pretty cool. Very light and lofty.

It is really soft, and would make a wonderful scarf. Two unspun rolags made a knitted swatch the same size as 4 rolags that I spun and chain-plied:

The raw materials for the blend are a kind of hairy oatmeal-colored shetland roving,

dark brown Romney,

and dribs and drabs of those dyed border leicester locks I bought last weekend. (A little goes a long way with those bright colors!)

Don’t know what inspired me to throw them all together,, but I’m liking the results so far!

Knit on-

Denise

Where did the time go?

Saturday was the Country Living Expo down in Stanwood. I went early to help with registration, so it was kind of a long day. But it’s always a lot of fun.  and lots of fiber folks represented amongst the vendors and the classes offered. I learned about milking sheep from Gretchen, trimming hooves and shearing from Amy, plus raising fiber goats, making cider, and building organic soil fertility.

I forgot to take my camera, so you don’t get to see the silly angora wether getting his feet tended to. Oh well.

I went with only a couple of bucks in my pocket (to suppress fiber buying urges),, but managed to come away with a little bit of something to play with-

Just a few ounces of border leicester  in rich jewel tones (since I don’ do much dying myself). The photo really doesn’t do the colors justice,, but you get the idea.

Was tempted by some targee, but I didn’t have enough cash on-hand to by it (see, I guess the strategy worked, eh?)

Being gone all yesterday of course meant that today it was mostly about playing catchup on housework. And so it goes.

I have to go play with my wool now.

Denise out.

I just love this card-

Isn’t that too funny??

I’m back.

Sorry to have missed you last week. I was off visiting in warmer climes.

Now when you go to the tropics, you have to plan your knitting very carefully, as you’re not likely to run into wool shops at every (or any) turn. So I took quite a bit of yarn just to be safe. With about 7 hours of airplane time+ layovers each way and anticipated free time on board the cruise ship to plan for, I figured I’d better err on the side of caution.

Here I am taking full advantage of the amenities on board:

I expected I’d get to hang out by the pool and knit (and get some odd looks), but it twas pretty cool and breezy most of the time, so we spent a lot of time in this lounge-

Here’s a picture of the finished hat that I was working on in the above photo (it’s wool from Mariah, of Little Country Acres):

And Another:

I also managed to knit 2 socks (both are currently ABK (All But Kitchener-ed)). They are not a pair, but a study in contrasts.

Meet Miami sock and PNW sock:

Here I am with one foot in each world:

That’s it for now-

Denise

PS. Anyone planning on going to the Country Living Expo at Stanwood HS next weekend?