Category: Blog

This week I moved Dottie into a more sustainable long term living situation, giving her the hay and chicken side of the shed and a small yard of her own-

In sweater news, I’m pleased to report that, as of earlier today, JUiST is off the needles!

Still have ends to attend to, and contemplating adding a little embroidery detail in red up top, but it is functionally complete- and a success as far as trying out the contiguous shoulder construction goes.

I also feel like maybe the neckline could use some finishing. I did a turned hem on the bottom and sleeves,

But that would might be too bulky for the neckline. Perhaps the answer will present itself after I’ve worn it for a while.

And, I have made a start on my sloth! All his felty bits and pieces are cut out and ready to assemble.

So that’s the week in wool. I’ll sign off with a couple pictures of of our fabulous volunteer sunflower, that finally opened a couple of days ago-

It towers above the (very overgrown) garden

and makes everything sunnier 🙂

For me there is a real tension between summer being a season to savor and a season for getting things done. I have let some things go this summer, but one good-weather dependent thing that I really wanted to finish up was some felting I’d prepped for a few months back.

And since summer is slipping away, this morning I dug out my felting gear and got down to it.

Yoga mat, couple yards of chiffon, one long bootlace, bubble wrap, 3-4′ length of 2″ PVC pipe, pot full of soapy hot water, and large cup for scooping that hot soapy water.

The layered wool had been standing by, rolled in chicken food bags to keep it nice and orderly. (yet another use for chicken food bags! I used to use paper grocery bags, but they would inevitably get wet with all that hot soapy water flying around.)

The steps: transferring the wool to the yoga mat already lined with chiffon

Folding the chiffon over the layered wool to keep it in place,

Thoroughly wetting the wool and patting out any air pockets

Placing bubble wrap (bubbles down) on the surface of the wool

Tightly rolling the whole thing up around the length of PVC and securing with bootlace

Then roll, roll, roll. It helps to have some pressure applied in the rolling process, so I’ve been using a “leaning on the roll with my forearms” technique, and just gliding back and forth on it with a rocking motion. 50 or so times each direction is usually enough to get the fibers starting to lock.

From there I work the felt manually, folding and rolling it against itself from a variety of directions, adding water to keep it quite warm and sudsy while it shrinks and thickens.

And finally I take the sheet inside to rinse in the deep sink- not just to get the soap out, but to shock it a little to further firm up the felt- hot /cold/hot/cold.

And after all that, and a little drying in the sun, you have the magic that is felt

Mmmmm. Felty goodness.

I have recently been distracted by the idea that I need a sloth (google Bellingham giant tree sloth), so that might be where this felt is headed.

Found a cute pattern, but I think that it will require the addition of long claws. Another pattern-as-starting point type of project 😉

Have a good week folks-

This week finds Dottie in the lockup.

She’s not charged with any crime, but she’s somehow managed to injure her knee (back right side). I’d been trying to get a hold of her for some time, but she’s still faster than me out in the open even on three legs, and I really didn’t want to stress her out by chasing her down.

The recent heavy rains gave me the advantage tho, and I was able to catch her in the shed, which I have reconfigured to provide her with a secure space to rest and hopefully heal. But of course she’s not thrilled about being in lockdown.

Daphne and Fiona have been being pretty decent about it, coming hang out nearby and keep her company some of the time. And I’m trying to make it more tolerable by giving her treats like zucchini (she is the only sheep who will eat them), and apple branches, which is a favorite with all the girls.

In other news, the JUiST sweater is progressing well. Need to do a try-on sometime soon, but thinking I’ve got maybe 3-4 inches left on the body.

As is spinning Esther wool for the next version

I’m spinning the singles on the lateral treadle spindle wheel (larger whorl, ratio of about 20:1) and chain plying on Moto. Roughly worsted weight. I haven’t swatched it yet, but I’m guessing it will work out to about 5 st/in

That wheel really needs a better name. She’s getting a lot of use, and deserves an official appellation. But it’s just not coming to me yet.

And again, I will sign off with a summer veg offering-

Because you’ve got to savor these summer treats while they last-

This week found me diving back into the stash to see what else might be of use in my current sweater project.

I’d already repurposed most of my original attempt at a contiguous pullover. A quick search of the blog revealed that it had been sitting in limbo since 2013 (and photos have since been lost to Flikr purge). It was (over)due to be frogged. Those natural shade got me as far as the underarms, but I knew I was going to need something else to make up the rest of the body and sleeves.

Enter Gulf Coast native and Florida Cracker sheep three ply (circa 2022)-Aged to perfection in the stash 🙂

The spin was really nice, but the yarn was quite yellow-y (more than you can tell in the photo), so I’d thought for a while that I’d probably end up dyeing it eventually. Turns out, Thursday was the day!

Had one packet each of Malbec and Strawberry Wool Tinctures left, and so combined them in a dyebath and came up with a garnet-y shade that I’m really happy with

Got a little bit of resist effect from skein ties that I should have loosened, so will have to see how that plays out in the knitting. So far, I’m really liking the effect-

Now we’re down to the vast stretches of stockinette, with just a little shaping. I think that once it is functionally complete I’m going to do some embroidery on the white in the dyed yarn to kind of pull it together. Not sure what form that will take yet, though.

And to round out today’s post, I’ll leave you with some gratuitous garden veg photos

Alrighty folks- have a good week!