Zahara - help with ears

I've recently had a question regarding help with grafting the ears closed.



See that cute little ear, and the way the tip of it looks like the knitting just continues right over the tip? That's actually the grafting, otherwise known as the kitchener stitch.


Once you've finished the decreases for the ears you are left with 6 sts. Make sure you have 3 stitches on one dpn and 3 sts on another dpn. Then you would graft the opening closed the way you would the toe of a sock.

Knitty has a good tutorial that may help.

I've also found this YouTube tutorial by KnittingHelp for those of you who prefer your tutorials with moving pictures rather than stills.

Hope this helps!

Dyed Locks

I'm prepping some raw Merino cross fleece for spinning. These locks are not as soft and smooshy as pure Merino, but they have considerable lustre! I'm working out a new colour work pattern for mittens and need several colors.

Into the dye pots (well mason jars, actually) to get two shades of pink, some green, orangey yellow and orange.



These are the same dark pink locks from the first photo, I've separated them and will flick the tips open before I spin them.



The green is actually from a Merino fleece - it's just a small sample. The bulk of the yarn for this particular project will be green and I love how this Merino fleece feels! I wasn't sure how best to obtain the precise green I wanted - hence the sampling.



Here's a few one yard 3ply samples that I spun from various blends of dyed fleece and undyed fleece. My fav is the one second from the left.

I'll also need light brown (sampled above), black and white. The black will be from some Shetland fleece I've recently washed and the white from some Merino lamb leftover from this dyeing project with B.

Incidently, all this fun is for Episode 3 of Project Spinway...

An Oddly Shaped piece of knitting

My fuzzy lamb was in need of a little cardigan before he goes off to live with a neice or nephew. After scouring Ravelry for a freebie, I made this:


Odd, no?

But with a bit of seaming magic, we have this:


It's the Mini Corolle Coat found on Ravelry. I used some leftovers from this mitten project for the little cardi.


Looks good on the wee lamb!

Phat Laceweight

I spun like a mad woman for the later part of this week. And had an all day plying marathon on Saturday, but my Phat Laceweight is finished (and I made the check-in for Project Spinway)



The finished yarn is soft, colourful, luxurious, green, jewel toned. The shine from the milk, silk and bamboo takes my breath away. The sparkle makes me smile. The yarn is wildly varied and yet a cohesive whole at the same time. It has turned out just as I’d hoped, but is even more beautiful than I could have wished for.



This is one Honkin’ skein of Phat laceweight!
930 yards, 24 wpi, 6.4 oz



I enjoyed this challenge immensely, despite being pressed for time. I used about two thirds of each Phat Fiber Sample from my check-in picture and about 7/8th of the eXtreme Spinning batt. I intend to spin up the rest of the Phat Samples and the last bit of the eXtreme Spinning batt. I expect to get another 130yds.

I did say I love this yarn, didn't I?

Lace Weight without Effort

Have I said how much I love my new Thumbelina?! I can spin laceweight on it without any difficulty. It's so much fun.

After sampling a few days ago, I decided to make laceweight yarn with these fibers.



Here's what I have so far.



That's half the eXtreme Spinning batts and about 1/3 of the Phat samples. I need to have my spinning finished for Project Spinway on Saturday, so hopefully I can carve a little more spinning time out of the week. Plying will be for Saturday. I expect it will take a considerable amount of time to ply 50wpi singles!

Fuzzy Lamb

My Fuzzy Mitten Lamb is finished.



I didn't sew the limbs on the way the pattern suggested. I think the photo included with the pattern has sewn them on differently too. I used a mattress stitch to put everything together. (This is a great tutorial for seaming toys)



B suggested he needed a little lamby tail too. I think he might need a little cardigan too. Then he'll be a coated Corriedale! I can't wait until I spin up some white fleece I got this summer. Hopefully it will be enough for another Fuzzy Mitten Lamb.

Lamb Parts

The Fuzzy Mitten Lamb has been the perfect project for the last few days. It takes up very little space and I can work on an arm or a leg while waiting in the van for the kids. I've got most of the parts completed.



Just one more ear, and then I'll sew him up. I'm very pleased with the face. I used plastic safety eyes from 6060 on Etsy and some Knitpicks Palette in "Blush" for the face embroidery.


Fun, Cute and Quick! I think I'll be making more of these.

Lamby Legs

I've just found the cutest lamb pattern ever. Barbara Prime's Fuzzy Mitten Lamb. I love his lamby little face. The pattern is written for knitting flat, but as I'm not a fan of seaming, I'm knitting it in the round.



Look at the little lamby legs! Aren't they just the cutest?

More lamby parts to come!

I'm using some corrie handspun and some of my first handcarded handspun!

Sampling for some spinning

I've got a few things I want to spin together. Two smoothly blended batts from eXtreme Spinning and severl Phat Fiber Samples. Several of my samples are from Phat Fiber artists who also contributed to the Celery Spindies Paintbox. (Sadly Spindies has put their Paintboxes on hold for the time being).
These are the samples yarns I've come up with: laceweight, worsted weight, bulky weight and dk weight.









I think it's pretty cool that 4 completely different yarns can be made from the same fibers. Which one do you like best?

I love blocking lace

There is magic that happens when you take a lump of knitting, soak it, gently squeeze the excess water from it and pin it to your blocking board.

I always find it breath taking!




Pre blocking: 17.5" x 27"
While blocking: 27" x 58"

I expect it will pull in some once it is freed from its pins.

Brandywine again...

I've decided to knit a shawl for a friend who needs a bit of a pick-me-up. She had commented a few times on my Peacock Brandywine shawl so I knew I wanted to knit a triangular shawl. I wanted to use a skein of handspun, but I didn't want any lace patterning to be lost in the color changes of the yarn.



After browsing Ravelry for hours, and favoriting more than several shawls, I decided to knit Brandywine again. I love it and I love how the garter stitch portion shows off handspun yarn so beautifully.

I was working the Ontario provincial election yesterday from 8am to 9pm and managed to squeeze in several rows throughout the day. I finished Chart A.



Should be able to find lots of knitting time over the weekend. I hope to block it by Sunday night!

Oops, I almost forgot

The final check-in for Project Spinway was due September 26th. And I did check in, I just forgot to post my presentation here.

For this check-in we were to present our finished yarns and a real-life (not celeb or supermodel) that embodies the spirit of our fantasy project.

So...
Here's my final presentation.