March 2024
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Before & After

Getting back to this after much procrastination, so I have quite a bit to add.  I have been thinking about what to add and have a nice list but, needed the time to get it done.  So first on my list is my before and after spinning/knitting show & tell:

This blue handspun                                              became  these Maine Morning Mitts  for Kerri. blue2

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Great for texting and keeping up with the world on fb during this crazy cold winter. 

Thisgreen-handspun-2 green/orange handspun blend                       became  this cowl scarf for Kristin.

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Great for going on hikes up in the mountains. 

Thisashford-joy-013  pink/grey blend                                                 became  this cute beret for Katie.

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To match her coat, and wear about town. 

This60-40-border-lieceser-angora-001  natural blend                                                                 became  this lace scarf for Cass.

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For dressing up or just for everyday neck warming .

And lastly this006-3  100% pure merino                                   became  this sport 2-ply  for Marianne.

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For her to knit into whatever her little heart desires. 

I have been working on more handspun/knitting & hopefully will be able to get to post more regularly about what is on the needles and goings on in my knitting life, but for now this is a good start.  Joyous Knitting everyone 🙂

“Practice” Spinning

During the last few months I have been trying to really practice at my spinning.  So the results of practicing since about July ending up like this:

green-handspun-1 Green/Orange Blend – I really have to take some more serious notes on what type of fiber, but as I was just “practicing”, I was spinning with whatever I had or could get my hands on, not thinking that I would actually use it for anything because I was just “practicing”.  Well this blend of light green/dark/green/orange spun up into a fairly thick 2 -ply, which I knitted into a cowl neck scarf for my daughter for Christmas.

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Blue Blend – This was spun on weekends up in the Catskills, also a 2-ply mid weight.  It was knitted into a pair of Maine Morning Mitts for my daughter-in-law also for Christmas.

60-40-border-lieceser-angora-0021 60/40 Border Leicester/Angora – This blend was spun into a lighter 2-ply about sport weight & then knitted into a scarf for my niece’s dearest friend.

I will post pictures of the finished objects as soon as I can get out to my other computer where I have these pictures stored.  It has turned into a frozen tundra around here this weekend and I would have to blast the heater in my studio if I dared to venture out into the cold, brrrr…..

Catching up

I have quite a bit to catch up on!  This holiday season really caught me by storm, not that any other holiday season is not a whirlwind, but this one really wiped me out.  So I guess I’ll start with an easy post about the LIKCG Charity Teddy Bears.

Anyone who wanted took home  bear to “dress” in any way you wanted.  The bears were then collected and judged, and I have to say that I took my pictures way too early because the tables were full of all different kinds of teddy bears.  The creativity was really amazing to see how different and interesting the bears turned out.

bears-2 bearsimg00106-20091209-2100So you can already guess which bear I dressed.

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I wanted my bear to be a for a girl, so I took a bunch of yarn in baby colors & made them into granny squares, and then using the bear as a model, just sewed them together so they would fit.  I alternated the squares in two rows for the back & fronts. Two squares sewn together became the tubes for sleeves. The edging was 1 row of sc, and then one row of ch3, sc around.  It was finished with a one button closure and the neck edges were tacked down to stay in place.  My goal was to end up with something cheerful.

Congrats to the winners of the contest, and to all who participated. All the bears were collected and they will be donated to a charity for children.

Spinning

handspun-light It seems that I may have found a way to relieve some of my holiday stress.

I have been learning to spin on & off over the course of this year seriously. I have a beautiful saxony wheel that my husband bought me as an anniversary gift some years ago, but I wasn’t really hitting it off with spinning until I got my Ashford Joy this past summer.

I really wanted to learn how to spin and have taken only one “real” beginners class last January, but have been reading a lot on my own and practicing almost every week.

I even took my wheels with me up to our campsite in the Catskills this summer for some uninterrupted quiet spinning & learning. I have found that I really love doing this.  It is so relaxing, once I took the advice of my friend, Delia, who told me to “just let it go” and not to put so much thought into it, and stop holding on to the fiber with the grip of an alligator.

I know I still have quite a bit to learn but here are some pics of my recently spun yarn:

The grey is 60/40 Border Leicester Angora Blend & the blue is unknown fiber content from spinning class samples.

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My Knitting Nirvana

So I guess I have to start somewhere and for me the best place to be at any time of the day is in my knitting studio, my knitting nirvana.

my-studio

I have been knitting as long as I can remember and during all those years have accumulated a nice size stash.  I say nice size because one can never have too much stash, there will always be the need for more.

Then if there is always the need for more, there will always be the need to have the space to store it in.  Makes sense, no?

Well in my entire life I have never had what you might call or refer to as a room of my own.  I am the second child of five, so I grew up always sharing a room with my sisters.  Then moved on to be married and have shared a room with my love for going on 34 years now. Scary isn’t it….

my-stash

Until last year when my husband and I cleared out half of our two car garage and converted it into my knitting studio. I think it may have been out of desperation as we had moved to a much smaller house since the kids had all grown up and moved out.  But all my stuff came with me from the big house in Queens to the small house in East Meadow.

I still haven’t got it all organized quite the way I want it. I guess if you keep acquiring more stash, there will always be the need to organize more.  Which only makes me happier because then I get to spend more time in my favorite place, my knitting nirvana.

Geez, what took me so long

Finally about to emerge on the blogging world with what is happening in my knitting nirvana adventures.