Fiber Retreat

WOW! I had a fabulous time at a fiber retreat, in Crookston MN. Lots of stuff going on, tons of wheels to see, beautiful quilting being done, knitting and A bit of weaving too.

I will share a few pictures of the event. I won't hesitate to attend again but man was I tired when I got home ; ) I don't sleep well if at all, when I am away from home. Each night there were a few late night owls to hang out with and early risers to get up with too, so I had company when I couldn't sleep. There were things like fiber and hand spun yarns for sale. I resisted the temptation. There were tons of books to look at and projects all laid out for show and tell. Lots of lovely work being done.

Here we have a couple women from the Brainerd area.


Betty and Donna, Spinning and knitting


Molly Spinning


Ruth Weaving


Lovely Reeves Saxony Wheel


Stripping wool fabric for weaving, see the additional large workroom

Yarn CAKE!

So I promised you a picture of the yarn I wound with my new Strauch ball winder.

In the mean time I have been trying to explain to my children why it wasn't really a ball. They kept arguing with me about it not being a ball at all! Well I said they actually call it a "CAKE". Then why is the contraption called a ball winder and not a CAKE winder???? hehehe Kids... Now I can't wait to knit with it. I am hoping to cast on for some fingerless gloves this weekend at the fiber retreat I will be attending.

Well Here it is, the CAKE I made with my new ball winder. I think it is just so pretty and fun to look at.

Magic Stripes

I started this pair of socks last fall, it was only my second pair, but it got put onto the back burner because I then decided to make Christmas socks for my whole family.

I am glad these are finally done and they fit very nicely. I am very proud of the fact that I matched the stripes up perfectly, so that I have a matched pair. For the second sock, I had to wind off a nice little ball to get to the pattern repeat and even had to splice in again near the toe as I ran out of yarn.

Ball Winder and Swift

Since I have now spun 3 whole skeins of my own yarn, I decided I needed a ball winder.
I have had my eye on the Strauch Ball Winder and I ordered it a few weeks ago. I wound my first wonderful Cake on it this weekend.

Today I will share a picture of the ball winder itself. I love the look of it. Seems like such a simple gadget but it does such impressive work. I am so happy to have ordered it.
Oh and the tabletop swift that my DD made for me in wood shop worked like a charm! So being a proud mom, I will show off her handy work also.

If you are wanting to see the yarn cake, pop back for a look later this week!

Friday PrOn Photo Shoot

Well it is socks again! I know I am rather boring.
Look below for some wonderful fiber PrOn if you want some excitement!
I am such a newbie knitter, that I don't knit much other than socks at this point. But I do intend to push myself to knit some sort of a top, this summer.
I will be showing a knitting friend how to do magic loop this next weekend, and so I wanted to get at least one sock to the point of picking up the gusset. That is the most confusing part, I think. This yarn that I cast on yesterday is interesting in that it is a confetti pattern and I have not knit with that style before. I like the little blotches of color it is making. It is a yarn I purchased last August on our family Vacation to Canada. Looks like it will be a nice pair of socks.

Fibery Delight

Oh what a fun bunch of mail I have gotten lately. Yesterday my Strauch ball winder and some beautiful fiber arrived. Last Friday I also got lovely fibers in the mail. I will certainly have plenty of fun fiber to spin when I go on retreat next weekend. I can't wait to get my hands on it.

I ordered this first fiber from the woolery along with my ball winder, it is 8 oz. of wool top called "Brick"

Next up is some fiber I received for Christmas, from my Cousin, It is 8 oz's of a pencil roving, it is called "Burning Bush"

I am thinking of plying these first 2 fibers together once they are spun???

Next is 8 oz's of a lovely Blue Alpaca/Glitz blend I ordered from the Little Barn, it is simply called "Country Blue"

Last is this 8oz's of Black wool/silk blend, again from the Little Barn, they call it , "Extrodinary Throwsters Tweed Black"

This Black is the same type of fiber I used for my Blue Jeans and Roses Skein.

I think I will be wanting to use some of this black to make a scarf. I have a new wool Jacket that I picked up at the thrift store and it needs a dark scarf. We will see what it spins up like.

Christmas socks are done

Well I finally finished the last of my Christmas socks, today. Darling Hubby will wear his socks tomorrow. It has been terrible cold, here in MN the last few weeks and I wish I would have had these socks done sooner. My hubby is a letter carrier and he has never had a pair of wool socks. I think he may be surprised.
I can't wait to hear how he likes them, after wearing them out in the cold for a day.
He told me when I made him try them on, that they were too nice to wear to work, that he would only wear them around the house.
I said, "the hell you will!"
hehehe I am sure he will be begging me for more shortly.
They look a bit loose on his legs, in the picture but they really don't seem loose when I slipped them on him ; )

So here they are:

Sunshine and Smiles

Well the sun is shining so beautifully this morning, it is making for a happy day, even though it is frigid cold here in Minnesota. I took advantage of the great lighting and have more pictures of my newest handspun yarn. I am still loving this yarn and can't wait to knit it up. I am excited to share the pretty skein with my guild group next week and then I am free to cast on.

The stats on this yarn are:
460 yards
166 grams
14 WPI, Which puts this yarn in the DK category.
(however there are many thinner area's in the skein and I think overall, I would call this yarn Sport weight) It should make some great socks. I think sport weight is going to be my favorite sock yarn choice. However, I have not made enough socks yet to be sure.

Blue Jeans and Roses

Well I plied my yarn this weekend and it is so nice. Of coarse I am smitten simply because it is my first color play ; )
I have already named the colorway "Blue Jeans and Roses"

It is not completely dry so the pictures are just casual shots of it hanging around. hehe
I will twist it into a proper skein later in the week and put up some additional pics.
I just couldn't contain myself and had to share.

Originally it was going to be a pair of felted slippers, but the yarn is much to fine for that. I think it will be perfect for socks. I will give all the details of weight, yardage and WPI... in the next post.

Spinning the Blues Away

Well I am so in love with how this blue fiber has come out. I am ready to ply this now, to that aqua/pink from a week or so ago. I am so excited to see the surprise outcome. I am sure it will end up thick and thin as I just let this wool/silk do it's own thing. Anyone got any comments or predictions on how these 2 will look together? I have never plied 2 different yarns together yet. OH the suspense is killing me.