Current Projects

I am horribly guilty of starting new projects before I finish the current ones in progress. I have a lot of big plans for future projects, so these are the things I need to finish before I get there.

1. Feel Pretty Scarf - This one is a commission project I'm working on, in a lovely purple yarn that is great to work with. I'm about 1/8th of the way through it, so this one will probably be finished first.

2. Alpaca spinning project - this one will be an ongoing project and one that won't be finished before I get started on my planned stuff, but it's also an awesome project! I'm hand carding and spinning 6 fleeces, hopefully by the end of summer but we'll see how that goes.

3. Socks - This one is the Skew pattern, and I'm doing these 2 at a time, so they should also be fairly fast. I think I'm about halfway through the foot, and I haven't started the heels yet.

4. Catoctin Shawl - I seriously only have the border to do on this one. It's a knitted on border (meaning one row of border is one stitch off the length of the border, if that makes any sense at all) so it's taking forever... over 700 stitches give or take and it's slow going. I just need to suck it up and finish it already.

5. A BIG shawl- I may have bit off a bit more than I can chew currently with this one. It's a Shetland shawl, so it's constructed center out, and I currently only have a small portion of the center done. This one might end up in WIP land for a while while I work on everything else and be picked up later...

I think that's everything pressing right now. So, not a LOT of projects, but it's involved. Hooray for motivation to finish and get going on my new plans!

Hand Spinning: Part 1, Carding and Prepping Fiber

For those who might not know, hand carding is the process used to comb out fibers in preparation for spinning. For alpaca, it's a different process than with wool- the fibers are longer and finer (typically) and not coated in tons of lanolin, so they aren't washed first. There are a few spinners out there who WILL wash alpaca before spinning, and it's really more a matter of personal preference. I prefer not to wash before spinning and instead wash after the yarn is complete. In my opinion, this produces a much softer finished product. Here is how I process the raw fleece into something I can spin.

First off, gather supplies. For this post, I am using a raw (not processed) white alpaca fleece. It came in a bag, from a wonderfully obliging alpaca named Annie. She's very soft, I love this fleece!

So soft! Annie is lovely :) 

Of course, you'll also need a hand carder- this one is called a "flick carder" and comes as a single brush, rather than a set of two like other carders. You will probably also want some kind of covering for your lap, something like a bit of leather or some canvas, to protect your jeans. Mine is one I made over the past week or so (see this post) made from two layers of canvas duck cloth.

I was using my carder a little bit before I took this picture, hence the fluff. 

If you're doing this indoors (like I am, I have pollen allergies so it's not fun to be outdoors right now) I would also recommend putting down an old towel or something to catch the stuff (dirt, grass, etc) that will inevitably fall out of the fibers.

Okay, time to get started! The fiber will look like this to start with. See the weird clumps? Those are called "locks". They don't look super fluffy yet, and since they are dirty and stuck together you can't spin them yet. 

Papercuts and alpaca locks, it's a good day!

In the above photo, it doesn't look like there is a lot there, but that's a lot more than you want to card at once. Separate some locks so you have a small section- about the size of your thumb. 

About thumb size across is what you're looking for.

Okay, almost ready to start. Grab your locks by the dirty end (that's where they are stuck together more) and hold tight. Like this:

In your other hand, grab your flick carder. Yeah, it looks pointy and kinda intimidating, but it's really quite friendly! Hold it like this:

See how my thumb is sticking out? Awesome! That's so I have more control over the pressure and speed I am carding with. Feel free to experiment with this, I haven't found a wrong way to hold it yet!

Time to start carding! Hold tight to the fibers (probably tighter than you think- the flick carder pulls HARD) and comb through the end of your locks. Always go with the direction the hair is already going, that avoids tangles and matting and general unpleasantness cleaning out the flick carder later. 

I know, my thumb isn't in this picture... I had to take the picture somehow, right?

You'll need to do more than one stroke. I like to rock the flick carder so there is more contact throughout the points. Just be careful... I've caught my fingers in those combs more than once and it really hurts!

Once you've done about 4-6 strokes the locks will look something like this:

IT'S SO FLUFFY!

Now its all done on that side! See how fluffy it got? That's good! Flick carding aligns the fibers and fluffs them out some so you can spin it easily later. Here's a good picture of how the fibers align:

Poof! :) 

Okay, I'll stop playing with the poofyness... gather the poofy side with your other hand so none escapes and then hold it like you were before- nice and tight so nothing gets away! This time the dirtier ends will be showing. 

This side tends to be a little harder to card through, so be patient and eventually those will open up and get all poofy as well. And tada! You're finished with your first set of locks! I like to put mine in a fabric-lined basket to be spun later. 

Finished locks.

Some problems you might run into while carding are larger bits of stuff. Here's a piece of grass I found in one of my locks. It won't hurt the flick carder, but go ahead and pick it out anyway, cause the big bits of grass aren't fun to run into while spinning. The smaller bits... well, they're so common and don't matter as much so go ahead and leave those in. They'll fall out while you spin. 

Hey look! Flora in my fauna!

Remember the towel I recommended for indoors? Yeah... this is what mine looked like three locks in:

Eeew... 

One other tidbit of advice: when you are carding you might notice that the carder picks up random bits of fluff as well, like this:

This really isn't a big deal, though it does get to be a pain. Most of what is in there is grass, but the fiber you see is typically really short pieces and coarser hairs. You can definitely keep those if you want to and try carding them or combing them out to use as well, though I prefer to just discard those bits. Again, it will look like a lot, but a whole fleece is ~3 POUNDS of fiber so the few ounces you throw out like this don't make much of a difference. Besides, the finished yarn ends up being super soft, and since that is usually my goal it's worth it!

I will be adding onto this tutorial with a few different spinning techniques and ways to finish up yarn! Stay tuned! :) 

Completed Embroidery!

I finished my project! As from my previous post, this was just a practice run to refresh my embroidery skills. The finished product is a protective pad I can put on my lap while I flick card (I'll be doing another post on how that works later).

Here is a closeup of the finished embroidery:

And a picture of the finished pad with my flick carder on top!

I can't wait to get started on the next phase of my project! (Alpaca... mmmmm it's calling my name!!)

A First Attempt at Historic Embroidery

With my growing interest in historic textiles, I figured it was time I started delving in head first. This is my first project. Basically, what I needed was a tough piece of material to put over my leg while I card alpaca (prep for spinning it into yarn, for those who might not know... I'll do another post about it soon!). If not... I have a feeling my jeans would be a bit worn in odd places!

Here's what I did: I cut out two pieces of canvas duck cloth fabric (it's a little heavier than regular canvas, either that or I just ended up with really nice quality stuff) about 14.5" by 11.5". I then marked a 1/2" seam allowance around both pieces so I could fold it in and stitch it together. Nice and easy leg protection! But, knowing me, the plain fabric was boring so I needed a bit of embellishment. For my purposes, it would be more of a border than anything else, but still necessary. Here is the plain fabric, before I chose a pattern:

Then it was the quest for a pattern. I did a bunch of research from different periods and cultures on my Pinterest boards lately (here is the link if anyone is interested) and I settled on a 12th century Sicilian embroidery design. After some playing around I eventually got it traced on my fabric so it looked something like this:

I really liked the contrast of the black pen (yeah, I know, I should use a fabric pencil... I couldn't fine mine). I decided to go ahead and continue with the black/cream contrast and found some black sewing thread. I wasn't sure what kind of stitch I wanted to do with it, but jumped right in with a plain satin stitch and LOVE the result! It's not super fancy, but still gets me some decent (needed) practice on a basic stitch.

Yes, I know... my embroidery skills need a lot of work. That's why I'm getting practice! :)

Just a Quick Update

Lots of exciting things going on lately!

Life is always a bit crazy with two busy little girls... but it's so much fun! Miss Q is getting bigger by the second, and often shows off her smarts (with a pinch of sass). Here she is doing her best to give the tree his stick back-

Miss C is already a bit over 1 year old! I can hardly believe how big she has gotten... she doesn't quite walk yet but managed to stand on her own in the Post Office today looking more than a bit shocked. She's such a ham- I always get a smile for the camera! Here she is, testing out her new shoes (which squeak when she walks!)-

As for myself, I am still working hard with my Etsy shop (check out my store here). I've changed my construction a little bit so the bags are sturdier and also added several new designs! I'm really excited to add my next shape- I am waiting for some word back from my wonderful bag testers. (If you actually *do* check out the link and see something you like... I have free shipping going on for the next week: FREESHIP is the code for that.)

I have also become more and more interested in historical textiles, so there will probably be a lot more posts on those in the nearish future. It depends on how a few things work out, but I am hoping to be able to go back to school this fall as well! 

We also moved recently. New apartment, new ideas, new hobbies... it's been a wonderful and exciting summer so far!

Crescent Originals

Crescent Originals is my newest venture into the world of self-employment. I re-opened my Etsy store back in November, and have been holding off blogging about it until I knew where I was going with it.

My little shop is stocked with all kinds of knitting accessories! I specialize in project bags with a unique twist- no two bags are alike, and each bag has a window in the handle so you can write what project is inside. If you knit like I do... there are usually three or four projects in bags floating around and it's easy to lose track of which one is where, and the handy window eliminates shuffling through bags, unzipping and zipping until you find what you're after. I've also branched out a little bit and have drawstring bags, needle cases, pencil bags, mini notions bags (they snap!) and soon there will also be stitch markers! I've also been working on a shawl pattern, though I am unsure if this one will end up in the shop. Time will tell.

I'm very proud to say the store has been doing FANTASTICALLY! I had set a goal that by the end of the year I would have enough revenue that I could potentially have a booth at the Estes Park Wool Market- the paperwork needs to be in sometime in December... and I figured if I was doing alright I would go ahead and be a vendor! In the first four months of being open, my sales have gone far beyond my wildest dreams- I have almost made my year end goals already, and will be picking up my paperwork for Wool Market 2015 when I head to Estes in June this year.

This will mean a lot of work! I have outlined what I would like to be taking with me and boy howdy do I have my work cut out for me. I'm definitely looking forward to all that needs done- idle hands being my kryptonite... I tend to get depressed when I'm not making or doing something. Pretty much all of my sewing is done after my girls head to bed, leaving a couple hours per day that I can work at the machine. I'm super happy that there has been so much interest already!

Thank you to everyone who has looked through my store and ordered something (or just looked)! Please feel free to message me anytime!

Did you read the post? The whole post? :) Yay!! Like my page on Facebook and stay updated on the newest things headed into the shop, as well as contests and giveaways! There's even the occasional coupon code!

The things my daughter says...

Wiggles is 15 months old now, and has really started to find her voice. She's moved beyond just the mind-erasing ear-shattering screams to actually start to express what she wants with words. Granted, most of her words can't be found in a dictionary but she is able to at least usually get us to understand her. :)

Here are a few things that she says (with translations!):

"I dot dis!" - I got this! (typically in reference to a toy, usually a stuffed animal)
"Peas zhoos?" - Please, juice?
"Oooh dat!" - Oh, I like that!
"Whassis?" - What's this?
"Oooooh yesh!" - Oh yes! (Happy, and in response to questions she doesn't know how to answer.)
"Feesh!" - Fish!! (the doctor's office has a fishtank, and the fish are highly entertaining for her.)

And my personal favorite: "Nekkid peegies?" - "Naked piggies?" This one stems from me putting socks on her and once telling her she needed socks because her piggies were all naked! For some reason this is the one phrase she has really picked up on. I'm thankful she only says it to me, in the morning, while putting on socks. Hopefully she doesn't start pointing at people's feet in sandals and telling them their piggies are naked this summer.

She still uses her words like "dis" and "dat" to point to various things for identification. She also makes up words and babbles for specific objects. It's such good fun listening to her talk, even if ninety percent of it is mere babbling.