Piece Out

I found I just needed a little break from shawl knitting.  I was looking though my collection of patterns and books by Stephen West and my husband saw this hat and said "oh, I'd wear that hat".   Wa la......decision made on pattern......now the yarn choice.     

Since this was going to be his hat, he wanted to pick out the colors and of course it had to be from one of our animals.  So off to the basement we went.  He picked out this yarn that has a very muted, earthy look.   He thought the color was very "man-ly".

Then we needed to find accent colors.  I don't know about you but it seems I have a never ending supply of left over yarns from various projects.  He selected his colors and his new hat was on my needles in no time.  He was very willing to be my model.......

This was a very simple and quick knit.  Just what I needed as a break from what seems like never ending shawl patterns and I have a very happy husband.....win win!

On the spinning front......

Last week I shared my current project for the Tour de Fleece.  I thought it was going to take forever to get all three singles spun, but I'm happy to say, this is not the case.  Once I had the suri/merino roving done and moved on to "top", it's moved along quickly.

This is what my bobbin liked like on Wednesday but after yesterday it's almost full.  Woot, woot!  The plan for today is to "getter done" and start plying.

Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe weekend and we'll see you next week.

Tour Time

Yep.....the Tour de Fleece is in full swing again.    Of course I'm back on the Team of Wonder and the best part of the Tour is seeing all the fantastic yarns that are being created.

In my last post, I shared the last of my Yarn Hollow roving that needed to be spun.  My first priority was to get this done to free up my bobbins. 

 

This turned out to be the most colorful, fun yarn I've ever spun. Ssssssh, don't tell my team mates, I am on the Alpaca lovin fiber team after all.  It's Merino Superwash in two colorways,  Spumoni and Bengal Bees, finished yarn is DK and 284 yds.   I absolutely LOVE this yarn

I'm currently spinning some of my Suri/Merino that I dyed a nutmeg color. 

My plan is to spin a 3 ply yarn using these three roving's. 

Notice the use of the word "plan". This is the first time I've ever considered spinning a 3 ply yarn and the first time I've spun so thin.  I figure it will take me the rest of the Tour and beyond to complete.   I'm hoping I can stay the course.

I'm also moving along nicely on my Stripe Study shawl using a skein of the 100% suri lace weight yarn I dyed last week.  I'm pairing it with a purple merino/silk skein of Cascade Heritage fingering weight. 

KellyJ suggested using the different yarn weights and I must admit I was concerned about how it was going to knit up but she's very persuasive.  She said "have I ever steered you wrong".......trust me"!   Once again....she was right.  I'm loving how it's looking.

I've completed five of the 12 rows the pattern calls for.  I have another skein of the purple on hold at Your Local Yarn Shop encase I decide to make it larger cause I'm not sure how using lace and fingering together will affect the size.

So that's my week in review...... just want to leave you with a couple of pics that brought a smile to my face when I got home from work yesterday. 

New addition to pasture, 1995 Buick

Your know your a redneck if......

We don't have lovely green pastures on our farm but more importantly, for our alpacas and goats in this heat, we have shade, lots of beautiful shade.  After hosing down the alpacas, my husband decided to wash our second car and just closed it in the pasture for the night.......safety first.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday