Ah, April!

What a month!

This picture shows the flooding in our yard from the quick spring melt and the accompanying rain. This is actually not a lake, but our side yard (notice the kids' play structure). The canoe was actually next to the barn, but high winds blew it into the driveway, so I dragged it into the yard and tied it to the swingset for safe keeping. It looks suspiciously like a lake here, but thankfully it has dried up now! We have even got the garden tilled and ready for planting (seen here, underwater!).

I have been having a yarn sale in my etsy shop for Hand Dyed sock yarns. I have sold a fair amount, which means that I have been having a good time dyeing more! I really do enjoy playing with color! I have also been crocheting a purse out of handspun. I am very pleased with it and hope to finish it soon! I don't crochet very much, because for most things I prefer the look of knitting, but I learned to crochet as a small child and so whenever I do, it is very soothing and relaxing for me, a very natural motion.

Alpaca

March came in like a lion and left like a lion! Today is kind of yucky- all grey and rainy, with lots of high winds, but it is warmer! There is hope! There is also a huge "lake" in my side yard since the ground is frozen but the snow is melting...

I have been playing with fiber these past few weeks! Just Friday I called a local alpaca farm that I knew about and asked if I could trade handspinning services for fiber. I was able to bring home a first year alpaca blanket (the best bits of the fleece) to spin. It is a brown and white mix and I am carding the colors together. There are about 12 ounces, now that it is washed. I will keep half, then take the other half back to the farm. Hopefully, they will like it! This is from last year's clip, I think they like to send two years worth together when they have it processed into yarn. The fleece is so soft, but it has a lot of second cuts that I have had to pick out!

I just received yesterday some mill end rovings that I ordered. They are fabulous! I guess I will be dyeing some up tomorrow! Being able to sell some of this stuff gives me more freedom to play with color and to dye a bunch at once! It is so much fun. I hope that my buyers enjoy it as much as I enjoy doing it. I enjoy dyeing the yarn just as much, it just costs more, so I am a little more cautious.

Brenda

Spring?

I dyed this pretty green yarn on the first day of spring since looking outside I see mostly snow! There are more birds around, etc. so there is hope!

I have been dyeing quite a bit this week, but not so much knitting. I have put in a little time with the pillow. I really am going to finish it soon! With school vacation going on, I don't have much time to sit down (I guess I could knit standing ...).

My etsy shop has new yarns and rovings, if you want to check them out there.

Busy dyeing!

I got a shipment of wool at the end of last week, so I have been busy dyeing lately! It is so fun to play. I have been doing some batches of wool where I dye it, then blend it with other colors and fibers on my drumcarder. I enjoy the results.

As for the pictures, I call the purple roving "Amethyst" and the orange one "Autumn". The "Autumn" colorway was a lot of fun because I started out with a beautiful white roving streaked with brown, so the brown continues throughout while the other colors are fading in and out!

As for knitting, I have nearly finished the pillow project that has taken forever. Yesterday, my chiropractor said "Are you still knitting that?" I mostly work on it while I am waiting in offices, etc. so it really has taken awhile...

Felted Mobius Basket

Things have been crazy! The kids had a week off of school, and 3 out of 4 of them spent time sick over the last week and a half. Thing 3 was home from school yesterday because she was feeling unwell. Thankfully they are all on the mend!

I knitted this mobius basket over a couple of days mid February. It was quick and fun. It really makes a cute little basket. The yarn is some of my own hand dyed yarn in the "Flame" colorway. This worsted weight yarn really felts well.

I finally have been making some progress on my neglected, unfinished shrug that I posted a picture of not too long ago. I am hoping to finish it soon!

Brenda

On the mend

I am off the crutches, but my foot is still sore. I think I am ready to let my chiropractor touch it:). I have fallen arches, so foot pain isn't an entirely new thing to me...that is probably much more than you really want to know about me, isn't it?

The "Ocean toes" sock is progressing nicely. It is pleasant enough to knit, as long as no one is vying for my attention! I just have maybe half of the foot, then the toe left. I'll have a picture soon.

Actually, the exciting thing for me today, is some of my handspun yarn was selected to be in an Etsy Treasury here:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=28169

You have to look fast, this one expires on Wednsday. It features EtsyFast artists. I have enjoyed my time in EtsyFast (fiber arts street team). I do love all things fiber, so it is fun to check out what everyone else has been making!

Have a great day!

Brenda

p.s. Here is a photo of the selected yarn. I wish I could include everyone else's stuff too!

I tried to like cross-country skiing...

Saturday was the perfect day to spend some time playing outside. After lunch, my husband asked me if I wanted to go out cross-country skiing with him. I was glad to go, the weather outside was reasonable, we had a fresh coating of snow on top of a layer of ice, and it is nice to do something now and then that doesn't involve the kids! However, the fun ended when my ski went under a branch frozen to the ground and as I was turning, I fell over to the side. Although my knee and ankle followed me to the side, my foot was forced to stay somewhat upright. Which is to say that I hurt my left foot and I couldn't put weight on it. My husband (kindly) went back to the house, got a sled, and pulled me home. Nothing broken, just a small sprain, not a lot of swelling. I have graduated from two crutches to one already, and I can limp across the room with no crutch at all for a limited amount of time (I'm not actually sure if that is good for my foot...).

This of course means that I got a fair amount of knitting done on Saturday! This yarn is a fingering weight sock yarn that I hand painted when I was refining microwave dyeing for a class that I taught. I am knitting "Ocean Toes" socks from Cat Bordhi's newest sock book. I am not sure what I think of them yet. I do think that the color contrasts in my yarn are covering up the texture in the knitting more than I would like. This pattern also requires me to pay careful attention at least every other row. So it will take me a while to finish. I have started the increases after the cuff.

One thing that I found out while waiting to be rescued when I couldn't walk out of the woods, is that my mittens that I finished not long ago are very warm. Even just standing in the cold, my fingers stayed toasty. That was very nice, believe me!