Tag: Fiber Arts

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FAF – Heat Wave

Well I’m a Fiber Arts Friday slacker this week.  Not that I haven’t been playing with fiber but I have not taken any photos of my work.

Right now I have a some alpaca/wool on my wheel that my MIL dyed a while back.  I’ve been saving it for Tour de Fleece.  I’ll spare you the artist renditions this time.

What I can show you is what is on my needles.  I’m still working away at the cowl when I’m not spinning.  Since TdF is taking most of my time I’ve been going very slowly at the knitting end of things but it is about 1/3-1/2 done.

Big thank you to everyone who suggested I learn the Norwegian Purl Stitch.   It has cut my slow knitting time in half if not more.  Here’s a short video of me with my new stitch.

Lastly here’s a photo of one of my dogs, Brindee, napping by the lake last week.  Oh what I wouldn’t give to be back up in the mountains right now with all this heat this week.

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Fiber Arts Friday – Shearing and Skirting

It was a long wait through some hot days but all of our alpacas are finally shorn!  I mentioned a while back that I attended the shearing clinic up at Jay Ward’s place this spring and I got my chance to do some more hands on shearing on my own animals.  I made the mistake of saving the last 3 animals for myself to shear.  My legs were shaking from fatigue after wrestling all the alpacas before them as the header.

My lovely shearer Chris Hatch was so kind to coach me though and gave me great tips on how he runs his pattern and handles all the smaller cria and tui jobs.  Thank you Chris and good luck in the alpaca shearing contest!

Of course after shearing you end up with bags upon bags of fiber everywhere!  12 animals time 3 bags each equals 36 bags stuffed with fluffy fiber.  So, I’ve been working my way through all the bags skirting them on my new skirting table.  Picking out VM as well as changes in color, guard hair, and consistency.  Which means I’ve created even more bags of fiber! (FYI The red on the cria’s nose is loose minerals, she looks like Rudolf though)

The good news? Those folks that participated in our Raw Alpaca Fiber CSA… your fleeces have been skirted, packaged and shipped out already!  You should get them soon! For those of you still wishing to take part in our CSA we do have full and half shares for Spinners and Yarn left! Check out our Etsy Store for details.

Oh yeah, last but not least progress has once again been made on the alpaca fan shawl.  I’m on pattern row 29 of 30! I was worried that 30 pattern rows would not stretch out enough for my wingspan but I think I might be ok.  We’ll see.  Worst case I might add 2 more pattern rows.

So what have you Fiber Arts Friday folks been up to?

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WIP: Shawl and Crochet Tutorial

Reading through some posts from Fiber Arts Friday last week I noticed some questions from folks new to crochet.  The question: How do you hold your work and control tension?

Since I’m still working on my alpaca shawl I thought I’d grab a couple of photos to show how I hold my work.

I like to run the yarn over my index, under my middle and over my ring and pinky.  I found this method works the best for me both knitting continental style and for crochet.  If I tried any other combination I ended up having to take my wedding band off because the yarn would get stuck in it.

For crochet I let the yarn stay far back on my index finger.  I like to reach for the yarn and snag it with the hook.  If I’m continental knitting I’ll move the yarn up past the 1st knuckle so I can control it easier and move my finger back and forth so I can knit and purl without having to change positions.

Starting Chain Tip: If you’re new to crochet and have problem with your initial chain and then attempting the next row try this.  Use a hook 2x as big as what you will be using on your project for the initial chain.  That will prevent you from making the tension in your starting chain too tight and make your 2nd row much easier to complete.

Hope this helps!

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Fiber Arts Friday – Skirting Table

Guess what, it rained, again, which meant indoor projects. I don’t have a skirting table so it seemed like something worth tackling.  Especially since our shearing is coming up soon.

Supply list

(4) Elbows
(2) T’s
(5) 5’ sections of 1.5” PVC pipe
(1) PVC Glue
(1) 10’ roll of ½” hardware cloth
Lots of cable ties

The hubby was kind enough to help me through the math to get all pipe to the right lengths. He also assisted with a few extra hands to glue everything together but getting the hardware cloth on was all up to me.  That took quite awhile and I have a few stab marks on my arms from the process but it’s done! 

It is 5’ x 5’10” so I should easily be able to get a whole fleece out on it for skirting.  I’m planning on setting it up on a few saw horses that way I don’t have to worry about legs and storage.  A flat table can easily be put away.

I’ve also been working away on my alpaca shawl.  This is it’s “parked” state for the photo.  I have 19 out of 30 pattern rows done so far.  I hoped to have many more done but all the trouble I went through this week keeping my horse alive took priority.  Don’t know what I’m talking about? Read Here.

That sums it up! Have a good weekend.

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Fiber Arts Friday – Spinning

Hello Fiber Arts Friday Fans!

Ok, I really don’t feel like typing much this week.  I just got back from drinks and a dinner with a friend and to be blunt, I’m tipsy. Weeee! Beer!

Weekly recap!  The Green Fan Shawl is finished and has not been purchased yet so if you’re interested it’s still available.

Green Fan Shawl - Finished

Materials: Deborah Norville Collection Serenity Garden Yarn
Color: Grass
Content: 100% Microfiber
Size: appox 6′ tip to tip and 3′ depth
Price: $80

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What the heck, I’m still feeling pretty darn good right now so FREE Priority shipping too … use code   FMM

Other than drinking I have been spinning.  I managed to spin all of these lovely skeins done this week.  I dunno, I’m just in the spinning groove so I’m going with what feels good.

Alpaca Yarn

Lastly I just want to say I love my little ugly duckling moriesian filly.  The more she grows up the more I’m impressed with her conformation and movement.   Isn’t Ellie adorable?   *burp*hiccup* ok I’m done.

Moriesian Filly

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