Friday Fiber Arts ~ Dyeing Wool for Felting

The last week has been pretty nice here, weather-wise. Lots of warm days means I can get some wool dyeing done.

I like to dye an entire rainbow although I didn't get the whole thing done this week. I'm missing some of the blues and brown. Here's several of them hanging on the clothesline to dry.

After they're dry I split them up into small pieces and make small packs of wool tidbits for felting. Do you felt? I've felted soap before and made some needle felted Christmas ornaments, but that's it. Believe me when I say, my customers are far better at felting than I am.

Here's the warm colors divided up. I'll be making a cool colors pack as well, but I still need to get those last few colors done.

Do you have something to share? Let us know what you’re working on this week! It can be photos of a project, instructions, an experience or anything else you feel fits Friday Fiber Arts. If you have something to share with us on your blog, add your link to the current week's party. Just please be sure to:

1. Add the permalink to the specific blog post, not your general blog address in the linky form below.
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Wordless Wednesday ~ Black & White Farm

Friday Fiber Arts ~ Toe-Up Cast On

Happy Friday! Hooray for the weekend!

I learned something new this week. Actually, it was something I had been putting off for quite awhile.

I bought a magazine awhile ago that had the cutest little slipper pattern in it. Seriously, aren't they adorable? I like the fact that they are lightweight for warmer weather instead of big and bulky like my winter slippers. They looked fairly easy to knit except for one thing......they cast on at the toe. shudder

I've knit socks before, but all the patterns I used started at the cuff. Starting at the toe seemed absolutely foreign and terrifyingly difficult. How does one go about casting on so you can knit on both sides??? The instructions in the pattern itself weren't helping at all and in fact were doing their bests to justify my fear.

Thank goodness for YouTube! How did we survive before the web and the amazing videos on it? I found a video that clearly explained what I needed to do and turned what was a scary knitting technique into piece of cake. Really! It was so easy! Not much different than my normal long-tail cast-on. Yay!

My slippers are now well on their way to being ready for my feet. I'm nearly to the heal on the first and can't wait to cast-on the second to try out my newly learned technique again.

Here is the video I found most helpful. There were others, but this was my favorite.


Do you have something to share? Let us know what you’re working on this week! It can be photos of a project, instructions, an experience or anything else you feel fits Friday Fiber Arts. If you have something to share with us on your blog, add your link to the current week's party. Just please be sure to:

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2. Include in your blog entry a link back to the party post on this blog so that your readers can come and see what everyone else is working on today and have an opportunity to contribute! You can use the code below to add the button to your posts or blog if you'd like.
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Friday Fiber Arts ~ Camera Strap Cover

Happy Friday! I thought I'd share a recent project with you and the "pattern" I made up as I went along.

My Merry Christmas, Happy Tax Refund, and Really Early Birthday present to myself this year was a brand new camera. I am totally in love with my new camera although at times it seems a whole lot smarter than me. What do all those buttons do again? :)

I wasn't in love with the basic camera strap that came with it though. It made the back of my neck itch, but I'd already spent enough on the camera. I didn't want to spend more on a fancier strap. That's when I came up with this cover knit from a skein of sock yarn I had in my stash.






The stripes were a happy accident that appeared when I started knitting. I imagine all sorts of different patterns might emerge based on how the yarn used was dyed.

I ended up using about 120 yards of fingering weight sock yarn to knit the strap cover. It's made from superwash merino wool which means that I can wash it easily when it gets gross. I'm guessing that'll be often if I use it in the summer. All that heat, sweat and sunscreen. Yuck!

Here's the basic pattern:

I used US size 2 needles. These are my normal sock needles so I knew what my gauge was before I started. I knit fingering weight yarn on size 2 needles at about 9 stitches per inch. That's a little tighter than normal so you may need to adjust your needle size accordingly.

My strap measured at 1 1/2" across. I wanted the cover to fit snuggly so I cast on 28 stitches and joined to work in the round. Use your favorite method for knitting in the round. To figure out how many stitches you'll need, use the following formula.

Measurement of strap width in inches x Gauge (stitches per inch) = stitches needed per side, multiply this by 2 to get the number of cast on stitches.

1.5  x 9  = 13.5 I rounded up to 14

Knit 2, Purl 2 rib in the round until piece measures 1". This will hold the strap snuggly at the end. 

Continue knitting in stockinette stitch until strap cover is 1" away from other end. Your measurements don't need to be exact just close. 

Knit 2, Purl 2 for 1". Bind off and weave in ends. Slip it on and enjoy!

Super easy! I love the sock yarn because it covers well without any added bulk.

Do you have something to share? Let us know what you’re working on this week! It can be photos of a project, instructions, an experience or anything else you feel fits Friday Fiber Arts. If you have something to share with us on your blog, add your link to the current week's party. Just please be sure to:

1. Add the permalink to the specific blog post, not your general blog address in the linky form below.
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3. Visit as many of the other participants as possible and leave comments! That’s what makes a party fun!! You don't want to come to a party and have no one talk to you!

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Our Newest Additions

We brought home 18 new little additions to our farm yesterday. They peep, peck and are utterly adorable!

 

I wasn't sure if we'd ever get more chickens after the great chicken massacre of '11. The raccoons had gotten in the chicken coop and none of the poor little chickens survived. I spent the winter missing the fresh eggs though so we put our heads together and came up with plans for what will hopefully be a raccoon proof new coop.

 
The new coop will be going up in the backyard soon, but in the meantime, the chicks are hanging out in my laundry room in a what was a giant plastic horse trough. They seem quite content to just hang out under the heat lamp.

I did see this one that tried to climb into the feeder. Just her little butt was hanging out!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Soft Kitty

Tie-Dyed Roving

I've been experimenting with different ways to dye rovings. I recently got a couple stainless trays and I used them in the oven to dye some Merino wool rovings. It was an idea that had been floating around in my head for awhile. I love it when an idea works just like I think it should!

What do you think?

Friday Fiber Arts ~ A New Plying Technique

Happy Friday! I hope you've all had a great week.

Today I want to introduce you to our new blog hop. What better way to share your fiber projects with others! Feel free to link your fiber arts blog posts below so others can stop by and enjoy them.

This week I thought I'd share something new I tried. I've seen this plying technique done by others and I've been thinking about it for awhile, but last week I finally decided to jump in and try it. Of course that may be because I just received this awesome lot of inspiration from the UK. Aren't those colors gorgeous!

If you're wondering what in the world I'm talking about, I'm spinning some alpaca fiber into a single ply yarn and then plying it with this machine embroidery thread to make the finished 2-ply yarn. It really was a lot of fun.

The one thing I did find though was that I had to keep tension on the thread at all times or it would fly all over the place and wrap around anything in it's reach. These thread bobbins don't have end covers to keep the thread from coming off. I may have to improvise something. It would save a lot of headaches.

The whole process was easier than I thought it'd be and was a real pleasure to spin. In fact, I completed 2 yarns in less than 48 hours. This is a record for me! I now have a third yarn using this technique waiting to be plyed. This has become my new favorite way to make yarn!

Here is the first yarn I spun: It's brown alpaca blended with some bamboo and soysilk. I plyed it with gold thread.

And here is the second: I used white alpaca blended with some hot pink merino, bamboo and sparkly angelina. This one I plyed with bright pink thread. I love all this pink!

What do you think? Have you ever spun yarn or used yarn plyed with a thread like this?

Do you have something to share? Let us know what you’re working on this week! It can be photos of a project, instructions, an experience or anything else you feel fits Friday Fiber Arts. If you have something to share with us on your blog, add your link to the current week's party. Just please be sure to:

1. Add the permalink to the specific blog post, not your general blog address in the linky form below.
2. Include in your blog entry a link back to the party post on this blog so that your readers can come and see what everyone else is working on today and have an opportunity to contribute! You can use the code below to add the button to your posts or blog if you'd like.
3. Visit as many of the other participants as possible and leave comments! That’s what makes a party fun!! You don't want to come to a party and have no one talk to you!

If you want to play along don't forget to grab a button to place at the top or bottom of your post to show you are participating in Friday Fiber Arts!
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Wordless Wednesday ~ Pink!

Spring Has Sprung Early!

Were you part of the March heat wave? 9 straight days of recording breaking heat here in Michigan. Who would ever have imagined that?! We actually had several days in the 80s and the night time lows were only around 60. Perfect, perfect weather!!

Beyond the beautiful days, we were given tons of green stuff sprouting all around. This is far earlier than normal. Most of these flowers and plants aren't seen in my yard for another 4 weeks or so. Even the grass has turned a bright spring green.

Today it's only 45* and I am missing those warm temperatures even though I know they'll be back eventually. Also there is a freeze watch for tonight so all the farmers in the area will be worrying about those early buds and flowers. The crops may be in trouble if they freeze.

Lets keep our thoughts warm tonight.