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.
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Wordless Wednesday ~ Pink!

FAF: Yarn Cone Trees

I stumbled upon this awesome project a couple days ago and have finally figured out what I am going to do with all of those cones I end up with from the yarn I get. All those pounds of yarn from the mills comes on these cardboard cones and the kids snitch them to make monsters out of. If the kids don't take them I just throw them away because I never knew what to do with them.

Now I do. How cute are these?

They don't have to be Christmasy either. I'm thinking they'd be a great way to show off our different yarns at festivals. Besides they are just too cute!! I need to get some more yarn in now because I am out of cones.

You can find the complete instructions here. I'd love to see some of yours if you make them too.

FAF: Creating a Pattern

Have you ever wondered how all those creative pattern writing people create those patterns? Every person's creative process is different, but I thought I'd give you a glimpse of mine.

The inspiration for a pattern can come from anywhere. This particular pattern idea came from a wine bottle cozy I made. It was so cute that I thought it needed to be worn. That was the start of the fingerless mitt pattern that will debut next week.

After getting an idea of what I want it to look like, I then decide which yarn I want to use. I like to write the patterns to feature the yarns we sell so I go diving through the inventory and play with yarn until I feel I have the right one for a project. In this instance I choose a 100% superwash merino in fingering weight (our Klondike base). 

I tend to doodle and write all over papers so the start of the pattern kind of looks like this.

There is a small sketch of what I wanted it to look like when complete and lots of crossed out math on the top as I tried to figure out the number of cast on stitches.

Did you know there's math in knitting? I mean, seriously scary math? I pictured a cute lacy edge to my mitt and finally came up with the perfect one. The problem....the number of stitches for the repeat of the lace pattern was completely different than the repeat for the mitt pattern. There was a lot of math, cursing and scribbling as I finally found a combo I could live with and that worked together.

For the most part, the rest of the mitt was a piece of cake. Why is the beginning always the hardest?

I spent about 2 weeks of evenings writing the pattern and knitting as I went. Occasionally I had to adjust something and once I ended up with a whole section that looked like this. I wasn't happy with it.

After my first pair was finished and the pattern typed up, it went out to the test knitters so they could give it a whorl.

For the most part, the pattern was a complete success. We had a couple of days of discussion on how to improve some instructions and there were a few typos, but overall it was good.

The test knitters gave it their approval and now 2 weeks later it's almost ready to debut. I can't wait! Here's a blog exclusive sneak peak.

December Phat Fiber Sneak Peak

The theme for the December Phat Fiber box is..........Childhood Favorites!

It was a very generic theme to work with and honestly I could have gone in a million different directions. I even toyed with the idea of a Disney movie theme or my favorite 80s cartoons. The problem was I had some colors stuck in my head and I needed a way to use them.

I finally decided on ice cream flavors. Who doesn't love ice cream? I went with my absolute favorite from childhood, Mint Chocolate Chip and the kids favorite, Cherry Chip. I think they translated really well to yarn.

 I used our Klondike base - 100% Superwash Merino. Very springy and squishy.

Full size skeins will be up in the shop on Monday and to get the December Phat box visit the Phat Fiber website for all the information.

*~* New Product Update *~* Mini Skeins and Yukon

I spent the day trying to list some of the new products in the shop.

First up is a brand new yarn base called Yukon. It is a cousin to our Klondike fingering weight sock yarn, but comes in worsted weight. It's 100% superwash merino and totally soft and squishy. I LOVE this yarn!!

Currently it is only listed in Peppermint, but I have another color that I'll be listing tomorrow.

I've also listed several packs of mini sock yarn skeins. These have been a huge hit and sell out rapidly. No two are alike and there so many colors to choose from.

 Enjoy the yarn tease!

Georgiana Shawl Started

I'm trying to get back into knitting after spending the summer not knitting much of anything. I find it really hard to just sit down and knit. I should be up and doing something, even if it's just the dishes, shouldn't I?

I recently bought this special edition magazine by Interweave Knits. It's called Jane Austen Knits. Now I'll be the first to admit that I don't like Jane Austen books, but I do like these patterns. They are very romantic, but yet very practical at the same time. They make me long for a simpler time.

There were several patterns I ear marked right away, but unfortunately I seemed to be missing something for every one of them! For most, I didn't have enough yardage of a yarn I liked, but for some others I was missing the needles I needed. {sigh} If it's not one thing, it's another.

I did manage to stop at a yarn shop near the art show we vended at last weekend and picked up the size 9 circular I was missing. I needed that size 9 to start Georgiana which is a beautiful shawl/wrap. I'm just starting to venture into chart knitting and this pattern seemed tame enough for me.

After casting on, on Sunday I got several rows done and by Tuesday was ready to start the chart. Well.......unfortunately I had cast on the wrong number of stitches. I ended up transposing 368 into 386. The chart did not work with that and I ended up ripping out the entire thing and starting over.

I have now managed to start over and am back to the chart. Actually I completed the very first row of the chart and everything lined up with the correct number of stitches. Yeah!!

The yarn I'm using is a yarn I carry in my shop called Fantasy. It is a truly scrumptious fingering weight 50/50 merino and silk blend that feels like heaven!  I dyed it in a rust color that is in fact, far darker than these pics. Bad camera!

We have another craft show tomorrow, but my goal is to get through the first chart by Monday. That's only 22 more rows. I can do that, right?

Crafty Friday 6/3 - Summer Yarn Bug

I am always on the lookout for fun yarn projects. I love little projects the kids can do with yarn scraps that don't require sticks or hooks because the youngest can't get the hang of it and always wants to make whatever it is too.

These little bugs are super cute and could be made in any summery color the kids like. I actually found them online while looking for something else, but these will definitely be making an appearance this summer at our house. You can click on the link below to get all the instructions and printables.

Summer Yarn Bug

So what have you been up to this week?

Do you have something to share? Let us know what you’re working on this week! It can be photos of a project, instructions, recipes, or anything else you feel is "crafty". 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.
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Crafty Friday 5/27 - Memorial Weekend

Welcome to the official start of the summer BBQ season!! You wouldn't know it here in Michigan because once again it's 50* and rainy. Supposedly it's going to be 90* and humid on Monday, but I won't hold my breath. Whatever the weather though, I am having a cookout!

I love summer food!! There is nothing better than grilled meats, potato and pasta salads, lemonade and corn on the cob. Yum!!!

So in honor of family Memorial Day cookouts everywhere, I am sharing my extremely popular BLT pasta salad. And in case you are wondering, I will be making this for Monday's family get together.


Also to celebrate this kick-off to summer we are having a sale in our yarn shop. All yarns (excluding clubs) and knitting goodies are 20% off until midnight Tuesday May 31st. Use code MEMORIAL during checkout to get the discount. Discount works on clearance yarns too!



So what have you been up to this week?

Do you have something to share? Let us know what you’re working on this week! It can be photos of a project, instructions, recipes, or anything else you feel is "crafty". 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.
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Day 1: A Tale of Two Yarns

Part of any fibre enthusiast’s hobby is an appreciation of yarn. Choose two yarns that you have either used, are in your stash or which you yearn after and capture what it is you love or loathe about them.

I have been having the hardest time with this post. I think it's mostly because I wanted to make something more out of it than just talking about 2 yarns. It's only the first day and I'm already stressed about this blog week.

I started knitting about 6 or 7 years ago. I can't remember exactly. I just remember that it was sometime after my youngest was born. He's 7 now so......

I started out probably just like everyone else. I bought the stuff at Wal-mart, some needles and several books. That was not a great experience. I finally broke down and took a class that the local school district was having in the evening.

I learned on acrylic yarn and didn't give it much thought back then. This was back when 'fun fur' yarns were all the rage and I knit sooooo many things out of that. *I'm shuddering inside* Don't get me wrong...that stuff had it's day, but you can only knit so many furry scarves.

Along with the fur yarns came ribbon yarn. (Not to be confused with sari ribbon yarn which in my opinion is totally different).

I really wanted to love this stuff. It was different and it came in so many pretty colors. No matter what I did with it though, it never worked for me. I couldn't get it to lay right or work on the needles. It frustrated me so much. But it was more frustrating having this yarn I wanted to use give me fits.

As I'm a glass half full kind gal most of the time, I forced myself to find a use for this yarn because I couldn't just leave it be. After much thought I realized it was perfect for wrapping things. This yarn is inexpensive and there is so much of it that it puts rolls of true ribbon to shame. I have been wrapping packages, presents and hanging tags with the same three skeins I bought now for nearly four years. That is a heck of a lot of ribbon. :o)

In the middle of this trying, acrylic yarn time, I found my true yarn love.....sock yarn. The funny thing is I don't knit socks.

One trip to a brand new local yarn shop and my fate was sealed. All of those colors! I wanted them all and I had absolutely no idea what to do with yarn that tiny and fragile.

Over the years I have learned how many things there are that you can knit with sock yarn and not have to make socks. This love of sock yarn is in fact what prompted me to start our yarn business. I can never have enough of these hand-painted lovelies.

If I had to choose a favorite sock yarn (which really is very difficult to do), I'd have to go with just a basic 100% superwash merino. It knits up fabulous, look and feels great, and the best part is it's washable. It's my go-to for baby things.

There are many, many fabulous yarn makers and dyers out there, but I will always be partial to my yarn just because I made it and every color was some how inspired by my family, my farm and my life.


To find more Day 1 posts google 2KCBWDAY1

Crafty Friday 2/18 - Yarn Dyeing

I've been having a great time this week dyeing numerous skeins of yarn. I've been waiting until it was a bit warmer because I have such a problem getting the yarn to dry when it's cold.

I started with an amazing alpaca and silk blend that we sell in our shop. It's really the softest yarn ever and I love it for baby knits. I dyed several skeins in pastel colors probably because I always think of babies when I play with it.


Then I dyed some suri alpaca/merino wool yarn that was new to me. It's really a nice sport weight yarn and I think I'm going to knit myself a cowl out of some. I love the way the dark grey turned out!



I've done a lot of dyeing this week, but I still have pounds and pounds of yarn to go. It's like a rainbow has exploded all over the house. What color should I do next?

Do you have something to share? Let us know what you’re working on this week! It can be photos of a project, instructions, recipes, or anything else you feel is "crafty". 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 (need help with finding the permalink? (click here to see a great post Darcy wrote on this!)
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Crafty Friday 2/11 - Yarn Doll

If there is anything around here that we have too much of, it's probably yarn. (That can't be a bad thing though, right?) Even the girls have their own bags and boxes of yarn to do with as they please.

Lately the youngest has been making cute little creations with her yarn and spent one day making yarn dolls to play with. Hers were really cute, but didn't last the day after all that playing.

So being the good mommy I am, I went online (what did we do before internet??) and found these directions for an improved yarn doll that should last for awhile.

Materials Needed:

Yarn (any two colors) Scissors Books or Cardboard pieces with the following measurements from top to bottom: Large = 16 1/2 inches Medium = 9 inches Small = 7 inches Doll Makers Needle Black & Red Embroidery Floss

Make the Body:

• Using the color you have chosen for the doll’s body, cut a piece of yarn approx. 6 inches long to be the tie and lay it across the top edge of the large book. Wrap yarn around the book as shown in the photo at #1. Continue winding yarn around the book 200 times.
• Slip the wound yarn off the book and tie the 6 inch piece of yarn tightly around the wound yarn.
• Cut the opposite end of the wound yarn where it bends, so that you have what is shown in the photo at #2.
• Make a yarn ball that is approx. 1 inch in diameter. See the photo at #3.

Make the Arms:

• Using the Medium book, wind the yarn around it as you did for the body, but only 50 times. (You will NOT need to place a tie along the top of the book)
• Slip the yarn off the book and cut along the bottom bend of the wound yarn.
• Tie together one end of the yarn, as shown in the photo at #4, about 1/2 inch from the edge.
• Braid the entire length of the yarn and tie together again, at about 1/2 inch from the edge. (Trim if necessary)

Assemble the Body:

• Take the yarn ball and place it inside the yarn body, under the gathered, tied center.
• Smooth out the yarn evenly around the ball and gather it together under the ball. Tie the yarn together tightly to form the head. See the photo at #6.
• Divide the yarn below the head into two parts, front and back.
• Center the braided arm piece between the two parts as shown in the photo at #7.
• Tie the yarn together tightly under the arms to form the upper body.
• Divide the remaining yarn into two parts, left and right.
• Braid each side, gathering and tying the ends about 3/4 inch from the ends. See photo at #8. (Trim if necessary)

Create the Hair:

• To make the hair, use the Small book and place a 4 inch piece of yarn across the top edge of the book as you did for the body.
• Wind the yarn around 50 times.
• Slip the wound yarn off the book and tie the yarn together tightly with the 4 inch piece of yarn.
• Cut the opposite end of the wound yarn along the bend so that you will have cluster of long strands, tied in the middle. See photo at #9.

• Place the hair over the head with the gathered tie centered at the top.
• Use a doll maker’s needle and the hair color yarn to carefully, sew the hair in place at the top.
• Bring the needle and yarn down to one of the sides of the neck. (This should be done by sending the needle through the inside of the doll's head.)
• Loosely stitch over a small segment of the yarn hair along the neck, then another segment, then another, and so on until you reach the other side of the neck and the hair is secured evenly across the back of the neck as shown in the photo at #10.
• Tie off the end of your stitching yarn under the hair where it is concealed.
• Stitch a simple face using embroidery floss or you could even glue ready-made doll eyes and mouth on.

Done!

What have you been up to this week?

Do you have something to share? Let us know what you’re working on this week! It can be photos of a project, instructions, recipes, or anything else you feel is "crafty". 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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Crafty Friday 10/8 - Socktoberfest

Happy Friday!! If only Friday meant as much to a farmer....hehe.

Have you heard about Socktoberfest? Are you a member of Ravelry?



Well, for those of you that don't know, Ravelry is the place for knitters and other fiber artists to hang out. It's a whole lot of fun and there are lots of great people there.

In Ravelry there are groups and one of those groups is celebrating Socktoberfest. Basically it's just a fun way to celebrate sock knitting and it just sounds cool when you say it. :o)

I'm working on my first pair of socks for Socktoberfest right now. I'm using this fun pattern I found in the book Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn. It's called Herringbone Rib socks. I'm using some of my own sock yarn to make them. I love this soft, squishy yarn. I'm using the colorway Mermaid Lagoon.


I've already got the pattern and yarn picked out for the next pair too. Now if only I could find more time to knit....

So what have you been up to this week?

Do you have something to share? Let us know what you’re working on this week! It can be photos of a project, instructions, recipes, or anything else you feel is "crafty". 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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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!!
4. Let me know if you have any questions, problems or need help!

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 Crafty Fridays!
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Wordless Wednesday - Here Today...Yarn Tomorrow

For more Wordless Wednesday visit the home of Wordless Wednesday and A Beautiful Mess.

Crafty Friday 9/3 - T-Shirt Yarn Projects

Last week I showed you how to make T-shirt yarn. If you missed this fun recycled craft you can see it here.

T-shirt yarn is really fun and you get to feel good about making it since you are recycling. In fact, it's kind of addicting turning these T-shirts into yarn. I've been stalking my family looking for old shirts. I think I might be annoying them. Hehe. :o)

Now, what can you do with T-shirt yarn? I will admit I was kind of stumped with this questions so I did what every normal person does.....I Googled it!

Here are some of the cool projects I found. I haven't made any of these myself, but I found them at least worthy of looking at twice and thinking about making.

Over at Craft Passion I found this cute crocheted bag:

At Creative Jewish Mom I found the cutest place mats that are woven:

This little crocheted trivet was at All Free Crochet:

And over at Don't Get Much Better Than This I found a knitted rug:

So what have you been up to this week?

Do you have something to share? Let us know what you’re working on this week! It can be photos of a project, instructions, recipes, or anything else you feel is "crafty". 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 Mister Linky form below (need help with finding the permalink? (click here to see a great post Darcy wrote on this!)
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!!
4. Let me know if you have any questions, problems or need help!

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 Crafty Fridays!
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