November 2010

Frieda

by Kristin Longacre on November 12, 2010

Two years ago a friend of a friend offered to teach me to spin. I borrowed her wheel and hand carders and she said I could have a this fleece if I learned to process it myself. I said SURE!! (seriously, full fleece, for FREE?!). This fleece came from a Romney sheep by the name of Frieda.

Over the last two years, Frieda and I have had our ups and downs. She really was a fleece to LEARN with. My first yarn with Frieda was bulky, not straight, and far from ready to knit with. That was okay. We were learning.

Worsted Weight Frieda

One night my roommate came home to find the rest of Frieda floating in the bathtub… We had decided it was time to finish processing her. The one problem was, I missed the step to “pick” the fleece. Everything I did I kept washing the fleece. I’m pretty sure by the end of my “processing” Frieda was OVERprocessed.
FriedaThat’s okay, we learned together.

I’m done spinning Frieda now. I’ve spun all sorts of weights yarns with her, but they are all two ply. It’s not the softest yarn in the world, but I did it! My goal in spinning was to learn to spin sock weight yarn. I got close by the end when I spun about a sport weight yarn at 187 yards in a 2ply.

Frieda and I had our ups and downs. I was getting frustrated with the over processing but in the end pushed through to finish. It was a great learning experience.

Frieda Sport

For a learning fleece, I think we did pretty good.

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A Few More Finished Objects

by Kristin Longacre on November 4, 2010

I have been knitting a whole lot lately. During the months of August, September, and October I traveled a lot so the knitting came along for a ride. With that, I’ve managed to actually finish some things lately. Some I’ll talk about now, others need to wait until after Christmas. I have a couple little things to talk about today.

Awhile back I mentioned that I was working on the Slip Jig socks from the 2010 Rockin’ Sock Club. These socks were a fun knit, but surprised me in how long they took. As soon as I would sit down and knit on them, half hour goes by and 10 rows were done. The only problem was finding that half hour to sit down and continue on with them. I love the socks now that they’re done and have worn them a lot.

The best part about the Rockin’ Sock Club is that you get to try things you wouldn’t normally do. While I’ve turned away some of the patterns and chosen to go a different route, this pattern was one I wouldn’t have picked necessarily for myself, but I was so incredibly happy with the result. Not to mention, the socks are warm :)

Slip Jig Socks from the Rockin' Sock Club 2010

Slip Jig Socks from the Rockin' Sock Club 2010

Before I even got these off of my needles, I finished a wrap while I was down in Georgia. I called it part of my “Vinnie knitting” in other words, I could pick it up and put it down with a 2.5 year old running around! Then again, it was also my “late night Liz conversation” knitting too! It was knit out of Mulberry Silk and on size 10 needles. I don’t want to go into too much detail as I got the pattern from SweaterKnits at Stitches Midwest. I really like having it to throw on over a black or a gray sweater. Nice little bit of color to add on. There probably will be another one of these knit by me in the near future!

Knit Wrap

Knit Wrap

In terms of what’s on my needles… there are a few pairs of socks (Lime ‘n Violet – Lisa Souza sock is pictured above.) There are a few Christmas presents which I won’t talk about for awhile, and there is a sweater and a shawl. What’s next for the FO bin? Hopefully those Christmas presents. The knitting portion of this blog might be quiet for awhile.

So what’s on your needles?

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New Babies

by Kristin Longacre on November 2, 2010

So I’ve been wanting to write this post for awhile, actually ALMOST a month. Here’s the thing, lately there has been a little bit of baby knitting… and when I say a little bit… there’s been a few hats. I meant to write awhile back about the hats I finished for baby Cailei who will be gracing us with her presence in just under two weeks… then I meant to write about the hat that I made for Allie, the 17-month-old bundle of joy who can change anyone’s mood from sad to happy in just under 30 seconds. After that I wanted to write about the hats I made for baby Colton and his big sister Adrienne just after he came into the world in October.

Suddenly, November arrived.

Seriously? Where DID the summer go?

Anyways, so all of these baby and toddler hats get one giant post of yarn love. Here goes nothing.

While she isn’t QUITE here yet, I knew her mommy and daddy would be needing some nice hats to keep her warm when they bring baby Cailei home from the hospital this November. Her shower was back in September so her hats came first!

Upside Down Daisy Hat for Cailei

Upside Down Daisy Hat for Cailei

This first hat is one of my favorites in finished form. It was a really fun knit up until having to sew the petals on :) If i do it in the future, I’m going to find a way to do the petals all in one… It made it easy in terms of the knitting, but hand sewing really isn’t my thing! It was knit on size 7 needles out of Berroco Comfort.

Bonnet for Cailei

Bonnet for Cailei

This next hat was a really good knit. I love seed stitch because it’s not quite straight knitting, so you get a bit of interesting knitting while you’re doing it, but at the same time, you’re not having to count every stitch. It’s called the Marshmallow Bonnet also from Itty-Bitty Hats
, again knit on size 7 needles with Berroco Comfort.

Colton's Cleveland Browns Hat

Colton's Cleveland Browns Hat

Next up was baby Colton’s hats. Of all hats I KNOW I will knit again, this is the one. Size 7 needles, Berroco Comfort. It’s called the “football hat” out of Itty-Bitty Hats
and was awesome to knit. I loved the construction of it and it went together so well. The only downside, I can’t embroider (it goes with that hand sewing thing). Thanks to my dear friend Linda to added the stitches onto the football for me!

Colton's Striped Bonnet

Colton's Striped Bonnet

Finally, Colton’s bonnet. It is the “Chocolate Blues” also from Itty-Bitty Hats. (Noticing a theme? This is where I tell you it’s ALSO on size 7 needles with Berroco Comfort… :) ) It was another pretty good knit. I did actually decide to not add the pompoms around the face that the pattern had. I also made the “scarf” a little shorter just so it ties. The pom poms seemed a little much for a little boy to me. That could just be me though!

Adrienne's Flower Hat

Adrienne's Flower Hat

Colton has a big sister named Adrienne, so she got a hat as well for becoming a big sister! I did a simple hat out of Berroco Comfort on size 7 needles and ordered Nicky Epstein Knitted Flowers book to do the flower.

Allie's Cupcake Hat

Allie's Cupcake Hat

Finally… I wrapped up my fall hat knitting with the Cupcake Hat from Itty-Bitty Nursery. It came out a little bit big, but this way she’ll be able to wear it well into next year… and beyond. I LOVED knitting this hat, it was so fun to watch it take shape as the cupcake was formed. It was also knit on size 7 needles, with Berroco Comfort.

While the baby knitting is wrapped up for now, it won’t be for long as I have another little cousin who will be here in May! So look for some more baby fun coming in 2011, after the Christmas rush is over. I also have an entire second post of other things I’ve finished in the last few months, so more knitting coming later this week. Until then, have a great week!

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