FOs and WIPs and ZZZZZs
I’ll start this post with a little translation of the title lest you think some of the letters on my keyboard may be sticking.
FOs = Finished Objects
WIPs = Works in Progress
ZZZZZs = Sleeping/Languishing Projects
The first FO is the Nightshift shawl. A few posts back I wrote about the handspun yarns I planned to use when knitting it (link to post).
I’m thrilled - colorful, cozy, cuddly . . . . and very, very warm for a photo taken outside on a July afternoon in South Carolina!
I had plenty of each yarn color, using the following amounts:
Color A - 160 yards
Color B - 87 yards
Color C - 143 yards
Color D - 113 yards
Color E - 120 yards
Color F - 130 yards
The finished shawl measures 56.5" x 40" x 42".
Here are some close-ups. I love the variations created by the different color combinations.
Continuing with finished objects, my niece had a sweet baby girl this Spring. I wove a baby blanket for her using 8/2 cotton for both the warp and weft in three colors: White (Brassard), Very Berry (Valley Yarns), and Light Stone Grey (Venne). It is an Atwater-Bronson lace pattern and then I randomly embroidered tiny whimsical hearts.
ETA - I just reread the first sentence, yes delivering the baby also counts as a FO!!!!
I knit my first cardigan and it fits like a glove . . . well a sweater! This is the Ausable Cardigan (a free pattern) by Amy Christoffers. When I was looking for a sweater to knit, Amy’s description was just what I had in mind:
the sweater that I am always going to reach for when I feel a chill... something unfussy, a raglan which will sit comfortably over anything I happen to be wearing, a shawl collar to ward off drafts and extra long sleeves that will keep my wrists warm or fold back . . . A uniform sweater but with a little something special to keep it fun.
The yarn is Berroco Catena, a bulky weight of 94% merino and 6% nylon. The yarn was great to knit with and shows the moss stitch and cables perfectly. This cardigan is the clothing version of comfort food!
This finished object is my Honey Crisp Wrap. It is a true fleece to finish project including the fiber prep, blending, dyeing, spinning, and weaving. Here’s just a teaser photo as I’m planning a series that will detail all the steps in my process.
Last year I enjoyed an Advent yarn calendar that I purchased from Maruma hand-dyed yarns. Each day from December 1 through Christmas there was a little package to open that contained a mini-skein of yarn and often a little treat such as a stitch marker or a candy. Along with a full skein it was all packaged in a cute little project bag.
Ambah O’Brien has a number of projects for Advent/mini skeins. I chose to knit her ADVENTursome Wrap.
Back in this January post, I wrote about participating in the ongoing Wrapped in Jamie Crochet-A-Long inspired by the story line of Outlander. I shared a photo of the six squares that I had completed. Since then, I have crocheted five more squares.
I’m waiting on the release of a large center square and the borders that will eventually be joined together to form a large wrap.
Finally under Finished Objects, I completed two towels from the Sara Jackson Weave-A-Long called Two by Two. This was a new to me technique of weaving false damask along with pick-up to achieve these fun farm animals.
While I love the sheep, I need to figure out a goat design!
So what’s in progress? On my needles are socks for Pete and the Roseanna Jacket for me.
And I’ve started a new fiber craft, rug hooking. This is the Poppies on the Edge of Town kit from Deanne Fitzpatrick Studio. I’m really enjoying learning something new.
And now for the sleepers. First off is this Summer Rose project I’ve been weaving, correction attempting to weave, since May 2019. It’s pick-up leno with plain weave on my rigid heddle. I started out trying to do it with two colors - DISASTER! So I’ve restarted with just blue 22/2 Nialin. It’s tedious and at times borders on torture, so it’s languishing. I can vividly hear my friend Rosemary’s voice in my ear; she would have ripped it off, thrown it in the trash, and moved on long ago. I on the other hand am plagued by a tenacious inability to give up; usually a trait that’s a blessing but in this case more of a curse @#?!#%.
My dye pots are empty as it’s too d___ hot to work in a barn studio without air conditioning. Dyeing will have to wait for cooler weather in the Fall.
I am intermittently practicing the spinning of very fine fibers on a supported spindle. My goal is to one day spin my sweet goats’ cashmere.
Otherwise the spinning wheel is as sleepy as Duke (who is currently snoring at my feet while I write this).
And the table and floor looms are barren of fiber.
I’m hoping to remedy the loom loneliness soon. I've designed pages and pages of patterns for my upcoming book. I’m now developing the projects I want to include and will distribute those to my test weavers. And I’m looking forward to warping the looms and weaving my own krokbragd project contributions.
Be well,
