My First Attempt at Knitting Lace

When I knit stuff with my handspun yarn I don't usually follow any kind of a pattern because it just seems like too much effort to figure out how to get the two into sync. That means I've never relly tried any knitting that is very complicated- or interesting.  So, I decided I wanted to try following some kind of a pattern and I decided on a lace pattern for a scarf I saw in a book.  I had one ounce of Tussah silk and one ounce of soft merino wool.  I tried to spin them as fine as I could and then plied them together. 

Tussah Silk

Spun Silk

Spun Merino Wool

Silk and Merino Plied

The silk is shiny and the wool is more matte. 

After I was done spinning my two ounces of fiber together (that's not much!) I decided I wanted to dye it.  I ordered some commercial synthetic dyes online and mixed up two colors to come up with this teal color.  

I let one half of the skein soak in the dye for awhile before I put the rest in to give the yarn a little bit of a variegation in the color.  

It came out a nice color... and I started to knit.  I of course had to change the pattern because I knew I didn't have enough yarn to make the scarf as wide as the pattern indicated.  :P

I enjoyed knitting the lace pattern, but I usually had to wait until the kids were busy to work on it, because I have trouble counting stitches and carrying on a conversation at the same time (you know how kids are with their out-of-this-world questions when you are trying to concentrate on something)!

Levi wanted to take a picture of me knitting, so here it is :)

This is what it looks like.  As you can see it didn't turn out overly "lacy", so I probably should have spun my yarn even thinner.  Live and learn! It is soft and not itchy at all and it matches my eyes, so I guess it turned out satisfactory for what I put into it.  

Monster Hats and Owl Hats

Earlier this winter when I was looking for gift ideas for kids, I came up with the idea to make monster hats for the boys and owl hats for the girls.  I was originally planning to make the hats out of polyester fleece material, but I didn't have any on hand.  I could have ordered some online, but I did have several balls of leftover yarn someone had given me and some felt pieces, so I decided to use that instead.  .  

I knit the hats on one of those circular rigid plastic knitting things that you use with a hook that I got at a garage sale this summer.  I used two strands of yarn together, and they knit up fairly fast.  I think I made 10 of them.  I hand stitched the felt pieces onto the hats with a blanket stitch and embroidery yarn.   

The kids all seem to enjoy wearing their hats, so I guess I can say it was a hit!  

How To Knit a Hat Without a Pattern

This project started with some soft chunky white handspun yarn of mine that has been laying around for a while.  I decided to make a hat for my daughter Kira with it, but I guess I didn't want to go through the bother of finding a pattern, so I just started knitting.  I don't know if that is a good thing or not! 

Anyways, I knit a small swatch to see how many stitches per inch my yarn/ circular needle combo made.  Then I figured out the circumference of her head.  This was how I figured out how many stitches I needed to cast on to make the hat the right size.  

I knit in the round for several rows and then decided to switch to knit 2, purl 2 for a ribbed effect. This made the rim roll up, which was fine with me. Also the ribs are much more stretchy than just plain knitting, so that seems to make the hat size a little more flexible.  When the hat started looking long enough I started decreasing it (knit 2 together) until it closed shut. I didn't decrease in any particular fashion, just however I felt like it at the moment :P  I actually had to do this part like 3 times cause I either I kept trying to decrease it before it was long enough or I was decreasing too fast.  

Once I was done I tried it on Kira again and decided it could still use some more length by the ears, so I picked up some stitches on the inside of the hat and started knitting ear flaps.  I also added a little crochet flower made with naturally dark wool for interest.  

She likes to wear it (cause "Mommy made it."), but honestly next time I should probably try a pattern and see if I can learn some more interesting stitches  or something.  I am not overly thrilled with the results, but it was just an experiment anyways (that's how I like to learn), so what can you expect!

Socks for Mike

Several years ago when I lived in Montana, a lady I met gave me a small bag of black wool from her sheep.  I finally decided to make something with it this year. I thought it would be a nice color for a guy to wear and I've never knit anything for my husband, so I decided on a pair of socks.  

First I carded the wool into rovings in preparation for spinning.  

Then one afternoon I grabbed my pile of rovings, a cup of coffee, and sat down to my spinning wheel. 

This is the finished yarn.  The color is natural black/brown/gray from the sheep.  

I didn't have a lot of fiber to work with, so I spun a fairly fine yarn so there would be enough yardage. 

Then I measured Mike's foot, picked out some needles, and knit a small sample to determine how many stitches per inch my yarn/needle combo made. Then I figured out how many stitches I needed to put on my needles to make a sock that would fit, and started knitting.

I knit this sock from the toe up.

Then turned the heel, knit some more and added a cuff. 

The socks always look more finished after you wash and shape them.

Here they are on my feet- a little big for me, but you get the idea.

The socks fit Mike and the project kept me entertained for quite a while, so that is good!  :)

If you're interested in knitting socks from handspun yarn, I recommend The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook by Lynne Vogel.

Recycled Sari Silk Fingerless Gloves

This is the first and only time I have bought yarn and used a coordinating pattern!  It is recycled sari silk yarn and I made fingerless gloves.  It was nice to be able to follow the pattern and know how it was going to turn out, but who wants something anyone else can make :D   I love the rich colors of the silk, but it was kind of tricky to work with with all the little loose fibers sticking out all over the place!  The gloves are nice for wearing somewhere where there is some heat, just to keep cozy, but they are not warm enough to wear outside in the winter!  

Crochet Hook Holder

I bought this wonderfully colorful wool and I was going to be smart and spin it into a chunky yarn so I could knit up a hat real fast.  It turned out that it was a bit too chunky and there was not nearly enough for a project!  I should have spun it into fine yarn and then I would have actually been able to make something with it!  

So, anyways this skein sat around for awhile until I just decided to knit up a square and see what I could make of it.  

Then I decided to throw it into the washing machine and felt it.

The colors still looked good! 

I especially like the colors from this angle :)

Somehow I came up with an idea that I needed a place to keep all my crochet hooks, so I hand stitched on some fabric scraps to make the little pockets.  

I attached a ribbon to tie it shut...

... and  now I have a bright colorful crochet hook holder!

Blue Slipper Socks

This is another pair of socks that I knit using wool I hand painted and then spun into yarn.  

I love wearing them around the house.  They keep my feet nice and warm!

My Tall Colorful Socks

I bought a great book called The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook by Lynne Vogel.  

It is about dying your own wool and then spinning it into yarn and designing your own socks. Here are a few pictures of the process.  

First I hand painted some wool roving in a rainbow of colors. 

Then I carded the wool being careful not to blend the colors too much.  

I also carded in some Angora Rabbit hair for softness.  

Then I spun up some yarn.  

As you can see I had some good looking help :)

This is the finished yarn.  

This picture doesn't do the colors justice!

I started knitting at the toe and kept knitting until I ran out of yarn!

I think they turned out pretty good- colorful and warm!

It actually took me 9 months from the start to finish of this project because 

of moving to a new home and having a young child to keep track of!