Mountain Sunset Scarf2

Well, I was going to take a picture of my scarf tonight, to show how much further along I am. I think its too late to take pictures right now. I did knit 3 1/2 inches on my scarf today though. So if my calculations are correct, I should have 16 1/2 inches. I just measured to be sure and I have 16 5/8 inches;................okay so I was 1/8 of an inch off. LOL Hopefully tomorrow I'll get more knitting done on this scarf. I will take a picture tomorrow of my progress on this scarf.

I also spun more Australian Bond Somemore Batts today, and started plying up another 2 ply lace weight skein. I almost had that skein all plied up, but had to stop to cook dinner. I hope tomorrow to finish plying up this skein, wind it off and then wash it.

Mountain Sunset Scarf1

Mountain Sunset Scarf1, a photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/38484177@N04/ on Flickr.

Last night after I posted, I went back to knitting and continued knitting through the GOP Debate.

Then first thing this morning I started knitting again. I started around 6:30 am and stopped knitting around 8:12 am. When I stopped knitting this morning I was at row 108 after 4 days of knitting.

Then tonight I went back to knitting on this scarf again. Today I've knit another 5 inches, so in 3 days I've knit 13 inches. I'm stopped for the night at row 123.

Mountain Sunset Scarf

Mountain Sunset Scarf, a photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/38484177@N04/ on Flickr.

Since starting this scarf on Tuesday night, I've come along way. The green marker represents what I knit yesterday and Tuesday night when I first started on this scarf. Today I've knit from the marke up to where the needle is and that represents 32 rows, from this morning to now. I only stopped knitting to take this picture and blog a little about it.

When I first started this scarf I wanted something that was a no brainer pattern. One that I'd memorize and wouldn't need a pattern to follow. I remembered knitting a baby blanket years ago for my ex-sister-in-law when she was pregnant with her second daughter, and how easy that pattern was to remember. I no longer had that pattern but I remembered it was similar to the Old Shale, or Feather and Fan stitch.

So without further ado, here's the beginning of my take on both of these patterns.

Handwoven Shawl Day 10

Well, I finished my Handwoven Somemore Australian Bond Shawl today. I washed it and hung it outside to dry. I think I made it a little too long and probably could have made it a little wider. Oh well, I didn't really have a pattern to go by, other then the pattern that I wove into the shawl.

I wove on this shawl today for 3 hours and 18 minutes before I finished weaving and started taking it off the loom. Whenever, I weave another shawl, I will know how wide to make it and how long too. I still have some yarn left over from the 5th skein. I need to rewind that yarn and then figure out, just how much yarn I did use in this shawl. I will have to post that tomorrow though when I will take another picture of the shawl. The different shades of the fleece really give this shawl a nice shadow pattern IMO.

Handwoven Shawl Day 9

This skein is actually my sixth skein of 2 ply lace weight yarn. This skein has 358 yards, and is 2 1/2 oz or 72 grams and has 17 wpi. I had washed this skein a while back, but got involved in weaving on this shawl that I forgot about it. Then after I started weaving and was getting close to finishing up the 4 skeins I started with for this shawl, I knew I needed to get busy and figure out the yardage, ounces, grams and wpi, for this skein. So today I did just that, then made up a label for it (mainly for my purpose), so I wouldn't forget this information and would have it for later, when I needed to total my yardage for this shawl.

Once I did all this, I began weaving and got into my weaving zone (LOL). I did have to back track a couple of times, but this was because I was switching shuttles and had to make sure that I had the pattern going right. After 2 hours and 37 minutes of weaving, I had my 4th skein completely finished and skein you see above wound on the shuttle and 4 rows wove with the new skein. The apron rod is now showing on the back roller, which means that it won't be long now before it starts to move over the back beam.

Handwoven Shawl Day 8

Yeah, I fixed loose weft thread, and got busy weaving and playing catch up. I wove for 3 hours and 16 minutes today and I'm now half way through skein #4.

The shawl is really moving along quite well and my front roller has quite bit of the shawl wrapped around it.
The remaining warp that is still on the back beam is slowly being moved off the roller as I weave. I don't know yet if I'll have to wind up yet another skein for this shawl. I do have the skein for it if needed, I just haven't figured out the yardage and grams yet.

Handwoven Shawl Day 7

Today was an Oooopsy day. I started my day with cleaning my house, doing laundry (in other words being a good girl). LOL Then I dyed some polwarth roving and had to hang it to dry in guest bathroom shower. Once I did that I went to my spinning/weaving room to weave and everything was going okay;.............until I saw a loose weft thread 72 rows back (this was back almost to where I had started weaving today). So I began the process of taking each of these rows out 1 row at a time. I had to stop because it was starting to drive me nuts. So tomorrow I'll go back to it with a better frame of mind and finish taking out the remaining rows, and then begin the process of reweaving those rows and move forward.

Handwoven Shawl Day 6

Yes, I know its Sunday and I really shouldn't be weaving today, but I just had to come upstairs do a little weaving. I started out winding up skein #4 into a center pull ball and then weaving with the remaining yarn from skein #3. Once I had skein #3 all used up, I began winding yarn onto my shuttle from skein #4 and started weaving again. All in all I spent 1 hour 16 minutes weaving today.

Handwoven Shawl Day 5

It was another hot one today and I had all the windows open in my spinning/weaving room and my ceiling fan going as well. That helped to keep me cool during the 2 hours and 3 minutes, I spent weaving on my shawl today and even then I didn't quite finish using up skein #3. You can see in the picture I still have a little bit on my shuttle. I have skein #4 laying out to be wound into a skein tomorrow. I have the treadle pattern pretty much memorized now, but still forget sometimes as to which row I just finished. So I have the treadle pattern written down on a piece of paper and taped to my loom. I always try to end the treadle pattern at the end of a pattern repeat. This helps so that when I come back to my weaving after taking a break or the next day, I know where to start weaving.

Handwoven Shawl Day 4

Today after I finished dying some roving, I headed upstairs to my spinning/weaving room and started weaving on my shawl. I only spent 1 hour and 37 minutes weaving, as it was just too darn hot to weave today (92 F outside). I have almost gone through my third skein of yarn on this shawl. This first skein was used as the first half of the warp (121 threads), and the second skein started out as the remaining warp threads ( 71 threads), and the rest of the second skein went into the weft, which I finished using yesterday. Yesterday, I started using the third skein in the weft. I will probably finish up the third skein tomorrow and start using a fourth skein.

This picture here shows the shawl now has wound around the front roller. I think its has only wound around the roller once. I still have quite a bit of warp on the back roller, so I'll be weaving for a while. I love weaving on this shawl and look forward to going upstairs to weave, even in the heat. LOL

Handwoven Shawl Day 3

I went up to my spinning/weaving room this morning and started in weaving on my shawl. I spent 4 hours and 52 minutes weaving today. There were times though that I forgot where I was at on the pattern and I'd have to take a few rows out and then redo it. I think I did this about 4 or 5 times. It was really hot here today (91F), so I had problem's with the threads sticking together, when I'd raise different shafts. I'd have to separate the threads before I could throw my shuttle. This picture doesn't really show the pattern on the shawl, so I took another picture from a different angle.

This picture shows the underneath of the shawl, as it comes around the front beam to wind around the front roller. You can see some of the pattern on the top, but really see the pattern (which is the reverse of the pattern), from the underneath.

Somemore's Waving Ribbon Socks Drying on the line

After washing them in Eucalan Lavender Wool Wash yeseterday, I hung them up in my shower to drip most of the water out. Later I decided that I'd hang them outside on the rope I dry my rovings on. It was 86F yesterday and so they dried fairly fast. I kept coming outside to check and see how they were drying. Around 4:30 pm I took them off the line and tried them on my feet and yes they now fit prefectly. These socks felt wonderful on my feet and I just know that my feet will be toasty warm this winter.

Somemore's Waving Ribbon Socks finished

I finished the socks this morning, then washed them by hand and having the hanging out to dry. I will post pictures of them later when they are nice and dry. I did try them on before washing and found them to be a little loose on my feet. This will probably go away after washing and drying them. Since this is the first time, I've ever spun a 3 ply yarn from fleece and knitted socks from I found it to be quite enjoyable. I know my feet will be warm and happy this winter.

Now I just need to finish spinning up the remaining batts into 2 ply lace weight yarn. I've begun warping some of my handspun 2 ply lace weight yarn onto my warping board. I have 1 warp finished which has 121 threads in it and I've started winding for a second warp. I haven't quite decided on a weaving pattern. Although, I have thought about an 8 stitch Rosepath pattern, stilling deciding though.

New Goats Milk Soap!

Handmade Pumpkin Spice Sheep Goat's Milk Soap This bar is a large bar of approximately 4 1/4 oz of Pumpkin Spice Goats Milk Soap. Each bar was individually poured into a Sheep Soap Mold. Then when cooled were individually wrapped to preserve the soap. Ingredients: Glycerin, Palm Oil, Coconut Oil, Lauric Acid; Purified Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sorbitol, Triethanolmaine, Sodium Chloride, Goat's Milk Powder, EDTA, Titanium Dioxide, Pumpkin Spice Oil Fragrance, Orange Dye.

New Item in Store

Handmade Candy Cane Goats Milk Soap: This bar is a large bar of approximately 4 1/2 oz of Candy Cane Goats Milk Soap. Each bar was individually poured into a Candy Cane Soap Mold, then individually wrapped to preserve the Soap. Ingredients: Glycerin, Palm Oil, Coconut Oil, Laurie Acid; Purified Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sorbitol, Triethanolmaine, Sodium Chloride, Goat's Milk Powder, EDTA, Titanium Dioxide, Holiday Candy Oil Fragrance, Santa Red Dye.

Available at: www.spinningginny.com

Limited Time Only!

New Goats Milk Soap

Last Tuesday I ordered new Soap Supplies. These supplies will be arriving on Thursday. These new soaps I'll be making are for a limited time only as they are going to be my Christmas Soaps.

These bars will have a Candy Cane design on the top of the soap and the fragrance will be Holiday Candy. I will be adding a red dye to give them that holiday color.

I will also be making a few more bars of my Christmas forest Sheep Goats Milk Soap, to replace the ones I've sold. I also need to make a few more bars of Gardenia Rose Goats Milk Soap.

I will be discontinuing my Baby Rose Cameo Goats Milk Soap, Fragrance Free Goats Milk Soap, and my Senseuous Sandalwood Goats Milk Soap.

Weaving on my Tri-Loom

I started weaving on my 3 foot Tri-Loom last week. I had a skein of Majestic Sky Merino Silk that had only 179 yards to it instead of 232 yards like I have listed on my website. So I thought I'd see how a small shawl would turn out with this yarn.

I'm weaving a plain weave for this shawl instead of anything fancy. This is because I'm still learning how to do a basket weave on this loom. I haven't quite got the hang of that type weave on this loom and a plain weave is just easier right now. I almost have it finished and probably would have finished it sooner. However, sitting on the floor and weaving (due to my table being full with my 20 inch table top loom), is very uncomfortable after a while.

When I'm finished with the weaving I'll take it off the loom and crochet around the 2 bottom edges like I saw done on wildharefiber's tri-loom shawl. My shawl will be much smaller then her shawl as she wove her shawl on a 6 foot tri-loom and mine is being wove on my 3 foot tri-loom. I'm not sure though what contrasting color I'll start with for the lace edging though. I do have some some white handspun yarn that I can use with some more majestic sky merino silk.

First things first, though finish weaving it and take it off the loom.

Fall has definitely arrived

Well, fall has definitely arrived here in Winchendon, MA. Most of the leaves have fallen off the trees and are laying all over the yard and in my flower beds, although there are a few leaves still clinging to the branches on some trees. I really should be outside raking up these leaves but with fall also comes my much needed time to make up batches of Handmade Goats Milk Soap.

So its off to the basement were my hubby and I set up my table with all my soap supplies and ingredients. I have a soap kettle on my table that I plug in and add all my ingredients to to make up my soaps. I have an order for 10 White Lavender Sheep Goats Milk Soap w/Lavender buds and 10 Purple Lavender Sheep Goats Milk Soap w/Lavender buds to make up. These soaps are sold through http://www.lavendersheep.com/ so you can see what they look like there.

Once I this order is filled I will need to make some more White Christmas Forest Sheep Goats Milk Soap as well as some others bars. I probably should order some new molds and some new fragrances as well. I do have some Sensuous Sandalwood Goats Milk Soap, Baby Rose Cameo Goats Milk Soap, White Gardenia Rose Goats Milk Soap, as well as some Fragrance Free Goats Milk Soap.

So raking the leaves will just have to wait until after I've finished making up more Goats Milk soap. Maybe by that time the remaining leaves will have fallen off the trees.

Anastasia Socks

Anastasia Socks
Originally uploaded by http://www.flickr.com/people/38484177@N04/

Started these socks on July 30 for the SKAJUL09 Sockdown. I hand only just finished spinning and plying up this Majestic Sky Merino/Silk to knit these socks with too. I found this pattern Anastasia Socks on Ravelry and thought they'd look great with this yarn.

However, when I chose the pattern I didn't know that they were toe-up socks. I decided to knit them anyway's as I've never knitted a pair of toe-up socks and when I saw that they had a short row heel for the heel instead of a gusset/heel turn/heel flap, I thought wow, this could work up fast and easy. Well, it did!

I managed to finish the first sock (one on the right) on Monday, August 4th. Then on Tuesday August 5th I started on the mate. I finished the second sock today (one on the left).

I found these socks to be very fun to knit as well as very easy. I love them and will be knitting up some more in the future. The only change I made to these socks, was the length in the leg (4 inches) and the cuff I added 9 more rows to give me a 2 inch cuff. The leg still measures 6 inches like the pattern says though.

The socks are very comfortable too. Since the yarn has some silk in it, it makes the socks very soft and silky to wear. I love to spin up my own yarn, but I do occasionally buy yarn to knit with too.

First Dish Towel Finished

First Dish Towel Finished
Originally uploaded by http://www.flickr.com/people/38484177@N04/

I finished the first Dish Towel yesterday. Now I'm ready to do a hem stitch on the end of this towel, like I did at the beginning of the towel. Then I'll weave 4 rows using one of the colors in the towel for a cutting line between the next towel. Then I'll weave 18 rows of white for the hem on the second towel and do another hem stitch. The 18 rows at the beginning and end of each towel will be where I fold it up for the hem to be sewing after washing.

I have 2 more towels to weave in this pattern. I don't exactly know if I'll get more or not out of this warp. We'll see after I finish the next 2 towels. I can't wait to finish all 3 towels and take them off my loom, wash them and hem them up.