Finished a few things this week - A skein of Merino/Nylon for sock, from fibre that I dyed last week. And a set of six tea towels. The pattern is Four Blocks on Four Shafts: Summer & Winter Towels from Handwoven magazine, issue May/June 2013, woven in 2/8 cotton, cotton chenille and cotton bouclé. Still working on some other projects too, including - Socks with some more handspun Merino/Nylon. And the temperature blanket - temperatures all over the place and a birthday this week. Photos from Around- A pair of Canada Geese on the workshop roof, and a pair of Mallards by the pond ..read more

This week I finished spinning another skein of sock yarn (that will be my theme for the year). The fibre was dyed neon pink and gold I dyed some more fibre for socks. I was inspired by an article in the Summer 2018 issue of Spin Off magazine - Brewing Up a Batch of Custom Dyed Fiber by Anne Merrow. Basically to have small dots of colour in the white fibre. For spinning I divided the fibre in to very thin pieces, to have short sections of colour. I am looking forward to seeing how this knits up. Temperatures all over the place this week. Photos from Around- There was a Bald Eagle in the y ..read more

This week I sewed a summer skirt (it isn't as bright as the photo, but still a berry pink, one of my favourite colours). The fabric, a stretch twill, was a remnant for $7. The pattern is #134 from Lutterloh supplement #322. Started a few new projects this week - this is a pair of toe-up socks from yarn I spun a few weeks ago. And a new set of towels on the loom. This is probably the hardest thing I have ever woven, but the challenge is making weaving interesting. The pattern is Four Blocks on Four Shafts: Summer and Winter Towels from Handwoven magazine issue May/June 2013. Spinning for ..read more

Mainly knitting this week, but I did press and trim more of the blocks that at sew at a monthly makers get together - Now there are 54 Broken Dishes blocks (I need 218 total now because I decided to make a smaller quilt). I finished spinning the fibre batt that I made from a local wool and our dog's fur. 79g of worsted weight tweed Chiengora yarn. And knit a hat with it - a very quick knit. This one is for my son - Molly is his dog. I am amazed how soft the yarn turned out, and the hat has a lovely halo. I didn't use a pattern - more details can be found on a Ravelry page. I finished kn ..read more

I finished sewing the quilted jacket!  This was made using a heavily modified Lutterloh pattern (#77 from supplement #320 - a vintage pattern that I made a French Terry jacket with a while ago). I removed the collar from the pattern. Increased the centre fronts so I would have room for buttons and buttons holes. Also made the sleeves longer and narrower. To finish the seams on the jacket I used an overlocker/serger, but I covered the seams for about 6" on the sleeves, so that they would look nice when folded back. The bias binding on the jacket was leftover from a quilt I had made yea ..read more

One of my favourite things is dyeing fibre for spinning - playing with colour.  I am not scientific, I just mix different colours, and pour them on the fibre. It is always exciting to see how it turns out. I love spinning the fibre up (for a 3 ply yarn), and seeing how the yarn turns out (this is from the bundle on the left in the above photo). In 2022 I dyed and spun yarn for 12 pairs of socks, and since then I haven't made handspun socks, so I bought some fibre for socks. I find that I can be very experimental with colours for socks, I use about 120g of fibre. This one is a BFL/Nylon ..read more

This past week I started a quilted jacket - This was a medallion quilt top that I made over 6 years ago. I wasn't really happy with it and I knew that it probably needed more, but I didn't think I would like it any better. I would pull it out occasionally to try to think what to do with it, then put it away. It was the only quilt top that I have made that didn't get quilted as soon as it was finished. After seeing so many quilted jackets recently I thought this would be perfect to try. I used a Lutterloh pattern - the same jacket I made a few weeks ago, but removed the shawl collar. I rough ..read more

Not much crafting this week, it was more about cooking and baking (my quest to be more self sufficient means there is more food preparation which I enjoy too). The only thing I finished was a little pincushion for my sister out of an old Christmas light reflector from our sister-in-law (I think they might have come from one of her grandparents). I have made a few pincushions like this and find them a great size. It is stuffed with crushed walnut shells (lizard litter), with a little piece of textured rubber on the bottom so it stays in place. I did find time for knitting this week. Anothe ..read more

This week I sewed a little jacket out of leftover French Terry from a project I had made years ago. The pattern is from Lutterloh - a vintage reproduction #77 from supplement 320 Spring 2021. I modified it by making it out of a knit (when sewing a Lutterloh pattern designed for woven out of a knit we are told to go down a few sizes - I could have made mine smaller), I added length to the body and the sleeves, made the collar a bit smaller, the sleeves a bit narrower towards the wrists, placed the back on the fold to eliminate the seam, and added pockets in the side seams. I am really happy ..read more

I sewed another pair of pants this week.  It is the second pair of black pants (both from stretch denim), but this pair is out of better fabric (the other pair has white lines over them). Still $1 a pound fabric. Lutterloh pattern. Usually socks end up so worn out that I don't mend them, but this fairly new pair always had a bit of a thin spot on one heel (handspun yarn isn't perfect), so I mended a pair of socks for the first time this week (luckily my Mom had given me her darning mushroom and it worked great). I recovered a couple cushions for a friend of my Mom's. Some ..read more