Maeves Baby Surpise Jacket

 

Baby Meave Rose arrived in September.

 

A great reason to try knitting a Baby Surprise Jacket

Here is the pattern;

 

This Jacket is knitted in one piece in such a way which leaves you thinking; How on earth is this going to be a Jacket???? And then it does....surprise surprise! 

 

 

Isn't it gorgeous?

 

The little bonnet is kitted from this pattern

 

I am so happy with how this turned out.

 

The colour pattern is very striking!

Tokoroa group Colour Day

 

 

In Dec '14 The South Waikato Fiber Twiddlers held their first ever colour day.

Which was enjoyed by all.

 

 

 

We had great fun and lovely results as you can see.

This time we used only Acid dyes providing us with vibrant colours.

 

First long draw spinning effort

 

In spinning fiber one can use different techniques to draft while spinning. There is a difference in the resulting yarn resulting from the technique used.

 

In short;

With a short draw technique the yarn will look very controlled, sleek and tidy and usually is more dense and heavy.

With a long draw technique the yarn ends up being more fluffy, light and lofty which creates a light and airy yarn that could trap more air and be more warm in for instance a jersey.

 

I have until recently only spun using the short draw technique. But am experimenting with and starting to enjoy and appreciate the long draw technique and resulting yarn.

 

My big Grace Wheel I have found to be ultimately suitable for the longdraw, with its relaxed action and big fly wheel. So I am using her more again. Also because I can finally, finally with this technique easier produce thicker yarn again. Yippee!!!

 

This photo shows the quality of the long draw spun yarn well, I think.

Kiki's shawl......finally

Kiki's  pet lamb called Barney grew big and strong

And his wool was used to dye and spin and make her a shawl.

You can see the yarn here as I posted about this quite some time ago

A summer surprise dye experiment resulted in a lovely colour combination mix of yarn and has finally, finally made it into this shawl.

 

It is done!

Pattern used but bigger needles;

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/girly-shawl

Little yarn scraps dolly

No need to waste left over bits of yarn. There is a little girl waiting for this doll I'm sure.

Fancy Fair

 

These photos say it all.

Merino fibre Hand dyed by me and spun. I Navajo Plied it into a 3 ply yarn and think I'll use it for a "Milo" baby vest.

 

 

It became a Milo vest for a little girl. 

Modified with lace pattern instead of cable panel.

Purple merino on spindle

 

I have been adding spindle spinning to my repertoire.

 

It is an even older craft tradition that goes before the Spinning wheel spinning technique.

 

It is more mobile way of spinning, as you can take a spindle easily in a bag with some fibre to enjoy spinning anywhere you wish.

 

To me at this stage, because I'm not too fluent in the technique as yet, it is a slower process to achieve a yarn result. But I've been told that with practice as with everything one will become faster at it and experienced spindle spinners can achieve staggering meterage in surprisingly short time.

 

This is some Merino I hand dyed a while back. The colours are stunning, if I say so myself. And it has come up quite a nice yarn for a beginner spindler like I am.

 

 

The gift of Green Clouds

 

I was gifted two small batts of soft Merino fibre in a very soft apple green, mixed with gittery, silky and odd bits and bobs.

 

 

What else to do but spin it into some fun Arty yarn!

Waiting for a project to be used in.....It will come along I'm sure.

Air Deluxe

This Shawlette feels literally like Air, it is so light! The Alpaca used was incredibly soft. Delicious all round.

Pattern used; http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/air-deluxe

from "Alpaca Sunset" yarn in the post here;

Eventually a pattern and occasion always come along and a stashed yarn does get used. It became a gift including a shawl pin, for my sister in law in Holland.

A Blanket Square for a friend

And this is how special the Ravelry community is....

 

A Ravelry friend was struggling badly with her health and someone had the idea of uniting all her Ravelry friends in each knitting a few blanket squares in specified yarns and colours. These squares were send to a central person who lovingly connected them up to become a blanket of love the friend would find comfort in during Chemotherapy sessions at the Hospital. 

 

Crafters are lovely people!

Opa's das

 

Ik knitted this scarf for my dad's 75th birthday using a gorgeous and soft blend of homespun Alpaca and Perendale.

 

The pattern is "Voltaire", on Ravelry, you find it here;

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/voltaire-scarf

 

Unfortunately the photo doesn't do it justice but believe me it turned out lovely. I enjoyed the pattern. Easy enough to take along and knit without getting confused.