Jakob's Felted Clogs

I have long admired Bev Galeskas' pattern for Felted Clogs, and have knitted about 6 or 7 pairs in various adult sizes. I think the fit is great, mine never slip of my feet, and they look great on women and men.

After having knit several pairs of baby booties for my son, I now thought he deserves some felted clogs, too, and was delighted to see that Bev Galeska has a pattern out for children including toddlers sizes. I guess I could have figured out the math myself, but  it's so much easier to just follow the pattern :-)

I had several small leftover balls of Cascade 220, the yarn I usually use for the clogs, and determined he will get colored clogs using up these odds and ends.

He is very excited and particularly happy that they match his car.


I made one slight modification to the pattern that you might want to try out, too:

Instead of casting on the desired number of sts for back and forth knitting, I cast on the same number using Judy's Magic Cast-on.
To duplicate the garter st of the original pattern I purled one row, then knit row 1 as described but also knit instead of purled after the first w&t. From here on I kept knitting or purling depending what was needed in that particular row, or part of a row to get garter st.When the sole is done it's just following the pattern again since from here on it's knit in the round.

This way you don't need to seam the two soles (4 in total) nor the back of the foot.
I hope this makes sense. If not, send me a message and I will try to explain more.

Spinning disaster and spinning delight

My recent spinning adventures were a mixed bag.
Strangely enough I love the spindling results, but the yarns I spun on my wheel are a nightmare.

So first the nightmares:

4oz Falkland roving dyed by Spunky Eclectic. I  love Falkland because it is soft, spins easy, usually provides instant gratification. Well, I overspun this - which seems to be my major problem at the moment, after skeins and skeins of low twist yarns....
And I didn't only overspin but also split the roving in a way that the beautiful fall colors into a muddy mess.

4oz Merino/Bamboo roving, also dyed by Spunky Eclectic. Again I wanted to give this a little more twist than I usually do, and .... a rope. A rope in pretty colors, but a rope nonetheless.

The worst of all:
100% Pygora. You might remember that I spun Pygora twice before, one beautiful silver colored yarn and an ivory white fuzzy shiny beauty. The third lot I had was the largest, more than 4 oz, and it seemed as if this was the softest lot of the three. We will never know because - again - I overspun. You would think I would learn, no? This is the real nightmare, nothing I can do with this camel colored wire...

 

Now to the delights (thankfully there were a few, otherwise I think I would have tossed my equipment)

2 of 4 oz pure tussah silk, hand dyed by Squoosh fiberarts in colorway Fraises.

 

This is the second lot of Pygora. Absolutely gorgeous, I think. It's shiny and fuzzy and soft. The fiber was by Shaggy Bear Farmd in Oregon, sorry, I don't have a website link.

And some spindling in process that seems to turn out OK:

SW Merino/Cashmere blend on my Golding ringspindle hand dyed by Corgi Hill Farm, and

Merino/Bamboo blend, hand dyed by NewHuehandspuns, spun on my new Jenkins turkish spindle.

And I am trying to take the curse off my wheel be feeding it some beautifully soft Merino/Angora blend.  I will let you know how that goes...

Elvia - new shawl pattern

Yeah, I finally finished my newest pattern (not that I have that many out there yet... :-)
You might have seen the semicircle shawl I knit recently on my Ravelry project page.

It's half-pi shaped shawl knit in stockinette stitch with a small flower lace motif and a ruffle all around that is knit simultaneously with the main body of the shawl. It can easily be knit without the bobbles that adorn the lower section.
Well, the pattern has now been tested and is available on Ravelry and in my Etsy store.
Since blue is my favorite color my version is knit in a light blue Alpaca/Silk blend from Garnstudio Drops:

However, I was extremely fortunate that one of my test knitters, catpurloo on Ravelry, knit this shawl in a very different color scheme and also granted me permission to use her wonderful photographs with beautiful model Ashlynn Eggebrecht wearing her shawl:

I have been knitting on other projects but a two week vacation on a sail boat slowed me down a little. I will post images of my progress in a following blog post.

Tschüß!

socks, socks, socks

On the needles
I am not sure what it is, but I am in sock knitting mode. And this in June when warm foot wear doesn't seam to be the most suitable item to make.

This is a pair of socks for my niece. I used a small lace pattern from a stitch dictionary and added some ribbing topped by a ruffle for the cuff. I followed the size information from a book and unfortunately they turned out way too big for her. Here they are before ripping out the entire leg and heel (toe-up socks...)
 I hope to get the size right this time around.

Then I started a pair of socks for myself to use up a skein of Buffy Sock yarn by June Fibre Arts. The color is Seaswept Winter Sea, and I love it! For these I chose a pattern with slipped stitches that are picked up 2 rows higher up to form little flower like shapes.

But the best of all (there are more socks on the needles) is a pattern by Wendy Gaal - Bridge of Roses. There is a KAL on Ravelry for these socks. They are absolutely beautiful and interesting to knit. I have just finished the knitting on mine and need to start the embroidered roses. The pattern comes in a kit with part of the sales going to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
Here is the official pattern photo, copyright Wendy Gaal, Knitters Brewing Co:

and here is a close-up of mine:

Off the needles
Ferla Box bag was a test knit for TessVintageKnits. It's a great pattern with detailed instructions. I just need to find the perfect buttons for mine. You should keep an eye out for the pattern to be officialy published.

The tiny recipient of this baby blanket is a gorgeous little boy, three weeks of age. My blankie is based on the Cerys Baby Blankie by Leah J Williams. I have made a few modifications which are noted on my Ravelry project page.

Spinning
Last Monday I attended markt van wol enzo in Ouwerkerk. It was a wonderful day, not least because friends of mine entertained my son so that I had a chance to talk fiber with the friends from our SnB Rotterdam and met new people.
The only thing I bought is a wonderful cloud of silver gray Alpaca. It is Huacaya Alpaca which is the only kind of Alpaca fiber I ever spun. Fortunately the vendor Alpaca Milestones had some Suri Alpaca also, so I bought a little bit of raw, combed and carded fiber. I am very curious how different this will be from the Huacaya. The funny thing was that when my knitting/spinning friend Ballee and I compared our purchases we realized we had bought the exact same fiber!

I hope to sit down at my wheel again soon - I hear it calling.

Proudest knitting mom ever

My 2 and a half year old's first knitting project:

He prefers size 6 mm needles and cotton yarn :-)



On my needles

Recently I purchased B. Walker's book Mosaic Knitting. I love the idea of creating two-color designs without stranding the yarn. Mosaic knitting patterns are accomplished by slipping stitches which appear in the color of the row below. I started a shawl with a diamond pattern. Here it is before blocking:

I am quite excited to see what blocking will do!

Soon on my wheel
My sister bought these lovely batts from Needlework's Pleasure. She wants me to spin this into fingering weight yarn for a shawl. I am excited to get my current project spun up, so that I can get started on this!

Pebbles

I am so happy I finshed a few items recently. Because I keep wanting to start new projects...

Pebbles
Yes, after many variations the name is Pebbles now... And finally, here is a picture of the completed sweater I knit for my son. I am still not done writing up the pattern but promised myself I will do this now since I want to knit him another one using the same construction style. I love the hems and the longer back side covers his behind nicely. If you remember it's an almost seamless construction with the upper sleeves knit with the body, not Raglan shaping but the shape of set-in sleeves.

Dewdrops
Dewdrops is a lovely design by Bex Hopkins. I used a beautiful handpainted yarn from Needlework's Pleasure in the colorway Fresh Mint.

Rosebud
And I have finally finished knitting Rosebud by Tonia Barry with some lovely handspun Alpaca, also by Needlework's Pleasure. 

Shaun
Isn't he the cutest? From a pattern by Patons. It was a quick gift for my boy. Unfortunately now he wants me to knit him Timmy, too....

My first Cookie A's...
I gave in and knit a pair of socks from Sock Innovation by Cookie A. Not that I didn't like her socks before, there was just too much hype, and I prefer toe-up. But like so many others I got hooked. This pattern is Wanida. One thing I did changed is that I let the pattern end in a point  just above the toes rather than having a blunt stop.

Spinning

I have been spinning as well recently, just not much on my wheel. Somehow I currently prefer the spindle. Here I spun a batt from StormopZolder, very vibrant colors in Merino/Silk.

And finally - I have finished a new shawl design that is currently being test knit, jippieh! More about that later.

Roses

Lot's of knitting
It's finally May and the roses in my yard are starting to bloom. I love roses! No wonder I always wanted to design a shawl with a rose theme. After I had spun up the shetland from Juno Fibrearts in the Smokey Rose colorway I decided that this was going to be the yarn for the project.
Since I had 400 yd of this heavy lace / light fingering 2-ply handspun yarn it had to be a shawlette. I am not too fond of the triangular shape and therefore designed a rounded shawlette with plain stockinette sections and others with a rosebud motif.
I am currently writing up the pattern before having it tested. I hope to have a nice photo of the blocked shawlette for you soon. The top photo has the accurate colors.

Baby Camel - oh so soft
Knitting another Twinleaves stole from some Baby Camel that I spun into a laceweight 2-ply yarn years ago.

Birthday socks
2 days ago I realized that my boyfriends birthday is next Monday! OMG, I have a non-fibery gift for him but wanted to make some socks , too. So I am trying to whip out a pair in time, just plain socks in a variegated yarn. But not only that, he has a twin sister who, for the very first time, showed any interest in anything handknit. So of course she will get some socks, too. I decided to make her Wanida by Cookie A. Got one sock knit in 1.5 days, started the second one.

Shaun
My 2-year old LOVES Shaun the Sheep - not that he understands any of the humor but he loves sheep, the music, and the part where the cabbage flies through the window. So I decided to buy the Patons Shaun kit and knit it for him. I think there will be Timmy in our future, too...

Please excuse the bad pictures, I will try to set up a better environment with enough light to take decent pictures.
Enough chatting - got to get back to the socks...

Shetland and Pygora

Off my wheel and spindle
I had the opportunity to spin two types of fiber that I had never spun before. So exciting!

Shetland:
I purchased a braid of hand dyed fiber from Juno FibreArts because I loved the colorway Smoky Rose. I was a little hesitant at first because the colorway was only available in Shetland which I thought was a little to skratchy for my liking.
Well, I was wrong, not only was it a delight to spin but it is also very soft, maybe due to the fact that Shetland, or at least my Shetland, bloomed like crazy after soaking in water. I spun it so thin that I thought the 2-ply result would be a light fingering weight - how wrong! It puffed up like crazy!

Pygora
Wow, a friend of mine in Seattle purchased 3 different batches of Pygora fiber when he came upon a sheep fair by accident (thank you, Conrad!!!).  I had heard and read but never touched it before and had to do a little research. Pygora is a goat bred from Pygmy and Angora goats. There are three types of fiber they produce: Type A is Mohair like, Type B is like a blend of Mohair and Cashmere and Type C is like Cashmere. This is not a scientific description - just what I remember reading. I think, the first 1 oz batch that I had from a goat called Sally Moon in a beautiful silvery grey color is Type A because the fibers were long and shiny. It's not really scratchy but definately not cashmere soft either.

The second batch are 2 oz in natural white provided by 'Drake'. It feels fuzzier and softer so I am assuming that it might be Type B. As with Sally Moon, I am spinning Drake's fiber on my Wildcraft spindle. Most of my spindles are light weight (around 3/4 oz) but this one has a long shaft, so I am hoping to be able to spin the 2 oz in one go.

Pygora Breeders Association

Off my needles
We have a large living room window looking out onto the street and sidewalk. I don't mind it much when people walking by look inside but it is nice to have something there that gives you a little more privacy. So I make decorational items that I hang in the window. They draw people's attention away from the inside and sometimes make them smile. With Easter around the corner I used some of my variegated sock yarn left-overs to knit colorful eastereggs. My son, being 2 years old, loves them, but imagine how surpised he will be when on Sunday he finds chocolate eggs instead of woolly ones.

On my needles
I have been knitting, but will update you on my various progress in the next post.

My new toy - a Bosworth Charkha

Back from my trip to Seattle - which was wonderful, because I got to spend time with my friends, and awful, because my son was sick for most of the trip.

However, I have a new toy!!

I have wanted a charkha ever since reading about Gandi and his spinning. It took me a long time to decide whether to buy a more authentic Indian charkha, or the luxury version made by Jonathan Bosworth in the States. Even though I feel a little guilty I decided to get the Bosworth charkha because of it's compactness and it's beautiful craftmanship. SinceI had to come up with quite a few dollars I decided that I would wait until I earned the money with selling my handspun fiber. So last fall I was ready to order, and now I have it!
It is just as beautifully made as I had hoped.
I tried the cotton that was supplied as a fiber sample and didn't like spinning it. Then I used some Merino, and loved it!
It does take some time to get used to the mechanisms of turning the drive wheel with you right hand (Iam righthanded) and feeding/drafting the fiber with your left. Well prepared fiber helps a lot!
I have to practice a lot more to get profficient but I was surprised of fast you can get the hang of it.
It will be the perfect traveling wheel for me! I will keep you updated of my progress.

Image: Gandhi with spinning wheel (Margaret Bourke-White, LIFE)

Read the Wikipedia entry.


Off my wheel
I have finally finished spinning the singles of the crimson colored Merino/Silk blend from Corgi Hill Farms that I decided should be lace weight. I still need to ply, but the majority of the spinning is done. yeah!

On my wheel
Now I am spinning a wonderfully soft and shiny BFL/Silk blend, the February Club fiber by Squoosh Fiberarts in the colorway Samba. After all that thin lace weight spinning I decided to spin thicker singles, probably for a 2-ply DK or light worsted yarn.

On my spindle
Strangely, trying out my new charkha made me want to spindle again. So yesterday I spun up 1 spindle full of a mystery fiber, and am almost done with the 2nd.

I red a little more in Respect the Spindle by Abby Franquemont (on loan from Ballee), and found a tip that seems so logical that it makes me wonder why I haven't done it before. Instead of winding the yarn onto the spindle homogenously from top to bottom and back, it said to wind it on in a figure 8 style. Works great, is faster, and will probably be easier to wind of, too! Check out this book if you haven't yet - well worth a read!

Knitted Garnment Exhibition

The blue cardigan I am working on will be travel knitting because I will take my son to visit friends in Seattle, the place I lived in for the last 12 years before moving to the Netherlands.
Even though I don't have my car any longer I am so excited to re-explore.

Over the past months I have knitted a pair of gloves (Miss Sophie's Hands), the Gaenor shawlette and the Woodland shawl for Needlework's Pleasure, an independant dyer and spinner.
She now has an exhibition up to showcase these and other beautiful knitted items, made with her beautiful handspun and/or handdyed yarn.

Too many WiP?

As if I didn't have enough unfinished items in my knitting basket I started designing and knitting a cardigan for myself. There are several things I want to incorprate, some because I want the design to look a certain way, others because I want to try new things:

• top down
• set-in sleeves knit simultaneously with the body (no raglan)
• slightly sloped back neck opening
• easy closure
• comfy but slightly fitted

Raglan is not for me. It's a great construction method for some, but after several very unsatisfying attemps I concluded that it just doesn't fit my body. The part above the bust always looks award, stretches in places it shouldn't and bulges in others. So no more raglan for me. Therefore I am knitting this with set-in sleeves. However since I am not found of picking up stitches I am knitting them at the same time as the body (the shoulder part, of course, not the entire sleeve). I have read parts of Knitting from the Top by Barbara Walker and used information from this book. I must admit that I didn't read it thoroughly but I didn't see any shaping for the back neck opening which I find very important. So I added that to my design.
I like easy closures but my belly prevents me from using the one-button-at the-top type closure popular at the moment. So I am knitting two strips of fabric right onto the front halves that can be tied together just under the bust. They are double knit so they don't roll up. From hereon down the carding flares ever so slightly to give it a nice drape without being truly A-line shaped.

Still thinking about the collar and front hem... I will see when I get there. But so far I am very pleased. Unfortunately its'a grey and dreary day today so the picture is very blurry. I hope to post better ones soon.


 The toddler sweater was almost done, but I had to redo the shoulders. They turned out too pointy and I am reknitting to give them better shape. Since I am taking my little boy on a trip in little over a week it needs to get done!

 I also started a cardigan that I am knitting for someone else, the yarn is handspun Alpaca by coolwoolgirl - oh so beautiful!

You should check out her handspun and/or handpainted yarns and fibers. One of the beautiful batts I purchased from her earlier is this:

  And as a follow up on my spindle listing in a previous post, here is one of my Golding Ring spindles:

It spins like a dream!

Check out Ballee's blog - also here in Rotterdam, she creates beautiful handmade items and patterns!

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