Weaving

My friend is teaching me to weave on a rigid heddle loom.  Odds are I will fall madly in love with weaving and have another great reason to collect yarn! 

Wool & Whiskey

Earlier this Spring, my fella and I wandered down to Frankfurt KY to The Woolery.  I was blown away by their kindness and hospitality, not to mention their enormous supplies of spinning wheels, natural dye stuffs, wool, yarn, and of course looms.  Within minutes, my guy was whisked away on a behind-the-scenes tour and given a Woolery hat.  While he was occupied, I ambled through their huge store, and marveled at all they have to offer.  I purchased some yarn, roving (BFL/silk blend), and a few replacement parts for my spinning wheel.     

As luck would have it, we also found Buffalo Trace Distillery which greatly pleased my fella and made up for all the time spent in the wool store!  

Happy wool and whiskey wanderings, friends!

Making yarn.

Upcycling old denim into long strips to make a sturdy yarn.  I plan on making a rug, either knit or crochet.      

Necklace in the wild!

Wearing my necklace at work.  Perfect little neck warmer in the chilly air-conditioning!

Knitted necklace

This is Sev(en) cirlce, a pattern by Kirsten Johnstone.  I absolutely love it.  A clever and fun pattern using leftover bits of special yarn gives you this fun knitted accessory.  Somewhere between a cowl and a necklace, it keeps your neck just warm enough.  I've made two already, and just started on a third.  I may need an intervention!  This one was made with a leftover skein of a merino-silk blend, and its drapes beautifully. 

Summertide shawl

This is the Summertide shawl, a pattern by Helen Stewart.  It was a breeze to knit, relaxing and enjoyable.  I used Faro, a wool singles lace-weight yarn that I picked up recently at the Woolery in the Frankfurt, KY.  The 100% wool content of this yarn makes for a crisp final product with great stitch definition.  I would certainly use this yarn again.  Looking forward to wearing the shawl often this spring and summer!   

Nordic Wind

This warm winter shawl tells the story of a local shepherdess.  Each color represents one sheep from her flock.  She sheared the sheep, and had each of their wools' spun at a local fiber mill.  Each is the natural color of the wool.  There were no dyes used. 

It is the Nordic Winds shawl pattern, which can be found on Ravelry.  My only modification was yarn choice.  I saw this yarn sitting in a basket at The Yarn Studio in Casey, IL and knew right away it was special.  I also knew exactly what to do with it.  

The yarn came with the names of the sheep attached.  From left to right is Nehi, Levi, Clara, and Elizabeth.

This is the kind of project that makes my heart sing.  I'm in love with the yarn, I enjoyed the rhythm of mindless knitting, and the finished project is better (and bigger) than I could have hoped for!