Fiber Fridays: Holey Cashmere

Both my husband and I love wearing cashmere. Most of our cashmere sweaters come from various thrift stores for cheap, and almost all have developed little holes over time. I'm mostly okay with holey sweaters, holey thrift store sweaters, that is. I'm not as okay with finding my favorite "purchased new from Macy's as a Christmas present from my husband" sweaters with moth holes in them. Cedar has been installed in the closet, let me tell you!

So, a few little holes is okay.... but one of my husband's sweaters is more holes than sweater at this point... and this isn't the worst one:

I have some plans on fixing my holey sweaters with some cute felted or stitched patterns: picture little applique felted stars stitched over the hole, or just stitching along the border of the hole to make 'cute' holes. That's not so cool for a man's sweater though, so it is my goal to attempt 'darning.' I SHOULD go tot he yarn shop and try to find some fine wool yarn to use, but instead i just spun some that isn't quite fine enough and is pretty close in color to most of our sweaters.

I've never darned before, but upon reading in a super cool knitter's magazine that i wanted but couldn't afford, i think i have a good idea on how to do it. Wish me luck!

Any tips, ideas, advice on how to reclaim/ re-purpose holey cashmere?

Handmade Holidays #4: REVEALED!

This gift was a labor of love, an amazing learning experience, and repayment in kind for a handmade gift i received several years ago. Did you have any ideas what this fuzzy photo might be?

If you guessed some handspun yarn, you're right! What really makes this yarn special, however is the fiber it was spun from. I spun this "meriboo" yarn for my mother in law back in Texas. Meriboo is a blend of merino (super soft sheepswool) and bamboo fiber. It is lusciously soft, and very slippery. I had a devil of a time at first, but increased my skill as a spinner by about 300% as i learned to deal with and embrace the nature of this luxury fiber.

I spun 3 separate skeins: one green, one gray, and one striped. I meant for them to all be the same weight to be used interchangably in one project, but as i spun along, i was able to spin more and more finely... and ended up with three skeins of finer and finer weight. I hope my MIL is able to find a project or a few that will utilize this yarn.... but if she's anything like me, this yarn may end up in a stash somewhere to be pulled out and petted on occasion. I do hope you'll knit something with it though, Deb :) 

I'm currently spinning some straight merino fiber, and it is turning out fairly uniform, very fine, and super soft. I'm excited to finely be spinning yarn destined to be a hat for ME, but it brought me so much joy to spin this yarn for my mommy number 3, who ones gifted me a hand-knit shawl of light green bamboo yarn.

Don't you love it when gifts come full circle?

Handmade Holidays #3: REVEALED!

This fuzzy creation was for my sister who lives in Bend, loves to snowboard and hike and loves functional yet fashionable clothes. I used some of my very first handspun and some buttons out of my grandmother's sewing box. Did you guess what it is?

It's a headband! Warm, yet stylish this was one of the very first things i made with my handspun, before i learned how to knit. I wanted some fun pattern, but didn't know how to expand even on my crochet skills to make textured patterns... so i used simple chain stitches to make a sort of mesh that looks neat when stretched on a noggin.

Unfortunately, the photos of my sis wearing her new garment were lost along with my camera ( my hubs has them on his 'puter, but we're still working on moving them from one place to the other ) so all i have is this photo of my noggin, slightly out of focus.

The fiber is an alpaca blend from Bellwether Wool Company and is quite softy soft. The button holes should be adjustable if it stretches too large to fit her head, as well.

Have you ever struggled with the limitations of your skill in a certain craft? Did you come up with something fun within those limitations?

 

Snuggles for a Bestie

I've been having fun revealing the full sized images of all my macro handmade holiday teaser posts.... and i will continue to post more. BUT i must also post some photos that one of my best besties sent me of her modelling her brand new hat. Isn't she just the cutest thing?



The hat turned out pretty good, too ay? This was my very first 'good' hat. Along with another sweet hat sent to another friend (whom i'm waiting to see a picture of! HINT, MANDY: HINT), this hat is 'almost perfect' with some funny little oddities as the result of not following a real pattern. My friend lives in New York, so the hat must be warm and fashionable. She declares it will be worn, and that it matches her Winter garb nicely. Yay!

I may not be able to warm my best friends with my hugs, as they live ages away from me... but i can warm their lovely heads with my handspun/ hand knit hats.

Fiber Fridays/ Handmade Holidays #5

I finished my very first knitting project last weekend, and it's destined to be a Christmas gift. I hope it will be cherished for years to come, despite some inconsistencies and a clear growth of technique from on end to another. It sure is soft! I used some of the first handspun for this project and have been repeatedly tempted to just keep it for myself. I can't wait until after Christmas when i can start spinning and knitting for myself!

How are your handmade holiday gift projects coming along? Will you be finished in time?

Fiber Friday: Knitting in Progress

I am an absolute beginner knitter. At first i found it INCREDIBLY frustrating, but i persevered. I find casting on delightful, and the stockinette stitch makes me squeal with delight. I never thought i could possibly learn this two-needles-at-a-time skill, but i have and i'm loving it!

My very first hat project, without a pattern, destined for either the hubs or the step-daddy. That's my handspun, by the way :)

I can't really express how rewarding it is to spin yarn and then turn it into a cozy garment for someone I love, or myself. It's pretty darned rewarding, that's all i can say. I still mess up and drive myself crazy, but i feel it's only a matter of time before i'm busting out sweaters and mittens and socks and scarves and leg warmers and......

Fiber Friday: A Hat!

I had plans for this hat, and they didn't pan out. Instead of making ribbed stripes vertically, i ran out of yarn and employed an older technique of making little ribs all the way along the hat. I like it, and i love how the colors make the hat striped on their own (as i intended).

So much fun to spin and crochet this hat totally from scratch. Next skill I need to learn: dying! Only then will i have total control over the yarn and finished product....  though i may take it even further and only use natural color wool, from animals i raise myself and breed in part for color. Mwa ha ha ha.

Fiber Friday: Projects

A while back i attempted to create some evenly striped yarn which turned out not even at all.

I loved it. This pattern is now my new thing: sometimes the colors are plied together, sometimes they're 'barber poled' and sometimes they're transitioning. It looks awesome. I'm going with it.  I spun another skein of some grey/lavender fiber and am working on more combinations in different types of wool. It looks beautiful in a skein, but i've just started my first hat to see if it looks as cool crocheted into something as it does curled up by itself.

Skein before washing

I learned 2 new crochet stitches last weekend: front post double crochet (fpdc) and back post double crochet (bpdc) which i'll be adding to my normal basic hat "pattern" to create (i hope) some textured stripes around the bottom like an old school ski hat.

Same skein after washing: see how bouncy and smooth it got?

Check back next friday to see the finished hat. I hope it looks nice, and i hope i have enough yarn! I have a hard time telling exactly how much yardage i have (my count is mostly an estimate), but mostly i don't really know how many yards my average hats require. All part of the learning process!

What's your favorite hat pattern like? Do you follow a written pattern, or just crochet in the round until it resembles a head covering?

Handmade Holidays #3

I'll give a hint for this one...... It is something made out of one of my first skeins of plied handspun.

A special detail: that button came from my late grandmother Joan's (pronounced joe- ahn) sewing room. I guess i take after both my grandmothers, and that makes me super proud. :)

This gift is also destined for a sister. Hoping she'll like it, but I also enjoyed doing it and think i'll make a few variations in case she'd prefer something different - or in case i decide to confiscate it as my own. tee hee.   So, whaddya think it is?