Tag: photos

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FAF – Heat Wave

Well I’m a Fiber Arts Friday slacker this week.  Not that I haven’t been playing with fiber but I have not taken any photos of my work.

Right now I have a some alpaca/wool on my wheel that my MIL dyed a while back.  I’ve been saving it for Tour de Fleece.  I’ll spare you the artist renditions this time.

What I can show you is what is on my needles.  I’m still working away at the cowl when I’m not spinning.  Since TdF is taking most of my time I’ve been going very slowly at the knitting end of things but it is about 1/3-1/2 done.

Big thank you to everyone who suggested I learn the Norwegian Purl Stitch.   It has cut my slow knitting time in half if not more.  Here’s a short video of me with my new stitch.

Lastly here’s a photo of one of my dogs, Brindee, napping by the lake last week.  Oh what I wouldn’t give to be back up in the mountains right now with all this heat this week.

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WIP – Fiber and Shawls

It was a very busy weekend fiber wise on the farm with our shearing of the alpacas.  This of course produces bags upon bags of raw fiber which need to be skirted.  Thus my current and most immediate WIP is skirting.

Skirting Alpaca Fiber

I got bored last week during my lunch breaks and started yet another shawl.  My alpaca shawl still isn’t finished but I forgot it at home so it has been dormant still.   The only thing I could find in my car was some cotton so this is what I’ve come up with so far.

That’s about it.  Don’t forget, if you raise fiber animals share your photos them here at Fiber Wordless Wednesday

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WIP: Shawl and Crochet Tutorial

Reading through some posts from Fiber Arts Friday last week I noticed some questions from folks new to crochet.  The question: How do you hold your work and control tension?

Since I’m still working on my alpaca shawl I thought I’d grab a couple of photos to show how I hold my work.

I like to run the yarn over my index, under my middle and over my ring and pinky.  I found this method works the best for me both knitting continental style and for crochet.  If I tried any other combination I ended up having to take my wedding band off because the yarn would get stuck in it.

For crochet I let the yarn stay far back on my index finger.  I like to reach for the yarn and snag it with the hook.  If I’m continental knitting I’ll move the yarn up past the 1st knuckle so I can control it easier and move my finger back and forth so I can knit and purl without having to change positions.

Starting Chain Tip: If you’re new to crochet and have problem with your initial chain and then attempting the next row try this.  Use a hook 2x as big as what you will be using on your project for the initial chain.  That will prevent you from making the tension in your starting chain too tight and make your 2nd row much easier to complete.

Hope this helps!

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WIP: Alpaca Fan Shawl

Hi everyone.  So I finally finished the green shawl (for sale and is now up on Etsy) and loved the pattern so much I wanted to make one for myself.  I started one in heather gray but for the life of me I don’t remember where I put it!  So I started yet another one this time in light fawn.  I’m not sure if it will stay that color or end up getting dyed when finished.  For some reason I have a thing for dark reds right now, we’ll see if that mood changes in a month when this one is finished.

I also stopped over to see an alpaca the humane society had acquired.  They had some questions about care of an alpaca and wanted to know if I knew anyone who could give him a home.  (No worries he has a home already) But, while I was there they loaded my car up with bags and bags of wool from their shearing.  I’ve managed to skirt through 2 fleeces and here’s a photo of some bagged up ready to go into the washing machine to de-grease.

This is actually my first ever sheep fleece.  As it turns out I’ve been so pampered with my alpacas.  I’m not sure I like the lanoline at all and really don’t like how much POOP they can coat the tips with. YUCK!

Do you raise fiber animals?  Don’t forget to share your photos on Fiber Wordless Wednesday!

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