New Yarn & Shawl

I spun up some Dorset X Dorper - what a very nice bit of fleece it was to handle & spin; soft fibres about 3" in length. I think this is destined for a woven scarf this year. Wish I had more of that. This fibre can be seen unspun in the previous post.

Shetland Shawl. Pattern: Elizabeth Zimmerman.

I finished the Shetland Shawl started a year ago. I ran out of Shetland wool purchased at the Woodstock Fleece Festival but purchased more in an unmatched colour a year later. I put the sawtooth border on it which added a little more in the depth of the shawl & I think it will give me much pleasure to wear it on a cool evening. The border was made with Sheltand roving handspun by myself.

Note: I've worn it a bit this week and here are my observations. It's the first shawl I have tried & since it's Shetland wool, it stays in place on my shoulders - doesn't slip around at all, just sort of 'holds' to my clothes. That was surprising to me. It's warm enough in our drafty house despite the loose knit of the garter stitch and holes of the pattern. The area where sleeves would be is just below my elbows is short enough so I can still wear it while washing dishes. Yes - it is a joy to wear.

For January 2011

I'm rather late in posting anything. I promise I have been very busy.

I managed to make it through the Christmas season of 2010 once more. I try to keep the stress low, but it doesn't really work. Next year I will go back to having made more gifts; time just slipped by and I didn't give much that I made to family. But I was busy.... and the turkey on Christmas day was delicious. We also had someone new join us for the day, Wendy, mother of my son's girlfriend. We enjoyed meeting Wendy & were happy to have her with us.

Spinning, knitting, and weaving.
I have so much fleece in my stash to use on the carder that my hubby is making me - it will soon be completed. I can't wait. For now I am going through a Mabel Ross tutorial video and trying some things out that she suggests using hand carders, flicker & dog comb. The video is really wonderful. Here is a pic of the Dorper X Dorset fleece I am using. It is lovely. Wish I had loads more!!

Dorper X Dorset

I did a rag rug using wool fabric strips in orange, brown & a lighter selection for a friend at work in exchange for her handmade moccasins. It turned out very nice! It's 32"x48". 2/2 twill.

Wool Rag Rug for Theresa 32"X48".  2/2 Twill.

Here is some fairly new spun wool:

Shetland above, natural colour. Blue is from last woad dye of the 2010 season, wool, but the variety is unknown.

The colour did not photograph very well, but it is the best woad result so far and is actually quite vibrant. The Shetland is being using for a saw tooth border on the 'Elizabeth Zimmerman Pi R Squared' shawl I have been working on for a couple of years. I ran out of wool for the shawl; set it aside; decided to add a border in a different shade from my own homespun Shetland. It's turning out very nice. Soon a picture will follow.