For the Hands

I've been knitting these using a fingering weight cabled yarn I bought on a cone with unknown fibre content. I did a burn test and there is wool in it because it self extinguished.

I would probably never knit a mitt using anything without wool in it just for the warmth factor alone.

I love playing with colour, whether it's yarn, dye, fiber or paint and decided right now that I would like to produce some mittens.

My favourite knitting projects are sweater, socks, mittens, and fingerless gloves. Scarves are too boring because there is no shaping usually and I'm not into shawls too much-I'd rather weave them.

One of my favourite books for mittens is Robin Hansens 'Favorite Mittens'.
Here is a project I made from that book.

p. 142. Chipman's Check Wristers

And these are Deep Ocean Mitts from 'Alterknit Stitch Dictionary' by Andrea Rangel.

Mittens

New mitts for my granddaughter, Megan. 

Little Projects

While watching tv, time is available for more interesting things to do - like this sot of thing. Fingerless mitts. Replacements for ones I lost last year. 

A handsun 2 ply in Border Leicester, silk & kid mohair. The pattern is 'Tiriaq Fngerlings' by Knotty Turtle Design by Selena S. Which can be found on Ravelry. 

Also done are these socks in a cable & chevron pattern. It's not homespun, but from a 31/2 lb. cone of a wool/nylon fingerling yarn from last year's (2012) Woodstock Fleece Festival. I think it was from Shelridge Farm. U

Whoops!! Clun Forest Mittens

Whoops...I forgot to take a photo of the mittens and now they are in the hands of the walnut supplier.
Oh well.

The cuffs were knit with my blend of Canadian merino and Clun Forest. Drun carded, but a tweedy blend which gave the dark walnut colour a little bit of a taupe cast to the colour. Interesting.

The body of the mitt was knit in a slightly lighter walnut shade and the finger tips area was a very dark brown. The thumbs were the very dark brown.

Turned out very nice with the shade variations making it more interesting.

The pattern was made by myself from the measurement of my hands which I believe to be average.

What Can I say...Summer of 2012

Here I am past the middle of August 2012 and I am taking a few moments to take stock of what I have done this summer.

First I want to say what a crazy hot humid summer it has been this year...and dry until a week ago. Farmers have faced a dry (drought) summer & crops have suffered. The year of 2013 will include much higher prices for meat & all other food. What else is new(?)

This has got to have been the absolutely hottest summer I have experienced, but no I am not complaining because I prefer this to our cold winters when we spend days shivering because it costs too much $ to turn the heat up in the house.

I have kept busy as usual working in my full time job and spending spare moments preparing for my second son's & his fiancee's wedding which just happened last weekend. It was a beautiful wedding on the rocky shoreline at Killarney Mt. Lodge. A beautiful bride & a handsome groom making up a wonderful couple embarking on their marriage together.

I have neglected my gardens for the second year just because I don't have enough spare time to tend them & I strongly dislike mosquitoes & I'm prone to a sore back when gardening. My hubby has tended the tomatoes & onions, etc. and now we are reaping the benefits. I can no longer count how many tomato sandwiches we have consumed and the tomatoes are really tasty.

The woad this year has been good of course & I did a vat last weekend not using the stove at all. It was the most successful of any woad dyes I have ever done.
I gathered the leaves & placed in a 5 gal pail; then added hot tap water & steeped covered for 1 hour.
Then it was strained into another pail & I added 1 T. of soda ash to turn it alkaline. I used an immersion blender to oxidize the vat for 15 minutes\. I saw blue & then it turned very green. At this point I added 2 tsp. of thiourea dioxide & left it sit covered for half an hour, keeping it warm.

When I checked it next it was clear yellow & ready for the wool. I dyed about 200 g of Suffolk. Here is a pic of some Suffolk yarn I spun & dyed. This was 2 half hour dips with a half hour oxidizing in between. I did not rinse until after 24 hours. I added some vinegar to the last rinse water. The colour stayed the same.

Suffolk. Woad Dyed.

That Suffolk is destined for mitts for hubby & myself.

And more summertime activity: spinning, knitting, dyeing.

Thrummed mitts for shepherd.

Mitts for Shepherd

Toque for the shepherd who supplied the Suffolk & Friesian mix.

Cherie's mitts. Blue Faced Leicestershire & silk. All handspun & hand dyed. Silk hankies were used & purchased roving that I spun on the wheel my hubby made.

I also had to make a bag to match the silk dress I made for my son's wedding. There just happened to be a wee bit of warp on that I could use & I didn't have a spare moment to worry about the colour of the warp, so I was happy with the white warp and used wool & silk fabric I had left over. I received lots of nice compliments.

My shoulder bag for the wedding.

And I also had to find time yesterday to paint the entrance room that also serves as a catch all room. Big improvement!! Picture not needed.