It's Almost Farmer's Market Time!

It's hard to believe that summer is almost over...seems like the year is flying by!  Now that I'm out of school, the end of summer isn't such a letdown.  Now that I'm a "big girl", it means cooler weather, llama shows, and of course the beginning of *my* farmer's market season!  (I specify *my* farmer's market season, because the market has actually been running since May, but I only sign up for the second half, since I figure it would be hard to sell wool hats in 80* weather!)

I've really begun to enjoy going to the farmer's market.  I wake up nice and early every Saturday, drive to Hamilton (a college town about 30 minutes north of where I live), set up, and then spin and talk to people (and hopefully sell a few things!) for 5-6 hours!  What fiber enthusiast could wish for much more?  Of course on the days when the weather is iffy it is a bit less fun, but the gorgeous fall days make up for it.

All winter my mom and I have slowly been building up my inventory of knit items to sell at the market.  I take other things like handspun yarn and insoles, but the knit accessories really steal the show.  I think I've got a great selection this year, and hopefully my future customers agree!

The market starts for me in just under 2 weeks...August 8!  Hopefully I'll have my new llama by then.  (Long story short, the original transporter changed her route so she couldn't pick up May.  I'm still searching for a new one, but I do have a promising lead!)  Can't wait!

I'm Back!

Well, after a very long winter hiatus (due to the holidays, vacation, and lack of a computer), I'm back in the blogging world!

Due to the craziness of the holidays and starting a new job, I haven't really accomplished much in terms of llamas or fiber...  I did get a bunch of new knit items that my mom made listed on Etsy tonight...check them out!

A crochet scarf I made over Christmas vacation...up on Etsy now!

The exciting news from the past week or two is that I'm going to be growing my llama herd this year!  I found a fabulous new home for Mr. T, and in exchange Kara gets a date with a gorgeous part Argentine male next spring.  I'm also looking at purchasing a bred guard llama and a show female (possibly bred as well), so I could be doubling my herd in a couple of years!  Very excited to have some new blood in the herd, and especially babies!

Lamas in the snow.

I'm going to try and be better about posting for the rest of the winter, even though there isn't a whole lot going on.  I do have a ton of knitting patterns to publish though, so if you've been waiting you may just get lucky!

Rhinebeck!

I'm officially the worst blogger in the world!  I promise I'm going to start posting once a week...

Anyway, I figured it was time to share some pictures from Rhinebeck!  (aka the NY Sheep and Wool Festival)

It was a gorgeous (but cold) day at the fiber festival.

Lots and lots of people as usual!

I only took a couple of pictures of my stuff on display, and I can only show one of them as the other is of a gift that has not yet been given!

I walked all over the yarn display looking for my yarn, only to find it with the first place winners!  Boy was I shocked!

I took lots of pictures once I got all my stuff back though!

A superfine merino/cashmere/mulberry silk blend entered in the blended category.

Colorwork wool mittens entered in the special item (mittens & gloves) category.

Suri alpaca/llama entered in the exotic category.

A handspun camel/silk cabled lace cowl entered in the small item handspun yarn category.  I also entered a pair of socks in the commercial yarn category but they didn't place!  Apparently I have tension issues...

The winning skein...100% BFL in the 2 ply natural wool category.

100% merino in the 2 ply dyed category.

All in all I didn't do too bad!  I also had a shetland yarn entry that didn't place, but it was definitely the worst of my skeins.  Now to plan for next year!  And of course to get all of these gorgeous pieces up on Etsy!

Knitting Pattern #8: Seed Stitch Buttoned Earband

Well I don't know what has gotten into me lately, but I keep forgetting about the blog!  (Okay, I've had a few weeks with good excuses...I was prepping for an interview last night!)

Anyway, not much is happening fiber-wise around the farm (I did go to a fiber fest last weekend as a vendor, but I forgot my camera!), so here's yet another knitting pattern!  I'll do another ear band...

This ear band works best with the worsted/aran weight spiral plied handspun yarn from my Etsy shop.

Seed Stitch Buttoned Earband

Women’s Small/Medium (easily adjusted for other sizes)

Aran weight yarn (Worsted may also work): 50-60 yards

#8 needles

2 buttons

Gauge: 12 sts & 18 rows = 4” in stockinette

Cast on 13 stitches

*k, p*6x, k

Repeat for 1.5”

k, p, k to last 2 stitches, p, k

k, p, k, p to last 3 sts, k, p, k

Repeat last 2 rows for 17”

*k, p*6x, k1

Repeat 5 more times (6 times total)

k, p, k, k2tog, yo, p, k, p, yo, ssk, k, p, k

*k, p*6x, k

Repeat 3 more times (4 times total)

Bind off

Weave in ends and attach buttons

Enjoy!

Now available on Ravelry!!

Knitting Pattern #7: Slip Stitch Earband

I'm really not the most creative person in the world.  Some people may think that the fiber art work that I do makes me creative, but in some ways not really.  I am terrible at being creative at words...I can never come up with cool names for my yarns or knitting patterns!

As I opened up the Word document with this knitting pattern, in preparation for writing this post, I realized how lame the pattern name was!  Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), the name wasn't already used for a pattern on Ravelry, so the lame name is staying!  Of course, if you have a better suggestion I'd love to hear it!

A lot of the yarn that I spin is multi-colored or self-striping, and not every knitting pattern out there is ideal for that type of yarn, so I wanted to be sure to design a few patterns that would look gorgeous with those yarns.

A gorgeous self-striping merino/tencel handspun yarn.

I love slip-stitch patterns...they look complicated but are actually very simple to knit.  And paired with multi-colored yarn they can take a simple project to a new level!

Thus I introduce my slip stitch earband!  A very simple design and pattern, but gorgeous when knit with a unique handspun yarn.

Slip Stitch Earband

Women’s Small/Medium (easily adjusted for other sizes)

DK weight yarn: 80 yards

#6 needles
1 button

Gauge: 19sts & 26 rows = 4 inches in stockinette

Cast on 7 stitches

1.  *k, p*3x, k

2.  *p, k*3x, p

Repeat rows 1&2 for 1.5”

3.  k, m1 *p,k* to last stitch, m1, k

4.  p2, *k, p* to last 2 stitches, p2

5.  k, m1 *k, p* to last 2 stitches, k, m1, k

6.  *p, k* across

Repeat rows 3-6 until you have 19 stitches, and then work rows 3-4 one more time (21 sts total)

Knit 1 row

Begin pattern stitch

7.  (WS) p

8.  k *sl 1 wyib, k3*

9.  *p3, sl 1 wyif* p1

10.  k1 *drop slipped stitch off needle to front, k2, pick up stitch and knit, k1*

11.  p

12.  k5 *sl 1 wyib, k3*

13.  *p3, sl 1 wyif* p5

14.  k3 *slip 2 stitches wyib, drop slipped stitch off to front, slip the same 2 stitches back to left needle, pick up dropped stitch and knit, k3* k2

Repeat pattern stitch for 14.5 inches

Purl 1 row

15.  k, p2tog *k, p* to last 3 stitches, p2tog, k

16.  *p, k* to last stitch, p

17.  k, p2tog, *p, k* to last 4 stitches, p, p2tog, k

18.  p, k2 *p, k* to last 4 stitches, p, k2, p

Repeat rows 15-18 until 9 stitches remain, and then work rows 15-16 one more time (7 sts)

19.  *k, p*3x, k

20.  *p, k*3x, p

Repeat rows 19-20 a second time

21.  k, p, k2tog, yo, k, p, k

22.  *p, k*3x, p

23.  *k, p*3x, k

Bind off
Weave in ends and attach button

As always, please let me know if you find any errors in my patterns.  I'm new to designing patterns, and far from perfect!

Now available on Ravelry!

Etsy Update!

I've been pretty good the past few weeks about doing Etsy updates!  I have so much yarn, and I hate adding them to Etsy, so I thought it would be good to do them a little at a time.

Wool & rayon yarn.

Alpaca & merino yarn.

Wool & rayon yarn.

I've also been adding batts.  I traded a few of them, but I still have a lot of gorgeous ones left.

Merino, silk, firestar batt.

Alpaca, sari silk batt.

BFL wool, bamboo batt.

Please take a look at my Etsy shop and find something that you like!

Colorwork...My Knitting Nemesis!

Every crafter has something that is extremely challenging to them (or maybe more than one thing!).  When it comes to knitting, I'm okay with lace, charts, cables, you name it.  The thing that makes me nervous is color work...

My cabled lace handspun cowl.  Also a Rhinebeck project.

The "item of the year" for 2014 at Rhinebeck is mittens or gloves.  I know color work projects tend to do well in knitting competitions, as it is tedious and looks it!  So when I decided to knit something for the mitten/glove class, I knew it had to be color work mittens.

Luckily Ravelry is an amazing resource, and that's where I set out to find a pattern.  Normally I only use free patterns (yes, I'm cheap!), but for competition entries I will splurge.  I found these gorgeous mittens on Ravelry and just had to make them!

I have a lot of Knit Picks Palette yarn lying around, more than enough to make this project.  Once I sorted out my colors I wanted to get to work, but then I found out I didn't have the right needles.  A trip to Amazon.com and I was set.

My needles came in while I was at the State Fair last weekend (more on that Thursday!), and I was able to start the mittens Sunday.

Sunday and Monday's work.

The construction is interesting.  I already found a few things that I don't like (the lining of the cuff is too wide, and I don't like the thumb), but I'm not good enough to try and change things, especially for a competition entry.  So I will knit them as is and hope that someone likes them enough to buy them!

Progress from Monday and today.

More Rhinebeck Progress

Slowly but surely I'm getting stuff done for Rhinebeck!

First up...yarn!  The 2 skeins on the left will be entered in the competitions.  The far left is 100% merino, and will be in the 2-ply dyed wool category.  The one next to it is 100% Blue-Faced Leicester, and will be in the 2-ply natural wool category.

The center skein is 50:50 yak/silk, as a lace-weight single.  I really hated spinning it, but I might knit it into something for Rhinebeck next year.  And the 2 skeins on the right are my newest roving...60% BFL, 40% llama...spun at the last 2 weeks' farmer's markets.

And the biggest accomplishment...the cable lace cowl!  This was knit from 50:50 camel/silk, handspun.  It looks a lot cooler now that it is blocking, but I didn't get around to taking a picture!

I also have the knitting/crocheting done for my felting entry, but it still needs to be felted and assembled before it looks like anything!

I'll apologize in advance for being absent for the rest of the week...I'm heading to the NY State Fair tomorrow with the lamas (and husband)!  I'm really excited, its the first show for me in almost 2 years!  I'll report back with pictures next week!

Rhinebeck Progress

Well I'm slowly but surely making progress on my Rhinebeck projects!

First up is a skein of Ashland Bay BFL wool.  I think it was 4 oz, spun and double plied.  It definitely isn't perfect, so it will be interesting to see how it does.  This will go in the 2-ply natural colored wool category.

The single plies on the outside.

Plied yarn.

Second is a cable lace cowl, knit out of a handspun skein of 50:50 camel:silk.  I'm not quite done, on row 52 of 62.  It looks pretty good, even though the yarn is fairly uneven.  I think it will look a lot better once it is blocked.

Not the best picture, but this is the cowl so far.

The crazy 2-page chart!

Done!!

Not much to write about tonight, other than that I finally finished a giant knitting project I've been working on!  I started it over a month ago, so I'm very happy to be done!  And now I can start my Rhinebeck projects!!

A sneak peek of the project.  Can't give away any more details, as it is a surprise gift!

Recent Fiber Projects

I've been busy today (driving 5 hours to get organic chicken feed!), and really couldn't think of anything to write about for this post.

Luckily I had taken some pictures of my recent fiber projects, so I'll give a quick update.

First up is some 50:50 yak/silk from Abstract Fibers.  It is the "Rockstar" colorway.

To be honest, I don't like spinning yak.  I love the Abstract Fibers merino/yak blend, but I think that is only 20% yak or so.  50% is way too much for me!  But a Ravelry group I follow (A Spinner's Study) had yak as one of their "fibers of the month" for July, so I decided to spin up the one braid I had stashed away.

I started out spinning the braid however it wanted to be spun.  I don't spin fingering/lace weight very well, so I was shooting for a 2-ply sport weight or so.

After I finished the first half (1 bobbin- 2 oz), I decided to keep the yarn as a single, so that it would be lace weight.  I'm going to leave the single on the bobbin for a few weeks to get rid of most of the excess twist, and then wind it onto the niddy-noddy and set the twist with hot water and some weight.  Hopefully I can find a worthy lace project to use it with!

My recent knitting project is a bit of a secret, so I'll just share this little snippet.  It is being knit with a gorgeous 50:50 wool/alpaca blend.  I'll share more pictures later.

Rhinebeck Projects!

I realize it is only July, but I decided to start planning my Rhinebeck projects for this year!

Rhinebeck (NY Sheep and Wool Festival) is an amazing fiber fest held in October.  I'd visited once while I was at Hartwick, and had to go back last year.  I took a class last year, which was a bit of a waste of money, but the festival is always worth the trip.

Disc dog exhibit at Rhinebeck last year.

Last year I entered 2 skeins and 2 finished projects.  One skein got disqualified because I didn't have the fiber labeled (the website didn't tell you to do that!), and one project got disqualified because it contained bamboo (which apparently isn't a natural fiber).  But of the remaining 2 items, I got a 3rd with the skein (2-ply Polwarth) and a 2nd with the felted bag.

My disqualified cowl and the Polwarth skein that got judged.

My Rhinebeck winnings!

I'm still not going to go crazy this year, but I wanted to do a few more projects and skeins to enter.

Luckily one project is already done!  I made my sister a pair of socks for her birthday, which isn't until November, so they're going to Rhinebeck first!

Next up is a surprise project, as it is another gift that the recipient doesn't know about!

The third project is going to be a pair of gorgeous color work mittens.  I'm hoping that I have some Knit Picks Palette at home in suitable colors, so I don't have to buy 8 balls of yarn!

And last but not least is a gorgeous cowl.  It will be knit with handspun camel/silk.

Camel/silk yarn.

I may or may not enter my handspun sweater as well...can't decide!

My handspun sweater.

Knitting Pattern #6: Art Yarn Cowl

Now that the fiber festival is over, I can finally get down to business and publish some knitting patterns!

This one is one of my favorites.  I've been spinning a lot of thick & thin spiral plied art yarns, but I really didn't know what to do with them.  

A very colorful thick & thin spiral plied yarn.

I decided to cast on a simple stockinette cowl, and I absolutely love how it turned out!  The thick & thin yarn gives even a stockinette stitch a great texture.  The cowl is long enough to wrap around your neck twice, but the length can be easily modified.

Anyway, here is the pattern.  It needs a name though...I'd love some suggestions!

Art Yarn Cowl

Bulky thick & thin yarn: 80-90 yards

#11 needles

Gauge isn’t important

Cast on 13 stitches

Knit 1 row, purl 1 row (work in stockinette) for 40” (or as long as desired)

Seam working end to cast on edge.

Enjoy!  I'll get the pattern on Etsy soon, and update the name.