Pink! Lots of it and in different tones

A friend of mine asked if I'd be interested in doing up some special batts for her. You see, her brother is marrying a lady who just loves pink, she wants to spin and knit a special shawl for the bride and she doesn't have the equipment or raw materials to blend what she wants. Of course I'll do it for her. Purple is my favorite color of all time, but pink ranks right up there with purple.

I decided that Merino wool, silk and cashmere would make the perfect warm-yet-airy luxury blend. The first blend was a bit, ummm.....Pepto Bismol?

Pepto Bismol on the left, adjusted color on the right

So I added some darker colors to tone it down and shipped the batts off to my friend. There were two batts left over (I always start with more fiber than I need when I'm working on special orders) and I just had to play with them. I have a ball of dyed mohair that I've been wanting to use in a woven scarf and this seemed the perfect opportunity to see what I could do. I blended warm tones with one batt and cool tones with the other. I will spin each separately and use them with the mohair for warp. I don't yet know what I'll use for weft, but if the yarns sit there long enough they usually tell me what they want to be paired with.

Cool color on left, mohair in middle, warm color on right

And just to make life more interesting while I'm working on a magazine submission, I started a Wingspan with a ball of Zauberball I had sitting around (see? told you that yarn speaks to me when it wants to be made up into something!). It was great car knitting when we took a drive north for a bike trip last weekend. We'll see how soon it gets finished, since I'm only working on it when I'm bored with the magazine piece or when I'm riding in the car.

And that's what I did with MY week, how about you? What's on the wheel, what's on the needles? Or are you trying to get your gardening finished between storms and heat waves, like the rest of us?

It's harvest season!

Harvesting the Good Things
I've been busy these past 3 days with the box of peaches I bought on Friday. I'll be making my jelly later this year when it's cooler, but I hadn't made peach butter in several years and it's a family favorite. You have no idea how much work I can get out of my 3 fellas by offering them a small jar of peach butter! ;)

It's a long process, starting with dropping the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds so the skins slip off easily. Then they're chopped, one of my secret ingredients is added and they're cooked until soft. Next is putting them through the food mill to make a fine puree and remove any bits of seed that may have crept in there. Then we add the sugar and cook them down while stirring. This is the tough part--standing beside the pot for 1.5-2 hours, stirring and testing to see if it's condensed enough to jar and seal. As it cooks down, it splatters everywhere and you have to watch your hands and feet to make sure you don't get burned with flying hot peach butter! I usually bring a book and hope the peach butter doesn't splatter it. But it's all worth it, since I made 16 cups and that should last us for 2 years.

The remains of 26 peaches!

Peaches in the pot, and more for dessert!

Pureed and measured so I can add sugar

Done!!

Knitting
I’m still plugging away on the lace curtain. I have 4 more repeats of the lace pattern then I can start the hem, which is all stockinette stitch and should go much faster. I have also begun a swatch for an autumn-themed vest for myself. Below is the swatch, knitted in the round so I get the correct gauge. The yarn is all my handspun from my blended batts and it’s lucious–the ground color (beige) is a blend of BFL, Merino and tussah silk and it’s just so slickery-soft. The vest will be knitted in the round and steeked. Then I’ll add a leaf border around the fronts and just a bit of the red around the armholes. Or maybe I’ll use the brown/green yarn? Both the red and brown/green yarns contain angelina because I love glitter and glitz. You can see just a bit of the gleam in the closeup photo.

So, what's everyone else doing with their garden produce or their farmer's market purchases this year? Any good recipes out there?

Weaving in the near future?

I suppose you could call me a ‘lapsed’ weaver. Once upon a time I did a lot of weaving. In fact, I did it for a living, hiring myself out to local and not-so-local designers to weave yardage for their creations, and weaving items for sale and a few creations of my own to enter in shows. Along came a hefty dose of Real Life, and I had to get a job with medical and educational benefits for the boys. I sold the loom and all the accessories and left the weaving world for 20+ years.

One of my spinning students bought a loom years ago and asked me to teach her to set it up and weave. And I was bitten by the weaving bug again, found an old loom, bought it and brought it home back in 2005. This loom was built under Osma Todd Gallinger’s brand and somehow ended up stored in a hen house! It was rescued sometime later, used to weave rugs and passed on to a studio in eastern Pennsylvania. They sold it to help finance their troubled youth program and it came to live with me, all in pieces, with lots of notes, diagrams and photos to help in it’s re-assembly.

I finally found the time last week to clean it up (yep, found hen house straw in the oddest places!) with Murphy’s oil soap, give it a good coating of orange oil, and put it together. After Sunday’s marathon re-assembly, it really is surprising that hubby is still speaking to me!

So, here she is–42" weaving width, 8 harnesses, 14 treadles.




I still need to give the castle, warp drum and harnesses a good cleaning/oiling, figure out how the brake chain goes on, and buy Texsolv heddles and reeds. But I’m hoping to be weaving with my handspun yarn by some time this summer. I'm looking forward to re-acquainting myself with those complex twills! Yay!

Holiday Sale! Come fill up your stockings with fiber goodies!

In preparation for holiday shopping and gift-making, I’ll be having a sale in my Feistywoman Designs Etsy shop. Starting the morning of November 27 through the morning of December 2, most items in my etsy shop will be marked down 10%, 20% and 30%. I carry handspun yarn, spinning fiber and completed garments so you have quite an opportunity to find something for all the folks on your shopping list. As always, there’s free domestic (continental US) shipping on orders over $50.

Handspun Delight Scarf pattern

Handspun Delight Scarf by Feistywoman Designs©
(Beginning Knitting Skills)
In this scarf, you have the opportunity to use up those little bits of handspun yarn to create a unique, reversible and easy scarf.

Finished Size: Approximately 4" wide and 72" long
Yarn: approximately 100 yds each of 4 different Worsted weight yarns at 12 wpi. Mark them as Colors A, B, C and D. I like to use a variegated yarn, a textured yarn, and two solid color yarns.
Gauge: 4 sts & 9 rows/inch in Garter Stitch.
Check your gauge before beginning, although exact gauge isn’t necessary in a scarf.
Needles: 40" US #8 & 9 (5 & 5.5mm) or size needed to obtain gauge and/or make a fabric YOU like.

Notes:
You will be knitting the scarf longways, making knots at the end/beginning of each row to form the fringe. To do this when the next row uses the same color, simply make a loop about twice the length of the desired fringe (8-1/2" loop for 4" fringe), make an overhand knot snug up against the knitting, and continue back with the working yarn. To do this when the next row uses a new color, cut the yarn to the desired length (4-1/4" for 4" fringe), tie a knot with this strand and the end of the new yarn.
The bind-off leaves one lonely strand of yarn–you may leave this end as is, or add it to the last knot, making that knot a 3-strand one.

Row/Color Sequence:
Cast On and Rows 1 to4--A

Row 5--B

Rows 6 to 8--C

Rows 9 to 13--D
Row 14–A

Rows 15 to 17--B

Rows 18 to 22--C

Row 23--D

Rows 24 to 26–A
Rows 27 to 31–B
Row 32–C
Rows 33, 34 and Bind Off–D

Scarf:
With larger needles and Color A, cast on 250 stitches. Turn work, switch to smaller needles, pull out a loop for the fringe, make the knot and knit back across the row. Turn. Pull out a fringe loop, make a knot, and knit back. Continue in this manner, making knots either with the same yarn or the new yarn, and following the Row/Color Sequence chart. When you complete Row 34, switch back to the larger needles for the bind off. Cut the fringe loops if you want or leave them as is. Hand wash the scarf, lay flat to dry (Garter Stitch will stretch lengthwise if you hang it), and give the scarf to someone you love. Better yet, give it to someone you like and make them your new best friend!