A new item up for sale--knitting kits with my own handspun yarn and my designs!

Breaking News!

I've just loaded my first two knitting kits in the Etsy shop. Last week I finally got the Three Rivers Kerchief pattern test-knit and posted on the site, today I'm adding my handspun yarn to the pattern so you can easily combine the right yarn with the pattern.

I have plans to continue with simple yet fun kits, adding my Elemental Earwarmer and Elemental Mitts (this is the pattern that appeared in the most recent Yarnmaker magazine) designs paired with appropriate yarn. If you have a color preference and I have the fiber, let me know and I can spin up something just for you in any of the three designs.

Yes, that's the same yarn in both designs; one was shot in a light box and the other was shot outdoors. I never noticed the difference until just now.

And the reason these kits haven't been listed until now? The garden is making me nuts. In addition to a ton of tomatoes (spaghetti sauce, chili, tomato soup and 8 qts in the freezer and there's still a peck of them left) and red raspberries, I have had 7 Cushaw pumpkins. Gave one to the neighbor, three more aren't quite mature and I'm not sure if I can use them, one has grown on top of the black raspberry bird netting and I need Husbeast to reach it. The biggest one is reachable but the vine is still alive so it's not ready to pick yet. This baby is HUGE, will probably make at least four pies.

That's a section of newspaper it's sitting on and almost totally obscuring!

That's the news from Chez Feisty. I'm heading for the coffee pot, I need fuel to continue the To Do List.

Last day for the 30%-off handspun yarn sale! And a new project is born....

Just a reminder that the sale ends at midnight tonight. At least 1/3 of the skeins have gone to happy homes already. These yarns won't be discounted again until after the holidays..... Use code FBaug13 when you check out to receive the 30% discount.

Aurora

Azaleas

Field of Violets

Mulberries

Navy Fluoro

Golden Prism

New Project
A few months ago I started spinning some dyed top I bought 2 years ago. This was Mountain Colors Crazy Woman colorway, and I'd had it aging in the stash until it figured out what it wanted to be.

Crazy Woman--dyed top and spun singles

I found some blended Merino in Garnet that was hiding in the stash--it was a perfect color match for the Crazy Woman.

Garnet blended top in Merino wool

Fourteen bobbins later, I have 7 large skeins of yarn with over 1,000 yards of 2-ply yarn. Searching for a sweater, I decided that Knit One Crochet Two's Scalloped Cowl sweater was the perfect choice. The simplicity would show off the subtle colors of the yarn and the lace edges were the perfect highlight. I'm up the the arm divide and will post pix as I progress through this sweater.

A new--challenging--project

Since I finished my chemo caps and my treatments, I had to move on to the next project which had a deadline of Feb. 6. I know I will not make the deadline but I'll give it my best shot.

As VP of our guild in 2012, one of my responsibilities (along with my good friend Babeth) was to see that there was a program each month. In the spring, she came up with the idea to have volunteer spinners work with identical fiber and report on the results. The guild loved the idea and added further embellishments. The end result is that 4 members carded fiber. We weren't to tell what we were carding, and we needed to make two 4-ounce batches of fiber. Then 8 spinners would take over, each spinner receiving one of the 8 batches of fiber. Remember, there were only four different fiber types so that there were pairs of spinners with the same raw material. We wanted to challenge the spinners and also see how and why they spun the yarn they spun.

Then the yarns would be passed on to 8 more volunteers, who would create a finished product. I was one of the carders and I'm now one of the finishers. I received my yarn in late September but with surgery, the death of my brother, the holidays and radiation treatment, there just wasn't time to consider what to make or even find a chunk of time to work on it. I now have a plan.

Here's the yarn I was given by Babeth, who did a lovely job of spinning:

It's local Icelandic raised and carded by one of our members into batts without separating the tog and thel (long outer coat fibers and short inner coat fibers from this double-coated breed). Left to right:

1.  45 yards of 2-ply tog combed out of the batt, spun worsted
2.  130 yards of singles tog pulled out of the batt, spun worsted
3.  40 yards of 2-ply thel combed out of the batt, spunsemi-woolen
4.  100 yards of singles 'art yarn' spun from the batt pulled into strips, spun woolen and fulled slightly

What would YOU do with these 4 yarns? You'll have to wait to see what I came up with (if I can manage to finish it by next week), because the guild unveiling is tomorrow and I don't want to spoil the surprise by posting publicly. 

Oh, it just hasn't been a good week to finish my vest....

Our spinning and weaving guild is celebrating our 30th anniversary this year, and the first of several displays will be mounted in May at my local library. I've been trying to knit a simple vest from the Winter 2011 Spin Off magazine with my handspun. This was my starting yarn:

Cherry Divinity yarn

I needed 2 accent colors and choose a deep red heather top and a charcoal heather top, spun the yarns and started knitting. Ran out of the charcoal. I knew I needed another entire skein as the charcoal would also be used for the neckband, and so I spun up a bobbin early in the week, plied and washed it, and started knitting again.

The vest back

I've now run out of the deep red yarn--just 3" from being finished with the 60 stitches on underarm portion of the back of the vest! Ack! Drat! Dagnabbit! sigh.....

Not nearly enough yarn there.....

So it's back to the wheel today, wash the yarn tonight and hopefully continue the knitting tomorrow. It's so frustrating when I keep running into problems on such a simple project, but I suppose it's my own fault for not guestimating my yarn requirements correctly. Live and learn.....

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?