Angora socks for me

So, I did work on several of the things on my list recently. I finished the binding on Owen's car quilt, but when I washed it, I had some problems with the applique wanting to fray around the stitching, so I have to fix that.  I also started working on a prototype for the copycat purse for Jen, but didn't get done with that either.  I did, however, skip all the way down my list to spin yarn and make slipper socks for me!

It all started when I bought some angora rabbit fiber from a local rabbitry, Oldhaus Fibers and Rabbits (http://oldhaus.net).  It is so soft!  I mixed it 30% angora, 70% wool.  Here is the pile of fiber, angora on the left, wool on the right.

And here it is after I carded it and made it into rolags ready to be spun.  I prepared this much fiber twice for my slipper socks.

Here is one skein of yarn.  I ended up with three.  See how the rabbit fur makes a fuzzy halo?

Finally, here are the slippers.  The one on the right was done almost a week before the other and I wore it around a little.  You can see how much more of a halo there is on the one I've been wearing.  The other should look like that before long too.  They also look a little different because the last skein of yarn I spun was a little thinner, so the gauge was a little different. I think that is fine, since they are just for wearing around the house.  I am pretty happy with them.  They are so soft and comfy!

2011 Crafting To-Do List

I feel like I already have my entire year's worth of crafting planned out!  I have so many things I want to do.  Sometimes I lose track of all the ideas I have had, so I thought I would make a list here and see how it changes over the course of the year.

• Make a pattern for Cole's Robot Quilt (I've had requests for this!)
• Finish hand-stitching the binding on Owen's Car Quilt
• New purse for Jen - Copycat Challenge (more details coming soon)
• Bluebird purse (a customer request based off of this bag.)
• Natural Dying - read books on natural dying that my sister gave me for Christmas, try out natural dying with the dye stuffs she gave me, plant natural dye plants in my garden, harvest them and dye with them.
• Finish my half done fancy feet socks...Well actually, the kit came with yarn and instructions for 7 pairs of anklets, but I'm just trying to finish one pair (the Saturday pair) for now.  I'll have to post a work in progress post about these.
• Revamp the Andrea Bag - Messenger style (for me!)
• Master Charles hat for Cole in the color Robot (silver) - I already bought the yarn a long time ago and started on it last summer, but it ended up being too big and I haven't gotten around to doing the new one yet.
• Master Charles hat for Owen in black and yellow just like the one in this post.
• Spin yarn for and knit slipper socks for Jeff (like the ones I made for my dad). This should probably be two bullet points since the spinning is one craft and knitting is another!
• Spin yarn for and knit slipper socks for me!
• Read and knit the sampler in "The Sweater Workshop" to try to learn how to knit a sweater.
• Spin yarn for and knit a sweater for my dad.
• Hawaii Quilt from this fabric I bought in Hawaii
• Peacock Quilt
• The always present, never finished first quilt I started in 2003

There is probably no way that I will accomplish all of that. Especially if I get side-tracked by any other projects or if my friends and family keep having babies at the rate they have been!  These are somewhat in the order of expected completion with the first few on the list being things I hope to accomplish this month, the last few being things I probably won't really do, and the ones in the middle are ones that I want to do, and probably will, but they'll have to wait until I get a few other things done.