Purse for my sister

My sister requested a new, small purse, so I whipped this up for her in August and gave it to her when she was back visiting my parents.

But, the highlight of the trip was that she found my bag of wool that I had been carding on the way there to have ready for my new spinning wheel, and decided the rolags looked like dreads. Then, the next day, my dad found them and held one up as if it was a mustache!  Unfortunately, I missed getting a picture of that.  Neither one of them knew that the other had done that.  I guess I know where she gets her sense of humor!

Baa Baa Black Sheep

I found out that one of the summer students working in our lab grew up on a sheep farm.  She was going home one weekend, so I asked her if they had any black, grey or other colored wool that I could buy.  She brought me back an entire garbage bag full of black and grey wool (for free!)!

Here it is before any washing.

Here are some clean, carded rolags ready for spinning.  The white is from my other fleece that my dad got me, and the lightest grey is a blend of the white and the lightest grey.  The other 3 shades of grey and black are all from this fleece.  

I spun the different colored rolags in the order they were in the picture and then plied it back on itself to make this skein that goes from black all the way to white.

 This one was actually my first skein of spun yarn from the black and grey fleece.

And, here is a coffee cozy knit from the first skein.  This might have to go to the summer student as a thank you for the wool.  I can't wait to make something from the other skein. I've carded a lot more of this wool in preparation for my new spinning wheel, so there might be enough for a scarf or something when I am done!

Andrea Bag for me!

Remember the Andrea bag?

 And then I tried to make it into a messenger style for myself...

Well, I finally made the original style Andrea bag for myself!  Actually, I made it before I went on a trip to see Andrea and another friend, Ann, in Boston the first weekend in June.  Andrea and I toured Boston with our Andrea bags!   We had a great time and the bag was perfect for walking around town all day.  I could bring everything I needed for the day, but it never got too heavy!

The Andrea bags even made it to Sam Adams Brewery!

You might recognize the fabric...I used it once for a Jen bag...and I wouldn't be afraid to use it again!  I love this print!

Hand spun, hand dyed, and hand knit coffee cozy

Back in November I took a small amount of yarn I had spun (double ply on the top and a singles on the bottom of the picture below) and dyed it with food coloring.  It has been sitting on my shelf since then and I had no specific plans for it.  I had just done it to try out dying.

The color was so bright that I couldn't imagine wanting to make anything out of it. In fact, it is even hard to get a good picture!

Well, this weekend I finally got around to knitting up a coffee cozy with the singles yarn.  It seems like the only thing that you might not mind being that crazy color.  It looks better than I expected.  I actually kind of like it now.  I'm considering putting it up on etsy.

Fancy Feet Anklets - Saturday

I ordered the Fancy Feet Anklets kit from Knit Picks a long time ago.  It comes with 7 different anklet patterns and 7 balls of sock yarn.  I started this pair in November and finally finished a week or two ago.  I just worked on them periodically between other projects.  That is why it took so long!  I'm enjoying them now and am looking forward to making another pair.  Socks are great because they are small and easy to carry with you, but the tiny needle and yarn is not as fun for me.  But, regardless, there are more socks in my future.

New spinning wheel

Yesterday I went to Susan's Fiber Shop in Columbus, Wisconsin and tried out a lot of spinning wheels.  I have been eyeing the Majacraft Aura wheel for a while and finally found someone who had one that I could try out.  It is pretty expensive so I wanted to be sure I liked it before I ordered it.  After trying a few wheels, I was convinced that I wanted a Majacraft wheel because they felt so smooth when I treadled.  However, the Pioneer was significantly cheaper than the Aura.  It was hard for me to get a really good feel for which wheel would be the best for my spinning.  The Aura is very different than what I have now, but that is part of why I was interested in it.  It has a new technology that is different from other wheels.  The Pioneer was a little easier for me to just sit down at because it was more like the wheel I have now.  But, the Aura is sooooo pretty.  It is solid bamboo.  The Pioneer is pine and the wheel is fiber board.  I just knew I wouldn't be happy if I didn't get the Aura.  I saw it in a magazine and knew it was the wheel for me.  So, I ordered it!  It comes from New Zealand, so it will be about a month before I get it.  I am pretty excited and will be counting down the days!

Here is a picture from the Majacraft website of what the Aura looks like.  I can't wait to post pictures of mine when it arrives.

Tie Blankets

This week our book club made fleece tie blankets to donate to the Ronald McDonald House while we discussed our latest book.  We made six blankets and they were all cute! Mine had little alien guys (and a dinosaur).