Easter Eggs

Embroidered Eggs for Easter!

Nancy & I have been working up this cute Easter Basket and eggs. The eggs were knit and then Felted using Marie Mayhew's pattern and then Nancy embellished them with embroidery. (Embroidery will be hot this year).

The carrots were made by rolling orange roving in hot soapy water until felted. I had died some mohair curly locks and thought they would look perfect for carrot greens. I sewed them all together and will attach them to the easter basket (purse) Nancy made while on vacation.

Nancy embellished the eggs with embroidery techniques. They are so cute. she also made a purse with embroidered flowers. Photo yet to come. We are having such a good time with embroidery!

Her newest embroidery is a small purse. She knit it with domy Heather yarn and then felted it. She stuffed the purse with plastic bags and basted the top shut and fleted it in the washer, using hot soapy water.

I also put my felted objects in a mesh bag. I let them go through the agitation cycle once, shut it off - check the piece I'm felting - if not felted enough I run the agitation cycle again and then drain the washer as normal. Pull it out dry and take out the basting. Then Nancy embroidered her flowers on the front and I made a twisted cord for the handle. Directions and pattern for purse will be free on our website. www.creativefibers.com

Remember my felted sweater that I made into a child's jacket:

Well, I was not fond of this design, so Nancy took off the ribbon and blanket stitched a hem around it and embellished it with the "Fishing Frog" from her A-Z Boullion Knot book. Which we hope to have in stock soon. I do have a few other A-Z embroidery books in right now for using on the eggs.

I love this technique and it is so easy to embroider on these felted items. We have the 3/2, 5/2 , 8/2 and 10/2 cotton in stock to wind off whatever is needed for a project. If you are interested in learning this embroidery technique just come on in for Nancy's Bungee Knitting Class. By the way, this sweater sold the first day on display.

Spring sweater

Ellies Easter Sweater in progress:

Right Front and back on holders

Starting left side

This is my new project - I'm so pleased - I'm using Roma from Jaeger, which I love to knit with - its springing but holds its shape and feels like cotton. Very light weight. It's a blend of 63% viscose, 22% nylon and 15% angora.

I'm knitting the pattern "Ribbon-edged Cardigan" from "Special Knits by Debbie Bliss". I'm knitting a little larger size because Ellie will be two and I want this to fit her for awhile. I'm using "Roma" from Jaeger 22 sts/ on a size 6. I'm using a size 7 needle and getting 5.5 st/inch.

I measured the sweater and checked the sizes in the book and thought this might be too big for Ellie. I went over and measured her with the pieces in hand and sure enough, way too big. Back to the drawing board. It's good to have your client on hand. I will finish this size and save it for next year. Maybe the new baby will be a girl and she can wear the small one. Good planning huh?

I remeasured the original back that I thought was too small and it looks like it should fit by adding a little length. I cast on for the small size but using the larger needles it will be just perfect for her. (She measures around the chest to the 6-9 mos. size) So, I'm on the fronts today, but will definitely check again before I complete the fronts. Wish me luck. I'll keep you posted.

When reworking a pattern it is always a crap shoot for me. I'm just not sure until I can hold it up to my model. My history with my sister's sweater, even after holding it up to her, came out way too big !!!!

and Dan (model living in my house) thought it would fit him, and it did, but just fit him!

I'm going to remake the sweater but a little larger because he is bound to get bigger than this. He can take it to college with him next year!

Anybody have any tricks I don't know about for reworking patterns to fit????

Birthdays

Two men very important to me have their Birthdays today. My son and my friend. Dan is 18 and we won't give B's age away.

The day after Dan was born there was a very wet March snow storm and my family could not get to the hospital that evening so we were all alone in the hospital room. He was a very content baby and I was able to catch some sleep. It had been 14 years since my last pregnancy so I was content to be cared for in the hospital. "Not that anxious Mom wanting to get home right away". I had come in the night before, then waited all day before he was born. I got an extra day this way.

We will celebrate his birthday on the 18th with a lovely dinner at Kincaids.

Fleece:
As you all know I brought home 7 bags of new fleece last Saturday but I brought home one bag too many. I was supposed to leave Hannah to be shown at the Fair. I had not spun her or washed her, thank heaven, so I think Sue can still use the fleece. She is beautiful! I believe she is romney/corriedale/and leiscester.

I am now in the process of bagging fleece. It is not a tough job. I love it - my hands will be full of lanolin and feeling nice. I could probably spin silk today without snagging my skin.

I tried spinning Amelia in the grease. It's easy to spin but it looks dirty. I'm not sure how it will look after I wash it. I'll give it a try and see what the end result looks like.

New sock yarn from Mt. Colours and Claudia Handpaints arrived today. Can hardly wait to try Claudias - lovely colors.


It's a great day to be outside spinning, if you're not out there already, it's 60 degrees!

March Shearing

Woolen Meadow Farm had their spring shearing today. Josh, Ellie and Mom came with. It was a spectacular day - 40 degrees and sunny. Photos:

Josh & Ellie getting a visit from the sheep! Coming over!

Now, this IS a roll in the hay!

Look into my eyes......

Sheared sheep have lost their fleece!

Sue sorting fleece

This is one whole fleece! It is so black and velvety!

All the sheep were done and it was time to head home. Now they can settle down to having their lambs. Josh & Ellie loved the cat, Ottis, and his acrobats in the rafters of the barn. The rooster (top photos)was a hit too.

I brought home 7 bags of fleece - four white, two lt. grey and one dark grey. They are all gorgeous. Don't wait if you want some. I'm spinning Hannah in the grease. (Sorry, I forgot the breed right now) Most of them are Corriedale/Romney.

I love the shearing time. I love the smells, the touch, and the earthiness of it all. Lucky Sue gets to live there all the time.

Another book review

I've been reading "Wendy Knits" by Wendy D. Johnson. Founder of WendyKnits.net. This is a great book. It's like a journal of a Knitting person. The sub title is "My never-ending Adventures in Yarn." I almost didn't read it because it looked like alot of writing, no color photos and so it didn't pull me in.

It is very interesting and full of great knitting information. The patterns are intriguing and challenging enough for the beginner or intermediate knitter. She has lots of great advice in a very supportive way for knitters. Boy, don't pass this one up. I'm not finished yet, but I am very impressed. It's in Paper back for $14.00.

We got our shipment of Unique Kolours new sock yarn in today. It is gorgeous!. I can hardly wait to knit with it. We had SOM club tonight so I hope someone took advantage of it.

SNOW DAY

Remember our Christmas party on the deck well here it is today!







Looking over driveway across the street!








Looking toward front yard out of garage

This is the pile of snow on my deck!

Yes, Friday we had a snow day. I did make it to the shop and was open all day but I took photos before I left. My sister wants to see these.

A new book has come into my hands this week. I know when this came in I looked at it but it didn't have many pictures, especially in color, so I set it aside. Well, Denise brought it to my attention on saturday. It's called "Wendy Knits" My never-ending adventures in yarn by Wendy D. Johnson founder of Wendyknits.net. I started reading it this morning and I LOVE IT!

I agree with Debbie Bliss - this is an excellent book for knitters of all skill levels. She is a good writer and story teller and has some great projects in this book. Real basic stuff plus a memoir. I've just started it but can hardly wait to get back to reading it. Give it a shot.

Happy knitting-Bonny

Rip out and knit again

Welllllll, I finally ripped out Dan's sweater. I know I just finished it but there were some flaws, which I mentioned, and I couldn't live with it. He was okay with it. We're going to redesign a new sweater in a different color and I'll make it bigger because he is bound to grow again. The last one just fit him. I hated to do it but I kept looking at that mistake on the front and it would have bugged me all the time. The back and sleeves were perfect but of course the stitch I goofed on was in the front.

I first must finish Ellies sweater for Easter. I did finish Josh's socks and they are so cute.

I've been working on easter eggs and chicks this weekend. Nancy and I have a surprise in store for you all. Next week.

I also worked on some felting - tried to make a bowl but it didn't hold together so I'll try again. I tried felting over a piece of a felted sweater and I didn't close the ends up very well, so it came apart. It was my first attempt so I'll try again. I did some handspun yarn to work into the bowl and that looks great but not the bowl. Back to the drawing table.

I went antiquing today. Trying to find some hand held mirrors with wood frames. I'm also looking for some antique perfume bottles (cheap) to put in the bathroom. I didn't find much. I went down on Hennepin and Lake - they have a couple great places to shop down there but I came up empty handed today. It was a long shopping day so I picked up dinner and headed home.

Desperate housewives is on tonight as well as Brother's and Sisters. I hope they are not re-runs I was planning on getting some knitting done.