still working on slippers

My felted slippers were still too big after they dried up. I am washing them again to shrink them a bit. I will be back with photos later this week.

I think I had a break-through with the drop spindle today. I am reading the book Respect the Spindle and working with some Alpaca Rovings. I spun a bit this evening and will keep working on it. Stay tuned.

felted socks - pre-felting

I knit up these slippers this week. I took the photo pre-felting. I tried to get some pics of the felted project tonight, but I was not happy with the photo quality at all, so I will try again in the morning. I am not very happy with this picture either, but since I am trying to do project 365, I guess this counts as a photos.
I will be back with a nice picture of the slippers. I am wearing them with a pair of David's tube socks so they can for to the shape of my feet. I used a worsted weight yarn that was given to me for this project. The pattern was a free download, so the total cost of the project...$o.oo

Last project of the decade

David had to work last night, so I spent the night dyeing yarn. I took a skein of Fisherman's Wool and dyed it with Kool Aide. I hope to knit this Bag. It is a felted project. I am knitting slippers to felt right now. I should be ready to felt them this weekend. I also have to do a Kool Aid run to buy more blue and green kool aid to do the second skein.

It is snowing outside, but my feet will be extra warm and cozy when I finish there socks I am knitting with Cascade 220. I am also starting a pair of felted slippers.

I made fingerless gloves and they are perfect for taking photos in the snow.

Hats Hats Hats

Since this year is a home-made Christmas, I made hats for the kids and my parents. I hope to get one finished for David, but I have a big project that is officially in crunch time for him. If I can't get a hat finished by Friday at 7 am, I will make one for his birthday in February. I made all of the hats with left-over yarn from other projects, yarn that was given to me or purchased at Goodwill, so the total cost of the hats is probably under $3.oo.

Dyeing Wool

I did some wool dyeing yesterday. The bright colors are all from Kool Aid. The wool with the yellow tint is from onion skins and the part that looks un-dyed was my un-sucsessful attempt to dye with left over black bean water. I think I need to try to dye with actual black beans. I did all of the dyeing in the crock pot. I have two crock pots, so I can do two batches at a time. I also like this method because I can turn the crock pot of when the dyeing is finished and let it cool slowly and I don't have to handle the wool when the water is hot and risk felting.
I want to try carding some of the bright Kool Aid colors together to see what combos I get.

What I've been working on

Christmas is quickly approaching and I am relieved that the speed which I knit is also increasing. I have been very busy. I have a pair of socks knit for Christian finished. (pictured here) I am ready to start the gusset on the second sock in the same yarns for Liam. I hope to finish that tonight while I watch TV.


I made the bath-mitts last week. They only take a couple hours to knit. I used yarn I bought at Goodwill and buttons I purchased at an estate sale. I love buttons and will looking for more a garage and estate sales.


I also tried my hand at making my own knitting needles. I took dowels and sharpened the end with a pencil sharpener. I sanded them down a bit, rubbed them with lavander oil and then took self drying clay and made the tops. I used some craft paint to decorate. David helped by sawing the dowels down so the needles were not to long. I got the ideas for the needles and bath mitt from the book Kids Knitting by Melanie Falick. This is the same book that I got the instructions for dying yarn with Kool-aid> I originally checked the book out so the boys could use it for inspiration and learning to knit, but I find that it is a great resource for me too.
My last project is a spinning project in the making. When I first bought my drop spindle, I send a message to a friend on Facebook who has sheep and asked her if she might have any wool. She replied that she had some. I figured some meant a grocery bag of fleece. We drove out to her place Saturday and by "some" she meant the complete fleeces of two sheep. The fleece is fresh off the sheep (from June). I get to work with it from off the sheep to hopefully yarn. Currently, I am in the washing phase. I have exchanged e-mails with a sheep farmer I met on Craigslist and have also been seeking help from some spinning groups on Ravelry. It looks like washing the wool once in Tide and then a second time in Dawn to get the lanolin off is a winning combo. I have barely dented the first bag and I already have so much wool. I will buy a carder over the next few weeks and start making roving out of the wool. Stay tuned.