New waiting project

On October 17, 2022October 14, 2022 By CarynIn Craft

I’ve started a crochet project using the first yarn I spun on my spinning wheel. The consistency varies wildly, so I took my wraps per inch (wpi) measurements from one of the thicker sections.

Measuring wraps per inch on hand-spun yarn

I consulted a wraps per inch chart to select a crochet hook size based on my measurement of 9 wpi. By selecting a hook for the thicker parts of the yarn, the thinner areas will be more lacey, but that is OK because my pattern is for a lace shawl. If I sized the hook for the thinner sections of yarn, the shawl would become stiff for the thicker sections.

I’ve put the whole project in a bag in the car so it is ready for the waiting times.

Mohair fiber page

On October 14, 2022October 11, 2022 By CarynIn Craft

I finished my spun mohair fiber page. This mohair is from Rutabaga the Angora goat and is from her first shearing.

I did a knitting swatch in stockinette stitch with a garter stitch border, crochet round, a minute weaver, and a nålbound swatch.

Information on each swatch written beneath the fabric

Nålbinding swatch

On October 12, 2022October 9, 2022 By CarynIn Craft

For my fiber book, I made a nålbinding swatch with hand spun mohair. The thing I love about nålbinding is the ability to cut it. Nålbinding is usually worked in the round, and each loop is connected to the next as well as to the row below. This makes it possible to cut the fabric vertically or horizontally and still have interlocked rows.

Tube cut vertically to make a flat swatch

Swatch cut horizontally to remove uneven top

When nålbinding is cut, there are portions of loops that can be removed. I left the side edges raw, but removed the loose pieces along the top. This is going to be mounted on a page in a book, so won’t see too much wear and tear. It will still be interesting to see how it fares over the years.

The waiting shawl

On October 10, 2022October 6, 2022 By CarynIn Craft

I am calling this my waiting shawl, since I knitted it while waiting. Waiting in the car rider line, waiting in the doctor’s office, waiting in the parking lot. It feels like I’ve been waiting forever, but I’ve only been knitting for six months. I started spinning the fiber over a year ago, though. So. This is made from fiber from Sugar Plum the alpaca, washed, carded, and hand-spun with a drop spindle and some on my upcycled bicycle spinning wheel. The knit pattern is yarn over, purl two together, both front and back, with knit stitches on the edges to get the stripes vertical

Finished knitting draped over the steering wheel because the car is where most of the work was done

The amazing thing about this shawl happened when I did a light wash and blocked it. First, there was still quite a bit of dust in the yarn that came out in the wash. Second, when I blocked it, it doubled in size. All the lace holes opened up, evened out and expanded. Wow. It made my spinning seem much more even. I’ll take it.

Wave ghost

On October 8, 2022 By CarynIn Cats, Craft

I found an LED light that casts wave like forms in selectable colors. What a perfect thing to set under a ghost!

I set up one of my chicken wire ghosts and draped with with fine netting fabric. This is a basic version using my wire ghost instructions (which are currently selling like hot cakes on Etsy, wow). The ghosts in the instructions are more detailed with stylized netting, this version has no arms and uses just a long section of netting thrown over the top. I tried just setting the light under the ghost, but didn’t like that I could see it. I found a dark pot (which is actually part of a helium can that I cut off the top and painted black a while back), and placed that under the ghost with the light inside. I had to adjust the lengths of steel posts that stabilize the ghost from an X formation to parallel to accommodate the can, but it worked.

Wire ghost lit from beneath with a wave light

The white light is quite bright, but I think the blue color is nice.

Meadow cats checking out the new decoration

Critters and Craft

Category: Craft