I finished spinning the one ounce of Dottie the goat’s mohair, and made a practice circle with the resulting yarn. I used the Finnish 1+2 or Mammen stitch, and am practicing circles because I like making hats. And circles are useful as dish separators, so all my practice still turns out something useful.
I brushed the back of the circle lightly just to see what happens. The result was soft and fuzzy!
Good thing it is useful, because it is rather lopsided.
I decided to practice my nålbinding by making a rag rug from a fitted sheet that had worn out. I cut off the elastic, then tore the sheet into 1” strips. I wound each strip into individual loose bundles so they didn’t tangle together. Using the Finish 1+1 aka Oslo stitch, I worked the strips into an oval rug form. I was eyeballing where increases needed to go, so the end result is kinda funky. I had to block it (get it wet and lay it flat to dry) to get it mostly flat. Although it took me a month to make, I admit that I only did about three strips in a sitting. If I make another one with the top sheet, I’ll twist each strip, and evenly space the increases. I did find that I like to chain the increases, rather than stitch into the same stitch. I like the texture better. So lessons learned. And it will still keep feet from getting cold while someone is brushing their teeth.
On the chicken side, the weather is cooling down. It is still hot, with highs still in the 90s, but the chickens spent all day outside today. How do I know? The foot bath inside the coop was clean, and the one outside was filthy.
I have a new car rider line activity. We had a king sized sheet wear out, and I decided that I wanted to try my new nålbinding techniques to make a rag rug. There are many different ways to construct a rag rug, such as sewing braided lengths together, crocheting, or using half hitches.
For this one I’m using a Finnish 1+1 stitch. I tore the sheet into 1” strips, and made each strip into a small bundle so they wouldn’t get tangled in the bag. To join strips, I sew the ends together with a few straight stitches. I am doing something a little different than traditional increases on the curves; Instead of making two stitches into one previous stitch, I’m making the increase stitch stand alone (like a chain stitch in crochet). I like the texture of the fabric better with this method.
I’m about half-way through my bag of torn strips. This one is going to take awhile, but it will be interesting to see how it comes out!
I made myself a new nal for nålbinding; a little longer and with two holes so I can work with longer lengths of yarn. I thought it was interesting that the previous nal darkened so much after just two projects. I made them both from cherry wood, both from scraps from the same plank.
I saw another crafter with a nal that had been hollowed out behind the eyes. I like that this helps the yarn pass through the loops better, so I used a small gouge to do that to my nals as well.
Yes. I took the pictures on my calico. She was handy.
I am continuing my nålbinding practice. I used up more scraps of wool yarn in my stash to make a hat! It has a slightly pointy top; I need to work on making flat circles, but I’ve seen several pictures of nålbound hats with a pointy top, so I’m going to call it a design choice (as in I chose not to pick out the stitches and try again). There is a time to unravel and a time to push through. Mostly I push through!
I’m glad I did push through on this, because it seems like it will be a good warm hat. The last rows are made of soft merino wool, which really makes it comfortable to wear. And I love the ear flaps! My ears are usually cold walking in the winter. I love the spiral construction, and I figured out how to finish and blend in the final stitches. Now to go raid the yarn stash and see what else I can use up.
Critters and Craft 