FO in just 1 week

In just 1 week I went from stash yarn to a FO. Here is the sweater I created with help from The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns.
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease about 3 balls of Wheat and 1/2 ball of Loden
Needles: KnitPicks Options size 8/ 5mm


This is the first yarn I spun on the antique wheel and then plied. It is about 38 yards of probably a bulky weight. I hope to spin some more and then make a simple scarf with it.

Happy New Year

Look what my Uncle got me for Christmas!

It is an antique spinning wheel. I have a few repairs to make then it should work well. I am not an expert, but I have tried spinning with it and discovered a few issues. Now I just need to figure out how to fix it. If anyone has any suggestions for sources of parts please let me know. My sister must be psychic, she got me this:


The stuff on the left is a space dyed wool pencil roving and on the right is a 50/50 wool/silk roving that is wonderful to spin. As you can see I immediately wound the brown merino off of my spindle to try the silk blend. Now my mom was thinking along the same lines and got me this:

I guess she thought I needed some ideas for the finished yarn. This book has beautiful pictures and some patterns and information on how to combine stitch patterns to make something special.

This past week was not a week to do any fiber work (knitting or spinning) as we were re-doing our kitchen. After getting back from visiting my family for Chrismas we tackled the job of removing the old cabinets and installing new ones. The kitchen is done except for the countertop and that will take about 4 weeks after they come and measure the space. Then while still in the organizing mood I tackled my fabric "inventory". I have a huge trash bag of stuff for the garbage and a large tub of cotton fabric I need to donate to a quilt guild. I don't sew much anymore and when I did I kept EVERY scrap (it is a genetic problem). I had scraps from skirts I made 9 years ago and from making my wedding dress 8 1/2 years ago. Now my yarn and fiber are occuping the space vacated by the fabric scraps. I did keep 3 tubs of fabric (you can see some of the tubs in the picture of the spinning wheel). Now I need to get everything to fit in the garbage can so they will haul it away.