198 Yards of Heaven

Continuing my evolution as a knitter- more lace knitting!  I think this is all I have in me for now though, LOL.  I found a free pattern on ravelry called 198 Yards of Heaven.  Its a small project, a shawlette, so as to not lose interest and have yet another unfinished project.  Plus, the likelihood of me wearing a full shawl is not very good.  A shawlette makes a nice scarf.

 

 

Gradient dyed yarn

I was at a wool gathering and spied a booth with lots of cakes of gradient dyed yarn- one continuous ball of yarn that went from dark to light.  I didn't buy any but I had to figure that whole thing out.  I watched a bunch of youtube videos and plotted my course using my own hand spun yarn.  I had success with Zuzu's Petals shawlette using Optic Fibers version of gradient dyed yarn pack so I planned on using that pattern for my own yarn.
First I wound a ball of yarn, NOT a cake as I had seen at the wool gathering because I did not want variegated yarn.  I assume the cakes were just the final presentation for more eye appeal and not how they were actually dyed.
Here is my ball of yarn sitting in a crock pot of dye.  I soaked this ball overnight in water which was probably too long since the color nearly permeated the entire ball.  Less soak time in the future.

 

 

Un wound yarn for better drying.

 



 



Now in the form of a cake.

 

I am happy to say this first try at gradient dyed yarn was mostly a success.  I wanted more white but that really wasn't a problem in the end since I just started the shawlette with other white spun English Angora.

Now for the final project.  I hope you like it!

 

 



Zuzu's Petals

A couple of years ago I purchased the shawlette pattern Zuzu's Petals that paired well with this nifty little 15 mini-skein gradient dyed yarn pack available for purchase by Fiber Optic Yarns. 

It was almost destined to be part of my 'stash' for life but I wanted to try something to challenge myself.  I really (REALLY) don't like patterns with line by line instructions involving copious amounts of counting and almost gave up on round 13 of 42.  It isn't a difficult pattern, it just requires concentration. Glad I didn't give up, I'm very pleased with the final product.

* Zuzu's petals is phrase from the 1946 movie "Its a Wonderful Life". The petals belong to Zuzu Bailey, the youngest daughter of George Bailey.  Cute!

Award worthy

I posted a picture of this skein a while back on facebook and I think I referred to it as 'mediocre.' I decided to enter it in the wool/skein/garment competition sponsored by the North West Angora club at the national rabbit convention being held in Portland, OR this year. I'm thrilled that it got a blue ribbon in the 'Go Wild' division. Even more thrilled that I was not the only one entered. So there you have it, 2 other people agreed that my yarn was not mediocre after all. Second picture barrowed from nwangora.blogspot.com

The picture doesn't really do it justice as it has a nice sparkle when viewed in person.

 

 

 

 

6 weeks old

How time flies!  The buns are now 6 weeks old.

Small neck cowl

I recently saw a small neck cowl on Etsy that I liked because it required very little yarn and seemed to serve the purpose of keeping your neck warm.  My angora scarves just grow and grow grown since they have no memory.  I had three small balls of left over yarn in black, sort-of-black, and tort angora that would work out just fine for this project.  It was done in a matter of minutes minus sewing on some buttons.  Buttons, by the way, can be very expensive!  I saw some really cute ones at Joann's but I was not about to spend $10 on 4 buttons.  I settled on some more moderately priced ones, with a 30% off coupon.

 

 

Bunny sitter?

Oscar thinks that he is keeping a close eye on the nest box that I store in the cat condo. He volunteers to bunny sit.

 

 

In reality I keep the baby bunnies in a cookie tin lined with a cloth and stuffed with angora clippings when not being fed by Mila.  I then put the tin in a rabbit carrying cage INSIDE a larger rabbit cage.  Locked.  Nice try, Oscar.

Puffy baby blanket made with Bernat Baby Blanket yarn

I recently discovered a fun new yarn that appealed to me because it looked like it would work up quick.  My short attention span does not allow for long, tedious projects so this (VERY) chunky yarn, otherwise known at Bernat Baby Blanket yarn, had my name written all over it.  I found a pattern on line that was specific to this yarn with a youtube video to go with it to help out my less sharp crocheting skills.  I finished it in a week which was longer than it should have due to work, life, etc.

Here is the link to the written instructions
 http://com.yarnspirations.pattern-pdfs.s3.amazonaws.com/WEB-B-BBYBLK-PuffyBabyBlanket-ENG%281%29.pdf

Here is the link to the helpful youtube video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gi9Y025qTc

This blanket required two, 10.5 ounce skeins of yarn and a size P crochet hook or whatever size suites your gauge. Since I crochet loosely I used a size N.  It's still huge!

Finished product, 29 inches by 32 inches.

 

 

Lovely

A friend described this photo as lovely.  I think it describes the sentiment perfectly when I look at this picture.

Milk bellies

Its always such a relief to see bellies full of milk on a new litter.  Its a sign that everything is going in the right direction.

2 torts

Yeah!  Finally we have new life at Big Times English Angoras.  Chu's Honey Boy and Chu's Mila would like to present their first litter-  2 torts of a sort.

Stay tuned...

It's been a long time.  I know, I know but soon I may have good news to report.