New mittens

Since the cold weather has quite a grip on us in Dayton I decided I needed a new pair of mittens.  I am really stuck on the fiber that comes from my black English Angora Sweetpea for mittens.  I know the colors don't all blend well but I think that's the beauty of natural fiber spun by hand.  This is my third pair and they only get warmer with wear due to some felting.  I get frost bite quite easily but not when I am wearing a pair of Sweetpea mittens.

Black? I think not...

I bought some black fabric dye at JoAnn's and got this indigo blue.  It's a good thing I keep an open mind to the possibilities of colors I might get.  Not even close to black!  But I like it.

Happy Valentine's Day!

In honor of Valentine's day I baked a chocolate cake from scratch.  Enjoy!

Hats!

Sometimes I can be so manic.  There are times I just can't get motivated to do ANYTHING and other times there is no stopping me.  This past week I finished spinning, dying, and knitting these two hats.  The first hat is a skull cap made of 100% angora dyed using pink lemonade Kool-aid.

This hat is 50% angora 50% baby alpaca dyed using walnut hulls I found on the property.  I used a 50/50 blend hoping the hat would have more 'memory' since the brim gets folded up on this one.  Plus, it's for my dad and I don't think he would like walking around wearing a very lofty angora hat- too girly.

Currently, I am working on a scarf which should be finished shortly.  I prefer scarfs, you don't have to worry about how they fit:)

World's most annoying cat

This is Trouble.  I wish I could get a better picture of her but I can't.  Whenever you sit down at the desk you get a face full of Trouble.  I am sitting at the desk TRYING to answer the phone and I get this...



A customer comes in, I get this...



Paperwork to do?  I get this...



Also, she has a fascination with boxes.  Something in the box like the mailer waiting to go out to hundreds of people?  No problem...

Just do this..

Does anyone else have an annoying office mate like Trouble??

Spinning wheels in history

No, no, no. This isn't a picture of me. This is a lovely Irish woman around 1900 that I came across on the internet searching for information on the beginnings of the art of spinning fiber of which I knew nothing about. In a nut shell, spinning on a wheel came about in medieval times. Prior to that they used drop spindles for about 9000 years. I have to wonder how they EVER got enough fiber spun to make ANYTHING on a drop spindle.
Hail the invention of the wheel!

All of Sweetpea

I have one black English Angora named Sweetpea that I have had for almost 6 years now and she produces my favorite natural color that doesn't require dying. I have made a scarf and 3 pairs of mittens over the years but sat down in ernest to spin all that I have collected from her. She does not produce a lot as I understand black EA's don't have the density that a white or tort would so every ounce I have is coveted. My guess would be that I have harvested around 1500 yards of spun yarn or approximately 2 small sweater's worth.

This picture is a 234 yard hank of pure Sweetpea. I spun this on my Majacraft spinning wheel which I haven't used in years so the twist is not quite what I wanted it to be but I have learned that it matters little when you knit it.

Here is the finished product- a lovely scarf. For me:)