Dreams of Yarn

Shannon June 24th, 2008

My mother, bless her heart, obtained for me two fleeces from a local farmer. When I got them they were very very dirty. I unfolded them on her lawn and determined that one would work well for spinning but the other was not worth the effort.

They looked like this:

I washed up several batches of the good stuff:

And got a wicked sunburn doing it ! I let the fleece air dry and brought home several mesh bags of washed fleece.
Last night I took out the mesh bags and sat myself down with the girls and did some picking. We hand picked the clumps of fleece to remove anything that was really stuck like the odd bramble or icky spot (there were very few) and then I piled a basket with some clean, picked fleece.

Then I sat down with my hand cards and made some Rolags, Rachel even had a try and found it was quite fun!

I couldnt wait to give it a try so I spun up two of the Rolags…

Its quite fuzzy and natural looking! I enjoyed the process a lot actually. I sat there picking and carding with Rachel while we watched some evening T.V and after the girls had gone to bed did a wee bit of spinning to see what we would get from it. I still have quite a bit of washed fleece that needs to be picked but I think I will continue to do it in batches like this, filling up the fleece basket and carding as I need to.

Fun as defined by a spinner! The fiber is completely unknown, fresh off the sheeps bum from a little old Italian lady farmer.

Happy Knitting, Spinning and Sewing!

• Spinning
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Shannon June 22nd, 2008

So much to catch you up on! Its like, nothing….nothing…nothing… BAM so much happened in the last few days!

Where to start? Lets go Chronologically.

Friday, Rachel Graduated. We are so so so very proud of her. She was the recipient of the Provincial MPP’s award for dedication to her community and academics.

What a little lady she is becoming. My heart beams.

On Saturday I went up to Gemini Fibres for a Spin in with The always enjoyable Maggie and Rochelle I love any excuse to hang out with these two extremely funny ladies and the fact that we got to spin outside just made the time that much more well spent. We missed you Kimbery! I hope you guys have a good time spinning next weekend, I’ll miss out because I’ll be at the cottage.

I took the photo above when all the ladies took a break.

And then today. Geez. Today.

This Cat has 8 lives left.

Seriously. I live on the eighth floor, and this cat made her way all the way done to the ground today.

Before you worry, I took the photo above an hour ago. Obviously she has lived to tell the tale. She has been on the balcony many times. And any normal cat with a healthy respect for heights has one peek over the edge and gets the idea that its a long way done. This little miracle decided she would chase a fly and jumped up to the brick wall and hung on, then just slid down. We didnt see the whole thing, but what we have pieced together from her nails which are worn all the way to the quick and the deeply imprinted paw prints in the muddy spot on the ground floor is that she lept, Shane lunged for her and she slid away from him. He sprinted through the house barefoot and zoomed past me saying ‘ damn cat went right over’ and I flew out to the balcony and couldnt see her. The girls started sobbing, I started shaking and I saw him bend over and pick her up and pat her head. He came back upstairs and I quickly put a soft blanket down on the couch and laid her down, She was awake and breathing quickly but appeared unharmed! We feared internal damage and she seemed to be in shock. She closed her eyes and continued to breathe quickly but not panting, just quickly. She slept for about three hours and then started moving around and stretching. She has since eaten, used her litter, and attacked the dog as she came around the corner. She seems truly well at this point. And we are so very thankful! I’ve tested all her joints, and pressed her sides and tummy and she seems un-bothered. We will keep an eye on her for anything weird over the next few days, but I think she is one lucky lucky cat!

Actual spinning content tomorrow!

Happy Knitting and Spinning to All

• life
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Shannon June 13th, 2008

As in, time flew.

Here I am, at work. Still working away, still feeling like I have very little free time. I finsished up the trekking socks I was working on. They were just a plain vanilla pattern and the Trekking did all the fancy work. My mom really liked them so I gave them to her pretty much as soon as I cast off and I didnt even snap a finished pic!

Whats new for me… Hmmmm

• My mom got me a sheeps fleece and i spent some time washing it last weekend
• We got Guitar Hero for our wii and now we cant stop playing it at night
• I picked up the BEN sweater and started knitting it again

I guess I’m pretty boring. I’ve just been working and working and working. Hopefully it will pay off soon.

Here’s a little taste of summer

My To do list for the weekend:

• Clean out the Yarn closet
• Organize the sewing fabrics
• Start a sewing notebook
• Cut fabric for Shanes shirt and 1 set of girls pajama’s
• Cast on for new socks
• Play Guitar Hero until my fingers cramp

Happy Knitting, Spining and Sewing to all!

• life
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Shannon May 21st, 2008

I think you are supposed to start with the small projects like, pincushions. And then move to the more involved projects like dresses and boxer shorts.

I never was one to follow the rules.

I had about an hour to kill on Monday and not much more than that, and some scrap material laying around so I thought I’d make myself a hip pincushion. Although, I have to admit that things like the classic Tomato pincushion I currently use make me feel connected to all the crafters who have come and gone before me. The image of the Tomato pincushion is etched in most of our minds as a sewing staple, its an image associated with our mothers and grandmothers sewing boxes.

so I kept my tomato cushion, and put all my loose sewing needles in it, and now my camo patterned cushion holds my straight pins for sewing. Its a compromise that allows me to both connect to history and forge my own path forward.

All this waxing poetic over a pincushion? I know, its a bit much, but its the little things in my life, really it is. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about some of the special people in my life who have left this playing field but left their mark in the earth, and I feel the need to continue to honor them with my actions as much as possible.

Spinning was also accomplished on the weekend but not significantly so. I didn’t have a very artistic weekend, I most practiced the time honored, long weekend tradition of Multi-slacking and floated from one itty thing to another.

Work is expected to be hellishly busy for the next few weeks so my artistic pursuits will undoubtedly suffer but I’ll try to sneak a few things in now and then.

Happy Knitting, Spinning and sewing to all!

• Sewing , life
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Shannon May 11th, 2008

On Saturday I met my mom for a mothers day lunch. We did a little shopping and browsed Chapters for a bit. I bought myself Sew Everything Workshop Its a great book and and awesome resource for somebody like me who is new to sewing, but ready to tackle real patterns. On of the patterns is Foxy Boxers. And it just so happens that DH commented to me the other day that he really really needs to pick up some new boxers. So this afternoon out came the sewing machine, the book and some awesome fabric I bought way way back.

I managed to totally rock out a pair of boxers…. Warning ahead.. the last photo Is NOT obscene… its his finger LOL

Its black fabric and you cant really see all the details but let me try

This is the waist band, and you can see my nifty X detailing at the top of the fly opening

From the above picture you can also see the fabric.. its golf themed for my golf obsessed guy

And Shane kindly demonstrates (WITH HIS HAND) how the fly opening is fully functional

I enjoyed these! And I think I may make a point to pick out a few fabrics for DH to whip off a few more pairs of these, they are really cute and totally worth it.

I did some spinning on friday night as well, but I only have about half a bobbin so I’ll show you when its worth sharing. I’m loving the colors and the fibre though, of course its something I bought from Maggie and have been fondling for awhile now.

I hope that you had a wonderful mothers day

Happy knitting, spinning and sewing to all !

• Sewing
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Shannon May 9th, 2008

What are YOU doing tonight?

I know what I’m doing

Happy knitting, spinning, sewing to all !

• Spinning
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Shannon May 5th, 2008

Something in red, for a wee little baby’s head

I made an adult version for this babys daddy a few years back (apparently snowboarders like funky hats) so now that he is expecting his first wee snowboarder it was only fitting to supply a matching hat.

And for the wee one in my life, I sewed another dress I’m really super proud of this one as it turned out really fab. You can get the pattern and an excellent tutorial from This site

It only took a few hours to sew, and now that I’ve done one, I’d feel more confident with the next one. Although huge huge props go to Erin, who wrote the tutorial and made it easy to follow for a supreme beginner like me !

I wish you happy knitting, spinning and sewing !

• Sewing , knitting
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Shannon May 1st, 2008

2 more skirts, 1 more sock

I made a skirt for Rachel, so if you have children you know what this means.

I had to make a skirt for Rena.

We choose the same print for both sides, but in different colors. And I found this really cute Finding Nemo Blanket Binding that worked perfectly for a wide skirt top.

I love this one, its SO cute and so Rena.

I made a full size Adult one as well. I know a funky momma who is about to give birth and I remember that right after you squeeze that watermelon out you dont immediately fit into your old clothes, and nobody wants to wear their maternity clothes anymore so a nice adjustable skirt will do the trick.

Here I used a blue Camo print on one size and lightweight faux denim cotton on the other. She’s a funky gal and I think she will appreciate it. You dont get a model for this one because nobody here quite fits that size so flat is all I gots.

Now for the sock. I agreed to knit a sample for miss Maggie when she did the frolic and busy busy me only got one sock done, but one was enough to display for sure!!!

I lurve lurve lurve this sock. More details about it later in its own post once i finish its mate.

Happy Knitting, Spinning and Sewing to all!!!

• Sewing , Socks , knitting
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Shannon April 26th, 2008

After a brief hiatus due to a spring cold - turned sinus infection…. I’m BACK!!!!

Today I went Frolic-ing. As in, attended the Downtown Knit Collectivesinfamous Knitters Frolic!

If you’ve never been to the Frolic I think its hard to describe. It offers some incredible classes with well known instructors as well as a really bitchin’ marketplace with oodles of awesome vendors!

My good friend miss Maggie of Dyed in the Wool Handmade Had a booth this year and was selling her amazing yarns and fibres there, so of course, us girls met up with Maggie first to wish her a prosperous day

(I still have remnants of this unbelievably frustrating sinus infection so I look like a bit weird in this photo)

Rochelle and Kimberly and I walked around the Market Place several times and I bought some goodies of course!!

I got this really great bag from the black lamb….

Its a very heavy canvas and its square with tons of room and just absolutely perfect for spinning supplies to be toted around in! They sold out quickly and I’m so happy that I snatched one up !!!

I bought some of the new Noro sock yarn from the girls at the Purple purl

This kit came with a ball of sock yarn and a pattern for socks! YIPPPEEE!!!

And some SOFT SOFT SOFT Alpaca fibre for spinning

And my favorite purchase… I bought a Shawl kit. I know, when have you ever seen me knit a shawl? but this is made with fingering weight yarn and the sample there was in the same color and just so beautiful I couldnt resist.

The colors didnt quite come out right in this photo in that the camera didnt pick up the subtle greens and breath taking color shading. I fell in love with this beauty and I cant wait to start it. Maybe it will be my cottage project this year, when I have a solid week to work on something. Who knows.

I cant wait to talk to Maggie and see how well she made out. I’m so happy for her and glad she got a booth. I didnt buy anything from Maggie today because I bought two skeins of sock yarn from her last weekend when we were helping her tag her yarn. I couldnt help it, I didnt even let these two beauties make it to the show, I needed to have them all for myself. These are probably my favorite skeins of sock yarn ever.

Whew! I’m off to get myself knittin’

Happy knitting and spinning to you !

• knitting
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Shannon April 16th, 2008

Woot, woot, success! I picked a pattern to really sink my teeth into my new sewing machine and I think all things considered, I did a good job with it!

Its a classic 70’s style wrap skirt… double sided and modified to fit Rachel. We chose a fun Pink Camo print for one side, and a modest Black lightweight corouroy for the flip side. We found a lovely pink camo butterfly applique for the black side and a blackk pocket for the camo side, just to ‘bring it all together’

I couldnt decide what photos to show you, so you can see them all if you like. I’m actually proud as punch about this one because It only took a couple of hours on Sunday, I adjusted the pattern for size, and it turned out well.

• Sewing
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