My Wool Blanket

When I had first started learning how to spin it was on the drop spindle. YouTube had shown me how, but it was the hours of  practice that gave me the many small skeins of bubbly beginner yarn. 

I used the yarn to make blanket squares. My bubbly yarn evened out when I bought my spinning wheel. 

I have tried to replicate it on my wheel.

I am hoping it looks better after it's dyed or at the very least more lumpy.

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Digital Scrapbooking

I think I finally know Photoshop enough to do something with it. I made my first digital scrapbook page and I'm really pleased with it.

I can make or buy as much digital paper and clip art as my terabyte hard drive can fill. Everything matches and neatly organized this way. 

I use Colurlovers.com for color inspiration. You can create a color palette and import it right into Photoshop.

I have even put some in my store.

 Please come take a look.

New find

I finally found something I enjoy doing in the way of exercise.  Hiking. I can take Isis and not worry about other people or dogs or cars. She likes to pull sometimes and I usually spend most of my walk stopping to correct her. But when we go to Gold Bug Park, I can just let her off of her leash and let her run.  There my biggest worry is the thought that she would run into a porcupine or skunk or get her harness caught and I would have to dive into the under brush after her.

I had to buy a pretty new pink harness because the last one was getting too small (My grandmother forgets how many treats she gives out.)

We usually take a trail that leads up to a mine shaft, but today I wanted a change of scenery.

We found what I can only guess as the beginning of a mine. Isis loved the smells in the carved out alcove.

The sun hit the trail just right.

This looks like it goes further back than this, but I could see the back wall.  Good spot to take cover if you got caught out in the rain.

We found that this "new" trail met up with the one we normally take. The whole experience have me a sense of accomplishment.

A Dye Day

So far my favorite part of the whole process of making yarn is dying. I can't draw, let alone paint a picture like my grandmother. But hand painting a skein makes me think of painting in water color. 

I usually soak my fiber in a container of water with about a cup of vinegar untill the fibers are soaked completly. This makes it easier for the dye to get to every fiber.  

I thought about going to the dollar store and buying squeeze bottles for ketchup and mustard, but I found that reusing water bottles would work just as well.

Unfortunately my green came out a little washed out, but I don't think I put enough dye in the bottle. Oh well, that's what this is, a learning experience. But I think I am going to focus on green the next time I dye.

A rainbow sausage! I pop it in the microwave and run it for 5 min on high then let it cool for 5. I repeat this process till the liquid is clear. 

Once it the rainbow sausage has completely cooled, I cut it out of the plastic and rinse it in the hottest tap water and Dawn dish soap till the water runs clear. Then hang dry.

Time to get back to work. Oh and if you are interseted in buying some of the yarn I will be posting a lot on Craftywitchcorner

The First Three

Good Morning!!!!!

I finished the first three skeins of my challenge!

 Each skein differs in length and I can't figure out if it's a good thing or a bad thing. 

I really liked how the colors turned out after before I plied, but they look even better after I had plied them.

I had first dyed the whole skein a Kelly green using a supermarket dye in my dye pot on the stove. Then painted it with acid dye and heat set it in my microwave.  I love dying yarn. Seeing the final product, it's like presents for my visual senses!

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88 Skein Challange

I mentioned my  88 skein challenge in my last post. And how I would like to become better with the mediums I am currently working with. I have only had YouTube as a teacher. I have never been shown how to pin by a real live person. But I think I have done well for myself. The yarn I make stays together and isn't over spun. I like how it knits up. Ok enough bragging.

Why did I choose 88 as the number of skeins I should make for this challenge? The number just popped into my head. When I did a search and found that the Chinese feel the number 8 is a lucky number. Besides if spinning up 88 skeins of yarn doesn't improve my knitting even a little, then I NEED classes.

I wanted to start from square one when I decided to take up spinning. So when I found some free fleece on Craig's list, I decided it was a good opportunity to learn via the Internet. I felted a few bowling ball size pieces of wool learning how wash it properly. 

What I am working with for the time being, is a very soft mixed breed of sheep. I haven't ever worked with softer wool and I bought a garbage bag full! 

So back to my Challenge. I want to complete all 88 skeins before the new shearing season. Not only will I be a better spinner, but it will justify buying more fleece!

I invite you to follow along and watch my progress. Or if you want, challenge yourself! I would love to see pics of what everyone is working on. It doesn't have to be just knitting. Send your pics to my e-mail Craftywitch78@gmail.com and I'll blog about them! 

Creative Resolutions

It's resolution time again! Loose weight, become better orginized, finish W.I.Ps...and all that. I would like to become a better blogger and improve my crafting skills and create and complete a few goals this year. 

I want to start with fiber. From start to a finished product. I want it to be ready to knit into all sorts of wonderfull things in time for Christmas knitting to begin.

"The greats weren't great because at birth they can paint, the greats were great becasue they paint alot" ~Macklemore~

My first goal is to start a personal orginizer.  You can see my personal progress in my blog Beautiful Me. But this thing is awesome for orginizing my thoughts.

My second goal is going to take a little longer. I want to challange myself to make 88 skiens of hand painted yarn. I have already washed all the fleece I plan on using, so all I need to do is start brushing! 

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