Linky Inspirations

Paleo Inspirations:

10 Minute Garlic Shrimp - - will be making this



Gluten-Free Inspirations:

Apple Cider Caramels - - might make some of these for Christmas gifts



Recipe Inspirations:

Pumpkin Pull Apart Bread - - seriously? I want some of this!


New England Apple Cheddar Galette - - probably wouldn't take the time to make this myself, but it looks so interesting to try.


Sourdough Bread Bowls - - I wish I had the patience to make sourdough starter

Wintery Hat

Remember the first real yarn I made and plied on my wheel? Yes, the gray over kinked stuff. Well I wasn't going to use it as is, so I cable-plied it, making it a 9ply yarn, this ended up a nice worsted weight. I took my leftover alpaca from my sisters Christmas hat a couple years ago and knit a nice winter warm hat. . . .











Yarn: My handspun made into a 9ply cabled yarn / Plymouth Yarn Baby Alpaca Grande
Color: Gray / Natural
Content: 100% Wool / 100% Alpaca
Care: Handwash, lay flat
Needle: US6
Pattern: All made up as I went.

Faux Fair Isle Baby Hat

And the last of the this particular handspun. This hat ended the handspun, as you can see the crown did end up white. This works for me. It is made for a 6-9 month old. I enjoyed making this hat a lot.

















Yarn: Handspun and Knit Picks Bare Stroll Fingering
Color: blue/green/purple and bare
Content: 100% Wool and 75% Superwash Merino Wool/25% Nylon
Care: Handwash and air dry
Needle: US 2 / 2.75mm
Pattern: No pattern, just did some math and started knitting.

Stripey Baby Hat

To use up more of the handspun I talked about before and knit the other two hats with, I decided I would make a baby hat. I still worked with the white because I liked how it worked and wasn't sure when the handspun was going to run out. Yeah, didn't run out. I didn't swatch and just went for it, it's approximately newborn to 3 month old size.












Yarn: Handspun and Knit Picks Bare Stroll Fingering
Color: blue/green/purple and bare
Content: 100% Wool and 75% Superwash Merino Wool/25% Nylon
Care: Handwash and air dry
Needle: US 2 / 2.75mm
Pattern: No pattern, just did some math and started knitting.

Wookie's attempt at theft

Wookie is a little jealous of my spending some of my free time with crafting and not spending every spare moment with him. Also, he loves blankets. The other night while I was working on my niece Vera's Christmas blanket, he climbed into my lap and snuggled under the blanket, trying his best to show me that it would be perfect for him instead.












I guess someone is vying for a blanket of their own this Christmas!

Spinning Wheel Love and a New Toy!

So almost a year ago I showed you the beginnings of this spinning. My wheel and I have been butting heads since the beginning . . . I'd like to say it's all her, but lets face it, most likely it's me. I have been spinning Knit Picks Full Circle Roving in the Caramel colorway.

My first skein which was the color Wolf and was way over spun when I plied, is the reason I didn't want to ply on the wheel. So I used my new toy Ball Winder (a gift from my sister,brother in-law, and niece) and made a center pull ball from my bobbin.

In all the pictures, the darker brown is more correct to color.



All the singles wound onto the ball winder!


Can I tell you that it worked marvelously?!?!?!  It truly did, so happy with it.


It was a dream to spin from this.


I held the outside of the ball and inside of the ball together, for two strands held together and Navajo-plied them to make a 6-ply yarn.


I plied from the center and outside, holding two strands together and Navajo-plying them for a 6ply yarn.  This one turned out to be about a fingering.  I got 158 yards.  By general sock weight standards I should have been able to get more like 400 yards with 3.5 oz of roving, but my plies are very dense and not lofty.  I checked the wraps per inch, I get 16.5, which places it in the fingering or sport weight category depending on which chart you believe.


I really like the way it turned out.


It's not soft enough for me to wear next to my neck, so I am not sure what I will do with it.

Linky Inspirations

Inspirational Quote:
Quote on Life - - only glitch is actually figuring out what you want



Paleo Recipe Inspirations:

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies



Gluten-Free Recipe Inspirations:

Lemony Chicken Rice Soup


Sweet and Spicy Pork Roast




Recipe Inspirations:

Blackberry Cobbler Bars


Queso Soup with Broccoli and Potatoes


A heaping of Apple Recipes!!!

Polwarth Handspun

Remember this yarn that I had started a while ago?

Yes, I did the same thing, once I had a full spindle, I couldn't wait to ply it! I did the same, two plies held together and Navajo-plied to result in a 6-ply yarn. It is also fingering weight.


Here it is all plied up on the spindle.


Skein.


Ah, love this color, reminds me of the Pacific Northwest, where I am from.  Everything is green and blue, water and trees.

Camel/Merino/Silk Handspun

Remember this itty bitty bit that I had spun?

I finally got the spindle as full as I could and still maintain consistency. In the beginning I though I would wait until I had spun the whole bag before plying. . . but I couldn't wait so here is the first cop all plied!


Here it is plied on the spindle.


All skeined up!  Doesn't it look soft and shiny?


I beyond love this yarn.



I used my fail safe plying method, which is a two plies held together and Navajo-plied, so it is a 6-ply yarn. It's fingering weight and lovely! If you ever have a chance to work with some luxury fibers, take it! It's so worth it.

Wookie Love

Tomorrow will be the 1000 post of this blog! Crazy, huh?

I thought it would be fitting to have some early celebrations of Wookie videos. For my birthday, my husband got me a knitting machine, which was cushioned in the box with a bunch of brown paper. Wookie of course thought the brown paper was the best part and was all his!! The videos are a bit dark, but I hope you enjoy them.

Handspun Fall Hat

Remember this handspun? Well, there was another skein about the same size and it made this hat:


I could have had a bit more yarn to make it cover my ears like I prefer, but it is a decent hat.








My cable plied yarn has a bit of a bias.




Yarn: My handspun
Color: Maroon, Orange, Yellow
Content: Colonial Top (blend of Corriedale and Columbia)
Care: Hand wash and lay flat
Needles: US 5 / 3.75mm
Pattern: Made up

Linky Inspirations

Paleo Recipes:

Crock Pot Chicken Yellow Curry

Pumpkin Spiced Mini Donuts and Cake Pops



Gluten Free Recipes:

Tomatillo Huevos Rancheros



Recipes:

Spicy Tuscan Soup - - considering substituting the potatoes with jicama

Chocolate Chip Cookie Brittle - - the husband loves his cookies crunchy

Caprese Wontons - - cannot eat these for many reasons but they sound yummy