Some fiber-friends and myself started thinking/talking about Maryland Sheep and Wool in March. The only problem with this awesomeness is that I really do have a ton of things purchased from previous MDSW visits that haven’t been used yet.
I had already set myself a goal of getting all of the raw fleece purchased from the 2014 MDSW washed. But after washing the last of the awesome Jacob fleece in mid-March that goal was accomplished. I decided I needed to step up my game and accomplish some serious pre-MDSW project/stash busting. And to add to the fun I decided it needed to be multi-craftual.
While my 2014 fleeces may have been washed they were still pretty far from being a finished craft of any kind. So to start things off I decided to use my newest toy and hand comb the rest of the Tunis fleece from last year into top. I was thinking I ought to have enough fleece for some kind of a sweater, although I may have used up more of the fiber than I realized earlier in the year. I am still rather new to combing but I really am loving it. That being said this goal is also kind of insane as I now have dozens of little balls of combed top. I think normal people either comb as they go or are only combing fleece for smaller projects. Awesome but very very weird looking to have a giant bag filled with fiber prepared this way.
The next step after one has prepared fiber is to spin it up. I choose this amazingly soft blend of baby camel and angora that I purchased at least years festival. It’s a fun and easy spin mostly just because I love soft things so much. I’m going for a fingering-ish weight yarn with the thought that the finished yarn can eventually be used to knit some kind of wonderful luxury accessory.
And lastly there is actual knitting. I think I actually started this project before I came up with this themed objective but it fits in perfectly. I bought this Snapdragon fiber as dyed/prepared roving at the 2013 MDSW. It was spun into many yards of laceweight yarn during the 2014 Tour de Fleece. And this spring I decided it should become a shawl. I’ve had the simple lines pattern on my to-knit list for quite some time now. And since I like using simple patterns to show off handspun yarn it seemed a good fit. Although I did adjust to use the laceweight instead of the original fingering weight yarn. As of today I only just managed to use half of the yarn. The project feels entirely endless. And I’m just not in love with it. But I’m pushing forward. I really think the lace border will change my feelings about it. In the end it should be awesome.
I’ve wasted enough time typing now. Must keep crafting!
PS: It took me pretty much all month to actually get this posted online. Oops. I'm almost done everything now!
No comments:
Post a Comment