Episode 53: We've been fleeced and faded!

Hello knitters and welcome to episode 53. In this podcast, Marcy and Kim share their current Wips, a research paper about  fleece and some uber craftiness! Grab your knitting, a soothing beverage and join us!

Episode 53 Audio

Marcy holding her Confetti sweater and Kim is holding wool.

Awww! Sheepy!

What's in our Lesson Plan?

1. On the PA System
2. Research Paper: My 1st Fleece
3. Show & Tell
4. We are uber crafty
5. What's on our Black Board?

On the PA System

Congratulations to the 2 winners of our sock KAL: Harpergigs and Brookali! PM Kim (Destined2knit on Ravelry,) your physical address and full name and she will send you each a skein of hand dyed sock yarn. Thank you for knitting along with us!

***Thank you to our LYS, Got Your Goat yarn studio in Roseville, California for letting us record there again!

Research Paper: My 1st Fleece

Kim split a 100% Corriedale fleece with a friend and she also purchased 1/2 of a 1/2 Corriedale and 1/2 Rambouillet fleece. This was all very unexpected, but also fun and exciting! You can read and learn all about the different sheep breeds in the wonderful book The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook by Deborah Robson and Carol Ekarius. 

Kim talked about washing her fleece with regular Blue Dawn and she will continue to update us about the fleece washing and prepping process as she proceeds. 

***Kim watched a Bluprint (formerly Craftsty) class called "Fiber Preparation for Spinners," by Esther Rodgers. 

***Two more excellent books for spinners are The Spinner's Book of Yarn Designs by Sarah Anderson  and Yarn-i-tec-ture - A Knitter's Guide to Spinning by Jillian Moreno. 

Here is "Trouble" the 100% Corriedale fleece.

This charcoal beauty is "Tesla" the 1/2 Corriedale
and 1/2 Rambouillet fleece.

Some of the washed fleece drying in the shade.

Show & Tell

Marcy has made wonderful progress on her faded Confetti by Veera Valimaki. She has one more sleeve to knit and then she'll be done. She is very happy with this beautiful pullover sweater and loves the 3 yarns that she chose to fade. She has had a few mini howlers with yarn quantity, but it's all working out nicely. She has also cast on a seamless shrug for little Pippa. The Entrechat by Lisa Chemery and she is using Trendsetter Yarns Autumn Wind Confetti, which is a worsted weight, 90% cotton, 10% cashmere yarn. 

Marcy updated us on her finished Gilead pullover. She has worn it and finds the sleeves uncomfortable while working at her desk so she may end up ripping them back and knitting short sleeves after all. The beauty of knitting is that we can customize our clothing!

Kim is also working on her Gilead by Leila Raabe that she cast on in August of 2017. She is using the discontinued Shibui Linen yarn and it is a little rough to work with. The pullover top is knit in pieces and she has finished the back and is working on the front. 

Kim also has the Leaves & Shell top by Kay Hopkins on her needles. She is using another Shibui yarn, Fern, which is 100% cotton and is soft and delightful to work with. 

We are Uber Crafty

Congratulations to Marcy and her team, they won  the Best of Show award for their dress design at the Merge event put on by the Northern California IIDA chapter. Awesome work by all of the creative teams!

All the models in there garments after the show.

My design team with our model.

The start of the runway

The front of the garment.

The back of the garment.

The Beautiful jewelry that Heston made out of counter top material.

Marcy also did some sewing. She made two Amelia Baby Tops by Violette Field Threads. This is a downloadable sewing pattern and you can listen to ep. 47 where Marcy talks more about sewing them. 

Pippa looks so cute in her new top Marcy made for her.

Marcy designed some fabric based on her colored motifs from the Peace Shawl KAL that she participated in last December. She uploaded the design to Spoonflower. She is not sure what she will make with the fabric yet, but probably some cute project bags. 

Kim is not officially participating in Tour De Fleece (I don't really have anything to link here, if you're interested in the event you can follow the hashtag #tdf or #tourdefleece on Instagram or search for it on Ravelry. There is no single page to link,) however, she has been motivated by all of the posts on Instagram and she has been spinning almost daily. She finished one of her two sweaterspins that she started last August. This one has 4 skeins and is about 600 yards of a chain plied 3 ply. She is thinking about knitting a shawl instead and has been swatching.

2 of  Kim's 4 finished skeins of handdyed,
handspun yarn. 

What's on our Black Board?

We may be going on a field trip or we may be in the classroom...hmmm, we shall see! But I can assure you that there will be knitting, spinning and uber craftiness!

Thank you for joining us. We hope you have a fantastic couple of weeks until we "see" you again and Happy Knitting!