Episode 55: Summer tops, Trouble and a Tesla!

Welcome knitters and thank you for joining us for our 55th show! Marcy and Kim both have FO's, WIP's and new CO's to share. Kim has part 2 of her "My 1st Fleece" research paper and Marcy has some uber craftiness and a birthday gift for Kim! We are bursting with fiber-y goodness and we are happy that you're here. Grab your knitting, a cool beverage and enjoy the show.

Episode 55 Audio

Marcy & Kim after recording, Marcy has her Shift project and Kim is holding her rolags.

Do you have a mustache or a goatee like us?

What's in our Lesson Plan?

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

On the PA System

• Have you ever looked to see which one of your projects has the most likes? (hearts.) Head on over to Ravelry and check it out!
• Marcy has a new job and she will be starting in September- congratulations Marcy!!!

Show & Tell

Kim has finished her Leaves Shell top by Kay Hopkins and she loves it! This pattern is interesting and well written and the Shibui Fern yarn (100% cotton,) is great to work with. She is continuing to knit her Gilead top by Leila Raabe. This is slow going because she's not enjoying working with this discontinued Shibui linen yarn. Kim has set a goal of finishing this cute top by the next podcast as well as her shorty socks.

Kim has two new summer top cast ons. First, Jessie's Girl by Elizabeth Smith and she's using 3 colors of Juniper Moon Farm Zooey DK, which is a cotton/linen blend. She really wanted and needed a simple tee for social knitting and this garter stitch top is perfect. She did have a howler though....when joining to knit in the round she ended up twisting her stitches and had to tink back and fix it. Kim also cast on the Arizona Tee by Amy Gunderson. She is using Shibui Fern which is 100% linen and it's wonderful to knit with. So far, this CO is just a small mustache!

Marcy sporting her Shift!

Marcy has finished her gorgeous cowl/shawl, The Shift, by Andrea Mowry. She used Spincycle Yarns and the FO is stunning! She's very happy with it and is looking forward to cooler weather so that she can wear it. Marcy is also knitting the Arizona Tee and she's finished the back and is knitting the front of this beautiful all over lace top. Both Kim and Marcy are hoping that they don't end up playing yarn chicken since they've only got 2 skeins of yarn. 

Marcy has a new cast on, the Kallara shawl by Ambah O'Brien. She is using a skein of yarn that Kim dyed for her for her birthday last year as well as a skein of Pigeon Roof Studios sock yarn in the charcoal color. So far, her shawl looks like a goatee... : )

We are Uber Crafty

Marcy sewed the cutest tea towels for Kim's birthday! She used 4 knitted theme fabrics (linen, cotton, canvas fat quarters,) from Spoonflower: 1)Knitted rows, multicolor heather 2) Knitted rows, Peacock knit  3)We love yarn 4) Maritime Yarn. She also knit a Tea4Me mug cover for a 16 oz. MIYO mug. This is a free pattern on Ravelry. She used the leftover yarn from her Shift cowl and she also added a in the same color work that is used in the Shift. It's so beautiful and it's the perfect gift for a knitter!

The tea towels Marcy made Kim for her Birthday.

The cute MIYO mug cover Marcy made.

Marcy's son Wilson is turning 4 and they are having a Ninja themed party and Marcy has made Ninja headbands for all of the kids. She also made a punch out game board and lots of fun goodies for the party guests to take home. Happy birthday to Wilson!

Wilson showing off his Ninja headband.

All the Ninja themed craftiness Marcy did for her son's 4th birthday.

Wilson with his friends at the party.

Research Paper Part 2: My 1st Fleece

Kim bought two 1/2 fleeces 1.5 months ago and last week she finished washing one of them. It's a lot of work and she's not sure that she wants to wash her own fleece in the future. She also started processing the fiber for spinning using both hand carders and a blending board that she borrowed from her guild (The Sacramento Weaving & Spinning Guild.) She really enjoyed this part of the process and would like to do more. Kim is excited about Lambtown which is a fiber festival held in Dixon, California every Fall. This year it will be on Saturday & Sunday, October 6 & 7th and she is looking forward to buying lots of different fibers to play with on the blending board. 

Kim's raw fleece before skirting and sorting and washing. This
is about 4.5 pounds.

Kim's raw fleece, Tesla, and
look who loved napping on it! 

This is 1/2 of Kim's fleece drying outside in the shade.

This is the rinsing process and Kim rinsed at
least twice or until the water was clear.

This is the blending board before picture...

and these are the rolags after clearing off the
board.

This is the hand carder before picture...

and these are the fluffy rolls after hand
carding. 

What's on our Black Board?

Once again, we are not sure! Marcy has a lot going on with a new job and we are not certain what our recording schedule will look like. We do have some fun ideas for some unique podcasts, so stay tuned!

Thank you for joining us! We hope that your knitting, spinning and making are going splendidly and we will see you in a few weeks. Happy Knitting!

Episode. 54: Let's revisit our 2018 goals!

Hello knitters and welcome to our 54th podcast. 2018 is half over...let that sink in for a moment! Kim and Marcy thought it might be fun to take a look at the goals that they set for the year and see if they've made any progress. We will also share our current knitting projects and what we've been wearing. Grab your knitting, a beverage filled to the brim with ice and join us!

Episode 54 Audio

After recording. Marcy is holding her 'The Shift" cowl and Kim
is holding the front of her Gilead top.

What's in our Lesson Plan?

1. On the PA System: we revisit our 2018 goals
2. After the Finish Line
3. Show & Tell
4. What's on our Black Board?

On the PA System

Marcy set 5 knitting goals for 2018:

1. To knit 5 projects from her Ravelry queue. (100%!!!) Gilead, Jessie's Girl, Chaleur, In Threes: a baby cardigan, and Pippa the doll. 
2. To knit another brioche project. (This goal hasn't been met, but she is planning on knitting at least 1 brioche project in the Fall. She mentions: Just Like Honey, Organic Angels hat and Guetres leg warmers.)
3. To knit a pair of socks. (100%!!) She did knit a pair of socks, just not with her intended sock yarn. But that doesn't matter, because she also knit a pair of ballet socks!
4. Make 20 projects this year: We've got 5 months left in the year and Marcy has already knit 18 projects! So, this goal will easily be met.
5. Knit more projects from stash yarn instead of purchasing new yarn: She is doing well with this goal and has knit 8 projects from stash yarn. 

Kim set knitting and general life goals for 2018:

1. To make 2018 the year of 'Strong and Bendy' from Melissa Hartwig: although Kim has consistently been walking, swimming and doing yoga, she doesn't feel that she's made any real progress on this one.
2. She liked the idea of picking a theme for the year. She chose FOCUS.  Well, after 1/7/18 she promptly forgot about that and hasn't focused on FOCUS at all. New goal for the remainder of the year will be to write FOCUS down on a piece of paper and put it on her bathroom mirror!
3. To participate in the '18 for 2018' project from Gretchen Rubin of the Happier podcast. Kim doesn't even know where her 18 list is...so this is a huge fail!
4. To read 50 books: She has read 22 and is well on target to reach this goal. 

Knitting Goals for Kim:

1. To continue to write up and then publish the designs that she started in 2017: YES! She has made great progress with this goal and feels confident that she will have finished and published at least 2 designs by the end of the year. 
2. Continue to explore Fair Isle and color work knitting: No progress here since December; however, Autumn is coming and there will be color work sweaters to knit then!
3. To explore brioche, especially lace and cables: See answer above. Kim mentions the Queen of brioche, Nancy Marchant. 
4. Finally, to study sheep breeds, spinning and yarn structure and usage: She feels that she is accomplishing this goal by spinning more regularly and buying a fleece and washing and prepping it herself.  In addition, she is continuing to read books and watch Craftsy classes on the subject. 

After the Finish Line

Marcy wore her Jessie's Girl (hear more about this in ep. 51,) her Wavelets Tee (ep. 48,) her Cullum Tee ((ep. 33,) and her Wind Wave Tee ((ep. 11.)

Kim also wore her Cullum Tee, her Zinone top and she finally mended her Little Bird top.

Show & Tell

Marcy finished the cute baby shrug, Entrechat, by Lisa Chemery for her daughter Pippa and it looks adorable on her. She has started the beautiful cowl, The Shift, by Andrea Mowry. This is a cowl/shawl that uses color work in order to produce shifting colors with the gorgeous yarn from Spincycle Yarns. Marcy is continuing to work on the stunning all over lace top, Arizona Tee, by Amy Gunderson. She is using Shibui Reed, a 100% linen yarn in the Bone color.

Cuteness over load! Pippa in the Entrechat shrug.

The shift that Marcy is knitting, its looking amazing,
so net to see the colors come together.

Kim cast on some shorty Frankensocks. She is also continuing to work on her Leaves Shell by Kay Hopkins and her Gilead top by Leila Raabe.  

What's on our Black Board?

Well, it's a mystery! We'll be back in 2 weeks and we will certainly be talking about knitting and other fiber arts... but the rest of it is a bit up in the air!

Thank you for listening! We appreciate each and every one of you. Have a great couple of weeks and Happy Knitting!