Plying and Pale Ale

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The hubby was in charge of bedtime last night so I had some free and clear time. The singles from my sparkly alpaca FLEW onto my wheel this week. The fiber was very excellently carded and it felt easy to spin.

I poured myself a strawberry blonde ale from a local brewery and started plying. The two bobbins are fairly well matched and I only had a few yards to chain ply at the end of one bobbin.

The skein is resting on its bobbin and waiting for a bath this weekend. Pre washing the yarn looks to be around 11 or 12 wraps per inch. So light DK to sport weight probably? It might change a little after its swim and whack.

Happy Spinning!!

Ice Cream Into Bread

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I fell down the TikTok hole the other day and saw someone make “bread” from ice cream. I had to try, it just seemed dubious.

It’s just vanilla ice cream, flour, salt and baking powder. And it totally cooked into a bread-like shape. It did not raise very far but the sprinkles did stay on top.

Flavor wise, it was pretty much Meh. It was not as sweet as I would have liked. The texture is very dense. Jellybean LOVED it and ate two slices. I think if I were to try it again, I would add some sugar?

But it was a fun baking experiment. Happy Baking!!

Bumble Heels

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I had a FULL week of training at work. Like 8-5 every day for a week. The only way I could survive was to bring some knitting. I chose my Bumbles Bounce Socks.

It was SUPER productive. I finished both sock tubes and even got the first heel knit in. The training was leadership related and lots of thinking and talking so it was very easy to knit. And I caught a couple muggles mesmerized as I was knitting, lol.

So I just need to wrap up this last heel and I will have a finished pair of socks! They won’t be super tall but they will undoubtedly be super festive!!

Happy Knitting

Shiny Alpaca Singles

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I ignored my adult responsibilities and sat at my wheel for most of yesterday. I had finished my Finn yarn and I pulled more fiber from Fiber Flurry to spin. This time it is black alpaca with Firestar mixed in.

This roving is carded very nicely is lovely to spin. It’s smooth and comes out fairly consistently. I have 4.7 ounces of this fiber. I think I will plan to weigh it and spin onto two bobbins for a 2-ply. A single day got me an almost full first bobbin!

Happy Spinning!!

All About The Flip

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I decided that January needed more carbs and sugar content. So I decided to make sticky pecan rolls from scratch. As with most things I do, I googled pecan rolls and just picked the highest rated recipe.

It really worked out fairly well. The rolls browned nicely and it was really all about that flip…

Tah dah!!! All reports were that they were delicious. I took these to work so there were snacks for an all day training. None were left after the end of day two, lol.

Happy Baking!!

Feet Up, Socks Out

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Another week and another gymnastics lesson. The older teams were at a meet so the waiting room was not as packed with just the littles practicing. I snagged a couch and managed to put my feet up to knit!

My Bumbles Bounce Socks are both almost at the heel. I need to finish this white stripe and add a grey stripe and they will be the perfect length. I will add waste yarn for the afterthought heel. I still have some the blue from the advent socks in this project bag. Past Rachelle saved it for just that purpose, lol.

Happy Knitting!!

Turning Up The Crazy

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Maybe it’s the short days, audit season at work or maybe my seasonal effectiveness disorder but I did something either cute or completely looney. I found tiny hangers on Amazon to hang my tiny ornamental sweaters, lol.

The hangers are teensy bit small and fall out. But I think if I wash the sweaters and neaten the necklines that will help. I can also take some coordinating sewing thread and attach the hangers if necesssary.

And of course, knit the remain 19 tiny sweaters! Happy Knitting!!

Planning All The Things

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My new Knitters Planner arrived and I’m switching over from 2022 to 2023. This is my third or fourth year using this planner and I think I have perfected “system”.

First up, I have fully embraced frixion pens and markers so that I can always adjust my stuff. Secondly, all the color coding. It makes me feel more in control than I am. Next up I use the back of this planner to track my projects all year long. It really gives me an idea of how much or little I create.

I use the main body of the planner in weekly planning mode. I try to fill it out every Sunday or first thing Monday so I get a feel for my week. I keep track of some micro goals each week as well. I may or may not refer back to it during the week but the preparation alone feels good.

Do you have an organization strategy?

Gal’s Gifts

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I firmly hold that one’s “gals” give the best gifts. I had the good fortune to bond very deeply with a work colleague who moved on to another City. And we developed quite the group chat with one of her new coworkers because we missed hanging out. We all three enjoy crafty things and each other’s senses of humor.

This lovely box was delivered to me from those two gals. Without asking they know exactly what to gift me.

This box contained many yummy chocolates and two full sock sets from Amber Waves of Fiber. The color is called “Santa’s Workshop” and the content is 80% merino, 10% cashmere and 10% nylon. I have enough yarn for a large shawl or multiple socks. I need to meditate on what this yarn wants to grow up to be.

Happy Knitting!!

A Fine Finn Skein

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The Finn singles are plied an folded into a neat tidy skein. I need to wash and whack this yet but I couldn’t help but show it off.

This skein weighs about 85 grams so I didn’t lose much fiber during the spinning process. There is still a TON of veg matter spun up into this skein. I’m hoping that some of that falls out during washing. Pre-washing I think I have about 80 to 82 yards of yarn so this is Aran weight.

I will lose some yardage during washing as the yarn plumps up. But that’s normal. It will be an interesting experiment to see how much I lose. I am happy with the tight ply and the overall yarn is pretty consistent. Not too shabby!!

Happy Spinning!!