Episodes

Nov 30

Thanksgiving finds us recording live and unedited in Salinas. It was a low key holiday with lots of food and family, but no hysteria. It's Kelly's favorite holiday. We cooked, we laughed, we knit, we spun, and we were able to get a podcast recorded. We recorded in the dining room so there is some echo-y sound, along with dog and family background noise. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android . Marsha's Projects Socks : Finished! Used Red Heart Heart and Sole in colorway Black Jack. Socks : Using The Humming Bird Moon Full Moon BFL Sock in the colorway Eye of Newt. Mountain High : Heidi Kirrmaier. Using my handspun Flowers From My Garden . I decided to put the body on waste yarn and knit the sleeves. Of course color pattern is different because sleeve circumference is smaller than body. Occasionally breaking yarn to manage color. Sheridan Flats Spinning: Purchased 24 oz of 80/15/6 wool/mohair/silk roving in the colorway Kaleidoscope. The owner said to spin at a worsted weight for best results. Mill is Olympic Yarn & Fiber located in Cosmopolis, WA. I've filled two bobbins to date. Rag Rugs : Wound warp for four rag rugs and started warping loom. Warp is 4" and 6" stripes in royal blue, green, and orange. I've threaded the heddles and reed, and need to attach the warp to the front beam. Then I'll turn my attention to preparing fabric strips. Weaving Studio : It's a work in progress. Garden Redesign : I've created a project page. Kelly's Projects Chenille Rugs Part 2 The pad is woven and I've started cutting the strips. They are pretty different from one end to the other. More different than the other two pads were. Next up is warping for another pad so I can get two rugs again. Continuing my Sleeveless Vest by Lone Kjeldsen with handspun from Jazzman's " perfect fleece." I've done the horizontal stitch at the back yoke so not that much further on this week. Charity Hats 11 and 12 : This isn't spirit yarn, it's the leftover handspun from the boxy sweater. Knitting it held double. 11 is done, working on 12. Both plain beanies. Natural Dyeing Experiments I have three bobbins of CA Red fiber dyed with long steeped toyon. Holiday Shopping List Opportunity: I got an email from Abundant Earth Fiber that they are having a holiday sale on their dye kits . These aren't natural dyes, they are acid dyes, but a fun way to get started if you don't have the separate dye equipment but want to dye with more than KoolAid. Maiwa has a similar kit for natural dyes that is also on sale this week. I've been having fun seeing what I can get from my local area, but this looks fun. Winter Weave-a-long Now through March 31 We are interested in hearing from anyone who has experienced the Newbury School of Weaving. Home-A-Long October 1st to December 31st Make a home decor item in your craft of choice…knitting, crocheting, weaving, or any way "you can think of to play with string." Salpal1 (Sarah) has added quite a few cute patterns in the bundle . Forest for the Trees (i-cord trees) Buntings/Garlands for every season Mini Sock Yarn Sweaters that would make cute tree ornaments Very cute Victorian Mouse . Also found a tutorial for making Faux popcorn garland on the Sweet Georgia yarn site.

Nov 18

In this episode we have listener comments, project updates, and lots of listener ideas and projects from our Home-A-Long. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android . Marsha's Projects Socks : Using Red Heart Heart and Sole in colorway Black Jack. Finished first sock and started heel flap of the second sock. Mountain High : Heidi Kirrmaier. Using my handspun Flowers From My Garden . I decided to put the body on waste yarn and knit the sleeves. Of course color work is different because sleeve circumference is smaller than body. Occasionally breaking yarn to manage color. Finished first sleeve and about a third of the second sleeve. Sheridan Flats Spinning: Purchased 24 oz of 80/15/6 wool/mohair/silk roving in the colorway Kaleidoscope. The owner said to spin at a worsted weight for best results. Mill is Olympic Yarn & Fiber located in Cosmopolis, WA. I've filled two bobbins to date. Rag Rugs : Wound warp for four rag rugs and started warping loom. Warp is 4" and 6" stripes in royal blue, green, and orange. I've threaded the heddles and reed, and need to attach the warp to the front beam. Then I'll turn my attention to preparing fabric strips. Weaving Studio : It's a work in progress. Garden Redesign : I've created a project page. Kelly's Projects Accidental Dishtowels are off the loom and washed. Waiting to be hemmed. Ran out of chenille for the three chenille rugs I had warped for. Decided to resley the 8/4 cotton warp to a denser sett (10 epi) and see how it works for a dish towel. Natural Dyeing Experiments I started spinning the orange CA Red fiber dyed with toyon that had been steeped for 24 hours. Two bobbins are full. I plan to ply from a center pull ball when I'm finished with this spinning. Chenille Rugs Part 2 Wound the warp and sleyed the reed. Continuing my Sleeveless Vest by Lone Kjeldsen with handspun from Jazzman, "Judith says perfect fleece." I am nearing the bottom of the armhole. Home-A-Long October 1st to December 31st Make a home decor item in your craft of choice…knitting, crocheting, weaving, or any way "you can think of to play with string." Winter Weave-a-long Now through March 31

Nov 3

We have exciting finished projects to talk about and updates on current projects. Our Home-A-Long and Winter Weave-A-Long are in full swing and we have project ideas to share Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android . Marsha's Projects Deer Scarf : Finished! Ben and his roommates rescued a concrete deer lawn ornaments. I made a red scarf for the deer to wear this holiday. Including fringe, the scarf is about 9' long. Socks : Using Red Heart Heart and Sole in colorway Black Jack. Finished first sock and knitting on leg of the second sock. Mountain High : Heidi Kirrmaier. Using my handspun Flowers From My Garden . I decided to put the body on waste yarn and knit the sleeves. Of course color work is different because sleeve circumference is smaller than body. Occasionally breaking yarn to manage color. Sheridan Flats Spinning: Purchased 24 oz of 80/15/6 wool/mohair/silk roving in the colorway Kaleidoscope. The owner said to spin at a worsted weight for best results. Mill is Olympic Yarn & Fiber located in Cosmopolis, WA. I've filled two bobbins to date. Rag Rugs : Wound warp for four rag rugs and yesterday started warping loom. Warp will be 4" and 6" stripes in royal blue, green, and orange. Weaving Studio : It's a work in progress. Kelly's Projects Natural Dyeing Experiments I started spinning the orange CA Red fiber dyed with toyon that had been steeped for 24 hours. Spirit Yarn Hat #9 is finished. I did some free style color work with the rest of the white and the bright pink. Made Xs and Os and some border designs. Solid pink hat #8 and color work hat #9 were both gone in two days. Finished two chenille rugs . Still have warp, but no more chenille. I need to figure out the best way to use up the remaining warp (weft-faced rug, resley for towels?) and then make more chenille for more of these rugs. Started my Sleeveless Vest by Lone Kjeldsen with handspun from Jazzman, "Judith says perfect fleece." I've finished the bottom ribbing, the lateral stitch and I'm a couple inches into the body ribbing. Home-A-Long October 1st to December 31st Make a home decor item in your craft of choice…knitting, crocheting, weaving, or any way "you can think of to play with string." Recent ideas: pumpkins in the bundle , lots of gnomes in the thread, two Lindas in PA are both making Christmas ornaments, and Autumn is making a bunting with swatches. WEFT magazine has a whole issue out devoted to items for the table. Winter Weave-a-long Now through March 31

Oct 20

Our Home-A-Long is underway. Join us as we create home items for ourselves or someone else's home. We have finished objects and updates on our projects. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android . Listener Caroline recommended the movie Alive and Kicking . Here is a link to the movie on YouTube . Marsha's Projects Eliny a by Ambah O'Brien: Finished! I started this shawl in March 2018. I was about ¾ done with the picot bind off when I stopped and I have no idea why. I used Hazel Knits IArtisan Sock in the color way Sassafras and Jorstad Creek Cornwall in the colorway Flamingo. Simple Shawl by Jane Hunter: Finished! Used Michael's CWD in colorway San Francisco Fog. Again, no idea why I stopped. The shawl was finished except for washing and blocking. I started the shawl in March 2018 and finished the knitting in August 2021. Socks : Using Red Heart Heart and Sole in colorway Black Jack. Finished first sock and knitting on leg of the second sock. Mountain High : Heidi Kirrmaier. Using my handspun Flowers From My Garden . About to start the garter stitch edge with measures about 3.25". Managing color when I change balls. Deer Scarf : Ben and his roommates rescued a concrete deer lawn ornaments. I am making a red scarf for the deer to wear this holiday. Added fringe to beginning edge. I have knit about 8 feet. Sheridan Flats Spinning: Purchased 24 oz of 80/15/6 if wool*/mohair/silk roving in the colorway Kaleidoscope. The owner said to spin at a worsted weight for best results. The mill is Olympic Yarn & Fiber located in Cosmopolis, WA. Weaving Studio : It's a work in progress. Kelly's Projects Moose Hat for Moose It was a fun, one week project that I started on his birthday and finished a week later. The pattern would also make a good pillow. Cathy suggested to decrease faster than the pattern calls for so the hat wouldn't be pointed. I used that suggestion and got a traditional beanie/toque shape. Natural Dyeing Experiments Elderberry leaves gave me a very light yellowy tan. I was hoping for green. I may have heated the dye pot too quickly. I simmered and then soaked a dyepot of walnut shells and hulls for about a week and then dyed with it. Heating and cooling the pot twice over the course of a day. Then I left the wool in to soak for a couple days. I got a darker brown than with the leaves, but not as dark as I thought I would get. Sort of a medium brown. Next up is loquat leaves. Spirit Yarn Hat #7 is finished using mostly a white skein of acrylic DK. A small amount of striping with a purple leaning brown and a pink. Hat #8 is at the crown. It is a bright pink. Wound the warp and dressed the loom for the chenille rug project . This project was inspired by Kelli who made one for her travel van. Instructions are in Summer 2024 Handwoven. Swatched with handspun from Jazzman, "Judith says perfect fleece." Haven't decided on the vest I'll make, but I've done a search with my gauge to find the patterns that might work. Home-A-Long October 1st to December 31st Make a home decor item in your craft of choice…knitting, crocheting, weaving, or any way "you can think of to play with string." Some ideas for projects could be pillows, afghans, rugs, towels, teapot or mug cozies, potholders, dishcloths, bags,..... Winter Weave-A-Long Now through March 31

Sep 27

Join us in our all new Home-A-Long starting October 1st. Details are in the show notes. Plus, in this episode we have a big finish, travel adventures, and our usual project updates. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android . Marsha's Projects I attended the 2KnitLitChicks Podcast Get Together in Lake Tahoe, NV from September 18-21. I learned the lake is divided by the california nevada border and we were on the Nevada side. About 20 attendees. We stayed at the retreat center Zephyr Pointe. Really fun event and very well organized for a first time event. I can only imagine how much work was involved. At the retreat Deb (meedah1) taught us how to make Japanese Short Rows . So easy! This is going to be my go to short row technique from now one Socks : Using Red Heart Heart and Sole in colorway Black Jack. Finished first sock and knitting on leg of the second sock. Mountain High : Heidi Kirrmaier. Using my handspun Flowers From My Garden . Cast on before heading to retreat but made a mistake. Suppose to cast on with larger needle, switch to smaller needle for nine rows of garter stitch, and then switch back to larger needle. I knit it all with the larger needle. Then got to the retreat and tried to do short rows. Oh boy, what a mistake. My counts were way off. Came home and unraveled the whole project and started over. Deer Scarf : Ben and his roommates rescued a concrete deer lawn ornaments. I am making a red scarf for the deer to wear this holiday. Added fringe to beginning edge and knit about 48 inches. Weaving Studio : It's a work in progress. Kelly's Projects Izzy Bears are finished and dropped off at school! Weaving in ends on the Lace and Fade Boxy by Joji Locatelli. Using a merino silk handspun along with a skein of Sincere Sheep Vernal (silk/linen). Love the sweater, love the fit. Finished Combing the remaining CVM . I've brought it in for fall spinning. Natural Dyeing Experiments Toyon gave me yellow and orange depending on how long I soaked the leaves. Dried tan oak leaves from a long ago camping trip and walnut leaves from the backyard gave me light brown so I'm letting it continue to soak this week. Lambtown Festival Lambtown is October 4-5 (workshops start Oct 2) in Dixon, CA. Home-A-Long October 1st to December 31st We haven't had a contest for knitters or crocheters in a really long time. It's time to make that right with a Home-a-Long. Make a home decor item in your craft of choice…knitting, crocheting, weaving, or any way "you can think of to play with string." Some ideas for projects could be pillows, afghans, rugs, towels, teapot or mug cozies, potholders, dishcloths, bags. The sky's the limit!

Sep 15

Our Summer Spin In has finished and, oh boy, did we all have fun! So many great projects were entered. We announce the winners here and Kelly reports on her visit to the wool auction. Plus, Marsha has a big finish. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android . Prue Hill recommended the BBC's Food Programme on butter that aired last month. Shout out to Littletownknitter–Tracy who is recovering from surgery. Bailey finished her Companion Dog (CD) title. Marsha's Projects Rag Rugs : Finished! Planned on two 24"x36" rugs. Final size 28"x32". Such a fun project! Socks : Finished! Paton Kroy in colorway Rag Rug. Socks : Using Red Heart Heart and Sole in colorway Black Jack. Working on foot of the first sock. Mountain High : Heidi Kirrmaier. Using my handspun Flowers From My Garden . Deer Scarf : Ben and his roommates rescued a concrete deer lawn ornaments. I am making a red scarf for the deer to wear this holiday. Weaving Studio : It's a work in progress. Spent some time cleaning the studio after the rag rug weaving. Weaving creates lots of dust, threads, and pieces of fabric. Cleaned desk and set up sewing machine which I think will work well for sewing. I'm trying not to buy anything for the studio but find what I have around the house and make it work. Kelly's Projects Started and finished spirit yarn hat #6 . Took it to the college free table even though it was muggy and 70-ish this week. More Izzy Bears have ears! Still almost finished with Lace and Fade Boxy by Joji Locatelli. Using a merino silk handspun along with a skein of Sincere Sheep Vernal (silk/linen). I'm on the ribbing and using a 1x1 broken rib based on Marsha's suggestion. Fireweed Sock s are finished and have been worn. Love the color! Continued Combing the remaining CVM . Debating washing the stickiest leftovers of this fleece or consigning them to the compost and calling the combing done. Washing and Processing Ernest (2017 fleece) Still carding the first batch this fleece with silk. Still have to finish washing the last couple batches. Natural Dyeing Experiments I dyed three small white skeins from spirit wool (about 150 g) with fig leaves. I pre-mordanted the wool with alum, rinsed it and let it dry. Then I put it in a dyepot that had simmered for many hours. The result is a greenish gold. Future natural dyes from my yard—toyon leaves/twigs, ceanothus leaves/twigs. Also have some dried tan oak leaves from a long ago camping trip. Another possibility is to vary the water I use. I may experiment with ocean water. My tap water is quite hard so playing with the pH of my water is another possibility. Summer Spin In Prizes Listen to hear if you won! Lambtown Festival Lambtown is October 4-5 (workshops start Oct 2) in Dixon, CA. 2KnitLitChicks Podcast Get Together Lake Tahoe, CA, September 18-21

Aug 31

There is still time to finish projects before our Summer Spin In ends on September 1st. We have a few finished projects and lots of fiber prep to discuss. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android . Marsha's Projects Simple Shawl by Jane Hunter. Finished! Used my Into the Whirled handspun. Socks : Using Patons Kroy sock in the colorway Blue Striped Ragg. Turned heel and finished gusset of second sock. Spacetime 18 : Heidi Kirrmaier. Using my handspun Flowers From My Garden . On hold. Rag Rugs : Finished threading the reed plan to start weaving today. I'm making two 24"x36" rugs. Deer Scarf : Ben and his roommates rescued a concrete deer lawn ornaments. I am making a red scarf for the deer to wear this holiday. Weaving Studio : It's a work in progress. I brought two prints to the framer yesterday that will go in the studio. Kelly's Projects Almost finished with Lace and Fade Boxy by Joji Locatelli. I'm using a merino silk handspun along with a skein of Sincere Sheep Vernal (silk/linen). I had a mistake in the lace pattern somehow because my stitch counts got off so I ripped back about 4 inches and am back on track. Fireweed Sock sock two is on the second foot. A definite candidate for finishing during the two PD days at school before students start. Continued Combing the remaining CVM . I have two-pitch wool combs from Red Barn Farm from long ago. I had about 1.5 lbs left of the fleece that I plan to comb. So far I have about 150 g of combed top. With about 50% waste I figure this is about half done. The remainder of the fleece is very sticky and needs another wash. Washing and Processing Ernest (2017 fleece) I've rewashed two more batches of about a pound each. These batches are less matted and will be easier to pick. I also started carding the first batch. All have been through the carder once. I decided to add silk to the second round of carding in this batch. My plan is to prep this so that I have a fall/winter spinning project. Natural Dyeing Pelargonium leaves–orange leaning beige on CA Red fleece and barely beige on BL cross fleece. Purpleleaf plum leaves–pink leaning beige on Tunis yarn and Shetland from suint bath experiment. On both I mordanted the yarn with alum. Future plans from my yard—fig leaves, toyon leaves/twigs, ceanothus leaves/twigs. Also plan to try some dried tan oak leaves from a long ago camping trip. Summer Spin In Now until September 1. All spinning and making with handspun yarn counts. Preparing fleeces also counts. We're close to the end! Monterey County Fair Wool Show See page 31 of the exhibitor handbook for these details. Wool Auction: Labor Day, Monday, September 1. At the Community Stage rather than the Livestock pole barn. Auction goers get into the fairgrounds before the fair opens to the public. Enter at Gate 3, auction starts about 11:30 but there is open viewing time for at least an hour or so prior. I think I arrived about 9 am last year. Lambtown Festival Lambtown is October 4-5 (workshops start Oct 2) in Dixon, CA. 2KnitLitChicks Podcast Get Together Lake Tahoe, CA September 18-21

Aug 9

Kelly has finished a monumental spinning project. We have lots to discuss about our projects, dog shows, summer house projects, and general summer fun. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android . Marsha's Projects Spinning : Finished! Another combo spin, this time with fiber from Pat Eisner that she put in the destash room at NoCKRs. About 1,000 yards of 3-ply worsted weight yarn. Cheviot Top : Finished! 8 oz braid of Cheviot Top in hot pink. Have 572 yards of 2-ply fingering weight. Socks : Using Patons Kroy sock in the colorway Blue Striped Ragg. Finished first sock and halfway down leg of second. Spacetime 18 : Heidi Kirrmaier. Using my handspun Flowers From My Garden . On hold. Simple Shawl by Jane Hunter. Using my Into the Whirled handspun. Rag Rugs : I put the warp on the loom and threaded the heddles. Now I need to thread the reed, and sew fabric strips together. I plan to make two 24"x36" rugs. Deer Scarf : Ben and his roommates rescued a concrete deer lawn ornaments. I am making a red scarf for the deer to wear this holiday. Brought on an overnight trip and had my friend Sue knit on the scarf. Weaving Studio : It's a work in progress. Kelly's Projects Fireweed Sock sock two is still in the leg. Worked on it while the handspun sweater was in a time out! I am back to working on the Lace and Fade Boxy by Joji Locatelli. I'm using a merino silk handspun along with a skein of Sincere Sheep Vernal (silk/linen). I had a mistake in the lace pattern somehow because my stitch counts got off so I ripped back about 4 inches and am back on track. Finished spinning the 2018 CVM that I've been carding since November. Total yardage isn't calculated, but I spun almost 700 g (1.5 lbs) of yarn. I have three colors. Dark and medium blue-green and then a red-purple. They were all dyed with the same dyes and the colors were blended in the batts. Combing the remaining CVM . I have two-pitch wool combs from Red Barn Farm from long ago. I had about 1.5 lbs left of the fleece that I plan to comb. So far I have about 120 g of combed top. I timed myself to see how long it took to comb an ounce (28 g) of fiber. It took about 45 minutes and I got 4 balls (about 14 g) of combed top. Slow process with lots of waste. But the fiber is really nice! Washing Ernest . First time processing merino. Very greasy. Six 1 lb batches. Overnight cold soak of the whole fleece. Two very hot washes in a pot on a burner using Dawn. Two very hot rinses. Still greasy. Two batches got an extra wash and seem a little felted. International Tour de Fleece YouTube binge: Mijn Wolden : Jente spins and dyes mostly local Belgian wool. She does all the fiber crafts with her handspun. Etienne is somewhere in Québec. He spins on a Canadian production wheel. Also watched Knitting with Ève (Montreal) and Piiamt (Estonia) Tour de Fleece content. Summer Spin In Now until September 1. All spinning and making with handspun yarn counts. Preparing fleeces also counts. Let's go! Monterey County Fair Wool Show See page 31 of the exhibitor handbook for these details. Fleece Judging: Saturday, August 9, 9 am at the Fairgrounds. In person at the Fairgrounds in the wool room and on Zoom. Message me if you want the Zoom link. Sheila January is judging. Handspun and handcrafted judging is usually the next day, same time and location. Wool Auction: Labor Day, Monday, September 1. At the Community Stage rather than the Livestock pole barn. Auction goers get into the fairgrounds before the fair opens to the public. Enter at Gate 3, auction starts about 11:30 but there is open viewing time for at least an hour or so prior. I think I arrived about 9 am last year. Lambtown Festival Lambtown is October 4-5 (workshops start Oct 2) in Dixon, CA. 2KnitLitChicks Podcast Get Together September 18-21 at Lake Tahoe, CA

Jul 23

In this episode we talk about dogs, chickens, projects, and have a pop-up prize drawing for our 250th episode. Our Summer Spin In is underway and the Finished Object thread is now live. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android . Marsha's Projects Socks : Using Patons Kroy sock in the colorway Blue Striped Ragg. Finished first sock and cast on second Spinning : Another combo spin, this time with fiber from Pat Eisner that she put in the destash room at NoCKRs. Have spun two skeins of worsted weight yarn about 660 yards. I have refilled three bobbins and am about to ply into a 3-ply. Spacetime 18 : Heidi Kirrmaier. I plan to use my handspun Flowers From My Garden , but the project is on hold. Simple Shawl by Jane Hunter. Using my Into the Whirled handspun. Rag Rugs : Bought self-healing mat and cutting tool and cut three queen sheets into 1" strips. I've wound the warp. I plan to make two 24"x36" rugs. Deer Scarf : Ben and his roommates rescued a concrete deer lawn ornament. I am making a red scarf for the deer to wear this holiday. Weaving Studio : It's a work in progress. If you have Netflix I recommend The Quilters. Kelly's Projects Finished the armband for dog shows that I was making using tablet weaving I have warped to make and name plates for each dog's crate. But I only have about an inch of plain one color weaving on the band. I'm using 3/2 perle cotton spirit yarn in black and gray. I'm using Linda Henrickson's pattern from my Handwoven library. The pattern can also be found on her website here and then click "free instructions." Fireweed Sock sock two is still in the leg. I love the way the colors are striping. Still spinning the 2018 CVM that I've been carding since November. Finished three skeins (162 grams) and have two full bobbins of plied yarn from the second round of plying. I still have about 100 grams of blue to top up the bobbins. I have another batch (240 g) with more red to spin when the blue is done. I started the Lace and Fade Boxy by Joji Locatelli. I'm using a merino silk handspun along with a skein of Sincere Sheep Vernal (silk/linen). I'm on the second band of the lace pattern. Summer Spin In Now until September 1. All spinning and making with handspun yarn counts. Preparing fleeces also counts. Let's go! Monterey County Fair Wool Show See page 31 of the exhibitor handbook for these details. Fleece Judging: Saturday, August 9, 9 am at the Fairgrounds. In person at the Fairgrounds in the wool room and on Zoom. Message me if you want the Zoom link. Sheila January is judging. Handspun and handcrafted judging is usually the next day, same time and location. Wool Auction: Labor Day, Monday, September 1. At the Community Stage rather than the Livestock pole barn. Auction goers get into the fairgrounds before the fair opens to the public. Enter at Gate 3, auction starts about 11:30 but there is open viewing time for at least an hour or so prior. I think I arrived about 9 am last year.

Jul 6

Lots of project updates and lots of opinions in this episode. Plus, our Summer Spin In is in progress and information about the Monterey County Fair Wool Show. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android . Marsha's Projects The Weekender : by Andrea Mowry. Finished. Used Cascade 220 in colorway Wine. Socks : Using Patons Kroy sock in the colorway Blue Striped Ragg. Finished first sock and cast on second Spinning : Another combo spin, this time with fiber from Pat Eisner that she put in the destash room at NoCKRs. Have spun two skeins of worsted weight yarn about 660 yards. Filled two more bobbins with a third to go before plying more. Spacetime 18 : Heidi Kirrmaier. Using my handspun Flowers From My Garden . Now nervous about casting on with my handspun. Maybe I should just make a shawl where fit is less of an issue. Considering Simple Shawl by Jane Hunter and using my Into the Whirled handspun. Weaving Studio : It's a work in progress. Rag Rug Handbook by Janet Meany and Paula Pfaff. Interweave Press 1996 Kelly's Projects Izzy doll bears progress: Four finished bears have gone to school. Creating the faces was fun. I haven't been back to check the table and see if they are gone. The flat bears are still flat and I still have one on the needles that hasn't been touched. Too much spinning! New Projects: Tablet weaving to make an armband for dog shows and name plates for each dog's crate. I finished the dog paws–two bands with seven paws on each band. Each one is about 12 inches long. I made a prototype of the armband with some leftover ribbon and plastic from a sheet container. I'm using Linda Henrickson's pattern from my Handwoven library. Pattern can also be found on her website here and then click "free instructions." Fireweed Sock number one is done. Sock two is past the ribbing and into the very simple patterning on the leg. I love the way the colors are striping. Spinning the 2018 CVM that I've been carding since November. Finished three skeins (162 grams) and I'm on round two of filling the three bobbins. Almost finished refilling the second bobbin. Love the dyed-in-the-wool look of the overdyed gray! Started washing the rest of that CVM fleece with an all day and overnight cold soak. I have plans to comb at least some of what is left. Locks are long enoughIt's a really nice fleece, especially for $8.50/lb but there are some second cuts and tender sun bleached tips causing some neps. This fleece was purchased in 2018 so it is one of my oldest. Swatching for the Lace and Fade Boxy by Joji Locatelli. I'm planning to use a merino silk handspun MPD in Color group Summer Spin In Now until September 1. All spinning and making with handspun yarn counts. Preparing fleeces also counts. Let's go! Monterey County Fair Wool Show See page 31 for these details . Fleece Judging: Saturday, August 9, 9 am at the Fairgrounds. In person at the Fairgrounds in the wool room and on Zoom. Message me if you want the Zoom link. Sheila January is judging. Handspun and handcrafted judging is usually the next day, same time and location. Wool Auction: Labor Day, Monday, September 1. At the Community Stage rather than the Livestock pole barn. Auction goers get into the fairgrounds before the fair opens to the public. Enter at Gate 3, auction starts about 11:30 but there is open viewing time for at least an hour or so prior. I think I arrived about 9 am last year.

Jun 25

Oh boy, do we have a lot to catch up on! It's been almost a month since we last recorded so we have a very long episode this time. So long it wasn't edited, just put up as is. Lots of finished projects and new projects to discuss. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android . Marsha's Projects The Weekender : by Andrea Mowry. Using Cascade 220 in colorway Wine. Finished the sleeves and still have to finish the sewn bind off on the back neckline. I need some solitude to do this but there has been none available this past month. Socks : Wisdom Yarns Wacki Saki Finished. Spinning : Into the Whirled roving in colorways Welcome to Litchfield and The Traveler. Finished! 573 yards. About finger weight. Socks : Using Patons Kroy sock in the colorway Blue Striped Ragg. I discovered the balls are only 160 yards. Adding red heels and toes with Cloudborn Fibers Superwash Sock Twist from Craftsy. Was a giveaway at Stitches a few years ago. Halfway done on the foot of the first sock. Spinning : Started spinning another combo spin. Fiber from Pat Eisner that she put in the destash room at NoCKRs. Have spun two skeins of yarn, 660 yards total and about worsted weight. Kelly's Projects Izzy doll bears progress: I continue to make the tubes and have stuffed four of them. I have two others finished but unstuffed, and a fourth on the needles. Sidewalk loom progress: Cloth apron is on and the rods are secured with texsolv. The back beam has five texsolv cords and I'm thinking I need a couple more. I finally cleaned up the reed and put it into the beater. I've washed and will reuse the texsolv cords used to tie up the treadles. I think I will cut a few more for spares and while I am at it I should cut some for the LeClerc tie up, too. The sticking point is going to be stabilizing the right side of the loom between the castle and the back beam, but I hope to have this loom ready to warp soon! Finished the skein of Wensleydale x Cormo x Merino with the silk spun into it. I started this at the NoCKRs retreat in April with some leftover fiber I found from a previous project. I will use it for an accent color when I knit with the original project yarn. New Projects: Tablet weaving to make an armband for dog shows and name plates for each dog's crate. I'm using a makeshift warp weighted set up using clamps to hold my work in place and a variety of things attached to the warp to hold my tension as the warp hangs over something handy. I have one part of the armband completed, need to make another one of those and then do the names. Pattern has only lower case letters so I may need to do a little drafting to get the capital B for the dog names. Using Linda Henrickson's pattern from my Handwoven library. Pattern can also be found on her website here and then click "free instructions." Fireweed Sock number one is almost done. I am ready to start the toe of the sock. I love the way the colors are striping. Spinning the 2018 CVM that I've been carding since November. I have two bobbins and I'm about to start the third. I'll card more of that fiber before I start the third bobbin so I can continue with the mostly blue-green fiber. Summer Spin In Now until September 1. All spinning and making with handspun yarn counts. Preparing fleeces also counts. Let's go!

May 26

Oh no, Marsha's garage is back on the show! Plus, an upcoming graduation, a trip to the beach, lots of talk about chenille rugs, planning for the Summer Spin In, and the usual highjinks! Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android . Marsha's Projects The Weekender : by Andrea Mowry. Using Cascade 220 in colorway Wine. I haven't picked it up since I got home from the retreat. Lost my motivation after all the discussion at NoCKRs. Plus I listened to the latest episode of Yarniacs where they discussed Sharlene's Weekender. Didn't inspire me. Socks : Wisdom Yarns Wacki Saki in the colorway Batty Berlin. Almost done with the leg of the second sock. Spinning : Into the Whirled roving in colorways Welcome to Litchfield and The Traveler. I've finished the two singles and have plied one bobbin. Have a little over 300 yards. Started plying second bobbin. Weaving Studio : It's a work in progress. I think I have finally fixed the problem with the brake band falling off. Kelly's Projects Two more hats (both using a turquoise DK) went to the free table at school. I haven't checked back to see if they are gone, but the day after I put them there it was in the high 70s. So I switched to Izzy doll bears for my next skein of retreat spirit yarn. It's a taupe brown color. Started another chenille rug warp for making the chenille "caterpillar strips." As I was about half done I looked in the trunk and found some other spirit yarn I had intended to use for the strips. I used some, but I might have yet another warp of strips to make. I have a lot of weaving spirit yarn. Finished a third bobbin of spirit roving from Pat . Still need to ply it to get the wheels empty and ready for the spin in. Gray Corriedale x Merino fiber that is beautifully prepared ( Morro Fleeceworks ). Shari is still processing fleeces. She is selling the mill but it hasn't sold yet. Also there is a new fiber mill opening. News from Knitadmin Mary is that there is a new small-batch custom wool and fiber mill coming soon to Northern California, Siren Song Fleeceworks . Meredith will be accepting fleeces for custom processing at Fiber Frolic in Vacaville on June 7th. She will also be vending at Lambtown the first weekend in October. Winter Weave Along The WWAL has ended. In the thread we had 55 projects linked, 184 pictures, 881 posts, 37 voices, 152 readers. We announced prizes for six lucky weavers. Summer Spin In Now until September 1. All spinning and making with handspun yarn counts. Preparing fleeces also counts. Let's go!

May 5

We have both been busy with non-fiber activities, but we still managed to finish some projects, including some cheeky ones. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android . Quilting the National Parks: 20 Original Designs Inspired by the Beauty of Our National Park by Stephanie Forster Marsha's Projects Hedgehog : Finished! Pattern by PurlSoho. In the destash room at the NoCKRs retreat I found a ball of Louisa Harding Luzia and thought it was the perfect yarn to make a hedgehog. The Weekender : by Andrea Mowry. Using Cascade 220 in colorway Wine. I haven't picked it up since I got home from the retreat. Lost my motivation after all the discussion at NoCKRs. Socks : Wisdom Yarns Wacki Saki in the colorway Batty Berlin. About to start toe decreases of first sock Spinning : Into the Whirled roving in colorways Welcome to Litchfield and The Traveler. BostonJen messaged me that she used the same braids, plied them the same way, and made a hat. What a coincidence! Weaving Studio : It's a work in progress. I think I have finally fixed the problem with the brake band falling off. Kelly's Projects Spirit Yarn charity hat (gray wool/acrylic blend) started at the retreat This hat is done and I've also completed a second out of a tweedy moss green that was cotton and modal but felt a lot like Berocco Remix. It was great yarn! Both hats were gone in less than a day. Potholders from the potholder loom. I'm a 63 year old woman making my mom a potholder for Mother's Day. I've made two for myself. Almost finished with the second bobbin of spirit roving from Pat. Gray Corriedale x Merino fiber that is beautifully prepared (Morro Fleeceworks). Fiber Frolic, Duren Dyeworks Spring Buckens and Owls (Ms and Os): Woven, washed, pressed and waiting for hems. Another successful batch of dishtowels! Chenille rug project : The weaving of the chenille strips has begun. Winter Weave Along Prizes drawn next episode. Summer Spin In Memorial Day - Labor Day May 31 - September 1

Apr 19

We're together in this episode and we have lots to discuss. Lots of finished projects, the NoCKRs retreat, spirit yarn, weaving, and more. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android . An interesting article about the closing of Vidalia Mills, the last weaver of denim in the U.S. https://sourcingjournal.com/denim/denim-business/vidalia-mills-auction-preserve-american-heritage-looms-1234740849/ Marsha's Projects Ames Beanie : Stephanie Larson. Finished! Used Purls Before Swine Hometown Worsted in colorway Seaglass. Socks : Finished! Used Knit Picks Felici in the colorway Hawaiian Shirt. Morgan's Pinwheels & Checks : Finished! The Weekender : by Andrea Mowry. Using Cascade 220 in colorway Wine. Finished first sleeve and picked up for second sleeve. Socks : Cast on with Wisdom Yarns Wacki Saki in the colorway Batty Berlin. Spinning : Into the Whirled roving in colorways Welcome to Litchfield and The Traveler. Weaving Studio : It's a work in progress. Kelly's Projects Graphito Done and worn! The fit is great! Sewing with handwoven : All curtains done and hung! Spirit Yarn charity hat (gray wool/acrylic blend) started at the retreat. About a half dozen dishcloths from spirit yarn –royal blue and a sunny yellow and orange variegated cotton yarn. Using Triple L Tweed stitch. Some have been given away, some will stay with me. Almost finished with them. Spun on two different projects at the retreat. Using up the last of the Wensleydale x Cormo x Merino from last summer. I had forgotten I still had a box of batts so I brought them to the retreat to spin with some purple silk held along with the fiber. The other project was spinning some gray Corriedale/Merino roving. One bobbin into the first project, two bobbins into the second project. Loom refurbishing project . Front apron has arrived from The Woolery. Not yet installed Spring Buckens and Owls (Ms and Os): One towel to go! Maybe a second small one depending on how much loom waste I have. Winter Weave Along We'll draw prizes next episode when Marsha is back home.

Mar 26

A trip to the desert, a chicken update, and a big increase in active projects. Kelly makes Marsha record the morning after she gets home from a trip, but we have to squeeze it in between her travels. Join in the fun and hear about our knitting, spinning, and weaving projects. No photos this week, but lots of links to all our projects. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android . Marsha's Projects Ames Beanie : Stephanie Larson. Using Purls Before Swine Hometown Worsted in colorway Seaglass. I was about to start the decreases when I noticed I had crossed one of the cables the wrong way. I've ripped it back and corrected my mistake. Socks : Using Knit Picks Felici in the colorway Hawaiian Shirt. Knitting on foot of first sock. Morgan's Pinwheels & Checks : Finished the third of four towels. I had hoped to be finished by this episode, but alas, life seldom goes as planned. The Weekender : by Andrea Mowry. Using Cascade 220 in colorway Wine. Finished the body, split for the armholes, and finished the front. Now working on the back. Kelly's Projects Graphito sleeves are in progress. Started with double points but did a full search of circular needles and found a short cabled one. Used a needle gauge from Invictus Yarns with multiple gauge holes for size US 2 and US 3 needles due to the varying mm that don't track completely with US sizes. Finished a two ply skein of tunis . Sewing with handwoven : All curtains zigzagged, cut, and hemmed. Next up is to put in the rod casings but before I do that I think I may have to cut some of them down. So probably more zigzagging and cutting. And of course, before that, another measuring session with the panels inside the trailer. Loom refurbishing project . Took out heddles and metal flat stock that they were hanging on and cleaned in vinegar with a scrubby. Didn't finish all the flat stock "heddle racks." So this is still in progress. Decisions about cords vs apron and how to attach cords had been made in favor of cords on the back beam, apron on the front beam. Thanks to Mary and Cathy who showed me how this looks on their looms. Spring Buckens and Owls (Ms and Os) I've threaded the reed and heddles and ready to wind on so I can start weaving this last project of the Winter Weave Along. Probably won't quite finish by the end of March, but maybe! The colors are like Easter to me so I'm eager to finish them at least by Easter weekend. Winter Weave Along Last push for the Winter Weave along with less than a month until the end. Show us your projects in the Ravelry thread . If you aren't on Ravelry consider joining just so you can talk with us about your weaving!

Mar 15

Answering listeners' questions, doing a little podcast housekeeping, and catching up on project progress. Marsha has lost track of time and Kelly is losing track of broken rib stitches. You know, the usual antics! Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android . Marsha's Projects Socks : Finished! Use Regia 4-fadig by Arne & Carlos in colorway 03760. I got this yarn from the NoCKRs destash room. A big thank you to the knitter who donated it as I love the colors and pattern. Ames Beanie : Stephanie Larson. Using Purls Before Swine Hometown Worsted in colorway Seaglass. I ripped back to correct a mistake in one of the cables. Morgan's Pinwheels & Checks : Started the fourth towel. The Weekender : by Andrea Mowry. Using Cascade 220 in colorway Wine. Did not get gauge with the suggested #9 needles. Went down to #8 and still off by ½ stitch. I think the fabric would be too dense going down to #7. Decided to make size #2 which, if the math is correct, will give me the suggested 10" of positive ease. Fingers crossed! I have knit 15" of the body and about to spit for armholes. Weaving Studio : It's a work in progress. I met with a weaver who answered my want ad in the Seattle Weavers Guild newsletter. She sold me a LeClerc loom bench which is working great. Plus five shuttles for making rag rugs. Eugene Textile Center PlaidMaker.com Kelly's Projects Finishing the ribbing on the body of Graphito and ready to pick up for the sleeves. Bought the pattern for Solomon Poncho . It's been in my queue since 2023. Also interested in a new Thea Colman vest coming this week named The Last Word . Winter Weave Along Last push for the Winter Weave along with less than a month until the end. Show us your projects in the Ravelry thread . If you aren't on Ravelry consider joining just so you can talk with us about your weaving!

Mar 2

Finished projects! Also weaving, the loom restoration project, aging, and our usual chit chat. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android . Marsha's Projects Graphito : by Heidemarie Kaizer. Finished! Used Purls Before Swine Robusta in colorways Good Jeans (blue) and Toxic (pink). Ames Beanie : Stephanie Larson. Using Purls Before Swine Hometown Worsted in colorway Seaglass. I was about to start the decreases when I noticed I had crossed one of the cables the wrong way. I need to rip back. Socks : Using Regia 4-fadig by Arne & Carlos in colorway 03760. Finished first sock. Finished gusset and knitting foot of the second sock. Morgan's Pinwheels & Checks : Finished the third of four towels. I had hoped to be finished by this episode, but alas, life seldom goes as planned. The Weekender : by Andrea Mowry. Using Cascade 220 in colorway Wine. Did not get gauge with the suggested #9 needles. Went down to #8 and still off by ½ stitch. I think the fabric would be too dense going down to #7. Decided to make size #2 which, if the math is correct, will give me the suggested 10" of positive ease. Fingers crossed! Weaving Studio : It's a work in progress. I met with a weaver who answered my want ad in the Seattle Weavers Guild newsletter. She sold me a LeClerc loom bench which is working great. Plus five shuttles for making rag rugs. Kelly's Projects Done with weaving on the fifth warp for the trailer curtains ! Still need to wash, cut, and sew. Started back on Graphito . Still knitting on the body for about 3 more inches. Winding a new, spring colored warp for dishtowels. 2025 Challenge Thread: Are you creating any challenges for yourself for 2025? If so you can share them here. Winter Weave Along Going until March 31. Show us your projects in the Ravelry thread . If you aren't on Ravelry consider joining just so you can talk with us about your weaving!

Feb 14

At least one of us is sometimes a careless knitter. And by the way, do you swatch for socks? We discuss all of this plus our weaving adventures. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android . Marsha's Projects Graphito : by Heidemarie Kaizer. Using Purls Before Swine Robusta in colorways Good Jeans (blue) and Toxic (pink). I've finished the first sleeve and about 4" from starting ribbing on the second sleeve. Ames Beanie : Stephanie Larson. Using Purls Before Swine Hometown Worsted in colorway Seaglass. I was about to start the decreases when I noticed I had crossed one of the cables the wrong way. I need to rip back. Socks : Using Regia 4-fadig by Arne & Carlos in colorway 03760. Finished first sock. Finished gusset and knitting foot of the second sock. Morgan's Pinwheels & Checks : Finished first towel and almost done with second towel. Doing pretty well. My selvages look good. The Weekender : Andrea Mowry. Will use Cascade 220 in colorway Wine. Weaving Studio : It's a work in progress. Kelly's Projects About half done with weaving on the fifth warp for the trailer curtains . Started back on Graphito. Long story which includes dropped stitches. The February Challenge is a failure so far. 2025 Challenge Thread: Are you creating any challenges for yourself for 2025? If so you can share them here. Winter Weave Along Going until March 31. Show us your projects in the Ravelry thread . If you aren't on Ravelry consider joining just so you can talk with us about your weaving!

Jan 29

Our Winter Weave-Along is in full swing. We have lots to discuss about our weaving projects. The knitting projects are moving along, too. Plus, we talk about Kelly's super fun yard "sale" with everything free. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android . Marsha's Projects Graphito : by Heidemarie Kaizer. Using Purls Before Swine Robusta in colorways Good Jeans (blue) and Toxic (pink). About to start ribbing at the cuff of the first sleeve. Ames Beanie : Stephanie Larson. Using Purls Before Swine Hometown Worsted in colorway Seaglass. I was about to start the decreases when I noticed I had crossed one of the cables the wrong way. I need to rip back. Socks : Using Regia 4-fadig by Arne & Carlos in colorway 03760. Finished first sock. Finished gusset and knitting foot of the second sock. Morgan's Pinwheels & Checks : I got the warp on the loom and am about to start weaving. Weaving Studio : It's a work in progress. Kelly's Projects I've started weaving on the fifth warp for the trailer curtains . I finished the Zaney Viney self-patterning socks . I've already worn them twice! Charity hat number five is on the needles right now. I still have most of a skein of bright pink acrylic to use up. Wool cone stash/Chenille rug and blanket sampling 2025 Challenge for January and AI pictures 2025 Challenge Thread: Are you creating any challenges for yourself for 2025? If so you can share them here. Winter Weave Along Going until March 31. Show us your projects in the Ravelry thread . If you aren't on Ravelry consider joining just so you can talk with us about your weaving!

Jan 13

It's another recovery episode! Marsha is back from Palm Springs, Christmas is put away, and Kelly has big news about the trailer curtains. Plus, dreams of new weaving projects. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android . Marsha's Projects Graphito : by Heidemarie Kaizer. Using Purls Before Swine Robusta in colorways Good Jeans (blue) and Toxic (pink). I've finished the body and am about to pick up stitches for the first sleeve. Ames Beanie : Stephanie Larson. Using Purls Before Swine Hometown Worsted in colorway Seaglass. I was about to start the decreases when I noticed I had crossed one of the cables the wrong way. I need to rip back. Socks : Using Regia 4-fadig by Arne & Carlos in colorway 03760. Finished first sock. About to start the heel flap of the second sock. Morgan's Pinwheels & Checks : I wound my warp! Weaving Studio : It's a work in progress. Kelly's Projects The fourth curtain fabric warp has been finished and I'm tying on the warp for what I hope is the last curtain fabric warp. The only other project is self-patterning socks . Zaney Viney colorway. Looms available: Two 4 harness looms--one in Salinas and one in Aptos. Contact us if you are interested and we'll put you in touch with the sellers. Price will probablly be highly negotiable. Motivated sellers! 2025 Challenge Thread: Are you creating any challenges for yourself for 2025? If so you can share them here. Winter Weave Along Going until March 31. Show us your projects in the Ravelry thread . If you aren't on Ravelry consider joining just so you can talk with us about your weaving!

Dec 24, 2024

The Two Ewes send best wishes for the happiest of holidays to all our listeners. Join us in our last episode of 2024 as we discuss projects, our Winter Weave Along, and a way to think about making space for creativity. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android . Looms available: Loom #1: Terry in Salinas has a loom that needs a home. It comes from Berkeley, has all its pieces, and is in really good condition. I'll have more information soon and she says it would definitely be a good deal! Loom #2: There is a LeClerc in Aptos that needs a home. It looks like it's a counterbalance rather than a jack loom. 36" weaving width. Asking price $400, but I think it would be negotiable. Anyone in the area interested in either of these looms (pick up only-no shipping), please get in touch via Ravelry, Instagram or email (twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com). Marsha's Projects Emotional Support Chicken : by Annette Corsino. Finished! Graphito : by Heidemarie Kaizer. Using Purls Before Swine Robusta in colorways Good Jeans (blue) and Toxic (pink). I've knit about 8" of the body. Ames Beanie : Stephanie Larson. Using Purls Before Swine Hometown Worsted in colorway Seaglass. I was about to start the decreases when I noticed I had crossed one of the cables the wrong way. I need to rip back. Socks : Using Regia 4-fadig by Arne & Carlos in colorway 03760. Finished first sock. Knit about 3" of a second sock. Weaving Studio : I got the warping board back from Kim and everyday plan to wind the warp for four tea towels. Still haven't wound a warp. It has been so long that Kim has borrowed the warping board and raddle a second time! Kelly's Projects The woven squares blanket is finished and on the sun room sofa livening up the sad beige couch. I still haven't washed it but I decided against the crochet edging. Charity hats using leftover acrylic from Faye's flower blanket. Fleece prep: Continued a little more carding of the sticky 2018 CVM . And I have a whole box of California Red picked and ready for the carder at some point. The curtain fabric is on the loom and there is both warp and weft and it's more than just the header and the hem. Winter Weave Along Going until March 31. Show us your projects in the Ravelry thread . If you aren't on Ravelry consider joining just so you can talk with us about your weaving! Challenge: Between now and January 1 do a kind of weaving that you haven't done before. Possibilities: New to you weave structure, different form of loom, make something you never thought of making before, e.g. decorative braids or shoe laces, use a fiber you haven't used before, use a wet finishing method you haven't used before. End 2024 with a new weaving skill.

Dec 8, 2024

We hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. We recap our holiday with stories of cooking turkeys and cranberry sauce. Plus, updates on projects and a challenge for our Winter Weave Along. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android . Marsha's Projects Emotional Support Chicken : by Annette Corsino. I finished the body but still need to knit wattle and comb. I've been making "rope" with French Knitter and about halfway done. Plan to make a hat and chalk bag. Found tiny carabiners online. Graphito : by Heidemarie Kaizer. Using Purls Before Swine Robusta in colorways Good Jeans (blue) and Toxic (pink). I finished the yoke and divided for the sleeves. I've knit about an inch of the body but I'm going to wash and block the yoke to be sure it fits and the patterning looks good. Ames Beanie : Stephanie Larson. Using Purls Before Swine Hometown Worsted in colorway Seaglass. I was about to start the decreases when I noticed I had crossed one of the cables the wrong way. I need to rip back. Socks : Using Regia 4-fadig by Arne & Carlos in colorway 03760. Finished first sock. Weaving Studio : I got the warping board back from Kim and everyday plan to wind the warp for four tea towels. Too much Thanksgiving preparation so I didn't get anything done. Maybe today?? Kelly's Projects The woven squares blanket is almost finished! All the squares are sewn together and I just have a few more ends to weave in. Debating a crochet border edging. Suint Bath Shetland Project is finished. The two skeins are almost identical. The one that was spun greasy is slightly finer. I think it is easier for a default yarn to be spun thinner when spinning in the grease. But it puffs up when washed and I don't think the skeins are any more different than any two handspun skeins. They could easily be used together in the same project with no problem. Fleece prep: Dyeing and carding the 2018 CVM . I've been putting batches in the crockpot with random dyeing while I do other things out in the yard. I've also been carding intermittently and have quite a few batts through their first round. Got down to the back ribbing on the Maple Vest . I won't have enough yarn. Trying to decide what to do. Pattern repeat on the ribbing gives me limited choices for shortening. Winter Weave Along Going until March 31. Show us your projects in the Ravelry thread . If you aren't on Ravelry consider joining just so you can talk with us about your weaving! Challenge: Between now and January 1 do a kind of weaving that you haven't done before. Possibilities: New to you weave structure, different form of loom, make something you never thought of making before, e.g. decorative braids or shoe laces, use a fiber you haven't used before, use a wet finishing method you haven't used before. End 2024 with a new weaving skill.

Nov 21, 2024

Join us as we discuss our plans for the Winter Weave A-long and, of course, lots of project updates. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android . Marsha's Projects Emotional Support Chicken : by Annette Corsino. I've knitted a bit on my chicken. Decided to make a rock climbing chicken for Ben. Found tiny carabiners online. Sockhead Slouch Hat : by Kelly McClure. Using Done Roving Yarns Frolicking Feet in colorway Irish Moss. Hibernating. Graphito : by Heidemarie Kaizer. Using Purls Before Swine Robusta in colorways Good Jeans (blue) and Toxic (pink). I finished the yoke and divided for the sleeves. I've knit about an inch of the body but I'm going to wash and block the yoke to be sure it fits and the patterning looks good. Ames Beanie : Stephanie Larson. Using Purls Before Swine Hometown Worsted in colorway Seaglass. I was about to start the decreases when I noticed I had crossed one of the cables the wrong way. I need to rip back. Socks : The Artful Ewe Clackamas. Finished first sock and about halfway through leg of second sock. Weaving Studio: I organized the closet and put all of Ben's stuff in there. I'd like him to take it, but all in good time. Kelly's Projects Finished the front on the Maple Vest . Need to wind yarn to start on the back. The ribbing pattern is fun and I love using my wooden cable needle. The fabric is heavy and a little silky. I've got my woven squares blanket to square (14 x 14) and I have only six more rows to sew on. It's been a little over a year since I started this project. Plans for more chickens because my community needs some emotional support right now The first two went to our Mi Casa Undocuscholar Center and our Pride Center. Stalled on Graphito by Heidemarie Kaiser while I've been working on the vest and the spinning and fleece prep. Suint Bath Shetland Project: Finished carding both batches and now spinning them. Washed fiber is spun. Starting on the unwashed fiber and it is still quite greasy. I'll wind each bobbin into a center pull ball and ply each of them to compare the results. Winter Weave Along Going until March 31. Show us your projects in the Ravelry thread . If you aren't on Ravelry consider joining just so you can talk with us about your weaving! Challenge: Between now and January 1 do a kind of weaving that you haven't done before. Possibilities: New to you weave structure, different forms of loom, make something you never thought of making before, e.g. decorative braids or shoe laces, use a fiber you haven't used before, use a wet finishing method you haven't used before. End 2024 with a new weaving skill.

Nov 4, 2024

Technical difficulties in the last episode meant we lost half of the audio. We're back and announce the winners of the Summer Spin In and discuss project updates. Marsha shares details about her trip to upstate New York and the New York State Sheep and Wool Show. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android Marsha's Projects Auckland Bound : by Maddie Mo. Finished. Used Alaskan Yarn Company DK in colorway Spruce. Auckland Bound : by Maddie Mo. Finished. Used Hazel Knits Cadence DK in colorway Wonderland Trail. Emotional Support Chicken : by Annette Corsino. I've knitted a bit on my chicken. Decided to make a rock climbing chicken for Ben. Found tiny carabiners online. Sockhead Slouch Hat : by Kelly McClure. Using Done Roving Yarns Frolicking Feet in colorway Irish Moss. Hibernating. Why Knot? : by Rachel Illsey. Using Weird Sisters Wool Emporium Carroll in colorway Westport Treasures. This project is on hold. I cast on and ripped out twice as the unusual stitch patterns made me completely confused. Hibernating. Graphito : by Heidemarie Kaizer. Using Purls Before Swine Robusta in colorways Good Jeans (blue) and Toxic (pink). Cast on just before I left for New York. Got stuck on the brioche. Too much drinking and talking. Now that I'm home I'm back on track. Ames Beanie : Stephanie Larson. Using Purls Before Swine Hometown Worsted in colorway Seaglass. Kelly's Projects Finished Desert Lavender socks out of Smirligan's yarn . I'm thinking about starting a new pair for watching the election coverage. Purl2W2 Coconut Tree. I've split off the sleeves and finished the body of Graphito by Heidemarie Kaiser . I still have to try it on before I decide to start the bottom ribbing or knit it a little longer. The yarns are Seismic Yarns Butter Silk as the contrast yarn and Invictus Yarns Seraphic as the main yarn–both fingering weight. I started the Maple Vest to have something to knit in the car for the reunion trip. Interesting pattern. I joined under the arms and then split again after about two inches. I'm all the way down to the ribbing on the front panel. Had to rip back a couple of rows this morning because I made a mistake on the cable crosses in one of the pattern repeats. Winter Weave Along Nov 3, 2024 - March 31, 2025 Join in with your weaving! Share on our Ravelry group! Marsha's New York Trip October 9-22, 2023 New York and the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival Cornwall Yarn Shop The Endless Skein Storm King Art Center Springwood (FDR house) Culinary Institute of America The Dia Beacon Shady Glen Lyndhurst House Sunnyside (Washington Irving House) Manitoga (Russel Wright House) Staatsburg House Vanderbilt Estate Walkway Over the Hudson Val-Kill Cottage (Eleanor Roosevelt Home)

Oct 12, 2024

Just the chat today. We had some technical difficulties with the knitting part of the show. We'll try to troubleshoot once Marsha returns from Rhinebeck. If you like the chat, welcome! If you're here for the knitting, we'll see you in episode 235.

Sep 14, 2024

We have lots of discussion topics this week ranging from Kelly's dogs now having two legs, the fleece auction, to Marsha's cast on frenzy. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android Marsha's Projects Alexandria: The Art of Yarn Skein: Finished! 50/25/25 merino/silk/bamboo. 4oz and 454 yards. Socks : The Artful Ewe Clackamas. Finished! Socks : Regia Design Line by Arne & Carlos in colorway Garden. Emotional Support Chicken : by Annette Corsino. I've knitted a bit on my chicken. Knit through the third stripe. Not sure I like the colors I picked. Sockhead Slouch Hat : by Kelly McClure. Using Done Roving Yarns Frolicking Feet in colorway Irish Moss. Auckland Bound : by Maddie Mo. Using Alaskan Yarn Company DK in colorway Spruce. Why Knot? : by Rachel Illsey. Using Weird Sisters Wool Emporium Carroll in colorway Westport Treasures. Kelly's Projects I've split off the sleeves and am knitting down the body of Graphito by Heidemarie Kaiser . Calling it my NoCKRs Sweater since both yarns are the retreat yarns (2023 and 2024). Seismic Yarns Butter Silk and Invictus Yarns Seraphic–both fingering weight. Still working on Desert Lavender socks out of Smirligan's yarn . Soft green, purple and natural white variegated yarn. One sock is finished and I'm knitting slowly down the leg of the second sock. Wool Auction Bought only one fleece! Was joined by Emily and Sonia from work and Micheline from the Bay Area. Also saw Alene that we met at the NoCKRs retreat. Between us we supported a lot of wool growers! I bought a Romeldale, 5.5 lbs. (white) Summer Spin In Announce winners in next episode Two Ewes in Walla Walla, Washington September 26-30 Purl 2 Walla Walla has closed but they will have a pop up shop in partnership with Old Homestead Alpacas at the: Maker Market Showroom on Colville 70 N. Colville Street, Suite 105 Walla Walla, WA 99362 September 28, 12:00pm-6:00pm September 29, 12:00pm-4:00pm, We'll be there around noon on Sunday.

Aug 25, 2024

The Two Ewes report on their finished projects, new projects, and future projects. Plus, just a few more days of our Summer Spin In. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android Marsha's Projects Poppy Tee : by Jo Cottle. Finished! Used Rowan Purelife Revive in the colorway Loam. Picked up in the NoCKRs 2024 destash room. Socks : The Artful Ewe Clackamas. Finished first sock and about halfway through leg of second sock. Emotional Support Chicken : by Annette Corsino. I've knitted a bit on my chicken. About to start the second stripe. Pinot Noir Purchase Targhee : I've been spinning the giant (2.2 pound) ball of Targhee roving I bought from an attendee at last fall's Fort Worden Knitting Retreat. I have dyed four batches of fiber at 4 oz each. A little disappointed that the Spruce and Turquoise, and the burgundy and Hot Fuchsia look the same. May take a break and spin something smaller to get my mojo back. Kelly's Projects New Sweater! Started knitting Graphito by Heidemarie Kaiser . Calling it my NoCKRs Sweater since both yarns are the retreat yarns (2023 and 2024). Seismic Yarns Butter Silk and Invictus Yarns Seraphic–both fingering weight. Using my new election season project bag from Good Stuff Crafts , Brenda. Check out her store. Still working on Desert Lavender socks out of Smirligan's yarn . Soft green, purple and natural white variegated yarn. One sock is finished and I'm on the second sock. Top down on birch double pointed needles, size 0. Finished a 3-ply skein of BFL: School House Rock colorway from Greenwood Fiberworks Started carding the washed Shetland for my Shetland Suint experiment . I have only about a good day's worth of work to get this carding project finished. I hope to finish the carding before September. I started with about 4 ounces each of washed and unwashed fiber from a suint bath process. Pattern Spotlight Maple Vest Bifurca Vest Why Knot Tee Summer Spin In Started Memorial Day - Ends on Labor Day May 27 - September 2 Two Ewes in Walla Walla, Washington September 26-30 Purl 2 Walla Walla has closed but there will be a pop up shop the weekend we are there. No details but I'm on their newsletter list and will be notified. Wool Auction September 2 Monterey County Fairgrounds

Aug 15, 2024

We have lots of discussion about dogs and house projects, and yes, knitting and spinning. Our Summer Spin-In is underway for a few more weeks. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android Marsha's Projects Socks : The Artful Ewe Clackamas. Finished first sock and about halfway through leg of second sock. Emotional Support Chicken : by Annette Corsino. I've knitted a bit on my chicken. About to start the second stripe. Poppy Tee : by Jo Cottle. Using Rowan Purelife Revive in the colorway Loam. Picked up in the NoCKRs 2024 destash room. I've knit about 10" of 13" total for the body. Pinot Noir Purchase Targhee : I've been spinning the giant (2.2 pound) ball of Targhee roving I bought from an attendee at last fall's Fort Worden Knitting Retreat. Last episode I talked about how the fiber made me sneeze. I removed the outer layer of roving and started spinning again with no sneezing. Kelly suggested I dye some of the roving so I've dyed 4 oz each burgundy and green. The roving is very thin and delicate. I wound the roving on the knitty noddy and tied it in six places. I tied the roving more tightly than I would for yarn, but I wanted to be sure the weight of the water didn't felt or pull the roving apart. I plan to dye more colors. Kelly's Projects Finished: 13.8 ounces of Jazzman (CVM x Merino x Columbia) 3-py. Use all the Spinning Tools Challenge: Wyatt Norwegian wheel is now spinning a Greenwood Fiber BFL braid. School House Rock colorway. It will be a three-ply fractal that I plan to use for socks. Also started: Desert Lavender socks out of Smirligan's yarn . Soft green, purple and natural white variegated yarn. Pattern Spotlight Rachel Illsley colorwork sweater patterns. Summer Spin In Started Memorial Day - Ends on Labor Day May 27 - September 2 Two Ewes in Walla Walla, Washington September 26-30 Purl 2 Walla Walla has closed so we will not have a meet up there. ☹️ Wool Auction September 2 Monterey County Fairgrounds

Jul 24, 2024

Marsha is home from her Alaskan Advent-Ewe and we have lots to catch up on. Join our discussion of project updates and spinning for our Summer Spin In. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android Marsha's Projects Socks : The Artful Ewe Clackamas. Finished first sock and about halfway through leg of second sock. Emotional Support Chicken : by Annette Corsino. Sweet girl on hold while I was in Alaska. Poppy Tee : by Jo Cottle. Cast on using Rowan Purelife Revive in the colorway Loam. Picked up in the NoCKRs 2024 destash room. Cast on and worked on this almost exclusively on my Alaska trip. I have completed the yoke and about 5" of the body. Pinot Noir Purchase Targhee : Started spinning the giant (2.2 pound) ball of Targhee roving I bought from an attendee at last fall's Fort Worden Knitting Retreat. You know I cannot resist those large balls! The woman I bought it from said she got it from a weaver's estate. It seems pretty dusty and I was sneezing like crazy last night. I'll have to wear a mask while spinning. Kelly's Projects Finished: Pride dish towels in German Birdseye weave structure. I used three variegated skeins of fluffy cotton singles plied with a thin thread of something else (polyester or nylon?). For the stripes around these three I used cotton or cottolin yarn in red, orange, green, and blue. I used all those solids as warp and also used a royal blue cotton, a brick red cottolin and some bobbin leftovers from the last project. I ended up with 5 dishtowels and a square. I love these towels and can't wait to do another stash busting warp like this. Two skeins of Jazzman (CVM x Merino x Columbia) are finished. I'm in the process of topping off the bobbins before doing more plying. It's turned out to be a lighter yarn than I expected–fingering weight. It didn't plump up as much as I thought it would after washing. Use all the Spinning Tools Challenge: I've finished and wound off a second ball of the green singles from the tahkli. I've been taking it with me in the car and to dog class where we have a break between classes. I also spun up small samples (about 6-8 grams) on the other two spindles. Still to go: Charkha, Salish Spinner, Great Wheel, and Norwegian Found buttons for Marsha's baby sweater. Have three baby items to make–two for baby boys and one for a baby girl. Anna sent me information about a colorwork sweater that I should make for myself. It used to be called Choose Your Own Adventure, now called Your Outdoor Adventure . Summer Spin In Started Memorial Day - Ends on Labor Day May 27 - September 2 Two Ewes in Walla Walla, Washington September 26-30 Alaska Advent-Ewe Met our ship Noordam in Vancouver, BC Ketchikan: Took a city tour and visited Potlatch Park . Juneau: It was pouring rain but we did a city tour and drove to Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center and hiked to the waterfall and to the glacier viewpoint. Changing Tides (their yarn is One of a Kind) One of a Kind - sock - 80/20 merino/nylon One of a Kind - lace - alpaca/merino/silk/yak One of a Kind - mini skeins - 80/20 SW merino/nylon - "Midnight Sun Memories" Skagway: Had a short city tour, visited the cemetery and drove over White Pass into Canada. Aurora Yarns Raven Frog Fibers - Marvelous Merino worsted - 100 SW merino - "Totem Spirit" (3X) Nunavut Qiviut - lace - 30/60 arctic fox/superfine merino - natural color white Aurora Yarns - lace - 100 qiviut Quilt Alaska : Bought fabric squares with Alaskan flowers prints to make napkins. Anchorage: Visited the Musk Ox Farm and the Spirit Houses, an Athabascan/Russian Orthodox cemetery. Food: Tequila 61 , Whisky & Ramen Musk Ox Farm - lace - 50/50 qiviut/silk The Fireweed Studio - project bag with musk ox print Wooly Mammoth (the shop is located inside Cabin Fever gifts) Alaska Yarn Co - sock - 75/25 SW merino/nylon - "Crayolas" Alaska Yarn Co - sock - 65/15 merino/Donegal nep - "Spruce" Denali: Park organized wildlife tour. Saw a grizzly bear. Polychrome Yarns : Bad Sheep Yarn - fingering - 75/25 SW merino/nylon - "Sockeye Salmon" AK Venture Co - sock - 85/15 SW merino/nylon - "Mizzle" (2X) and "Midnight Sun" (2X) Fairbanks: Panned for gold at Dredge 8 and rode the Riverboat Discovery . Very nice shop but yarns I can buy at home so did not purchase anything. Food: The Library , Jazz Bistro on 4th (Cuban), The Crepery

Jul 11, 2024

Are you spinning as part of our Summer Spin In and the Tour de Fleece? Join us as we discuss our spinning and weaving projects and wonder why Marsha can't find buttons for her baby sweater. No worries, though. The crazy button steward will look through her collection. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android Marsha's Projects Socks : The Artful Ewe Clackamas. Finished first sock and cast on second sock. Emotional Support Chicken : by Annette Corsino Poppy Tee : by Jo Cottle. Cast on using Rowan Purelife Revive in the colorway Loam. Picked up in the NoCKRs destash room. Wish me luck on this project! Kelly's Projects Ten strips are sewn together on the woven squares blanket . That is half of them. A sixth Mother Bear is finished. Lifetime bear #42. Two bobbins of Jazzman (CVM x Merino x Columbia) have been spun and I started the third bobbin last night. Soft gray with some brown. This is a pretty fine fleece, very clean and well sheared. Suint Bath Shetland project Pride dish towels in German Birdseye weave structure are almost done. I'm on the fourth towel out of five. Towel 1: Tabby treadling (rib weave). Gamp color technique making stripes with the same colors as weft. Towel 2: "Tromp as writ" treadling. Used half red and half orange. Towel 3: Birdseye treadling. Used half turquoise blue and half green. Towel 4: 3-1 twill birdseye on edge. Switched to the TAW treadling for the main body of the towel. Was worried that all the floats would make the wrong type of fabric for a towel. This towel will be an interesting sample. Use all the Spinning Tools Challenge: I spun a small amount of fiber on the tahkli and I've put it all into a project bag so I can easily do more. Summer Spin In Started Memorial Day - Ends on Labor Day May 27 - September 2 Tour de Fleece June 29-July 21 along with the Tour de France Spin every day of the tour.

Jun 23, 2024

Our Summer Spin In is in progress. What do you have on your wheel? Plus we report on our project successes and tragic failures. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android Marsha's Projects Sweet Baby Cardigan by Alena Byers: Finished! Used Blue Sky Fiber Printed Organic Cotton and Hikoo by Skacel Simplicity Solid. Mountain High Combo Spin # 3: Finished but I'm heartbroken. Sweater felted when I washed and blocked it. Such beautiful handspun and it headed to the trash. I've lost my mojo. Socks : The Artful Ewe Clackamas. Finished first sock and cast on second sock. Kelly's Projects The Wine and Cheese socks are finished. Mother Bears : Two more crocheted bears finished. (5 total) Added another strip and a half to the woven squares blanket . Almost finished carding about a pound of Jazzman (CVM x Merino x Columbia). Soft gray with some brown. This is a pretty fine fleece, very clean and well sheared. Weaving project : Pride dishtowels decided they needed to be on the loom. Summer Spin In Started Memorial Day - Ends on Labor Day May 27 - September 2 Tour de Fleece June 29-July 21 along with the Tour de France Spin every day of the tour.

Jun 9, 2024

Our Summer Spin In is underway and we talk about our plans for spinning over the summer. What will you be spinning? We announce the winners of our Out-of-Hibernation-Along. Plus, it's the Two Ewes, so you know there'll be a rant or two and we'll get off topic! Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android Clutterbug Marsha's Projects Socks : The Artful Ewe Clackamas. Starting toe of first sock. Sweet Baby Cardigan by Alena Byers: Using Blue Sky Fiber Printed Organic Cotton and Hikoo by Skacel Simplicity Solid. I decided against using the pattern, Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman. Mountain High Combo Spin # 3: Finished body and halfway done with first sleeve. Combo Spin #5 : Finished! A little over 1,000 yards of sport/DK weight Kelly's Projects Accountability check: the Classic Knitted Ripple baby blanket , Bouclé Chicken and the Dream Shawl and the Corrie x Targhee x Merino spin are all completely finished. The Wine and Cheese socks Mother Bears: Three crocheted bears finished Finished Spinning : 2+ ounces of Polwarth and silk and 1+ ounce of merino spirit fiber spun and plied. Plied them together and then plied the rest of the Polwarth/silk on itself. Lace Weight 2-ply and a nice quick spin. 2+ ounces of a Lincoln cross from spirit fiber. 2-ply to add to my rug yarn stash. Out-of-Hibernation Along Ended June 1. Over 300 posts, with 28 people cheering each other on and 44 projects linked in the thread. Prizes from Ale Sheep Company : Shepherd's Balm and Herder's Healer. They have a Fibershed Certified flock of suffolk sheep and sell lamb, pelts, felted products, and skin care using the sheep tallow and lanolin. Listen to find out if you won! Winners should send address and let us know if you are vegan or allergic to lanolin or need an alternative prize for some reason. Get in touch on Ravelry or email twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com Summer Spin In Started Memorial Day - Ends on Labor Day May 27 - September 2

May 27, 2024

Our Out-of-Hibernation-Along is ending June 1st. There is just enough time to enter your projects. Plus, we report on our "close enough" finished projects. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android Marsha's Projects Nanny Meier Tea Cozy : Finished! Inspired by Lily Pulitzer using Cascade 220. Camella Hat: by Katie Pomper. Using Meeker Street Olive's Outerwear DK in the colorway Dragon's Breath. Don't really like it. Thinking of frogging. Fine San d: by Heidi Kirrmaier. Using West Yorkshire Spinners Illustrious . Finished the second sleeve but I don't really like the sweater. Hibernating until I decide what to do. Socks : The Artful Ewe Clackamas. Starting toe of first sock. Baby Surprise Jacket : by Elizabeth Zimmerman. Mountain High Combo Spin # 3: Finished body and halfway done with first sleeve. Combo Spin # 5: Spun two skeins for about 640 yards between Sport or DK. Navarro Vineyards and Full Circle Wool Kelly's Projects The Classic Knitted Ripple baby blanket is almost finished. I've used all of the black and red and have just enough gray to bind off. I still have almost full skeins of white, light pink, and dark pink. The Bouclé Chicken is waiting to be stuffed and sewn up. Made with wool and silk boucle spirit yarn from this year's NoCKRs destash table. This is my third Emotional Support Chicken and probably won't be my last. I finished knitting the Dream Shawl (The Drifter by Tamy Gore) but I still have to weave in the ends and block it. The Wine and Cheese socks are chugging along and doing their job as the take-along knitting. I'm almost finished with spinning the Corrie x Targhee x Merino wool that I processed and dyed last summer. I should have the 3-ply yarn done by the time the episode is out. Out-of-Hibernation Along Is ending June 1. It's not too late to enter your projects. Summer Spin In Memorial Day - Labor Day May 27 - September 2

Apr 30, 2024

The Two Ewes are together for this episode. Join us as we discuss our time at the NoCKRs retreat, Marsha's travels, and our continued obsession with Emotional Support Chickens. We also have a little bit of other knitting, spinning and weaving to talk about. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android Knitter's Haven is a gathering spot for crafters located in LaQuinta, California. Coachella Valley Yarns is located inside selling various yarns including the owner's hand dyed yarn called Smirligans . Marsha's Projects Emotional Support Chicken : Finished! Chicken Mania is real! I've made two so far. Number One looks a bit like a Barred Rock and Number Two vaguely like a Buff Orpington. Camella Hat: by Katie Pomper. Using Meeker Street Olive's Outerwear DK in the colorway Dragon's Breath. Nanny Meier Tea Cozy : Inspired by Lily Pulitzer colors. Using Cascade 220 in hot pink and lime green. Cast on the second side. Fine San d: by Heidi Kirrmaier. Using West Yorkshire Spinners Illustrious . Finished the second sleeve but I don't really like the sweater. Bringing to California for Kelly to give me her thoughts. Socks : The Artful Ewe Clackamas. Starting toe of first sock. Baby Surprise Jacket : by Elizabeth Zimmerman. Went to buy yarn at Fiber Gallery to use my gift cards but they have moved and not yet reopened the store. Mountain High Combo Spin # 3: About halfway done with the body. Combo Spin #4 : I've spun two bobbins and started the third bobbin getting ready for a 3-ply. Kelly's Projects I am continuing on the Classic Knitted Ripple baby blanket using the Red Heart from my mom. There were two grays, black, white and a partial skein of red. I decided I needed to use the white and the pink. The blanket is wider than a typical baby blanket and will take more yarn. I'm about 12 inches from finishing it. Chickens! Finished: One worsted weight, one fingering weight (size 1 needles). Started one boucle chicken. Out-of-Hibernation Along February 1 - June 1. Have you started? Find something that has been in hibernation and get it out and do something. Back to active status, frogging and reclaiming yarn, giving away, throwing away, composting–this is spring cleaning for your project list. Check in with your progress in the Ravelry thread. Patreon Pattern Giveaway!

Apr 8, 2024

Lots of project updates and project planning in this episode. Plus join our Out-of-Hibernation-Along. Look in those closets and pull out long forgotten projects. Let's finish 'em, frog 'em, or toss 'em! Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android Marsha's Projects Alpaca Shawl : Finished. I learned so much about weaving on this project. I had so many broken warp threads that I've gotten really good at repairing them. Camella Hat: by Katie Pomper. Using Meeker Street Olive's Outerwear DK in the colorway Dragon's Breath. Nanny Meier Tea Cozy : Inspired by Lily Pulitzer colors. Using Cascade 220 in hot pink and lime green. Cast on the second side. Fine San d: by Heidi Kirrmaier. Using West Yorkshire Spinners Illustrious . Finished the second sleeve but I don't really like the sweater. Bringing to California for Kelly to give me her thoughts. Socks : The Artful Ewe Clackamas. Starting toe of first sock. Baby Surprise Jacket : by Elizabeth Zimmerman. Went to buy yarn at Fiber Gallery to use my gift cards but they have moved and not yet reopened the store. Mountain High Combo Spin # 3: Cast on and about halfway done with the yoke. Combo Spin #4 : I needed something a bit mindless at the beach so I started my fourth combo spin in red. Bloedel Reserve Churchmouse Yarns Kelly's Projects The Trailer bedroom curtains were finished and installed in time for our trip. The cord at the bottom worked great. I'm going to wash in hot water and dry in the dryer one more time, then I might just rehem them a little shorter so they will hug tighter to the window. Almost finished with The Drifter by Tamy Gore, Narrow Path Designs . I probably have about 30 rows left in the pattern. For Out of Hibernation I've been spinning the batts of Corriedale x Merino x Targhee that I washed, dyed, and carded last summer. The blue is now finished and I'm working on the red-orange. Also for the Out of Hibernation Along, I finally got all the Spin-In prizes sent out! I started another Classic Knitted Ripple baby blanket using the Red Heart from my mom. There were two grays, black, white and a partial skein of red. I decided I needed to use the white and the pink. The blanket is wider than a typical baby blanket and will take more yarn. I started a sock out of another skein of Comfort and Joy Enjoy. This one is also an Oopsie colorway. I'm thinking of it as Wine and Cheddar or maybe Wine and Mustard. I'm finished with the cuff and debating about what patterning to use on the leg. Chicken Mania Are you knitting an Emotional Support Chicken by Annette Corsino? We are thinking about joining in the chicken mania! Ravelry Tips and Tricks Sarah Salpal1 says: It's not a secret, but the Ravelry tip that helps me the most is the ? Button next to "preview" on the posts. It tells how to do all kinds of formatting things, which is very helpful. She showed (for example) how to make a spoiler alert so that your text will be hidden unless someone clicks on it. Out-of-Hibernation Along February 1 - June 1. Have you started? Find something that has been in hibernation and get it out and do something. Back to active status, frogging and reclaiming yarn, giving away, throwing away, composting–this is spring cleaning for your project list. Check in with your progress in the Ravelry thread. Winter-Weave-Along Ended! Prize Drawing Next Episode. Seattle Opera Production of Barber of Seville Friday, May 17th 20% discount on tickets with the code KNITTER20 Seattle Opera is having a Relaxed Performance of our production of The Barber of Seville. While there will be no changes to the performance, the experience for the audience will have some alterations including: • Lights being dimmed in the theater instead of fully dark • A relaxed atmosphere allowing patrons to talk and vocalize as they wish • Being able to leave and re-enter the theater as needed • Special areas designated as a technology use area …and much more. These adaptations are designed for a multitude of people and as a knitter myself, I couldn't help but think this would be great for groups of fiber artists to attend and craft throughout the show! While I can knit a basic pair of socks during a performance, having the lights up alone will make it easier to find any dropped stitches or check a pattern. More information about the production can be found at www.seattleopera.org/barber . More information about what a relaxed performance entails can be found at www.seattleopera.org/themenights . Meg Stoltz Associate Director of Marketing and Knitter Thank you Meg for offering listeners a discount on tickets. It should be a fun event.

Mar 18, 2024

Oh that Sockhead Slouch hat! Find out just how ridiculous Kelly's is! Our Winter-Weave-Along ends soon and our Out-of-Hibernation-Along is underway. Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android Welcome to our first new patron of 2024, Jill P! Thank you for your support of the show and our community. Marsha's Projects Camella Hat: by Katie Pomper. Using Meeker Street Olive's Outerwear DK in the colorway Dragon's Breath. Nanny Meier Tea Cozy : Inspired by Lily Pulitzer colors. Using Cascade 220 in hot pink and lime green. Cast on the second side. Fine San d: by Heidi Kirrmaier. Using West Yorkshire Spinners Illustrious . Finished first sleeve and almost done with second. Alpaca Shawl : I've woven 36". I thought I would keep alternating twill patterns but I was really struggling getting any kind of rhythm throwing the shuttle. Decided to make larger sections tabby and smaller sections (1-1.5") twills. Going much better! Socks : The Artful Ewe Clackamas. Halfway down the foot of the first sock. Baby Surprise Jacket : by Elizabeth Zimmerman. This morning I ordered her digital book that has modifications. 30,000+ projects means it must be a great pattern! I'd like to make a hooded jacket modification. Combo Spin # 3: Made a swatch of my green combo spin. Trying to decide on a pattern to knit. Combo Spin #4 : I needed something a bit mindless at the beach so I started my fourth combo spin in red. Water's Edge Fiber and Dye : taught by Kathleen Adams Olsen. We dye with indigo. Class held in Kathleen's home in Seabrook, WA. Her website is under construction but you can subscribe to her newsletter to be notified of events. I messaged her via Instagram (watersedgefiberanddye) or Facebook (Kathleen Adams Olsen). Kelly's Projects I finished my Ultra Slouch Sockhead Hat with Punk Rock Unicorn Dirty Neon. Ridiculously slouchy hat with a cozy folded brim that can be a double or even triple layer for my ears. I finished the weaving for the Trailer bedroom curtain project . I bought the cord to go through the bottom casing. Now Robertt needs to install the hooks and attach the cord so I can measure one last time and then sew the two rod casings in the curtain fabric. I've stalled a little with The Drifter by Tamy Gore, Narrow Path Designs . I'm on the decreasing end of the long triangle. Dozens of Little Squares I now have five strips sewn together and it's about 17" wide. I've slowed down on this because I started two new projects. For Out of Hibernation I've been spinning the batts of Corriedale x Merino x Targhee that I washed, dyed, and carded last summer. It was half a fleece from Black Sheep Gathering in 2017 (about two pounds). During the summer I spun up a violet and a blue-green 3-ply yarn. I've now spun up the red-purple and I'm currently spinning a bright blue. The final color is a red orange. Between the two colors I have about 12 ounces left to spin. I started another Classic Knitted Ripple baby blanket using the Red Heart from my mom. There were two grays, black, white and a partial skein of red. There are also two different pinks, but I don't think I'll use them. A book recommendation from Kelly– Never Alone: A Solo Arctic Survival Journey , by Woniya Dawn Thibeaut. The author describes a lot of fiber arts in preparation for her time on the reality TV show. Ravelry Tips and Tricks Do listeners have any tricks to share? Out-of-Hibernation Along February 1 - June 1. Have you started? Find something that has been in hibernation and get it out and do something. Back to active status, frogging and reclaiming yarn, giving away, throwing away, composting–this is spring cleaning for your project list. Check in with your progress in the Ravelry thread. Winter-Weave-Along Ends March 31. Join the fun in our Ravelry group! Seattle Opera Production of Barber of Seville Friday, May 17th 20% discount on tickets with the code KNITTER20 Seattle Opera is having a Relaxed Performance of our production of The Barber of Seville. While there will be no changes to the performance, the experience for the audience will have some alterations including: Lights being dimmed in the theater instead of fully dark • A relaxed atmosphere allowing patrons to talk and vocalize as they wish • Being able to leave and re-enter the theater as needed • Special areas designated as a technology use area …and much more. These adaptations are designed for a multitude of people and as a knitter myself, I couldn't help but think this would be great for groups of fiber artists to attend and craft throughout the show! While I can knit a basic pair of socks during a performance, having the lights up alone will make it easier to find any dropped stitches or check a pattern. More information about the production can be found at www.seattleopera.org/barber . More information about what a relaxed performance entails can be found at www.seattleopera.org/themenights . Meg Stoltz Associate Director of Marketing and Knitter Thank you Meg for offering listeners a discount on tickets. It should be a fun event.

Mar 3, 2024

Our Out of Hibernation Along is underway so join us and bring your hibernating projects into the sunlight. We have one more month of the Winter Weave Along so there's still time to start or finish a weaving project. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android Mount Everest Garbage article. Marsha's Projects Camella Hat: by Katie Pomper. Using Meeker Street Olive's Outerwear DK in the colorway Dragon's Breath. Nanny Meier Tea Cozy : Inspired by Lily Pulitzer colors. Using Cascade 220 in hot pink and lime green. Finished first side. Fine San d: by Heidi Kirrmaier. Using West Yorkshire Spinners Illustrious in the colorway Claret. Blocked a second time and it fits great. Picked up and started the first sleeve. Alpaca Shawl : I've woven 36". I thought I would keep alternating twill patterns but I was really struggling getting any kind of rhythm throwing the shuttle. Decided to make larger sections tabby and smaller sections (1-1.5") twills. Going much better! Socks : The Artful Ewe Clackamas. Halfway down the foot of the first sock. Baby Surprise Jacket : by Elizabeth Zimmerman. This morning I ordered her digital book that has modifications. 30,000+ projects means it must be a great pattern! I'd like to make a hooded jacket modification. Kelly's Projects Dozens of Little Squares have four strips sewn together. Continuing on the Sockhead Hat with Punk Rock Unicorn Dirty Neon. More than halfway done with The Drifter by Tamy Gore, Narrow Path Designs I'm using Invictus Yarns , Master of My Feet in New Jeans along with Stitch Stuff Yarns Plumpy Stuff in Off the Grid. Trailer bedroom curtain project is still in the threading process but I fixed the mistake that first derailed me and I'm continuing to thread reed and heddles. Usually I thread the whole reed first and then thread all the heddles, but because I knew I had a mistake, I wanted to start threading heddles where I could better see the error before I threaded all the dents in the reed and then had to take them back out due to errors. Ravelry Tips and Tricks Advanced search for people. Hold down the Advanced Search tab at the top and then select people from the choices that pop up. If you have put in your location in your profile you can select a radius of miles and see all the Ravelers within that radius, e.g. within 10 miles. Out-of-Hibernation Along February 1 - June 1. Have you started? Find something that has been in hibernation and get it out and do something. Back to active status, frogging and reclaiming yarn, giving away, throwing away, composting–this is spring cleaning for your project list. Check in with your progress in the Ravelry thread. Events Winter Weave Along starts October 1 and goes through March 31. Join the fun in our Ravelry group!

Feb 17, 2024

Progress on the woven square blanket, some trip knitting, a couple new sweater patterns in the queue, adventures in weaving, and we leave you with a cliffhanger. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android Marsha's Projects Malabrigo Nube Merino Braids : Finished! Colorway 855 which is a blue green. Approximately lace weight and 1,036 yards. Camella Hat: by Katie Pomper. Using Meeker Street Olive's Outerwear DK in the colorway Dragon's Breath. Nanny Meier Tea Cozy : Inspired by Lily Pulitzer colors. Using Cascade 220 in hot pink and lime green. Finished first side. Fine San d: by Heidi Kirrmaier. Using West Yorkshire Spinners Illustrious in the colorway Claret. Alpaca Shawl : I found four errors in my threading. Had a discussion with Kelly. Couldn't find any information on treadling for a Rosepath warp. All this led to my decision to remove Rosepath threading and rethread with straight draw. I'm getting back on track. Socks : The Artful Ewe Clackamas. I don't know the name of the colorway but it's red…again. randomstripes.com Kelly's Projects All the squares are sewed into 20 strips of 14 squares. So Dozens of Little Squares is actually 280 squares. Four strips sewn together already and it's going quickly. Continuing on the Sockhead Hat with Punk Rock Unicorn Dirty Neon. PRU is a German company. I badly need trip knitting ready to go since I leave on Sunday for an all day flight to Florida! I've had The Drifter by Tamy Gore, Narrow Path Designs in my library for a while waiting to use two particular yarns. I'm using Invictus Yarns , Master of My Feet in New Jeans along with Stitch Stuff Yarns Plumpy Stuff in Off the Grid. The Stitch Stuff was a gift related to the conference I'm going to, so it seemed perfect to use it now. Other designs in Tamy Gore's portfolio are calling to me. London Dusk is a unique take on the colorwork yoke. My attention was also caught by Trelawny , a short sleeve sweater with the wider neckline I like. In both of them I prefer the low contrast versions. Ravelry Tips and Tricks Yarn Shop Directory (1 shop within 10 miles of my hotel in Orlando) and Road Trip Planner (57 yarn shops between Salinas and Seattle, all within 5 miles of the main route). Out-of-Hibernation Along February 1 - June 1. Have you started? Find something that has been in hibernation and get it out and do something. Back to active status, frogging and reclaiming yarn, giving away, throwing away, composting–this is spring cleaning for your project list. Check in with your progress in the Ravelry thread. Events Winter Weave Along starts October 1 and goes through March 31. Join the fun in our Ravelry group!

Feb 5, 2024

Join us as we go down the weaving rabbit hole with a discussion on surrendering to the creative process and bucking the rules. Plus, project updates and we announce an "Out of Hibernation Along". Listen and join the fun. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android Marsha's Projects Socks : Finished! Used Knitterly Things Vesper Sock Yarn in the colorway Sum-Sum-Summertime with Dream in Color Mini Smooshy in the colorway Bermuda Teal for the heels and toes. Malabrigo Nube Merino Braids : Have two braids in the color way 855 which is a blue green. Halfway through spinning the second braid. Camella Hat: by Katie Pomper. Using Meeker Street Olive's Outerwear DK in the colorway Dragon's Breath. Nanny Meier Tea Cozy : Inspired by Lily Pulitzer colors. Using Cascade 220 in hot pink and lime green. Finished first side. Fine San d: by Heidi Kirrmaier. Using West Yorkshire Spinners Illustrious in the colorway Claret. Alpaca Shawl : Rosepath and tabby warp. I put the warp on the loom but discovered an error that I need to fix. Socks : The Artful Ewe Clackamas. I don't know the name of the colorway but it's red…again. Kelly's Projects I got a whole basket full of yarn scraps for my Dozens of Little Squares . Shout out and huge thank you to Alene, who tracked me down at school to deliver the gift. She had placed the scraps in a basket that she made from quilting fabric. I've already made and washed over 30 squares. Yarn construction discussion..plied, cabled, singles, how many plies, how tightly twisted. All of these yarn structures in the sock yarn scraps. It is interesting to see them all and to see how they weave up. I think these little squares could be a great beginner project to learn about yarn, but then again, maybe the differences wouldn't be obvious or interesting to a yarn novice. Continuing on the Sockhead Hat with Punk Rock Unicorn Dirty Neon. Ravelry Tips and Tricks Need yarn? Want to pretend you are just helping your Ravelry friends destash? Under the community tab you can click friends and see the recently posted photos of projects your friends are making. On that same page you can click "Search friends' stash" and see what they have stashed in Ravelry. And you can filter to get the "for sale or trade" and go shopping! Other Stuff My Subversive Cross Stitch Calendar 2024 "You're the Worst. In the best way." Events Out-of-Hibernation Along, February 1 - June 1: Thank you Shoedweller for the idea. Pat's in and so are Marsha and I. Spring cleaning for your project page! WIPs or hibernating projects that have been hanging around. Winter Weave Along starts October 1 and goes through March 31. Join the fun in our Ravelry group!

Jan 20, 2024

Marsha has an exciting addition to our fiber adventures. A new loom! Plus we have project updates and some listener comments. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects Malabrigo Nube Merino Braids : Have two braids in the color way 855 which is a blue green. Finished the first braid and started second Camella Hat: by Katie Pomper. Using Meeker Street Olive's Outerwear DK in the colorway Dragon's Breath. Nanny Meier Tea Cozy : Inspired by Lily Pulitzer colors. Using Cascade 220 in hot pink and lime green. Finished first side. Socks : Using Knitterly Things Vesper Sock Yarn in the colorway Sum-Sum-Summertime. Heels and toes will be Dream in Color Mini Smooshy in the colorway Bermuda Teal. Fine San d: by Heidi Kirrmaier. Using West Yorkshire Spinners Illustrious in the colorway Claret. I washed and blocked the body. Seems okay but I would like it a bit roomier. I'm still thinking about what I want to do next. LeClerc Nilus Jack Loom: Pick it up January 8th from a weaver on Vashon Island. Have lots of lace weight alpaca that I plan to weave a shawl. Kelly walked me through the math with her Two Ewes Weaving Calculator and Sample Weaving Calculation . Kelly's Projects Finished the Purple/Gray socks for Robert . The yarn is Comfort and Joy. I wasn't familiar with the dyer but it turns out to be a yarn particular to the Purls of Joy yarn shop in Healdsburg, California. I bought three skeins of their sock yarn at the very last Stitches event and I still have two to use. Sewing together the Dozens of Little Squares . I am making strips of 14 squares each. I'll run out of squares and need more when I have 15 strips of 14. I'm currently on the 8th strip. Started a Sockhead Hat with Punk Rock Unicorn Dirty Neon. Ravelry Tips and Tricks Ravelry users seem to be back up. Numbers of users online are showing in the mid 4000s each time I log on. For a few years they have been in the 3000s at the highest. This number is on the main page . If you click on it you can see more user stats. For example, the most users online at the moment I clicked were from the US, followed by Germany, then Canada, and then the UK. There was one person from Antarctica online at the time that I clicked. There were over 600,000 active users in the last week. Other Stuff My Subversive Cross Stitch Calendar 2024 and how my year is going so far. Jill sent a message that Stephany Wilkes was interviewed on The Long Thread Podcast . We interviewed her in November of 2018 back in Episode 101 and it was a fun conversation. BTW, that's the same episode that Marsha started the Clare Garland Rabbit . Margaret (marginmirror on Ravelry): Maybe someday if you decide to venture north and east to Alberta you'll visit us up here at our fibre (that's how Canadians spell "fiber") festivals -- and sample our sturdy, wooly wool (Dorset/Suffolk and the like) and locally-raised alpaca -- and our imported (merino) indie-dyed wool. You'd LOVE "Fibre Week" in mid-June at Olds College (Olds, Alberta) -- though I think at least one of you might have scheduling conflicts. Check out Central Alberta Rural Spinners on Facebook...just because. Events Winter Weave Along starts October 1 and goes through March 31. Join the fun in our Ravelry group! Florida conference, Orlando, 19th through 22nd (Orlando World Center Marriott)

Jan 8, 2024

Happy New Year! The Two Ewes recap their projects from 2023 and look forward to a productive and yarn-filled 2024. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android Marsha's Projects Ames Beanie : by Stephanie Larson. Finished! Used Leading Men Fiber Arts Box Office (worsted) in colorway Spiced Apple Cider. Made for Mark. I bought the yarn at the much missed String Theory Yarns. Flowers from My Garden: Finished! Eight skeins and 1,758 yards. Finished yarn may be worsted or DK. Malabrigo Nube Merino Braids : Have two braids in the color way 855 which is a blue green. The first braid I split into 10 individual rovings and the second braid I plan to split into half. I will then ply the two singles together. Camella Hat: by Katie Pomper. Using Meeker Street Olive's Outerwear DK in the colorway Dragon's Breath. Nanny Meier Tea Cozy : Inspired by Lily Pulitzer colors. Using Cascade 220 in hot pink and lime green. Finished first side. Socks : Using Knitterly Things Vesper Sock Yarn in the colorway Sum-Sum-Summertime. Heels and toes will be Dream in Color Mini Smooshy in the colorway Bermuda Teal. I finished the first sock and am about half way down the leg of the second sock. Fine San d: by Heidi Kirrmaier. Using West Yorkshire Spinners Illustrious in the colorway Claret. I washed and blocked the body. Seems okay but I would like it a bit roomier. I'm still thinking about what I want to do next. Kelly's Projects Continuing to work on Purple/Gray socks for Robert . These are the ones that I had to stop working on during the last episode because I forgot to turn the heel. I pulled the needles out and put them back in the bag to fix later. Later turned out to be a month later. I now can't remember what yarn this is. I got it at the very last Stitches West ever in 2022. Continuing to work on Dozens of Little Squares . I've washed 83 squares and have another large batch finished. So I'm at almost 200 squares so far. Time to start sewing them together! Events Winter Weave Along starts October 1 and goes through March 31. Join the fun in our Ravelry group! Kelly at a Florida conference, Orlando, 19th through 22nd.

Dec 16, 2023

Christmas knitting and some finished projects. Wishing everyone a happy holiday and a peaceful New Year. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects Santa's Laundry Line : by Eleonore von Castelmur. Finished! Used Lang Yarn Jawol fingering in red, green and cream and some left over fingering weight gray. Mossy Lane Hat : By Daleside Knits. Finished! Used Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool Worsted in colorway Berries. Knit for Ben. Camella Hat: by Katie Pomper. Using Meeker Street Olive's Outerwear DK in the colorway Dragon's Breath. Cast on for Mark but changed my mind and cast on a different hat. Ames Beanie : by Stephanie Larson. Using Leading Men Fiber Arts Box Office (worsted) in colorway Spiced Apple Cider. Making for Mark. I bought the yarn at the much missed String Theory Yarns. Flowers from My Garden: Spinning the last bobbin before plying. Nanny Meier Tea Cozy : Inspired by Lily Pulitzer colors. Using Cascade 220 in hot pink and lime green. Finished first side. Socks : Using Knitterly Things Vesper Sock Yarn in the colorway Sum-Sum-Summertime. Heels and toes will be Dream in Color Mini Smooshy in the colorway Bermuda Teal. Halfway down the foot of the first sock. Fine San d: by Heidi Kirrmaier. Using West Yorkshire Spinners Illustrious in the colorway Claret. Finished the body and need to pick up stitches for sleeves. The sweater is on hold while I work on Christmas gifts. Kelly's Projects Continuing to work on Purple/Gray socks for Robert . These are the ones that I had to stop working on during the last episode because I forgot to turn the heel. I pulled the needles out and put them back in the bag to fix later. Later turned out to be a month later. I now can't remember what yarn this is. I got it at the very last Stitches West ever in 2022. Continuing to work on Dozens of Little Squares . I've washed 83 squares and have another 21 finished. So I'm at over 100 squares so far. Club Car Curtains . This is for the back window of the trailer in the bedroom. Knitted Nativity–Donkey and Sheep Finished Mom's reindeers . Events Winter Weave Along starts October 1 and goes through March 31. Join the fun in our Ravelry group!

Nov 28, 2023

We're back! The Two Ewes have been missing in action with work, travel, a vintage trailer rally, a knitting retreat, Thanksgiving, and a nasty cold. We have lots to talk about including project updates. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects Snowflower : by Heidi Kirrmaier. Finished! Used 13 Mile Lamb and Wool for the main color and Brooklyn Tweed Tones for some of the contrasting colors. It fits great and I think I did a great job on the colorwork yoke. Ames Beanie : by Stephanie Larson. Finished! Made for Madi using Cascade 220 Superwash Merino in Summer Sky. Flowers from My Garden: Spinning the last bobbin before plying. Nanny Meier Tea Cozy : Inspired by Lily Pulitzer colors. Using Cascade 220 in hot pink and lime green. Finished first side. Santa's Laundry Line : by Eleonore von Castelmur. Using Lang Yarn Jawol fingering in red, green and cream and some left over fingering weight gray. Finished his jacket, pants, hat and currently knitting his long johns. Socks : Using Knitterly Things Vesper Sock Yarn in the colorway Sum-Sum-Summertime. Heels and toes will be Dream in Color Mini Smooshy in the colorway Bermuda Teal. Halfway down the foot of the first sock. Fine San d: by Heidi Kirrmaier. Using West Yorkshire Spinners Illustrious in the colorway Claret. Almost done with the body. Working on four garter stitch rows for edging and then bind off. Kelly's Projects Continuing to work on Purple/Gray socks for Robert . These are the ones that I had to stop working on during the last episode because I forgot to turn the heel. I pulled the needles out and put them back in the bag to fix later. Later turned out to be a month later. I now can't remember what yarn this is. I got it at the very last Stitches West ever in 2022. Continuing to work on Dozens of Little Squares . I've washed 83 squares and have another 21 finished. So I'm at over 100 squares so far. Started Club Car Curtains . This is for the back window of the trailer in the bedroom. Events Winter Weave Along starts October 1 and goes through March 31. Join the fun in our Ravelry group!

Oct 23, 2023

Kelly's backyard suint bath science project, Lambtown, Marsha's sweater is going well, and lots of other news. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Lambtown Saw lots of fiber friends. Took class from Jacey Boggs Faulkner. Joined the Ply Spinning Guild . Marsha's Projects Flowers from My Garden: Starting a spinning project with fiber I bought at Stitches in March. I've spun five 3-ply skeins. Snowflower : by Heidi Kirrmeier. Using 13 Mile Lamb and Wool for the main color and Brooklyn Tweed Tones for some of the contrasting colors. Finished the first sleeve and now halfway done with the second sleeve. Nanny Meier Tea Cozy : Inspired by Lily Pulitzer colors. Using Cascade 220 in hot pink and lime green. Finished first side. Santa's Laundry Line : by Eleonore von Castelmur. Using Lang Yarn Jawol fingering in red, green and cream and some left over fingering weight gray. Finished his jacket, pants, hat and currently knitting his long johns. Socks : Using Knitterly Things Vesper Sock Yarn in the colorway Sum-Sum-Summertime. Heels and toes will be Dream in Color Mini Smooshy in the colorway Bermuda Teal. Knitting the gusset of the first sock. Daphne's Skull : Very fiddly knitting and, honestly, not that much fun. I was determined to finish it before Halloween but the pressure was too much. I'm working on it but have taken off the pressure of finishing the skull in time for Halloween. Swatching to start another sweater. Either Little Love by Ankestrick using Brooklyn Tweed Loft or Fine Sand by Heidi Kirrmaier using West Yorkshire Spinners Illustrious . Kelly's Projects Finally finished and washed the baby blanket . Now I'm eyeing the rest of that tub of acrylic for a potential next project. Aunt Betty used a really pretty rusty orange for a pumpkin. Maybe I'll find another inspiration or maybe it goes to Goodwill. Suint Bath Update: Took out the dark gray Romney and laid it out to dry. Put in a part of the small Shetland that followed me home from Lambtown. It was in for a week (or two?) and now is out on the drying screen. It was almost dry yesterday, but now it is being drizzled on. By the way, the Romney stayed on the drying screen for about a week or so, getting dry during the day and then coated with dew or drizzle each morning. Events Pismo Beach Trailer Rall y, November 2-5. Saturday Nov 4 is the open house. Pismo Coast Village RV Park. Winter Weave Along starts October 1 and goes through March 31. Join the fun in our Ravelry group! Seattle Weavers' Guild Thursday, October 26, 5 pm - 8 pm (4-5pm member only shopping) Friday, October 27, 10 am - 8 pm Saturday, October 28, 10 am - 4 pm At Bloedel Hall in St Mark's Cathedral 1245 10th Ave E, Seattle Free admissions & parking Fort Worden Knitters Retreat November 1-5 Port Townsend, Washington Washington DC Adventure Marsha will be in Washington DC from 11/8-11/17 Schedule includes knit night at Fiber Space in Alexandria and a visit to Looped Yarn Works in the city.

Oct 10, 2023

Scams and suint baths are stinking up the joint. But the sweater is looking lovely. Join us for a shorter episode with lots of the non-fiber content you know we sometimes cover. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts PSA on fraud: Federal Trade Commission: Consumer Advice Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Marsha's Projects Flowers from My Garden: Starting a spinning project with fiber I bought at Stitches in March. I've spun five 3-ply skeins. Snowflower : by Heidi Kirrmeier. Using 13 Mile Lamb and Wool for the main color and Brooklyn Tweed Tones for some of the contrasting colors. Currently knitting 3" rib on the body. Nanny Meier Tea Cozy : Inspired by Lily Pulitzer colors. Using Cascade 220 in hot pink and lime green. Finished first side. Santa's Laundry Line : by Eleonore von Castelmur. Using Lang Yarn Jawol fingering in red, green and cream and some left over fingering weight gray. Finished his jacket, pants, hat and currently knitting his long johns. Socks : Using Knitterly Things Vesper Sock Yarn in the colorway Sum-Sum-Summertime. Heels and toes will be Dream in Color Mini Smooshy in the colorway Bermuda Teal. Knitting the gusset of the first sock. Daphne's Skull : I'm back at it! I pulled out the project and figured out I had stopped just before knitting the teeth for the upper jaw. I have now knit 6 out of 16 teeth for the upper jaw. Very fiddly knitting and, honestly, not that fun but I'm determined to finish him before Halloween. Kelly's Projects Still working on the baby blanket using the best parts of my mom's acrylic leftovers. Suint Bath Update: Put the dark half of the new romney fleece in the suint bath right after last week's episode. Wow, it smells bad. Still soaking. Events Lambtown October 7-8 in Dixon Winter Weave Along starts October 1 and goes through March 31. Seattle Weavers' Guild Thursday, October 26, 5 pm - 8 pm (4-5pm member only shopping) Friday, October 27, 10 am - 8 pm Saturday, October 28, 10 am - 4 pm Bloedel Hall St Mark's Cathedral 1245 10th Ave E, Seattle Free admissions & parking

Sep 24, 2023

We announce the winners of our Summer Spin and talk about the upcoming Winter Weave Along. Marsha dog sits, moves along on a sweater, and weaves vicariously. Kelly knits and ferments a fleece. Plus the usual chit chat. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects Flowers from My Garden: Starting a spinning project with fiber I bought at Stitches in March. I've spun three 3-ply skeins. I received the new motor for my Dreaming Robots EEW 6.0 espinner so I am back in business. Snowflower : by Heidi Kirrmeier. Using Thirteen Mile Lamb and Wool for the main color and Brooklyn Tweed Tones for some of the contrasting colors. Knit about 6" of the body. Nanny Meier Tea Cozy : Inspired by Lily Pulitzer colors. Using Cascade 220 in hot pink and lime green. Finished first side. Santa's Laundry Line : by Eleonore von Castelmur. Using Lang Yarn Jawol fingering in red, green and cream and some left over fingering weight gray. Finished his jacket and first leg of his pants. Socks : Using Knitterly Things Vesper Sock Yarn in the colorway Sum-Sum-Summertime. Heels and toes will be Dream in Color Mini Smooshy in the colorway Bermuda Teal. Kelly's Projects Still working on the baby blanket using the best parts of my mom's acrylic leftovers. Fleeces washed: The fleece portion in the suint bath came out after about two weeks. The smell was very sulfurous. I rinsed it out and left it out to dry. Just like it said in everything I read, the smell disappeared when it was dry. It is still greasy from the lanolin so I'll need to use hot water. I might spin some of it in the grease just to sample. Window Shopping Queue Hunting Creek, Laura Aylor Barnes, Sarah Solomon – Into the Wool Solomon Poncho by Cheryl Beckerich Engi, Jennifer Steingass Events Lambtown October 7-8 in Dixon Winter Weave Along starts October 1 and goes through March 31. Join the planning chat in our Ravelry group!

Sep 18, 2023

It has been a busy few weeks with the start of school, contract negotiations, and a possible strike looming. Take a listen as we report on finished projects, new projects, false starts, and fleeces that had to come home. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Note: Winners of our Summer Spin in will be announced in our next episode. Thank you for your patience. Marsha's Projects: Noromania : Finished!! I used 42 skeins of Noro Kureyon (Aran weight). The finished size is about 71" x 83". I used 4,578 yards and estimated I knit 173,680 stitches. Ironically, I ran out of yarn binding off so I found some leftover Lamb's Prides to bind off the last 1⁄8 of bind off. Flowers from My Garden: Starting a spinning project with fiber I bought at Stitches in March. I've spun three 3-ply skeins. I received the new motor for my Dreaming Robots EEW 6.0 espinner so I am back in business. Snowflower : by Heidi Kirrmeier. Cast on twice and both times twisted the stitches when I joined 312 stitches. Decided after the bright yellow provisional cast on to knit two rows of main color. Then I picked one leg of the backside of the provisional cast on with bright blue and knit four rows and bound off. This gave me more fabric to keep the stitches from twisting. I would love to know if listeners have a better idea of how not to twist stitches when joining that many stitches in the round. Nanny Meier Tea Cozy : Inspired by Lily Pulitzer colors. Using Cascade 220 in hot pink and lime green. Finished first side. Santa's Laundry Line : by Eleonore von Castelmur. Using Lang Yarn Jawol fingering in red, green and cream and some left over fingering weight gray. Socks : Using Knitterly Things Vesper Sock Yarn in the colorway Sum-Sum-Summertime. Heels and toes will be Dream in Color Mini Smooshy in the colorway Bermuda Teal. Kelly's Projects: Corrie x Targhee x Merino The blue/green (peacock) singles are spun but didn't get plied. Started a baby blanket using the best parts of my mom's acrylic leftovers. Fleeces washed: New Romney fleece. Skirted the lightest (and best) parts and washed them. New East Friesian fleece. Skirted and sorted into front and back quarters. One front quarter has been soaking in a suint bath since Monday. Orvus Paste Unicorn Scouring Powder Mills in California: Valley Oak Wool Mill Yolo Wool Mill Mendocino Wool & Fiber Inc. Winterstrom Ranch Fiber Mill Woolgatherer Carding Mill Mills in Oregon: Rodger Family Farm and Fiber Mill Mills in Washington: Tahoma Vista Fiber Mill Events: Lambtown October 7-8 in Dixon Recommendations: Itchy Boots : YouTube channel of Noraly who travels the world on her motorcycle. Truly inspiring.

Aug 18, 2023

Sometimes we fall a little out of love with things. In this episode we talk about needing a break from our projects and things we love so we can fall in love again. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects Anzula Socks : Finished. Bankhead Hat : Finished. Noromania : I am using 42 skeins of Noro Kureyon (Aran weight) to make a blanket for Mark. I've knit 76 inches and used 39 balls. I'm beginning to feel the end is in sight. Flowers from My Garden: Starting a spinning project with fiber I bought at Stitches in March. I've spun three 3-ply skeins. I've been having problems with my Dreaming Robots EEW 6.0 espinner for a few months and it stopped working while on my beach weekend where I planned on spinning the whole time. I emailed Maurice at Dreaming Robots and he diagnosed that the electric motor is defective and is sending me a new one. Not happy the motor failed, but very happy with the quick response from Maurice. Snowflower : by Heidi Kirrmeier. Swatched for gauge and hope to cast on today. Nanny Meier Tea Cozy : Inspired by Lily Pulitzer colors. Using Cascade 220 in hot pink and lime green. Santa's Laundry Line : by Eleonore von Castelmur. Using Lang Yarn Jawol fingering in red, green and cream and some left over fingering weight gray. Great Wall to Wall Carpet Removal Project Kelly's Projects Finished knitting the Pride socks using Weird Sisters Wool Emporium yarn. They turned out really pretty and I'm excited to give them away. I'm still working on processing a Corriedale x Border Leicester from 2016. I'm flicking the locks before I feed them into the drum carder, trying to keep the fibers as aligned as possible (as is done in combing). I'm pulling the batts off the carder through a diz and making nests of pseudo-combed top. I've done another 2 oz of this relatively slow process. Finished my mom's Chicks in a Basket and finished the antlers on her reindeer ornaments . Why, oh, why did she choose these patterns? Finished the dyeing up the remainder of the Corrie x Targhee x Merino fleece that I started this summer with the purple skeins. Once it was dry I started carding the red/orange dyed fleece into batts. I also have blue/green, blue, and a red, purple and natural batches to card. Events Summer Spin In : Memorial Day - Labor Day, May 29 - September 4 SF Pen Show August 25-27 in Millbrae Monterey County Wool Auction –September 4 at Monterey County Fairgrounds Lambtown October 7-8 in Dixon

Jul 30, 2023

Why do some knitter's block socks after washing? We don't and are wondering if there is an important reason to do so. We need input from our listeners. Plus, project updates, and lots of spinning as part of our Summer Spin In. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects Noromania : I am using 42 skeins of Noro Kureyon (Aran weight) to make a blanket for Mark. I've knit 70 inches and used 37 balls. I'm beginning to feel the end is in sight. Flowers from My Garden: Starting a spinning project with fiber I bought at Stitches in March. I've spun three 3-ply skeins and am back to spinning singles. Spun one bobbin Bankhead Hat : Using Dimond Laine Elmer Tweed worsted from Lamb & Kid in the colorways Fir and Farmhouse. Here are links to the tubular cast on tutorials from Brooklyn Tweed and Purl Soho . About to start decreases for the crown. Great Wall to Wall Carpet Removal Project In planning stage of Snowflower by Heidi Kirrmeier. Bought a different fourth color…rose! Also bought lime green and hot pink Cascade 220 to make a Lily Pulitzer inspired tea cozy to go with my Lily Pulitzer tray. Also bought Lang Yarn Jawol fingering in red, green and cream to make Santa's Laundry Line by Eleonore von Castelmur. Suppose to use sock scraps but I don't have any in Christmas colors. I do now! Kelly's Projects Finished socks for myself using the yarn from Purl 2 Walla Walla called Epicurean Kitchen. Currently knitting socks using a skein of Gay Pride Flag from Weird Sisters Wool Emporium . I finished spinning the Corriedale x Targhee x Merino fleece where I dyed the wool and then carded. This is a Black Sheep Gathering fleece from 2017. I still have about 2 lbs of this fleece left and I was losing about 10% in the carding process on this fleece. I started and finished a 3 ounce braid of mixed BFL that was overdyed by Two Guys Yarn. It's a two ply yarn in muted primary colors . I'm still working on processing a Corriedale x Border Leicester from 2016. I'm flicking the locks before I feed them into the drum carder, trying to keep the fibers as aligned as possible (as is done in combing). With this fleece I'm pulling the batts off the carder through a diz and making nests of pseudo-combed top. This process has resulted in about 20% loss. I worked on the quilt and completed the eleventh circle of quilting out of twenty. Events Summer Spin In : Memorial Day - Labor Day, May 29 - September 4 Flock Fiber in Seattle August 4-6 Magnussen Park Monterey Wool Show Fleece Judging –August 12 at Monterey County Fairgrounds SF Pen Show August 25-27 in Millbrae Monterey County Wool Auction –September 4 at Monterey County Fairgrounds Lambtown October 7-8 in Dixon

Jul 17, 2023

Our Summer Spin In continues with winners of our Pop-Up Giveaway. Plus project updates with fiber and beyond. An automotive project named "Raven" and "The Great Wall to Wall Carpet Removal Project" are in this episode. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Weird Sisters Wool Emporium Chelsea and Megan of the Weird Sisters Wool Emporium in Aberdeen, Washington, offer our listeners a 13% discount with promo code: TwoEwesAndWeirdSisters. Code is active through July 31 Marsha's Projects Noromania : I am using 42 skeins of Noro Kureyon (Aran weight) to make a blanket for Mark. I've knit 67 inches and used 34 balls. I'm beginning to feel the end is in sight. Anzula Socks : Using two shades of Anzula Dreamy (blue) and Squishy (coral) that I bought at Stitches 2022. Working on the foot of the second sock. Flowers from My Garden: Starting a spinning project with fiber I bought at Stitches in March. I've spun three 3-ply skeins and am back to spinning singles. Bankhead Hat : Using Dimond Laine Elmer Tweed worsted from Lamb & Kid in the colorways Fir and Farmhouse. Here are links to the tubular cast on tutorials from Brooklyn Tweed and Purl Soho . I'm about half way done. Using 2 stripes Farmhouse and 5 stripes Fir. Rose Colored Glasses Towels : I'm calling these finished. Used a weaving kit from Gist Yarns to make two monk's belt hand towels. I learned a lot on this project: Great Wall to Wall Carpet Removal Project Kelly's Projects I'm continuing the pair of socks for myself using the yarn from Purl 2 Walla Walla called Epicurean Kitchen. I'm on the foot of the second sock. I have a skein of Gay Pride Flag from Weird Sisters Wool Emporium waiting to be cast on for my next pair of socks (for a gift). I finished spinning the Cormo x Merino x Wensleydale fleece . I have about 1500 yards of a 3-ply that is about fingering weight. The staple length gives the yarn a nice sheen but it is soft enough that most people could probably wear it in a pullover. This is a Black Sheep Gathering fleece from 2016. I still have another box of this for another project. I'm now spinning the Corriedale x Targhee x Merino fleece where I dyed the wool and then carded. The batts are a nice heathered blue/purple and I'm spinning woolen. I have 9 ounces of the purple carded batts to spin. This is a Black Sheep Gathering fleece from 2017. I still have about 2 lbs of this fleece left and I was losing about 10% in the carding process on this fleece. I am also working on processing a Corriedale x Border Leicester from 2016. This fleece has nice long locks so I am doing the same as with the black fleece. I am flicking the locks before I feed them into the drum carder, trying to keep the fibers as aligned as possible (as is done in combing). With this fleece I'm pulling the batts off the carder through a diz and making nests of pseudo-combed top. This process has resulted in about 20% loss. I think I'd like to finish processing the whole bag (about 36 ounces). I've processed about 8 ounces in the first batch and ended up with 6.25 ounces of nests. I will probably use this for rug yarn. Pop Up Giveaway: Valley Oak Wool Mill : California Red Roving 8oz Targee/Alpaca Roving 8oz Debouillet Roving 2 oz Shetland Roving 4 oz Events Summer Spin In : Memorial Day - Labor Day, May 29 - September 4 Monterey Wool Show Fleece Judging –August 12 at Monterey County Fairgrounds SF Pen Show August 25-27 in Millbrae Monterey County Wool Auction –September 4 at Monterey County Fairgrounds Lambtown October 7-8 in Dixon

Jul 3, 2023

We're having a pop up Summer Spin In giveaway. Listen to the end for full details. Plus, project updates and lots of chit chat. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Weird Sisters Wool Emporium Chelsea and Megan of the Weird Sisters Wool Emporium in Aberdeen, Washington, offer our listeners a 13% discount with promo code: TwoEwesAndWeirdSisters. June 11 - July 31 Here is a link to the restaurant Kelly visited in Los Banos, California. The Wool Growers Marsha's Projects Noromania : I am using 42 skeins of Noro Kureyon (Aran weight) to make a blanket for Mark. I've knit 56 inches and used 29 balls. Anzula Socks : Using two shades of Anzula Dreamy (blue) and Squishy (coral) that I bought at Stitches 2022. Working on the foot of the second sock. Flowers from My Garden: Starting a spinning project with fiber I bought at Stitches in March. I spun three bobbins each holding a 4 oz braid. I plied a third skein and am spinning singles again. Bankhead Hat : Using Dimond Laine Elmer Tweed worsted from Lamb & Kid in the colorways Fir and Farmhouse. Here are links to the tubular cast on tutorials from Brooklyn Tweed and Purl Soho . I'm about half way done. Using 2 stripes Farmhouse and 5 stripes Fir. Nanny Meier Tea Cozy : Finished the tea cozy for my friend Brian. Using Cascade 220 in navy and yellow. Rose Colored Glasses Towels : Using a weaving kit from Gist Yarns to make monk's belt hand towels. I have warped the loom and have started weaving. A bit of a delay when I realized I needed a second shuttle for the Monk's Belt pattern. Kelly's Projects I'm continuing the pair of socks for myself using the yarn from Purl 2 Walla Walla called Epicurean Kitchen. It's a pale gold, wine, and rose that looks like it has been overwashed with a pale gray. One sock is done and I'm starting the second sock. I finished spinning the braid I bought from Wonderland Dyeworks . The colorway is Summer Bliss and it is green, gold, and deep purple. I've spun up the 5 oz. of singles with a fractal technique and I plan to make a 3 ply. I've been working on my quilt since I was in high school. I am spinning the Cormo x merino x Wensleydale fleece and I've finished three bobbins and I'm ready to ply. Summer Spin In Memorial Day - Labor Day May 29 - September 4 Tour de Fleece starts Saturday Pop Up Giveaway: Make a comment in our Summer Spin In comment thread on Ravelry and we'll draw names for the following prizes. Winners will be announced in our next episode. Valley Oak Wool Mill : California Red 8oz Targee/Alpaca 8oz Debouillet 2 oz Shetland 4 oz

Jun 15, 2023

Chelsea and Megan of the Weird Sisters Wool Emporium sit down with us for a fun interview. Hear about their shop, how they began dyeing, their fandom inspiration, and much more. We also talk about our own projects after the interview. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Weird Sisters Wool Emporium Marsha interviews Chelsea and Megan of the Weird Sisters Wool Emporium in Aberdeen. Check out their shop and get a 13% discount with promo code: TwoEwesAndWeirdSisters. Coupon code is good through July 31. Marsha's Projects Noromania : I am using 40 skeins of Noro Kureyon (Aran weight) to make a blanket for Mark. I've knit 50 inches and used 25 balls. This started out fun but at slightly past the halfway point, it is becoming a slog. Stella's (notenoughtime) is to knit the blanket in two halves and kitchener together. That way I will reduce the bulk while knitting the blanket. Anzula Socks : Using two shades of Anzula Dreamy (blue) and Squishy (coral) that I bought at Stitches 2022. Working on the foot of the second sock. Flowers from My Garden: Starting a spinning project with fiber I bought at Stitches in March. I spun three bobbins each holding a 4 oz braid. I have plied two skeins so far. Bankhead Hat : Using Dimond Laine Elmer Tweed worsted from Lamb & Kid in the colorways Fir and Farmhouse. Here are links to the tubular cast on tutorials from Brooklyn Tweed and Purl Soho . I'm about half way done. Using 2 stripes Farmhouse and 5 stripes Fir. Nanny Meier Tea Cozy : Making the tea cozy for my friend Brian. Using Cascade 220 in navy and yellow. Rose Colored Glasses Towels : Using a weaving kit from Gist Yarns to make monk's belt hand towels. I'm in the process of warping the loom. Kelly's Projects Started the color work portion of the Summer Fjord by Trin-Annelie. Main color is Quince and Co. Sparrow in an icy gray blue called Birch. I'm striping in some spirit yarn Louet linen in navy. I started working in the deep orange as the third color and I'm starting to second guess both the textured stitch patterns and the color. The pattern is a 3 stripe repeat and I'm at the end of the second stripe. I have two new projects, too. I started a pair of socks for myself using the yarn from Purl 2 Walla Walla . It's a pale gold, wine, and rose that looks like it has been overwashed with a pale gray. It reminds me of wine and a charcuterie board. It's called Epicurean Kitchen and is named for a TMACs Epicurean Kitchen on N. Colville . That's the same street as the Kirkman House where I lived for my senior year. In fact P2W2 is just down the street, too. My other new project is spinning. I started spinning the braid I bought from Wonderland Dyeworks . The colorway is Summer Bliss and it is green, gold, and deep purple. I've spun up the 5 oz. of singles with a fractal technique and I plan to make a 3 ply. Coupon Code Remember to check out the Weird Sisters Wool Emporium shop and get a 13% discount with promo code: TwoEwesAndWeirdSisters. Summer Spin In Memorial Day - Labor Day May 29 - September 4

Jun 1, 2023

Our Summer Spin In begins so it's time to put some miles on our wheels. Plus we give project updates, hear about Kelly's new babies, and offer a sad farewell to Stitches. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha visited the Bloedel Reserv e garden, and the yarn shops, Lamb & Kid , and La Mercerie all located on Bainbridge Island, Washington. Kelly has three baby chicks. Marsha's Projects Noromania : I am using 40 skeins of Noro Kureyon (Aran weight) to make a blanket for Mark. I've knit 46 inches and used 25 balls. This started out fun but at slightly past the halfway point, it is becoming a slog. Anzula Socks : Using two shades of Anzula Dreamy (blue) and Squishy (coral) that I bought at Stitches 2022. Working on the gusset of the second sock. Flowers from My Garden: Starting a spinning project with fiber I bought at Stitches in March. I spun three bobbins each holding a 4 oz braid. I have plied two skeins so far. Bankhead Hat : Using Dimond Laine Elmer Tweed worsted from Lamb & Kid in the colorways Fir and Farmhouse. Here are links to the tubular cast on tutorials from Brooklyn Tweed and Purl Soho . Ames Beanie : Finished! Used Little Skein in the Big Woods worsted in colorway Hyde Park. Kelly's Projects I'm currently hemming the Crackle towels and will be calling them finished today. Two of them are hemmed and hanging in the kitchen right now. I finished the socks for Robert out of Purls Before Wine (From Purl 2 Walla Walla ). The Glamping Colorway turned out to look like a Barred Rock Chicken. I put red/burgundy heels and toes on the socks using a "star toe" method that Robert prefers. He doesn't like how the standard toes look pointy when they are sitting in his sock drawer! Continuing work on the Summer Fjord tee . This is a pattern by Trin-Annelie. This is my second one of these. This one is out of Quince and Co. Sparrow that Marsha, Janis, and I all found on sale at Tolt during a 2019 trip. The color is an icy gray blue called Birch. I'm also going to be striping in some spirit yarn Louet linen in navy and maybe some leftover Claudia's Handpaint linen in a deep orange color. They are all three different gauges so this might not be a good idea. Orange is lace weight, main color is fingering, and the navy is more like sport weight. Stitches West: We announce the winners of patreon drawing We are sorry to hear that Stitches has closed operations. We will miss meeting friends and vendors at the show. If you can, we share a list of vendors posted by Lamb Town that we can support. Summer Spin In Memorial Day - Labor Day May 29 - September 4

May 13, 2023

The Two Ewes were together as we attended the Northern California Knitting Retreat. Hear about the fun we had and our adventures in the "destash" room. Plus, the winners of our Stitches West contest are announced. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts NoCKRs We had a lovely time at the Northern Californian Knitters Retreat held at the St Francis Retreat Center in San Juan Bautista, California. We caught up with old friends and met ten new attendees. Thank you to the Yarniacs and 2 Knit Lit Chicks for hosting. We have two new knitters! Two high school students attending a confirmation preparation workshop were intrigued with what we were doing. Several knitters taught them the basics and they were off! Next year's dates April 25-28, 2024. More information can be found in the NoCKRs Ravelry Group . Marsha's Projects Noromania : I ordered more yarn and now have a total of 40 skeins of Noro Kureyon (Aran weight) to make a blanket for Mark. I've knit 40 inches and used 22 balls. This is a fun project. Anzula Socks : Using two shades of Anzula Dreamy (blue) and Squishy (coral) that I bought at Stitches 2022. Finished the first sock. Flowers from My Garden: Starting a spinning project with fiber I bought at Stitches this month. I have spun two bobbins of each colorway and am working on a third. Ames Beanie : Cast on using Little Skein in the Big Woods worsted in colorway Hyde Park. Knitting it cable hat as part of the 2 Knit Lit Chicks cable along that ends May 15. I was making good progress when I discovered about ten rows back that I missed a cable cross. Kelly's Projects Started the Summer Fjord tee using Quince and Co. Sparrow linen yarn. Continued on the socks for Robert out of Purls Before Wine (From Purl 2 Walla Walla ). Colorway is called Glamping so I had to buy it! Finished: Crackle lesson from Jane Stafford Guild. 7 yard warp instead of 10. Made the outer stripes wider because of the way I fold towels on the towel rod in our kitchen. Using the two cones of 8/2 cotton that I bought at stitches from Meridian Specialty Yarns Stitches West Winners: Winners of our Stitches West contest are announced. Listen to find out who won! Patreon Winners will be announced in our next episode.

Apr 23, 2023

It's Winter Weave-a-Long prize time! Listen to hear if you've won, Plus, we have our interview with Laura Bellows of JUL Designs who has generously offered our listeners 15% off. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts JUL Designs 15% discount with code TWOEWES Laura Bellows talks with us about her company, the thoughts behind her designs, and solving knitters' heartbreak. Stitches West Prize Drawing Visit the vendors' websites and comment in our Ravelry discussion thread for a chance to win the following prizes. There's still some time! The thread will be open until April 25. Weird Sisters Wool Emporium : Mrs. Weasley's Knitting mini skeins Dreadful Hocus Pocus mini skeins The Royal Bee Company : Kestrel Gardens Teal Oink Pigment : Misplaced Marbles Coast in the Shells Nano Stitch Lab : Frog Dissection

Mar 28, 2023

We had a fantastic time at Stitches West 2023 in Sacramento, California and have lots to report. Plus we have prizes! Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects Noromania : I have a total of 24 skeins of Noro Kureyon (Aran weight) to make a blanket for Mark. I've knit 20 inches and used 10 balls. I think I need to buy more yarn. This is a fun project. Anzula Socks : Using two shades of Anzula Dreamy (blue) and Squishy (coral) that I bought at Stitches 2022. Flowers from My Garden: Starting a spinning project with fiber I bought at Stitches this month. Considering A Little Love by Ankestrick use Brooklyn Tweed Loft Kelly's Projects Finished but still need to block the Coloresque Wrap Erin Kurup using the Neighborhood Fiber Company rustic fingering gradient set Shades of Turquoise. Finished and washed In Threes baby sweater. Finished half dozen dishcloths Started socks for Robert out of Purls Before Wine (From Purl 2 Walla Walla ). Colorway is called Glamping so I had to buy it! On the loom: Crackle lesson from Jane Stafford Guild. 7 yard warp instead of 10. Made the outer stripes wider because of the way I fold towels on the towel rod in our kitchen. Using the two cones of 8/2 cotton that I bought at stitches from Meridian Specialty Yarns Stitches West Prizes: We will draw from our Patrons and our Ravelry thread in the next episode. Weird Sisters Wool Emporium The Royal Bee Company Oink Pigment Nano Stitch Lab Just a few links to the things Marsha and Kim talked about in the last episode. EEW 6.0 Electric spinning wheel from Dreaming Robots . Willingham Weavery weaving class Weaving with Janet Dawson

Mar 13, 2023

This week it's a dispatch from Seattle as Marsha and Kim discuss their northwest fiber adventures. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Just a few links to the things Marsha and Kim talk about. EEW 6.0 Electric spinning wheel from Dreaming Robots . Willingham Weavery weaving class Weaving with Janet Dawson

Feb 22, 2023

We keep answering listener questions and finish them up! This episode has some fun additions from dogs who were getting tired of the long recording session. No links or photos in the show notes this week, just lots of fun questions and answers.

Feb 5, 2023

Our 200th episode is all about us! You asked and we answered. Questions about our lives, our crafting journey, our friendship, our plans. Join us as we share everything Ewe want to know.

Jan 23, 2023

Get ready with us as we prepare for our 200th episode! For our anniversary we will be answering listeners' questions. Send your questions to twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com or use the Ravelry thread, or DM 1hundredprojects or betterinmotion on instagram. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects: January Blanket : Handspun Manx Loaghton, 3-ply aran weight, 1,460 yards. Decided to add one additional 15 stitch repeat so I cast on 192 stitches. I went up a need size to #9 and have knit about 34 inches. Estimating it is going to be about 4' x 5" Noromania : Bought 18 skeins of Noro Kureyon (Aran weight) to make a blanket for Mark. Swatched with #8 and #9. Falkland/Silk/Merino: about 800 yards fingering EEW 6.0 Electric spinning wheel from Dreaming Robots . Spinning some Polwarth roving. Kelly's Projects: Continuing to work on the Coloresque Wrap Erin Kurup using the Neighborhood Fiber Company rustic fingering gradient set Shades of Turquoise. Finished weaving on the Monk's Belt Weaving project. I got 7 towels and enjoyed the process. It isn't my favorite weave structure, but I like the results better than I thought I would. Still need to cut them apart and hem them. Current piano songs: Happy Birthday (deadline coming soon!), Take Me Out to the Ballgame, and Star Spangled Banner for Baseball spring training. Episode 200 Q and A: To celebrate 200 episodes and over eight years of podcasting, we'll answer your questions. Ask us about yarn, our lives, the meaning of life, Fibonacci, poodle grooming, or whatever… We'll do our best! Send your questions to twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com or use the Ravelry thread, or DM 1hundredprojects or betterinmotion on instagram. Patreon Pattern Giveaway A hearty, year-end thank you to our patrons! Your support has made our show better and our prizes more numerous. Message Kelly with the pattern of your choice ($10 or less). Thank you for your generosity. You've helped to build this community! Stitches West March 2-5 in Sacramento Winter Weave Along October 1 - March 31

Jan 8, 2023

Happy New Year to our listeners! We have finished projects including a huge completion for Marsha. We've started some projects, plus some discussion about a new e-spinner. Full notes with photos and links and a transcript can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Episode 200 Q and A: To celebrate 200 episodes and over eight years of podcasting, we'll answer your questions. Ask us about yarn, our lives, the meaning of life, Fibonacci, poodle grooming, or whatever… We'll do our best! Send your questions to twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com or use the Ravelry thread, or DM 1hundredprojects or betterinmotion on instagram. Marsha's Projects: Ben's Sweater : Whoohoo!! His sweater is finished! January Blanket : Handspun Manx Loaghton, 3-ply aran weight, 1,460 yards. Decided to add one additional 15 stitch repeat so I cast on 192 stitches. I went up a need size to #9 and have knit about 28 inches. Noromania : Bought 18 skeins of Noro Kureyon (Aran weight) to make a blanket for Mark. EEW 6.0 Electric spinning wheel from Dreaming Robots . Kelly's Projects: I finished what I set out in the last episode: the angel from the knitted nativity scene kit, a bumper for Minnie's wool cat bed, and a warp for Monk's Belt dishtowels. I started the Coloresque Wrap Erin Kurup using the Neighborhood Fiber Company rustic fingering gradient set Shades of Turquoise. This was a door prize from the NoCKRs retreat several years ago. I started this project as Stitches West knitting, but couldn't follow the pattern in that setting and gave it up. Then I lost the yarn for at least a year! It is really more of a wide scarf than a wrap, but it might block out bigger than it looks. I've returned to working on the spirit yarn mohair vest . I will have A LOT of yarn left over. I think I could have made a Garter Squish blanket. Monk's Belt Weaving project: I am making dish towels rather than the placemats in the JST episode. I started with what I thought were neutral gray and brown and once they were put together they look a lot like lilac and orange. We talk a little about the way colors work in weaving and how the brain and preconceived ideas also affect the way we interpret colors. Patreon Pattern Giveaway A hearty, year-end thank you to our patrons! Your support has made our show better and our prizes more numerous. Message Kelly with the pattern of your choice ($10 or less). Thank you for your generosity. You've helped to build this community! Winter Weave Along October 1 - March 31 Transcript Full transcript available at twoewesfiberadventures.com Marsha 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha and this is Kelly. We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Kelly 0:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundred projects and I am better in motion. We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Enjoy the Episode! Marsha 0:42 Hi, Kelly, Happy New Year. Kelly 0:44 Happy New Year to you too, Marsha. Marsha 0:46 Yeah, this is the first time we talked I think since before the holiday. Kelly 0:50 Yeah. How's how's your 2023 been? Marsha 0:53 It's been very nice so far. Because I left New Year's Day for the beach. We went to-- Kim and I went down to the Oregon coast to Cannon Beach. And with the dogs, because the dogs needed a vacation from the stress of the holidays. Kelly 1:10 Only the dogs needed a vacation from the stress of the holidays? [laughing] Marsha 1:14 Yeah [laughing] So it's nice. We had four nights down there. It was really fun. I don't know if you saw any of the pictures I posted but they had very high tides. So we couldn't really go to the beach in the morning like we normally do. We had to wait till the afternoon till the tide went out. So that was a little bit different. But it was fine. Kelly 1:34 I did see the one picture you posted where there literally was no beach. Marsha 1:38 Yeah, it was hitting the the rock wall they have along in front of the hotel where we were staying. And I actually thought, those really expensive, desirable homes that are right on the beach with a fantastic views? I don't know that I want to stay in one of those. Kelly 1:54 Yeah Marsha 1:55 I liked being--we had a view. But we were not right on the beach. We were back. We kind of overlooked--It doesn't sound good, But it was it's actually fine--You sort of overlook a parking lot for the park. And so you're back at solid 50 yards probably from the beach, which made me--and we were up on the third floor which made me feel better. I don't think I'd want to be on one of those houses right on the beach. With the bedrooms on the ground floor. Yeah, not during this storm. And, and you're having storms down there too, right? in California? Kelly 2:26 Yeah, we weren't hit as bad as some of the surrounding areas. We but we've had--every time it rains we've had more than an inch, which is really unusual for us to, you know, to get that much rain at a time. We did have one day, it wasn't this most recent storm it was maybe a week and a half ago where the street flooded in front of our house, you know because of the slough, what used to be the slough, running through our yard and through the yards of, you know, all of the the neighbors. It comes right across the street, you know, what used to be the slough. You can see from above you know, it's comes right across our street. And so the street kind of dips down because of the the old slough having been there. Marsha 3:18 Right Kelly 3:19 And so that part of the-- that part where the street dips down floods and the, you know, especially if the if the city pumps for the stormwater aren't working properly, then it really floods. Anyway, it got high enough that it went above the curb and was flowing into the old slough in our yard. And so I always like it-- Robert hates when that happens but I always like it because I feel like I'm capturing stormwater for my own yard. Like yay! Extra water! But this year he was worried about it because he said, you know, he didn't want it to he didn't want that water to undermine his his fence posts that he had put in and that didn't happen. It, you know, was nothing huge. But there was some water runoff from the street into our into our little ravine and that hasn't happened in a in quite a few years. So so yeah, we you know we we didn't suffer much at all. We didn't suffer at all from the from the storm. But like the beach in in the Capitola area, one of the old beaches that I used to, you know, the beach that I used to go to when I was a kid, their whole parking lot is gone. Just destroyed from the from the tides. Robert was showing me pictures this morning. And he's been really watching the weather and you know he's got the Weather Channel and all the places that he used to look when he was working at the agency and needed to keep tabs on what the weather was going to be for their generator system case power-- case of power outages and the storm water. So they could predict and, you know, because the stormwater goes to the treatment plant. Yeah, he was really-- well, he has been sort of obsessing over the radar and all that. Marsha 5:12 Well and when I was at the beach he texted me that about the light fixtures on the front of the house that I helped him put them up that one time I was down there. And he was-- he put some extra wire on them I think, to secure them because he was really worried about the winds. Yeah, the reason why you got those new ones is the wind had knocked the old ones, had damaged the old ones. So he was really worried about that. They're fine though? So far? Kelly 5:36 Yeah, yeah, they are fine. The only-- his rain gauge, which is a five gallon bucket, the one day that the wind was so so hard I looked out the kitchen window, and this white plastic bucket goes flying across the yard. Oh Okay! So now he's got, he turned our, we have a like a, you know, that teak side table. He turned that upside down, set the bucket inside of the four legs, and then propped bricks around the edge to both hold the table down and hold the bucket firmly inside the table. He's got that sitting outside to measure so he can kind of keep track of the rain. The amount of rain. I measure it by the amount that's in the dog dishes. So I have a 12 hour rain gauge, you know, feed the dogs in the morning and when I go out at night and feed them again I see how much is there. Yesterday, it was about an inch in the 12 hours. It was pretty steady. And not hard rain, but pretty steady all day. Until yesterday afternoon. Today, we have a break. It's really nice. It's um, I can even see blue sky outside. So there was one day that it was so gray. It felt like nighttime all day long. It was super unusual for us. So anyway, yeah, that's what's been happening here. Aunt Betty had her second cataract surgery and it went all fine. So now we're good. So she's, she's happy. She's able to see. She had a follow up appointment yesterday. So that's all good. So yeah, my 2023 is going pretty well, too. Yeah, well, mine is going pretty well, because I had a nice trip to the beach. And then I'll talk about some other stuff when we get to projects. So should we jump into projects? Or? Well let me just announce about the episode 200 As long as we're stopping for business here. So we are currently on episode 198. Coming up on episode 200. And so we're going to do for episode 200 a listener q&a. So we'll answer your questions. And we've got quite a few questions already between email and the Ravelry thread. But I put up a Ravelry thread where you can ask questions, or you can email us to us at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Or you can message us, you know on Instagram, or you can use our website Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. And there's a Contact Us page and you can use that to send us an email. Lots of ways for you to let us know what your questions are. And then we're going to answer them on episode 200. Marsha 8:43 Try to answer! Kelly 8:44 All of them. Yeah. And I have been listening to some of the older episodes just kind of going back to refresh my memory about them. At first I was a little worried like oh I'm not sure I want to go back there and see how we sound. You know we weren't that bad Marsha.[laughing] I think we did pretty good. First. I just remember, I do remember when we first started, on every episode, Robert would go to work and he'd listened to it. Then the next day he'd give me a rundown. It helped us get better. I do have to say that it helped us get better. But sometimes it was not a welcome critique. [laughing] Marsha 9:29 Now do you remember? I'm kind of curious, like maybe I shouldn't even ask but I'm dying of curiosity. Like what were some of the critiques that that he would give? Kelly 9:37 He said I repeated myself, which I still do. When I edit sometimes I think oh Kelly, why did you have to say the same phrase three times while you were thinking of the next thing you were gonna say? He also said that I talk slowly. Like I'll be talking along at a normal pace and then he can tell that I'm thinking because I get really slow. So, stuff like that, you know. And then when we started actually recording together, he's like, You guys are much more interesting when you're recording on the phone together. So.. Marsha 10:12 Yeah, I know, I think that changed the dynamic a lot, you know, when we started recording together, but I still listen to myself and every episode I'm critical of myself. Like, I can't follow my train of thought. And I, and I make so many mistakes too, in terms of when I'm describing stockinette, or garter stitch, or making the garter Squish, blanket. like, Ah, god, sometimes I listen back and I roll my eyes, you know, but anyway, we're just human right? Kelly 10:52 Yeah, you need to be kinder to yourself, Marsha. Marsha 10:55 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, yes, I've been reading the questions, and I'm looking forward to answering them. Kelly 11:02 Yeah, it'll be fun. So do do. Send us your questions. And, you know, it could be about anything. So far, a lot of the questions have been about about our lives and our crafting and the podcast, that kind of thing. But, but yeah. Bring them on. Let's see. Marsha 11:27 All right. Okay. So projects. Kelly 11:29 Yeah, so let's go. I can go first. So last episode, I said, I had some plans. I did not have much knitting, but I did have some plans. And I can say that I did what I set out to do, I finished the angel from the knitted nativity scene. I did finish the star the knitting of the star. Now I just have to sew it. It's two pieces and then you sew them together and stuff it. So she's holding on to this stuffed star. So I didn't I didn't get it, but I haven't sewn it together and stuffed it but the angel part is done. I even washed her hair because the the yarn, the yarn that they had for her hair was wound around a cardboard. Most of the yarn was in little, little balls or cakes. And the yarn for her hair. I'm not sure why, was wrapped around a cardboard. And so where it wrapped around, it had like a kink. So her ponytails were very messy. Were curling all--just all different ways. And not curled. But like fish hooked, you know, like kinked. Marsha 12:47 Yeah, yeah, Kelly 12:48 The edge of that cardboard. So I wet the her hair. I had to wet it down twice. And then let her dry before before most of that came out, so so she's done. I've knit a bumper for Minnie's cat bed. And it's in there. Marsha 13:05 Yeah? Kelly 13:06 So, and I do know she slept in at least one night. During the real rainy days, she sleeps in the-- we have a house out there that I have a woven a wool woven pad in-- the one she used to have-- I put in there. And she sleeps in there when it's rainy, and she needs to really stay out of the rain or it's really cold. I'm not sure where she sleeps all the time, because she's not always on the front porch, especially since we got Beary and he barks at her. Although she doesn't--honestly I say she doesn't sleep there because of Beary. But Beary has been on the front porch coming in, you know, in the morning. And she has been under the car in the driveway on the porch in that same morning and walked up to him. Like, twice. So she's not really afraid of him. Although she-- I don't think she likes the barking. But she's not afraid of him. He's afraid of her. This is funny. You'll you'll get a kick out of this. So one morning, Robert had him and he kind of growled at her as she was walking towards him. And so Robert, you know, corrected him and said no. And so, and he was you know, wiping off his feet and stuff to let him in. And so Beary turned himself around and put his head in the corner of the porch. So you didn't have to look at her. Here's this big dog. He's really kind of afraid of her. He doesn't know what to make of her. And so since he couldn't growl or do anything wrong, do anything aggressive towards her. He had to just put his head in the corner. If you can't see her, she doesn't exist.[laughing] Yeah, so all of that orange wool is gone. And then I had to grab some additional coned wool from my weaving stash. And I knit with it for the rest of the bumper. So I got that done. And then the third thing that was on my list for before was to wind a warp for monks' belt. For the monk's belt project at the Jane Stafford Guild, and I did, I did that as well. And I'll talk more about that at the end of my projects. So I got all of that done. And then I've even returned to working on the mohair vest. Marsha 15:33 Oh, okay. Kelly 15:34 Yeah, that's what I have in my lap right now, what I've been knitting on, and I tried it on this morning. And so it's top down. And I have more than 12, about 12 inches from the armholes. So it's kind of at high hip length. I want it to be longer so I'm I'm continuing to knit down but I'm gonna have so much yarn leftover. Maybe I won't, maybe once I put the ribbing and the the band on. I started with three skeins, I've basically got two balls, which is one skein that I am working on actively and then one skein in the bag so I don't know. We'll see. So I'm continuing it. Maybe I should have made a blanket, because I think I'm gonna have a lot of yarn leftover but it's back on its-- back in the rotation. And then the other project, I started a new project knitting project. Do you remember the yarn I lost? The neighborhood fiber company gradients? Marsha 16:52 Oh right. Yeah, Kelly 16:54 Yeah. I think I lost it twice. I mean, I think I lost it, discovered it, said oh, okay, that's where it is. And then forgot where it was. And lost it again. I can't exactly remember. But anyway, it's 1250 yards of rustic fingering from neighborhood fiber company. And it's a turquoise it's called Shades of Turquoise. It's a turquoise gradient. And it starts with a really dark dark, almost black, blue, and then changed into a more true-- I don't know if I call it turquoise, I guess I call it turquoise. A more true turquoise. So there's two really dark skeins, then there's like this medium bright turquoise, and then there's two light turquoise skeins. So I'm doing the original project, I looked around for something else. But I thought you know what, I'm just gonna go back to the original project that I selected for this. It's called the Coloresque Wrap. And it's by Erin Kurup. I think her company name is remade by hand. And actually I met her at stitches. And I believe that this was a gift from her, this pattern. And so I started it one year. Right after I think the year after I got it. I started it for my Stitches West project, which was a mistake. Marsha 18:22 Yes, I remember. I remember you working on it. Kelly 18:26 Yeah, I'm not sure if I had been a little further along when we went to stitches, I think it would have been okay. But it's it's a striping pattern. So as you're using two colors, and it's a striping pattern that has you doing stockinette and then one pearl ridge and then stockinette and then one pearl ridge. And so I was having trouble with that. And then I was also having trouble with the-- it's trapezoidal. So you're knitting together on one side and making one on the other side, knitting in front and back on the other side. So it's going kind of out of slant and like a trapezoid. So that was an issue. Remembering to do that was an issue. And then it has, it's not really a big edge detail. But it has a little edge detail to keep the edges nice and tidy. And that was giving me fits. So I had to-- I came home and it was such a mess that I just ripped it out. But now it's back on the needles and I've gotten a fair ways along I think I'm maybe at about 20 inches. Maybe a little longer than maybe closer to 30 Marsha 19:43 Do you have a project page for this? Kelly 19:46 Yeah, I just put up a project page but I don't have a picture yet. Marsha 19:50 Okay, oh, let me look here. Oh, here it is. I see. Kelly 19:52 Okay, and then it has lace. The pattern has these stripes and then it also has lace sections. And so it gives me the opportunity to use the colors. And it's kind of--the pattern is nice because it's kind of set up, I mean, they have the pattern, she has the pattern set up where you just follow the pattern with your colors. But then she also has a page in the, I think it's in the pattern, or maybe it's on--also linked on the pattern page. But she has a page where you can do your own color design. Marsha 19:53 Mm hmm. Kelly 20:01 And so she has like the template of the of the shawl or wrap laid out. And then she talks about, you know, how you can figure out which colors to put where and, and it does talk about how many grams of of yarn you use for the lace sections, although I added a repeat, so mine won't be following that exactly, you know. The next lace section I do, I'll have to weigh my yarn and then determine how much yarn I need for one of the lace sections. So I've got two lace sections in here now with the striping pattern in between. And I liked the lace section. So I think I'll do more of them than is in their original pattern. Because I kind of liked that. I haven't done lace in a long time. It actually looks kind of like the lace that you have, like little V pattern Chevron. Marsha 21:19 Yeah, in my blanket. Kelly 21:21 Looks very similar to the lace in your in your blog. Marsha 21:24 Nice. Well, I'm, I'm interested to see a picture of it posted. But this is a nice looking shawl It's pretty. Kelly 21:32 So I've just been choosing colors along the way trying to keep you know, kind of the gradient idea going from dark to light, but I have the contrast stripes. So I've got you know, sometimes I have two medium colors together in the stripe, sometimes I have the darkest with the lightest, or colors just a couple or one or two shades away. Since I have five colors, I have a lot of choices. And it's coming out nicely. It's looking right now like it's not going to be more than just a wide scarf with stripes and lace combination. But maybe when I block it, it'll be a little bit wider. The original pattern called for I think was about 12 inches wide. And then I added an additional repeat of the lace because I wanted it to be a little bit wider than that. But I didn't want to make it so wide that then I wasn't going to have enough yarn. I wasn't sure how that was going to work. So I'm moving along on it and enjoying it. It's giving me, it's giving me two projects on the go that are knitting projects. So and then I have my my weaving project. Marsha 22:43 Okay, and let's hear about that. Kelly 22:45 So I'm making-- I decided with the monks belt that I wanted to make, of course, dishtowels. The project for the Jane Stafford guild is placemats. So at first I was a little worried that maybe it was a weave structure that wasn't a good choice for dish towels. But I found a dish towel pattern in a book I had bought years ago and it was monks belt and turns out it's exactly the same draft as what's in the Jane Stafford guild, which is basically the Marguerite Porter Davison, you know Weaver's bible of stitches. This Monks belt draft is not anything, you know, it's not anything new and improved or you know, combined with other things or whatever. So I'm basically following the information from the episode of The Jane Stafford School of weaving TV Guild and also following the pattern from this book. But the book has only two dish towels in its warp and I put on enough for six dish towels I should have enough for six dish towels so I have a little bit of room to play which will be fun. I did want to talk a little bit about color choice. Because I had decided--I thought I would make dish towels for Sarah for housewarming gift, my niece. And for my mom for her trailer. The new trailer is sort of gray and brown. The floor is tha-- a lot of people have you know the gray like wood floor now is kind of popular? And that is the flooring in the trailer. They don't have carpet they just have the grayish wood flooring and then, you know, kind of brown upholstery and stuff so I thought okay, I'll do neutrals. And I know Sarah, as much as she loves color, is more along the neutrals line for stuff in her house. So I thought okay, this would be good. I'll find some neutrals. So I grabbed-- you remember the yarn that you got me the Swedish yarn that you got me from the goodwill? The weaving yarn came in a bag-- there was a red and a green and a gray. Marsha 25:07 Oh, right. I didn't know it was Swedish but oh yeah, I remember getting that. Yeah, Kelly 25:11 I think it's I think it's Swedish. Anyway. Okay, I took one of the--I decided to use the gray out of that. And then I used one of the cones I have of the Sally Fox Fox fiber, which is a brown is called Sienna, Sierra Sienna Brown. And you know, the color crayon color of Sienna? Marsha 25:31 Yeah, Kelly 25:31 Kind of a rusty brown-- a yellow, yellow or orange toned brown. So there's that. And then I saw-- I put those two together. I was like, okay, yeah, this is what I'm going to use it's going to be nice and neutrals, gray, brown. I have a little bit of black. I have oh, I have this other cone of this variegated black and brown yarn that I bought thinking I would knit a linen shawl that I never a lace shawl that I never did. So I got that out. I got them all together. And I wound them. You know, this is great! Neutrals. And the gray looks purple. And the brown looks orange. When you put all those colors together... Marsha 25:38 So interestin! Kelly 26:20 next to each other, you can really tell that this is a gray that leans purple blue, like bluey purple, like a lilac color. It sort of leans lilac. And this brown, of course, leans very orange. And because those were such, you know, because purple and orange are such contrasting colors. I think they're what complimentary colors maybe. Right? It really, it really makes them look like they're--it's purple and orange. So it's okay, it's not the neutral that I was going for. It's really pretty. I really like it. Not sure they'll go to the intended recipients. It depends how. depends how they come out-- what I think once I've got them off the loom. Once I've you know, put other colors in the weft because that tones things down a little bit too. So. So we'll see. Marsha 27:20 I'm just going to interject here about color and weaving. You made me some towels that are actually red, white and gray. And I swear that gray is green. And I think it's because, and I always I use them at Christmas time because to me they look like Christmas color. But it's not green. It's gray. Kelly 27:40 Right. Marsha 27:41 So I don't know it's so interesting Kelly 27:43 That same gray? I'm using as a weft color. Okay, and against the other ones. It looks blue. It's like a slate blue. Yeah, Marsha 27:55 yeah. And I have to say in the towels, it doesn't look like Christmas green. But it definitely looks like a green to me, like a forest green. Kind of. It's not I know, it's I know, it's gray. But Kelly 28:10 Well, and those are the same those. That's the exact same warp as the napkins in the trailer. Okay, yeah. And in the trailer, to me it it reads as gray. Not green, but in the house, it really did look like, it did look green to me, too. Yeah. So it's very interesting. choosing colors-- it's fascinating. I really think it's really an interesting thing. And then and then the thing about weaving that doesn't happen in knitting. Is that optical blending, you know, you get a lot more of the optical blending in weaving because the, I want to say the pixels are so small, right? When you're weaving, your yarn is going over and under each other. The dots of color are about the size of the yarn, unless you're doing stripes. Marsha 29:05 Yeah. Kelly 29:06 Whereas with with knitting, your dots of color, the smallest they can be is really a stitch. You know, I mean, even if you're doing mosaic stitch where you're trying to blend optically blend the colors, doing mosaic knitting or slip stitches, where you're trying to optically blend the colors. You're not going to get that kind of blending so much with knitting so it-- Yeah, it's it is kind of funny. And then one last thing about these is the patterning in them is coming from the color that I'm using for the weft. So I started with a weft of an even deeper rust color. And then a black and then that slate, that slate color that you think looks green, and that I have thought looked blue and I I, I was like, okay, yeah, this will be a good, this will be a good color progression, you know, and I'll just repeat this color pattern. And then I took a picture of it this morning and put it on Ravelry. And when I looked at the picture, I went, Oh, the black and the gray look like the same color in this picture. I think I need to take out the black and go rust, or rather, take out the gray, the slate that I just started because I don't have that much of it. I mean, I have less than half an inch. So I think I'm gonna take that out and go rust, and then black and then rust and then slate. I don't think I want the black and the slate next to each other because they look too much like the same color. Not enough value difference. So anyway. It's one of the things I love about weaving is the the color play that you can do. And I'll do--you know with six towels, I'll get into a lot. So yeah, my purple and orange dish towels. [laughing] I think something--some parts of color also have to do with what color you think something is. That color, I haven't actually looked in I don't know, if it even says on the label what you know, a color away name. I think the label is in Swedish. So I don't know if it says a colorway name. Or often weaving cones just have a color way number. But I wouldn't be surprised if the color name was lilac. And because it was just in a bag with a red and a green. And I can't remember what color it was with. But anyway, the color it was with made me think it was gray. And because I thought it was gray. It looked gray. You know what I mean? Marsha 31:52 Yeah, yeah. And I think that I'm looking at the gray, red and white. And I think it seems like Christmas colors. So I'm reading it as green because red and green are Christmas colors. I don'tknow. Yeah. Kelly 32:08 It's like once your brain locks on what color you think it is. That's what color you see until something comes along to shock you out of that thinking, like, oh my god, this is purple and orange. Marsha 32:25 Okay, I'm going to look up your picture because you said it's in Ravelry. Kelly 32:29 Yeah, in the weaving thread. Marsha 32:31 Oh, but here on Instagram, too. Did you post it? Kelly 32:34 Yeah, I posted an Instagram But I didn't have much of the weaving done when I posted on Instagram. Ravelry is a better picture, will be on a more recent picture. I don't know if it's better. The more recent picture is on Ravelry. So just an interesting thing, how color works. And how your brain tells you things that aren't really true. Marsha 33:03 Funny, huh? Well, should I talk about my projects and I don't want to interrupt. Are you done? I don't want... Kelly 33:09 No I'm I'm finished. That's enough. You'll hear more about this project. Since it's six towels. It'll be okay. It'll be going for a while. Marsha 33:17 Oh, okay. Well, I have big news. Yeah, I did not finish it between Christmas and New Year's but at the beach I finished Ben's sweater. It is done. Kelly 33:30 Yay. Marsha 33:32 Yay. And I will not relive the whole thing. But I did. I think the last episode, I don't remember. I honestly I don't even remember where I was with the whole thing. But I did rip out both sleeves back to the elbow and re knit them with fewer decreases. And I came home from the beach yesterday afternoon. I got home around 4:30 or so. And the first thing I did was wash and block the sweater. Kelly 33:58 Nice. Marsha 33:59 So it's drying. And I've a few ends to weave in. But I'm calling it done. Kelly 34:05 Nice. Marsha 34:05 Yeah. So and it blocked out really nicely. It grew a little bit which is what I wanted. And so I think it's going to be... I'm just glad I'm done. So I'm starting off the new year fresh. So that's all I'm gonna about to say about the sweater. I don't want to talk about it anymore. Done. I'm done. And I will say and a story I will say I finished it at the beach. Now I don't remember now what day it was I finished it and when I bound off this, I finished the first sleeve before I went to the beach and then I finished the second sleeve at the beach and bound off the cuff. And this I was getting like: 10 rows, nine rows, eight rows and seven and getting more and more excited and this huge weight has been lifted off of me by having that done. It's like this is a great way to start the new year. It's done, so I'm excited. So anyway, I worked on my January blanket. And I have knit about 28 inches of it. And I really like it. I think it's turning out really nicely. It feels great. Because it's handspun kind of woolen spun is what I tried. So it has, it's very light. But yeah, it's very nice. And this is really nice yarn. It doesn't. It's a woolly yarn, but it's not harsh at all. It's just super nice. I really like it. Kelly 35:39 It looks really pretty. I like that solid color. I mean, we've both done so many blankets with you know, colors changing all that. But that is a really nice look that one solid color with a nice lace pattern. Marsha 35:57 Yeah. And I love the color of this. It's --I never know what to call it. It's sort of Carmel Cafe Au Lait. Yeah. The color of Milk in Tea. I don't know. Kelly 36:11 Yeah, I would say I would say Cafe au Lait is a good way to describe it. Marsha 36:17 The color of a little brown dog? I don't know. I don't know. Kelly 36:23 It's a little lighter than Orkney. Right? Marsha 36:25 Yeah, yeah. I'll just interject. I remember, I probably have said this before in the podcast, but I worked with a guy who was in a Cajun band. And so he knew a lot about Cajun cooking, because he always would go down to Louisiana. And so I asked him if he had a recipe for gumbo. And you start with a roux, and you cooked the flour and oil together until it was the color of an old hound dog. And I, we worked together and I went up to the receiving area where he worked. And I just on a piece of paper, I wrote down his recipe. And that's what I actually wrote down: cook the roux until it's the color of an old hound dog. So this is like the color of an old hound dog, I guess. Anyway. Anyway, so I'm really enjoying knitting on this. And then, I think, I guess I mentioned in the last episode, because I had it here in the show notes that I bought the Noro Kureyon to make the Noro mania blanket for my brother and I gave it to him for Christmas. And he's thrilled with it. So I'm going to cast that on. You know, as soon as I finish this blanket, I'll start that and do a little figuring about what size I want to make. But my big news is I have a new addition to the the the yarn and fiber family, which is I bought an electric spinning wheel. Woohoo! and so both Kim and I bought the the it's called the electric eel or the e w 6.0. Technically, from dreaming robots. And I'll talk more about this at a later date. But I we both they arrived in the mail, and we didn't unbox them until we got to the beach and set them up very easy. We watched the tutorial they have on the dreaming robots website. And so we set them up. I should back up and say our inspiration for buying these was our friend Dagmar. She bought one a while ago and she had it at NoCKRs retreat. And I was really interested in it. And when I knew she was going to be meeting us at Black Sheep, I said to Kim, you need to come and check out her spinning wheel, this E spinner because I think because Kim has been adamant she was not going to get a spinning wheel. no, right, just stick with the drop spindle. And I could tell when she was watching Dagmar that she was very interested. So anyway, we had fun. Our four days down there of just playing with the spinning wheels. It was interesting. I had some polworth that I had bought years ago I don't even remember now where I bought it. So I was practicing with that and she also had polworth That was dyed. And so she was practicing with that and it is really interesting to just to spin the same fiber but one's dyed and one's not dyed, how they're different. Because the the technique of dyeing, the roving, it gets a little stuck together kind of. Needs a little bit more pre drafting that has to go on than with an undyed fiber, I think. But they're really, they're great wheels and I think they're really well designed. He's thought of everything. And we also-- it does not come with a battery but you can order a battery that so then it'd be great for... Kelly, if I go to the trailer rally again, I would actually be able to be easier to transport this to California on a plane or whatever or in the car. And then I don't need to plug in, I can just spin off the battery. So it's going to be great for all kinds of situations. But it is funny, Kim was sitting at the dining room table practicing and I was sitting on the sofa and had the wheel sitting on the coffee table. And underneath the coffee table there was another little shelf and I kept pushing on that shelf with my foot trying just to treadle-- stop the wheel, start the wheel. That was actually amusing to me. I kind of thought wow, this is so nice. I wonder what it's going to be like when I go home and spin on little Herbie. And last night I spun for two hours or so while I watched the news and whatnot. And I love little Herbie. I have not given up my complete love for little Herbie. I love treadling. But this is this is a really nice, it's gonna be great for taking to the beach. Kelly 41:02 Yeah, Marsha 41:03 taking to your house, taking to NoCKRs because it's so portable. So I have to thank Dagmar for introducing us to it because it's been great. It's really fun. So I'll report more on it came in, I think gonna get together this weekend to practice a bit more, and I might record a little bit get some of her thoughts, too. Kelly 41:21 Oh, that'd be cool. Yeah. Marsha 41:23 Yeah, I'll do that. That would be good. I have to say I thought about-- I thought about recording when we were at the beach. But honestly, it was kind of fun just to get lost in it and not have to think about talking about it. Kelly 41:37 Well, you'll have more to talk about once you've been working with it a little bit longer, too. Marsha 41:42 Yeah. It's interesting though, the bobbins. On the website, they say they hold eight ounces of fiber. And so I'm interested to see. I'm spinning up a four ounce skein. And it's, it's about half full. So I'm gonna see if it'll hold the eight ounces. That's, that's a lot. Kelly 42:03 That is a lot. Yeah, it's kind of a double edged sword. It's sort of like ink-- with the fountain pens when you buy ink. So, you know, there are some people who are real big proponents of you know, the ink bottles that come, you know, 50 milliliter, 60 milliliters 80 milliliters, you know, these nice big bottles of ink that you get your money's worth, right? Marsha 42:32 Right. Kelly 42:33 The problem with that, or the other side of that double edged sword is that you have all of this ink and then if you want a different color it's hard to justify buying. Well. For some people, it's hard to... for myself, it's hard to justify, I guess, if I were further down this, this rabbit hole, I could have a whole large stash of over 200 inks like some people do. It really ...but it's difficult, it's more difficult to justify buying another bottle of ink in a different color that looks fun and that you want, when you have, you know, 50 60, 70 milliliter bottles of ink that are big. And you don't even use-- I think one time we were talking, I said that it takes like 10 milliliters. It doesn't even take one milliliter to fill most of my pens, I was way off there. So you know, if you're using less than a milliliter every time you fill your pen, and it takes me a couple of weeks for my pens to run out if I have a couple of pens inked up at the same time. Like not a lot of ink. Right. So so the bobbin.. Marsha 43:50 Yes! Kelly 43:50 Oh, go ahead. Marsha 43:52 Well, I was gonna say if I I'm spinning just a natural colored cream. Kelly 43:56 Yeah, Marsha 43:57 yarn or fiber. It's gonna... and eight ounces. That's days of the same thing. You know, so I know what you're saying is you can't... like it's having a smaller bobbin and you get to change a lot. Kelly 44:10 Right? You know, right. And that's part of what I-- that's part of what I like. I mean and you could even spin two eight ounce bobbins if you had 16 ounces. You could spin two eight ounce bobbins and then ply those two together like you could be working on cream colored yarn for what felt like Ben's-- a Ben's sweater worth of time. [laughing] Marsha 44:37 Well, and also Kelly, I'm just going to add this in there too is that I before I went packing for the beach, getting the wheel and getting you know the first thing you pack when you travel is a knitter is all your projects, right? And so I was like what fiber am I going to spin and so I found I had this polworth and me being me, I didn't buy one skein I bought three packages of four skeins each. four ounces? So how many? So each package has has four pieces of--hanks of roving, okay, and each one is four ounces so Kelly 45:24 so okay so you have 16 ounces in a bag and you have three bags? Both 45:40 Three bags! [laughing] Marsha 45:42 I'm like that but I do know, I as I say I don't remember where I bought it-- if I bought it at Black Sheep or if I bought it at fiber fusion. I think I bought it at Black Sheep because I don't I don't-- I did not buy it in the marketplace. I remember I bought it from the person with the sheep. Like out in the barn? Anyway, I bought it and so I bought three bags and there's four skeins in each bag Kelly 46:05 and it's all undyed and each is four ounces it's all undyed, natural white. Marsha 46:12 Yeah, I am. I'm slightly insane. Kelly 46:16 Well, it doesn't all have to be one project. Marsha 46:18 Oh, you know me. I always buy a sweater quantity of something. I always buy a big quantity or something. So I don't know what-- I don't know what I was thinking Kelly 46:25 It's a little more than one sweater. Marsha 46:29 Yeah, I know. It's another blanket. Kelly 46:36 Now you're gonna become known as the person who always buys a blanket quantity. Marsha 46:44 Yeah, so I don't know what I'm going to I've just I've I didn't even spin four ounces. Kelly 46:51 It's about like if you bought a fleece and sent it away to be processed. Right? A small fleece and sent it out to be processed. Marsha 47:01 Yeah, no, I'm just a little insane. Kelly 47:03 I kind of learned my lesson from this six pounds of CVM. Well, I won't say I learned a lesson because I'm pretty sure I didn't. But I do remember being really sick of it by the time I was done, yeah. And I in fact, I found a little scrap of roving from that CVM fleece this summer while I was cleaning up, I found a little bump of it. And I think I ended up putting it. I might have put it in the felting box. But I honestly I might have put it with the stuff that I used to compost. I might have just said you know what? I'm done. I'm totally done with you. And I want this out of my stash. Totally. Not even a little scrap in the felting box. I think I did end up composting it. I mean, it was less than an ounce I think ,but still. Marsha 48:00 Yeah. I mean, I in my defense I have to defend myself just a little bit is that I did buy this early in my spinning life. And when I was in you know new spinners, new knitters, new crocheters, new Weavers, new spinners. anybody new to something, you get all excited about it, and you think you're never going to see any fiber ever again, this is your only chance to buy. And so I yeah, I went a little crazy Kelly 48:27 Well, and you go through it fast. If you're really if you're really spinning, especially when you're a beginner and or if you're making yarn that's thicker, you do go through roving, you can go through roving quickly depending on the, you know, the type of thing you're spinning, but you can go through quite quickly because I remember doing a swap that was 24-- I had to make 24 skeins, each of them two ounces. So that's 48 ounces. So what? That's three pounds, right? So and I remember telling myself at the beginning if I just spin this three pounds, by the time I'm done spinning three pounds of wool, I'll be a good spinner. And, and I cranked through it one summer, you know, just spinning for this. For this swap. It wasn't all the same type of fiber. But I gathered together--basically gathered together three pounds of fiber and and spun it for this for this swap. So you do go through it fast. Yeah, you're a newer spinner and, and I could see why you would think okay, I need more because I'm just a four ounce braid just takes me no time at all. You know. Marsha 49:21 Basically I really love the wheel. I think it's a great investment just for traveling just because there's so many times I've not been able to bring my wheel to visit you because we're to the beach and I have to I'm all engrossed in a project but then I can't take it. Kelly 49:53 That's nice. I'm excited to see it. Marsha 49:55 I have to say we have to finish because my ear pods are failing and the right one is run out of charge. So let's keep moving here before my earbuds fail. Kelly 50:08 Okay, Marsha 50:10 what else do we have to talk about? Kelly 50:11 Anything else for your projects? Marsha 50:13 Oh, that's it. That's all I have. Kelly 50:14 Okay, so the only other thing we have to remind our patrons about is the Patreon giveaway. This is our year-end, thank you to our patrons for their support of our show. And so they should just let me know, email me, email or message me on Ravelry with the pattern of your choice $10 or less, and I will get that pattern out to you. I just want to thank everyone who supports us on Patreon. And if anyone would like to join the Patreon supporters, the link is at the top of our show notes. And it's patreon.com forward slash two ewes and you can become a patron of our show. But yeah, get your get your information to us and we'll get you your pattern choice. Marsha 51:04 Yeah, so thank you. All right. I think that's it, Kelly. Kelly 51:08 I agree. Marsha 51:10 I have to go cuz you're fading in the left. You're fading in my left ear now. So okay, I think we talked to we talked too long before we started recording. Kelly 51:19 Right, right. Marsha 51:21 Okay. All right. Well, we'll talk in two weeks. Kelly 51:25 In two weeks. Yeah. Marsha 51:26 All righty. Okay, bye bye. Kelly 51:29 Bye. Thank you so much for listening. To subscribe to the podcast visit Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot come. Marsha 51:37 Join us on our adventures on Ravelry and Instagram. I am better in motion and Kelly is 1hundred projects. Kelly 51:44 Until next time, we're the Two Ewes doing our part for world fleece. Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Dec 24, 2022

We've got the holiday spirit! Wishing everyone a peaceful and happy holiday and New Year. We talk about project updates and plans for our next projects. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Episode 200 Q and A: To celebrate 200 episodes and over eight years of podcasting, we'll answer your questions. Ask us about yarn, our lives, the meaning of life, Fibonacci, poodle grooming, or whatever… We'll do our best! Send your questions to twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com or use the Ravelry thread, or DM 1hundredprojects or betterinmotion on instagram. Marsha's Projects: Ben's Sweater : I thought the end of this project was in sight but boy was I wrong. I had finished both sleeves down to the cuffs and was waiting for Ben to try on to see if the length was good. When he tried it on we discovered the sleeves are too tight from the elbow to the cuff. Argh!! January Blanket : Handspun Manx Loaghton, 3-ply aran weight, 1,460 yards. Decided to add one additional 15 stitch repeat so I cast on 192 stitches. I went up a need size to #9 and have knit about 13 inches. Noromania : Bought 18 skeins of Noro Kureyon (Aran weight) to make a blanket for Mark. Kelly's Projects: Knitting on the angel from the knitted nativity scene kit. Planned for the next two weeks: Add a bumper to Minnie's wool cat bed Wind a warp for Monk's Belt weaving Ongoing: Piano, 9 songs Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, What Child is This?, Angels We Have Heard on High, O Come All Ye Faithful, O Christmas Tree, O Holy Night (longest song), Away in a Manger (with chords), Auld Lang Syne, Grand Old Flag Patreon Pattern Giveaway A hearty, year-end thank you to our patrons! Your support has made our show better and our prizes more numerous. Message Kelly with the pattern of your choice (up to $10). Thank you for your generosity. You've helped to build this community! Winter Weave Along October 1 - March 31

Dec 19, 2022

Our schedules means we both are a bit delayed getting into the Christmas spirit. We have some finished projects and some we can't wait to put in our rearview mirror. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects: Socks for Mark : Finished my brother's socks! Used Weird Sisters Wool Emporium fingering weight called Luke in colorway Mermaids of the Black Lake with heels and toes in Dream in Color Yarn fingering called Mini Smooshy in the colorway As A Bird. Ben's sweater : I have finished the body of the sweater and the first sleeve. I have knit about half the second sleeve. The end of this project is in sight. (Or is it? By publishing time there is yet another glitch...) January Blanket : I am going to use my handspun Manx Loaghton. It is aran weight and I have 1,460 yards. This is too much for a sweater so I thought a blanket would be a great idea to use all the yarn. I made a swatch and think I will go up a needle size and use #9 instead of #8. Kelly's Projects: Orange hat and a pink hat finished. Nothing else. Piano–I'm learning some Christmas songs now. (PS by the time the episode is published I have learned about 6 songs pretty well. Away in a Manger has chords and that is slowly getting better. The rest are two hands, but not both hands for the same notes. They alternate. ) Winter Weave Along October 1 - March 31

Nov 28, 2022

We talk holiday cooking, weaving curtains for The Club Car, and an update on the sweater Marsha is knitting for her son. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Craftsy classes are on the Hoopla library app. Sally Fox and Vreseis: Walking tours: History of Extra Long Staple Cotton Walking tours of the section of the cotton breeding nursery which contain some of the most famous Extra Long Staple (ELS) cottons from the 19th Century through the end of the 20th Century. Sea Island, Ashmouni, Giza 45 to Pima S7. Plan for about an hour of walking and talking, wearing comfortable shoes. These tours are meant to support and celebrate the 40 years that I have been breeding cottons for organic farming and modern ecological textile processing. In Yolo County just west of Woodland. Brooks, CA. Marsha's Projects: Socks for Mark : Using Weird Sisters Wool Emporium fingering weight called Luke in colorway Mermaids of the Black Lake with heels and toes in Dream in Color Yarn fingering called Mini Smooshy in the colorway As A Bird. I am about to start the toe of the second sock. Ben's sweater: I have finished the last Fibonacci sequence strip of the body but have not done the ribbing because I need Ben to try on the sweater to check the length. Started the first sleeve. Kelly's Projects: Another purple hat finished, started an orange hat Curtain project–handwoven curtains are finished! Mark's Cottolin 22/2 as warp, 1 ply linen weft. Swedish lace weft float spots. Piano Winter Weave Along October 1 - March 31 Weaver's Palette January 30 - February 3 Marsha is taking an introductory weaving class.

Nov 7, 2022

Kelly and Marsha were together in California to attend the Trail Along to Pismo vintage trailer rally. We wanted to enjoy our time, but still record, so we did not edit the audio and are not posting full notes. Listen to hear what we did. Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts

Oct 23, 2022

We have finished projects to report, plus lots of excitement for Marsha's upcoming visit to Kelly's. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects: I finished Happiness by Kyle Kunnecke using Yarn Snob PowerBall in the colorway Happiness. The ends are woven in, the sweater is washed and blocked, and I sewed in my label. Finished spinning the Manx Loaghton. I have 16 skeins, 1,463 yards, or 31 ounces. Cast on a Socks for Mark using Weird Sisters Wool Emporium fingering weight called Luke in colorway Mermaids of the Black Lake with heels and toes in Dream in Color Yarn fingering called Mini Smooshy in the colorway As A Bird. I finished the first sock and about to start heel flap of second sock Kelly's Projects: I continued working on the Adult Layette shortie socks. One sock is finished and I am on the heel of the second sock. Swedish Lace weaving for curtains is moving along. The sample is done. Winter Weave Along October 1 - March 31

Oct 11, 2022

Winter weaving has started and a couple knitting projects are finished-or almost! Plus fleece buying, fiber festivals, and some deferred medical maintenance. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects: Happiness by Kyle Kunnecke using Yarn Snob PowerBall in the colorway Happiness. I have finished the neckband, the first sleeve and have about one inch to do on the second sleeve. Can I call this done? Spinning: Still spinning the Manx Loaghton. I have spun 11 skeins, 1,116 yards, or 22 ounces, of a 2 pound bag of roving. Filled two more bobbins. This spinning project is going to be in the works for a while. Cast on a Socks for Mark using Weird Sisters Wool Emporium fingering weight called Luke in colorway Mermaids of the Black Lake. I realized there are 328 yards, so for the heels and toes I bought a skein of Dream in Color Yarn fingering called Mini Smooshy in the colorway As A Bird. Kelly's Projects: Finished the Central Park West shawl by Chic and Regal Knits. Using The Fiber Co. Acadia in cranberry, Jack pine, and orange storm colorways. I did a little work on the Adult Layette shortie socks using leftovers from my Rachel pullover. I already have a hat out of leftovers so the socks will complete my layette. LOL! Purchased some Tunis rovingfrom Charis at Tarheelbilly Farms . Visit @tarheelbillyfarmer on Instagram Turning Ground Yoga , yoga with a focus on knitters was a suggestion from a listener, Adrienne. Swedish lace fabric for curtains. Adventures: Fiber Fest in the Valley October 1st, 9:00am - 4:00pm Ellensburg, Washington Very fun event…like a miniature version of Black Sheep Gathering. We saw: Skagit Woolen Works Compass Rose Wool Mill The Studio@310 (Woven Rugs) Ace Fields 310 N 2nd Street Thorp, WA 98946 509 964-2473 Yarn Folk , Ellensburg, Washington Knitterly Things , Vesper Sock Yarn, Sum Sum Summertime Winter Weave Along October 1 - March 31, come chat and weave with us on the Ravelry Group! Marsha is taking an introductory weaving class. January 30 - February 3 from Weaver's Palette

Sep 25, 2022

We have winners! Our Summer Spin In has ended and we announce the winners. Listen to hear if you've won. Plus, camping, hiking, and yurt adventures. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects: Happiness by Kyle Kunnecke using Yarn Snob PowerBall in the colorway Happiness. I have joined the front and back and am about to pick up the neckband. Spinning: Still spinning the Manx Loaghton. I have spun 11 skeins, 1,116 yards, or 22 ounces, of a 2 pound bag of roving. This spinning project is going to be in the works for a while. Cast on a Socks for Mark using Weird Sisters Wool Emporium fingering weight called Luke in colorway Mermaids of the Black Lake. I realized there are 328 yards, so for the heels and toes I bought a skein of Dream in Color Yarn fingering called Mini Smooshy in the colorway As A Bird. Kelly's Projects: Lincoln spinning on the Wyatt Norwegian wheel. It's a double drive wheel so I'm getting used to the more finicky system. So far I have two skeins finished and more singles on the bobbins. New knitting project Central Park West shawl by Chic and Regal Knits. Using The Fiber Co. Acadia in cranberry, Jack pine, and orange storm colorways. I did a little work on the Adult Layette shortie socks using leftovers from my Rachel pullover. I already have a hat out of leftovers so the socks will complete my layette. LOL! I've finished carding the Wensleydale X Cormo from Black Sheep Gathering in 2017. I have just over 25 ounces of batts. Then I cleaned and oiled my drum carder and tucked it away. I don't have any more carding projects planned for now. Adventures: Fiber Fest in the Valley October 1st, 9:00am - 4:00pm Ellensburg, Washington Lambtown October 1-2 Dixon, California Weaver's Palette January 30 - February 3 Marsha is taking an introductory weaving class. Winter Weave Along October 1 - March 31 Summer Spin-In The Spin-In has ended, listen to the show to hear who won!

Sep 3, 2022

This is the last weekend of our Summer Spin In. Be sure and post your finished object in our Ravelry threads and Instagram using #summerspinin2022 by September 5th. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects: I finished spinning the two 8 ounce braids I bought at Black Sheep Gathering. A Corriedale cross and 70/30 merino/silk. I have seven skeins (two ply of each single) and have about 1,790 yards/16.6 ounces. I think it is fingering weight or a very light sport. Happiness by Kyle Kunnecke using Yarn Snob PowerBall in the colorway Happiness. I have finished the front and have knit about 3" of the back armhole. Spinning: I have started spinning the Manx Loaghton again. I have spun 768 yards, or 15.2 ounces, of a 2 pound bag of roving. I've started spinning on this again. This spinning project is going to be in the works for a while. Kelly's Projects: Finished spinning and plying yarn from a black Shetland . This fleece was purchased in 2017 at the Monterey County Wool show. I got 1,290 yards out of 19 ounces. I've continued carding the Wensleydale X Cormo from Black Sheep Gathering in 2016. On average the fiber is about 4 inches long and very fine. It isn't carding up like a long wool at all. The staple length is longer than the Shetland, but the batts are super dense and puffy like a cormo or a merino would be. I won't be spinning this right away since I need a break from spinning black yarn! I'm still considering which of these blankets to make, but now I'm leaning toward the knitted Creeper. Minecraft Blanket Creeper Blanket Adventures From our listener Wendy: "Hi there! Love your Podcast...you asked about my LYS...well, I live in New York but my favorite LYS is River City Yarns in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada...the owners, two sisters, (Barb and Cynthia) have been absolutely wonderful at creating, and maintaining, an amazing fiber community which has helped sustain its members throughout this pandemic. Most of us have never met and live thousands of miles apart...yet, we are friends....I will be forever grateful for friendship, the tutorials, knitting supplies, quick shipping and fiber information as well as the ongoing Monday evening Zoom meet-up. Check out their Podcast on YouTube . They deserve to be recognized. They have online classes going almost every week with nationally recognized instructors, constant KALs and this summer they assisted with and participated in an online summer-long yarn store crawl wherein each Sunday 4 yarn stores are given 15 minutes each to introduce themselves and their specialty areas. Except for River City Yarns, all of the stores are located in the US. Through this program, I discovered a weaving supply shop in Texas; through which I placed and already received my first order... I've knit a lot of years and I've never seen store owners work this hard to inspire and motivate people." Thank you Wendy for letting us know about Barb and Cynthia and their yarn shop. Listeners may message us stories of their favorite LYS or send an audio story via Speakpipe . Wool Show judging at the Monterey County Fairgrounds: Kelly attended the judging and tells us about the variety of fleeces she has her eye on when the auction takes place September 4th. Marsha plans to attend Fiber Fest in the Valley October 1st, 9:00am - 4:00pm Ellensburg, Washington Summer Spin-In Started June 1 and goes until September 5. (US Labor Day) If you are on Instagram use #summerspinin2022. You can also post in the Ravelry group. We have a new prize of Gotland Yarn and Roving from Sarah Sousa of Wandering Fleece Fiber Mill in Massachusets. Check out her shop to see yarn, fiber, gifts and housewares. Other Prizes: Shibui yarn hat kit donated by Dagmar (Dagger51) Alpaca sample fiber set from Cathy (Straightfork) and a pint of maple syrup from Cathy, A 3 ounce braid hand painted wool/flax blend in the colorway Key West by Purple Fleece from Sarah (Salpal1) Fleeber Farms Breed Study Sampler from Marsha (betterinmotion)

Aug 23, 2022

Summer, spinning, and carding are in full swing for us and we count down to the completion of our Summer Spin In. Plus, more camping adventures and some future project plans. And who the heck is Steve? Full notes with links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects: Happiness by Kyle Kunnecke using Yarn Snob PowerBall in the colorway Happiness. I've knit about 2" of front armhole. Spinning: I'm still spinning the Manx Loaghton. I have spun 768 yards, or 15.2 ounces, of a 2 pound bag of roving. No work on this since the last episode. Started spinning the two 8 ounce braids I bought at Black Sheep Gathering. A corriedale cross and 70/30 merino/silk. I have finished four skeins (two ply of each single) and have about 994 yards/9.6 ounces. Kelly's Projects: Finishing up spinning and plying yarn from a black Shetland . This fleece was purchased in 2017 at the Monterey County Wool show. I plan to continue carding the Wensleydale X Cormo from Black Sheep Gathering in 2017. It was already washed and waiting to be carded or combed. I have about 9 large batts so far. On average the fiber is about 4 inches long and very fine. It isn't carding up like a long wool at all. The staple length is longer than the Shetland, but the batts are super dense and puffy like a cormo or a merino would be. I won't be spinning this right away since I need a break from spinning black yarn! My next spinning project will be on the Wyatt Norwegian wheel. It's been stored in the bedroom under its cover for quite awhile now. It's time to get it out and start using it. The L'il Herbie spinning wheel needs a rest and repair. I've decided not to do it myself and will be working with our friend Stella and her husband Ron to get it professionally repaired. Hats: finished the second CVM hat with an added stripe of some variegated leftovers to have enough yarn. Another hat is on the needles. This one is using those same variegated leftovers along with the brown targhee lamb handspun from my Dark and Stormy and some leftover Rauma Tumi, an alpaca and wool yarn in an acid green color. I am also considering a blanket project for my grand nephew. But I don't know anything about Minecraft. Minecraft Blanket Adventures Kelly went on a camping trip to Casa de Fruta RV park where Vintage Camper Trailers was holding their Vintage Trailer Bootcamp. Robert took classes and Kelly sat in camp spinning yarn and spent time walking and training the dogs. The weekend of August 20th is the Wool Show judging at the Monterey County Fairgrounds. Kelly hasn't attended since 2018–broken foot and then pandemic… She's planning to scope out some fleeces. Summer Spin-In Started June 1 and goes until September 5. (US Labor Day) Less than a month left! If you are on Instagram use #summerspinin2022. You can also post in the Ravelry group.

Aug 9, 2022

Summer Vacation! Camping in The Club Car and beach trips along with spinning and fiber preparation. We've got to get it all in before summer ends. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects: Happiness by Kyle Kunnecke using Yarn Snob PowerBall in the colorway Happiness. I've started the armhole shaping. Spinning: I'm still spinning the Manx Loaghton. I have spun 768 yards, or 15.2 ounces, of a 2 pound bag of roving. No work on this since the last episode. Started spinning the two 8 ounce braids I bought at Black Sheep Gathering. A corriedale cross and 70/30 merino/silk. I have finished three skeins (two ply of each single) and have about 753 yards/7.1 ounces. Here is a link to the listing for my mother's 1968 Ford that we said goodbye to. Kelly's Projects: Currently spinning and plying yarn from a black Shetland . So far I have about 430 yards and 190 grams. But they aren't washed yet so the weight will probably go down a bit. I have another bobbin of yarn done and I'm about half finished with the carded batts. I've also started carding the Wensleydale X Cormo that was already washed and waiting to be processed. I'm about halfway through the carding and I have about 9 large batts. On average the fiber is about 4 inches long and very fine. It isn't carding up like a long wool at all. The staple length is longer than the Shetland, but the batts are super dense and puffy like a cormo or a merino would be. I'm looking forward to spinning it. CVM Hats, one is finished, one is on the needles. Future project: Wensleydale x Lincoln fleece from 2003 into a lock woven rugs for the dogs for camping or for their pillows inside. Adventures Kelly went on a camping trip to Dumbarton Quarry campground in Fremont, CA. The campground opened in August of 2021 and has an interesting history. "Tuibun Ohlone Indians inhabited a nearby village for 2,000 years before the arrival of Europeans. Their descendants preserve Ohlone culture with programs and special events at adjacent Coyote Hills Regional Park. Subsequent land use has included ranching and farming. Dumbarton Quarry was in operation from the 1950s through 2007. Quarrying changed a 190-foot hill into a pit 22 acres across and 320 feet below sea level at the deepest point, making it the lowest human-made elevation in North America. The quarry took 12 years to fill using six million cubic yards of dirt from major construction projects in the Bay Area, including the Bart extension to San Jose. The top 50 feet of dirt was then compacted with a 10-ton weight suspended from a crane." Summer Spin-In Started June 1 and goes until September 5. (US Labor Day) If you are on Instagram use #summerspinin2022. Post your chat and FOs in the Ravelry group. We'll draw prizes from all three.

Jul 24, 2022

Our Summer Spin In 2022 is in progress and we both have doing lots of carding and spinning. Hear what we have been up to. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Thank you to our patrons. To become a patron visit Patreon Page . Marsha's Projects: Happiness by Kyle Kunnecke using Yarn Snob PowerBall in the colorway Happiness. I've been knitting this sweater exclusively and have knit about 7" of the total 9" needed to start armhole shaping. Spinning: I'm still spinning the Manx Loaghton. I have spun 768 yards, or 15.2 ounces, of a 2 pound bag of roving. I finished spinning the fiber I blended on my new blending board from Celestial Farms . I have about 250 yards of worsted weight. I still have some learning to do but it sure has been fun experimenting with the board. Started spinning the two 8 ounce braids I bought at Black Sheep Gathering. A corriedale cross and 70/30 merino/silk. I have finished one skein, a two ply of each single, and have about 260 yards/2.6 ounces. Kelly's Projects: Previously I had finished the Oxford blend that I had made with mohair and silk noil (about 600 yards of worsted weight) and I finished off a 3-ply sock weight with the Santa Cruz Island fleece that had been carded (about 2 ounces). I finished the 70/30 merino silk plied with the Huckleberry Knits fiber close out . I love the way it turned out. I used the extra of the merino silk to make a skein that was just a two-ply of that yarn. About 8 ounces of the first batch and 4 ounces of the leftovers. I finished plying the Columbia fleece blended with tussah silk top. I got about 10 ounces of yarn. I'm currently carding a black Shetland fleece (~3 lbs). I also started sorting and skirting the California Red fleece that I got at the Black Sheep Gathering. Recommendation Kath and Kim on Netflix Summer Spin-In Started June 1 and goes until September 5. (US Labor Day) If you are on Instagram use #summerspinin2022. Prizes: Shibui yarn hat kit donated by Dagmar (Dagger51), Alpaca sample fiber set from Cathy (Straightfork), pint of maple syrup from Cathy, plus other fibery surprises.

Jul 10, 2022

So much to discuss in this episode! We met at the Black Sheep Gathering, in Oregon for a weekend packed with friends, sheep, and fiber. Plus, hear about Harvest Host camping experiences, our ongoing Summer Spin In, and project updates. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Thank you to our patrons. To become a patron visit Patreon Page . Black Sheep Gathering Kelly had lots of fun shopping for interesting bumps of roving at the Valley Oak Wool and Fiber Mill booth, plus a purchase of some Debouillet and California Red roving. She also got a small California Red fleece from Lynda Silk's flock at the fleece show. Plus a flick carder, a vintage sweater and Duncan Carder repair instructions. Marsha bought a blending board from Celestial Farms , plus two braids from Eugene Textile Center . On the drive to the Black Sheep Gathering, Marsha stopped at the Willamette Heritage Center for a mill tour. Marsha's Projects: Happiness by Kyle Kunnecke using Yarn Snob PowerBall . I finished the back of the sweater, set it aside to start front, and realized I did the ribbing wrong. It should be a broken rib and not a 2/2 ribbing. I had the, "I think it will be okay" conversation with myself, and decided to unravel and start over. I have knit front and back and joined in the round. Need to knit 9" until I reach the armholes where some shaping will begin. Spinning: I'm still spinning the Manx Loaghton. I have spun 768 yards, or 15.2 ounces, of a 2 pound bag of roving. I've been playing with my new blending board from Celestial Farms . I can make a rolag but cannot pull the fiber off the board with a dizz to make roving the way shown in YouTube videos. I still have some learning to do but it sure has been fun. Here is a video about a DIY blending board. Kelly's Projects: Finished the shortie socks out of Tomato and Mink Falkland handspun yarn. Trip Knitting/Crochet: I started and finished three hats using Invictus Yarns worsted weight yarn. I finished the two flat mother bears and made a third. I started plying the Columbia fleece blended with tussah silk top. I was planning to spin all the singles first, but I plied one skein of 3-ply at Black Sheep Gathering so I could start spinning a new braid of fiber. That new spinning project was 70/30 merino silk from Eugene Textile Center that I planned to ply with the merino silk that I bought from the Huckleberry Knits fiber close out . I had finished the Huckleberry Knits at BSG and wanted to start spinning a companion braid to ply it with. I am now starting to ply this yarn and I love the way it is coming out. Summer Spin-In Started June 1 and goes until September 5. (US Labor Day) If you are on Instagram use #summerspinin2022. Prizes: Shibui yarn hat kit donated by Dagmar (Dagger51), Alpaca sample fiber set from Cathy (Straightfork), pint of maple syrup from Cathy, plus other fibery surprises.

Jun 12, 2022

We have winners for the Stash Busting Blanket Along! Plus project updates, camping in the Club Car and some clothing memories. Full notes with photos, links, and transcript can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Jul Designs coupon code: 15% off with code TWOEWES. Laura Bellows Blog post series on wearing a Balinese sarong . Thank you to our patrons. To become a patron visit Patreon Page . Marsha's Projects: Unpattern Top Down Raglan Pullover by Karen Alfke. Ben tried on the sweater and it is too big. Designers instructions were misleading so I ended up with too many stitches for the body. Need to rip back to correct number of stitches because the sweater is too big and I don't think I will have enough yarn to finish. Very frustrating. This project need to be set aside for awhile Troyggja við Mynstur (Sweater with Round Pattern) by Tora Joensen (translated by Kate Gagnon Osborne: I have finished the body and the first sleeve. Washed and blocked the sleeve to be sure the size is correct because it felt tight unwashed. I'm spinning a 2lb bag of Manx Loaghton in my stash. This is a protected breed from the Isle of Man. I am using a woolen spun technique and have spun 5 skeins or approximately 400 yards. Spun three more bobbins that are ready to be plied. Happiness by Kyle Kunnecke using Yarn Snob Power Ball . The skein is massive, weighing 500 grams and 2,187 yards. I wound into three cakes and labeled yarn ends 1-6 so I can keep color order. In order to pull from the outside of cake, which I prefer, I am starting with #6 and working backwards. Kelly's Projects: I'm a little more than halfway done with the shortie socks out of Tomato and Mink Falkland handspun yarn. It's a 3-ply chain plied yarn. I can really see the variations in thickness since chain ply has a tendency to exaggerate the differences. I also have an overplied and unbalanced yarn. This is good for durability in socks, but is also something that can happen in a chain ply. While your fingers are doing the chaining, sometimes your feet don't slow down. I also have a new spinning project with the remainder of the Columbia fleece . I blended this with tussah silk top that I had in my stash. It is spinning up thin so I think I'll make a 3-ply with this. Stash-Busting Blanket Along Listen to the episode to hear the winners. Summer Spin-In Started June 1 and goes until September 5. (US Labor Day) If you are on Instagram use #summerspinin2022. Black Sheep Gathering June 24-26 Albany, Oregon Saturday June 25 meet-up starting about 4-4:30. We will supply snacks and beverages. We can't wait to meet you! We Want to Hear You! Give us a call and tell us about your favorite LYS! Go to speakpipe.com/twoewes and leave a message. It will take 90 seconds or less. Or you can use the voice memo app on your phone and email us the audio file. We'll put your voice feedback on the show! Show Transcript Marsha 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha Kelly 0:04 and this is Kelly. Marsha 0:05 We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Kelly 0:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects, and I am betterinmotion. We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Both 0:36 Enjoy the Episode Marsha 0:43 Good morning, Kelly. Kelly 0:44 Hi, Marsha. How are you? Marsha 0:46 I'm doing well. Kelly 0:47 Good. Marsha 0:48 Well, not really, though. Not really. Kelly 0:50 Oh, really? Marsha 0:51 Well, I'll talk about it when I get... oh, that's my teaser. But anyway, I want to hear how you're doing. Because I know you went on a camping trip. The first real camping trip in the trailer, not the show but a real camping trip. And I want to hear about it. Kelly 1:10 Oh, okay. Well, we got home yesterday. It was a short trip. Because by the time I made the reservations there weren't a lot of sites. You know, the sites that we liked, that we know we liked, that we were familiar with, because we wanted to make sure that it was an easy trip. The sites that we were familiar with were only available until Friday. So we left Tuesday, spent Tuesday night and Wednesday night and then came back yesterday. So it was a fun, quick trip. The weather was gorgeous, gorgeous weather. The campground that we like to go to is called Mount Madonna. And it's on what I think is called Hecker pass, it's a mountain pass through the Santa Cruz Mountains. The the far southern end, I would say, of the Santa Cruz Mountains between Watsonville and Gilroy. Marsha 2:08 Okay. Kelly 2:09 And, and I... the reason I'm making the point about where it is is because I have an idea to to float that we'll probably talk about later on in the podcast. But anyway, the trip was great. The, you know, getting in and out of our driveway part of it was successful, then we stopped at his work to let people take a look at it. And the guys that he works with were really, you know, I mean, it's it's kind of like the .... I don't, I kind of don't get it the same way. Because to me, it's about the camping experience. I mean, I think the trailer is beautiful. But I don't have like, you know how when, when men, and probably some women too... But a lot of times you'll see a classic car. And then there's all these men gathered around the classic car looking at things that I've no idea what they're looking at. Like, that's kind of the way people are when they look at the trailer. And so, you know, going to his work when he got a chance to show it off to the people that he used to work with. And they were super impressed. They'd heard a lot about it, you know, because it's been being worked on... it had been being worked on since well... We got it in December 2020. So you know, it's been a long time coming. Marsha 3:27 Yeah. Kelly 3:27 They'd heard a lot about it and seen pictures and stuff. So they wanted to see the finished trailer. So we stopped there on our way up to to mount Madonna. And the second day, the you know, the only full day that we were there, my mom and Dennis arrived with snacks to christen the trailer and, you know, visit with us because they like camping up there too. But they weren't able to camp that particular weekend because their trailer needs to go in for some work. But they did come up and visit. And I took the dogs on lots of trails and sat and spun. I basically brought my spinning project that I'll talk about and sat in the sun and did some spinning and we ate cheese and crackers when we arrived so we ended up not having dinner that night. And then my mom and Dennis they came with snacks the second day. So we had snacks and didn't have dinner the second day. There was very little cooking we didn't have to do any. Oh, I made tuna sandwiches because I had made some tuna you know some tuna salad was already prepared for the first night and we didn't eat it. So the second night when we were supposed to have barbecued hamburgers. After my mom and Dennis left a little while later we were kind of hungry. So we had tuna sandwiches and so it was easy in terms of, you know, we didn't do the eggs and potatoes or pancakes for breakfast we didn't do barbeque for dinner. There was not a whole lot of cleanup because it was mostly cheese and crackers and chips and salsa and yogurt for breakfast. And so there was lots of time to just sit around and spin and take the dogs for walks. And they did really well. It was Beary's first real camping trip. And he did great. So yeah, it was really fun. Marsha 5:32 So and then where you camp at Mount Madonna. Is it...Do you plug into services or? Kelly 5:39 Yeah Marsha 5:40 Did you have to bring your own water? Okay, so you have water and electricity. Kelly 5:43 Right. Marsha 5:43 Well,okay. Kelly 5:43 Yeah, they have hookups. They call them partial hookups, it doesn't have sewer hookup. You dump the sewer, and gray water, black water and gray water tanks. When you leave, there's a dump station where you do that. So we got to do that for the first time. Because we didn't have that in our old trailer. You know, our gray water just went into a five gallon you know, a five gallon... It wasn't a bucket, it was like a jug. You know, grey water went into a five gallon jug and we didn't have a bathroom. So there was no black water tank. So but yeah, we had electrical hookup. And we had water hookup. City water, they call it. So yeah, we had all the all the hook up stuff that we needed. Today I'm sitting in the trailer to record. I don't, I probably won't do this a lot, because we did get a cover for it. So he's going to keep it covered. But I thought oh, I'll record in the trailer today. It's beautiful outside. It's actually a little warm in the trailer because Robert had some of the windows closed but it's going to be in the 80s today, maybe it already is. So anyway, I'm sitting at the trailer table and and I'm testing out the inverter because I've got my phone plugged in and I've got my computer. It's the first time I've plugged in something more than a phone, which you can charge off of the 12 volt system battery. So right now I'm running my computer, it's it's plugged in and it's being you know, being powered by the solar. Marsha 7:31 Okay, pretty cool. Kelly 7:33 Robert's got a small solar power panel that he uses for what he calls trickle charging when it's just sitting in our driveway. So the batteries don't get overused but they also don't go dead. And then we have the larger solar panel that we haven't used in a camping trip yet. We didn't need them because we had power hookup at Mount Madonna. But Mount Madonna also has tent campsites and we went around and scoped out the sites with no services. I mean they have they have bathrooms, obviously, and they have water but you have to go to the place where the faucet is and fill up and bring it back. And we went and scoped out those areas to find some of the sites. We marked down some of the sites that are long enough for, you know, for our trailer and the truck to both be off the road, off the main road. So those campsites there were a few that we're going to probably try out if, you know, the main area is full or if we just want to get into a more quiet area or just to try it because we haven't Marsha 8:49 yeah you can go off grid you're self contained so to speak. Kelly 8:55 Yeah we don't need the electricity or the water so yeah, yeah, it should be really fun. Marsha 9:04 Well I thought it was really cool, too, that, you know, the one thing that you have not finished for the trailer is the curtains that are gonna go at the windows. That's down the line but the... your sort of... your stop gap measure is you put up all your vintage linens like tablecloths and stuff as sort of temporary curtains. I thought they were so cute. Kelly 9:27 Yeah, in fact I have the one sitting here. I'm gonna have to prevail on my more experienced weaver friends and some of the people who do more technical work because (and I'll put a picture in the show notes, in fact I'll text it to you while we're talking maybe). So this one tablecloth and I think this is one that came from the batch that you gave me when you were going through all of your all of your stuff. Marsha 9:56 Oh, right. Kelly 9:57 It's so... it's it's linen. It's a small tablecloth, a small table tablecloth, but every corner has this really interesting detail. And some of it is actual like cut out and and then bound. Or I guess it's possible that it's not cut out. That just the warp and weft threads are just bound to make pretty good sized, like quarter inch square, holes. And then some of it is just in the hemstitch, which I haven't ever done. But I'd like to try. I think that it's not that difficult. And I know I can find instructions for it. And then there's also this other mesh detail that is... I've done some woven lace, but this is actually with thread you come back after the fact. And you use threads to wrap the warp threads and the weft threads so that you've got these holes. Like it pinches in. Marsha 11:07 Yeah. Kelly 11:08 It pinches in the warp threads and it pinches in weft threads and then you get these little holes. So anyways, very interesting construction. And I'd really... there's not enough. I used this one tablecloth in one of the windows, like folded over. But there's not enough even for that one window. Well, I guess... I guess there would be for that one window. But I would like for the two windows that are across from each other in the bedroom to be at least similar. Marsha 11:43 Yeah, yeah. Kelly 11:44 So and I don't think I want to cut this one up, because it's just pretty. But anyway, I'd like to reconstruct this fabric or do some kind of facsimile of this, of this sort of fussy, fussy work. Weave something and then try that. I think it would be really kind of a fun challenge for those two bedroom windows. And then the kitchen window--and I'm not sure where it came from, it might have been a piece that I bought somewhere else. It's like a table runner, but it only has lace on one lengthwise edge. And so I don't know maybe like a buffet? You know, something that was against the wall, you would put it on that and it would hang with the lace part hanging over the front. And I just sewed a little sleeve for the for the curtain rod and used it as a kitchen curtain. The kitchen window has two crocheted lace panels that are sewn between linen fabric. And it's really cute, it's a bit too long. And I think when I'm going to do... I didn't... All I did was put a sleeve in the top of it for the rod. So it's just one panel, one piece going across the whole window. And I think... I can't decide whether I want to do it as a valance and just have one piece going across the top of the window as a valance or if I want to cut it down the center and be able to split them for the kitchen window. But I think that one will stay. I think that one in some form. Not the form is in now, but in some form that one is going to stay Marsha 13:26 okay Kelly 13:27 in that kitchen window because it is really cute. And it's the perfect size whether I make it into a valance or split it down the middle. It's it's really the perfect size. So that one will stay and then the other one that I thought was really funny is there's a dresser scarf and I think the dresser scarf also came from the stuff that you gave me. Marsha 13:51 Okay. Kelly 13:52 And one edge of it has crocheted lace that says Mother and so I hung it up in the window with the side that said Mother facing into the bedroom and my mom was laughing. She's like, I'm not sure you want your mother in the bedroom. [laughing] Marsha 14:14 Yeah, really. But you can't get into too much trouble on that bed, Kelly! [laughing] Kelly 14:23 With the word mother right over your head. [laughing] Marsha 14:26 Yeah, really. Kelly 14:29 It was really... it was... it's a really cute piece and it has plain lace on the other side. So the outside of the window had the plain lace showing. The inside of the window had the lace that had the word mother on it. So very fun. And then I used one of my I... wanted to cover the front window. Well really I wanted to keep the curtain rod from falling out. And so I put another vintage tablecloth in. I had one with flowers on it in the front window hanging up, and you know, a floral one, and then we just used that one on the table while we were, you know, while we were there. So yeah, yeah, we had a really a really good time. So the thing...Oh, Bailey's barking in the background because the mailman just came. The thing that I was thinking as we were there, because they do have the tent sites. And they also have yurts for people who didn't typically do camping, but I was thinking it would be fun to have a little camping meet up. Marsha 15:39 Oh, yeah. Kelly 15:40 And, and we could provide, again, for people who didn't necessarily do camping or have camping equipment. You know, we could do you know, here at the, at the trailer, we do coffee in the morning. And so people have their coffee, and then we could do dinners. You know, barbecue dinners, and some people would, who didn't camp typically could, you know, still eat. [laughing] We wouldn't need to worry about you know, about bringing a camp stove or, or that kind of stuff. You could get by with minimal equipment. You know. Marsha 16:16 Yeah, yeah. Kelly 16:16 That's what I was thinking. If you wanted to you could rent one of the yurts, or get one of the tent sites, or if you have an RV, bring an RV. So, you know, I don't know how many people that would actually turn out to be. Probably not very many. But I thought that might be kind of a fun thing to look into. Marsha 16:33 So, yeah, we'll think about that. Kelly 16:35 Yeah, yeah. I really enjoy that campground, because it's very close to our house. And, you know, it's in the woods. But it's not like the wilderness. And then on our way...I won't get off the camping thing! But on our way to Black Sheep gathering we're going to stay at a couple of Harvest Host sites. Kelli, that we met at Stitches, had recommended Harvest Host and I looked into it and decided to get a membership. So we're going to be staying at two places. One is a rice farm on the way up, and the other one is a winery. So I'll have to report back on how that goes. But that should be fun. It'll be at first. I've never done that kind of camping, where you just pull up at somebody's business and park in their parking lot. So yeah, Marsha 16:45 It'll be interesting. Kelly 16:57 Yeah, yeah, Marsha 17:07 How fun. Kelly 17:37 I'll definitely report back. Marsha 17:39 So yeah, well, I remember Kelli talking about it. She was really excited about it. She said it was just really, really fun. So Kelly 17:47 It's perfect for a trip where, you know, where you're on the go, because it's a one night experience. You don't stay there multiple nights. And that's not something that we've done a lot of either. You know, the trip up to Black sheep is probably the one of the those... that's one of the only types of trips where we've done the camp one night, then pack up and go kind of camping. We usually, wherever we're staying, we stay a little longer than that, even if we're moving on, you know? Marsha 18:18 Yeah. Well, I'm excited because I will see it at the end of this month, just two weeks, I think, or so I'll see it. Kelly 18:26 Yeah, yeah. Marsha 18:27 Anyway. Okay, should we move on? I don't want to cut this off, because it's super interesting and fun, but I don't. Should we move on? Move on to our next topic? Kelly 18:39 Yes. Let's move on to our next topic. There was some fiber content in there though. I have to say because I did talk about lace curtains and possible weaving. [laughing] Marsha 18:47 Yeah, Yeah, it is. Well, I think the trailer is just, it's just fun. It is just super fun. So. Okay, so before we get to projects, we just want to mention that Jul Designs coupon code for 15% off any of their products is still available. It's still going on. And just go to Jul Designs website, there's a link in the show notes and just use the coupon code TWOEWES and that's all caps. And so check that out. Did you buy your... Kelly 19:24 No I have not yet. I keep thinking I need to go in there and do it and I haven't done it. But I was looking there today as I was putting my stuff in the show notes. And I found a couple of things that I like, so I'm going to do that before we-- before I put the computer away today. And then also I noticed that she has a blog post series. Laura Bellows who has Jul Designs. She's an anthropologist, I think, and anyway, she has this blog post series on wearing a Balinese sarong and I saw the title and I saw the pictures and I bookmarked it, because I want to go back in and read it. It looks like it's like three, three or four posts on the different aspects of of that and I thought, well that's very interesting. Because, again, fabric right? Marsha 20:17 Fabric Kelly 20:20 So, so yeah, take a look at her her blog posts and take a look at her-- all of her different shawl pins and shawl collars and different closures and, and such. And thank you to her for providing this coupon code for for our listeners. Well, and speaking of thanks, Marsha, we have another thank you to do. Marsha 20:45 Yes Kelly 20:45 Our patrons from Patreon. We just want to want to give them all a shout out because we're so appreciative. These patrons that provide the funding that supports the prizes, they support the podcast hosting, all of our community events, you know. The the Alongs that we do, we are able to have prizes, you know, in the abundance that we do because of the support of our patrons. So we wanted to thank them. And our most recent patrons are--so thank you to them--Christina Y, Kelly B, Laurie M, Francesca Q, and Shelly M. They've all joined Patreon and become patrons in 2022. And then we also have Pamela R, Connie L., Cheryl C., Jan H., Hetty C, Jane H, Colleen G, and Mindy C. Thank you for your sponsorship of our podcast. Marsha 21:56 Okay, and we also have Eman, Amy L., Patti B. ,Joan B., Tammy S, Kathy M., Natalie, Martha P., Melody W., Joanne Y., Greta. H. Kelly 22:17 Okay. And also thank you to Joylaine O., Barbara G., Rachel W., Joyce G, Angela D, Laurie L, Charlene, and Erica N. Marsha 22:34 And a thank you also to Debbie F., Erica J., Rachel S., Patricia E., Catherine K., Karen B., Jenn N., and Janet S. Thank you, everyone! Kelly 22:51 Yes, thank you! We really appreciate your support. And the other members of our community also appreciate your support. Because, again, it allows us to do the kind of the kind of events and alongs and prizes. Oh, and I see I just scrolled down to the next page. Ann Gi is also a patron. Thank you, Ann Gi! She's been a patron for quite a while. And so sorry that she was missed! Marsha 23:20 Sorry. I didn't scroll down far enough. So sorry, Ann Gi. Kelly 23:24 All right. Well, with that said, What about your projects? Marsha? We'll go from up note to maybe a down note? Marsha 23:37 Oh, yes. So here's what I have to say about both my projects. The first one. So I'm going to talk first about the sweater I'm making for my son. And I'm using my hand spun. And have you ever heard Kelly of the law of attraction that you say, you tell, you say something out to the universe, and the universe gives it back to you. You have to be careful what you say because it can give you positive things, it can give you negative things. So I'm sort of laughing about this because one of the things I kept saying is how much I enjoy knitting with my handspun. But well, the universe has given me the gift of knitting the sweater for the third time. So I will just back up and just say So, bottom line, I'm taking this sweater and I'm setting it aside for a while. And I just did a note, too, about my brother's sweater. I'm kind of setting that aside for a little bit too. So the sweater I'm making for my brother, or excuse me for Ben. This is the... Do you remember? Not to rehash this whole thing but first I started making the phrancko.com sweater that didn't work out because of my gauge. So I now started doing the unpattern by Karen Alfke. And this is the raglan pullover from the top down, where you actually just take your measurements. And basically, it's the same idea of what Frank Jernigan is doing, or Amy Herzog used to do, where you, it's like, you know, the computer does the math. In this case, I'm doing the math. But we talked about this in the last episode, about the pattern. When you get to the part where you're, you're increasing for the sleeves and the body. There's an error in the pattern. I'm calling it an error. Somebody else may not say it's an error. But when you're figuring out how many stitches to have on the arm and have for the body, it says, you do your math, and times the gauge, you know, whatever it equals and then it says front or back goal stitches: 176. Kelly 25:48 Yeah. Marsha 25:49 And I kept knitting beyond I kept knitting. Because it said front and back. Kelly 25:56 No, it said, front or back. Marsha 25:58 Right, it said, front or back. I read that as I needed 176 stitches on both the front and the back. Kelly 26:05 Each, right? 176 stitches each. Marsha 26:08 Yes. Each. For the front, 176 stitches and for the back. What it really should be, instead of saying front or back goal stitches, it should say front and back, right. So I need a total for the whole body, front and back combined of 176. I have, because we caught this when I was down there for when I was down in California at your house going to Kelly 26:37 stitches or NoCKRs? Marsha 26:41 I believe it was NoCKRs. And you said, we decided, we added up my stitches, and I have 224. Kelly 26:49 Right. And we caught it because you were so far down. It was like you had... you still weren't ready to split for the split the arms off of the body. But you were far enough down that it looked like you should be splitting the arms off the body. Marsha 27:07 If I continued to the point where I should split the arm holes I would be at the waist. Right? Kelly 27:13 Almost. Marsha 27:13 That's an exaggeration. But that was right. That was the-- that was our clue. Kelly 27:18 And then you said, wait a minute, if I keep going, this is going to be way too long. Right? And then we started looking at the pattern. Marsha 27:26 And right and you caught the the mistake and the pattern. So but we had that conversation, you know that moment? And you have this conversation? We convinced each other? Yes. So they should just stop and keep going. Right? Kelly 27:42 Because how many stitches did you have on each? Marsha 27:45 I had 224 total for the body combined. And if I had continued What's two times 176? It's 252? No, it's more than it's more than 300. Yeah, that's right. And so, Kelly 28:07 So you said so you were supposed to have 176 all the way around, and you had 224 all the way. So you had essentially you had about 50 extra stitches. Yes. How did we can convince ourselves that was ok? Marsha 28:24 Well, and this is what I'm gonna... so this is what I'm gonna say. To finish it, we convinced... we have this conversation. You're like you said I think it's going to be okay, . Kelly 28:34 How far would you have to rip it back?, Marsha 28:35 But it will be ok. Kelly 28:38 Oh, that's too far to rip back. That, you know, oh, that would be unpleasant number of rows to rip. So Marsha 28:46 So. Yes, I should have just ripped back then. Because I knit the entire body. Kelly 28:52 Right. Marsha 28:53 And half of the first sleeve by the time he came home. And I tried it on him. Kelly 28:59 Yeah. Marsha 28:59 And it's way too big. Kelly 29:03 Well, and to be fair to you, he gave you a sweater that he liked as a template. And holding the sweater you were knitting up to the sweater that he liked as a template, they looked about the same size. Marsha 29:21 Yeah. Kelly 29:21 But the sweater that he liked as a template is alpaca and drapey and thinner machine knit. And it's fine yarn--alpaca. Marsha 29:31 And it's also that style where it's basically you know, the body is a square, and then the and then the arms just stick off and so here's my the moral of the story. When you have that feeling, and you know what you should do, you should just do it then. Kelly 29:49 Yes, when you have that feeling and you say, Oh, I Oh, gosh. ripping all of that out. I really don't want to do that. I think it'll be okay. That phrase, I think it'll be okay. Should be a trigger. It won't be okay. You need to rip it out. Marsha 30:07 Yeah. Kelly 30:08 I'm so sorry. Marsha 30:10 I know. So he tried it on. I don't know now, it was two weeks ago or so when he was here. Kelly 30:17 Yeah, right after our last episode, I think. Marsha 30:19 Yeah, it was Memorial Day weekend, I think. You know what, I don't remember because I was so upset that I sort of had to go to bed. No, I'm kidding. But I did I have that feeling like-- that feeling like, I'm gonna cry. Yeah, I feel like I'm gonna cry. And I think I should go get in bed and cry. But no, I'm a I'm a, I'm a grown woman. And I'm going to now go out and take the dog for a walk or do something else. And I'm just gonna set it aside and not think about it for a while. And then I have to just, I was and I was very angry at Karen. And it's not her fault, because well, I don't know if it's... No, I can't blame her. But it's just the way the pattern is written. It's not-- it is not clear. It's a mistake in the pattern. And I didn't catch it. You know? Yeah, you have to actually be thinking, I mean, you have... Because I just couldn't figure out how you could have gone so wrong from the pattern. And then, so then I took the number of stitches that were supposed to be what I thought just the front and divided by your gauge to see how many inches that was supposed to be. And realized it was the 40 inch circumference that you needed. Yeah, like, Okay, well, if it's not an error, it's at least a place where things are unclear enough that it should be changed. Yeah, but So, Karen lives in the Pacific Northwest. And I know she's a friend of my friend Kim. And so if I ever see her, I promise I will be nice to her. [laughing] Kelly 31:55 Your mad won't last too long. Marsha 31:58 It won't last and honestly, the truth is, once I rip the sweater out, yeah. for the second time. Kelly 32:05 Yeah. Marsha 32:05 And reknit it for the third time... Kelly 32:07 Karen, if you're listening, Marsha will be okay. Marsha 32:10 I promise I'll be kind but... And as I say, once I rip it back and start over again I now it's really clear what my mistake is. Okay, I'm crossing my-- you can't see me but I'm crossing my fingers. Kelly. Hopefully I'll be okay. And I won't have to knit it again. Kelly 32:28 Yeah. Knock on wood right now. So Marsha 32:32 yeah, knock on wood. Kelly 32:34 Everybody out there. Knock on wood for Marsha. Marsha 32:36 It's funny because I was reading the our posts in on Ravelry in the discussion thread, like when you posted the episode, and then people make comments, and I don't remember now who it was, I'm drawing a blank. Someone said, I'm so sorry that Marsha is having these problems that I talked about in the last episode with my brother's sweater. And I was laughing. I thought, you don't know the half of it. I had been. Yeah. Anyway, I will have the joy of knitting with my handspun a third time. Kelly 33:08 It's a good thing you like that yarn. [laughing] Marsha 33:10 Yeah, really? But I'm not going to say that anymore. Because it got me into big trouble. I think. So anyway. Okay, so now moving on to my other sweater that's a problem. And this is the sweater with round pattern. Or Kelly, how are you pronouncing it? Kelly 33:30 Well, we have a pronunciation audio from Cat. And it actually isn't sweater with round pattern. It's well, she'll, we'll play it. So we'll put the audio in right here. Cat 33:42 Hi, Kelly. Hi, Marsha. I believe it's "Tro-cha vee min-stur" Trocha: sweater. Vee: with. Min-stur is pattern. And I looked it up in the Faroese dictionary and I'll send it to you. Mynstur means any pattern, not necessarily a round pattern. It could also mean a pattern for for weaving, for embroidery. Depending on the context. In this case, it would be a pattern for knitting. Marsha 34:12 Okay, so, Cat, thank you for that. Yes, that really helps us out. Okay. What's going on with that sweater? I have, as you know, now, this is the second time I've, I mean, I switched to this pattern. I've knit the body up. This is a bottom up. So I've knit up the body up to the armholes. I've set that aside and started the sleeves. Kelly 34:34 and you've blocked it. Washed it and blocked it and checked it out that it fits. Marsha 34:37 Yes. Yes. And so I did it halfway through so that's why the pictures of it in Ravelry there's this weird line. Okay, body set aside. I started the first sleeve. Didn't like it because I was... oh, let me back up. The sleeve you're supposed to cast on and knit the cuff. Then you do some color work, work in stockinette, right above the cuff, and then you knit the main color up to the armhole, set that aside, do the same thing with the second sleeve, then attach the sleeves to the body and knit the yoke. My concern about that is, once that's done, you cannot adjust the length of the sleeves Kelly 35:18 without ripping everything out Marsha 35:20 without having to rip out the yoke. Yeah. So I what I decided to do is a provisional cast on with one row of the one of the contrast. The colorwork... the cuffs are supposed to be in the navy blue. So I decided to do one row of the navy blue and then start the colorwork. And that was a disaster because you're doing it, you know, magic loop. And the tension was terrible. It was all over the place. Kelly 35:51 And you have no base to hold on to while you're doing the colorwork. Yeah. Marsha 35:55 Right. So I ripped that out. I cast on again, provisional cast on. I did three rows of stockinette in the blue, the navy blue, which is going to be the cuff color, because I thought, what will... and then I knit the color work. And I did about an inch of the main color. And I realized, I don't like the color work because the everything is knit on size eight. But what I've decided to do with the yoke, is I'm going to knit that on nines, and I forgot to switch to nines for the color work sleeve. So I ripped it out back to the... it was not as horrible, but I had to rip it back out to the three rows of the Navy of the stockinette. And then I reknit the color work on nines. And then I switched back to eights and I've done most of the sleeve, I would say it's three quarters done. And I thought it feels a little tight. Kelly 36:57 Oh no. Marsha 36:59 I don't know what's gonna happen. But I decided I'm putting it on waste yarn, and I washed and blocked it. So I did that yesterday. So it's sitting there drying. And so I I just want to make sure. Kelly 37:12 Yeah. Marsha 37:13 I don't want to finish that sleeve and do the second sleeve and have them too tight. So Kelly 37:20 oh my gosh! Marsha 37:22 All I can say is, what the hell? [laughing] I hate... I hate these projects. I hate these projects. So just to help myself I...So Ben's sweater's being set aside for a while. My brother's sweater is going to be set aside for a while. I just need to take a break from it. And anyway, I decided to cast on something else. So Kelly, guess what I cast on. Kelly 37:53 Something for you. Marsha 37:55 Something for me! And just the name alone is gonna make me happy. It's called Happiness. Kelly 38:00 Yes. Marsha 38:00 And the designer is Kyle Kunnecke and I'm using the big giant baby that I bought at stitches, Yarn Snobs Powerball, and it has all these colors in it. It's so interesting. I will post pictures, too. It weighs... this skein of yarn weighs 500 grams, it's 2187 yards and it was a bit of a challenge to get it onto the swift. And then I wound it into three cakes and what I did is because if you-- if you break it, well... First of all I have to say this is amazing yarn. I'm kind of curious how he's able to get 500 grams and over 2000 yards with not a single break and there's no knots at all and so it's a continuous piece of yarn. I don't know how he dyes it so beautifully given that it's so thick. I mean he's got the color goes all the way through. It's amazing how it's clearly when you open it up into the hank it's it's that's how it was dyed. it was not dyed in another form and then wound into that hank, you know. You can see it's been dyed in that hank. Yeah. Is that was not reskeined. No Yeah. Well anyway, so Kelly 39:23 Hard enough to skein it in the first place before you dye it! Marsha 39:28 So what I did is... I... but I wanted... It may not be important to keep the color order given the way this thing is sort of this very, very crazy, chaotic color, you know, it may not be necessary. Kelly 39:40 I think it's necessary. Marsha 39:42 Well, I wanted to keep the color order. So what I did is I wound it into three balls, but I put a piece of tape like painters tape on the beginning of the yarn, but as I started taking it off the swift I put it in-- I labeled that end 1 and I put it in so the end 1 now is on the inside of my cake. And end 2 is on the outside of my cake. Right, so then I break that, and then I put a tape on the next the piece that's coming off of the swift, that's 3 that's now wound on that's on the inside of a cake, and 4 is on the outside of my cake. And then the third one, end 5 is on the inside. And end 6 is on the outside. I like to pull from the outside. So I can't pull from the outside of the first cake that is labeled one and two, because two is on the outside. So I'm starting at the very end. So I'm starting with the third cake, which is end starting with six, which then five will be in the center. Then I'll go to two, 4, which is on the outside. 3 is on the inside. And then the last cake 2 is on the outside and 1 is on the inside. Does that make sense? Kelly 41:06 Yeah. And that's I think going to be really important because the cakes of yarn actually look very different. Marsha 41:14 It's true. And the the first one I wound off and the last one I wound off look the most similar. The one that's right in the middle is darker, it has more black in it. So I think I think it is important to keep the order. Kelly 41:32 Yeah, because that way you don't have to alternate skeins, it'll just go along the patterning of the skein. And whatever the differences are, they will change naturally, the way the skein changeds as opposed to abruptly if you weren't going in that order. So I think that's a smart way to do it, Marsha. Marsha 41:55 Yeah, so I already started knitting on it. I'm so much happier. It's on size four. So it's a nice, it's a smaller needle. Because the other thing I need to mention that I did finish my garter squish blanket over Memorial Day weekend, the deadline to finish it was May 31. And I believe I finished it on May 30 with a day to spare. But that was knit on 13s and that's like, it really feels you can't really get a rhythm knitting with those, because they're so big. So I'm very happy with this so far. And I've just knit. Let's see, I'm knitting on it now. And I have to do two inches of ribbing, and then I'll switch to stockinette. And so I...this is what I'm planning to bring to Black Sheep Gathering the end of the month. So I can just knit mindlessly on it and talk to people and not look at those other two sweaters. Kelly 42:52 I think that's a really good plan. And the thing about this one is that it's a nice kind of boxy sweater with a lot of positive ease. So that's a lot of stitches going around and around in stockinette. So it'll be it'll be perfect knitting for a long time. Marsha 43:12 Yeah. Kelly 43:14 And I think everybody probably has the size needle that they feel the most comfortable with. Or the range of needle size that they feel the most comfortable with. I really like my sock needles at the low end. And then I like threes. Like threes, fours. That's a twos threes, fours that's a really nice size for me. It feels they feel right in my hand. Where when I'm knitting with five fives or sixes for a hat, it's not that I don't enjoy it. But it's always nice to get back to my little needles. Marsha 43:49 Yeah, yeah. Kelly 43:51 So that's that'll be good, too. It's right in your your comfort knitting zone. Yeah, well, that's good. I'm excited about it. I think it'll be I think it'll be a good project for you. It sounds like you're excited about it. The colors are great. Marsha 44:07 And then I have been spinning on the Manx Loaghton. And I've been spinning on that and I'm planning on bringing my wheel and that to Black Sheep Gathering and mostly spinning, I think. Kelly 44:21 Oh, good. Marsha 44:22 That's it. And then as I say finished project, I finished my garter squish. That's my only finished project. Kelly 44:27 and it turned out nice. Marsha 44:29 Yeah. It's nice. Kelly 44:30 How do you-- have you put it next to your other two? To like, see how it compares and what you like? Like, how do you like them compared to one another? Or are there like, this is the first one that you've done with flat colors? Marsha 44:47 No, it's the second. Kelly 44:48 Oh, the second one. That the first one you did was also was the Cascade. Marsha 44:54 The first one was flat. The main color was like a blue like a I don't know what color blue you would call that one Kelly 45:00 Not quite navy-- kind of between the Navy and kind of a darker royal blue? Not so bright as a royal blue, but not so Navy. Marsha 45:10 And and then this one, it had brighter colors more. Not really natural colors. The contrasting one? And then the second one I did is when we dyed all the yarn so we had the gradient and then all the painted variegated. And then the this one that I just completed the background was a brown, then all the colors are like sage and orange. And I don't know, it looks more like the first one. Kelly 45:43 Yeah. Marsha 45:44 And ironically, I what I really would like to do is I would like to do one where the the, the main color is just a cream or a natural color like yours. That's what I-- but I found that's what I wanted to do. But you know, I had all that yarn. The first one it was using the yarn from my dad's sweater. And then the one that I just finished, I had a lot of just undyed yarn, and I dyed it because I Kelly 46:16 because the solid was the brown. Like you've always had a different solid. Marsha 46:21 Yes. But actually now I'm kind of thinking I could have. Well, no, that really wouldn't, because even the natural colored yarns were all slightly different. I didn't have a consistent... I was thinking what I could have done is just reversed it. And the one that yarn that was sort of the... No, I did it the right way, because the yarn that I dyed for the background was all kind of camel colored, right? It wasn't natural. Yeah, yeah. So anyway. Kelly 46:44 Well, you'll have to put a fourth one on your needles Marsha 46:49 I cannot do a fourth one, ugh! Kelly 46:50 No, you know what you should do? The next one you do, because I think there will be another one in your future at some point. Not in the near future. Yeah, I'm sure there'll be another one. Do that one that is the, I think it's called the sediment throw. Where you go corner to corner? Marsha 47:07 Yes. Um, I was thinking about that. And then the other one I'm thinking of is, there's the one for my brother that he wants. Kelly 47:19 You're not doing any projects for other people for a while. Marsha 47:22 No. Kelly 47:23 I'm gonna lay down that law for you, Marsha. [laughing] Marsha 47:25 I know. But the one I really want to make is... I'm sorry, I should have been... because I didn't know we were going to be talking about this in depth. Let me look at my patterns... Kelly 47:37 Well, a lot of people did the habitation throw. Marsha 47:42 I'm looking for the one that I... because I've been pulling out yarn for it. Anyway, there's the one for my brother. And that's all with the Noro. And I don't really have I don't have any Noro. So I have to figure that one out. I was scrolling through my patterns. I can't find it. It but anyway, basically, it's like chevrons, kind of, you just use sock weight yarn that you and so that's when I was sort of thinking of using that. And I was actually thinking because I have so much sock weight yarn like scraps. But I also have a lot of sock weight yarn that I bought single skeins, that I don't really like them. I don't want a shawl out of them. I don't want to make socks. I was thinking I would put that all into the blanket, but I have, you're supposed to use about 500 grams. To make the blanket. Total to make the blanket. I was sort of thinking maybe what I would do is hold the sock weight yarns double and go up a needle size. And so I could use some of those one off skeins that I don't really like very much. So anyway, Kelly 48:52 I think it's a perfect solution. Holding yarn double is a perfect solution to using the partials or well, partial skeins that are leftover but also full skeins of, of yarn that you bought that you don't need another pair of socks or you weren't in love with it anymore. Marsha 49:13 Yeah. I'm hoping I get my Juju back. Kelly 49:15 Well, focus on your sweater first because that is, I think, that is just such a fun pattern. That sweater is cute. The yarn is great. It's comfortable knitting because you just start doing stockinette around and around until you're sick of it. Marsha 49:36 Yeah. So I think I have these you know, my brother's sweater and Ben sweater are sitting in my bedroom in their project bags. I think I'm gonna go put them in the closet. Kelly 49:44 I think you should. Yes, put them away where you don't have to look at them and feel any kind of guilt or? Marsha 49:49 Yeah. Anyway. So let's go into more positive things. We'll finish my projects and go into your projects. Kelly 49:57 Okay, well, there's not much to say This will be short. I'm making a pair of shorty socks. And I'm using a hand spun yarn that I've that I've actually used before for socks. It's out of a fiber was Falkland, which, it's not as soft as I would expect Falkland to be. But there's not, you know, it's not horrible. Just when people talk about Falkland a lot of times they talk about how soft it is. But anyway, it's Tomato and Mink, or Mink and Tomato was the colorway. I don't now remember where I got it. But it was a number of years ago, maybe 2013 or 14, something like that. And I spun it up and last summer or the summer before I made a pair of regular socks out of it. And I had spun it for socks, I made a three ply, so it's long color repeats, it's a chain ply. One thing I will comment about chain ply because there was a little bit of discussion about it on the Ravelry group this morning. One thing about chain ply, it definitely magnifies your inconsistencies. So I have some places where this yarn is super, super thin, like a lace weight. It's a three ply, but super, super thin, because my fiber got thin. And then you're putting the three thin fibers together and you do the chain ply, so it's thin. And then in the thicker area, you know, because when you're chain plying, you're plying areas that are close together, I'm plying three, three thicker strands. And then I've got a thicker yarn, so it's more like a sport. So this yarn varies from a really thin lace weight to about to sport weight. Which is fine, it makes a nice sock. It's not you know, it's honestly this is one of the things I try to tell people is that those kinds of inconsistencies, you think they look big in the skein or in the yarn, but once you knit with them, even in stockinette, I'm really not seeing that kind of inconsistency in my knitting. So it doesn't show. The other thing about the chain ply is you have a tendency to over spin it. Because your feet... you need, you really need as your hands slow down if you get, you know, stuck or you miss the chain, or you just need a little extra time. And you don't also slow down your feet, you get it over spun over plied. And this yarn is pretty overplied. I mean, it's like kinking on itself as I'm trying to knit with it. And you know, it's been washed. And a lot of times when you wash an over plied yarn, it does relax quite a bit. But this I'm a lot of times having to, you know, pull out the kinks, as I'm knitting. The places where it's pigtailed onto itself. That's really good and I did it on purpose. Well, it's a it's a good feature to have for sock yarn, because it makes the sock yarn more durable. But it is a little bit annoying to knit with. And it is a feature of chain plying, if you're not really careful, you can get you know, you can get things over plied when you don't mean for them to be. But these are just a pair of shorty socks, and they're not going to match because they're with the leftover balls. And these are... so one of them has a gray cuff, the other one has a gray and orange striped cuff. And then half the foot is gray and other half the foot is orange. And this one I've got a gray cuff and an orange part of the foot. And then I have only gray left. So it'll only have one orange stripe or the other one has, I think two or three places on it that there's orange. So these are really long pattern repeats which again is another one of those features of chain ply is that you can get those long-- or not pattern repeats, color repeats, you know, long stretches of color. So they're self striping, but the stripes are about four inches in some places. Yeah. So that's my socks. And then I have a new spinning project. So I'm using up the remainder of the Columbia fleece. I had been using the Columbia and the Oxford. Spinning those up, I spun those all. I had spun those in the past two summers and then used them for my garter squish. And then I I'd used up all of the Oxford in the final part of my garter squish. And so then I started with the rest of the Columbia fleece and I carded it and I added in tussah silk. So I have this tussah silk top I had bought like a pound or eight ounces of it or something a long time ago. It was in my stash, I got it out and I just, you know, blended that in as I was carding, and it is nice. This fiber's really nice. I have these batts. And you can see, like, I blended the silk, I tried to blend this out pretty well. But there are places where you've got like this strand of like silk fiber running through it. That's just super pretty and fun to spin. There's a lot of silk content, I tried to get 50/50. But I couldn't. I only wanted to do three passes through the carder, and I couldn't get 50% silk into the fiber in just three passes. So that's alright, it has enough silk in it. It's going to be really nice. And it's spinning up pretty thin. So I'm probably going to make it into a three ply, but I don't know, I might two ply it and use it for a shawl or something. I'm not sure how much I'll have when I get when I get done. Marsha 56:04 Yeah. Kelly 56:05 And I think in this case, I am going to spin all the singles first and then decide if I want to do I want a two ply. Or do I want a three ply? How much yarn? How much of this yarn do I want? And then I think I'll also dye it after the spinning is finished. Because that'll be interesting because the dye will take differently on the silk and the wool. Marsha 56:26 yeah, interesting. Kelly 56:28 And I cleaned up my wheel, took it all apart, washed it, oiled it-- well, washed it, polished it, put it back together, oiled it. It's spinning so nicely. Marsha 56:41 So I have a question. I don't see your mohair sweater on here. Kelly 56:45 No, that's put away for a little while. It's been kind of warm. I haven't knitted on it since I think I was knitting on it at the last episode when we recorded and it's still sitting up in the in the guest room vanity area from that day. I haven't touched it since then. I got really into the carding that was the main thing and then the socks are just something that I started at the Pismo rally trip to have something to knit in the car and then I brought them with me in the car to this, you know on this trip, but I haven't made a whole lot of progress on them. Marsha 57:23 Well, I have a comment about it. When I was walking Enzo and listening to the last episode, you were talking about the sweater and how you had had that sweater in the 60s. You-- the mohair sweater that you bought in the boys department. Kelly 57:41 Yeah, Marsha 57:41 And I was walking along and I of a sudden I thought, why was that sweater in the boys department? I mean like because it was hairy right? It was like a hairy mohair sweater. Kelly 57:52 It was a vest. Marsha 57:52 A vest Yeah, I mean a vest but like it was in the boys department? Like what boy was wearing? Was that a style to have those hairy vests or? I think that's what just struck me is like, what boy was going to be wearing that? Kelly 58:07 Yeah, I know. I don't know. Well, I told you it was unusual. I it was an unusual piece of clothing. Marsha 58:15 I know so you always think of the boys department having...You know when Ben was born and Iwould go to get him some clothes and and all these--so much variety and interesting things with for girls. And the boys it was all like Navy and brown. Like there was nothing fun really with boys clothes. And so that's why I'm like, What boy was going to be wearing that hairy vest? [laughing] Kelly 58:44 Well, and this was ...I wonder if I have any pictures with me wearing it? This was tan, kind of a tan brown color. And they had a... I don't think the whole vest was Argyle. I don't think the pattern was totally Argyle but it had a thin orange like thin orange diagonal striping like an argyle. I just remember the thin orange stripe. I don't really remember if the whole thing was Argyle. If it was, it was muted, you know, it was like a tan and a light brown or something. It wasn't wild colors. But yeah, it was... It wasn't, you know, totally hairy like my Sonny Bono jacket. You know, it wasn't like that. But it was definitely hairy. Marsha 59:37 You know, I guess I'm out of touch. I'm out of touch with what boys were wearing in the 60s and this Kelly 59:42 Well, let's see, when would it have been? Late sixties or early seventies.., depending on when I had it. I think I had it in like middle school. We don't have middle schools here but-- or we didn't have middle school where I was but it would have been like middle school age, maybe fifth sixth, seventh eighth somewhere in there. So it would have been the early 70s. Marsha 1:00:09 Yeah, yeah. Kelly 1:00:10 No, I can picture it... I can kind of. Yeah, I think it could have been like maybe something the Monkees wore maybe. Marsha 1:00:20 Well, you know, I mean, I don't know. I, since we're on this topic, I remember it was very popular for girls when I was in middle school. Well, elementary school, but like late elementary, like, sixth grade or something, but those crocheted vests. All the girls wanted, like, crocheted vests and it was like those granny squares, right. And my my aunt made one for me, my great aunt made me one of those vests and then Kelly 1:00:55 It would be right in style now if you still have it. [laughing] Marsha 1:00:58 Yes. And then also do you remember Go Go boots? Kelly 1:01:01 Oh, yeah. Marsha 1:01:01 Did you have the white Go Go boots? Kelly 1:01:03 I didn't have them for regular life. Wehad white boots for my baton. My baton group. Marsha 1:01:11 Oh, I had gogo boots and white gogo boots that I wore to school because everybody wanted them and I my parents bought me a pair, probably at Sears. And they were like vinyl. Yeah. And my feet practically rotted off in those. Kelly 1:01:30 Yeah. Marsha 1:01:32 Well, between you know, nylon socks and plastic boots. I remember a my mother finally said you just can't wear them because my feet were I was getting like, like athlete's foot or something and just sitting in that moisture all day long. So she said you can't wear them. So I was only to wear them like once a week or something. Kelly 1:01:51 That's funny. Yeah, we had them for baton, for parades and stuff. That was part of our parade uniform. And, and the other part of our parade uniform was vinyl. And it was like a cowboy vest with a suede. It was the beige cowboy vest with a suede star on it and suede like edging. Right. And then the bottom part of it was these vinyl bloomers. Marsha 1:02:24 Bloomers? Kelly 1:02:25 Bloomers Marsha 1:02:25 Pants. Kelly 1:02:26 Like, bloomers! [laughing] Marsha 1:02:32 They wouldn't they have no drape or anything, right? I mean, they must have been... Kelly 1:02:37 there's no leg, right? So they're just bloomers. So they like they just, I mean, I maybe I'm not using the right word. They were like they're like the shape of underpants. [laughing] Marsha 1:02:51 Oh my gosh. [laughing] Kelly 1:02:54 And I, honestly this is terrible. This is maybe too much information. But I remember one parade thinking of the you know, the, the vinyl and the not breathing and the... But I remember one parade where the edge of the vinyl the unsewn seam edge. Because my mom made them, right. Somebody in the troop made them and most of the girl's parents or moms made them but then there were some moms that didn't sew. But my mom sewed so she made ours. But the seam allowance wasn't covered. And I had oh my god, the most painful, painful raw area Marsha 1:03:36 down there. Kelly 1:03:38 From marching with that seam edge of this vinyl rubbing on my leg. For the whole parade. It's like oh my god. When I think back on that. Yeah. And then we had the white, the white boots. And we had cowboy hats. Oh, it was cute. Marsha 1:03:58 But painful, but very painful. Kelly 1:04:01 Well after that one parade my mom did fix it. She... I don't know what--she covered the seam allowance in some way. But yeah. Oh my gosh, I should look for it. I should look for a picture. Marsha 1:04:14 Yeah, yeah, Kelly 1:04:14 To put in the show notes. I don't know if I have time to do that. But yes, funny, cute. They were cute. But when I think back... So that's the end of my projects, Marsha. That's why we're talking about so much random other stuff that's not knitting. [laughing] Marsha 1:04:35 I know. Well, hopefully things will start looking up for me and so that we'll have better things to talk about in terms of projects. But anyway, moving along. Let's talk about the Stashbusting blanket along because that is done. It ended on May 31. And we have winners. Kelly 1:04:55 yes. Marsha 1:04:56 So so let's just say what the prize is going to be Kelly 1:04:59 okay. Marsha 1:04:59 We debated a long time about what the prize should be. Because we thought of yarn, getting people a-- but then this was all about stash busting right? You could look at this both ways. Oh, they didn't want any more yarn because they were working to get rid of yarn out of their stash. Or you could look at it as everybody got rid of the, the yarn in their stashes that all the stuff they used, it was really a Stashbusting. And they need some yarn. So we couldn't make up our minds. We finally decided to go in a completely different direction. And everybody who the winners will receive a pattern of their choice up to $10. So that's going to be the prize. And we have five winners. So Kelly, yes, so we'll list them. Let's say who it is. Kelly 1:05:44 Our first winner is michembry, Michelle, and she made the Habitation Throw. And I really liked that pattern. I'm gonna, I think I might at some point, make one of those because it turns-- a lot of people did them and they all turned out really, really nicely. So congratulations, Michelle. Marsha 1:06:04 Yes. And our second winner is cattitude. Cat. And she made the sunburst granny square throw. Kelly 1:06:14 Yeah, congratulations, Cat. She's our Faroese interpreter. Marsha 1:06:20 Yes, yes. Our foreign correspondent. Kelly 1:06:23 Our third winner is iheartbooks. And she also made a garter Squish, blanket. It turned out really nicely. I just have to say that is the best pattern. I really think that pattern is so versatile. So congratulations, iheartbooks, and I didn't say what her real name is. I don't remember if that's because it wasn't there. Or if I just forgot, but iheartbooks, Congratulations! And Laura Sue also made a garter squish. And Kelly, you have a note here accursed Romney? Yes. She she made a post in one of the-- I think this one was from the discussion board. I drew from both the discussion, and the fo thread to get the winners. And she was using this what she called the accursed Romney that she was trying to get rid of. But she also knit this during the caregiving and loss of her mother, and talked about how soothing it was to, to knit, you know, that garter stitch pattern. And to just-- kind of like what you were talking about with the sweater you're doing. You can just knit and knit and knit and not have to really think too much about it. So yeah, she got she got rid of a Romney fleece that she'd had forever and had been probably she felt like it was multiplying in her stash because I have that feeling about some of my yarn. Like, wait a minute, I thought you were gone. Marsha 1:07:55 Yeah. Kelly 1:07:57 And then our last winner, also with the habitation throw is Starwood knitter. So congratulations to Starwood knitter Marsha 1:08:08 and to all the winners. It was a really fun along Kelly 1:08:12 Yeah, it was it was. Marsha 1:08:14 I would consider doing another Stashbusting blanket along next year. Yeah. Different pattern though. Kelly 1:08:23 That's good. Give everyone some time to think Marsha 1:08:27 and build up their stash. Kelly 1:08:28 Build up or go through their stash and get ideas. Get some creative ideas. Because honestly, when we started this, I didn't think I had the right... I knew I had stash. But I didn't think I had the right yarn to make one. And it wasn't until I put it all out. And looked at it for a couple of weeks with different ideas before I thought, Oh, I know what I could do. I could combine these and yeah, so. So yeah, well, so definitely have to do that again. It was really fun. Yeah, we'll need to have some time in between to do something other than blankets. Marsha 1:09:08 Yeah. So as I mentioned before, the prize is a pattern of your choice up to $10. And Kelly, we're gonna have people contact you. Kelly 1:09:20 Yeah, through Ravelry or, two ewes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com, the email address, Instagram, any of those ways, just get in touch with me. All I need is to know your Ravelry name and what pattern you want. And if you're not on Ravelry and there's a pattern you want that I can get to you some other way let me know that too, because I've been able to do that for some other people. Marsha 1:09:50 All right, and then the Summer Spin In is underway. It started June 1 And it goes until September 5 We've talked about what we were spinning Kelly 1:10:04 I put up the thread. So there's a thread on Ravelry and I have a hashtag summer spin in 2022. Marsha 1:10:13 Okay, Kelly 1:10:13 so if you want to post, if you have Instagram and you want to play, post on Instagram. Go ahead and use the hashtag summer spin in 2022. And there's no, I have no punctuation in that summer spin in, there's no dash or anything. It's just three words summer spin in and 2022. Marsha 1:10:34 And then the other thing Black Sheep gathering we've talked about mentioned it during this episode, but just the details: Black Sheep Gathering is taking place in Albany, Oregon on from June 24 through the 26th. And Saturday, June 25, we will have a meet up at the trailer starting around 4:00 or 4:30. And so we'll have some snacks and beverages and if you are at the black sheep gathering, stop by and say hi. Kelly 1:11:06 yeah. Marsha 1:11:09 So I should say too, Kelly, I did sign up for a class. You will laugh about this one. I'm going to take a color work. Finally. So I'm actually excited about that. Hopefully, I'll learn some good tips and techniques. So and then our last order of business is we want to hear from you. So we've done this before where people have been sending us audio recordings about their favorite yarn shops. And so just go to speak pipe.com forward slash two ewes and you can leave a message up to 90 seconds. And they've been fun, the ones that we've been using. Kelly 1:12:04 So yeah, we haven't received anything in a while. So yeah, send in your your information about your favorite local yarn store. And you can also use the Voice Memo app on your phone and email it. That'll work too. Marsha 1:12:19 I don't think we have anything else. Is there anything else we need to say? Kelly 1:12:22 I think that's it, Marsha. Marsha 1:12:23 Alright, I'm gonna let you go. I'm gonna go walk the dog now. Okay, he's in his usual position while we record, laying flat on the on his back legs splayed. Sound asleep. He just got groomed yesterday. So he's, he's got fresh poodle parts as I say. Anyway, okay, we'll talk in two weeks. Kelly 1:12:46 All right Bye bye. Marsha 1:12:48 Bye bye. Kelly 1:12:49 Thank you so much for listening. To subscribe to the podcast visit Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Marsha 1:12:55 Join us on our adventures on Ravelry and Instagram. I am betterinmotion and Kelly is 1hundredprojects. Kelly 1:13:04 Until next time, we're the Two Ewes Both 1:13:06 doing our part for world fleece! Transcribed by https://otter.ai

May 29, 2022

Kelly's restored 1950 Westcraft Coronado trailer, "The Club Car," finally comes home after snow related delays. Plus, we have project updates and our Summer Spin in starts June 1st. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Jul Designs coupon code: 15% off with code TWOEWES Marsha's Projects: Depth Hat by Talitha Kuomi I finished this hat. The yarn is The Fiber Seed Sprout Special Speckles DK, in the colorway Dirty Seahorse. I could not get the yarn to pool in the way that attracted me to the pattern in the first place. The colors spiral, but I still like it. Meadow Stripe Socks using Patons Kroy Sock in the colorway, Meadow Stripes and Lang Yarns Jawoll Superwash fingering for the heels and toes. I finally found the misplaced yarn for the toe and was able to finish these socks. Garter Squish Blanket On color fourteen of sixteen. I'm ready for this project to be done! Unpattern Top Down Raglan Pullover by Karen Alfke. I finished the Fibonacci Sequence striping of the body except for the ribbing. I'm waiting for Ben to try on the sweater. Picked up and knit the neck band and started the first sleeve. Troyggja við Mynstur (Sweater with Round Pattern) by Tora Joensen (translated by Kate Gagnon Osborne: I knit my swatch and got gauge with size 8 needles instead of the suggested size 9. I plan to knit colorwork yoke with size 9. I cast on the sweater while at the beach and knit the ribbing, the colorwork and about an inch of the body. Decided the size was too small, frogged, and cast on the next size up. At about 9" I put the body on waste yarn and washed and blocked to be sure gauge and size are okay. The ball of red arrived for Navia that will be in the yoke. I'm spinning a 2lb bag of Manx Loaghton in my stash. This is a protected breed from the Isle of Man. I am using a woolen spun technique and have spun 5 skeins or approximately 400 yards. Spun three more bobbins that are ready to be plied. Kelly's Projects: Finished the Garter Squis h blanket using handspun leftovers. Mother Bear time! Mielie vest using Schaeffer Yarn Company Little Danya mohair. This sat in the knitting basket for the last two weeks. Color is Rosa Parks and it was spirit yarn from NoCKRs retreat in 2018. Shortie socks out of Tomato and Mink Falkland handspun yarn. 3-ply chain plied yarn. Suggested podcasts: Hooked and Booked podcast with AJ of KJKrochet , South Africa Crochet Conversations Inez and Mell from Singapore We Want to Hear You! Give us a call and tell us about your favorite LYS! Go to speakpipe.com/twoewes and leave a message. It will take 90 seconds or less. Or you can use the voice memo app on your phone and email us the audio file. We'll put your voice feedback on the show! Stash-Busting Blanket Along Ends May 31. Summer Spin-In Starts June 1. Goes until September 5. (US Labor Day) Black Sheep Gathering June 24-26 Albany, Oregon Saturday meet-up starts 3:30 Show Transcript Marsha 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha and this is Kelly. We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Kelly 0:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects and I am betterinmotion. We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Enjoy the Episode! Marsha 0:43 Hi, Kelly. Kelly 0:43 Hi, Marsha. Marsha 0:45 Okay, big news. Kelly 0:47 Yes. Marsha 0:47 Talk. Big news. Kelly 0:49 Big news. So the trailer pickup finally happened. Marsha 0:54 Yay. Kelly 0:55 It was so much fun. It was so much fun. So we went up to, no down. South, south of us to Pismo Beach. They have the Pismo trailer rally. And it's Pismo Coast Village, which is an RV park in Pismo Beach. And, oh, it was so fun. It was all vintage trailers, you have no idea how many different varieties of vintage trailers there are. Marsha 1:29 Mm hmm. Kelly 1:31 It was amazing. You know, most of the park there was... there are some sections of the park that were just regular modern RVs. And probably the majority of the park was full of vintage trailers of all shapes and sizes. And they have...And one of them, I guess I should be more specific. And one of them was ours, because the people who worked on our trailer go to this rally every year. And it's kind of like NoCKRs, you know, like the retreats where if you go one year, then you have priority to get in and to actually get that same trailer spot the following year. And so, I mean, there are actually people who weren't there. But, you know, bought their spot, didn't cancel and get a refund. So they, so they'll have it for next year. Marsha 2:25 Okay. Kelly 2:26 So and there are people who have been going for, you know, 5 6 7 8 years. I don't know how long it's been going on. But you know, they've been going for a number of years and since everybody stays in their same campsite once they get the one they want, they're like neighbors you know. They they know each other there, they know the people camping around them. And so it's this whole community. I was talking to one man, I said, Oh, this is like a giant rabbit hole. And he's like, Oh, you you have no idea how deep this rabbit hole is! [laughing] Marsha 3:00 It's like a version of spinning learning to spin, right? Like they don't even want to drop spindle because they're gonna go down that rabbit hole. So this is this kind of the same thing. Kelly 3:06 And the people there had, like, this was the trailer that they bought to brought to the rally, but the one they usually bring is something else. Or the one they camp in or, or I was talking to one couple and they said, Yeah, we're gonna, we're gonna be at the one in November. But we're not sure if we're going to bring this one or we'll bring our other one. So they have like trailer stash. Marsha 3:40 I was just thinking that. Trailer stash. Yeah. [laughing] Kelly 3:45 So yeah, and then people would talk about, well, this is my "forever trailer." So like, you have a trailer, but you have aspirations for a different trailer. And then, you know, you sell one trailer and buy another trailer. And anyway, it's a whole world that I didn't know, you know, we had not ever done rallies before. And so this is a whole world that that we are entering into. And the reason we got to enter into it. I mean, we had talked about going, you know, going to one or you know, getting a reservation or trying to get into one. But we got kind of thrown into the deep end because they were coming down, and they were going to be bringing a different trailer. But since we hadn't been able to pick up ours in April. They said, Well, what if we bring yours down and then we'll just stay, you know, stay in hotel and you can stay in the trailer? So that's what we did. And then they showed it during the open house, you know, so that the public could see it. But we were kind of mean, we didn't have the public traipsing in and out of our trailer. Marsha 4:56 Well it's like getting a new car and everybody else gets to drive it, right?, Before you get, right, like you, you don't want people driving it. Kelly 5:03 And so we had, you know, we had barriers. So, and a lot of people, a lot of people in the park did that or at least had one part of their trailer that had barriers. Or like they knew to have, you know, multiple rugs that are normally not on the floor when they are camping, but they use on the public day where everybody was coming in. You know, just to protect their floors and stuff. And we had none of that, because we were just, you know, literally just arriving with the bare minimum camping equipment, so that we could spend the night in the trailer before we brought it home. So anyway, but it was really fun. And so they spent a lot of time with the public and answering questions and all that and Robert and I didn't really have to deal with the crush of people. You know, coming to the coming to the site to look at the trailer, but it was like the belle of the ball. You know, it's the new trailer on the block the, you know, there aren't very many 1950 Westcrafts. And so when a new one is restored and comes out, you know, sort of like its debut. Marsha 6:13 Yeah, Kelly 6:14 There's a lot of excitement, there was a lot of excitement at the park. So we had a lot of people coming by. Not during the public open house, but the rest of it. Coming by and talking to us. And we met so many fun people and they, it was just it was a really nice event. So, and the trailer is nice. It's beautiful. It's so big. I mean, it's not really that big. When I first saw it, I thought okay, good. In my head, it had grown to this enormous proportions. And when I saw it, I thought Oh, good. It is still kind of small. You know, it's way bigger other one, but it's not enormous. Marsha 6:53 Yeah. Yeah, way bigger. So your other one, you know, one person had to sit while the other person moved . Kelly 6:59 Right. Kind of you know, this one, you can both move around without... to me it doesn't feel too big inside. Marsha 6:59 Like it's not it like those big fifth wheels that people have, you know. Those are huge things that stick... What do you call those pop outs and stuff. Those become huge, right? This is still really small. Kelly 7:20 Yeah, yeah. Right. But it feels really open. Just like the other trailer, it feels a little more spacious, because of the layout. The other trailer felt more spacious because of the windows. And this one feels that way because of the light wood and and kind of the layout. But anyway, it was a lot of fun. And I think there's going to be there's going to be more trailer rallies in my future. You know, it's not the kind of camping I'm used to, but it was a fun event. Yeah, it's like a big party. Marsha 7:56 Yes. I'd say you're gonna have a whole new set of friends. Right? Yeah. Kelly 8:01 Work friends. Marsha 8:02 I'm your your one college friend. Like I guess I'm leftover from college. Kelly 8:09 Leftover friends. [laughing] Marsha 8:14 you know, knitting-- your work people, knitting people, trailer people, bee people. I'm not sure. Anyway, Kelly 8:23 Just a whole new adventure. And it was interesting how much I learned talking to people who knew a lot more about this particular make of trailer than I did. Robert knew more than than I did. But but we we both learned a lot from people who came by and told us a little bit and and then the people who did their own work on the trailers. Oh my gosh, so impressive. All this work that that people did, you know, on their own in their garage? Marsha 8:56 Yeah, Kelly 8:57 You know, so that's a different-- that's a whole different aspect of it from from what we did when we bought it and had it restored. So yeah, it's a whole other world to enter. Which will be really fun. I'm looking forward to camp we're going camping in June. So I'm looking forward to actually camping in it you know, regular camping trip and, and, and just seeing what it's like to be in this trailer. The bed is nice. It's bigger. It's not as big as a regular double bed it's slightly smaller. But it's a lot better than slightly bigger than a single with two people and... Marsha 9:43 So your other was was it the size of a single bed? Kelly 9:47 It was a little bit bigger than a single bed but not much. I couldn't get a twin sheet on it. Marsha 9:54 Really? Kelly 9:54 I mean I can--I could fudge it to get a twin sheet on it, but it was it was deifinitely too big for a twin sheet, but not much. So maybe maybe a couple of inches wider than a twin bed. But this one is is much more comfortable. Marsha 10:11 Yeah. Yeah. Kelly 10:13 So that's nice. And we have a bathroom. Which is also nice. And the a shower. Which I didn't--I mean, that wasn't something that I really cared about, but Robert wanted the shower. And actually, I didn't know they did this in trailers, but it's like a, like on the train where the whole room, it's called a wet bath. And the whole room becomes the shower. Marsha 10:36 Mm hmm. Kelly 10:38 I don't know how that's gonna work. Exactly. But yeah. Marsha 10:42 Yeah. Well, and also you actually have a refrigerator, right? Where your other trailer was an ice box? Kelly 10:49 That's true. I had forgotten about that. Yeah, that's the other upgrade that we have is from an icebox to an actual refrigerator. It's a small, you know, it's a small refrigerator. But I'm used to a small refrigerator at home too. Marsha 11:03 Yeah. Kelly 11:03 Yeah, it runs on the electricity. So if we don't have shore power--its called shore power, where you can plug in--we won't have a refrigerator, because it won't run with the 12 volt or the ... you won't get enough power from the inverter solar power to run the refrigerator. But that's okay. We're used to camping with dry ice and an ice box so we can manage with that. That's not a problem. Marsha 11:33 Well, very exciting. And then. And then I'll see it when you come up to Albany, Oregon for the Black Sheep Gathering the end of June. Kelly 11:40 So yeah, yeah, we'll be having a get together for anybody who's going to Black Sheep gathering that Saturday. So Black Sheep is the weekend of June 24 through 26th. And so that Saturday, which I guess will be the 25th that afternoon, late afternoon, maybe 3:30 or 4 o'clock, we'll be having a meet up at the-- we're calling it The Club Car. You know, like the trains have a club car. So I... who suggested that... oh, the father of the woman who bought The Clubhouse. He asked me who is your new trailer? Does your new trailer have a name? And I said, No, we haven't really haven't thought about that. And he's oh, you should call it the... first he said you should call it The Caboose. And then he said, No, I know what you should call it, you should call it The Club Car. And so that's perfect. So we're going to be calling it The Club Car. And I've gotten train placemats and couple of train menus. So that stuff has been arriving in the mail. And so it'll have a little bit of a theme, a little bit of a theme. Not as much as as the other trailer was Giants themed but anyway. Yeah, we're gonna have a meet up at The Club Car at the Black Sheep Gathering. So come in, say hi and show us what you bought. And have some food and drink and gather with other crazy yarn people. [laughing] Who are on their way to maybe becoming crazy trailer people. [laughing] Marsha 13:22 Yes. Really Yeah. Yeah! Well, shall we? Should we talk projects or? Kelly 13:30 Let's go ahead and, and talk projects. Marsha 13:32 Do you want me to go first? Kelly 13:33 Go ahead. Marsha 13:36 I have a finished project. I wish I could say it was my garter squish blanket. It is not. I needed a break. Because I have to say you remember I think the last time we recorded I was struggling with some of my projects. It's been a couple... it's been months now that I've been struggling with my projects. And I think you said oh, just cast something on. So I cast on the Depth Hat by to Talitha Kuomi. And to remind people this was the yarn I bought at Stitches. And it's the Fiber Seeds Sprout Special Speckles DK and the colorway is Dirty Seahorse. And to remind people it's like they've taken the hank of yarn and dipped one half in solid, solid teal, and the other half is speckled with teal and brown and some black. And so when you knit the hat, it pools. It's supposed to pool so you have you know, the dark sections going up the side of the hat and the speckled sections going up the front and back of the hat. So let me just say, that did not happen for me. And there's this whole technique that you're supposed to do about how you find the place where you start. You just don't cast on any random place in the yarn, there's description about how, where you're the point where you're supposed to find in the color, I think you're at the halfway point in the solid color yarn is where you cast on. They tell you what type of cast on you do, I did all of that. It's an interesting hat. You knit I don't remember how many rows, but you knit and then you put in a purl row, and then more and then pick up the the cast on edge. So it becomes-- it's knitted into the body of the hat. I'm not describing Do you know what I mean? I'm not describing that very well. Kelly 15:42 Well, I I sort of saw the pictures. It's folded into a hem, right? Marsha 15:47 Yeah, yeah. So that looks really nice. I like that. I could not get the pooling to work the way they say it's supposed to work. The way I was so captivated by when I saw the yarn and the pattern at stitches. It spirals. And what they tell you to do is to go down a needle size, or up a needle size to control the pooling, so that it all stays in that one section. Kelly 16:17 So like you're switching needles in the middle? Marsha 16:22 Yes. Kelly 16:22 Okay. Marsha 16:23 And also and the other technique to do that, is to pull the yarn really tight. So if you're knitting along, when you get to the solid section, pull that yarn really tight onto the needles or go down a needle size, or the opposite, Kelly 16:40 But it didn't tell you to like pull out yarn. If you get to the part that's supposed to be solid, and you're still on speckled yarn, just pull it out to you have solid yarn and knit with that. Marsha 16:50 No. Kelly 16:51 Okay, Marsha 16:51 So I'm a little disappointed that I did not get that look. It's a spiral, it's fine. I mean, it looks okay. Kelly 16:58 Did you swatch? Marsha 17:00 Yes, because it also said in the pattern, they said you have to swatch and your gauge has to be accurate, because that will affect the pooling? And my gauge? My swatch and the gauge was correct. So I don't know what I did wrong? Kelly 17:15 Probably nothing. Marsha 17:18 Yeah, I don't know. It's like they are individually hand dyed. So maybe that has something to do with it. I don't think so. But possibly. The other thing I would say about this pattern, it does not say... there's no description on the print of the pattern about how the, it tells you how to finish the you know, to close up the top of the hat. But it doesn't give you a description of it. Like when it's talking about like, oh, this hat has a you know, a hem, a folded hem and there's nothing. So in the picture does not show the top of the hat. And the reason I'm saying all this is I had no idea how it was supposed to look. And so what it really is like, imagine you have you're on the top of your head, now you're gonna have 1990s pleated khakis. There used to be a pleat on khakis. And now that is out you know, now it's back. I think pleats are coming back. But it's basically-- it's like you have four pleats on top. So I'm not even explaining right because Kelly 18:19 It's kind of like, I mean, in order to keep the pooling happening. Right? And not change as you decrease, you really can't have decreases. So you have to make the top of the hat like the pussy hat. But then instead of having those points on the ears, on the sides, they have to do something to make it come to and end. Marsha 18:44 So when you get to the part where you're going to close up that hole. You put some of the-- you put groups of nine stitches: nine stitches on 4 double pointed needles. So you go nine stitches, and then you put 21 stitches on your circular needles, nine stitches on the double pointed needle, nine stitches on a double pointed needle, another 21 stitches on the circular needle, and then another nine stitches on the double pointed needles. You then do a three needle bind off on the first and fourth double pointed needle. And this is where I got screwed up is you you continue on two needles, a double pointed needle number three and number two, excuse me two and three, and knit across to the end binding those off. So they become joined and then you have your 21 stitches on half of the circular needles and the other 21 stitches on the other half of the needle and you do a kitchener stitch too. Kelly 19:55 So that's what's covering up... Marsha 19:58 Yes so... These, these two sets of nine stitch bindoffs then are underneath that 21 stitch flap. I don't know if that makes sense? Kelly 20:09 I think that would be really challenging to actually knit without knowing what it was supposed to be doing. Like now that you're done, and you know what it did. But that would be a really challenging thing to knit without any picture to say, Oh, I'm doing a really thing weird here. Marsha 20:29 Yes, and it looks nice, you know, and to your point, they, it's a great solution to keep that patterning right. Otherwise, if you did, to your point, if you did the decreases, you'd throw off all of the pooling, of which I did not get but anyway. [laughing] But again, a shout out to Ravelry. And all the people who've made this hat who posted pictures of their hat is by looking at their pictures, I was unable to figure out what I had an a visual of what I was trying to do. Where the pattern there's no picture of the top of the hat. Right and no description of it kind of other than just the the instructions about how to close this up. So do you remember I call I think I texted you. Oh my god, this looks odd because I I bound it off. And it looked like a four corner hat kind of. It was terrible. It looked terrible. Kelly 21:27 Basically, it looked like yeah, you had you had like four points. Yes. And a really funky seam. Kelly 21:36 And they were not even even Kelly 21:39 Yeah,yeah, they were Marsha 21:39 Yeah, cuz some were really tight because they were the three needle bind off, the two sets of nine and then the 21 stitches that were Kirschner was all kind of lose because they were kept... not Kershner, kitchener stitch. And anyway, I poured myself a beer got onto my bed with the dog next to me, and started looking at Ravelry to see and there was no notes. But just looking at people's the photographs on people's projects, I was able to figure it out. And so I made myself rip it out, and then re knit up a little bit and then thought okay, I think I understand the concept of what's happening. Anyway. So that's what beer is for. [laughing] Kelly 22:31 Yes, yeah. Oh, my goodness. Marsha 22:34 Okay. So anyway, that's done. But I have to say, again, it sort of goes into this. I was thinking, Oh, I'm just, you know, okay. It's not, I'm disappointed. It's not pooling the way it's supposed to pool. I'm getting this spiral. I can live with it. It's okay. And then that end of the hat, I thought, I really am struggling with a lot of my projects. Kelly 22:54 Yeah. Marsha 22:55 Anyway, I will then go on to the garter squish blanket, I have not a whole lot to report on that I am really ready for this to be done. I do apologize too. I was listening to the last episode where I was knitting on it while we were recording. And I was listening as I was walking Enzo and all I could hear with those needles, bang, bang. It's all like they were so loud. So I do apologize for that. So I'm not knitting on that. Now, as I'm sitting here. It is also too big for it to sit on my lap. But anyway, I'm on color 14, about halfway through color 14 of 16. Kelly 23:31 Oh, you're almost done. Marsha 23:33 I'm getting close. I'm ready for it to be done. I'm beginning to just hate this project. Because I really like it, but I'm sick of it. I want to move on to something else. So but we have, I'll just put there's a good time to put this in here that the our blanket along ends May 31. So what is today we're recording on today is Kelly 24:03 the 25th of May. Marsha 24:04 So Okay, not quite a week. So I will get it done. I'm pretty sure I'll get it done. But I'm ready for it to be done. Okay, um, I have nothing new to report on the the unpatterned top down Raglan pullover by Karen Offski that I'm making for Ben. I have nothing to report except he's coming home today. This is the, you know, Memorial. This is the Wednesday before Memorial Day. So he has a long weekend. And so he's coming home today at some point so hopefully in the next couple of days he can put it on and I'm going to say... Kelly 24:40 Yeah, you can pin him down. Marsha 24:43 Yes. To see how it's how the body is and etc. So not much to report on that. Then my next project is the sweater that I'm making for my brother and Kelly and we before we started recording We looked it up on. We Googled that in the end it's "Tro-cha." Kelly 25:06 "Tro-cha minstur" Marsha 25:07 Troyggja Við Mynstur, which we believe means sweater. Kelly 25:10 sweater pattern. Marsha 25:13 sweater with round pattern and which, I have to laugh because guess what it says in parentheses after Troyggja Við Mynstur, it says sweater with round pattern. So we finally figured out that that's what it is. And if anybody wants to give us feedback, if we're not saying this the correct way... Kelly 25:38 Our foreign correspondent could tell us how to pronounce that in Faroese a little bit better and maybe the translation but we did we did find a Faroese translation site, a pronunciation site online and we're probably not doing it justice but but we're trying! Marsha 26:03 So I just have to give you a little update on this. So I unravelled... Kelly 26:09 How many times have you start restarted this sweater? Marsha 26:15 Well, I will tell you! So. Okay, so we're not counting the Atlas anymore. So I knit the whole body of Atlas. And honestly, I mean, I pretty much knit the whole sweater, didn't I? Kelly 26:28 Yeah. Marsha 26:29 Did I do the sleeves? I didn't do all the sleeves I don't think but because he tried it on it was way too small. Moving Beyond that, that's how Cat actually inspired me to look at a Faroese sweater. Since the yarn is Navia Tradition which is a Faroese yarn. So I found this pattern and I did my swatch. I did not get gauge on the nines, it's supposed to use a size nine needle.I did not get gauge with that I got gauge with the size eight. So Kelly, I got gauge, okay! Yes. So I don't know. I don't know what my problem is. So I got gauge and when we went down to the beach, two weeks ago, I guess we were down there, I cast on the size I think it was going to make, I don't know, I don't remember now what size I was going to make for my brother. I've got the pattern right here, it'd be like I was gonna make the medium size. There was like an extra small, small, medium, and then a large and then it keeps going up. I decided I was gonna make it the medium because I thought that would be okay with the with my gauge. So I cast on and I did all the ribbing I did the color work that's just above the ribbing, and I did about an inch of the body and I started looking at it. I thought, this looks awfully small. So I thought screw it, I'm ripping it out. So I ripped it out and I recast on the next size up. So I'm making the large. So I again did the ribbing, the color work. I knit about I would say probably nine inches of the the body. And when I was home, I decided to put it on waste yarn and wash and block it, which I did. And it's going to fit and be roomy enough. Kelly 28:19 Oh. That's good news. Marsha 28:20 Oh my gosh. So now I'm knitting on it. And I have knit about, I think I've knit about 13 or 14 inches on it. And I have to knit till about 18 inches, set it aside and then I'll do the sleeves and attach them. So it's been a bit of a nightmare. I have to say this, this whole project-- I don't know. Anyway. And then the other thing I'll say is that with this sweater, I need four colors. Where with the Atlas I needed three: the main color and two contrasting. With this pattern, Sweater with Round Pattern, I need the main color and three contrasting colors for the color work. And I have the color work as like a light robin's egg blue, and a navy. And the body of the sweater is like a bright grass green, kind of, so when we were together when I was down there, I think for NoCKRs, I think it was , I ordered just a natural color, a white or cream color, which arrived. And Mark didn't like that. He wanted a color. So I think I have mentioned this before that I ordered that ball from Navia on the Faroe Islands, and it took about a month. But it arrived and he wanted red, it's a bright red. I'm not sure. I have to say I'm not sure I like the red with a bright kelly green. A robin's egg blue and a navy. He really liked it. Kelly 29:57 Havae you put the red in already? Or is it only in the neck color work? Marsha 30:03 I have not put the red in. It's only in the yoke. Yeah, just a couple of rows. It's not gonna be very much. So we'll see. I've got a ways. But I have to tell you about the the package from Navia. It came in an envelope, it was all when I got it, the envelope was wrapped with yarn, instead of twine, and a piece of Navia Tradition yarn wrapped around it and tied with a little bow on the outside of the package. Kelly 30:33 The part that went to the post office, still on there. Wow. Marsha 30:35 And it stayed on nice. Yeah, it stayed on there all the way from the Faroe Islands. It stayed on there, that yarn wrapped around there and the bow and everything and then opened up and beautifully wrapped in tissue paper with a little sticker on it that said, thank you. It's just super, super sweet and very exciting to get that dropped off on my front porch. So that's what's going on with that. And then I go down every day, I spend for 10-15 minutes, just a little bit on that Manx Loaghtan. But I'm still spinning on that. So and I am Kelly, I am going to bring my spinning wheel to Black Sheep. Because I'm planning on doing... I've never been able to bring it because we've either taken the train or something. I've not had space, but I'm bringing that wheel so I can sit in the spinning circle, or sit by the trailer and spin. So anyway, that's all I have for projects, and I'm really hoping I've now moved past my problems. Kelly 31:35 Oh, me too. Marsha 31:36 Do you think? Because I've kind of gone through kind of a hard time. It's been around two months now. It's like, I've had some bad juju. I don't really know what that's about. But it's just, Kelly 31:48 Yeah, it's been a little bit rough patch with your knitting. Yeah, maybe you need to do some crochet Marsha 31:59 Well, maybe it's like I just crochet placemats or something, you know, or Kelly 32:03 switch to another spinning project? Well, I don't know if you have enough bobbins. But you could get yourself some braids and switch to some different, you know, have a couple of different spinning projects going because it is going to be time for the summer spin in. Marsha 32:20 Yeah, so I think I am going to. I was thinking about that before we started recording. So I'm going to try and finish for the summer spin. And I'm gonna try and finish this Manx Loaghtan. I'll try and finish that, and then I think I'm gonna try and do a combo spin or I have some braids, two braids I was thinking of combining. So do something with that. Kelly 32:40 Yeah, nice. That might be a nice, that might be a nice way to kind of just put an end to the the bad knitting. By not knitting at all. Marsha 32:50 Oh, you know, I think part of it is... I'm gonna say is I think I'm making... It's all making stuff for other people. Yeah, I'm thinking about it. I'm making this sweater for Ben, the sweater for my brother. And then Kelly 33:03 when doing those tea cozies Marsha 33:06 Tea cozies. I have another tea cozy I have to make... and it's like this is knitting for other people. You know? Because like this, I have to say this Navia Tradition, this yarn. I have to put hand cream on when I knit with it, because it's so drying to my hands. It's and I'm not saying that in a bad way. It's just like, this is the type of yarn it is. It's not super pleasant. It's not like, you know that the handspun I was knitting with. I love knitting with it. This is a woolly wool. Kelly 33:36 Right. Right. Marsha 33:39 So it's, it's not a yarn I ever would have purchased. Yeah. So that's sort of part of it, too, I think it's I'm not really, not really into it. Kelly 33:49 Yeah, I mean, the yarn. The yarn wasn't your choice. The original pattern wasn't your choice. No, yeah. And then with Ben's sweater, you had some challenges with your first pattern. And then you've had some challenges just having him try it. Like knitting for someone who's not there. And I know there are people who do that, you know, they knit for people that they don't have them try it on all the time. But I, I mean, I constantly try things on when I'm knitting for myself. Marsha 34:19 Yeah. Kelly 34:20 And so I think that would be really challenging to be knitting something that you know, especially when you're knitting it for the second time because the first one didn't work, and you really don't want to have to rip out again. So you want to make sure it's right. Marsha 34:35 So Mark's I've ripped out twice. So I'm on my third attempt at this sweater for him. Yeah. Okay, that is love or stupidity I'm not quite sure which it is. But anyway, Okay, nevermind my project. Let me hear about your projects, okay? Because you do have... Yeah, let me hear about yours. Kelly 34:54 Okay, it's going. So yeah, actually it's a good thing I have the trailer to talk about because I don't really have much to talk about in terms of my projects. So I can tell you that the garter squish blanket, which was already done, but I have it in the show this time because I actually slept under it. We used it. We used it in the trailer, I brought it for the trailer's bedspread. And I got lots of compliments on it. So some of the trailer people are also yarn people. Marsha 35:30 Of course, of course, there was some overlap. And, yeah, chicken and bees too. I bet. Right. Kelly 35:36 Well, yeah. I mean, I don't know how much of how much of that there is. But there were a couple of people who recognized that I had made it and asked me, Did you make that blanket? And some were working on their own. Or saw me knitting while I was there and asked about it. So yeah. So yeah, we slept under. It was great. It looks, it looks really nice in the trailer. So I'm super, I'm super happy about how it turned out and being able to use it. I was... Oh, go ahead. Marsha 36:11 Oh, I was just going to say the picture you sent me. The colors work really well in there. Because you have all that sort of light wood with all the panels, the light wood, and then some of the burgundy kind of in there and the floor. And so the colors look really nice in there, I think. Kelly 36:29 Thank you. Yeah. I like it, too. I think it looks good. I actually think you know this, the thing about the Garter Squish, is that they can fit into a lot of different schemes, color schemes. Because you've got those, that one color going, going throughout with all the different colors that you add in. I have not finished the Mother Bear, the headless Mother Bear that I talked about a month ago. She's still headless, because I need to get some stuffing. And I started another one. So I have now have two headless Mother Bears. One flat one is totally flat, and the other one has some stuffing in it. So I need to get get some stuffing so I can finish those up. And what I'm knitting on right now is the mohair vest, which I like it, but then sometimes I look at it and I think is this actually really ugly. Marsha 37:37 And what have you decided, I mean, do you have a definitive answer? Kelly 37:40 No decision or I'm not really sure. I'm not really sure. It's not pooling or anything. I mean, there's a couple of places where it looks darker and a couple of places where the red shows through more, but it's not doing any kind of funky pooling. I'm about now maybe eight inches down from the armhole. And it's just-- it's very hairy. This is a very hairy vest. And I'm not sure what I'm gonna do about the collar. Because I seriously cannot imagine having this against my neck. Like my other vest I wear I zip it all the way up and I have like a turtleneck kind of. I don't think I would ever do that with this one. So I'm not sure. I've thought about using something that's not mohair. But I'm still not sure what I'm going to do I might just get a black yarn and do a, you know, do the border all in black. Which, knitting with black? I'm not sure I want to do that either. Marsha 38:47 How much... I will say something. Do you think you'll ever wear this? Kelly 38:54 Yeah, I do. Marsha 38:56 Okay. I'm sorry. That's so mean of me. I don't mean to be mean like that. But it's like, Do you love it? You don't know. I mean, you're unsure. Kelly 39:04 I love mohair yarn. You know that. So I love the yarn. I'm not sure I'm loving how it's knitting up. But I don't hate it either. It's it's just, let's just say it will be unusual. It's not, it's not, you know, "on trend" exactly. It's not the, you know, a strand of kidsilk haze that you carry along with your other yarn. This is full on mohair. Marsha 39:40 Right. There was a reason why it's in the destash. Kelly. [laughing] Kelly 39:44 Exactly. But I do like mohair and I have in my memory-- one of my fond memories of clothing. I have lots of good clothing memories from my childhood. In fact I have more clothing memories than I have food memories. So we were talking about that. Aunt Betty and I were talking about that, and I really don't have a lot of food memories from my childhood but I have a lot of clothing memories. And I have the fondest memory of this vest. And I think it was an argyle type pattern that I got in the boys department. When I was in, I think seventh or eighth grade. And it was this kind of full on mohair. Probably not wool mohair probably that Orlon acrylic mohair, because, you know, it was a kid's vest. And I wore that thing all the time. And it was unusual. It was one of those things. It was not one of those things that all the kids were wearing, you know? Marsha 40:51 Yeah. All the cool kids were wearing it. Kelly 40:55 It was one of my, one of my many clothing items that was definitely not on trend. But I really loved it. So I have a feeling that I might, I might not feel quite the same way about this as I felt about that. But it has the same vibe to me. So I think that's why, why I decided to make this vest. And I think it would be good. Like, it'll be warm for sure. I think it'd be good for camping. It'll be good for walking the dogs when it's cold outside. So I think I'll get I think I'll get some wear out of it. I don't know that it will be my go-to piece. So we'll see. But I'm working on it. It's the Rosa Parks colorway from a yarn company called Shaeffer that isn't making yarn anymore. And the the name of the or the type of yarn was Danya mohair. And the really odd thing about it is that it's hardly taken any yarn to make this. I thought I had-- I mean I kind of debated whether I had enough to make to make the vest. But I also am making a vest that calls for, I think, DK and this is at a bulky gauge. So I had, you know, I had to reconfigure the pattern somewhat. So we'll see the, the jury will be out for a while on this one. And I may, it's so hot to knit on. It's not super warm here. But it's you know, it's kind of hot and sticky to knit on and mohair flies up my nose and stuff. So it's not the thing I grab and knit the most often either. I don't have that much to choose from. So that is my only project besides Mother Bears. That was my only project and I wasn't grabbing it to knit. And then I needed something for the road going down to pick up the trailer and bring it back. I thought I would have more time to knit but it was really kind of a whirlwind, looking at other people's trailers, talking to people about the trailer, finding out all the stuff and how it works, you know, all that kind of stuff. So I didn't have much knitting time, but I did bring some leftovers. I have a pair of socks there. Tomato and Mink or Mink and Tomato was the name of the the braid, and it was Falkland handspun and so I have a pair of regular socks out of it, but I had quite a bit of leftover yarn. So I grabbed that and cast on a pair of short socks. So just you know about maybe a maybe an inch and a half to two inch cuff. And then I started the heel and that's about where I am. I think I turned the heel. That's all I've done is a tiny tiny cuff and turn the heel that's all the knitting. And I never--I hardly took out the vest. So I really didn't have much.. Well and the dogs. we had the dogs with us and so I did a lot of walking the dogs at the RV park because they I wanted them to be good and they're a lot better if they've had exercise. And so we did a lot of walking and stuff. Yeah. So anyway, those are my projects, kind of just the vest. Some Mother Bears in the, you know, in the meanwhile. And then the barest start of a pair of shorty socks. So I'm kind of I'm kind of in that place where I don't know. I don't know what to do. I do think... So we sold the other the old trailer The Clubhouse. And this young woman came and she brought her dad because he had the truck with the hitch to pull the trailer home and her mom came too. Really nice people, super nice people. And we got to talking and her mom has this...she said, I have this sweater that I started, but I never was able to finish it, maybe you would be able to finish it. And I at first my thought was like, oh, no, this, you know. Marsha 40:55 Oh no! Kelly 40:55 But, but so I was kind of non committal. I said, Well, you know, I maybe...maybe I would be able to do that. I don't know. And, and then she brought it up again. And finally, I thought, You know what, I'm not super excited about anything I'm knitting. What the hell, you know? Marsha 43:04 Yeah. Kelly 43:04 And so and so I said, Yeah, you know, send it to me, and I'll see what I can do. I'm not gonna guarantee that I'll be able to, you know, finish it, but, but send, send me what you have. And I'll take a look at it and and let you know, and if I can't, I'll send it back. And if I can, I'll do it. And she's like, of course, I'll pay you, you know. And so anyway, I haven't heard from her since the trailer sold. And I'm wondering if maybe she feels like, oh, gosh, I was a little bit too forward to do that. Marsha 46:09 Yeah, she thought, Oh, yeah. This woman was just trying to be nice. She's thinking that about you like, Oh, she's trying to be nice, but... Kelly 46:17 One she got home. Or maybe her daughter after they left said, Mom, I can't believe you did that. So I thought, oh, maybe I'll text the woman who bought the trailer and say, you know, let your mom know, if she wants to send that to go ahead. You know, I'm happy to try it. So we'll see. I don't know, it. Just kind of something different. It kind of gave me an idea like, oh, well, maybe that'd be something different and, and fun to do so. And then the other thing that I did, this isn't a knitting project. But I just wanted to give a shout out. We have a new member who joined the the Ravelry group, AJ, and she introduced herself and let us know that she has the Hooked and Booked podcast. And she has a website too. It's called... her name is-- she she goes by AJ, but her website name is KJ Krochet. And the crochet is spelled with a K. And I'll have links in the show notes. But anyway, she's from South Africa. And she has just maybe three episodes, but it's just a cute, it's a cute show. And I listened to it. And I thought oh, this is fun. So I listened to all her episodes. And then she was talking about another podcast called Crochet Conversations. And she's interested, AJ is interested in having more people podcasting who don't have American accents. She said she feels like all of the podcasts, the knitting podcasts that she listens to, and maybe a lot of the other podcast she listens to also, you know, people with American accents, and there's not a lot from elsewhere. And so, so she was promoting this other podcast for these two women from Singapore. And so I went and listened to it too. And it's also very cute. It's called Crochet Conversations. And it's two women, Inez and Mell from Singapore. And the most recent episode, they're taking you through their house, like room by room talking about what crochet is in their house. And I thought that was really cute. So anyway, I'd like to give a recommendation for the Hooked and Booked podcast and Crochet Conversations and I've linked to both of them in the in the show notes if anybody's if anybody's interested. And I thought you know, that's maybe why I said to you, maybe you need to crochet something because I'm thinking maybe maybe it's time for me to crochet something because I'm just not super excited by anything that that I'm working on right now. So maybe I just need a new inspiration. And the trailer is a big inspiration. Because now I can think of all sorts of things that I could make for the trailer you know. So you know like the cover for your toilet paper [laughing] Well, I mean I'm kidding. Kelly 46:17 Yeah, I got it. [laughing] You need potholders and hand towels and yeah, and Kelly 49:41 and especially those potholders and like what your great aunt what your your Aunt Ruth made, you know. Marsha 49:53 Oh yeah, Great Aunt Ruth Kelly 49:54 1950s style of of crochet potholders, those are really kind of interesting. Marsha 50:02 She did those really cute potholders that I don't know how she did it but there's rick rack in there. So you see part-- you see one point of the rick rack but not the other point of the rick rack. So it makes all these little triangles kind of Kelly 50:16 Yeah, Marsha 50:17 yeah, I've never seen a pattern like that but and I was also gonna say too that I've seen I had not seen crochet patterns for pillows, but knitted pillows I see, you know, covers with color work. And that might be kind of fun, too. Yeah. Because you're going to need some pillows on the sofa. Knit something--a cover--or crochet something. Yeah, you did the bee pillow, but something like? Kelly 50:44 Yeah, so I think I think I might crochet or weave. Marsha 50:49 Well, yeah, weaving too. Kelly 50:52 I think I might make -- Robert brought regular bath towels. And we used the shower at the at the RV park, not the shower in the trailer. But one of the issues with the towels is that they take up so much space. And then you have to get them to dry. And Hetti had been talking in the winter weave along about the spa towels that she made. Because in Santa Cruz, it's kind of damp where she lives and she wanted towels that would dry. She was experimenting with different weave structures to see if she could get some towels that would that would dry quickly. You know, be absorbent, but also dry quickly. And then also they take up less space. You know those heavy terrycloth towels. They--not that we don't have the space, but they take up more space. And so yeah, if I could, I could weave something that might be really kind of a cool idea. So So yeah, I have some I have some other inspirations that I haven't had in a while, or haven't ever had really, that's kind of fun. So maybe someone else's sweater and then maybe some crochet and we'll see. We'll see. Check with us next time, listeners, to see if we've improved our attitudes. Marsha 52:21 Yes, I know. Well, I'm hoping my I'm hoping it might... Well maybe it is all my attitude, hopefully my attitude will. It's funny thinking about my attitude because I made the comment that part of all these projects I've been doing have been for other people. It makes me sound so selfish. Kelly 52:36 But you know it's your hobby. Marsha 52:39 It is my hobby. I've been doing this, but I was down working in the basement and I pulled out because I finished the the socks remember that I had lost the blue, the navy blue for the toe. And I found it in the last episode. So I finished that sock. Oh, I didn't put that in my finished projects. Yes, I completely forgot. I did not put that in my finished objects. But I did finish that. And so instead of putting the Navy away, I knew that I had bought a skein of yarn for my brother, he had picked it out. And the Navy would work really well with it for heels and toes. So I pulled out that skein of yarn and wound it into a cake to cast those on for him. And I'm thinking maybe I should not do that. Given that. Yes, I'm thinking that this is... I should have a conversation with myself. Kelly 53:35 Yeah, maybe you need to do something. Do some self indulgent knitting. Marsha 53:41 Yeah, yeah. Kelly 53:43 To go with your, your projects for other people. Marsha 53:48 You know what I'd like to knit is I have a combo spin that I made Kelly 53:55 oh yeah, that's a pretty one with silk. Marsha 53:58 I've never knit that up. And I would sort of like to knit that but there you go. Kelly 54:03 Start that one. Marsha 54:04 Yeah, there's no, I don't know. Okay. No complaining. Everyone, everybody's gonna want me to finish these projects as soon as possible so they don't have to hear about it anymore. Anyway, okay, next order of business. Kelly 54:21 I'm in the process of getting all of the winter weave along gift cards purchased. So if you won in the winter weave along you'll be hearing from me or getting an email with your gift card information. Either already or very shortly. I also have sent out all of the prizes, finally for the stitches giveaway that we did. I sent them out today. And I think that's the only business that we have. We do still have the SpeakPipe. SpeakPipe, they need to change their name, no one can say it. All right, Speakpipe.com/twoewes, you can go there and you can leave a message about your favorite local yarn store. Or you can send it to us in an audio file, send it via email. Again, that's twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com, you can email us an audio file from your phone, or your computer or wherever. And tell us about your favorite yarn shop. We'd love to hear all about your yarn shop in your area. So I think that's really all. The Blanket Along ends this week. We talked about that. Marsha 55:51 Let's just say what's going on. So the Stashbusting blanket along ends May 31. So and then the summer spin in starts June 1, and that, and that will go all summer. So one ends on the 31st. And the next event, or along, or whatever--contest--starts the next day, June 1, and that will go the entire summer and it ends September 5, which in the United States is Labor Day. So we've talked about this before. Memorial Day is sort of the unofficial start of summer, which is in May, and then Labor Day is sort of the unofficial end of summer. And so the summer spin-in will be June 1 through September 5. And then again, we're going to be at the Black Sheep gathering in Albany, Oregon. And that's June 24 through 26th. And that Saturday, we'll have a meet up at the trailer. Yeah. And Kelly, Should we just pick a time? Yeah, Kelly 56:53 Let's say 3:30 or 4:00. Yeah. Marsha 56:57 Yeah. Kelly 56:58 It's not like there's a definite, it's not like, well, you know, it's a party, so come after 3:30. We might not be there if you come before 3:30. Marsha 57:13 Yeah. We know a few people are coming to black sheep. Kelly 57:15 And maybe we'll see some people who we've met in previous years. Who are going to be there too. They haven't had black sheep for a couple of years. So it will be really good. It will be fun to be back to another fiber festival. Marsha 57:40 Yes. Okay, Kelly, I think that's everything Kelly 57:45 I do too. Marsha 57:45 Or anything else. Kelly 57:46 Oh, no, I think that's it. Next episode. I want to talk a little bit more about my plans for the summer spin in. What I'm gonna do with the fleeces in my garage, maybe. But yeah, that's for next time. Maybe I'll have a sweater to work. Yes. Maybe it'll arrive in the mail someone else's sweater. Marsha 58:08 Yeah, yeah. Kelly 58:10 Okay. That'll give us something to talk about. Right? Marsha 58:14 Yes, I know. Well, we'll talk in two weeks and we'll find out if you have a sweater. Kelly 58:18 Okay, sounds good. All right. Okay, Marsha 58:21 bye bye. Kelly 58:22 Thank you so much for listening. To subscribe to the podcast visit Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Marsha 58:29 Join us on our adventures on Ravelry and Instagram. I am betterinmotion and Kelly is 1hundredprojects. Kelly 58:37 Until next time, we're the Two Ewes Both 58:40 doing our part for world fleece Transcribed by https://otter.ai

May 2, 2022

Our knitting projects are not inspiring right now, but we do have good news about the Kelly's vintage trailer and an update on bees. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Jul Designs coupon code: 15% off with code TWOEWES. They have a wide variety of shawl pins and cuffs, and clever screw-on leather and metal closures. Marsha's Projects: Garter Squish Blanket On the tenth color. Realized I wouldn't have enough contrasting colors. Searched my stash but couldn't find any solid worsted weight yarn! Bought two skeins of Cascade 220 (teal and coral) so now have sixteen contrasting colors. Unpattern Top Down Raglan Pullover by Karen Alfke. I finished the Fibonacci Sequence striping of the body except for the ribbing. I'm waiting for Ben to try on the sweater. Picked up and knit the neck band and started the first sleeve. Troyggja vi Mynstur by Tora Joensen: I was inspired by Cat (Catitude) who shared with us her audio about touring yarn shops on the Faroe Island. I had knit for my brother, Atlas by Jarod Flood, but the yarn I used, Navia Tradition, is too bulky for the pattern and the sweater is too small. I've decided to make a traditional Faroese sweater for him. I'm spinning a 2lb bag of Manx Loaghton in my stash. This is a protected breed from the Isle of Man. I am using a woolen spun technique and have spun 5 skeins or approximately 400 yards. Spun three more bobbins that are ready to be plied. Kelly's Projects: The Garter Squis h blanket using handspun leftovers. I finished the skein I was using at NoCKRs and spun another. I finished plying my last (?) skein of yarn last night. Washed it and got it wound to knit with while recording today. Mother Bear time! I worked on a Mother Bear in the car yesterday as we drove to pick up bees. She has red boots, a multicolor handspun skirt (red, yellow, magenta) and a purple leotard. Right now she has no head. I hope I have enough brown for her whole head. If not she'll have some gray curly hair on top using a thick and thin handspun for top of her head. Mielie vest using Schaeffer Yarn Company Little Danya mohair. This sat in the knitting basket for the last two weeks. Color is Rosa Parks and it was spirit yarn from NoCKRs retreat in 2018. Winter Weave Along Prizes Listen to hear the names of winners and their prizes. We Want to Hear You! Eva from Ireland (Evaliz on Ravelry) sent us this message about This is Knit , a yarn shop in Dublin. Give us a call and tell us about your favorite LYS! Go to speakpipe.com/twoewes and leave a message. It will take 90 seconds or less. Or you can use the voice memo app on your phone and email us the audio file. We'll put your voice feedback on the show! Stash-Busting Blanket Along Ends May 31. Black Sheep Gathering June 24-26 Albany, Oregon Saturday late afternoon meet-up.

Apr 20, 2022

Many messages this week that I forgot to announce who won the third Instagram prize. Listen here to find out who the mystery winner is. Goodness! I need to go back to podcaster school.

Apr 16, 2022

Lots of the fun at the Northern California Knitting Retreat affectionately known as NoCKRs. Plus project updates, announcement of the winners of our Stitches West 2022 Celebration Giveaway, and a JUL Designs discount. We are still recording together at Kelly's house in California so no editing again this episode. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Jul Designs coupon code: 15% off with code TWOEWES They have a wide variety shawl pins shawl cuffs clever screw-on leather and metal closures sew-on metal closures "style tool kits" with a variety of the items Bag handles Free pattern downloads designed to use the closures and give ideas jewelry Marsha's Projects: Garter Squish Blanket On the eighth of fourteen contrasting colors Unpattern Top Down Raglan Pullover by Karen Alfke. I have knit about 8 inches of the body. I'm spinning a 2lb bag of Manx Loaghton in my stash. This is a protected breed from the Isle of Man. I am using a woolen spun technique and have spun 5 skeins or approximately 400 yards Kelly's Projects: The Garter Squis h blanket using handspun leftovers. Mielie vest using Schaeffer Yarn Company Little Danya mohair. Considered bulky so I did some modifications to the pattern. Color is Rosa Parks and it was spirit yarn from NoCKRs retreat in 2018. We Want to Hear You! Give us a call and tell us about your favorite LYS! Go to speakpipe.com/twoewes and leave a message. It will take 90 seconds or less. Or you can use the voice memo app on your phone and email us the audio file. We'll put your voice feedback on the show! Stitches West 2022 Celebration Giveaway: The giveaway ended on April 15. Thank you to everyone who participated. Listen to this episode to hear who won. Stash-Busting Blanket Along Ends May 31. We talked to so many people at NoCKRs retreat who were also blanketing along with us. Our friend Heddicraft actually finished her crochet flower blanket while at the retreat. We joked that she could use the Winter Weave(-In) Along to weave in all the ends. Black Sheep Gathering June 24-26 Albany, Oregon We will be at the event with details to follow.

Apr 7, 2022

What a fun episode this week! Two listeners sent us reports on their travels to yarn shops from Ohio all the way to the Faroe Islands. Kelly and Marsha are together at Kelly's house, so once again this episode will not be edited so we have more time to play with string. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects: Meadow Stripe Socks using Patons Kroy Sock in the colorway, Meadow Stripes and Lang Yarns Jawoll Superwash fingering for the heels and toes. I've "lost" somewhere in my house the navy yarn for the toe. Garter Squish Blanket On the seventh of fourteen contrasting colors I frogged the Phrancko Designs crew neck from Phrancko.com by Frank Jernigan as it was too small. I don't think this is a problem with the Phrancko program but a problem with my gauge. I started a new sweater using Unpattern Top Down Raglan Pullover by Karen Alfke. Still knitting on cowl with four colors green (Amazon), blue (Cornflower), light blue (Rain), and mauve (Plum) I'm spinning a 2lb bag of Manx Loaghton in my stash. This is a protected breed from the Isle of Man. I am using a woolen spun technique and have spun 5 skeins or approximately 400 yards Kelly's Projects I'm still working on spinning (Oxford this time) so I can keep working on the Garter Squis h blanket using handspun leftovers. So far there is only one yarn that was from a commercial braid of fiber. All the rest are small mill or hand carded and dyed by me. We'll see if I'm able to continue that. I also started a Mielie vest . I'm using Schaeffer Yarn Company Little Danya mohair. Considered bulky so I did some modifications to the pattern. Color is Rosa Parks and it was spirit yarn from NoCKRs retreat in 2018. We Want to Hear You! Give us a call and tell us about your favorite LYS! Go to speakpipe.com/twoewes and leave a message. It will take 90 seconds or less. Or you can use the voice memo app on your phone and email us the audio file. We'll put your voice feedback on the show! From Janie- Stash 46: Hear all about her LYS, Around the Table Yarns in Ohio. From Cat-Catitude: Here is the last of the audio on The Faroe Islands. It's about Navia, the most visible yarn company both locally and internationally. They've done a neat thing: they designed vests and sweaters for a brand new detective series 'Trom' (available on viaplay.dk ) which is set and filmed on the Faroes, the first of it's kind here on the islands. Scandinavia has a long standing tradition of thrillers and detectives, sometimes referred to as Nordic Noir. Some people may know the Danish series 'The Killing' (Forbrygdelse) from 2011 which features a very popular knitted sweater worn by detective Sarah Lund . That sweater was designed by Faroese fashion designers Gudrun & Gudrun and can therefore not be sold as a pattern. (Although there are charts floating around Ravelry, and it's easy to make up your own version. I've seen at least 30 Faroese people this week wearing a homemade sweater just like it, including children.) The sweaters are still being sold in all sizes by Gudrun & Gudrun here in Torshavn. Navia wanted to get in on the action this time, and they worked together with the director and team who produced 'Trom'. One of the Navia-family members even wrote on the script. There are only 60.000 Faroese people (in total!) so you can imagine that a lot of locals were involved in the filming. The Mayor of Runavik, the third city here, even plays a part as a security guard! I talked at length with the lady in the Navia flagstore at the village of Toftir (in Faroese) about Trom. I included some short audio bits, might be fun to hear a totally different language! She pointed out that there are also a lot of older knitted sweaters in the series, which makes sense because everyone here wears wool all the time. Lots to look at, even for knitters who are not into murder mysteries! And of course you get a glimpse of this fabulous archipelago. She has also given permission for both the audio and her picture to go onto the podcast and shownotes, I told her about the Two Ewes and asked her permission specifically! Audio "Navia Toftir": english info by me Audio "What is Trom": she explains it's a detective series and Navia has designed vests and sweaters. Audio "Nerd": she explains we knitters can really 'nerd out' when watching the series, as you can look at all the sweaters and knit them at the same time! The patterns for Trom will be available in English on the Navia website shortly: www.Navia.fo Also, please see pics for the beautiful store. Best wishes from your foreign correspondent :) :) Cat The Wool Islands video about the Faroe Islands Stitches West 2022 Celebration Giveaway: Instagram and Ravelry ends soon– April 15. For IG– Enter to win by commenting on Kelly's or Marsha's post announcing publication of Episode 180. For Ravelry there will be a thread with a prompt. Answer the prompt. Stash-Busting Blanket Along Starts now, ends May 31. There will be prizes. Two Ewes' Hand Dyed Cotton Yarn and Dishcloth Pattern Giveaway Irene–Bluebirdsnest get in touch! You're a winner!

Mar 20, 2022

We had so much fun at Stitches West 2022! We have lots to share about our experience at the show, the people we met, the vendors we loved, and lots of prizes to give away. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Comments about Stitches: Class from Toni Lipsey, very entertaining and knowledgeable. Has a new book The Tunisian Crochet Handbook . Fabrics–jelly rolls, fat quarters and other fabrics. Japanese fabrics, Trends–red, black, grey combinations are in every booth. This is not something that we saw a lot before. Another color trend: orange. Another one but a little less is petal pink, often looking like it was overdyed on a natural colored fiber or with a darker color overwash or glaze over the pink–or maybe that was just something I was drawn to this time. Feels really safe in the convention center, checked Vax card and ID upon entry, name tag has distance declaration sticker code–hugs ok, elbow bump only, and 6 feet distance please. Crowd was light at the Thursday preview. Hotel lobby bar people are drinking and eating so many fewer masks. Friday's crowd was also light, but there were some crowded booths. Everyone seems so happy to be buying yarn. One vendor said sales were fewer, but the average sale was higher. Saturday was the busiest market day as usual. But the market was smaller and we had finished looking at the whole thing, plus visiting with people we saw there, within a couple hours of entering. Vendors: Threads and Ewe Lamb & Kid Ellen's Wooly Wonders Purl2 Walla Walla Royal Bee Yarn Company Sincere Sheep 2 Guys Yarn Company Dizzy Blonde Studios Anzula Zombie Yarns Jorstad Creek Makers' Mercantile Firebird Yarns Jul Designs Global Marketplace Fair Trade Crafts Madonna Inn guest room pictures Patreon Winners: Listen to hear if you won in the Patreon drawing. Thank you to all our patrons! We appreciate you! To become a patron, visit the Two Ewes Patreon site . Stitches West 2022 Celebration Giveaway: This is on both Instagram and Ravelry and ends April 15. For IG– Enter to win by commenting on Kelly's or Marsha's post announcing publication of Episode 180. For Ravelry there will be a thread with a prompt. Answer the prompt to be in the drawing. Two Ewes' Hand Dyed Cotton Yarn and Dishcloth Pattern Giveaway Listen to hear if you won a prize. Below are links to some of the patterns: Ballband Dishcloth Three Easy Wash Cloths Tante Martha's Dishcloth Mopien . Lacy Mock Cable Cloth Bee Skep Dishcloth Campfire dishcloth Be My Valentine Cloth Washstand Sheep Waffle Dishcloth Tante Martha's Dishcloth We Want to Hear You! Give us a call and tell us about your favorite LYS! Go to speakpipe.com/twoewes and leave a message. It will take 90 seconds or less. Or you can use the voice memo app on your phone and email us the audio file. We'll put your voice feedback on the show!

Feb 28, 2022

Kelly and I are together for this episode and recording in her backyard. We have lots of project updates and a discussion of our contests and an interesting podcast. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwes.us Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects Quick Switch Hat by AbbyeKnits. My son liked the hat so much I cast on another for him using Meeker Street Olives Outerwear DK in the colorway Sage. I finished the hat and was worried it was too small but it fits well and he loves it. Nanny Meier's Tea Cozy by Amelia Carlsen. I am using Cascade 220 Heather in Red Wine Heather (9489) and green Irelande (2429). I have finished both sides and am ready to sew together and make pompoms. Meadow Stripe Socks using Patons Kroy Sock in the colorway, Meadow Stripes and Lang Yarns Jawoll Superwash fingering for the heels and toes. Working on gusset. Garter Squish Blanket I'm so excited to start another garter squish blanket for our Stash Busting Blanket Along. Phrancko Designs crew neck from Phrancko.com by Frank Jernigan. I'm using my green and brown handspun merino. I finished the body and about half of the first sleeve when Ben came home and I was able to have him try it on. It is too small all over but especially tight fitting through the shoulders and upper arms. I will have to frog and find another pattern. The good news is he loves the Fibonacci sequence striping. I cast on for a cowl and am using the helix knitting technique with four colors green (Amazon), blue (Cornflower), light blue (Rain), and mauve (Plum) that our listener Rochelle (Reecreates) suggested. Here is a link to the Purl SoHo video. I'm spinning a 2lb bag of Manx Loaghton in my stash. This is a protected breed from the Isle of Man. I am using a woolen spun technique. Our listener UlrikaC recommended the Fiber Nation podcast episode about the history of the Manx Loaghtan sheep. Here is the link to the episode Manx for the Memories . Fiber Nation is an excellent podcast hosted by Alison Korleski. She examines the history of fiber production, sewing, crafting, and a few mysteries. Here are links to some of the episodes I listened to that I found fascinating. Home Economics Versus Hitler: Sewing in WWII Hemp: The Fall and Rise of a Forbidden Fiber The Mystery of Gunnister Man The Donner Party ad the Doll: Patty Reed's Doll Kelly's Projects I finished a pair of socks (Ravelry link) in Bob Ross Happy Little Mistakes yarn from Weird Sisters Wool Emporium in Aberdeen. I used the stitch pattern from Blueberry Waffle socks. I also started and finished a charity hat with sock scraps (including the leftovers from the finished socks) and I'm currently working on a Helix Hat with some vintage sock yarn. I started a Garter Squis h blanket to use the handspun leftovers from my tossing of the stash. I'm about to the halfway mark and I'm almost done with the natural white Columbia and Oxford that I'm using as the base color. I spun more Oxford and then I knit all of that (maybe 375 yards). So now it's stalled again. I have one more batt that is already carded, but I think I may need to card more. This blanket will be helping with my fleece stash, too. Finally doing some of the weaving in ends and blocking that I didn't do during the pandemic. A crochet shawl , a knitted shawl , the Rachel Sweater and th e Dark Green Forest Sweater should all be ready to wear at Stitches this weekend! We Want to Hear You! Give us a call and tell us about your favorite LYS! Go to speakpipe.com/twoewes and leave a message. It will take 90 seconds or less. Or you can use the voice memo app on your phone and email us the audio file. We'll put your voice feedback on the show! Whidbey Weavers Guild Spin In: Saturday, April 2 and Sunday April 3 10:00-4:00 both days Oak Harbor High School Admission $20 for both days Winter Weave Along Just about a month left. It ends March 31. There is an FO thread and a chat thread and prize winners will be drawn from both. Two Ewes' Hand Dyed Cotton Yarn and Dishcloth Pattern Giveaway One day left to enter! Stash-Busting Blanket Along Starts now, ends May 31. There will be prizes.

Feb 14, 2022

Full notes with photos, links, and a transcript can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts We Want to Hear You! Give us a call and tell us about your favorite LYS! Go to speakpipe.com/twoewes and leave a message. It will take 90 seconds or less. Or you can use the voice memo app on your phone and email us the audio file. We'll put your voice feedback on the show! Marsha's Projects Nanny Meier's Tea Cozy by Amelia Carlsen. I am using Cascade 220 Heather in Red Wine Heather (9489) and green Irelande (2429). I have finished both sides and am ready to sew together and make pompoms. Meadow Stripe Socks using Patons Kroy Sock in the colorway, Meadow Stripes and Lang Yarns Jawoll Superwash fingering for the heels and toes. Ready to start heel flap on the second sock. Quick Switch Hat by AbbyeKnits. My son liked the hat so much I cast on another for him using Meeker Street Olives Outerwear DK in the colorway Sage. I finished the hat but I think it is too small. Phrancko Designs crew neck from Phrancko.com by Frank Jernigan. I'm using my green and brown handspun merino. Finished the ribbing but I'm waiting for Ben to try on the sweater before binding off. Frank says to use the invisible ribbed bind off , but with the warning that it is difficult to frog, so I want to be sure of the length. Started first sleeve Finished my spinning project with merino roving from The Weaving Works that I bought at a gathering of spinners on Whidbey Island several years ago. I have a one ounce ball of green (Amazon), blue (Cornflower), light blue (Rain), and mauve (Plum). I cast on for a cowl and am using the helix knitting technique with four colors that our listener Rochelle (Reecreates) suggested. Here is a link to the Purl SoHo video. Found a 2lb bag of Manx Loaghton in my stash. This is a protected breed from the Isle of Man. I am using a woolen spun technique. Kelly's Projects I'm still working on a pair of socks (Ravelry link) in Bob Ross Happy Little Mistakes yarn from Weird Sisters Wool Emporium in Aberdeen. I'm using the stitch pattern from Blueberry Waffle socks. I started a Garter Squis h blanket to use the handspun leftovers from my tossing of the stash. I'm about to the halfway mark and I'm almost done with the natural white Columbia and Oxford that I'm using as the base color. I'm going to have to spin more. Winter Weave Along Starts October 15 and goes through the end of March. Two Ewes' Hand Dyed Cotton Yarn and Dishcloth Pattern Giveaway January 13 - February 28 Drop by our Ravelry thread and let us know your favorite dishcloth pattern and you will be entered to win a skein of our hand-dyed cotton and a Two Ewes' dishcloth instructions. Never made a dishcloth? Tell us if you are a dishcloth newbie. Stash-Busting Blanket Along Starts now, ends May 31. There will be prizes.

Jan 31, 2022

A stash busting Garter Squish blanket obsession, project updates, and after almost two years of online teaching, Kelly returns to the classroom. Lots to discuss this week. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Instagram post of Kelly's dogs as she leaves for work for the first time in almost two years. Marsha's Projects Nanny Meier's Tea Cozy by Amelia Carlsen. I am using Cascade 220 Heather in Red Wine Heather (9489) and green Irelande (2429). I have finished both sides and am ready to sew together and make pompoms. Meadow Stripe Socks using Patons Kroy Sock in the colorway, Meadow Stripes and Lang Yarns Jawoll Superwash fingering for the heels and toes. Finished the first sock and worked on the second sock. Quick Switch Hat by AbbyeKnits. My son liked the hat so much I cast on another for him using Meeker Street Olives Outerwear DK in the colorway Sage. Phrancko Designs crew neck from Phrancko.com by Frank Jernigan. I'm using my green and brown handspun merino. I have finished the body and am ready to start ribbing. Started a spinning project with merino roving from The Weaving Works that I bought at a gathering of spinners on Whidbey Island several years ago. There is one ounce each of green (Amazon), blue (Cornflower), light blue (Rain), and mauve (Plum). These are the fountain pens my brother found: Waterman, chased hard black rubber from early 1900's Wahl, gold patented 1/23/04 Black desk pen no manufacturer name Kelly's Projects I'm still working on a pair of socks (Ravelry link) in Bob Ross Happy Little Mistakes yarn from Weird Sisters Wool Emporium in Aberdeen. I'm using the stitch pattern from Blueberry Waffle socks. I finished the Sockhead Hat (Kelly McClure) using the 2020 NoCKRs retreat colorway and Nevermore from Invictus Yarns. I also used a little of the Vivid Wool from Iceland. These were leftovers from a pullover I still haven't blocked or worn. I started a Garter Squis h blanket to use the handspun leftovers from my tossing of the stash. I'm about to the halfway mark and I'm almost done with the natural white Columbia and Oxford that I'm using as the base color. I'm going to have to spin more. Winter Weave Along Starts October 15 and goes through the end of March. Two Ewes' Hand Dyed Cotton Yarn and Dishcloth Pattern Giveaway January 13 - February 28 Drop by our Ravelry thread and let us know your favorite dishcloth pattern and you will be entered to win a skein of our hand-dyed cotton and a Two Ewes' dishcloth instructions. Never made a dishcloth? Tell us if you are a dishcloth newbie.

Jan 17, 2022

Kelly's "Tossing of The Stash" is in progress and we have a discussion of what to do with all that handspun! Plus, project updates and the announcement of our Crochet Along winners. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Transcript available at the end of the show notes. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects Nanny Meier's Tea Cozy by Amelia Carlsen. I am using Cascade 220 Heather in Red Wine Heather (9489) and green Irelande (2429). I've knit about half of the second side. Pebblebrook Beanie by Wish Upon a Hook (Ravelry link). I started this beanie using Little Sheep in The Big Woods. I was trying to finish this for our Two Ewes Crochet Along, but after ripping it out three times, I admitted defeat and set the project aside. Meadow Stripe Socks using Patons Kroy Sock in the colorway, Meadow Stripes and Lang Yarns Jawoll Superwash fingering for the heels and toes. Finished the first sock and worked on the second sock. Quick Switch Hat by AbbyeKnits. My son liked the hat so much I cast on another for him using Meeker Street Olives Outerwear DK in the colorway Sage. Phrancko Designs crew neck from Phrancko.com by Frank Jernigan. I'm using my green and brown handspun merino. I joined under the arms and knit five stripe repeats (3 rows brown, 6 rows green). Looking at the amount of yarn I have left I was concerned I would not have enough for green. I called Kelly and we designed stripes using Fibonacci Sequence . The plan now for the stripe sequence will be: Four repeats of 3 brown, 6 green Three repeats of 5 brown, 6 green Two repeats of 8 brown, 6 green The ribbing will be brown. After the body is complete I will knit the collar in green and then assess the yarn situation and decide how to finish the sleeves. Kelly's Projects Last minute crocheting: I finished the Pebblebrook Beanie (Ravelry link) out of my Invictus club yarn from last year. It's a green and gray and yellow variegated yarn and it turned out great. It will join the other charity hats that I have to get sent out. I also finished two crocheted Mother Bears. One was half done and I found it during the stash tossing and finished it up (Ravelry link). Then I got inspired to make one last one (Ravelry link) to go with the last tag I had. These need to get into the mail, too. Two more crochet projects were finished for this episode. I made a cat bed (Ravelry link) using lots of my spirit yarn and then fulled it a little. The starting point for the pattern was Crochet Round Cat Bed by Humbug Designs (Ravelry link). This will go on the porch for Minnie to sleep on. Then I made an ear saver to use with my masks when I'm teaching. The pattern I used was One Button Mask Ear Saver by Robin Kline (Ravelry link). I wear it up near the top of my head, but you can also wear it behind your neck. I've already worn it for several hours and it was comfortable and stayed put. I'm still working on a pair of socks (Ravelry link) in Bob Ross Happy Little Mistakes yarn from Weird Sisters Wool Emporium in Aberdeen. I'm using the stitch pattern from Blueberry Waffle socks. Finally, I started a sockhead hat (pattern by Kelly McClure) using some leftovers from the Rachel pullover. Crochet Along Thank you to everyone who participated. Listen to the episode to hear who won a pattern of their choice up to $12.00 Winter Weave Along Starts October 15 and goes through the end of March. Two Ewes' Hand Dyed Cotton Yarn and Dishcloth Pattern Giveaway January 13 - February 28 Drop by our Ravelry thread and let us know your favorite dishcloth pattern and you will be entered to win a skein of our hand-dyed cotton and a Two Ewes' dishcloth instructions. Never made a dishcloth? Tell us if you are a dishcloth newbie. Full Transcript Marsha 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha Kelly 0:04 and this is Kelly. Marsha 0:05 We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com Kelly 0:22 and we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects Marsha 0:29 and I am betterinmotion. Kelly 0:31 We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Both 0:36 Enjoy the Episode Marsha 0:42 Hi, Kelly. Kelly 0:43 Hi, Marsha. How are you? Marsha 0:45 I'm doing well. Kelly 0:46 I'm doing great too. I have been decluttering, purging. Marsha 0:52 You know you've been doing you've been tossing of the stash Kelly 0:55 Tossing of the stash. That's right. That is what actually I am doing. Marsha 0:58 Is any tossing going on? Or is it just been reorganizing the stash? Well, let's just talk about it. Okay, so tell me everything Kelly 1:05 Last time we... last time we recorded I think I had already started. I had taken everything downstairs and laid it out on the studio floor, all the knitting yarn from various places in the house, because I keep it in various places. I had dug stuff out. Then I decided I needed to move it upstairs to the spare room where I could close the door and nobody could see it. Nobody meaning Robert couldn't see it. Just because I wanted to leave it messy for a while. And he likes things cleaned up and neat. So yes, and he was cleaning the living room, taking down the tree throwing away Christmas ornaments. So we did do some some tossing of the Christmas ornaments. So you know I was in that mood. So I brought it all upstairs and I laid it out on a tablecloth. It's about the size of a double bed sheet, flat sheet. And then I started organizing it and I did a little bit more organizing today. It's been out for more than... well for two weeks essentially. It's been sitting here inspiring me and also making me wonder about myself! [laughing] Marsha 2:21 okay, well Dr. Marsha is here listen to it. So tell me all about it. Kelly 2:26 Okay, well, I decided to-- we talked a little bit about what how I should go about the organization process and and so the first thing I ended up doing was taking all of the commercial skeins, commercial hand dyed, well, just commercial skeins that I had purchased on purpose. I had obtained on purpose. And I put-- It ended up that -- I thought this was true. And I was right. It's a very small batch! Not quite as small as I thought. Because I still have all that Rauna. The Finnish yarn that we got crazy about the year I was making argyle socks and we got all these different color combinations. So I had quite a bit of that. I had quite a bit of that still unused, but it fits in-- I have this wooden, like rice basket I guess it's called. I got it at a garden show. It's a wooden basket that came from, I think it came from--they said it came from Vietnam or someplace. Anyway. It's not that big. And it fits all of it. Marsha 3:03 Mm hmm. Kelly 3:42 So that's my like, "I got this intentionally" kind of yarn. And then the rest of it is a combination of handspun, leftovers, some of which are handspun, and spirit yarn. And then a little bit. like a small amount of like farm yarn that I didn't include in the commercial skeins. It's all natural colors and it went-- it seemed like it went better with the batch of yarn that was all handspun so I put it in that batch. but I... you know... So I have. ..I have over 13 skeins of Rug Yarn plus extra balls leftover from previous rug projects. I have five skeins of extra bulky yarn. I have over six skeins of white handspun-- you know natural creme handspun. Seven skeins of cotton handspun for a cotton project. I have about six skeins of luxury-- what I would consider to be luxury yarn. Some of that is leftovers. There's silk and silk and cotton and silk and wool angora, and that kind of stuff. I have three skeins of handspun from commercial dyed braids. That's it. And lots of leftovers. Some Wensleydale skeins, some suffolk skeins, a bunch of CVM leftovers. Anyway, so what am I going to do with it? The problem with that is, what am I gonna do with it? You know, like I was thinking with the handspun like, I don't want to get rid of it. I mean, I don't want to throw it, right? I don't want to toss it. I want it to be used but when I think about using the rest of the yarn from all the handspun sweaters that I made, and I've got quite a bit of yarn, I think I have five handspun sweaters that I have leftovers for. And when I think about you know making a hat or I can make mitts or I can make a scarf. Like that feels like making an adult layette. [laughing] Marsha 6:19 Yes, funny! [laughing] Kelly 6:26 I just, I don't feel like that's an adult thing-- to wear a hat and a sweater and mitts and socks that all match. Marsha 6:37 Yeah. So well because it-- because I even sometimes question if I have on hand knit socks, hand knit sweater, hand knit hat. Like then put a scarf on it seems like it's too much. Like too much hand knit. And they don't even match. So if it's all matching like... and you don't want to make something for Robert because that's not cool having matching--husband and wife matching outfits. [laughing] Kelly 7:02 Out of the CVM that I made the Orcas run sweater, I did make him a hat with the Orca pattern on it, which he likes. But yeah, we don't actually dress alike! [laughing] I have made some charity hats with some leftover handspun but you know it's not washable. So anyway, that's kind of my my, my dilemma with this yarn. I like it and I want to use it but I don't know what I'm going to use it for. What I did do though, is that a lot of the partial skeins I did collect them all. And I put them into my mother bear kit for making Mother Bears and I had... I realized when I did that, that I had a half a bear in the bag. And I haven't made a mother bear in a really long time. And I realized why when I put the additional yarn into the bag. It's because I was making a bear and I was using like three skeins of different weird... some handspun leftovers to get to the right weight of yarn for the bear. You know it's holding two strands together holding three strands together, running out because I was using these little you know, hazelnut sized balls of yarn, and then having to splice in the new one. I thought, why was I making my life so hard? Why not when I get down to that little amount of yarn? Or if I have something that's really so fine that it doesn't make a good bear? Like why would I put it in the kit. So I... so I cleaned up that bear Mother Bear kit put in new, threw away some stuff from there, put in new yarn into the Mother Bear kit and then I actually got inspired to finish that bear and make it make another bear which that's getting into my projects. But I did get a little bit inspired by stuff. So that was good. But it does kind of show me just some kind of gaps in what I have or overages overages in skeins. Like do I really need this much of my leftovers? No, because I don't know what I'm gonna do with them. And why do I spin so much yarn for a sweater? I guess because I don't know how much I'm going to need and I don't want to run out. Kelly 7:02 Well, actually, I would say that's true. I for me, that's true. Okay, so right now I'm knitting with with my handspun which I'll talk about this project later on, but I didn't have enough for a sweater. I'm always trying to do enough for a sweater but I didn't have enough so I had to spin up another color to make stripes. So I mean I think too, with your spinning, you're not... You're spinning the yarn to be spinning the yarn. Kelly 7:10 Yeah Marsha 7:24 Not spinning the yarn necessarily to make a sweater. Isnt' it true? Kelly 8:40 Right. Marsha 8:40 You talked about this before is that the fiber tells you what it wants to be. What type of yarn it wants to be. And you spin that yarn and then you figure out what project right? You're just...you're caught up in the, you know, you're spinning yarn, you're not thinking about what to make Kelly 10:26 Yeah, and the difference too, is like, you're spinning braids. Marsha 10:32 Mm hmm. Kelly 10:33 And I'm just spinning what comes off my drum carder. Marsha 10:36 Right. Kelly 10:37 And so you know, if you have a full fleece, and you just card and card and card, then you feel like you have to spin everything you carded. And that might be more than what you need for this sweater. So I am not complaining at all! I have a wealth... A wealth of yarn, including a wealth of my own handspun. But it was good to see for example, with the Rug Yarn, like, Okay, I have really some really nice Rug Yarn. But a lot of it is leftover from a wall hanging project that I did that was in greens and grays. Mostly. And so that's what I have most of-- green and gray. And then I have that and a little bit of Burgundy. And then I have the combo spin that I did. That's more blues. But it's all really super dark. And I think I need something light. Because otherwise the values are all going to be the same and whatever pattern I do in a rug, a punch needle piece, is gonna... you won't really see the pattern, I think. Marsha 11:47 So they're too dark to overdye another color. Kelly 11:50 Yes. Marsha 11:52 Okay. Kelly 11:53 In fact, a lot of them are dark gray overdyed. Dark green, dark gray overdyed with burgundy. Yeah, yeah, they're too dark to overdye. So I just--I need to spin more rug yarn in a lighter color. [laughing] Marsha 12:09 Okay. So I'm going to inject here with a few... Dr. Marsha has a few comments. I'm not a licensed therapist. No, as you say. So we... Marsha 12:22 Marsha I'm going to interrupt you. However, you are a licensed yarn stasher. Marsha 12:32 Yes,[laughing]... some of the yarn from your... the adult layette yarn? [laughing] All that leftover sweater yarn and whatnot. Can-- and I don't know what the weight of it is. It's pretty fine. It's not like it's worsted weight. But anyway, here's my point, can it be combined to be my go-to project, the garter squish blanket. It can be combined in some ways to make doubled up or added to... let me just back up. This is not how you have to do the garter squish. But the idea is you have one main color that goes through the whole blanket that's worsted weight. And then you have you keep changing out the other worsted weight yarn that you're carrying along with it to make the stripes or the pattern or whatever you decide to do. But it doesn't have to be that way. You know, right. So I don't know, if you have enough yarn that could be enough of a background color? Or, like my case where I didn't have enough yarn. There was sort of that camel colored yarn that I was using as the background. But I didn't have enough it in the same shade to do the whole thing. So we did a gradient. Do you have enough of the handspun that could be the background color? That maybe you overdye to make it more similar and do like a gradient? And then you know what I'm getting at? Kelly 13:59 Yeah, yeah, Marsha 14:00 just need to spin more yarn to well, to use up the sweater bits. Kelly 14:08 Yeah, that's an idea. Marsha 14:11 If you have a lot of the... Because didn't you say one sweater you have like three skeins leftover? Kelly 14:18 Something like that. Marsha 14:21 Can it be.. is that the sort of terracotta color for dark green forest? Kelly 14:27 Yeah, I have three skeins of that plus a ball, plus another skein that's undyed of the exact same yarn. Marsha 14:36 So even though you have say--you have three possibly four skeins of that yarn dyed that terracotta color, can you overdye it so make something? Now it's a pretty deep terracotta but can you make one like brown and one burgundy or something and then use those as the contrasting color for a background color. Kelly 14:59 You Yeah, that's a good idea. That's a really good idea. Marsha 15:05 Because you sent me a picture of all these bits. Kelly 15:11 You can put it in the show notes if you want. Marsha 15:14 I'm looking at...you have a lot of natural colored yarns that maybe you could just dye. Well and what is that? So, this is not good podcasting because people cannot see this picture. But the picture of the... there's a whole bunch of natural colored yarn. That's undyed. It looks like it's your handspun undyed which I don't know what the yarn is. Okay, so I'm looking at the picture that shows the right hand side of the sheet in the lower right hand corner. Kelly 15:41 Oh, uh huh. Marsha 15:43 I don't know how much is there. But if you could just take all those and you could maybe dye that if that's enough for your background color. Kelly 15:49 That might be. There are six skeins. The two balls in the front of that picture are bulky, so they won't work. But there are six skeins of the Oxford that I spun this summer and three skeins of the Columbia that I spun the summer before, I think in the summer spin-in. So there are six skeins there. They're roughly the same, they're three ply, roughly the same weight. And also they have the same kind of the same feel to them. They're not identical, but they would go together in a project. That's a really good idea I hadn't thought about a blanket of handspun Kelly 15:50 Well that garter squish is just a great way to use up a lot of yarn, because you're using it held double, even if it's worsted weight, you're holding it double. Right? Kelly 16:39 And, and people had mentioned, people had been mentioning that, you know, like, oh, that sounds fun. And I thought it sounded fun, too. But the thing I always thought was I don't have enough. I don't... that sounds funny. I don't have enough of the same kind of thing to be able to do it. But I do if I think about my handspun in using the sweater leftovers. Marsha 17:01 Mm hmm. Kelly 17:02 I do have enough, I think, Oh, that's interesting. Okay. Marsha 17:07 And then I'm, I'm going to... I bought a pattern. So it's Lily Scrap Blanket. Kelly 17:13 Oh, I'm going to look it up, too. Marsha 17:15 The Designer is Jen Peck. And it's like a chevron pattern. It's knit with fingering weight. And I don't know what all... I mean, this may not work that great. And so what you do is you basically take all of your sock weight scraps, and you just wind them into one big ball. Just randomly wind all the colors into a big giant ball. And you just loosely knot them together. So you can either-- you can put them together like with a long tail and then choose to weave them in. Or you can put just a loose knot. And so when you get to that point, you can take it apart and rotate it if you want, you know, spit splice it. And so I'm looking at the pattern because I actually printed this out and I've been gathering up my yarn. It's a free pattern. Kelly 18:01 Yeah, I'm looking at it right now takes about 1000 to 1400 yards. Marsha 18:07 Yeah, so it's a nice pattern, because it's all... it makes a chevron. And as I say, I have been ...all my socks scraps I've been saving to make this blanket. And then also I have skeins of yarn --sock weight yarn-- that I bought that I don't think I'm ever going to make socks out of it. And so I was thinking just breaking those apart and putting them into the blanket. Kelly 18:34 Right. Marsha 18:35 But anyway, that's another idea. I don't know if it's the right weight. But maybe, Kelly 18:42 yeah, yeah, actually, that would work. Because all of my handspun, I mean, it's the same-- the Targi lamb is heavier, but the rest of my handspun is all about the same weight. Mm hmm. That's an interesting idea. Or holding them double. And then in some places using just one skein of a heavier yarn. Marsha 19:06 Because you know, the other thing, too, is that this is... I don't even think that they have gauge. Yeah, it says gauge is not important for this product. So it wouldn't. So you could just take and you could figure out what your... if you have a heavier weight yarn, you could just figure out how many stitches to the inch you're getting and then figure out, you know, how wide you want? How many you would want to cast on? Well, you know, that whole conversation we've had about using up yarn for the garter squish. I mean, I think the same idea with this is that you're probably not locked into a certain weight of yarn. Right? You'd have to just figure out Kelly 19:41 how to make whatever you're using roughly the same. Marsha 19:44 Right. And then also, didn't somebody in our crochet along did a sort of Chevron shaped blanket and that's crocheted. Yeah, so that's another thought. Kelly 19:54 Yeah. Yeah, it's a really nice. The chevron pattern is a really nice kind of traditional crochet pattern. It reminds me of my grandma's. She made millions, millions of Afghans out of that pattern. Okay, well, that's cool. That gives me some ideas. Marsha 20:14 It's better than putting it in a compost pile. Kelly 20:16 Yes, exactly. Marsha 20:19 And and also, you're getting a new trailer, you might need a blanket for the trailer. Kelly 20:23 Well, that's, that is something that I thought of, too. Yeah. And I want to finish that quilt. That's another thing I dug out was my pieced quilt top. Marsha 20:34 Mm hmm. Kelly 20:35 I think I want to finish that quilt for the trailer. So we'll see. Yeah, that's a good idea. I did get inspired to make one more thing. Moving into my projects. Besides the two bears, I did get inspired. And I used up quite a bit of yarn that have been hanging around for a while to make a cat bed for Minnie. She had been sleeping on a sample woven piece, a narrow piece that I had, we had just folded and positioned it, but it kind of looked messy. And so I made a basket inspired by some of the people in our crochet along. I made a basket for her out of some various old yarns from the weaving room and the early 2000s when those felted bags were kind of popular. Marsha 21:31 Mm hmm. Kelly 21:33 And I had some leftovers from that. And one of the yarns-- I did call you about this, but I wanted to tell people about the yarn that had cow hair in it. I thought that was pretty cool. Marsha 21:45 Yeah, we were gonna talk about this. Kelly 21:47 Yeah. And I didn't I didn't put that in the show notes. But I'll just I'll just say that there was this one singles yarn from Sweden. That yeah, that was like 20% Cow hair. And you looked something up on it. It suggested that it was Highland cow. So that was very interesting. But the main point of this is I got rid of probably...Let's see... I got rid of two balls and three pretty close to full partial skeins. So that made a big dent. One of those little piles that was laying on the tablecloth is gone. Totally gone, because I used it in this cat bed. So that's nice. Marsha 22:38 That's very good. Yeah. Kelly 22:40 And then I felted it so it's sitting on the sitting on the porch right now. So that's a... besides the two Mother Bears that was another finished project. So I finished... Well, I finished the Pebblebrook Beanie that I was working on last time out of the Invictus club yarn. And then I finished the two Mother Bears and I finished the cat bed. So I've been crocheting up a storm during my vacation from school. So it's been really nice. Marsha 23:08 Nice. Yeah. Kelly 23:11 Oh, and then one other crochet project that I did as as a nod to our crochet along which we'll talk about our winners later in the episode. I'm going to be teaching in the classroom on campus this semester, as everyone knows. I'm so excited. And I'm going to have to wear a mask and the masks don't really fit my face very well. And the ear loops, I always have to shorten them. And I usually will shorten them with a little knot. I tried twisting them but that didn't work very well. I tried shortening them, the ear loops, with a little knot. And that works okay, but it makes my ears stick out. And I don't need my ears to stick out any more than they already do. So my vanity! And I saw this ear saver, it's called One Button Mask Ear Saver. And it actually holds for me, I put it going up over the, kind of, the top back of my head. Kind of like the actual N95 masks have two elastics one goes behind your neck and one goes over your head. Marsha 24:25 Mm hmm. Kelly 24:26 And so I use it like that. It connects to the ear pieces, but then it straps across my head. And it works great. And I got to use a button from my button stash. Marsha 24:37 Yay! Very nice. Kelly 24:38 Because you know it's adjustable. You close it with a button. I wore it while I unpacked boxes and threw away stuff. Again another organizing and throwing away project. I worked for about four hours. One day while I unpacked things in my office at school, and it it didn't slip off. It was comfortable. I didn't have that ear pain that you sometimes get from wearing the mask for too long and I didn't have to really adjust it or anything. So it was nice and I get a nice tight fit. It feels like wearing one of those you know the N 95. Because it's actually holding on from the back of my head. So anyway really nice. That was my last crochet--most recent crochet project so... That did not use any stash to speak of. It's a very small project-- took me about an hour, including sewing on the button. So and then I'm working on the pair of socks that I was talking about last time out of the Bob Ross happy little mistakes. And the other thing I got inspired to do... Now this is with leftovers, but I promise never to wear it at the same time as I wear the sweater. [laughing] The the yarn is again, Invictus yarn. It's the Yak Luxe that I used for my Rachel sweater. Marsha 26:08 Mm hmm. Kelly 26:09 And then that yarn that you got me. Marsha 26:12 Oh, right. Kelly 26:12 I can't remember what it was called. But it was anyway, it's all in kind of blue green. Marsha 26:18 It was the yarn from Iceland from Iceland. Kelly 26:21 Yeah. And so anyway, I saw those scraps were sitting there. Pretty significant amounts were leftover. And so I put them all in a knitting bag. And I'm making a Sock Head Hat to replace the Sock Head hat that I have that I have been wearing since 2015. Marsha 26:45 Mm hmm. Kelly 26:47 And it's so faded that it's pretty much unrecognizable--the difference between the outside and the inside of the yarn. So I'm almost to the to the crown decreases on a sock head hat. Marsha 27:02 Whoa, nice. Kelly 27:02 Yeah. So it'll be nice. This will be for you know, going on walks and stuff. Not to match my sweater. AlthoughI guess I could but I don't know. I don't know about that. Marsha 27:13 There's no crime in wearing it to match. Yeah, yeah. What a knitting fashion patrols going to come and arrest you? [laughing] Kelly 27:19 Well, we'll see. Yeah, after I've laughed so much about adult layettes. [laughing] Oh, dear. So yeah, that's my new start-- this sock head pattern. So that's... so I've got two things on the go, the socks and this Sock Head hat pattern. And all the rest of my stuff for this week is finished objects. Marsha 27:46 Yay. Very nice. Kelly 27:48 Yeah. As you say, though, it's still in my house. Actually, the Mother Bears are going and the beanie is going so those are all those are all to be sent away. I haven't done it yet. Marsha 28:04 Well, let me ask you, I'm just going to go back to the tossing of the stash. Because the other thing too, I guess I wanted to ask is, do you even want to-- do you want to make anything out of that yarn? I mean,... Kelly 28:19 The yarn I've already knit with... mm hmm yeah. I don't know. I don't know. I mean, I don't want it to not be knitted. Marsha 28:31 That's another possibility is pass it along to someone else. Kelly 28:34 Yeah, yeah. And let it be their problem Marsha 28:40 Well, it may not be their problem, it's spirit yarn, right? Kelly 28:43 Exactly. Marsha 28:44 I don't think so negatively. Kelly 28:46 That's true. It would be there it would Marsha 28:48 Someone might really want it. Kelly 28:50 It would be their... I don't know it always feels like a great find when you when you find a good spirit yarn so so yeah, it'd be someone else's great find. Marsha 29:01 I'm gonna just say something... This has absolutely nothing to do with knitting but about what other people value or want that we don't want. And I don't know if they have this in the rest of the country but here in Seattle there's this Buy Nothing. It's Buy Nothing and then fill in your neighborhood. And so I live in the Maple Leaf Neighborhood so it's Buy Nothing Maple Leaf. And you cannot sell anything. It's all stuff that you give away for free or you can ask for things. And so I've been posting up things you know, like I got rid of a toaster. Like things that were duplicates that I didn't need, you know, like combining households. So it's surprising to me sometimes the things that I thought actually people would want-- nothing. Crickets. So I just bring it to the goodwill and and then I've also had a problem--and I hope I have no Buy Nothing Maple Leaf listeners listening to this--but sometimes it's really difficult to get people to come I'm in a timely manner to pick things up. And so then it'll be like seven days, and then I'll text and they're like, Oh yeah, yeah. And then they never show up and so I just take it to the goodwill. But I had all those Styrofoam pellets that you use as packing material, and I had been saving it. Because with the new deck, my thought was I was going to put in the bottom half, fill half the pots... I have very heavy concrete pots that were going to go on the deck and so to reduce the weight, I've heard that you actually put in styrofoam pellets in the bottom of your pot. Not loose, but I had bought like a mesh bags that I was going to fill the pellets and put in the bottom of the pots. I ended up not doing that because I used smaller pots. The bigger pots went elsewhere. So I had... I think I had eight trash bags of pellets. Kelly 30:50 Oh man! Marsha 30:51 You can't get rid of that stuff. It just goes in the... it can't be recycled, it just goes in the garbage. Yeah, and so I went to to UPS stores and they wouldn't take it because they can't take it anymore because of the pandemic. I went to a UPS and FedEx store and they wouldn't take it and so I thought I'm just going to post it up on Buy Nothing Maple Leaf. And within 20 minutes a guy said, I think we can use that at work. Let me check with my boss. He checks with his boss and he comes and picks it up that evening. Kelly 31:23 Wow! Marsha 31:23 He comes by and he picks up eight bags of this stuff and I was like all this stuff like it's so weird the stuff that I think has value nobody wants but the stuff that has like it's actually a burden to me. Kelly 31:35 It's acually garbage! Marsha 31:36 It's actually a huge burden to me. It is literally garbage. Well I don't want it to be garbage but if I was to dispose of it I would be considered garbage. But I thought somebody can use it, I just can't find anybody.And he was so prompt he was the fastest of any of my Buy Nothing people. Kelly 31:54 [laughing] Oh my gosh! Marsha 31:55 One man's junk is another man's treasure. Okay, but moving on the the infamous Nanny Meyer tea cozy for Brian. I'm halfway done with the second side. I do a couple rows a dy Kelly 32:09 Oh, yay, Marsha 32:09 So I'm making progress on that. Still working on my socks, nothing to report there. I'm three quarters of the way done with the Quick Switch hat by Abby Knits. The one I'm making for Ben the yarn is Meeker Street Olives Outerwear DK. So I'm working on that intermittently. So I have kind of moved on. What I'm really sort of obsessed with now is this phrancko.com sweater. I don't know what to call it. I'm just calling it my Phrancko Designs sweater or the striped sweater for Ben. But this one I'm making for my son, Ben. And just to remind people, it's the handspun in a kind of a barberpole green and brown and then a solid, three ply Brown. And I talked about this in the last episode that I knew I had measured Ben and entered all the information into phrancko.com. And printed out my pattern. And I forgot last Saturday to join their group, I completely forgot. So I'm going to try... Every Saturday at 2:30 they have a Zoom call. And I'm going to try and join that again. This Saturday, I made a note to myself, because I forgot last Saturday but to show them my progress. But what I started, the reason I had spun the solid brown is I didn't have enough of the brown and green. So I'm just gonna call it the green. But I didn't have enough of that to do an entire sweater. So I spun the brown and the idea, I was gonna do stripes. So Kelly, you and I had a big conversation about this because I had joined under the arms. And at that point, I started-- I did one stripe before I joined under the arms and then joined under the arms and I knit another four brown stripes separated by.... So my was my stripe sequence was going to be three brown, excuse me, three rows of brown, six rows of green, three rows of brown, six rows of green, and I was going to do that all the way through the sweater. But after doing five repeats of that, I got concerned about how much yarn I was going to have. I didn't think I'd have enough green to finish the whole sweater and the arms and the collar and everything. So I called you and we had a really great conversation and of course, your go-to striping sequence, right, which is the Fibonacci sequence. Kelly 34:44 Go Fibonacci. Marsha 34:46 So I ripped back and Kelly how should we describe this? Well, you explain Fibonacci. Kelly 34:53 Okay. So the Fibonacci sequence. It starts with one and then the second number to the sequence is also one. And then the third number of the sequence is two, because if you add one and one, you get two. And then the next number in the sequence, you take the two and add it to the previous number, the one, and you get three. And then three plus two is five. And so each number in the sequence is the sum of the two numbers prior. And all of those numbers are called Fibonacci numbers. You don't have to use them in order. But I like to use them in order. And so you have your stripe, you're using them for your stripe sizes, right? So three rows, a three row stripe is one size. A five row stripe is another size. That's another Fibonacci number. The next Fibonacci would be three and five is eight. So an eight row stripe would be another Fibonacci number. And then eight and five is 13. And so that's another Fibonacci number. And they get bigger as they... the stripes get bigger as they go. Marsha 36:04 Right Kelly 36:05 Depending on how many stripes, you know how many stripes you want, and how you organize them. So so tell us what you're doing, Marsha. Marsha 36:14 So first, I'm going to say that the green is considered my main color. So every stripe, brown stripe is separated by six rows of green, that's going to be consistent through the sweater, right? Kelly 36:27 Yeah. Marsha 36:28 But then my brown, I'm doing four stripes of brown with three rows of brown. So a three row, brown stripe four times, then a five row brown stripe three times, and then an eight row stripe twice, then the plan is to do six rows of the green, and then my ribbing will be all in the brown. And so the next sequence should be 13 rows, which I think is going to be enough for my ribbing. That's what we talked about. Yeah, that makes sense to what I'm saying now. And I think this is all going to work out perfectly. Because if we add up all these rows, it's 97 rows, which will be about what I need. That plus the yoke equals about 21 and a half inches. Kelly 37:34 Perfect. Marsha 37:35 I'm sorry, I said that wrong. Those stripes sequence plus the yoke equals 19 and a half inches which is what I need for the body before I start the ribbing. And then the ribbing will be the extra two inches to make the body length the 21 and a half inches. And I hope I'm saying that in a way that makes sense to people, that people can understand. Kelly 37:54 Yeah, I think you did. Although I mean, I was there with you when you were working it out. Marsha 37:59 I know! Kelly 38:00 But I think it'll be nice, because you'll have, you'll have four small stripes, and then you'll have three medium sized stripes. And then you'll have two large stripes, and then you'll have one really large stripe in the ribbing. And so it's kind of getting heavier. You know, the weight of the dark brown is getting heavier as you go down. It's getting less frequent, but they're getting, but the stripes are getting wider. So I think it'll look really nice. I have never been... I have to say I have never been disappointed by Fibonacci. Marsha 38:33 So I have my little cheat sheet that I will take a picture of and put in the show notes. Kelly 38:40 Oh, good. Marsha 38:41 Yeah, visually what I'm doing, and I've checked off, you know what I've done so far, people will see what I'm doing. It'll be obvious, I think when you see, when I take a picture of it and post in the show notes. And then the plan is when I finished the body, I'm going to go back and do the collar next in the green. And then we're going to do I'm going to do another assessment of the, of the yarn supply and then we're gonna have to figure out stripes for the the sleeves. And I'm not sure if I will just... I only have a bit of a dilemma, because well, that's not exactly true. I guess the sleeves are about the length...Well, the sleeves are about the length of the entire body. So that means my stripe sequence is going to be a little bit different. Because the entire body of the finished sweater is 21 and a half inches. A part of that is solid green. Right? The sleeves are 21 and a half inches of stripes. Mm hmm. So we're going to have to do something there. There's going to be another phone call. [laughing] Kelly 39:53 Another consultation. Marsha 39:55 Yes, a consultation. But I have... Yes. So I will have to talk... I will actually talk to Dr.Locke who really is a doctor of mathematics. So to help me through this, and because the math will work, right? Kelly 40:11 Yeah. Yeah. So your only constraint for the sleeves is going to be how much yarn you have left. Marsha 40:19 Yes. And so Ben may get a short sleeve sweater. He may have what they call like a wrist... Kelly 40:33 bracelet length! Marsha 40:34 Bracelet length Kelly 40:39 Oh my gosh. Well, I think you'll have it. I mean, I think you'll have enough it's just a matter of how you how you can figure it. Yeah. Marsha 40:48 Actually, I'm sort of laughing because he might actually wear a bracelet length sweater because he was home last weekend. And I said, what he was wearing, I said it's so bizarre but it's kind of stylish in its own way. Kelly 41:08 Oh, yeah? Marsha 41:10 So he had on like long underwear or something. He'd gone for a bike ride so he had on like, I don't know if it was long underwear or leggings or something. I guess you wouldn't call it leggings for men but it's like some sort of warm pants like... I guess long underwear. Socks that are... like he has these Christmas socks you know those those acrylic socks that you can buy that have like designs on them? He had some Santa socks on his Teva sandals, cut-off shorts over it like those Carhart work pants that he'd cut off. That's over it. And then he's drawn with like, permanent marker all over them. And then where their are holes? He's sewn up the holes, hand stitched up holes, and then... [laughing] a hand knit a hat that I had made for him. Oh, no, it was the... I was think it was the one I made out of sock scraps. No, it was the very first handspun. I made a hat for him. And my handspun is like rope. Kelly 42:17 Oh yes. The five pound hat! Marsha 42:20 The five pound hat and it has no life to it at all. It does is just saying it's just like sits on his head like a bucket hat. Yeah. And then something on the top and I've completely lost track of what was on the top. But anyway, he looks kind of stylish in sort of a bizarre way. So maybe he might wear a bracelet length sleeve. Kelly 42:42 Oh my gosh. Yeah. Marsha 42:43 Anyway. Kelly 42:44 Well, they don't get in the way. You know? If you have your sleeves a little shorter. Marsha 42:49 So then my last project is the beanie, the Pebblebrook Beanie by Wish Upon a hook. And I started this using Little Sheep in the Big Woods. And so I was... I started this...was going to try and finish it for the crochet along. But sadly, after I ripped it out for the third time I thought I can't. I can't rip it out. I can't do it again. And so it was...now I had 24 hours. And I thought you know what, it's okay. Even though it's it's our... It's like my crochet along, like ours that we're doing as part of our podcast. I I can't do it. I couldn't do it again. So it's all right. Kelly 43:40 Yeah. Next time. Marsha 43:42 I don't know the thing about is I did really well on the the brim. I got that figured out. I did really well. I had to call you about picking up the stitches, I guess I would say to start the... I have to say I don't know how we ever learned to knit or crochet without YouTube because I watched tons of tutorials about how to make the bobble. We talked. And I'm just like these bobbles are not working right. And I still was doing them wrong. And then I ripped it out. We had a conversation I ripped it out I started again... like that's not right. So I ripped it out and like that's when I thought I can't start again. So... Kelly 44:22 Yeah, the thing about crochet. I like charts, this doesn't have a chart. I like charts because the thing I always found the most difficult about crochet is where... which hole do you put your hook in? Marsha 44:35 Yes, right. Kelly 44:36 It's a it's a fabric full of holes. And then you have to figure out which hole is the right hole to put the hook into for the, you know, for the next stitch. And I always found that to be really perplexing. Marsha 44:50 And so with mine, my Bobbles were stacking on top of each other because I was putting... I was picking the wrong whole. So my bobblrd just stacked on top of each other, and like, that doesn't look right. And because they're supposed to sort of nestle into each other, so it ends up sort of looking like basket weaving, right? Kelly 45:09 Yeah. Marsha 45:10 So anyway, I did take a class years ago on crochet. And I made-- I did make a shawl. Kelly 45:18 You made the virus shawl. Marsha 45:20 Yeah, I made that. But I, I'm not that familiar with crochet. Like I've been looking at like sweaters and stuff, but I don't even know how you get gauge. I don't know how you-- like the hat is not that critical, but like I don't really know enough about crochet to do a sweater for sure. I need to at least figure out how to do the hat before I would move on to a sweater right? No, there's some great patterns out there in crochet you know, so Kelly 45:52 Yeah, Marsha 45:52 beautiful things! Kelly 45:54 Those are interesting to me because I never thought of crochet really as garments. You know, growing up my grandma crocheted blankets. She crocheted doilies, she crocheted those modular bedspreads out of little tiny, small hexagon things. You know, with crochet thread. But crochet in a garment, excepted a garment for a doll, you know, doll clothes, was not something that I had ever thought of. So that was new to me when you know, as an adult, I came back to crochet. Yeah, yeah. Marsha 46:30 Yeah, cuz I had sort of this sense that crochet was not particularly fashionable, you know, But it is, I'm completely wrong on that. It's, there's some really, really nice patterns. And so I would like to know more about it, but I need a bit more hand holding. Kelly 46:45 And I, I, I don't feel like I'm super comfortable with crochet. And I especially didn't a few years ago when we first started having the crochet along. But I have to admit, I did a lot of crocheting growing up, you know, I mean, like making doll clothes and doll blankets and blankets for stuffed animals and giant long strips that I didn't, you know, have a purpose for. I know, there was a lot... I did a lot of crocheting as a kid. And so the learning part of it, I don't really remember. I didn't learn all the details, but the kind of the sort of basics, you know, the kind of basics of crochet and the language of croche, I don't remember learning it. I just have known for a really long time. So yeah, so I, you know, that it's, it's challenging. Marsha 47:39 I learned the just the basics, like how to chain stitch. I didn't even know what the names were. My great aunt showed me. But I don't know how to increase and decrease and yeah, you know, so I am interested, though, and what I would say... What I do like about crochet, and I've said this before, when we were having a conversation many years ago in the podcast about crochet, is you only have one live stitch. So if you do make a mistake, it's really easy to get back and get back on track. Because you're not having to, you know, knit back stitch by stitch or rip it all out and then pick up those stitches. It's very easy to correct anything. To rip back and get started again. But not under a crochet along deadline. Kelly 48:32 Right. Marsha 48:34 Anyway, so that's it for me for projects. All right. So Kelly, we need to talk about the crochet along. Kelly 48:42 Yeah, it just finished up a couple of days ago. And we have some prizes. So we had one thread for chatter and finished objects. We had 14 people participating in the discussion. And there were 20 projects that were linked. I'm not counting them up. I'm just... there at the top of the Ravelry thread it talks aboutit, so if you link your project it counts it. Nine patterns were linked, and 84 total posts. So lots of people had multiple projects in the in the crochet along so I think it was a success. Marsha 49:25 And we had some new people participating. Kelly 49:27 We did and that's always fun. I like when we have a different kind of along and end up with some people that we haven't seen in the threads before. So that was a nice thing to see. Marsha 49:39 So let's just say, we have four winners, and each has won a pattern of their choice up to $12. So Kelly, do you want to announce the winners? Kelly 49:51 Sure. And winners should just get in touch with I guess me and then let me know the pattern that you want. Our first winner is JoyLaine1, Joy. She made a basket that was partially my inspiration for... she and Natalie's baskets were my inspiration for making the cat basket when I saw that pile of orange yarn that I had when I did the tossing of the stash. So she's our first winner. And then we have Shelly, Purpledogwood. She's the one that made all of the pumpkin and Santa hats. Marsha 50:43 Yes, Kelly 50:43 That we talked about last time. And then our third winner, Misnim, Missy. She's the one who inspired me to make the ear savers. She posted about making the ear savers. And then that reminded me that I had saved that pattern for the one with the buttons long ago, and that I needed to get busy on that for for my, my school semester, this coming up. And then finally, our last winner is SuperKip, Natalie. And she made quite a few things. We talked about her baby toy. And she made a moses basket that she is using for yarn and made quite a few things. So those are our four winners. So Joy and Shelly and Missy and Natalie, message me on Ravelry or email me, Two Ewes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. And let me know what pattern you'd like. You've won the pattern of your choice. Congratulations! Marsha 51:56 Yes. Congratulations. And thank you for participating. It's fun. Well, what do I know? It was not fun for me. [laughing] Kelly 52:08 I'm sorry. But I do think it's a cool hat. And I do think you know, Marsha 52:15 I did too. But another time. Let's not go.. let's not go back there, right.[laughing] But anyway, just laughing! Kelly 52:25 And then we still have our winter weave along going on. It started in October, but it will go through the end, through the end of March. Marsha 52:37 So Kelly, we need to talk about our next giveaway that we're doing. Yes. So this is going to be this is inspired by the tossing of the stash. Kelly 52:48 Yes, it is. Marsha 52:50 So one of the things that you found in your stash is I don't know how many years ago it was that I had acquired a whole bunch of cotton yarn, mercerized cotton yarn. And we did a big dye-A-thon when I was at your house one summer. And we still.you found that you still have this cotton yarn in your stash, some of it because you have made dish cloths out of a lot of it. But we still have quite a bit, several skeins, quite a bit. So it is inspired our next giveaway which is we're going to put a thread on the Ravelry, our Ravelry group and just let us know your favorite dish cloth pattern. And you'll be entered to win a skein of our hand dyed cotton yarn. Hand dyed by the Two Ewes. And you'll also receive a Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dish cloth pattern. And if you've never made a dish cloth, just tell us if you're a dish cloth newbie, if you just just check in on that in the thread, and then we'll have a drawing for a skein of our hand dyed cotton yarn and a dishcloth pattern. So we're recording this on January 13. So it'll be posting in the next couple of days. So it'll start as soon as you hear this and it ends February 28. So go into the thread and let us know your favorite dish cloth pattern and or if you're a newbie, and you may be one of the lucky winners! Kelly 54:37 And I am going to... I'm going to lower expectations just a little bit about the dish cloth pattern. Because okay, because it's mostly just a stitch pattern. I'm not a pattern designer. You know, it won't be tech edited. I'll just let you know how I started. You know, what size needles I use, what the stitch pattern is that I use, and how I bind it off. Marsha 55:08 Okay, so it'll be... so yes, we will lower the bar on the pattern! Kelly 55:14 It's not a professionally designed and tech edited pattern. It's the the kind of pattern that your that your grandma would pass alongto you. Marsha 55:26 Yeah. When you're sitting next to each other on the sofa, Kelly 55:29 I'll send it to you on a scrap of paper, on the back of a receipt.[laughing] Oh, I'm sorry, no, it will be-- I will write it nicely. But yeah, it's not an official like designer kind of pattern because I'm not a pattern designer. And then one other thing that I just have to disclose about this yarn if you win it. Some of them-- because it was our--we were experimenting with dyeing cotton. Some of them have quite a bit of bleeding happening. And so if you're doing your dishes, the first time, you may find that the water turns, whatever color the dish cloth is. But after you've done that, first, you know, after you've done that first round of dishes, I can verify. Or if you don't want to deal with that you can just toss it in the washing machine before you even use it. Marsha 56:25 But not with your whites! Kelly 56:26 But not with your whites, correct. Yeah, toss it into a colored load. And it'll be... it'll be fine. But I just... Marsha 56:33 We really have-- we really have lowered the bar on this contest. Kelly 56:37 Well, it is my destashing really, right? Marsha 56:42 Yeah. You will be helping Kelly out. [laughing] Kelly 56:45 Yes. You will be getting cast off yarn! Doesn't that sound good? [laughing] Actually, I have to say I do love the dish cloths made out of this yarn. They're kind of stiff and scrubby. Because it's a firm yarn, you know. So they work really well. And you will like them. If you win this and you make one of those dish cloths, I think you will like it. So Alright. And then the last thing, we have some listener feedback. I just wanted to... I just wanted to to talk about...Caroline in Somerset, Southwest England, suggested because we had said, you know, what would people like to hear on the podcast in the coming year? She suggested that people might like to hear about yarn stores around the world, and maybe a bit of the history of the yarn store or the history of the town that they're in. And she told us about a yarn shop called All About the Yarn, she says its on a cobbled street called Catherine Hill. And yes, it is a hill. And it's so called because hundreds of years ago, Catherine Hill, the street is called that because hundreds of years ago, there was a chapel called St. Catherine's. So she gave us a first little snippet of information about the yarn shop and the street that the yarn shop is on. But I thought that was a good idea. And so we may we may turn that into something for the for the new year. So thanks for the idea Catherine. And then Irena emailed and said that she was so glad to hear us back that she had had thought perhaps we might not be coming back. She knows a lot of the podcasts that she listens to have you know, sort of disbanded. And so she was really glad to hear us coming back. And she did say she loved it when Marsha would go on long trips. So I think that will be in the not near future. Kelly 56:47 Yes, my travel buddy Kim and I have had many conversations about where we go next. But we're not quite ready to get on a plane yet. We're not quite ready. I don't know, it will happen. Right? But not right away. Yeah, not right away. Kelly 59:14 Yeah. Yeah. But it was nice to hear. It was nice to hear that Irena was was waiting for us to come back. And I have to also give a shout out to Kent of Kent on Instagram because when we posted the last episode... It's so funny when you know the listeners have kind of inside jokes. Because he commented on the Instagram posts that it was good that we were... that our episode was up because he had been sitting and refreshing his podcast app over and over. That gave me... that gave me a laugh. And then finally, Anna said you know, cut yourself some slack. That was her message to us because we were talking about missing episodes. She said, During the pandemic you are my company, you made my frustrations okay and normal. She said, Of course, she likes all the, you know, travels and conferences and knitting event talk. But she also likes hearing the frustrations of teaching online, dogs, and the isolation that was what most folks were going through. So she says, you keep it real. You kept it real, gave me an outside contact and reinforced all that was essential and made me laugh. So that was really nice. Thank you, Anna, for that comment. And yeah, we do, we are cutting ourselves some slack for the the difficulties of the past couple of couple of years, and probably some difficulties going forward. But yeah, we'll keep sharing. You'll hear. You'll hear me whine. [laughing] Marsha 1:00:54 I am going to take a picture here. I'm sitting here at my desk thinking about the dogs. I am going to take a picture. I'm sitting at the desk recording, and I'm just going to take a picture of Enzo laying on the bed, and I'm going to post this in the show notes. Kelly 1:01:09 Oh good. Marsha 1:01:09 Yeah. He cracks me up. You know, I think it's a poodle thing. I'm turning away from the microphone. Now. I think it's a poodle thing that they lay on their... Maybe all dogs do it. But they lay... he lays on his back. And then he has his head like twisted all the way back down almost to his hips kind of it looks so uncomfortable. Kelly 1:01:29 yeah, it's not every dog. I think it must be a poodle thing. Marsha 1:01:34 Because they're so floppy. Yeah. And yeah, Kelly 1:01:37 None of my dogs have ever laid like that. Marsha 1:01:43 Yeah, he's so funny. Very. He's so floppy. Anyway. That's a dog story. Well, I thought I have to say I thought it was really very, it felt really good to know that people missed us because...Well, I wasn't really feeling guilty. Because it's like life gets... we just are busy in life, you know, the teaching thing and blah, blah, blah, all of that. But the fact that people were like, Well, where are they? Refreshing the app! There were many comments about like, you know, Oh, good! You finally posted! We were getting worried. So that was nice. And it's also it's nice that that we have been.. we're still in the middle of the pandemic...but that people have found us so enjoyable during the pandemic too. Kelly 1:02:29 Yeah, it's nice, it's very nice to hear! It is nice to hear that. That it's a bright spot, right, for people. Marsha 1:02:37 Yeah, yeah, we're giving people something. I don't know. I don't know exactly what we're giving them. But we're giving them something. [laughing] Kelly 1:02:43 Yeah, and it's a bright spot for us too, I mean, I always look forward to Marsha 1:02:47 Oh, yeah. Kelly 1:02:47 To getting on and talking to all of you. Marsha 1:02:53 Yeah. Kelly 1:02:54 And in fact, we have more to say, we have more in the show notes this episode than we actually did in the episode. And that's happened to us the last probably three times. So yeah, that we've recorded. So. Yeah. Marsha 1:03:10 Yeah. So. Okay. Anything I think we need to say? Kelly 1:03:14 I think that's it.Okay, I'm off to professional development for two hours. Marsha 1:03:22 Ah, in person or online? Kelly 1:03:24 Zoom. Yeah, okay. So I'm really not off. I'm off to the downstairs. First I have to get dressed. And then I have to appear on Zoom for a professional development day. Marsha 1:03:37 All right. Well, I'm gonna wake the dog up and take him for a walk. Kelly 1:03:42 Oh, my goodness. [laughing] Marsha 1:03:47 He needs some exercise because he's got his pandemic five that we still haven't gotten off. So we're working on that. So well, all right, Kelly. We'll talk. I'll let you go. I'll let you get to your your zoom call and we'll talk in two weeks. Both 1:04:03 Alrighty, bye. Kelly 1:04:06 Thank you so much for listening. To subscribe to the podcast visit Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Marsha 1:04:13 Join us on our adventures on Ravelry and Instagram. I am betterinmotion and Kelly is 1hundredprojects. Kelly 1:04:21 Until next time, we're the Two Ewes Both 1:04:24 doing our part for world fleece! Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Jan 4, 2022

Happy New Year to our listeners! Mother Nature had other ideas for how Two Ewes would spend the holidays but we still had fun. Listen as we discuss project updates and planning for future projects. Full notes with photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . We have a full transcript at the bottom of the show notes. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects Nanny Meier's Tea Cozy by Amelia Carlsen. I finished the tea cozy for Susannah in time for Christmas. I used Cascade 220 Yellow (9463) and Orange (9668) and she loved it. Nanny Meier's Tea Cozy by Amelia Carlsen. I am using Cascade 220 Heather in Red Wine Heather (9489) and green Irelande (2429). Brian left his teapot with me so I can properly fit the cozy. I have finished the first side and knit about an inch of the second side. Meadow Stripe Socks using Patons Kroy Sock in the colorway, Meadow Stripes and Lang Yarns Jawoll Superwash fingering for the heels and toes. I'm knitting the second sock. Quick Switch Hat by AbbyeKnits. My son liked the hat so much I cast on another for him using Meeker Street Olives Outerwear DK in the colorway Sage. Phrancko Designs crew neck. I'm using my green and brown handspun merino. I measured Ben and submitted the information on Phrancko.com and printed the pattern. This is a top down pullover that looks like it has set in sleeves. I'm really interested to see how this sweater will turn out. Embrace Octopus Sweater This is the sweater that so distracted me that I slipped on the ice and took a tumble. My first knitting related injury. ;-) Kelly's Projects Dark Green Forest by Christina Korber-Reith is now finished! All ends are woven in and it is ready to be washed and blocked. The yarn really does need to relax into the stitches. Pebblebrook Beanie by Wish Upon a Hook (Ravelry link). I've now made a total of 9 of these. And I decided to start a new one today with some of my Invictus club yarn from last year. It's a green and gray and yellow variegated yarn so this will be my first variegated version of this hat. I'm still working on a pair of socks (Ravelry link) in Bob Ross Happy Little Mistakes yarn from Weird Sisters Wool Emporium in Aberdeen. I've finished the first sock and have started on the second. I'm using the stitch pattern from Blueberry Waffle socks. So just two active projects. Crochet Crochet Along Dates: November 1 through Jan 10. There is one thread for chatter and FOs. We'll draw prizes at our next episode. There is a crochet bundle in the Ravelry group. Winter Weave Along Starts October 15 and goes through the end of March. Full Transcript Marsha 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha and this is Kelly. We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Kelly 0:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 100 projects Marsha 0:29 and I am betterinmotion. We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Both 0:36 Enjoy the episode. Marsha 0:43 Hi, Kelly. Kelly 0:44 Hi, Marsha. Marsha 0:46 Well, Kelly 0:47 yes, we are not together. We thought we would be together for this episode. But Mother Nature had other ideas. Marsha 0:56 Yes. So we did not announce this to people. But I was planning on going to visit you and Robert for New Years. My plan was to leave December 26 and drive to California. But yeah, Mother Nature had other plans. We were hit with a big storm here in Seattle, and very, very cold temperatures. And so I had the car packed on the 26th. And I got up and I went to get gas at eight o'clock in the morning to get onto the freeway. And I never even got onto the freeway! I went on to the on ramp and saw that there's cars just sitting there and people out of their cars looking at something and I... there's nobody behind me. So don't do this if there's people behind you, but I just backed up on the on ramp and turned down a side street and went home. Yeah. And, and I was had been looking at the weather and I knew there were storms in southern Oregon and northern California. And we talked and then I decided I was going to leave dry and go the next day. Monday the 27th and I got in the did the same... got in the car and I went out there and I just thought I can't do it. Kelly 2:16 Yeah, Marsha 2:17 Yeah, I don't want to do it. So I called you and I said I'm not coming down. So I'm really bummed. Kelly 2:23 I know. Yeah. But Robert was really glad you decided not to come. He was worried about driving in all that. Yeah. Marsha 2:34 Yeah, I was worried too, that I was gonna be doing it on my own and having spent time going to college going over passes to go after Christmas break to go to school and being stuck 10 hours at the pass. I can't I can't make myself do it. You know, well, my car's really good in the snow. But I just... it was too much. So I did miss Robert's last day of work he now has retired and I missed New Years and I missed... What I was really looking forward to is your co-workers did the tamale making party. Kelly 3:06 Oh, yeah, that was fun. Marsha 3:08 Yeah, so don't tell me how fun it was Kelly because it's just gonna upset me. Okay. [laughing] Kelly 3:12 I know, But the good news is... the good news is while it is a lot of work, and while there is, in certain circles, a lot of judgment about tamales, and how well you make them and how thin you get them and all of that... Oh, it is kind of a myth that it's so difficult. It's a lot of work. It's not difficult. And if you don't care, you know that you're making stained glass masa that you can see through when you hold it up. Marsha 3:47 Yeah, Kelly 3:48 You know and you don't have you don't have your, your grandma giving you rules about how the tamales need to be. According to my friends, you you know you can make them thick. You can pile on the masa, you can make them thin, you can make them inconsistent. Or some parts of them are thick and some parts of them are thin. It's not something... it's not like like... I had this idea that they were really hard to make. And that it was sort of like I don't know making one of those things on the Great British Baking Show where you know you're you're in danger of the whole thing just going awry and it doesn't taste good. It doesn't look good. It's just a mess. And it turns out that tamales are not like that. Marsha 4:38 No. I have watched people make them on cooking shows and I... you know I have cookbooks with how to make them. But what I was really seemed to me is one of those things that you have to make the commitment to make them because it is a bit labor intensive and you make large amounts of it and you you don't make just 12 tamales you make 100 tamales, is that right? Maybe that's an exaggeration. Make a lot because, yeah, Kelly 5:03 There is a lot of, there's a lot of prep work to do. And if you're going to it's kind of like weaving. You know, if you're going to do the prep work, if you're going to wind a warp and thread all those threads through the heddles, you know, people think to themselves, well, I'm going to put on a long warp and make multiples of whatever I'm making. But even that you don't have to do. I mean, I just made a baby blanket where all I put on the loom was just the yarn for that one baby blanket. Might not be the most efficient way to go, but it was...it was certainly okay, you know. So anyway, they don't seem as daunting to me anymore. They're delicious. Delicious. Marsha 5:49 So when I come down-- so next next time! Kelly 5:55 I've only had reheated tamales, I've never had them right out of the pan, you know, the pot. And oh my gosh, delicious. So well, next time you come down, well, maybe we'll even save some because I have some in the freezer that are not cooked. That's the other thing you can do that I found out. You don't actually need to steam them when you make them. So you know, I've had them frozen that you then reheat. But these are frozen in my freezer but not even cooked. Marsha 6:31 So you would just steam so they'll be steamed and they'll be freshly steamed? Kelly 6:36 Now, I don't know what the freezer...you know what being frozen does? Does that change? You know, is it different from the fresh ones just made? But anyway, it was a fun day. And I can definitely... we can definitely reproduce that. Next time you're here, you're here for long. Yeah. Marsha 7:00 Yeah, yeah. So that was a bummer. And I, but I thought to myself, I guess better to stay home. So I can go another time, right, than start out and have something bad happen so Kelly 7:15 Or even just be stuck. I mean, if you're going to be stuck, right? If you're going to be snow bound, better to be snow bound, surrounded by all your own yarn and, and food and drink, then to be snow bound in some motel somewhere. Right, right or snowed in your car on the side of the road... Marsha 7:36 Well, yeah, on the mountain pass. Well, and I'll tell you another reason. There was many, many reasons why I made the decision that I made. But one of them was you know, I had lighting that I was bringin down. Some was for the house and some was going in the trailer. And I thought, oh my gosh, what if I got like rear ended or in an accident and the car's totaled? It would total all the lighting. And I was like, yeah, so that was another reason why I thought, you know,I'm just gonna wait, just gonna wait. So, yes, but anyway, I've been home and I did take your advice, because you remember what you said to me is that the time that I would have been with you in California, what we had planned on doing was just sitting in the either your living room or the sunroom or someplace warm and just knitting and talking and eating and drinking. And then that was going to be speckled with trips to the beach, taking the dogs to the beach. So you said I had to sort of take this time to just hang out in it. So that's what I've been doing. And I've cast on some projects, and I've been working on projects and I didn't take the tree down. I did... and you told me I was not allowed to entertain anybody. Kelly 8:52 I did tell you that. Yes. Marsha 8:54 You did tell me that. And I didn't follow that. Not exactly. I had my friend Kim and Joanne momdiggity over for knitting. Kelly 9:05 Oh, that's good. I approve of that. Marsha 9:10 Okay, so that was fun. And and then last night, I was planning on spending New Year's Eve on my own. And then Kim and my brother just came by and we just ate leftovers. It was very, very simple. Nice New Year's Eve. Yeah, it was at the last minute they just decided to come over. So but yeah, it's been a good good time here at home too. So Kelly 9:33 Well good. Yeah, I've actually I mean, it would be nicer if you were here, but I have actually been enjoying myself with Robert home. Because he usually works the holidays, you know, when he works. So his last day of work was the 28th. And then Wednesday and Thursday are his normal days off. So Wednesday and Thursday he kept saying, Well, I'm not really retired. This is just like my normal day off. And then when the 31st came that was like his first actual...that was his actual retirement date and the first actual day that he would have had to be at work. But then he's like, well, but this is a holiday. So you know, I could have had the holiday off. So I'm not sure when he's actually going to start to feel like it's really retirement, not just days off. Marsha 10:21 Yeah. Kelly 10:22 But it's been... Yeah, we've been just kind of sitting. We went for a walk yesterday and took the dogs out and did six miles. And Beary was... he did great. It was on hills at Fort Ord and and he didn't have a sit down strike or anything. He went the whole way. He was. He was a lively the whole way. So yeah, so he's really, he's really come along. So anyway, we've been having a good holiday week. So with all your sitting and knitting, what have you been knitting on Marsha? Marsha 10:56 I will tell you what I've been knitting on. I finished something! Kelly 10:59 Yay! Marsha 11:00 I finished one of the nanny Meyer tea cozies the one I was making for my friend Susanna out of the yellow and orange. I finished that and I think I brought it over to her the day before Christmas Eve. So the 23rd I think I dropped it off and she made a pot of tea. We put it on the tea pot. Kelly 11:18 Oh, nice! Marsha 11:18 And do you remember I was talking about should I sew it up? Or should I not sew it up? When I got to her house, what I did is I sewed up what I thought was going to be the right size. And I left the ends loose. I didn't knot it or weave in the end. So when I got there, I could fit it on the tea pot. And it was pretty good. I think I just made a couple extra little stitches. And then I wove in the ends. So that worked really well. That's good. Yeah, so I delivered that. And then the other Nanny... to give everybody an update on other Nanny Meyer tea cozy that I'm making, the one for Brian. Because there's been all this discussion about Brian, like if you if you can't give me the measurements, you know, don't work on it, don't do anything. Don't call him. I have not called him and then he came. We got kind of..we've been sort of fouled up on our dates. It's been a while, you know, between episodes, but he came at some point he came and had dinner and he brought his teapot. And he left the teapot. So I have it and I today I finished the first side and I cast on I've knit about inch and a half of the second side. So I'm hoping to finish that in the next couple of days. Kelly 11:42 That's good is that the red and green one? Or the burgundy and green one? Marsha 12:34 Yeah, yeah. So I'm glad he finally brought that tea pot. I was I thought it was his only teapot. But he says he has another one. So that's good that I can just keep it for a while. Yeah, fit it on there. So and then what else I still working on my socks, the metal striped socks. And I got sort of, you know, involved in other projects. So it's kind of gone by the wayside a little bit, but I pick it up periodically and work on it. And then I did cast on another Quick Switch hat by Abby Knits. Kelly 13:15 I say that that's as bad as Garter Squish. Marsha 13:18 I know. In fact, I have to tell you, I was listening. Kelly 13:22 Garter Squish. Marsha 13:23 I was listening to our last episode when I was walking Enzo the other day. And I was trying to say, garter stitch blanket. And I couldn't say it and then I went to correct myself and I said... I listened to myself carefully. And when I'm trying to correct myself, I said garter switch. Even when I corrected myself, so garter stitch, and quick switch hat! Anyway, Kim and I had gone hiking, I guess it was the Wednesday before Christmas, I can't remember. Anyway, we afterwards we were near Issaquah and that's where there's a yarn shop called Nifty Knitter there and that's where I had seen the pattern for this hat. And so I went in there and I bought three skeins of yarn because my Ben he wanted a hat and then his friend, Ben, who also named Ben, I think I mentioned this... that I always refer to my... when they're together it's... my son is Ben the younger, and his friend Ben is Ben the elder because he's 31 and my son is 24. That's not his name. His last name is not Elder, but I always refer to them as Ben the younger and Ben the elder. Anyway, both Bens like the hat and want one of them. So I got yarn for both of them. And then my brother really liked the hat and I so I've got a color for him. So the one I'm making for Ben is Meeker St. Olives Outerwear DK in the colorway Sage, and let me grab the other two. I'm making... the one for my brother is Meeker St., the same yarn, and it's called Dragon's Breath. And it's like an orange. It's a very cool color. I love it. And then the other Ben, Ben the elder, I bought Dye House DK. It says here Serial Knitters Underground, and I didn't know what the color is called. Oh, Reindeer. And it looks sort of like, no, it's funny. My brother looked at it and says he sees purple. I think it's like fig. Marsha 15:36 Oh, Reigen Marsha 15:37 You know that...It's like it's brown, it's not really purple? Kelly 15:39 Yeah, that figgy, purpley brown Marsha 15:41 It's really nice. Kelly 15:42 Puce [laughing] Marsha 15:44 Puce I guess, yes. Kelly 15:47 I only say that because all those years that I had an Irish Water Spaniel. That's what they say in the in the breed standard. Something about puce as their as the color. It's kind of like... none of these dogs are puce. But then that yarn, the one I like that's been discontinued that I really want to get. Marsha 16:10 Oh, right Kelly 16:12 Druid Hill, right? Druid Hill, from neighborhood fiber company. It's that same that same kind of color that purpley brown Yeah, Marsha 16:24 You first think it's brown. But the more you look at you realize it has a little bit of purpley mauve tones to it because I made a sweater out of that colorway. Kelly 16:34 Oh, that's right. Yeah, it's not a golden brown at all. Yeah. Marsha 16:41 And I have to say, too, do you remember, and I was talking about this hat, when you are to create this pattern of the stitches leaning to the right. And then to leaning to the left, you knit through the second stitch on the left needle first, either through the front or the back, depending on which way the stitch is going to lean and then through the first stitch. And, and then you just keep going around. But when you get to your end of row marker, you keep moving it. You knit to one stitch before the marker, and then you move the marker, one stitch to the left, or excuse me to the right. And then that's when you start your new row. And remember, I was saying in the first hat, I could not wrap my head around that. It's like now it seems really simple to me, and I understand it. But the first hat I could not understand. It was so funny. And so now I understand. So this hat looks a lot better than the one I did. But the one I did is okay, but I can tell there's somewhere, that beginning of row, there's a little kind of funky stitches. I always put that in the back. But this one I'm making for Ben now is is much better. So I've learned what I'm doing. Kelly 17:53 That's cool. Yeah, sometimes, sometimes you have to, I don't know, you have to actually go through the process before you kind of understand the logic and the stages. And I feel the same way about weaving too. It takes me a few inches, at least, of weaving till I'm like, Okay, I see the system or the logic, the rhythm, the pattern of what's happening. Good. Marsha 18:17 I think I think my first hat is sort of like in sewing you do... you make a dress or something out of muslin first. Kelly 18:25 Right. Marsha 18:26 You know, I think that's how I'm considering my hat is the muslin. Kelly 18:29 Your muslin. That's cool. Marsha 18:33 So anyway. And then but the other thing I cast on, and I'm really excited about this, because I've been talking about this for a while. But the handspun, the green and bitter sweet chocolate that kind of barber pole handspun that I did. I want to start a sweater for Ben. And I've been searching because I didn't have enough of the green and brown. I bought more the brown and I spun that as a solid. And so I was going to make stripes to extend that yarn. So I've been looking at patterns. And I think I talked about this in the last episode that I went to phrancko.com. And that's P h r a n c k o.com. And Frank Jernigan is the designer, and he does a really interesting pull over where it looks like it has set in sleeves. But they're they're not they're all... it's knitted top down. And you just shape those quote unquote set in sleeves with increases. So it's like a raglan. It's basically a raglan sleeve really is the technique but the way he's designed it, it ends up looking like a set in sleeve. And I thought... I was having difficulty finding a pattern for the gauge of the yarn. And so I thought, this is great because you just you measure, I measured Ben. His site is is similar to Amy Herzog's site. The custom fit site is like that concept. And I don't think she's doing that anymore, I heard. But it's the same idea. So you just take these certain measurements of, you know, chest and arm length and neck and all this stuff. And then you do a swatch, and figure out your row height, and your gauge, or your stitches per inch, and your rows per inch. And you enter all of that into the the website. Also, if it's a standard yarn, say, for example, if it was Cascade 220, it has, as people have been putting in their yarn, he saves all that information. So if I had made the sweater out of Cascade 220, or think of another brand, and it was already in there, it can, it adds it, has the calculation about yardage. You can put all that in there. Otherwise, if you don't, then you have to put in your... if it's not in the system, you put in your own yardage. So this is nice, I could put in the, the, the number of ounces of yarn, I have either ounces, or grams, and then you put in the number of yards you have, or meters that you have, and then it will... And then with all of this information, it prints out the pattern for you. So I cast on I started it and I first I have to say I love knitting with my handspun. There is something about handspun. Yeah, that is very, very satisfying to knit with. And I can't explain what it is. Kelly 21:46 Maybe this is not the the part of it that's so satisfying. But it just has a life to it. That handspun yarn just has a vitality to it that, you know, a commercial skein doesn't have. Marsha 22:03 Yeah. And also, I guess, too, because I am... I'm not a very... What would I say, even spinner or something? It has a little... I mean, I can see where there's parts where it's a little thin and thick. You know, as we've talked about, once you knit it up, you know, it's not really a huge deal. Right? But it does give it some sort of textural interest, I think. Yeah, I like yeah, like I don't think it's a bad thing. Kelly 22:28 No, I agree with you. Yeah, yeah. Marsha 22:32 So anyway, but I was knitting along and I thought to myself, gosh this thing, it looks so small. I mean, it's supposed to fit him right. And I'm.. and I should also say, what I should say too is that you can pick if you want, like slim fitting, regular fitting, roomy, extra, like, how it's going to fit and how much ease you're going to have. And so for an extra dollar, you just get all three. You can get all the sizes. So I just thought I'll just do that. So I'm making the the size, the largest size, the roomiest size I can make with the amount of yarn I have, which should give him about four inches of positive ease because Ben's a skinny guy, right? So Kelly 23:20 That'll be nice. Marsha 23:22 So but I thought to myself, it looks so small. So and then on New Year's when my brother and Kim are they're, like it's too small Marsha. I'm like, but you know, math doesn't lie. Right? I'm going by the math. It has to be right. So, but Frank does... on Saturdays he does a Zoom meeting with all of these people. So anyway, I went today. Just before we recorded I went I showed up at the meeting and I said to him, I have to ask you a question because it looks like it's too small and two people last night said this is too, it looks too small. And everybody on the Zoom call started laughing. Kelly 24:02 Oh, really? Marsha 24:03 Yes. Because apparently, this is what everybody says. It's too small. It looks too small. And he said it will be fine. He... you know that it's because what I'm doing is he said you have to remember this is not like a like a raglan sleeve. Because the technique is like a I don't want to say that the technique is like a raglan because it's making it look like a set in sleeve. But the technique is basically a raglan sleeve, you just start making increases, right and that's what forms the shape. But that doesn't have a line on the top of your shoulder where the second sleeve is right right. Like where is the top of the shoulder there's no demarcation really where the on a raglan sleeve. This one actually has kind of a demarcation. I can't really explain it the right way. But he said that's actually further up on your shoulder and so as you start making the increases for the so called, he calls the sleeve cap at that top part over your that's where all your increases are going in. And he said it will work. They all were like, sort of not laughing at me. Not at all. But they're laughing with me like, no, they all have been through this. The first one they made like, small. So I'm really, really interested in seeing how this sweater turns out. Its fascinating. It's just a fascinating process, you know that. Kelly 25:23 Yeah. A custom design pattern is really a cool idea. Mm hmm. And his patterns are primarily for men, correct? Marsha 25:34 Yes. And I have to learn more. And I did not have a lot of time to stay in the on the call, because we were getting ready to record. I want to ask them, because on his Instagram account, he shows people who've made cardigans. And I don't know if it's from the website, if you can design a cardigan from the, the website, or if someone's just made a pullover and steeked it, you know Kelly 26:02 Interesting! Marsha 26:03 I don't know, And then he was showing us, too, he's working on a sweater that has cables going down the front like... Cuz, you can either pick a crew collar or a V neck, and the one that he was working on was a V neck with cables going, like around the neck and then down the front of the sweater. And I'm not sure how you I'm not sure how that works? How you get cables in there, how you design that? Or does he do that? Or is it something you get the basic pattern and then you figure out the cables? Or could you use this pattern for a color work project? Kelly 26:38 I think in the custom fit, the custom fit site, you could add cables, you could say you were adding the cable, and then you'd have to give some... I think you had to give some information about them. But there was like a formula for for how the gauge changed because of you know, pulled in because of the cables. There was something embedded in the embedded in the... how to make it. So I would imagine he has a similar thing. Yeah, Marsha 27:11 Yeah, I have to do.. I'm really talking about too soon because I need a little bit more research. And I'll find out more on the next call and kind of peruse around on the website. But I do remember with Amy Herzog's site, I made two sweaters, I believe, with her site. And the first one we made together. Remember, it was the Acorn Trail? Kelly 27:31 Yeah. Marsha 27:32 And that one is that she had the pattern, but then she would custom fit that pattern to you and it had the cables in it. And then I did another custom fit cardigan, like an open front cardigan kind of thing that had no cables in it. But I remember you could select the length, you could select the the length of the sleeves, the shape of the sleeves, because I did kind of like a bell shaped sleeve. Kelly 27:55 Yeah, interesting. Yeah. My second one, too, was freeform. It wasn't a pattern that she already had that was converted to the custom fit. It was, what kind of sweater do you want? What kind of features do you want? Kind of like yours? And I did something wrong and ended up with a pattern that was way too small. And then I had to end up recalculating, Marsha 28:22 And both of mine the sleeves were too tight. Yeah, right. We've talked about that. You know, Kelly 28:27 I think that's, that's a feature. I just really think that's a feature of women's pattern grading right now. Oh, well, maybe not right now. Because bigger sleeves are more in fashion. I'm seeing patterns with wider, with more puffier sleeves, wider sleeves. But I think there for a while. I mean, it was kind of like well, if you're doing this size, this is how many inches around you need your sleeve to be in. And to me, they were just too tight. Because I want I mean, I want a sweater to go over the top of something. And I don't want to have to like do the opposite of peel myself into it. You know, whatever that word is that's the opposite of peeling it off, where you're, you know, getting yourself into the sweater. Yeah, I have a few Marsha 29:18 You don't want to grease up your arms to get your sweater. [laughing] Kelly 29:20 Yes, I have a few sweaters that are like that. I feel like I practically have to grease my arms to put them in. Oh my gosh. [laughing] And then we've we've talked on it. I won't go on and on about this. But we've talked on and on about the depth of the I think it's called the armscye. And it's like okay, that is just unrealistic. But I also think I'm more sensitive to that feeling of having my arm my sleeves tight around my around the top of my arms too. So anyway, we won't go into my little... Marsha 29:57 Moving on! Well, anyway, I will report in how this turns out how this sweater turns out because I am really interested. Yeah. And I will join the group next time and, and talk to them. So that was really fun. Anyway, I have another story to tell you though. I have a... I found a sweater that I want to make someday. But I have to tell you about the sweater because I had a knitting related injury. Kelly 30:30 So that sounds ominous! Marsha 30:33 I'm fine, everybody's fine. But you know we have all this snow. And so I took Enzo for a walk. And I'm walking down the street and there's a young couple getting out of their car. And they're unloading some boxes, and this woman has on this most amazing sweater. And I started looking at the sweater and then slipped on the ice and fell down on my hip and my elbow. Marsha 30:56 Oh, no! Marsha 30:58 Because I was so... what is the sweater she's wearing? It's so cool. Anyway, it's called Embrace Octopus sweater. And it's... How would you...? Because you looked at it Kelly. It's very... it's so... it has an octopus that's like up on the right shoulder. Like the head? Is that what you call it? The bulbus part of the octopus? And then all the tentacles come down around the chest and they wrap around the back and they wrap around down the arms. And if you if you look at the projects, there are 599 projects. It's amazing. And it's really interesting to look at the projects because also the octopus is very much it looks like like a pen and ink drawing. Right? Kelly 31:47 Yeah, there's lots of detail, lots of little pixels of stitches that make it look... It kind of reminds me of, what is it, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea? Like that style of drawing. And I don't I don't know what type of drawing it would be. I don't know that the book even has drawings, but kind of that era, you know, that the movie was set? Marsha 32:12 Yeah. Kelly 32:13 In that era. You know? Sort of old times, and the sweater in the pattern page is black and white. It looks it really does look like a black and white, a black and white drawing of an octopus. Marsha 32:24 Yeah, so it's really so a lot of a lot of people have done the octopuses in the light color and then the bodies in like black or navy. But then other people have done other ones. Like okay, there's one here that she's done that the octopus is like white or cream. But then the body of the sweater is a brown kind of a chocolatey brown. That is really beautiful. There's one where the sweater's blue but the octopus is in like a gold. Kelly 32:53 Oh, I see that one, yeah, that's pretty. Marsha 32:56 CandyAndy did one. It's two shades of green. That's beautiful. Another one. MissMay. Hers is like teal and then the octopus is in orange. Do you see that one? Kelly 33:10 Yes. Marsha 33:11 Further down. Yeah, there's one where it's like a blue but a pink octopus. I mean, they're just really really what it looks like. It's a dark gray with an orange octopus. I just think it's a fantastic sweater. Yeah, Kelly 33:23 No, it is a fantastic sweater. You need to this sweater. Marsha 33:28 You need to make this sweater. You've got an octopus right? Kelly 33:32 Yes, I do. I yeah, I do. Marsha 33:36 I love it. I think this is just a fantastic sweater. If I get good at color work then I think I want to make this sweater so... Kelly 33:41 This would be is this like intarsia? it's probably... like it might be intarsia? Marsha 33:49 I don't think it is really. Kelly 33:55 There's quite a bit of patterning so I guess oh here it says it's stranded Marsha 34:02 Yeah, I'm looking at the details. It says it's worked straight up in the round using stranded colorwork on circular needles. Kelly 34:08 So there's enough detail all around the sweater and then at the back you've got tentacles on the back and tentacles on the arms and wow that's really something that would be akin to the detail of the the bee blanket that I want to make. Yes. With all the patterning. Oh, very cool, Marsha. Marsha 34:32 But it made me fall! But then I have to tell you something about this. So I fell and then this young woman she came over and she said to me, are you okay? And I said yeah, I'm fine. I said, I was looking at your sweater. And anyway, she said she had knit it and so that's why I went on Ravelry and found it and I thanked her for checking on me and everything. But the funny thing is I got home and I thought, Where's Enzo's poo bag? Anyway, I think when I fell it must have just gone flying. And then I just got up and walked off. So somewhere over there is this poo bag. [laughing] I, I went a different route today. I'll need to go retrace my steps and collect his bag. But anyway, that was kind of funny. So, but anyway, I think it's just a very cool pattern. Yeah, someday. But anyway, Kelly 35:27 Like one of the fantasy patterns I have in my queue. I have in my queue a tag called fantasy, all the things that I have illusions of making. But, but, but also know, I probably won't. You know. Marsha 35:40 I just realized I didn't say the name of the designer. It's must be Maiae-- M A I A E. Sirnes S I R N E S. In fact, I'd never... this is also really bad podcasting. I never looked...Oh, she only has one design. And it's this pattern. Yeah, and actually, if you click on her on the one of the photographs of her sweater, you could see the chart with the octopus design on it. And it's kind of amazing. Kelly 36:12 Oh, yeah, that's kind of scary. Look at the chart. Marsha 36:17 That's intense. But anyway, wow. Kelly 36:23 That's cool. Marsha 36:25 Anyway, how about you? Kelly 36:27 Well, right now I have in my on my project page, I was in a finishing binge. And the one thing I didn't finish was weaving in the ends of my pullover that's been done for months. It I called it finished a long time ago. But I still need to weave in the ends of that green striped Rachel pattern. That was the only thing that I was trying... thinking I would finish before the end of the you know, before the end of 2021. My sort of finishing frenzy that I didn't get done, but I got, I got all the ends woven in on a whole bunch of hats and I got my sweater, my handspun, the terracotta CVM handspun sweater that I've been making using the Dark Green Forest pattern. I got it finished! Marsha 37:25 Woohoo! Yay! Kelly 37:27 Finally! It's been lingering, lingering, lingering for a while. I think when I last spoke about it, I had tried to even up the sleeves and actually made the sleeve that was too short too long. Marsha 37:40 Mm hmm. Kelly 37:41 And so finally I just I didn't even bother blocking it. I just put it on I looked at it. I kind of said okay, I think it needs to go here. And I ripped it back to there. And then I just put in the ribbing. So it's great. It came out good. I definitely need to wash it and block it. The one I finished last year the the Targhee lamb, that Dark and Stormy? I never blocked it. I just started wearing it because I finished it and it was cold and I was out in the trailer. And so I just put it on and I've been wearing it ever since. So I never blocked that sweater. And it kind of didn't need it. It was kind of already you know, bouncy and relaxed. But this one is... it feels a little... You know how you say my sweaters are so light? Marsha 38:31 Mm hmm. Kelly 38:32 It feels a little dense to me. I think some parts of the yarn were a little thicker than what I used to make my gauge swatch. So there's parts of the sweater that feel a little dense, and they... So they feel a little tight like it just needs a little water to kind of go ahhhhh, you know and all the all the yarns kind of settle in with each other and Marsha 38:56 It needs a spa day! Kelly 38:57 It does! [laughing] It needs a spa day. There's a little bit of tension in that sweater that needs to be released. So it's sitting here right now but I'm really happy with it. I like the pattern. I like the size of it. I like the length of it. I like the pockets. So I you know had to sew the backs on the pockets and I've done pockets before but not like this. I like the pockets. They're really not large. Robert said, well do your hands even fit in there and I said these are not pockets for my hands. These are pretty much not pockets for anything. Because it looks frumpy, you know? If you... well, because what I stuff into pockets are my keys and Kleenex and then yes, big lump on the side of your body. So I don't think I'm going to use the pockets. And also, if you do use keys in your pockets in a knit sweater like this you wear a hole in the bottom of the pocket. So I don't intend to use these pockets very much at all, but they do look nice. There's nice detail on the front of the sweater. I love the square collar, the cable detail on the sleeves is nice. And it's just enough. You know it's not like... the Dark and Stormy had cable detail on the back and this one doesn't. It's just solid on the back. But it's nice. I like the cable down the sleeves and then a little touch of that same cable at the pockets. So yeah, I finished it. Very excited. Yeah, so that's done. And then I've also been... I just kind of gone...I've just kind of gone crazy on that Pebblebrook Beanie by Wish Upon a Hook. I made nine of them total, I think, Marsha 40:49 Oh, wow. Kelly 40:49 You know, I had started making them out of the leftovers from Faye's blanket the last time we talked and then I went on to use some of that German town. Super yarn Mart! with an exclamation point, German Town worsted. I used up... I had a I had a skein, like a skein and a half of that, maybe two more skeins. Anyway, it takes more than one skein to make a hat so so I had a skein and a little, at least a little bit more than that. So I made one hat in that solid. I made another hat with the yarn from the Dark and Stormy that's leftover. I have so much leftover handspun. So I did that. I found singles yarn that I had spun and dyed in this kind of ice blue color and I finished that hat. And then yesterday I just decided I was going to make one last one. And so I cast on. Actually I guess it was the day before yesterday. I cast on the one last hat of 2021 and it's out of the color, and my project page doesn't show it, but it's that teal green Chickadee that I have that I got from NoCKRs destash. I think I got it from Julie JChant. Yeah. So I used that up. I just was kind of going to town using up using up scraps. So I got a lot of those done and I'm now currently knitting on one more... Marsha 42:30 You're knitting? Kelly 42:30 Or crocheting, crocheting rather Yeah, crocheting one more out of a skein of Invictus worsted weight yarn that I got from the the yarn club that I was in. It's a gray and kind of teal, green, and yellow. Pretty color. And it's the first one that I've made out of a variegated yarn. So I've done solids, I've done stripes. I've done small stripes. I've done big stripes. Now I'm doing variegated. So yeah, I'm a big fan of this, of this hat pattern. And I just I mean, it takes about a skein to make one hat depending on the size of the skein. It takes about a skein, yeah, to make one hat and, and I've just been going to town! So I've got only two active projects right now. One is this hat that I just started today as we were getting ready to record and then I have a pair of socks that I'm working on that's out of that Bob Ross happy little mistakes yarn from the Weird Sisters Wool Emporium in Aberdeen. So those are my only two active projects that I have. Yeah, I pretty much cleaned out the project page. By the end of the by the end of the year, which was kind of fun. Marsha 43:48 Yeah, well, that's it for projects. We need to talk about our, our alongs we're having. Kelly 43:56 So yeah, Marsha, you're right, we do need to talk about our alongs. For example, our crochet along. It's ending on the 10th of January. Marsha 44:07 Yes. I better get going. [laughing] Kelly 44:15 I've knit, er, I've crocheted enough of these pebblebrook hats for the both of us I think. [laughing] Marsha 44:22 Well, my plan was that when I arrived--but my plan was to be down there in California to have you help me with the the mitts, the paving mitts but that didn't happen Kelly 44:34 And I didn't dig out my Tunisian crochet, double ended Tunisian crochet hook which I'm not sure where it is. But I will talk about this in our next episode -- I am doing sort of a tossing of the stash and reorganizing of all the bags with bits and bobs from previous projects and stuff. So I will find them at some point. But I don't even know where they are. So even if you were here, I'm not sure I would have been able to help you with the with double ended hooks because I don't know where I put them Marsha 45:10 The next crochet along, maybe then I'll get those mitts done, because I do like them. But anyway, okay. So shall we let's talk about the crochet along. Yeah, that's so that actually it started in November. And as you said it ends January 10. And should we talk about some of the things people have been doing? So yeah, because people have been doing some pretty interesting things. Kelly 45:35 Some kind of inspiring things too. I've got some ideas for after the crochet along is over of things that might do with some of my stash. There's been a couple of really interesting baskets. So SuperKip, she made a crochet basket. And then JoyLaine also made a crochet basket. She used scraps in hers and I was thinking, Oh, that might be kind of nice. A nice way to use them. A lot of my spirit yarn. So that might be something in my future, one of those crochet baskets. Marsha 46:13 Did you see PurpleDogwood and all the Santa hats? Kelly 46:17 Oh my gosh, yes. And she also made pumpkin hats. Yes, all those baby hats for the hospital! That was very cool to see her project. Yeah, the Santa and pumpkin has are super cute. Quite a lot of toys. We had KnitnAround make a rabbit toy. And the vbirdflies, she made a hedgehog. Super cute hedgehog and a dinosaur. Triceratops maybe? I can't remember now which kind of dinosaur but so that was cute, to see those toys. You know, I'm a sucker for crochet toys. In fact, on Christmas day, my my brother-in-law, he thanked me again and told me how much he appreciated the Star Wars characters that I made that one year. All those little Star Wars characters. So yeah, he... and and the funny thing is he he said, I don't think he listens this far into the show, but he did say that he likes to listen to our banter at the beginning. Marsha 47:25 Oh, yeah? Kelly 47:25 So Ron, Ron listens to the first like 10 or 15 minutes of our podcast. Enough time. He doesn't stay for the knitting, but he likes to hear the little, all the stuff that's going on. So anyway, I thought that was fun. But yeah, crochet toys are a lot of fun. And, and we got a few of them in the in this crochet along. So that was kind of cool to see. Marsha 47:51 Well, and super Kip also made the really cute activity cube. Did you see that? Kelly 47:56 Yes, yes. In fact, when she first started and she said she was making the Moses basket, and she was gonna make a baby toy. I'm like, Oh, is there an announcement? Do you have an announcement for? But, no, it's a friend's baby. But yeah, that's a really cute idea. With the little things hanging down and a little... like a little ring crocheted onto it and little rattle crocheted into it. It's very... Yeah, when she first talked about it, the activity cube, I've seen like puzzle cubes. That's what I was thinking she was making till I saw the the finished, the finished result. I've seen they have these like three dimensional puzzles, where all the pieces fit together into something you know. That like they make a circle or, or maybe they make a cube. I don't know. I just I when I was looking at baby toy at one point I saw all of these baby toys. Crochet baby toys where the pieces all fit together into a like a puzzle into a different shape. And I thought, Oh, that'd be kind of fun to to make, but I haven't ever attempted anything like that. And then yeah, Mary, she made a dog bed. Marsha 49:19 Mm hmm. Kelly 49:20 It ooked really super soft and cuddly. Oh, maybe Minnie would like that. Our cat would like that. Marsha 49:28 Yeah, there's a really cute things. Kelly 49:32 Oh, you know what else I need to mention. It's a Misnim. She's making a crochet cocoon, which is like a sweater. Kind of like my Habitat sweater. I don't even know how to describe it? As kind of like a big shrug? I guess it's a good way to describe it. Full size, you know, full sweater size shrug. Anyway, she's making it but she's making it out of the Stonehedge Crazy yarn. She has all the skeins in the picture and it just made me think of when we were in Eugene. And we had all that yarn all over. [laughing] Marsha 50:22 Yeah those... they were so sweet to us because they didn't... they said they knew that because no two skeins are alike. So everybody just basically pulls everything out of the shelf and lays it on the floor, which is what we did so. So I saw her picture, but I didn't realize that's what she was made. Yeah, so, Oh, yes. Very cool. Nice colors, too. I love that yarn. Kelly 50:24 I know, it kind of made me think about... kind of me think about going and buying some more of that yarn. Because that was really, that was really fun yarn to knit with. And then MimiFan, she made a bathroom mat that she's actually not sure she likes. I don't know, she was threatening to rip it out. And, I said, Well, you know, if you decide you don't like it, you could always just give it to the dog as , you know, a dog bed. To stick it on like a little blanket on the dog bed or a pad inside the crate if she crates her dog. Anyway, yeah, it was, um, it was kind of funny because she was like, I'm not sure I like it but I finished it. Not sure I like it. But at least it's finished. So that's good. Yeah, you can decide if you like it enough to keep it or if you want to do something else with it. But I have had projects like that. Not too many. But I have had projects like that where it's like, okay, I'm just glad this is finished. And I don't think I even... Marsha 51:48 I'm gonna, I'm actually gonna quote from her. She says, I've been working on this bathmat for 11 months. I hate it so much. That's more dramatic than the way you described it. [laughing] Kelly 52:03 I was trying to be gentle. [laughing] Marsha 52:09 She says I hate it so much. But it's done except for weaving in ends. And I used up every bit of yarn that I bought. My bathroom is small, and it's a weird shape. So many errors. I may just end up throwing it away. But I'll give it a few weeks since it took so long to make. It needs some ends woven and some washing to flatten it out. I'm so happy it's done. Anyway, that's funny to me Kelly 52:33 Yeah, I think everybody can relate. Everybody's got one of the projects that like just became an albatross, you know, after a while. And it really, yeah, it's so funny. I had a weaving project, a linen weaving project. And I forgot how furry the linen was because it's a real rustic linen. And so you know, there's a technique where you, you soak it in gelatin to kind of make all that stick down. Marsha 53:05 Oh, right. Kelly 53:05 So it doesn't rub on the heddles and stuff. And I had forgotten about that technique. So I got it all threaded. Now starting to wind on and the little threads were catching everywhere. And I thought oh yeah, I need to do this technique. Well, I didn't want to unthread it, right? So I soaked it in gelatin while it was on my loom. But I also didn't look up the real recipe for the gelatin that you make. I just use the gelatin packet like gelatin. And so when I got done and I like squeezed it all out, it became like these like solid... You know, like each group of maybe 20 or 30 threads became like this solid rope of stuck together. Marsha 53:54 Yeah. Yeah. Kelly 53:55 And so then it sat on my loom like that for about four months, maybe longer. And it's like, well, I have to do something with it because it was destash I mean, it was you know, it was spirit yarn. But like it's linen, you know. And finally I forget what whose project I read about, but it was like... I was like okay, yeah, I need to soak it in water. Get some of that extra gelatin out. Let it dry again. I don't want to pull it out because it's all threaded on the loom. Oh you know, so I'll just try to do it around my loom and then finally I thought you know what? I'm just done. I cut the thing off. I threw it all away and I felt so good. I felt... I didn't even try to salvage it. I just cut the thing off and threw it in the garbage or threw it in the compost. I don't know, probably the compost because it was linen but like, I felt so good. It was so such a relief to get that dog off my loom. I mean, it was terrible. That project was a terrible thing. And I was dumb. I should have, you know, I could have... I thought I was saving time by not taking it off and redoing it. I could have redone it 17,000 times in the time that it sat on my loom preventing me from working other projects. So anyway, I can feel for for you, MimiFan. I don't know what the status of your bathmat is now but I do understand the sentiment. Marsha 55:30 You have permission to throw it away if it'll make you feel right! Kelly 55:33 Exactly. It does feel good sometimes. Yeah. So yeah, the crochet along is going really well. I have to say, I miss Amy. We lost her last year. She died. And she's really missed in the the thread, GreenHook. She was always a big poster in the crochet along thread and just in the in the Morning Coffee and different threads, she would post her crochet projects. And that loss is... It was a year, a little over a year ago that she died. And yeah, I miss her right now. Marsha 56:05 That loss is felt. Kelly 56:15 Yeah, yeah. So, but our crochet along ends January 10. We'll be drawing prizes in our next episode. So you still have time to get a project in. So get out your hook and make a project. There's one thread. here's a chatter thread and I just I just added the FOs to that chatter thread. So if you've been waiting for a finished object thread to post in, you can just post in your pictures and your information in the chatter thread and we'll draw prizes from from that. It's small enough that... you know the the number of participants is small enough that I think it will just be better to draw from the from the chat thread. Yeah, so make sure you post your your finished object pictures in there. And come chat about people's crochet in the next couple...week and a half or so. Marsha 57:11 Yeah. And then we just have to mention that the winner weave along is still going on and ends the end of March. Okay, well, I think that's about it. Is there anything else we need to talk about? Kelly 57:23 i don't think so. Marsha 57:25 We could go on another hour. Kelly 57:27 knowing we could next episode, I'm going to talk a little bit about my sort of reviewing last year. And then some things that I want to do. Because I just started today with that tossing of my stash, you know, going through my yarn and coming to realizations about what I do have and the real truth about the yarn I have as opposed to what I think in my head when I'm not looking at it all. So so that'll be next. Now I'll, I'm going to do some reflection on that. And we'll talk a little bit about that next time. So I don't know you've, you've looked at your yarn recently and gotten rid of a whole bunch of stuff, so I don't Yeah, Marsha 58:17 I did a big I did a big tossing of the stash and that's another reason why I've been kind of fun to be down there is to help you do the tossing of the stash. Kelly 58:25 The possible tossing out of of the stash [laughing] Yeah, we'll see. We'll see. But right now I just... we'll talk more about it. But you know, you get inspiration when you look at it. So I've got it out so I can look at it all and see if I come up with some inspirations. And then I'm some of my inspirations might be similar to that bathroom mat and my gelatin weaving my gelatin linen weaving project. We will see! Marsha 58:58 You have permission to put it in the compost pile. [laughing] Kelly 59:01 Well, I will report. I will report back in two weeks what the status is of some of that. Of some of that stuff. I've already started throwing away the little like, you know, you have a walnut sized ball of yarn. Marsha 59:18 Oh, right. Kelly 59:19 Yeah, really? Do I need to save a walnut sized ball of yarn? Marsha 59:24 I don't know. Kelly. I have a whole box of walnut sized bits of yarn. [laughing] Kelly 59:30 Bits of string to small to use. Marsha 59:33 Yes. And and they're actually in a box labeled "too small to use." [laughing] Kelly 59:38 Yes. Okay. Marsha 59:42 All right. All right. We're gonna go. I really have to go now because Enzo is now sitting here at nudging me. It's dinner time. Yeah, it's dinner time. So all right. Okay. We'll talk in two weeks about what's going on with that stash. Okay. Kelly 59:55 And Happy New Year to you and Happy New Year to everyone listening! Marsha 1:00:01 Yes, Happy New Year. Alrighty. Bye! Kelly 1:00:03 Bye bye. Kelly 1:00:04 Thank you so much for listening. To subscribe to the podcast visit Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Marsha 1:00:11 Join us on our adventures on Ravelry and Instagram. I am betterinmotion and Kelly is 1hundredprojects. Kelly 1:00:19 Until next time, we're the Two Ewes Both 1:00:22 doing our part for world fleece! Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Dec 18, 2021

A little heavy on chit chat and dog stories but also a lot of finishing! We catch up after a little too long between episodes! Join us as we discuss our finished projects and give updates on projects in progress. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects Garter Squish Blanket by Stephen West. Finished! Size 60" x 72". Quick Switch hat by Abbyeknits using Madelinetosh Tosh DK in the colorway Cousteau. Finished! Atlas (Ravelry link) by Jared Flood using Navia Tradition . The pattern is also available at his website . Still need to knit a swatch with #10 needles and then determine my next steps. Nanny Meier's Tea Cozy by Amelia Carlsen. I am using Cascade 220 Heather in Red Wine Heather (9489) and green Irelande (2429). Nothing to report here. Still waiting for Brian to measure his teapot so I know when to start decreasing for the top of the tea cozy. Nanny Meier's Tea Cozy by Amelia Carlsen. Started a second tea cozy as a Christmas gift for my friend Susannah. Her kitchen is yellow so I am using Cascade 220 Yellow (9463) and Orange (9668). Meadow Stripe Socks using Patons Kroy Sock in the colorway, Meadow Stripes and Lang Yarns Jawoll Superwash fingering for the heels and toes. Finished the first sock and cast on the second. Paving Mitts (Ravelry link) I didn't have yarn in my stash I wanted to use so I bought Lang Yarns Jawoll Superwash in the pink and gray. Kelly's Projects Pebblebrook Beanie by Wish Upon a Hook (Ravelry link). I've now made three of them. Two with the leftover acrylic and one with the leftovers of the targhee lamb fleece. I finished the Sundowner shawl by Tanja Steinbach. (Ravelry Link). I'm using NoCKRs spirit yarn. Wollmeise twin 80/20 in two different brown variegated colors. Used every last bit of the Wollemeise yarn. I put in an extra wedge and then made the ribbed ruffle a little wider. Then I ran out of yarn about two thirds of the way through the bind off. I ended up using a black mercerized cotton for the end of the bind off. I'm still working on a pair of socks in Bob Ross Happy Little Mistakes yarn from Weird Sisters Wool Emporium in Aberdeen. This is the yarn Marsha bought for me while we were in Seabrook. Plied the fringe and washed the baby blanket using spirit yarn (Ravelry link) I love twisting fringe and watching how the colors work in the plied fringe. Dark Green Forest (Ravelry link) by Christina Korber-Reith needs the sleeves to be evened out before I put the ribbing on them. Crochet Crochet Along Dates November 1 through Jan 10. There is a crochet bundle in the Ravelry group. Winter Weave Along Starts October 15 and goes through the end of March.

Nov 15, 2021

A spirit yarn start-a-palooza is underway! The stresses of life call for self-care and for the Two Ewes that means starting new projects. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects Atlas (Ravelry link) by Jared Flood using Navia Tradition . The pattern is also available at his website . Still need to knit a swatch with #10 needles and then determine my next steps. I'm headed to the beach on November 15th for a week and I may bring this. Nanny Meier's Tea Cozy by Amelia Carlsen. I am using Cascade 220 Heather in Red Wine Heather (9489) and green Irelande (2429). Nothing to report here. Still waiting for Brian to measure his teapot so I know when to start decreasing for the top of the tea cozy. Garter Squish Blanket by Stephen West. I am getting close to the end. Started ball #9, and last, of the main color gradient and knitting with contrasting color #8 of 15. I'm making the contrasting color repeats shorter so I can be sure to use all 15 colors. Meadow Stripe Socks using Patons Kroy Sock in the colorway, Meadow Stripes. Working on these when I have a few minutes. The navy I plan to use for heels and toes is Lang Yarns Jawoll Superwash fingering. Cast on Quick Switch hat by Abbyeknits using Madelinetosh Tosh DK in the colorway Cousteau. Hat has a fun zig zag effect. Paving Mitts (Ravelry link) I'm thinking of making these crocheted mitts as part of our Crochet Along. Kelly's Projects I have a start-a-palooza! I bought the pattern for the Pebblebrook Beanie by Wish Upon a Hook (Ravelry link). I'll be using it with my Knit Picks Brava worsted leftovers to make at least one multicolor hat, and if it's fun I can make many more. I have the equivalent of about 5 skeins leftover from the blanket. I started the Sundowner shawl by Tanja Steinbach. (Ravelry Link). I'm using NoCKRs spirit yarn. Wollmeise twin 80/20 in two different brown variegated colors. I started a pair of socks in Bob Ross Happy Little Mistakes yarn from Weird Sisters Wool Emporium in Aberdeen. This is the yarn Marsha bought for me while we were in Seabrook. I started and finished weaving a baby blanket using spirit yarn (Ravelry link) I used a twill pattern--nothing fancy--and was able to thread and weave in just a little more than one weekend. I finished two more charity hats (Ravelry link). I have one or two more I can make with the yarn. It was also NoCKRs spirit yarn. Super Yarn Mart! German Town. Speaking of Super Yarn Mart!, I couldn't figure out the exact vintage of the German Town yarn. But I found an obituary for the founder, Irving Hershey Gold from 2013 and Ellen Bloom's blog from 2006 reminiscing about the good old days of Super Yarn Mart! "Super Yarn Mart was the ONLY place where we could find a variety of yarn to buy. Oh sure, you could find a few skeins at Woolworth's, Sears, Fedco and even the May Company, but Super Yarn Mart was the best. They even imported yarn from Europe! There were locations all over the Southland. The aisles were wide, the stores were huge. There were samples of afghans, sweaters, baby clothes hanging from the rafters. They gave you these patterns for free. Everything was pink. All of the ladies that worked there were old, wore lots of lipstick, drank coffee all day and smoked in the store. Ahh, yes...those were the days of acrylic heaven." Dark Green Forest (Ravelry link) by Christina Korber-Reith is at the stage where I have to make sure that the sleeves are the correct length before the ribbing. I think one sleeve is not the same length as the other--due to my counting issues possibly!). Once I've sorted out the length equality, I'll be ready to put on the ribbing and the knitting will be finished. Crochet Crochet Along Dates November 1 through Jan 10. There is a crochet bundle in the Ravelry group. Winter Weave Along Starts October 15 and goes through the end of March.

Oct 31, 2021

We have a Crochet-A-Long starting and project updates and we reconnect after a hectic month. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects Atlas (Ravelry link) by Jared Flood using Navia Tradition . The pattern is also available at his website . I have made the tiniest bit of movement. JoAnn (momdiggity) came to my house to offer help with my colorwork. She was a tremendous help and it was lovely to finally meet her. My plan is to knit a swatch with #10 needles and then determine my next steps. Nanny Meier's Tea Cozy by Amelia Carlsen. I am using Cascade 220 Heather in Red Wine Heather (9489) and green Irelande (2429). Nothing to report here. Still waiting for Brian to measure his teapot so I know when to start decreasing for the top of the tea cozy. Garter Squish Blanket by Stephen West. I am obsessed with this project! Knitting with main color #7 of a total of nine and started repeating the contrasting colors. I'm knitting #2 of the second set of contrasting colors. Cast on a pair of basic socks using Patons Kroy Socks in the colorway Meadow Stripes. Kelly's Projects Faye's Flower Blanket, made with the Persian Tile Blanket pattern by Jane Crowfoot is done and delivered. Another finished project, already mailed and no pictures! Fennec hat by Alicia Weisberg-Roberts and worsted booties from a free Bernat pattern . Used Invictus Yarns Captain Superwash in the Driftaway color. From the Heavyweight yarn club, September. After I finished those I used acrylic scraps from the blanket to make a slightly larger striped hat and a pumpkin hat. Dark Green Forest by Christina Korber-Reith. The yarn is handspun and overdyed. It's a 3-ply made from CVM fleece from deep stash (2005 ish). Crochet Crochet Along Dates November 1 through Jan 10. The new Crochet Magazine, Moorit Magazine , has launched! We're having a Crochet-A-Long to celebrate Alyson Chu's great adventure! (Alyson of Keep Calm and Carry Yarn podcast ). If you need Crochet Along ideas: Tiny Spider by Anastasia Kirs . Crocheted with thread on 0.4 or 0.5 mm hook! Postmortem by Ann Wanamaker . It's a coffin shaped piece of crocheted lace with a skeleton inside. Ana Wanamaker has some interesting Victorian creepy doilies. If you like Blue Willow or Calamity Ware, check out the Deathware pattern . Marsha should make it to hang on Mark's wall of Blue Willow. Pebblebrook Beanie by Wish Upon a Hook has an interesting stitch pattern and would look good with multiple colors. Bees in Clover by Michele duNaier I wear my Habitat Cardigan a lot! Daydream Shawl by Toni Lipsey . An Aran weight big chunky fringed shawl in Tunisian crochet. Check out all her patterns! Winter Weave Along Starts October 15 and goes through the end of March.

Oct 5, 2021

Moorit, a new crochet magazine and the Garter Squish obsession are the topics this week. Plus, the Two Ewes are back at their respective homes and we talk about how it is going now that we are back to our "real lives". Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts We still have a 3 Green Sisters coupon code EWES2 for 15% off. Marsha's Projects Atlas (Ravelry link) by Jared Flood using Navia Tradition . The pattern is also available at his website . No movement on this project. Nanny Meier's Tea Cozy by Amelia Carlsen. I am using Cascade 220 Heather in Red Wine Heather (9489) and green Irelande (2429). Bought shorter straight needles because mine were too long and kept hitting the arms of my chair. Bought needles at Seattle Recreative located in the Greenwood neighborhood that sells used crafting materials. I need to borrow Brian's teapot to know when to start decreasing for the top of the tea cozy. Garter Squish Blanket by Stephen West. Lots to report here! I am knitting with the third of nine balls of the background gradient and the seventh contrasting color. This blanket is so addictive! I needed to dye about 600 more yards of yarn of the contrasting color so bought 3 skeins of Cascade 220. I dyed them yesterday afternoon and I think the colors are gorgeous. Kelly's Projects Dark Green Forest by Christina Korber-Reith. I'm making progress on the second sleeve. Faye's Flower Blanket, made with the Persian Tile Blanket pattern by Jane Crowfoot is almost done. I have an October 6 deadline for the birthday girl! I have triangles to crochet onto the edges and then the border. New Crochet Magazine Moorit Magazine has launched! Crochet along to celebrate Alyson's great adventure! (Alyson of Keep Calm and Carry Yarn podcast ) Winter Weave Along Starts October 15 and goes through the end of March. Three Green Sisters are offering Fiber Adventurers a coupon code EWES2 for 15% off until the end of the year. They also make custom loom totes, spinning wheel carriers and spindle and heddle bags, along with one of a kind styles. Take a look at what Suzanne and other 3 Green Sisters are offering in their 3 Green Sisters Etsy shop .

Sep 19, 2021

Summer Spin-In winners announced! The Two Ewes are together for two weeks so this is a quick, unedited episode to announce the winners and give a brief update on our Washington adventures. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts We drew prizes for the Summer Spin-In. Also, the 3Green Sisters giveaway thread is still going! If you didn't win yet, go try that thread! You can also shop 3 Green Sisters with a coupon code EWES2 for 15% off. Marsha's Projects Marsha bought a fountain Pen: we found the Pilot Metropolitan at the UW bookstore. We also found J. Herbin ink and we try to pronounce. Finished the socks that I had been working on for awhile. Used Garnstudio Drops Fabel. Atlas (Ravelry link) by Jared Flood using Navia Tradition . The pattern is also available at his website . Kelly and I had a long discussion about the sweater while poor Mark had to wear it and listen to us try and figure out what I need to do. Still knitting on the tea cozy pattern, Nanny Meier's Tea Cozy by Amelia Carlsen. I am using Cascade 220 Heather in Red Wine Heather (9489) and green Irelande (2429). Garter Squish Blanket by Stephen West. Wanted to use "spirit yarn" to make a blanket for my brother that he had seen at Close Knit in Portland called Noromania Blanket . Turns out we remembered the blanket very differently and he was correct. So, that will be another blanket project. Decided to go ahead and dye the yarn for my second Garter Squish. Kelly helped by dye all the yarn. The main color is a gradient of a terra cotta. The contrasting yarns we dyed with short color repeats and long color repeats. While Kelly was in meetings I drove into Aberdeen, Washington and visited Weird Sisters Wool Emporium owned by Megan Blackburn and Chelsea Barr who dye all the yarn. Megan used to own Little Fish Stitches. I made a pair of sock and the Walk Along tee with her yarm. Bought a skein of sock weight yarn for Kelly from the "Bob Ross: Happy Little Mistakes" bin. Their shop is a little hard to find on the second floor of a business office but do persevere or check out their website . Also visited Harbor Bead and Craft in Hoquiam, Washington. A nice craft store also a bit hard to find but worth the effort. Kelly's Projects Dark Green Forest by Christina Korber-Reith. I am using a terra cotta yarn that is a dark red overdyed over the light brown color of the CVM yarn. Working on the first sleeve but I'm almost done. Spinning wheel came with me on the trip and I've gotten a little spinning done on my Oxford singles. I think they will become a two ply. Patreon Pattern Giveaway! Patrons get a pattern of their choice up to $8.00. Contact Kelly with your pattern selection! This is going on until the end of September. Three Green Sisters are offering Fiber Adventurers a coupon code EWES2 for 15% off until the end of the year. They also make custom loom totes, spinning wheel carriers and spindle and heddle bags, along with one of a kind styles. Take a look at what Suzanne and other 3 Green Sisters are offering in their 3 Green Sisters Etsy shop .

Sep 5, 2021

Wow! The San Francisco International Pen Show! After hearing about all the beautiful pens Kelly saw, we may all want to start collecting a few ourselves. We also learn that pens join knitting, dogs, chickens, and teaching on our Venn Diagram. Show notes with full transcript, photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Three Green Sisters prizes: Grand prize is an 18 by 18 pillow using fabric designed by Cheri Magnusson. A fabric designer who is the shepherd of an Icelandic flock in Maine. In addition to the pillow, they are generously providing their Patty style bag as a prize. One will be used for the Summer Spin-In and one will be drawn from a thread we'll post in the Ravelry group. They are offering Fiber Adventurers a coupon code EWES2 for 15% off until the end of the year. They also make custom loom totes, spinning wheel carriers and spindle and heddle bags, along with one of a kind styles. Take a look at what Suzanne and other 3 Green Sisters are offering in their 3 Green Sisters Etsy shop . SF International Pen Show Kelly saw lots of great pens and stationery supplies. Bailey got to attend , too. Some favorite vendors were Peyton Street Pens , and Curnow Bookbinding . Marsha's Projects Atlas (Ravelry link) by Jared Flood using Navia Tradition . The pattern is also available at his website . I finished the colorwork yoke and the neckband and washed and blocked the sweater before finishing the bottom and sleeve ribbing. My brother tried on the sweater and we confirmed it was too small. I need to frog it and start over. I'm waiting for Kelly to get here to help me unravel it over a glass of wine. I finished the picot bind off of my Simple Shawl by Jane Hunter. I still need to wash and block it. I cast on the tea cozy pattern, Nanny Meier's Tea Cozy by Amelia Carlsen. I am using Cascade 220 Heather in Red Wine Heather (9489) and green Irelande (2429). Finished my Summer Spin In spinning project. Want to make a sweater for Ben and I am considering these patterns: Thun The Blue Mouse Poche Caitlen Shepherd Phrancko Frank Jernigan Kelly's Projects Dark Green Forest by Christina Korber-Reith. I am using a terra cotta yarn that is a dark red overdyed over the light brown color of the CVM yarn. Working on the first sleeve but I'm almost done. More dishcloths--I'm now using two shades of variegated green from the cotton that we dyed back in 2015 (I think) Patreon Pattern Giveaway! Patrons get a pattern of their choice up to $8.00. Contact Kelly with your pattern selection! Patterns people have requested (Ravelry links) OMG Heel Socks by Just Run Knit Designs Beautiful Together by Romi Hill Georgetown by Hannah Fettig Girlang by Linnea Ornstein Friday Tee by PetiteKnit Mosaic Musings by Steven West Avion by Katrin Schneider Stripes! by Andrea Mowry Edie by Isabell Kraemer Songbird Shawl by VeryShannon Derecho by Alison Green Nydia by Vanessa Smith Morning Rituals by Andrea Mowry Riddari by Védís Jónsdóttir for Ístex Sleepy Polar Bear by Susan B Anderson Summer Spin In - Ending September 6th! Get your projects posted this weekend. We'll draw prizes in the next episode. Prizes from Three Green Sisters Full Transcript Marsha 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha Kelly 0:04 and this is Kelly. Marsha 0:05 We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Kelly 0:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects, Marsha 0:29 and I am betterinmotion. We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Both 0:36 Enjoy the episode. Marsha 0:42 Hi, Kelly. Kelly 0:43 Hi, Marsha. How are you? Unknown Speaker 0:45 I'm doing well. Kelly 0:46 Good, me too! School has started. Yay! Marsha 0:54 Yay! It's your favorite time of the year. Kelly 0:55 It is it really is. And actually, it's been a lot of fun. The last couple of days I've gotten to meet-- I had, I had some activities that I didn't do in previous semesters. And so I've gotten a chance to meet students online. A little bit, a little bit better than what I've done in previous semester. So yeah, I'm learning. I'm getting better. It's getting to be a little more interesting and fun. And all that training pays off. Marsha 1:25 Yeah. Really. Kelly 1:25 Yeah, really? Ask me again, though in November. Marsha 1:33 Yeah. Yeah. Kelly 1:35 But right now, day three, right. This is Wednesday? Yeah, no, this is Thursday, day, four of the semester, it's going great. Marsha 1:46 It's going so great you don't even know what day of the week. Kelly 1:47 I know, really, this is a good sign. I feel like I'm attached to the hip with my computer between doing all the school stuff. You know, I mean, I don't have zoom class meetings, but jumping on zoom to help students with questions, emailing back and forth to students, putting up assignments to students, grading assignments to students--with-- you know--of students. Checking in to make sure they've done all the things that they needed to do. It has data analytics, so I can see what pages they've been looking at. And, you know, figure out what I need to do like, oh, they're missing this. Students don't seem to be looking at this page. They're missing this information, I need to make sure I put out a notice, you know, all this stuff on my computer. And then when I'm done for the night, well, and then then the morning before I start, you know, I'm looking at the news on the computer, I'm looking at Ravelry on the computer, and then when I done at night, I take the computer to bed and I watch TV, watch Netflix Like this computer is like attached to my-- practically attached to my body. Hmm, I'm going to really be in need of a digital detox at some point. Marsha 3:00 Well. Yeah, maybe someday. Maybe. Kelly 3:05 Yeah, I don't know. It's funny, because I don't, I don't really, I don't really mind. You know, most of the stuff on the computer is, is it's enjoyable, you know, looking at Ravelry and talking to students and all that, watching Netflix or Amazon Prime. You know, it's it's not terrible. It's just-- It's so funny. This one device is doing everything for me Marsha 3:31 That's a lot of time. That's a lot of time looking at that blue screen or whatever it is. Kelly 3:35 Yeah, yeah. That's true. Marsha 3:39 Well, what have you been up to? Kelly 3:41 Since we last talked? Well, I went to the San Francisco International Pen Show! Yay! Marsha 3:50 I saw your pictures. It looks very cool. Kelly 3:53 Who knew? First of all, that there even was such a thing, although I should know that. You know, if there's a yarn conference, of course, there should be a pen conference. I mean, every hobby's got to have their you know, their their get togethers. I saw on Instagram, the like mascot for the pen show was a white German Shepherd. And so on their Instagram feed they were posting pictures, you know, Odin says wear a mask and have you gotten your you know, do you know what pens you're going to be looking at? A picture of the dog with the pen in his paws and, you know, all these different pictures with pens. And then I saw there was a hashtag dogs of the San Francisco pen show. And then somebody said something about, oh, and then one of the posts was, is your pooch coming or something like that? And I thought, Wait a minute, what? Wait, what? Because we were trying to figure out what to do with the dogs, you know, they don't really have a lot of experience being home alone. And that's a you know, that's a distance away for for us so it's going to be all day. And the two together is a lot for Aunt Betty to, to have to deal with. So we were trying to manage what we're going to do and we had thought we would bring them both in the truck, but then it was going to be like almost 90 degrees. And there was covered parking but Robert's truck is tall and so there's always a worry what if it doesn't fit in the covered parking? The old truck didn't fit in covered parking. This one the shell is a little bit lower. He didn't get the, the taller shell. So anyway, there was all this like angst about what we're going to do. And and I had, you know, thought, Oh, I need to call the hotel and get information about their parking structure. Anyway, when I saw that, it's like, oh, she can come to the pen show. So Bailey came to the pen show. It was so fun. Marsha 5:48 Did she by a-- Did she buy a pen? Kelly 5:50 No, I didn't let her have any money. But she was really good. And there were other dogs there. We didn't get to see the white German Shepherd. I guess they were busy running the show. And not you know, didn't have the dog. But But yeah, he was there at the party-- the after party that evening. But we had already gone by then. So Marsha 6:17 The pen show has an after party? Kelly 6:18 Yeah. It's called a pen show after dark. It looks like a lot of fun. Marsha 6:27 It's so clever. Kelly 6:28 Yeah. Yeah. Kind of like, you know, kind of like the lobby at stitches. Marsha 6:33 Mm hmm. Kelly 6:34 So after, you know, after hours, so yeah. I also found out that there's an intersection. Quite the intersection between pen lovers, and knitters. Okay, so I wanted to give a few shout outs to some people that I talked to at the pen show. One of them, her name is Rena. I don't remember her last name. But her Ravelry name is sewwhatsports and sew is an s-e-w. And she actually was telling me that she had written an article for ply magazine. And I don't have this issue, but it's in the electric issue. I was gonna try to get it because I'd love to see her article. It's in the electric issue of ply magazine, which I think was in May or April. And she wrote an article about being a nomad spinner. So she's sold everything and she's just living on the road. And one of the things that she that she's doing as she lives on the road is these pen shows. She was at a booth for a guy, a shop called Toys in the Attic. And so yeah, I bought a pen case from them. Little travel case that fits in the pocket of my briefcase, and she showed me all about it, how it's--you could step on it and it won't crush and and so it won't, you know, my pens won't get smashed in my briefcase, and has a magnet clip that is super strong so that it won't pop open. And but anyway, her article was about how she spins on the road with an electric spinner. Marsha 8:20 Mm hmm. Kelly 8:21 So that was really cool. So shout out to Rena, Ravelry name is sewwhatsports. And then I was at the Peyton Street Pens booth. And Peyton Street Pens is the one that's local to me. It's an online shop, but they are in Santa Cruz. All the pens I've bought, have been from there. Marsha 8:43 Except, except the one from college, right? Kelly 8:47 Yes, the one the one that I bought in college I bought, I did not clearly did not buy from them. But then that inspired me to get-- make a small collection of Sheaffer Targas from that same era, which I bought from them. And then I got the older Sheaffers for Christmas and my birthday. And those were also from them. So anyway, I wanted to meet Teri and introduce myself and say hello and have her put a face to an order blank, you know. Marsha 9:20 yeah. Kelly 9:21 So I went over there to talk with her and helping in her shop is a woman named Elizabeth. And she's like, did you knit your sweater? So I think this actually is what what created my knowledge about this intersection because I wore the Edie my Edie Tee that's that variegated yarn, the turquoise variegated. And so she said, Did you knit your sweater? And I said yes. And then I said, Are you a knitter and she said, Oh yeah. And so she goes to her bag and she pulls out her shawl and, and she was making a beautiful or she had in her in her bag it was finished. It was what she was wearing. She had in her bag, a beautiful, multicolor shawl. So that was really fun to get to meet somebody who--and she's on Ravelry. But I don't, I didn't get her Ravelry name. And then there was another booth where I actually bought a little leather cover for a field notes-- for my field notes notebooks. Marsha 10:26 Yeah, Kelly 10:26 It's what they call a traveler's style notebook where it's a cover with elastics and then you just, you just insert almost as many of these little Field Notes notebooks as you want inside by using these elastics to attach them. So I bought the cover from them and it's Curnow Bookbinding. Marsha 10:49 Okay, Kelly 10:49 And the woman there was also a knitter and I did not get her name, unfortunately. But yeah, she she, she told me her Ravelry name, and I didn't write it down. So I don't remember. But But yeah, that was really fun to meet her too. And I was able to buy the little, the little book and they have-- Curnow bookbinding it's C U R N O W. They have an Etsy shop. And they sell the cutest notebook thing. I didn't buy one at this shop, but I think I might have to at some point go on their Etsy shop. But they take old books. And then they use the covers of the old books. Marsha 11:34 Mm hmm. Kelly 11:35 And they put hand sewn notebooks inside. Okay, so they had Hardy Boys and some other titles that I didn't recognize. But I was just thinking I should go back and look at their site because what a fun gift for someone. You know, if you know that they really loved a certain book when they were young. Like let's say they love Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys and you go on Marsha 12:01 Yeah, Kelly 12:01 and see, you know, that notebook So, so I thought that was very clever. And then they also had wooden notebook covers that were like laser engraved. And there's one with a really cool octopus. Oh, I almost I almost bought the octopus one. And then there was also a woman who made felt art notebook covers and had bowls for your paint brushes. Marsha 12:34 Okay, Kelly 12:34 And and she was like, No, they're not knitting bowls. They're not yarn bowls. Like okay, she knows about yarn bowls? Kelly 12:43 Yeah, really? Kelly 12:44 I guess if you if you craft with felts maybe you do know about yarn bowls. So but they have little lips on them. So you could put your, you know, your watercolor brush on Marsha 12:56 Okay, Kelly 12:56 the bowl edge. So yeah, it's very cool. I so I bought the cover to the note-- the notebook cover. I bought a pen, a really darling little, small, like four-- under four and a half inches. A little orange and black, a 1920s or 1930s pen that fits into my little notebook. So that's really cool. Yeah, I had a great time. It was a lot of fun. I didn't spend all my money. Marsha 13:30 Oh, good. Kelly 13:31 Yeah. Well, Marsha 13:31 I guess that's good. Is that good? Kelly? Kelly 13:33 Yeah, it was fine. I wasn't sure you know, what I was going to see or what I was going to want. And there was there was a lot of interesting stuff there. But a lot of the things I don't feel like I know enough. Marsha 13:46 Mm hmm. Kelly 13:47 You know, so it was mostly, it was more of a learning, was more of a learning experience to go. And yeah, there are a couple things I wanted. I wanted the case, the pen case that I could put in my briefcase to protect my pens. Marsha 14:01 Mm hmm. Kelly 14:02 If I ever get back on campus, if I ever go anywhere. And then I wanted the cover to the field notes notebooks. So, huh. So yeah, but lots of intersection between knitting and this whole pen, pen and stationery world. Marsha 14:23 I remember having this whole discussion about the intersection of knitting and chickens. Kelly 14:27 Yes. Now we can add knitting and pens, knitting and pens, knitting and chickens. knitting and dogs. Marsha 14:34 Yeah, Kelly 14:35 There are a lot of intersections. Yeah. knitting and teachers, pens and teachers. Anyway, yeah, we could go, we could go on. Marsha 14:46 The list goes on. Yeah, Kelly 14:47 yeah. You know, all the cool. All the cool people do all the cool crafts, right. Marsha 14:54 Yeah, that's true. So yeah, well, that sounds like it was really fun and I think you sent me some pictures. Yeah. And the pens, some of the pens are just beautiful. Kelly 15:05 Oh my gosh, yeah, just Yeah, really, really, really beautiful. And some are really, really, really expensive. Yeah. You know, there's a pen price for everyone. That was another thing that was pretty cool to see, you know, really wide variety. Marsha 15:23 Well, and I was gonna say, you know, if you had those really expensive pens, you probably wouldn't want to take it out of your house and bring it to class because it'd be easy to lose something like that, you know. Which it's nice now that you have the case too, because you it's that'll be harder to lose, than a pen, you know, Kelly 15:39 yeah right. And then the case, I've been using the case. I have a bag that I pack in the morning when I go out to the trailer just because it's easier to carry all my stuff. And so I've been using the case in there. And it's really nice, because it just fits exactly in the pocket of my felted bag. And then the flap. The flap closes, because it's magnetic, it closes over the edge of the pocket. So it's really easy to just flip that flap up and grab the pen out and then close it back up. It's not like I have to take something out, take the pen out of that. I could just reach in like, it's become like a... it's not permanent, but it's almost like a permanent pocket. Or, well, yeah, a permanent hard sided pocket in my, in my bag. And that was kind of what I wanted was something that I could just put into my bag. It'll stay in my bag, and then I could just flip up the top and get the pen out. Marsha 16:36 Yeah. Kelly 16:38 So yeah, it was nice. I also saw Marianne, our friend Marianne. Kelly 16:42 Oh, yeah, Kelly 16:43 Arunningstitcher or Mariknitstoo on Ravelry. I think is her her Ravelry name there anyway. Yeah, so that was fun. She was-- she said she was gonna come for the end of the pen show. So we stood around and talked, probably a good 30 to 40 minutes. So I hope she had enough time to do damage after we got done talking. So we were headed out and she was headed to take a loop around and see what she could find So, huh. So yeah, I was really fun to see someone in person. Marsha 17:20 Yeah. Yeah, cuz it's been years. Well, year and a half when we're getting up on it. Kelly 17:28 Yeah, I mean, I haven't.. The last time I saw her it was in February of 2020. At tSitches. Yeah. So it would...that was really fun. To have a chance to meet somebody in person. It was, it was just a fun, fun day all around. Marsha 17:47 Yeah. Good. Yeah. Well, um, yeah. So it's very cool. Next year, maybe I'll come down for it. I'm not, maybe I need, maybe I need to get into these pens. I'm not into the pens. Maybe Maybe there's, maybe I shouldn't be into these pens. I don't know. Kelly 18:01 Oh, it's pretty fun. Yeah, pretty fun. Well, and I've got, okay, we won't to talk a whole lot about this. But I've now got a little system with my notebooks, to help me remember what I have to do for my classes and stuff. And that's been kind of fun to to...You know, we've talked about our lists. And I still have the steno pad that I use to keep lists. But now with that little small notebook cover, I have a couple of notebooks in there and one's for each class. And so I just take and jot little things or have like, I need to make a list of students that I need to contact, you know, like, I can actually write their names down on it. It's all in the computer. But sometimes you just need to write it down, have a list, and then go back to your email and create the email, you know. So I'm using it for all that kind of stuff, just like little scratch notes that I have for my class. So it's kind of fun to have a new little notebook system that I'm developing here. Marsha 19:00 Yeah, yeah. Oh, very cool. Yeah. And what else? Kelly 19:05 Well, I have some knitting. Okay. Marsha 19:07 You want to talk to me-- talk projects, then? Kelly 19:10 Yeah, I do have some knitting. I'm working right now on my sweater. And I'm almost finished with the first sleeve. I have probably 18 to 20 more rows of the cabling, and then the ribbing at the bottom. Marsha 19:30 Wow, good progress. Kelly 19:32 Yeah, it's it's going. It seems like it's going slowly. But that's just because I haven't had a chance to pick it up recently. Or the other thing is, when I've had the chance to pick it up. I've had to then rip back because my problem is that the rows are you know, the rounds on a sleeve are so short. Yeah, I forget to mark them off. Marsha 19:58 Oh, okay. Kelly 19:59 And so I'm going... You know, if it's a longer one and you get finished with it, it's like more momentous, I think. And so you remember to mark it off. I still forget, but I have an easier time remembering in that case. But with this, I'll get to the end of the row and just keep, you know, just keep plowing on. And yeah, keep going. Yeah. And every fourth row, I think it's every, Yeah, every fourth row, I have to do cable crossings. And so I was like, oh, shoot, have I gone three rows? Is this the time for the cable crossing? Or was it only two and I'm trying to count. And then I make the cable crossing and like, oh, shoot. No, that's too small. I needed to go one more or Oh, no, that's too big. Oops, gotta go backwards. So I've done quite a bit of, of unknitting the whole round or going back and just undoing the section of the cable crossing and fixing it. It's, it's a little irritating that I can't count. Marsha 20:58 [laughing] Kelly 21:03 I find it to be annoying. Not so annoying that I've learned to do it. But Marsha 21:10 to do it. Yeah funny! Kelly 21:12 But yeah, it's annoying, I get really irritated with myself. But it's it's well pattern I am I'm enjoying this pattern. I'm really enjoying the yarn. This is my handspun CVM three ply that I overdyed. And the natural color is a light tan. I think when I originally named the the the yarn, you know, in my project page, I called it "have a little coffee with your cream." Because the color of the yarn is if you... we used to have as a kid, I don't know if you guys did this, but my grandma would make us coffee milk. Marsha 21:57 What is that? Kelly 21:58 Well, it's like an inch of coffee. And then the rest of its milk in your cup. Oh, and so it's like you're having coffee with your adult family members. It's like you're doing this thing of having coffee, but you're really just having a glass of milk. So anyway, we used to have coffee milk, not all the time. Special, you know, special treat to have coffee milk. So it reminded me of that coffee milk where you're really just having milk and you're having a little coffee with your milk. And that's the color of the yarn. And then I dyed it with a color, I think it's called dark red dye. And so I've gotten this terra-- kind of orangey rusty terracotta color. So that's the the yarn I'm using, which of course you already know. But I'm letting people people know who might not have listened to before because I don't know if you noticed Marsha, but we have quite a few new listeners. Marsha 22:55 We do. Kelly 22:56 Yeah. Yeah, over the last few months. Marsha 22:59 Welcome. Kelly 23:00 Yeah, Marsha 23:01 all that talking is paying off. [laughing] Kelly 23:07 Well, and I think, I think some of them have come from... I can, you know, I can kind of look at the statistics, the analytics on our on the lips inside, but some of it has come from Spotify. So now that the our podcast has been on Spotify for a while, it's starting to get more more listeners there. And then there's another one called Gaana, which is I think it's in I want to say it's in India, is where that podcast app is used more. Okay, so we have we have some listeners on that app anyway. So yeah, welcome everyone who's new. Nice to see you and I wanted to just make sure you know about my sweater. And the pattern that I'm using. I think I forgot to say that the pattern that I'm using is called dark green forest. And it's by Christina Korber Reith. Or Rieth. Marsha 24:07 and I have a question about your sweater because where are you with the sleeve issue? Because remember, we were talking about this the last time that you think it's going to be okay? That because the color is slightly different but you think the last time we talked, we recorded I think you said we thought was going to be okay. Kelly 24:23 oh yeah, cuz I was only like an inch or so past and I now I'm now I'm quite a ways down and this sleeve is looking fine. Marsha 24:32 Okay, Kelly 24:33 There's a there's a slight change in the in the variation, you know, because then kettle dyed yarn is varied. Anyway, there's a slight change in the variation about the place where I started the sleeve, but there's also a slight change in the variation a little higher where it was within within a single skein. And then there's slight changes in the variation as it goes down the sleeve too. So I think I think it looks pretty seamless. Marsha 25:07 Good. That's nice to hear. Kelly 25:08 Yeah. Yeah, that was, I think that's what kept me from actually putting the sleeves on for so long. I was kind of worried about that. But this one's going well, hopefully the second one will go will go just as well. But I think it's going to be fine. Yeah. Yeah, I'm pleased to say. Marsha 25:29 Very nice it is really pretty. Kelly 25:31 Thank you. Yeah, I'm really enjoying this pattern. I'm glad I found it. It's not a very-- it's not a very well used pattern. I think there were only like, maybe 20 projects. Let me see. There are 25 projects. Okay, so yeah, only only a very few people, two dozen people have made this pattern. So, but I'm having a good time with it. And I think it's really well written. It's very detailed, a little bit daunting when I first opened it up, but once I started actually reading... Kinda like my students and my online class. Once they actually read the directions, Marsha 26:16 yes. It's not daunting at all. Kelly 26:19 It's not so daunting. So yeah, no, it's, it's, it's, it's been really a good pattern, I would, I would highly recommend it. So and then the only other thing that I've been doing is, I've now I finished with the pinkish purple yarn that I was using for those dish cloths. And I cracked open as a couple of skeins of green. So I've got a dark green and a light green variegated. They're really pretty. And I was thinking back to when it was that we did this. I think we dyed this yarn in, like 2015 Marsha. Marsha 26:58 Well, it was... Yes. It was a while ago. Kelly 27:01 Yes. So I'm really glad to be finally getting some use out of it. Yeah. Marsha 27:09 Nice. Nice. Is that it for projects for you? Kelly 27:14 That's all I got. I haven't done any spinning. I haven't touched Faye's blanket. But her birthday is in October, so I'm thinking I'm gonna finish it for her birthday. Kelly 27:24 Okay, Kelly 27:25 That just seemed like a good, A good milestone. Once I passed a certain point, it was like, Okay, now it's just gonna be a birthday present. Marsha 27:34 And it's an achievable goal, right? Kelly 27:36 Oh, yeah. I yeah, I have just the edging to do so it should. The crochet goes pretty fast in October's a month, away. Marsha 27:45 Thinking of October, I was thinking the other day at you know, I think I texted you a picture that I threw out a bunch of yarn, God gave it back to the goodwill... to the universe. And then I organized all my yarn and I also got these little plastic boxes to put the yarn in. And I had extra boxes. So I decided to put my unfinished projects in these clear plastic boxes so that I would see them. Kelly 28:09 Oh, I think I know where this is going. [laughing] Marsha 28:13 And one of my clear plastic boxes that contains my unfinished skull. And I was thinking I think this the third October, but I I yeah, I'm pretty sure it's the third October, Kelly 28:28 I think you're right. Marsha 28:30 Hmm. And I'm not getting... I'm not... well, I don't know. Maybe I'll maybe something will happen and I'll get it done by the 31st. You know, by Halloween. unlikely but I could do it. Kelly 28:42 Didn't you start on the teeth? Marsha 28:44 I finished the teeth on the ...now I can't remember. Kelly 28:51 You finished all the teeth? Marsha 28:53 No, no, no, no, I finished the teeth on the lower jaw. Kelly 28:56 Oh, okay. Marsha 28:57 And now I think I have... And there's how many teeth? Do we have? 32? . I don't know. It has accurate... an accurate number of teeth. So yeah, how many teeth is that? I've done half of them. That's 16 teeth. Kelly is that 16 teeth? Yeah, here's math. Can you divide 32? Kelly 29:17 I can do that math. I just can't count. Marsha 29:21 Anyway, um, and then I need to... so I, so I can... I was looking at it. And I've actually knit all the parts except I have to finish the teeth. And then sew it together. And I have to knit I have to get some dark gray yarn, or black or some dark color to knit like the the, the eye sockets. Yes, if I recall and I never... as I say I didn't get to that part in the pattern yet. But I think what you do is you knit basically like it's a ball kind of, like that's not as... like some like a half circle, kind of that you then push it back into the skull, kind of, to make like the eye So okay, Kelly 30:01 I'm remembering the one I did. I did the mask, The Day of the Dead mask. And it had it had the eye sockets too. And I think it was just kind of like a, it had some short rows in it. But yeah, it was kind of just like making a circle. And then that gets sewed on the back. I should bring you... do you need dark yarn? Kelly 30:23 Yeah. Kelly 30:23 Okay, I should bring you--that's another thing. We haven't talked about that. I'm coming up to see you. Marsha 30:28 Yeah, we'll talk about that in a second. Yeah, I have something to say about that, too. Kelly 30:31 I'll, I'll try to remember to pack... I have some of the that Rambouillet that, you know, the replenish Rambouillet that we have in our shop and I have some samples of that from from Lani. One of them is a dark color, I'll bring that and that might work. Marsha 30:49 Well, the other thing I have, I will get to my projects. But the other thing I have is just I have a lot of fleece, dark brown, black fleece, that I could just spin some and spin a little bit, knir with and... Kelly 31:05 that's, that's another obstacle though, to make it not get knit. Marsha 31:09 I know. I know. So Kelly 31:11 I'll try to remember to pack it, because Marsha 31:14 I will just remind people, because you, Kelly, you said we have a lot of new listeners. But I bought this pattern. So it'll be it was not last Stitches, but it was the Stitches before the Stitches we went to before the pandemic started. Because I can't even remember Kelly, when did the pandemic start? Is that 20 2020 Kelly 31:35 Yeah, it was 2019 when we got crazy about the skulls. Marsha 31:39 Yes. And we went crazy with the skulls and you bought like the Day of the Dead and they're kind of flat? Where mine is actually like, like round three dimensional sculpture. Yeah, that you felt and then you stuff and Kelly 31:51 I have that pattern too, I just never... I just didn't start that one. I got excited about starting the day that the Day of the Dead mask skulls. Marsha 32:00 So But anyway, it's in a clear box, so I can see it now when I go down there. Yeah. into the cellar.... Kelly 32:08 The room under your house? [laughing] Marsha 32:10 Yes. Um, so anyway, and I'm trying to think to remember who the pattern maker was? It's Wooley. Kelly 32:20 Wooley. Wooley Wonders or something. Marsha 32:23 Yeah. Wooley Wonders. Yeah, right. Kelly 32:25 I think so. But you talk and I'll look. Marsha 32:29 Oh, well, anyway, so that's it with that. So anyway, I just I'm bringing that up, because I found that skull down there. And it's, it's October so it just kind of made me laugh again about it. Okay. While you're looking I'm... we'll go back to it. But I'm going to talk about my next project. So Kelly, the last time two weeks ago, we talked about the Atlas, the Jared Flood pullover that I'm making for my brother. And remember I said I was...had some concerns. Kelly 32:54 Yes, about size. Marsha 32:57 I know. So it's too small. I mean, like he can get it on. But he said it's just like it's not there's not enough room through the shoulders. It's like, let me back up. It fits through the body, like the torso, then when you get up onto the the yoke through the the shoulders. It's... he said it just feels tight. Like he can put it on and it looks okay. But he said it's not super comfortable. And he said to me, Well, maybe if you wash and block it, and I said it is washed and blocked. So I think what I just... it's just sitting in the guest bedroom. And I'm thinking about it. And I thought I'm not going to rip it out yet. Kelly 33:38 Yeah. Marsha 33:38 But I think it needs to be frogged. And I and I but what I'm... You mentioned that you're coming up and so I will, I'm going to speak about that now. So you're coming up. You're driving up from California. Kelly 33:49 Yay. Marsha 33:50 Yay. And we're.. we are beyond excited. Kelly 33:52 Yeah. Yes. Yeah. That is definitely fair to say. Yeah. So I, I decided that since I had to endure the pain of teaching 100% online for three semesters now. That well, actually three and a half semesters. This is my, the start of my fourth semester. Let's see spring, fall, spring? fall? Yes. Marsha 34:22 Again. Kelly, again, the counting. [laughing] Kelly 34:26 This is the start of the fourth semester with 100% online. And so I thought if I have to endure the pain of this, I'm also going to get some of the benefit of this. And one of the benefits of teaching 100% online... Which in the... in the before times not very many people at the college had the opportunity to do that. It was not something that was routinely done. And in fact, there were moves towards making it so that people couldn't teach 100% of their load online. So there were just very few people who could do it. But one of the advantages of doing it is that you can teach from anywhere. And so I thought, okay, I could teach from Seattle. And then I could work during the day, and then I could play in the evening. And actually, with online classes, you can play in the day and work at night, you know, you can rearrange your schedule, however you need to. So I thought, I'm going to take advantage of this once in a lifetime, for me, because I don't intend to teach 100% online, ever again, if I can help it, right, Marsha 35:38 right. Kelly 35:39 But I'm going to take advantage of this opportunity to teach really remotely, so I'm going to be teaching from Seattle. It's just gonna be so fun. Marsha 35:48 I know. So you're, I'm very excited. So and we have our, we have everything planned, well sort of planned out what we're going to do. Basically, when we're in Seattle at my house, we're just going to sit on the deck and spin and knit. Kelly 36:00 Yep. Marsha 36:01 When you're when you're not working, we're going to be spinning and knitting on the deck, and walking dogs and just playing with dogs. And because you're bringing Bailey, you're not bringing Beary though he's gonna stay home. Kelly 36:13 No he's staying home. In fact, he's having afternoons with Aunt Betty, because because he needs to get practice in staying with her. And he's, you know, for months, he, this pair of dogs are the only dogs I've ever raised where I haven't practiced having them be by themselves. Marsha 36:32 Mm hmm. Kelly 36:33 You know, all the other dogs I raised from puppyhood. And that was just a part of the routine was that they had to get used to being alone. And, of course, Bailey came with her own issues about being alone. And with Beary, it's just, you know, it's harder now because there's two dogs and we're always home. So he really hasn't had a lot of opportunity to to learn to just be the stay at home dog and not have me around not have Robert around. So he's been practicing. Practicing afternoons with Aunt Betty. She gives him cookies. And he's learning to be happy down there. Marsha 37:14 Well, he's a pretty easy going dog. I mean Kelly 37:17 Well, it's funny, because he does seem like that. But he has fears that you just don't notice because of the way he acts. Like he was really afraid to go in the door to her room from outside. I don't know why. There was just something really strange about it. Maybe it felt like going into the basement? I don't know. Yeah, he just had a real fear of it. And so we've had to really work on work on that. And then once he got in, he immediately wanted to go out. And so but you know what? He likes food. And yeah, and so she's been giving him cookies. And he's been, he's been learning that it's a happy place. Marsha 37:59 Mmmhmm. Well, and aunt Aunt Betty is fun. And she loves dogs. And you know, all the dogs love Aunt Betty so he'll be fine Kelly 38:08 Yeah, it'll be, it'll be fine. He'll, he'll be okay. while I'm gone. Yeah, it'll be different for him. But he'll be okay. But anyway. Yeah, I'm really excited to be bringing Bailey on a road trip. Marsha 38:19 Yes. So we're gonna have a week in Seattle. And then we're going to go down for about a week to the Washington coast and do the whole beach thing. Kelly 38:28 Yeah. Marsha 38:28 And so we're excited about that, too. And let Bailey and Enzo run on the beach because Bailey's been to the beach a couple times with you and Robert, right down in California? Kelly 38:38 Once Yeah, we went once. Marsha 38:40 Oh, just once. And so I'm excited about that. Just to the beach... Well, you know, it's my favorite place. A side note, I'm going more and more side notes that we're going down. I will get back to my project. Because we're going to that community called Seabrook where we always go and I've talked about String Theory Yarns, that's owned by Jean. And I noticed that she posted on Instagram that she and her husband bought an Airstream trailer. Marsha 38:43 Oh, wow, Marsha 39:13 For traveling, which is super cool and super exciting. And my first thought was, how are they going to go anywhere? Because she was telling me in the summer, she usually she works like 120 days straight because she has... she's open seven days a week, and she's the only person in there. She doesn't have an employee. And so I thought when's she gonna use that trailer, and I thought I have a bad feeling about this. That she's retiring and she's closing the shop. Kelly 39:42 Oh no, Marsha 39:45 Well, I assume she's closing the shop. They just, she... Seabrook then posted that she's retiring. So I don't know. Honestly, I don't know if somebody has purchased the business from her or what's going to go on with the yarn shop but I'm a little heartbroken. I have to say. Because we love, We love Seabrook, but it was really nice having the yarn shop like we go in there and check in you know, before you go to the beach and say hi and then stop by afterwards and she always had knit nights on Thursday nights and it was really fun just to go there and you met a lot of the people who lived in Seabrook or in the surrounding communities. So I'm a little heartbroken. But she still lives in Seabrook, so I'll see her and that's good. So I'm Kelly 40:29 Maybe someone will buy the shop, and it will continue. Marsha 40:32 Yeah. I don't know. It's, Kelly 40:35 well, it's a difficult I mean, yarn shops are a difficult endeavor At any point Marsha 40:42 Yeah. Kelly 40:42 and then Seabrook is a little place, kind of out of the way, and then the pandemic can't have helped. So I can, I can certainly understand. Marsha 40:53 And I suspect part of it, too, probably is, it's just a lot. You know, your... she has a dog Cooper and she said, it's hard too when she works in the summer, he doesn't get down to the beach at all, because she's working. Yeah. So anyway. But back to projects back to this my Atlas. You're coming up. And I... See everyone probably thought I'd lost my train of thought, thank goodness. [laughing] I went so far off track. No, but you're coming up, and I decide I'm going to wait till you get here to look at the sweater. And look at it on Mark, because I don't know. And I know you've done color work before. I also I need to have Kim come and look at it too. Because as I've talked about in other episodes, this is the first color work sweater I've done in 20 years. And it looks nice, but I'm wondering if maybe my tension is too tight or something? I don't? Because it doesn't seem like it has a lot of give. Kelly 42:02 Yeah. Marsha 42:02 Now I realize it's not going to have this... It's not gonna be the same type of fabric that is on the body because it's color work, right? But I wonder if maybe that might I need to go up a needle size. So the body is worked on sevens, and the yoke is worked on a size up so on eight, and I want to talk to you about it. And maybe Kim. Do I need to maybe go up two sizes on the yoke? Kelly 42:28 Yeah, maybe. Marsha 42:29 I don't know. And listeners can weigh in on this if they want. I you know I bought a color work sweater in Iceland, where it's a it's a cardigan, zippered cardigan and has the same type of concept of like the... at the yolk. And when you feel that, it doesn't feel much different than the body that is not color work. And I'm wondering, is it... if it's I'm getting too tight or something? Kelly 42:56 Maybe the yarn isn't a good match for the pattern. Yeah, it's...Yeah, I'll be happy to look at it and see. It could be any number of things. It could be that the fabric is stiff, because of all the layers and the type of yarn that it is. Or it could just be a tension issue. Yeah, well, and Kim's done quite a bit of color work too. So she... Marsha 43:19 She's done a lot of color work. And then and the other person I thought I should contact too is momdiggity, Joanne. Because she lives just a few blocks from me. And she does a lot of color work too. She might be able to... Kelly 43:34 Yeah, that would be good. Marsha 43:35 Maybe I'll reach out to her and see if she could take a look at it and see because it it. Yeah. Anyway, I need a little bit of help on that. But it does, it needs to be ripped out. And I'm just gonna wait till you get here. And that can be one of our projects as we sit on the deck over a bottle of red wine is rip out that sweater. Kelly 43:55 Oh my gosh. Yeah. Yeah. You need you need companionship for for something like that. Marsha 44:00 Yeah. Well, and you know, the thing is like, it's like it takes... Well, I knit it pretty fast, because I worked on it exclusively. Pretty much. And it's, you know, bigger needles and whatnot, but I don't know, two months. Maybe. I know that it'll take literally 10 minutes to rip that thing out. You know? Anyway. So that's what's going on with that sweater. And then do you remember I've been...? I looked it up. I cast on Simple Shawl back in 2018. Kelly 44:29 Oh, right. Marsha 44:31 And it's been to Scotland twice. I think it has been to Iceland. Anyway. It's a pattern by Jane Hunter. And I finished the Picot bind off. So that's bound off. I've not washed or blocked it yet. Let's see. I cast on a new project. I we have a friend Brian, who likes the tea cozy that I made for my other friend Gary. So I said I would make him a tea cozy. So it's that Nanny Meyers tea cozy by Amelia Carlsen. I've made, I made one for Gary. And I've made two for myself. And it's that one where you alternate, it's all garter stitch, but you alternate, like, six of your main of one color, and then the second color and keep alternating that across. And so and you pull tight, so it it keeps, oh, yeah, these stripes create like ridges, Kelly 45:26 kind of like corrugated right? Marsha 45:28 Yeah. Okay. Yeah, it's like corrugated metal kind of. And so I, he looked at all of my spirit yarn, there wasn't any colors that he liked. So I said, let's just go down to acorn street here in Seattle. And what it is is just buy cascade 220. Because it's, it's a good all purpose workhorse yarn, and a really nice colors and stuff. So he went down there, and he couldn't decide what he wanted. He was really attracted to a red and green. And then he also was attracted to a blue and yellow. And you know where this is going, Kelly. I can, as I'm saying it out loud. I'm thinking, don't say it. And then I said it. I said, Oh, just buy all four colors, and I'll make you two tea cozies. So so he's getting... I know... so he's getting two. I've cast on the red and green one and they're there. The cascade... Both... All of these are cascade 220 heather's, and there's one called, the one I cast on is red wine heather. And that's a pretty one, and a green called Ireland with an extra e at the end. So I don't know how you pronounce that. But they're really soft colors. Kelly 46:48 Yeah, I think that red wine heather is the one that I used for my heroine jacket. Okay, a long time ago, this I might even have been kind of pre pre Ravelry. Marsha 47:03 Heroine as in a woman who's Kelly 47:05 Yeah, Marsha 47:07 Not the drug. Okay. All right. Yes. Kelly 47:10 Yes. I can't remember who the pattern designer for that was. But it's a felted, it's a felted coat that you knit with two strands, held double. And then you put it in the washer and felt it and it's double breasted. Anyway, I think that's the color. It's a really pretty color... has some blue, some little blue strands through it. Marsha 47:34 Yeah. Yeah. A really nice, they're really nice together because, yeah, super nice together, the two colors so... But I just thought it, just kind of funny going down there to Acorn Street. You know, of course, any yarn shop, people are super friendly. Right? And, and so we go in there and to figure out colors. And of course, you're you're you're confronted with a wall of cascade 220. And where do you kind of start, you know, and I said, Well, let's, let's just narrow down. We want to do heathers. He was pretty sure he wanted that. And so we were picking out the colors. But this is the part I think is so funny is, you know, everybody gets involved in the project. Righ? What are you making and both the the, the people working there, the shop owners or the clerks but then also customers. So I think it was actually kind of fun, you know, that everybody got involved with picking colors. You know, that's, I think he was surprised. But I also thought it was a really enjoyable process, you know. Everybody has a say. So anyway, I'm working on that. And you knit, sort of the two halves and then sew them together. And I have done, I would say, three inches of the first side. So that's coming along. And then I finished my summer spin-in spinning project. Kelly 48:58 oh yay! Marsha 48:59 Yes, I know I'm very excited. I just dedicated myself to and I have a couple things to say. The first thing I'm going to say about plying is the the lazy Kate that comes with the little Herby spinning wheel, the bobbins are vertical on it. Right? And then there was like a spring and then you screw down a knob to hold it on there. But then that spring provides makes, puts some tension on the bobbin right. So that is just not free spinning off the single is not just free spinning off the bobbin, right? Kelly 49:37 Yeah, because if it if that happens and it gets spinning too fast, then it stops and it starts turning around the other direction and then you have a mess. Marsha 49:45 And then it starts plying on itself kind of the single, right? So do you remember when I bought the that Ashford spinning wheel from was it the 80s and it had never been assembled? Well, it came with a lazy Kate, but the bobbins are on there horizontally. Okay, Kelly, so much better! Kelly 50:11 Oh, good, Marsha 50:12 Because what I found and I think it was when the, when the bobbins are horizontal, the, the single sometimes like the, what I would... what am I trying to say? It's like the, you're putting pressure on it like because you have to tension it right, those springs, but some tension so it's just not free spinning, but it also then sort of pulls the single into the layers of singles that are wound on to the bobbin. Kelly 50:43 Yeah, and then the other thing that happens too is if you're pulling just up and you know it's like it's below you and so on on the wheel attached to the wheel and you're pulling on so what you have to do is you kind of have to put your hand down there and pull out and so it's a real, it's a real technique. And then also when you're pulling up it can catch on the edge of the bobbin which is rough and that will break. There's lots of ways for the yarn to breakwhen you're plying with it. Marsha 51:14 What I found is it was the the single would break but then I couldn't find the end because it got buried into the other yarn wrapped around it. So for this I had the the green and brown that I had made. I use the lazy Kate from the little Herbie and then I think when when the podcast we were talking about this and so I got out the other one from the Ashford where the bobbins are horizontal and so all the brown I... well three skeins of brown I plied with that on the horizontal lazy Kate Totally different experience! My yarn didn't break once. Kelly 51:57 Nice. Marsha 51:58 And so I yeah, I don't it's it's... I love the little Herbie. But that design is not very good. I think it's good if you-- but you're right, you have to keep your hand. Yeah, so it's coming up and then this one you don't have to worry about Kelly 52:12 and I'm not as tall as you know, I'm closer. Marsha 52:17 That's true. Kelly 52:18 I'm closer to those bobbins you know, and and so I just kind of got used to a technique but yeah, it is true. spinning off of a horizontal-- plying jof a horizontal bobbin is very different. Marsha 52:32 Yeah. And then I also remember too, when you were first showing me how to ply the yarn You had me put the the lazy Kate quite a ways away from you know, like several feet away and and I noticed like when I was spinning I just had it you know on the side of my chair blocked by the table leg because it doesn't sit flat either. That's everything that's that Kelly 52:54 yeah, it's designed to attach to the wheel Marsha 52:56 Yeah, the wheel and yeah, anyway, so that was just a cool thing. I just, it's making it much better for me, much easier. And anyway, I've got the two tone one I'm calling it the barber pole is the green and brown together. I have about 950 yards. And I think because it's already in skeins I didn't think of doing the wraps per inch. So it's somewhere between a DK and a worsted. Okay. It might be DK I don't know. And then the the solid Brown. I have 661 yards. That is a three ply plied off of three bobbins and then I had you remember when I first the first time I plied I didn't have three bobbins of the brown so I thought oh well just do the chain ply or Navajo ply, but it's a little bit different. And so if you count that skein in, I have Oh, I'm sorry I have that other way around. I have 536 yards. If you add in that odd skein, I have 661 yards of the brown. Okay. So adding that all up it's about 1600 yards or about 1500 yards you know, so I get... I think I have enough for a sweater for Ben. And so I've been looking at sweaters and I need to do a striped sweater so I have couple-- three options. The first one is a pattern from... it's called Thun T h u n by the blue mouse. And I don't know if you've looked at that Kelly it's Kelly 54:39 I'm looking at it right now.And I'm I'm looking, well I'm trying to look at it, here we go. That's cute. Marsha 54:47 So so it's cute. It shows it's a... it shows on a woman but it's a unisex sweater. What I and it's a striped quite big, so the the yoke is one color, a solid--no stripes, I should say. And then like the the body. And the sleeves, partway down are big, thick stripes. Kelly 55:08 Yeah, I like those stripes better than I like the little stripes in the other pattern that you showed me. Marsha 55:13 Okay. So the only thing I would change about this is it has a split. The ribbing at the bottom is split. And the back is longer, twice as long as the front. The ribbing is twice as long as and I think I would make... that for a man, I would make that without the split. And then the same, you know, Kelly 55:35 right. Consistent ribbing all the way around. Yeah, yeah. Marsha 55:41 Yeah. And then the other one I'm looking at is let me go back. It's called poach pooch, p O, ch, E. And that is by Caitlin Shepard. And it's sort of the same idea. It's saddle shoulders. So the same idea, but you're--You're right, Kelly. It's thinner stripes. And but I thought that was a pretty good. It seems like I have enough yarn for that. And the only other thing I would change too is you...after you've knit the sweater you apply over the left breast a patch, like a leather patch or a fabric patch. Do you see that? I don't think I'd put that on Kelly 56:30 Yeah, I don't like that. No. Marsha 56:31 Yeah. And then the other thing I'm considering, as you remember, the I think it was the last time we went to Stitches. And we were having lunch with a bunch of people friends that we know. And there was a man there named Frank Jernigan, and he has a website. It's Phrancko Ph. r a n k. I'm sorry. That's wrong. ph RANCKO, and he does custom fit sweaters. That's not what it's called but it's that same thing where you put all your measurements in and your gauge and it will create a sweater for you. And so I was thinking I might do that. And he has saddle shoulders. So I was the... I might do his sweater. And then add stripes to it. A basic sweater, because Ben is is very tall, but he's very slender. And so if you just do one of these sweaters is actually designed for your body would fit really well. I would think. Kelly 57:32 Yeah, that might be a good idea. Marsha 57:35 Yeah, so those that's what I'm considering. Kelly 57:39 That sounds good. So you got some choices there. Marsha 57:42 Yes. Kelly 57:44 Well, before you make your your segue Marsha, I just wanted to say while you were talking about your spinning, I went and looked up the skull designer, pattern designer and her name is Ellen T. Sebelius. S i b E L I u s. And yeah, give her patterns I look, you may never want to knit something that fiddle that fiddly. But there may be something that you fall in love with on her yarn pages. Because she has some very cool patterns. So yeah, so yeah. But yeah, with your spinning finished Marsha. I didn't, I didn't finish my summer spin-in yet. Maybe I'll finish it while I'm up visiting you. I'll bring up... bring it with me. I just-- I mostly have plying to do so. So we'll see. Marsha 58:35 We'll just remind people that summer spin-in ends Monday at midnight on Monday, September 6, that's right. Kelly 58:45 So get your new projects into the pages, your your finished spins and also if you made anything using your handspun. And I didn't finish this sweater that I'm that I'm knitting out of my handspun either So this time I was a I was a spin along fail, Marsha? Marsha 59:04 Yeah. Kelly 59:06 There's no failure in spinning. I have a beautiful sweater mostly finished and I have quite a bit of singles on my bobbins so I'm happy with with what I was able to accomplish Marsha 59:17 well, that then, uhhh... Kelly 59:22 Oh, I should say about prizes. And we have prizes for this spin-in that we'll draw on our next episode when I'm up in Seattle. And the grand prize is going to be a pillow-- fabric designed by Cheri Magnussen who is a shepherd of an Icelandic flock in Maine. And then we also have project bags donated by three green sisters. And then we also, for people who aren't spinners who might want to enter, or spinners who want two chances to win one of these bags. We have a thread up in the Ravelry group that you can win, we're going to do a giveaway in that thread for a project bag as well. So and then, if you don't want to wait to see if you won, you can just go and look at her bags. And if you use the coupon code EWES2 e-w-e-s -2, you'll get 15% off all the way till the end of the year. Hmm. So take a look. She has some very pretty bags. . Marsha 1:00:28 Really! Yeah Yeah, really cute stuff. So. Alright. Well, we have one more thing we need to talk about. We want to talk about Kelly 1:00:36 Yes. So we're still having the pattern giveaway for our Patreon sponsors. People have been messaging me about the patterns. You get a pattern of your choice up to $8 and just message me on Ravelry or email. I have one email that I have to get to that I haven't haven't sent out the pattern yet. I'll have to do that tonight after we get finished here. But the patterns that people have selected, so fun to see. It's fun to be able to give a prize to our patrons. It's fun to be able to support designers. But I'll tell you, Marsha, it has also been fun to see all these patterns that people are selecting. Marsha 1:01:21 Yes, a few have gone into my... well....a lot have gone into my favorites. Yeah. Kelly 1:01:27 Yeah. So I've done similar. I've done a similar thing. I have a queue. I keep them in my queue. But yeah. Marsha 1:01:34 Like oh, yeah. So we'll have we have a list of them in the show notes. So you can... so anything that really stands out? Kelly 1:01:40 Well, the the beautiful together shawl, I think is really nice. And I haven't done a lace Shawl in a while. It's a Romi Hill pattern. And I have not done a lace Shawl in a while. And so that was kind of like, Oh, I kind of... I'm now at a point where I kind of miss shawl knitting. I think I need to, I think I need to think about casting on a shawl. So that was one of them. And then of course, I'm just gonna say Edie is a great pattern. Unknown Speaker 1:02:08 Mm hmm. Kelly 1:02:09 I was happy to buy that for someone. Because it's just a great pattern. I love my Edie. I have two of them and I love them both. They get a lot of wear. And I just was happy to see that pattern on the list. What about you? Marsha 1:02:25 Well, there was another cuz I love the Edie as well too. That's a great pattern. I but there's I know somebody else picked a tee Derecho. How is it pronounced. Derecho. By Alison green. That's a really cute t shirt too. Kelly 1:02:40 Yeah, that is. That's cute. Marsha 1:02:45 What else do we have here? There was the well Stripes. I've been looking at this Stripes by Andrea Mowry. That's cute. Kelly 1:02:56 I like the the cropped pullover the Nydia by Vanessa Smith. I I don't really wear clothes that it would work with. But I really like how it has the sweater and the cowl. And so when you wear that, you know... I... growing up in the late 70s I guess it was the late 70s cowl neck sweaters became a big thing. And I've always liked them. And so this you can have a cowl neck if you wear the cowl and then if you take the cowl off, you just have a scoop neck. And it's really I think it's a really clever design. Marsha 1:03:40 There's another cute t shirt the Friday tee by petite needs, no petite knits. Do you see that one's a striped sweater. It's very cute too. Kelly 1:03:50 Let me look. Oh, yeah, yeah, I remember seeing that one. Yeah, Marsha 1:03:55 and did you see the sleepy polar bear? Kelly 1:03:58 Oh my god. That's that. I think I'm gonna make that one when that one went on my list of things to make. I had heard of that pattern. I had no idea he was so big. He's big. Marsha 1:04:14 Yeah, it says here about 17 inches in length. Yeah, so yeah, he's he's a big boy. Kelly 1:04:19 Yeah, Marsha 1:04:20 I'm assuming it's a boy Kelly 1:04:21 A chunky boy. Well, it wouldn't have to be you know, not all polar bears are boys. Marsha 1:04:26 Did you? Did you look at the picture of its rear end. That's adorable. Kelly 1:04:31 It's cute. Yeah. Marsha 1:04:33 And little tail and the little paw is adorable. Kelly 1:04:36 Yeah, it's a cute cute pattern. Susan B. Anderson has some darling, darling patterns. But like you could make it a little color work sweater. You know, it has a sweater on but yeah, it's a plain, kind of a plain sweater. With a marled, looks like the marled yarn. I love the little toe pads on the bottom of its feet. Mm hmm. So but it would be fun to make that and also make it a little color work sweater. Marsha 1:05:06 Yeah, look. Yeah. Well, and then speaking of color work sweaters, there's a beautiful Ridari? Kelly 1:05:15 Yes. Marsha 1:05:16 The Icelandic, the Icelandic one and look at I'm not pronouncing this correctly. But it looks like it's Vetis Jonsdotter. Kelly 1:05:25 That's beautiful. Yeah, that is. So Marsha 1:05:29 anyway, everyone should just take a look at them. Because there's... really they'll end up in your in your queue. Kelly 1:05:35 Yes. Yeah. There's danger there but... Marsha 1:05:38 or not queue, but in your favorites. Or you might even just click the buy button. That's right. Kelly 1:05:43 Yeah, there's danger there. But it's the good kind of danger. [laughing] Marsha 1:05:48 Yeah. Yeah. Kelly 1:05:50 Yeah. Very nice. Yeah. Very cool. So yeah, it's, and this is still going on. So if you haven't contacted me yet, and you're one of our Patreon patrons, just get in touch with the pattern that you'd like, for your special gift. Marsha 1:06:06 So I think that's everything. Do we have anything else we need to talk about? Are we want to talk... any more rabbit holes we want to go down or deep dive? Kelly 1:06:14 We'd better not because I have office hours in about 20 minutes Marsha 1:06:18 Okay. Kelly 1:06:19 I can't think well, I can't think of any real big rabbit holes. I stopped myself from going further into Spoonflower after the last episode. But there's quite a discussion going on about--there was quite a discussion going on about Spoonflower in the Ravelry group. So yes, Marsha 1:06:39 I know. I saw that. So. Kelly 1:06:43 So speaking of the Ravelry group, if you are a new listener, come join us. On the Ravelry group. We have discussions about spinning and weaving the the big discussions going on now are the spinning discussion that's been going since the summer spinning started. We have a winter weave along discussion that's been going on since last October. We're almost ready to start our next winter weave along. And then we have morning coffee, where you can talk about anything. Recent conversation has been about dogs and how chaotic the start of the school year has been for all the different teachers that are there in the session. But yeah, it's fun. I go there every morning while I have coffee. That's why I called it morning coffee. But you don't have to drop in in the morning and you don't have to drink coffee. Marsha 1:07:34 No. Kelly 1:07:35 Yeah. Just a fun way to keep in touch with some fiber friends. Marsha 1:07:39 Yeah, Kelly 1:07:40 yeah. Yeah. So feel free to join us on Ravelry and the discussion and the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group is where you'll find it. Marsha 1:07:48 Okay, any? I guess that's it, though. Yeah. I'm gonna-- I'm gonna let you go so you can get to your office hour. Okay. All right. And then I will... well, I will talk to you in person because you will be here in just a few days. Marsha 1:08:02 Next week, in a few days well, not a few days, but a week. Kelly 1:08:04 Well, less than a week. Marsha 1:08:06 Less than a week. Yeah. Kelly 1:08:07 It's less than a week. You'll be ... very close. Tuesday, I leave. Marsha 1:08:13 So as soon as you finish your office hours, go pack. Kelly 1:08:15 I know. I really, and I'll remember that dark yarn. Marsha 1:08:20 Yeah, yeah.Put it on your list right now. Okay. Use your finest fountain pen and put it on your list. [laughing] Kelly 1:08:28 Okay. Marsha 1:08:30 All righty. All right. Bye. Kelly 1:08:32 Thank you so much for listening. To subscribe to the podcast visit Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Marsha 1:08:39 Join us on our adventures on Ravelry and Instagram. I am betterinmotion and Kelly is 1hundredprojects. Kelly 1:08:47 Until next time, we're the Two Eews Marsha 1:08:49 doing our part for world fleece! Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Aug 27, 2021

The Summer Spin ends in less than a month so we discuss knitting with handspun. Plus, we have great prizes for the Spin In provided by the Three Green Sisters and we have our Patreon Pattern Giveaway. Show notes with full transcript, photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Three Green Sisters prizes: Grand prize is an 18 by 18 pillow using fabric designed by Cheri Magnusson. They are very interested in supporting this new fabric designer who is the shepherd of an Icelandic flock in Maine. In addition to the pillow, they are generously providing their Patty style bag as a prize. One will be used for the Summer Spin-In and one will be drawn from a thread we'll post in the Ravelry group. They are offering Fiber Adventurers a coupon code EWES2 for 15% off until the end of the year. They also make custom loom totes, spinning wheel carriers and spindle and heddle bags, along with one of a kind styles. Take a look at what Suzanne and other 3 Green Sisters are offering in their 3 Green Sisters Etsy shop . We talk about Cheri Magnuson who has created fabric that will be in one of the prizes. She is a shepherd who had become a fabric designer. Coldstream_Ice Spoonflower fabric shop. Marsha's Projects Atlas (Ravelry link) by Jared Flood using Navia Tradition . The pattern is also available at his website . I finished the colorwork yoke and the neckband and washed and blocked the sweater before finishing the bottom and sleeve ribbing. Now I'm worried it is too small. I need to get my brother over as soon as possible to try on the sweater so I know what my next step will be. I discussed a technique for knitting with three colors in one row that my friend told me about. Unfortunately, I cannot find a YouTube video demonstration but I will describe it. You knit the row with the dominant color and one background color, slipping the stitches that are the second background color. When you finish the row, you knit the row again but this time you knit the second background color stitches you slipped, and slip all the dominant color and first background colors. Hope that makes sense. I also picked up a skein winder or spinning weasel from our listener Nanci (Nan4Nan). It was lovely to meet Nanci and so generous of her to pass along the skein winder. It does not have a brand name on it so if listeners know, please pass on that information. I've been watching YouTube videos to learn how to use it. Kelly's Projects I have been knitting dishcloths at night and weaving during the day. I had a previously wound warp for the Huck Color and Weave project from the Jane Stafford guild. I decided to put it on the loom. Huck is a weave structure with floats. You can have horizontal floats along with plain weave on the front, you can have vertical floats along with the plain weave, or you can have both vertical and horizontal floats that make a kind of lace. Color and weave refers to alternating colors in both the warp and the weft. Depending on the sequence of light and dark threads (LDLD… or LDDL-LDDL… or DLDDL-DLDDL…) the colors will interact with each other to form interesting patterns. A gamp is a sampler that allows you to systematically pair every weft choice with every warp choice. It was my first time warping back to front on the floor loom. I used the instructions from season one of the guild. It was easy to wind on by myself! Robert doesn't really enjoy helping me wind on. Once it was on the loom I got obsessed and wove it off in about 4 days. I did 4 different gamps and then I just played. The gamps became napkins (they were a good size for that) and the rest of the sampling became dishtowels. The fabric really changes when it is washed and curved sections become visible. I'm not ready to do another one of these lace projects, but I got inspired to put a stash busting baby blanket on the loom. Spinning Topic--Handspun sweaters Kelly: Laceweight camel and silk featherweight sweater, Funky grandpa sweater, Orcas Run sweater, Dark and Stormy, Dark Green Forest sweater. Four are natural colored (one of them with overdyed stripes). The current one is overdyed. The yarns are: Two ply--one ply camel and one ply silk for a laceweight yarn. Spun first, then decided what to do with it. Featherweight sweater. Medium fine wool (breed unknown) (Charlotte) two ply fingering weight. Spun first, then decided what to do with it. Funky Grandpa sweater. CVM bulky two ply--spun on purpose for the sweater. Orcas Run sweater Targhee lamb three ply (worsted to aran)--spun for a sweater, chose sweater based on gauge. Dark and Stormy sweater. CVM three ply in a sport weight--started spinning first, then decided to make a sweater and selected based on gauge. Dark Green Forest Sweater. Also used Charlotte carded with a little bit of brightly dyed silk noil to make a vest for Robert. Yarn is a heavy, dense 2-ply that is probably aran weight or larger (early spinning). The vest is quite large (gauge swatch? no!) and you can see stripes of the various natural colors of Charlotte in it from uneven carding. Marsha: I have made two sweaters with my handspun. Both were combo spin methods. Beeline by Heidi Kirrmeier. For this sweater I dyed the roving in really bright colors. Simple Summer Tweed Top Down V-Neck by Heidi Kirrmeier. All the roving I bought at shows and did not dye any. Lots of fiber types...wools, silk, alpaca. Really fun to spin all the different fibers, With both sweaters I did not alternate skeins on the body, but I did alternate for the sleeves. Patreon Pattern Giveaway! Patrons get a pattern of their choice up to $8.00. Contact Kelly with your pattern selection! Summer Spin In - Ends September 6th Less than a month to go! Prizes from Three Green Sisters Full Transcript of show: Marsha 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha Kelly 0:04 and this is Kelly. Marsha 0:05 We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Kelly 0:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects, Marsha 0:29 and I am betterinmotion. Kelly 0:31 We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Both 0:36 Enjoy the episode. Marsha 0:43 Good morning, Kelly. Kelly 0:44 Good morning, Marsha. I thought we would be ready to go early. And then I got going doing the dishes and looked at the clock and went oh my gosh. It's time to record. Marsha 0:57 I know. Well a little late start for me too. I was a little late today. So but here I am I have a cup of coffee. Kelly 1:03 All right. Marsha 1:04 I have to just before we get into-- well, we always have our first you know 20 minutes of non fiber related conversation. Here's my non fiber related conversation. I had some friends over last night for dinner. And one of the women that came does not like dogs. And she especially does not like poodles. Kelly 1:26 Like actively doesn't like dogs? Not just isn't a dog person? Marsha 1:30 She's not a dog person. And she's she's afraid of them. And kind of leery of them, I think not flat out afraid. But she just doesn't like them and would prefer not to be around them. And she especially does not like poodles. And she especially doesn't like black poodles. What do I have? Kelly 1:46 Yes. Okay. Marsha 1:47 And the. And the reason she doesn't and I can understand this, the reason why she doesn't like them is that she some family member has poodles and they jump on her. So I understand that. And so I know this about her and so whenever... So anyway, I won't make this a long story. So when they arrived, I had Enzo on leash, even though he doesn't jump on people. He does want to go over and say hi. And some people don't like that. And so, and that's fair. So I just, when they came to the door, I had him on his leash, and kept him on a short leash. And then we went out in the backyard to sit and have a drink and, and then I said-- Well, I left them out there. There's some other people there too. But I I said I had to go in because the timer went off and the food was ready. I had to go get it out and put it on the table. And I said, you guys just sit there. I'll just do this on my own. That's fine. And I told Enzo, he's down on the patio and I'm up on the deck and I use the hand signal down and stay. And they gasp because he does it and I'm like I'm 15 feet away. And and I go in the house and I get the casserole out and I toss the salad, I slice the bread and I open the wine and come back out and he's still sitting there. 15 minutes later. Kelly 2:07 What a good boy. Yes. Marsha 2:14 What a good boy. And that's why we train our dogs, right? Like, I Kelly 2:58 yeah, so they can live with us. Marsha 3:08 Yeah. And then they can be around people who are not comfortable around dogs too. You know, that's, I said to you that as why I wanted all the training that I was going to do with Enzo. The whole purpose is I wanted him to be a good representative of, you know, a good ambassador for dogs and his breed. Because it does seem like with poodles that some people really like poodles, and some people don't like poodles, they've had bad experiences with them. I don't know why. I mean, I don't you know, he's, I think he's fine. But it's all about training. Really, you know, it's just, it's not the dog. It's the dog owner. But anyway, they were very impressed. I was even I was impressed. I know, I wasn't saying I was, I kind of figured Kelly 4:00 You were proud of him. Marsha 4:02 I was proud of him. Yeah, I wasn't surprised. I was proud of him. And he and and they were like kind of surprised, too, you know, and so I yeah, so anyway, Training pays off. Yeah. Kelly 4:14 Yeah, it does. My niece has a new rescue Pitbull. And she's been working really hard with her. And she, you know, like any dog that you don't have from puppy hood. And some that you do have from puppyhood? Marsha 4:28 Yeah, really! Kelly 4:29 You know, she has some things that she needs to-- some challenges that she needs to work on. And, and so she's been, you know, texting me and stuff and, and she texted me the other day about a good event. You know, how something that worked kind of like what you were talking about, not not anything as big. Because she's still you know, in the baby step stage. I think she's had her two and a half or three months about the same amount of time we've had Beary, a little less. But she texted me to say, Oh, this worked and it was so great and it's so nice to have a dog that does things that fit into my life. And, you know, so anyway, I thought that was really cool to hear. It's nice when they are able to, they're able to be a part of your life because they know how to act. Marsha 5:14 Yeah. And the thing is, like I mean, I knew he would stay there. So I wasn't-- that wasn't what I was concerned about. But I, I, I don't normally have to do that, like on a Saturday when, you know, my brother comes over and Kim and Gary and they usually because they they're used to dogs, they're used to Enzo. They're not afraid of him or, and I can't say she's afraid of him, that's too strong. She just doesn't want to be around dogs. She just doesn't like him. And so when you have somebody like that you want-- you're extra careful about how your dog behaves. Kelly 5:48 Right. Marsha 5:48 So that's why I was I normally on a Saturday night I don't have to make him on a down stay right when I go in the house because I just go in the house because there's other people you know, watching him and usually he just goes and lays down anyway on his own. But no, I was I was really proud of him, his behavior. And then when we came in the house and had dinner, you know, he just went lay down in the entrance hall and like and how can you not like a dog that's just a flat dog? Kelly 6:16 Right. Marsha 6:17 looking beautiful. Or just spread eagle on the in the middle of the living room floor, you know, ignoring you. So a good a good ambassador. Kelly 6:27 Yeah. Marsha 6:27 So should we talk projects or? Kelly 6:32 Yeah, let's go ahead. Actually, before we talk projects, let's talk a little bit about the prizes. Marsha 6:37 Oh, yeah. Kelly 6:37 For the spin-in. So we have been talking about them, just sort of generally. But I want to talk a little bit more specifically about the three green sisters prizes that they've offered us very generously. So there's a grand prize that is an 18 by 18 inch pillow. And it's made from fabric that's designed by a woman named Cheri Magnussen, and she's a shepherd of Coldstream Icelandic sheep in Maine. And she was an engineer and she's retired and has been, you know, living her dream, she says of, of being a shepherd with these Icelandic sheep. So I'll read a little bit from her bio in a minute, but. So three green sisters has met her and is interested in supporting her work that she's now doing. Because she's had to stop. She's had to stop, you know, stop doing doing the shepherding work. She has a few older sheep that she's keeping, but but she's not able to keep breeding sheep and working with sheep. So anyway, so let me tell you a little bit about Cheri Magnussen, again Coldstream Icelandic sheep in Maine. Her farm she says Kelly 7:55 "My farm has been a journey filled with unspeakable joy and grief so raw, I felt as if my heart was being torn apart. The year my first lambs were born, my son took his own life. I'm still grieving within. There are still times when sorrow washes over me like the waves of a cold dark winter sea. As I awaited this year's lambs, my heart was full of expectation. Joy filled my heart as the lambs grew within my ewes ever expanding bellies. Now lambs are playing and bouncing about and hope has welled up in me again, and life has promised." Kelly 8:25 So she started her journey with sheep with that combination of, of sadness and hope. And now, she's actually been diagnosed with congestive heart failure, and so she's had to stop working the sheep but she's begun doing fabric design and she says, "My fabric design began just a few months ago, I watched a design show where people made their own fabric. It's like a light turned on in me, I can do that! I see designs in everything, the woodland streams, flowers, skies and of course, my sheep. So using the forest, a mossy log, some gnarly roots wrapped around rocks that I can work with, and I have some of the proceeds that I received from my designs are donated to suicide prevention and shelters, both human and animal." Kelly 9:11 So she's now doing this fabric design. And the three green sisters have met her and are are using some of her fabrics for their bags. And then they also have this pillow that they've offered with the with the sheep fabric. So that's one of the prizes. And let me just tell you, I put a link to Spoonflower in the show notes Marsha, and I... In particular, the Coldstream Icelandic shop, but what a rabbit hole! Oh my gosh. I had heard about Spoonflower before, but Marsha 9:51 as you're talking, I'm looking at it. So this is dangerous. Okay. Kelly 9:55 Yeah, we'll have to have a conversation about Spoonflower when we're done with this. So Getting back to our prizes. So we have the pillow. And then addition, in addition to the pillow, three green sisters are also generously providing their Patty style bag as prize. And we're going to have one of them for the summer spin in. And then one of them, I thought it would be nice for the people who are not participating in the summer spin to also have an opportunity to go check out their Etsy shop and have a possibility of winning. So I'll put a thread up in the Ravelry group where I'll have you go and look at her shop and answer some question, some prompt. So I'll put a thread there that I will have just a regular giveaway thread. And then we'll have one of these bags as a prize for the summer spin-in. And then in addition to that, they're also offering us a coupon code for 15% off and this goes all the way to the end of the year. The coupon code is EWES2 and it's all caps. That's the coupon code. And so you can use that for 15% off and they have free shipping in the US on most items. They also make loom totes and spinning wheel carriers. I know you talked about the bag you bought Marsha, I think maybe you you accidentally bought a spinning wheel carrier! It's so large. [laughing] Marsha 11:18 I think I did [laughing] Kelly 11:19 yeah. And then they also have spindle bags and bags for your heddles. Those of you who have rigid heddle looms. And so they have lots of variety on there. Three green sisters Etsy shop. So coupon code, EWES2 for 15% off in that shop. So thank you to the three green sisters for supporting our spin in again this summer. We only have a-- we have less than a month to go. Marsha 11:53 I know! Well, I have to talk about that. Kelly 11:55 The summer has gone by so fast. Marsha 11:58 I know. Where I am in the process. But anyway, we'll talk about that when we get to projects. Yeah. Kelly 12:04 By the way, have you ever seen Spoonflower before? Marsha 12:08 No, I have not. And I'm, as I say I'm looking at it now. And it's Kelly 12:13 so you can design a fabric and then once you design-- the premise of it, you can design a fabric and then once you design the fabric, you can also make it available for other people to purchase. But you can find fabric with anything on it. Honest to God, anything. Marsha 12:32 So I can find something with poodles. Kelly 12:34 Oh, it's quite I'm sure you could find a million things with poodles. So this morning I put in-- I was trying to find her shop, just without going to look up the link. And so I just put in Icelandic for example. And there's fabric with four breeds of Icelandic dogs on it. Like that's, that's very niche. Marsha 12:55 Yeah, Kelly 12:56 There's millions of fabrics with puffins. There's fabrics with the the country of Iceland. There's... What are they called? runes, the the characters you know, that like letters? Marsha 13:12 Oh. Right! Kelly 13:12 I think they're called--are they called runes? I don't know that sounds right, Marsha 13:17 yeah. Kelly 13:18 Anyway, they're, they're the language characters like the alphabet. They have, I mean, put in something and you can find-- I'm pretty sure you can find a fabric that has something to do with that thing. You know, my my most recent obsession of fountain pens and ink, I'm sure you could find fabrics with that. Just anything you're interested in. Somebody has a fabric, and if you can't find it, you could design your own! Marsha 13:46 Design my own. So I'm looking at-- Oh, and here's-- Okay, we are getting off topic now and are down a rabbit hole! But I just put in poodle. The style that that Cheri is using is, it's like that mirrored image kind of thing. So it looks like you know, when you look through like a kaleidoscope? Kelly 14:11 Yes, Marsha 14:11 that's kind of what it looks like? And she-- some of her fabric, she has sheep in there. And then you can sort of make them out and so but just now I was looking at poodles. And there is a poodle. Like that thing where you're looking through the kaleidoscope so you see the poodle upside down and backwards. So there's all kinds of poodle fabric, so yeah, yeah. Anyway, very, very fun. Kelly 14:38 It makes me want to sew something. Marsha 14:41 Yeah. Oh my god. So cute. Yeah. Oh, here's one with the black poodle. And lattes, a black poodle and lattes. Kelly 14:49 There you go. Marsha Marsha 14:51 What's the connection there. Kelly 14:56 That would make a cute knitting bag. You could sew yourself a knitting bag with poodles. Marsha 15:00 Yes. Here's a very stylized one. Oh, interesting. Kelly 15:07 Okay, so this is enough. This is an audio podcast. We can't be showing you pictures of all these different fabrics. But...But take a look. If you have not ever gone down the rabbit hole of Spoonflower proceed at your own risk. Marsha 15:24 Well, and I looked at Cheri's fabrics, and she has really interesting fabric. They're beautiful colors. And they're very sort of geometric that like I, like I say, it's like you're looking through a kaleidoscope. That's how, yeah, very, very interesting. Kelly 15:40 Yeah, some of them, you have to really look at them more closely to see that they're actually sheep, that the fabric is created from, from sheep. So very interesting and a cool, a cool project that she has now to do. Designing fabric. Instead of her shepherding duties. And she says "My focus now is writing books and designing fabrics. This is not difficult for me and brings me so much joy. I foresee many years of design and writing ahead of me." So yeah, take a look at her shop in particular. It's Coldstream Ice Spoonflower fabric shop. We'll have it in the show notes. But also just dig around in Spoonflower for a while. You'll be inspired, I'm sure. Even if you don't sew you'll be inspired. All right. So what are you knitting on Marsha? Marsha 16:36 Well, right now I'm sitting here knitting on-- in fact I just was rustling the paper. It's called Simple shawl. It's I've been working on it for, Kelly 16:47 I don't know, three years? Marsha 16:49 Three years! Anyway, so I'm just just knitting on that. And so there's not much more to report on that. I'm just, I've talked about that in the past. So I won't discuss that. But I'm doing that. I'm now far enough along I'm doing the border, there's some-- the whole shawl is garter stitch, and then you do a border. I've done one row of eyelets, and I'm just knitting a row, and then I'm going to start another row of eyelets. Okay, and then you do a, I do a little bit and then you do a Picot bind off. But that's what I'm working on. Marsha 17:23 But let me just say about spinning. I have been spinning a little bit every night. But it suddenly dawned on me. Oh my goodness. It's gonna end! This contest is going to end. Oh my God! The summer spin-in is ending on September 6, I have to get my myself moving on this project. So I've got two bobbins are complete. And I've done a quarter of the third bobbin of the brown and I'm spinning them to do the three ply. So I'm going to get moving on that. Because I have to. Because I have a deadline now. Kelly 18:00 Yeah. Marsha 18:01 The other project I just want to talk about is I've been working on the color work sweater the Atlas by Jared Flood I'm making for my brother. I finished all the color work. And Kelly, remember last time we talked I was having to figure out how to trap the floats. With continental stitch, I had to look that up. Kelly 18:22 Right. Marsha 18:22 The next thing I-- issue I had is that there are several-- I think the whole pattern repeat the whole pattern of color work is 42 rows. Of that about 10 you actually have three colors in the row. Marsha 18:36 Yeah. Marsha 18:37 Oh, and so I wasn't sure. We had a whole conversation in the last episode about color dominance. And but what do you do if you have you know, you have your dominant color. And then you have two other colors that-- we were calling them the submissives. They're actually called the background colors, I should say. That's what they're really called. But if you have two background colors, how do you manage that? Because I can understand the concept of you know, you have your dominant in your left hand and your background color in your right hand. But if you have two background colors, how do you handle it? And so the first row I had, I just would, you know, of those two background colors I would just drop one and pick up the other one and drop one and pick up the other one. Well, what happens is then, it keeps twisting your balls of yarn, your the yarn coming off the ball keeps twisting and twisting. So you then have to spend all this time undoing it, untwisting it. And so we, Kim and I, had a trip planned down to the Portland area. And in the car I was talking to her about it. Telling her this because I was working on my sock because I can't work because I have to... I thought there must be a technique. I'm gonna have to go on YouTube and figure out technique and she said, there is a technique! And I don't know what it's called. And I in before the show we post, I'll see if I can find a tutorial about this. But basically, what you do is you have your dominant color in your left hand, and you pick one of the background colors. And you do the pattern with just those two colors. When you get to a stitch that is supposed to be the third color or it'd be the the background color that you're not knitting with. You just slip that stitch. And so you work all the way around just using the dominant and the first background color, slipping the stitches that are the second background color. Then when you get to the end of the row, you finish that you then go and you knit with only the second background color, the one that you did not knit with the first pass through, and you knit those slipped stitches, and you slip the other stitches that you knit. Does that make sense? Kelly 21:01 Yes. So you're, so you're knitting two of the three colors. You're knitting with... you leave those other stitches just slipped. And then you go back and you knit them separately. So, your one row... to do one round, you have to go around twice. Right? Marsha 21:17 So the row, you have to knit the row twice. Kelly 21:18 That's cool Marsha 21:20 It's very cool. And then there's not this issue with the yarn twisting and having to do all this yarn management. The other thing, and I think this is more important, is with the way I was doing it, where you were drop a, color pick up a color, is I believe it throws off your tension. And so-- because you're not getting any kind of rhythm. And I think that I... and I can tell a difference in that row that I did one row, quote unquote, wrong way, Kelly 21:49 Interesting Marsha 21:50 because there really is no wrong way, but differently, differently. And so if you do it, this technique that she suggested, your tension is better. I think there's less chance of pulling the yarn too tight. That's all. I'll see if I can find a YouTube tutorial about this. Because I think it's brilliant. Kelly 22:13 That is cool. Yeah, yeah. That's very cool. Marsha 22:19 So now that I say all of this, about tension, so as I finished the color work, I finished the neckline, and then I washed and blocked it. And I think this is where I'm going to say is because I don't do color work. I've not done very much. And this is like a given you know, it doesn't give the way... Kelly 22:42 Yeah, Marsha 22:43 if you're just using one color, right, right. And so I, my brother needs to come and try the sweater on before I go any further. Because so now basically the body and the sleeves are almost done, I just have to have him try it on and figure how long to make the sleeves. Because now I remember I did a provisional cast on the bottom of the sweater and the sleeves. So now I have to just pick up those stitches and knit down the correct length for him. And so he does to come in try it. He needs to come and try the sweater on. Kelly 23:15 And you have the sleeves. I mean, the body is almost all done. You just have to put like, if it needs any additional length plus the ribbing, right? And the sleeves, the same thing, right? They're already... Marsha 23:26 Right Kelly 23:26 approximately sleeve length. And you just need to see if you need to add in anything and put on the ribbing.? Marsha 23:32 Right. But I'm a little concerned that it's going to be small, because that that that color work has really no give. Not like the bottom, you know, like Kelly 23:42 Yeah, Marsha 23:43 Do you know what I'm saying? so it feels... and also you know, it's it's heavier too. Like that any time you do a sweater like that it's going to be Kelly 23:51 kind of like three layers of yarn. Marsha 23:53 Yeah. So I don't know, I'm a little concerned. But I also I have to remember he likes things more slim fitting. Yeah, he's also male, so he doesn't have breasts. So even though I try it on and I'm like, ugh! I tried it on, I'm like, I don't know. When he tries it on, it's gonna be completely different because he has a completely different body than I do. Marsha 24:14 Right. Marsha 24:15 So and I do have gauge so... And it's... let's see. He's 38 and this is 41 inches. So he wanted about three inches of ease, his other sweater has three inches of ease. So it should be fine. Right? Kelly 24:32 Right, It just feels different. Marsha 24:34 It feels Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Kelly 24:37 Well, I will be interested to see how, how it fits on him and how he likes it. What would be your alternative? If it's too tight? Would you go back and do a larger needle size or you really couldn't add stitches, right? Because it's... Maybe I shouldn't even bring it up. Sorry, I shouldn't even bring this up! [laughing] Marsha 25:00 Well, I, I'm laughing because I thought about this. It's like, What do I do? If it doesn't fit? What do I do? One thing is I can just finish it and give it to somebody that it fits and make him another sweater. The other option is just to rip the whole thing out and make the larger size. Kelly 25:21 But the bottom part would fit. Marsha 25:24 In theory... Kelly 25:25 okay. Marsha 25:26 Allegedly, I don't know. You know. Or I just rip out the color work and do the color work again. Kelly 25:36 Yeah, like the first time you do something? Marsha 25:38 Yeah. Like it's, it's like, you know, you burn the first pancake? Kelly 25:41 Yeah. And you're more tense. And yeah, you're gauge might be different. Yeah. Marsha 25:48 So you know, maybe it's something that I do I if it doesn't fit... I'm just thinking what my... Is it maybe I rip it out and I go up a needle size or because the body was knit on sevens and the yoke the color work was on eight. Kelly 26:08 Yeah, Marsha 26:09 I don't know. listeners can weigh in, I guess the first thing is find out if it fits? Kelly 26:14 Yeah. I mean, we're, I really shouldn't have even said anything because I'm borrowing trouble. There are enough things wrong in the world without me manufacturing something that hasn't even happened. Marsha 26:30 I have just that... This just popped into my head Kelly. This is now off topic, but about listeners weighing in. The one thing we do need to address and I forgot that we need to address this in this episode. In the last episode I started the conversation at some point I said to you, about how you had not left your property. And Pat one of our listeners and good friend of ours commented in the thread. "Didn't you go visit Marsha?" Kelly 26:58 Yeah. [laughing] Marsha 27:03 So it must not have been It must not have been a very memorable trip. [laughing] Kelly 27:06 I know. It was very fast. Fast. Yeah. totally forgotten. Yeah. Marsha 27:11 That's why we forgot. Yeah. And I'm the one that said.... I think I'm the one that said you had not left your property. Kelly 27:16 Yeah. And to be fair to myself when I was thinking about leaving the property, and when I talked about going to visit, going to you know, visit a colleague's house. I haven't driven.Llike the trip to Seattle, I didn't drive. I just sat as a passenger. I honestly have not driven probably more than five miles at a time. You know, myself behind the wheel of the car. Yeah, I've, you know, I've gone places with Robert, not very many. But I have gone places with Robert, but actually putting myself behind the wheel of the car on the freeway. You know, for a significant length of time? More than five or 10 minutes to get to the store? It was weird. It was a weird feeling to be in the car for that long driving myself. Marsha 28:03 Yeah. Yeah. Kelly 28:04 So to be fair to myself, that was what I was thinking of but yes, it is true. I do leave the property. Marsha 28:12 So, but I had to laugh when Pat said that. Because our listeners, our listeners hold us accountable. Kelly 28:21 We can't get away with anything.[laughing] Marsha 28:25 And also, they pay attention. Kelly 28:27 Yes, they do. Marsha 28:31 So funny anyway, so that's it for me for projects. I don't have much more going on in that. That's it. Kelly 28:39 Well, I didn't have much going on. But this morning, because I felt a little bit guilty and because I really didn't have anything to knit while we were recording. I did actually get the yarn wound up. And I'm started on the sleeve of my my sweater the Dark Green Forest pattern that I'm doing. Marsha 29:04 Oh right. So we have to talk about this. Well, yes, Kelly 29:07 I'm gonna I've gone about... 2-4-6-8 rows. I've got almost eight rows, and I don't I don't see a bad stripe. Unknown Speaker 29:20 Oh, this is good news. Kelly 29:21 So I think that might be good news. There's a little bit I mean, I see some but I'm alternating skeins. And so we'll see. I think it might work. Marsha 29:33 And um, the other thing we talked about too and we did not talk about this in the podcast in the last episode, but after we finished recording, I said if there is a strong variation, can you just knit the whole sweater and then over dye it? Remember we had that conversation? Kelly 29:50 Yes, yeah. Marsha 29:51 And like just doing a very low percentage solution of like the terracotta or another color or something and and that might even it out. We had that conversation. But Kelly 30:02 yeah, so I think... I mean, I will I'm not going to pass judgment yet. I don't want to jinx myself. But I do feel like it's, it's... I do feel like it seems to be working. Okay. Marsha 30:19 Okay. Kelly 30:19 Again, I haven't gotten... sometimes you can't tell til you... Actually, sometimes you can't tell until you take a picture for Instagram. [laughing] Marsha 30:27 Yes. Yes. Kelly 30:28 And so, so we'll see. But I am working on it right now. And, and so it's back in the rotation. It's got, you know, when you have to wind yarn and join on, pick up the stitches, so that it was just sitting in a bag because of that. But I have, now I've done those things. And so it's back in the rotation. It's in a place where I can grab it at night and knit on it. I had been knitting dish cloths at night when I needed something to knit. So yeah, I'm back working on this sweater. This is again, the Dark Green Forest sweater. And the pattern designer. Oh, here it is. Christina Koerber Reith, strikhauseit is her Ravelry name, I think. So that's going well. But the other thing I did that was really super fun was I did a weaving project. So right after we recorded I last week, I-- not that same day, but maybe the next day--I decided Oh, you know what I really want to do? I have this warp that I've wound already that's ready to go, I should put it on the loom. And my original thought was I should put it on the loom, you're gonna laugh, so that I can have something that I can just take a break from prepping for classes, and go weave for a little bit. Or once classes start, I can take a break from you know, the first week of classes hecticness and go weave for a little bit. I have this on the loom. So I put it on the loom. It's a huck color and weave project from the Jane Stafford guild, season five, which is this year's season. And I had hesitated about it because I really didn't like the look of her sample that she did with the two high contrast yarns, a black and a white. And then she calls it a zinger. And she had this green, this lime color. She called it Pale Limette as the zinger. And I just really, I know I get to choose my own colors, but but that just didn't speak to me in the, in the, in the videos, and so I wasn't really excited about it. And also I think of huck as a solid color, like beige table linens. Huck is a lace, a lace design, a woven lace. So I always think of it as like beige, you know, that's kind of the color I think of doing, an all solid. So anyway, finally, I decided, let's just put this on the loom and do it. Get out of your comfort zone. And I had warped it already, I had chosen not quite as high contrast as hers. But I did use white and gray. It's actually a kind of a steel blue-gray color, and white. And then I used red as the contrast color. So I put it on the loom and got it all--it took not so long to thread it. I warped back to front for the first time, which was really cool. Well, for the first time on the floor loom. I think I might have done it at some point on the table loom. But anyway, it it worked out really well. I didn't have to get Robert to help me. Which, you know, winding on-- Do you remember that part of the process where one of us is holding all the yarn threads and the other one is winding it onto the loom? He does not like helping with that process. So, so it was nice to have a technique that I could use and and successfully wind it on myself. So the way you work front to back is normally I would sit at the front of the loom and I would thread it through the reed. You know that's that the part where you that you beat with, and then I would thread it through the heddles and then once it was threaded through those two things, I would then tie it onto the back end wind and on. So while you're winding it's having to go through the reed and through the heddles. Right? And tangles can happen, which is what Robert doesn't like. It just-- I think it offends his sensibilities of order. He feels like if I was doing it right it would just wind on with no tangles, Marsha 35:04 But another way of looking at it is the reed and the... it's it's putting it in order. Kelly 35:12 Exactly. Right, exactly. Marsha 35:14 He has to look at it a different way. Yeah. Yeah. Kelly 35:19 So this way weaving or warping back to front, what you do is you skip, you skip over the--you don't put it through the reed, you don't put it through the heddles, you stick it on this thing on the top of your loom called a raddle. So you like kind of line them up in a semi organized way, more than semi organized like a three quarters organized way. And then you wind it on to the back beam, where it's just going through this thing that's not enclosed. It's just like, basically, it's a, it's a long stick with nails poking up from it. And you have like four threads, four or five threads in each little slot. And so it's just going through that, so there's a lot less potential for tangling. So anyway, you wind it on, you have this--there's more to it than that. But that's the idea, you wind it all onto the back first. And then once it's all wound onto the back, then you thread going the other direction. So you sit at the-- I sat at the back of my loom and threaded through the heddles and then through the reed. Some people sit at the front of the loom and pull it forward through the heddles and then through the reed. But I can get closer to things if I sit at the back of my loom. So that's what I did, I sat at the back of my loom and and put it forward. So anyway, I had not done that before on the big loom, the the four harness floor loom. It was very successful. And then so then I started weaving and of course, you know what happened then is I just kept weaving till I was done. I became obsessed. I really did. [laughing] Kelly 37:02 So Huck is a structure that has well like your floats in colorwork. You have you know, those yarn, yarns that are floating on the back? Well in huck you have floats, but they're on purpose. And they're part of the design. So you have these floats floating horizontally across the surface of the fabric. You have plain weave, your regular woven fabric, but you also have these floats floating across the surface of the fabric horizontally. Or you can have plain weave, and floats floating vertically across the surface of the fabric. And basically, if you look at the fabric, on`e side has one and one side has the other so it depends on what's your front, right. So if you have horizontal floats on the front of your fabric, on the back of your fabric you're gonna have vertical floats. Marsha 37:52 So I'm I'm looking on Ravelry at the fabric. And look, but the floats are relatively short. They look like they go over maybe like three or four, threads? Yes, like three or four threads? Kelly 38:05 Yeah, it depends on the way that you-- It depends on the way that you thread it, you know the pattern that you're using. But yeah, it goes i think in this one, it went over 3 or five, I think it went over three or five. Marsha 38:21 Yes, because some are shorter that I see. They're three, Yes. Kelly 38:25 Okay, so this was a sampler, so it had a little bit of each. And then there's another fabric that you can make that's called Huck lace, where you have floats, you have both floats at the same time. And so it makes a really lacy open fabric. And so the the project for this was to do something called a gamp. And a gamp is where you can-- Well, let me let me stop and go back a little bit. So the other thing, the thing I really objected to about this project, and I was leery of, was this thing called color and weave. And color and weave is where you alternate colors in some kind of color sequence. So you alternate colors in the warp. But you also alternate colors in the weft while you're weaving. So you might have a sequence of colors where you go light, dark, dark, light, and you just keep going that pattern over and over again. Or light, dark, light, dark, light, dark, light, dark, alternating, and that's the pattern. So some kind of sequence of lights and darks that you're repeating over and over and over. Again, so they're you know, there's a lot of different sequences that you can use, right? I mean, make them up! You can just combine lights and darks in any kind of way. Well, what what we were doing in this project was something called a gamp, which allows you to systematically pair sequences in the warp--all the different combinations that you have in your project--with the sequences in the weft, all the different combinations. So if your warp is going light, dark, light, dark, light, dark, light, dark, you can have your weft then also doing light, dark, light, dark, light, dark, but then you can also have your weft doing something else. And so I had, I don't know, like five different sequences. And then I paired them with the same five sequences in all different combinations. Marsha 40:21 Okay, so let me go back. And so that's why-- is that why it sort of looks like it's forming squares? Kelly 40:28 Yeah, it's like, okay, each one of those squares is a different combination of the different sequences. Marsha 40:35 Okay, yeah. Kelly 40:36 And that's called a gamp. And you can do that with the sequences, you can also do it just with colors. So like you have yellow in your warp. And then you can pair it with yellow in your weft, blue in your weft, red in your weft, green in your weft, and you can see all the different combinations, what they do with each other. And so, so there's all kinds of different gamps in weaving where you can test things. So that's what I did, I made, I made three different gamps. And then because they, you know, I was following a pattern. When I got done with the pattern, I had something that was not dish towel size, which is what I like to make. But turns out it was like napkin size. So what I did was I made I made-- I'm going to make them into napkins, these gamps. So yeah, and then I made a couple of dish towels. So I had fun. It's not my favorite look, it's a little busy, I think. Kelly 40:38 um, well, let me say I like it. I. But I like I guess I like busy. Well, I like color too. I understand what you're saying about you like, you don't like high contrast? Kelly 41:48 Yeah, Marsha 41:48 I'm probably-- well, I don't know enough about weaving. So I'm going to say something. Bear in mind. I don't really know what I'm talking about. But I wonder if she has used the high contrast so you can see the difference between the different sequences in the pattern, right? Is that why? Kelly 42:04 Yeah, because the whole idea of this project was not to make something. The idea of the project, well, it was to make something, it was to make gamps. And then you would keep a set of gamps in your studio so that you can then go look at them for inspiration, and say, oh, which one would I like to put into this project? Oh, I really like the way this little square looks. Okay, I'm going to use this. What was this? This was this combination paired with that combination. Okay, now I know what I'm going to put in my project. Kelly 42:34 And I didn't want to do that. I don't want to have a pile of gamps. I wanted to make napkins or something you know, that I can use. And I can still go and look at them. If I keep them, I can still go and look at them. But yeah, but that's the idea is you were making something that you could then use as a sample to see what you'd like to do in your next project. Yeah, so. So that it does make sense that that's why you would do the high contrast, because you can see, you can see better, not only can you see what, what's going to happen, but you can also see better to look at it and say what, wait, what was this combination? Again? You know, if your colors are so close, you might have a harder time figuring out what was I did in this little square? So I mean, you could label everything. She has these beautifully labeled gamps that she shows us on the on the, you know, the videos, they tell you just what it was in the warp and what it was in the weft. And, you know, that yeah, they're teaching tools, right? So she has them all really well laid out. And, and I just want to weave dishtowels! Marsha 43:53 Well, I I sort of, I understand. It's like I, I like to make something that's useful. Mm hmm. The idea of making something. I understand why you make something that's a sample, right, I understand that. But I still would like to be able to use it in some way. You know, yeah, I get that desire. Kelly 44:13 If I were maybe more of a weaver or, or if I did weaving to make things for sale, or like she you know, if I was a weaver for my job, maybe I would make a bunch of gamps and have them there for inspiration when I needed to kind of come up with an idea for a project. I don't know. I'm not there yet, where I want to make things, gamps just to have gamps. But I did-- I mean, I did make a couple. I do have a sample, a sampler from one of the other episodes, that is just hanging in the studio off the side of the shelf. So I guess I'm kind of there, not quite there But I don't think I'll ever wear it as a scarf. Yeah, it's just hanging as a decoration. So Marsha 45:05 Well these are-- it's very pretty, I think. Kelly 45:07 Thank you! Yeah, it was fun and and then when you wash it... Ao the pictures you're seeing are unwashed. I now have pictures of them washed, which changes it because instead of being vertical and horizontal threads, all sort of stiff, and burlap-y in places, they all sort of nestle into each other, and you get these nice curves. So you get some interesting curved designs in your, in your weaving that you wouldn't get you know, you don't see until you wash it. So I'll put up the before and after pictures in my project page, because I that I think is really cool, how it changes. So and then once I got done with that, the other project that I have is that I just wound a warp for baby blanket. My cotton-- the all the cotton yarn was sitting there in the studio as I was weaving, and I kept looking at it and thinking I should do something with this spirit yarn. And so last night I I just wound it. It's not on the loom or anything. It's just a warp chain that's sitting on the... sitting on the... changed in form from being yarn and balls in a bag to being yarn in a warp chain on the shelf. But now, when I'm ready to weave again, I have, you know... That part of the process is done and I can just start by putting it on the loom. Marsha 46:32 Mm hmm. Kelly 46:33 So those are my two. Those are my projects. I was pretty industrious this week. Pretty, I should say, obsessed this week. With the weaving. Marsha 46:41 Yes. Well, they're pretty. Kelly 46:43 Thank you Marsha 46:44 Someday, maybe. Well, I always say this. That when things calm down here, project wise. House project wise? This winter weave along coming up I will. Maybe I'll actually weave something. Kelly 46:58 Yeah, I it's another another rabbit hole. Marsha 47:01 Well, and I don't have as much yarn now because I got rid of so much. Did you see that? This is just a side note. Did you get the picture of my yarn stash. Kelly 47:10 Yes, I did. It looks very well organized. Marsha 47:13 I should put a picture of it in the show notes. I I have everything now in boxes organized by weight. I have like three, you know those bags that like down comforters come in. I have three of those, and two have the yarn from the two trips to Scotland. And the third one has the yarn that I purchased on the trip to Iceland. But I--when I sent you the picture, I think my comment was there's absolutely no reason for me to buy any yarn ever again. But I will! And the other thing I did do Kelly is I because I had all these little boxes. They're sort of like the size of like a shoe box. They hold about six skeins of fingering weight yarn approximately. And then I had like, again, like those plastic bags that sheets come in or whatever I have like the quantities of yarn, like if I have a quantity of for a sweater, and the sweater I know that I'm gonna make I printed out the pattern and I stuck it in that project in that bag with that yarn. So I'll know what I was planning. Kelly 48:28 yeah, Marsha 48:29 And then the other thing too is I have a lot of unfinished projects. Like I have the skull and the rabbit. And I bought yarn to do to knit a poodle. And remember, I started that color work tea cozy, it was sheep. I've not finished it and they're all stuffed in bags, you know that all stuffed in the closet. And so I took those out and I put each one in its own little box and labeled it. So now I see them. And so hopefully I'll get back to working on them. And yeah, and not let them just languish because, you know, out of sight out of mind. Kelly 49:04 Yeah, it's inspiring when you see it. I mean, the floor of my studio has just-- I brought down. I don't know why I did. But I brought down the bags. They're the same comforter, kind of bags. Of cotton yarn that I had upstairs and I brought them down, and I put them in the studio. I don't even remember why I brought them down. Maybe because I was trying to figure out what I was going to do for that color and weave. Maybe at that time I brought them. Anyway, I haven't put them away. They're still sitting there. So the whole time I was weaving they were sitting there, right. So you could just call it a mess because I haven't put stuff away. But because I hadn't put it away and I could see it, the whole time I was weaving I was kind of in the back of my mind mulling over what I could do, and kind of getting inspired. So yeah, for me that that is very definite. The fact I have to have things in sight. So and it's true even in other parts of my life, the desktop on my computer, most people look at it and go, Oh my God. In fact, I, when I first started doing zoom, and I didn't know how to make it so that the students couldn't see my whole desktop. Before I learned, you know, how you can, how you can manage that, I took all the things on my desktop, and I just dumped them all in one folder. To put them away, because I didn't want them put away put away. I just wanted them temporarily put away like you run around your house grabbing things to put in the closet. And then you just shut the closet door when guests are coming. That's what I did with my desktop on my computer, because I normally have a lot of things out. And the reason they're out is so I don't forget to use them, you know, have them out for a purpose. They're not just sitting there on my desktop for no reason. So some things are... And some things that sometimes I go through and I clean out, I get rid of stuff that I don't need anymore. I or I do put it in a particular place. But if I need to, if I want to save something, it's like, oh, I automatically save it to my desktop. And then I figure out what I want to do with it. So. So the out of sight out of mind thing for me is really bad. I like to have everything out where I can see it. I can see why you Marsha 51:23 Yeah, but that does not... I have to say I will take a picture and post it in the show notes of how I've got everything organized. I will say though, it is not the fleeces that I have. Right? That was another place. So there's another that's another whole Kelly 51:42 Well, that's a different stash. Marsha 51:45 Yeah. Yes and you know what I've always anyway always said about my stashes, you can't think of it like is... Everybody seems to be sort of embarrassed or feel guilty about their stashes and like it's it's, you know, a painter wouldn't say that about their paints. That's what we have to remember. It's like artists supplies, our supplies. Yeah, it's our supplies. Yeah. But anyway, okay. Kelly 52:09 So Marsha, we have a spinning topic for this week. And what I wanted to talk about this week was our handspun, the knits that we've done from our handspun and just kind of, is there anything in particular that people might be interested to know about them? So I'm gonna just talk about my sweaters. And then you can talk about the stuff that you've knit with your, with your handspun the very first handspun sweater that I knit, was the featherweight. And I, I had this yarn, it was laceweight, probably laceweight. I used camel, one of the plies was camel and one of the plies was silk. I actually spun that yarn without knowing what I was going to do with it. And then and then once I had it, I thought oh, I I think I can make one of those featherweight sweaters. So that's what I did with that one. And that was interesting to knit with because it was so light. And that sweater is nice, because it's really super light. Yeah, I mean that the featherweight sweater was designed to be. It's a Hanna Fettig pattern, I think. It was designed to be light. But then using laceweight yarn using such thin yarn for it. And then also the fact that it's camel, not wool-- and silk. It's just a super, super lightweight sweater, but really warm. I like that sweater a lot. And then another sweater that I knit, where I did not spin the yarn particularly for a sweater-- in fact, I've spun the yarn for a blanket and then I never made a blanket was the Funky Grandpa sweater that was a second one that I knit out of hanspun. And I used--it's mostly natural color. But some of the some of the yarn was over dyed and that was the idea was I was going to make a striped blanket with the gray yarn and the overdyed. And so that was the that Funky Grandpa sweater with the stripes. It has stripes down the sleeves and stripes on the body. Both of those were two plies. I know you spin--the sweaters you've made have been three plies, right? Marsha 54:22 Yeah, they've all been three plies. I'm not sure why but they all have. Kelly 54:27 Well, three ply yarn is nice. Nice and round. And so yeah, so I can see why why you would do that. I think because I made the yarn before I decided what to do with it. They particularly were two ply. Marsha 54:42 What I what I like about the, well, the featherweight is the camel and silk that is very lightweight because it's laceweight. Right? Because that's what you just said. But the Funky Grandpa I don't know what weight would you say that yarn is. not worsted. It's like DK or sport? Kelly 55:00 It's probably fingering weight to maybe sport in some places. It's very uneven. So there were places in the sweater where I was afraid. Like, oh my gosh, this is so thin. It's going to look holey. Yeah, moth eaten before it's even done! Because it was, you know, it was my... It was a fairly early spinning. It was not. It was not spun in recent years. I knitted it not that long ago, but it was spun....Well, it was done more than 15 years ago, because I spun most of it, I think, I spun maybe all of it at the last house. Marsha 55:42 Okay, yeah. Well, what I was gonna say about it, though, it's very lightweight. It's a very light feeling sweater, you know, and I and I don't know if that's because it's it's the wool or if that's because it's two ply, but my sweaters are more dense, kind of. I don't know if that's my spinning technique. I don't know if that.. Kelly 55:58 I think it's the type of prep. I think it's more the type of yarn and the preparation of the fiber. Because all of well, the the funky grandpa sweater, the one I'm knitting on right now...actually, I think all of my sweaters have been from fleeces. So it's all been carded preparation. None of it's been from top, you know, commercial top, which gives you a much smoother yarn. But also more dense yarn. Marsha 56:33 All I have to talk about, I have handspun I've made some socks for Ben. I've made a couple hats out of handspun. But I say I really only made two sweaters. Both of them were spun with a roving, commercially prepared roving, and one the first one was corriedale top, which is very smooth and and then the second one remember I combined different fibers. I had different wools I had silk and I had alpaca. Kelly 57:03 Oh, yeah. Marsha 57:04 Which also is going to make a denser. I think the alpaca and silk is just gonna make it denser. You know? Kelly 57:10 Yeah. So yeah, so they're different, you know, different styles of yarn will give you a different different sweater, all of my sweaters...Let's see the other sweater. I am just thinking about what else I have. Oh, the bulky, the bulky CVM that I made the Orcas Run sweater. Yeah, that's a that was a carded preparation. And so a light, kind of a light yarn, real puffy. And then I have that targhee lamb, three ply. That's the first one I did with the three ply was that one that I did last summer, for the summer spin in. That the brown, the Dark and Stormy made from the brown targhee lamb, that one I actually spun on purpose for the sweater, and then the Orcas Run. That's that big Cowichan style sweater. I also spun that one on purpose for that sweater. So there have been a couple of of sweaters where I actually spun the yarn, particularly for the sweater but most of mine have been yarn I spun and then later decided to make a sweater out of. And the same thing with this one that I'm working on. Now when I started spinning the CVM, and this one is a is a three ply-- This is the first-- Oh, this is the second three ply. This is about a sport weight, I think this Dark Green Forest that I'm doing now in the terracotta color. I started spinning that yarn without having any idea what I was going to do with it. And so I had several skeins of it and then I thought oh, I guess I can make a sweater. So that's when I started, you know. I think I I finished up the skeins knowing that I was going to make a sweater but when I started most of the spinning I had no idea what I was going to do with the yarn once I was done. Marsha 59:04 Yeah. Well I have to say my two sweaters that I made I knew I was gonna, I wanted I wanted a sweater quantity. But I didn't know what sweater it was and then... I say this is the beauty of Ravelry as you don't need to know. You don't have to spin to the pattern because I just did a swatch and figured out my gauge and then I started looking for sweaters and that gauge and then something that would--a sweater that was mostly just stockinette that did not have a lot of patterning in it. Because the combo spins are the pattern kind of. Right? all the different coloring. I didn't-- they would-- that would-- you know any kind of lace or cables we get lost in that. So yeah, so then... So anyway, but I'll say the two patterns its kind of funny because the two sweaters that I made one--The first one was called Beeline and that's interesting. It's a top down raglan sleeve pullover and I think it's called Beeline because it has-- it does have I say lace detail. It's not really lace it just yarn overs that makes these little holes that run from a sort of like the like on either side of your hip. You know, I take it back. They run from under your arms, and they go in an angle down to the front of the sweater. So has this detail. And I figured it was not--it's not like having lace or cabling, its just a little tiny detail. So it's not super noticeable. I think if it had been a solid color would be more noticeable. But Beeline and then the second one I did was the pattern is Simple Summer Tweed Top Down. And both of them... Kelly 1:00:51 That name! Marsha 1:00:53 I know, that name. Both of them I realized today when I was making the notes are by Heidi Kirmaier. I didn't realize that. But nice patterns. But that's what's so great about Ravelry is that if you have a yarn you do a swatch, do your measurement, and then you can figure out a sweater based on that gauge. Yeah, yeah. So easy to find a pattern. Kelly 1:01:18 Well, yeah, because I was... For the Dark and Stormy and for this one, I had an idea of what pattern I thought I might use. But then once I once I did my gauge swatch, there was no way I could use that pattern. So I did the same thing you did. Make a gauge swatch and then go searching. But in the back of my mind, I had a pattern. Like this is a like fingering, the one I'm knitting now is like a sport weight, you know, maybe fingering to sport weight. And I thought, oh, here's a sport weight sweater that I really like. But I didn't have the right gauge. So I had to go searching for something else. Oh, I should say. We talked a little bit about beginner yarn. And you know, people wanting to make things with their, with their first yarn. And that, you know, you had made a hat that weighed five pounds. Marsha 1:02:13 Yes. Kelly 1:02:14 So I wanted to say I was thinking about this and I thought oh, I should talk about Robert's vest. So I made a vest for Robert. Same yarn as my... same fleece as the Funky Grandpa. So it was a very early fleece and I made yarn out of it. And it was so dense, and also thick, you know. It was a probably an Aran weight yarn, maybe bigger in some places. And I found a vest pattern and of course at that time, you know, this is the probably the late 90s early 2000s I you know, just started knitting and I found a pattern that I wanted to make because I didn't know anything about gauge swatching really. so I didn't gauge swatch. I just thought, Oh yeah, I have this. It looks like the size of regular yarn. Like in my head You know, there was a size of yarn like regular yarn, probably worsted weight was my thought process. But you know, yarn had a regular size. [laughing] And so this looks like regular sized yarn. So I I can make a vest out of this. I got the pattern. I got the needles that they said and I knit him this vest. And it was a... it's a it's a gray yarn, two ply. And when I carded the wool I put little pieces of silk noil that I had dyed there's a bright pink and a bright turquoise and a dark blue in there and so that was there... little specks you know, like little little dots. Pops of color in the yarn. So I made him this vest. It's so heavy and dense. And he likes it. He wears it but it's also so big. Like its huge on him. Because I didn't know anything about gauge I just knit. You know, knit the pattern and look like it was right so anyways, I like it and he looks good when he wears it. But when I feel it you know it's like No wonder he's so hot. He's like, I can't wear this very often because it makes me so hot. And no wonder he's so hot. It's like wearing a bulletproof vest. Marsha 1:04:37 Well as you say imagine how hot it would be if it had sleeves. Kelly 1:04:39 Exactly, exactly. Yeah. So but it's but it looks nice. It looks nice on him. He wears it. He'll wear like a lot of times he'll wear it on Christmas Eve or you know if we go out in the winter time, if we go out to dinner somewhere he wheres that vest and it's gotten it's gotten quite a lot of quite a lot of wear. But yeah, it it definitely was a different yarn than what I'm what I'm spinning now. So anyway, I thought this would be kind of a fun thing to just think about all the different sweaters that that we've made and you know if there was anything about them that maybe would be helpful for people. Thinking about what they're going to going to do with their with their yarn. Marsha 1:05:27 Yeah, I did look up-- for some reason I thought with the the two sweaters that I made because they're combo spins, I thought I had alternated skeins on the body. I did not. I just knit. Which I was surprised. I mean, I was looking at them, turned the sweaters inside out this morning to look at them and and no evidence and I went I looked at my show notes and no, I don't mention it. So I don't think I did alternate skeins on the body. I did alternate skeins on the sleeves though, because there was more striping going on. Because you know you're talking about a much smaller circumference circle for the sleeves. And so then the stripes would be wider on the sleeve. Kelly 1:06:12 Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. And maybe that's why you did it. Maybe that's why you didn't was because you wanted to actually experience what that striping was going to be like, yeah, in in the body. Marsha 1:06:24 The second one, I wore the first trip to Scotland. I wore it for pretty much every day for two weeks, I was looking at my notes in Ravelry and very comfortable sweater to wear. Really, I mean, Kelly 1:06:40 the second one? Marsha 1:06:41 You could wear that the second one or no yeah, the second one. Kelly 1:06:44 the one with the alpaca and the silk in it. Marsha 1:06:46 Yeah, that fiber that you can wear that just like over a tank top or something it's that comfortable. I just going to add that as soon as I finish the yarn that I'm-- the one that I'm spinning now, my plan is to start a sweater for Ben. So I can report in on that too. And I have an idea about what I want to make but that doesn't mean it's going to work out. You know I had this--I was all going to be sort of this barber pole yarn. But then I found that I didn't have enough so then I had to change the plan and get more of that chocolate brown, bitter chocolate it's called, to make stripes but I don't even know if that's gonna look good. I don't know if it's gonna look good having until I swatch. I don't know if it's gonna look good having barber pole colorway combined with a solid. You I'll have to Kelly 1:07:41 Yeah, Marsha 1:07:43 I have to figure it out. Kelly 1:07:44 That is one of the things about handspun is that you have to be you kind of have to be open. Marsha 1:07:50 The last thing Kelly if we're done on that, but just related to spinning. I just wanted to shout out and thank you to NanforNow, she's on Ravelry. She's NanforNow but Nancy. and I don't even remember, But I think it was in morning coffee or I don't know where it was-- in which thread it was. But she posted that she had a Niddy Noddy is what she called it that she was just going to give away. And I contacted her I said I was interested in it. You told me just now and before we recorded you were telling me that's actually it's called a spinning weasel. And it's a it's like a stand with a wheel on it with it's like four arms stick out that have pegs. And I think that and I think what you do is you at the bottom then there's like a rod I think you put your bobbin on that. And there's a like a fishing line that goes over it. I think it acts like a scotch tension, too. So your bobbin is just not spinning freely. And then I think and I've not experimented with it yet. I'm getting ahead of myself. But I'll say I've not experimented with it yet. I think what you do is that you can then adjust these pegs to determine how long your skein is going to be. Kelly 1:07:50 Yeah. Marsha 1:08:07 And then it has a counter on it. So one of the arms as it spins is a little bit longer than the others and every time it hits a counter just like you know, like those old fashioned counters for counting people going through a gate at a concert, right? It's like that. And every time it hits that it turns it counts. So and then if you know how many, you know times that wheel, how many times the yarn has wrapped around that wheel then and then you can figure out your yardage. You can Kelly 1:09:46 Yeah, that's nice. Marsha 1:09:48 But what I want to say is, so she lives in Oregon. Nancy lives in Oregon, sort of near near Salem, Oregon. And so Kim and I drove down. one weekend, I guess it was last weekend to pick it up. And she was very nice and gave this to me and it was lovely to meet her and she has... Her dog is a wheaten terrier, is adorable. And she has a really nice garden. She's showing us all around her garden and everything. But what I want to tell you is she has a cotton plant! And when she was telling us that I had forgotten this, but we had a contest and you sent her the prize, one of the prizes was some cotton, right? And you put and you put a cotton pod or seeds or something in it. Kelly 1:10:39 She won a cone of yarn from Sally Fox and Sally Fox puts a little cotton boll in the package. Marsha 1:10:47 Oh Sally Fox sent it. Anyway, she grew it. She has a cotton plant from that. Kelly 1:10:53 So cool Marsha 1:10:55 Yeah, so I just wanted so just a shout out to Nancy say thank you again, for the spinning weasel. I've not tried it, but I'm gonna try it on the yarn that I'm spinning no w. I'm going to try and figure out how to wind it onto it. And I was just looking too, in that there are YouTube... Of course there's a YouTube video about a spinning weasel. But anyway, it was really fun trip and nice to meet Nancy and then Kim and I had the weekend down there. We went to some wineries and had both dogs. We did some hiking and it was just it was really fun. So we would not have gone down there if it wasn't for Nancy offering me the spinning weasel Kelly 1:11:38 nice. Marsha 1:11:38 I think that's it for me. Kelly 1:11:40 Okay, well, I just wanted to mention the Patreon patron pattern giveaway. So all of our patrons should contact me and let me know the pattern of your choice up to $8 you can contact me through Ravelry I'm at 1hundredprojects, I'm 1hundredprojects, or you can email us to us at to Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com or you can Instagram message me on Instagram, I'm again, I'm1hundredprojects on Instagram. And let me know what pattern you'd like. And I'll get you that pattern. If you're a patron, you get a free pattern. So they are a nice way for us, a nice way for us to be able to thank you and also support pattern designers. So it's been really fun. We'll talk a little bit next time about all the different patterns people are selecting. Because it's kind of a cool list. So just wanted to mention that. Get your pattern request in to me. And then also our summer spin in ends September 6th, which I think we've talked about already. But just a little reminder on that. So that's it for now. Marsha 1:12:48 I have to get off the phone so I can start spinning. Because I have a deadline now Kelly [laughing] Kelly 1:12:52 Yes, right. Okay. Marsha 1:12:55 All righty. Okay, bye. Kelly 1:12:57 Thank you so much for listening. To subscribe to the podcast visit Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com Marsha 1:13:04 Join us on our adventures on Ravelry and Instagram. I am betterinmotion and Kelly is 1hundredprojects. Kelly 1:13:12 Until next time, we're the Two Ewes Both 1:13:15 doing our part for world fleece! Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Aug 8, 2021

In stranded knitting what is the opposite of the dominant color? Is it the submissive color? There are lessons we've apparently not learned about alternating skeins and we have a Patreon patron giveaway! Thank you to all our patrons! You can join them in supporting us at patreon.com/twoewes Show notes with full transcript, photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects Atlas (Ravelry link) by Jared Flood using Navia Tradition . The pattern is also available at his website . I have attached the sleeves to the body and have knit about five rows of the colorwork. The Jared Flood video on stranded knitting was great and the tutorial on trapping the floats holding yarn in the right hand was very good except it did not show how to capture the floats with continental stitch. Knitting Help had a very good short video Trapping the Yarn (Continental) . Kelly's Projects Dark Green Forest cardigan (Ravelry link) by Christina Körber-Reith. She also has the pattern at her website, Strickhauzeit . The yarn is an overdyed handspun CVM in a 3-ply (fingering to sport weight). I have completed the body and one pocket lining. This is the only knitting or spinning that I've done. All my creative energy has been going to class materials for my two different online classes for fall. Classes start on August 30. Patreon Pattern Giveaway! Thank you patrons! We appreciate your generous support! Patrons get a pattern of their choice up to $8.00. Contact Kelly with your pattern selection! Email twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com or message 1hundredprojects on Ravelry or Instagram. Summer Spin In - Ends September 6th About a month to go! We have prizes generously donated by Three Green Sisters . They make beautiful bags for your knitting, looms, spinning wheels or travel. They also have now have table linens. Show Transcript Marsha 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha Kelly 0:04 and this is Kelly. Marsha 0:05 We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Kelly 0:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects, Marsha 0:29 and I am betterinmotion. Kelly 0:31 We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Both 0:36 Enjoy the episode. Marsha 0:42 Hi, Kelly. Kelly 0:43 Hey, Marsha. How are you doing? Marsha 0:45 I'm doing well. Kelly 0:46 Good. Do you have wine tonight? Marsha 0:49 No, I don't. Kelly 0:50 It's not morning. So we could be drinking wine! Marsha 0:53 No, it's uh, it's now let's see what time is. It's almost it's a little past five 5:30. Yeah. On Thursday. Yeah. And full disclosure. I already had a beer. Kelly 1:03 Okay. Well, I... that's why I don't have... I guess we're in the same boat because that's why I don't have a glass of wine. Because Robert and I went out to Monterey. And we took the dogs and we walked on the rec trail. And this is the first time I've been out on the rec trail. I'm pretty sure it's the first time I've been out there since since March of 2020. Marsha 1:28 Mm hmm. Kelly 1:29 So it was really nice as a beautiful day. We got to see-- we got to watch... There were two women there with SPCA shirts on. And they had these boxes that were like the pet store boxes like you know, you bring home an animal in with holes in the sides. Marsha 1:46 All right, yeah. Kelly 1:47 And so I saw that and then I saw their shirts and I thought, Oh, I bet they're releasing, releasing something from the Wildlife Center! On the edge of this little point where they were sitting was a gull, a seagull. And they were watching it and so Robert and I stopped to watch too and pretty soon-- and then the bird is making all kinds of noise and you know... And they're just standing you know, just kind of standing back and watching and and finally it takes off. And the one woman says, "Go, Falcon, go! And never come back!" So we watched, we got to watch a seagull be released for you know, who knows what was the reason that it was in the Wildlife Center. But that was pretty cool. And Beary had a good time. We did probably three miles on the rec trail with him. So he's he's doing better. Marsha 2:39 That's good. Kelly 2:40 Yeah, yeah. Yeah, he's gotten Marsha 2:42 and what's he like on those three miles? Is he huffin' and puffin'? Or is he doing pretty good? Kelly 2:47 He, by the end, he was kind of slow. And we... It was one of those kind of walks where, you know, we weren't just powering through it. We we stopped let him sniff and stopped to look at the scenery, you know. It's that kind of walk. So slower than Bailey would like to go. She's itching to just, you know, I mean, she likes to stop and sniff too, but she's itching to just take a walk where we just move, you know. Actually, I think she would probably like it if I ran. I don't know that that's gonna happen. But I think she would like that. So they had a good time. We had a good time. And then, but the reason I'm not having wine is not because I saw a bird on the rec trail, but because after that, this was our little date day, it was Robert's day off. We went to lunch and wine tasting at Taste of Monterey. We had our subscription to pick up for the month of August. And so Robert made reservations. And it was the first time I've been inside, like inside eating. Marsha 3:51 Oh, yeah? Kelly 3:52 Since, you know, since March. They had probably... it's a pretty good sized space. And they had I would say probably six tables, five tables, maybe was the most they had while we were there. And they had these big fans going and and we were all sitting you know, spaced apart. And you know, of course wearing masks when you arrive but you can't eat or drink wine with a mask. But they don't do wine tasting like where you stand at the bar and do the wine tasting where they pour you the, you know, the six little pours. They're doing flights. So we got our free flights. And oh my gosh! Marsha 4:41 Well, Kelly, I saw your Instagram posts today. And I know there was a lot of wine but there was no food. Did you have lunch? Kelly 4:49 We did! Yes. We started with wine first we had, well, we both had clam chowder, and then they have a like a flat... They have a lot of different food but we got this flatbread pizza. Then we each had a bowl of clam chowder. So, but yeah, I've had my wine for the day because we had the flight. And then one of the ones from the flight, I decided that I wanted a glass of it, but, but it was pretty, pretty generous flight! Kelly 5:03 I sometimes find that the wine tasting is a lot of wine. Yeah, it can add up to several classes. Kelly 5:21 Yeah, no, these were, I think... because they don't have a lot of customers. You know, it's all very restricted. We had to have reservations. And I think it was supposed to be three, two ounce pours, but I think these were more than that. Because they looked like they... they looked like very generous, very generous pours. So, but very good. I had white wine Robert had red. And it was a fun day. We, you know, I haven't done anything like that in a really long time. Well, like everyone else, you know? Marsha 5:53 Yeah. Yeah. Kelly 5:54 So. Marsha 5:55 So are they...? Sounds like they're pretty...they're still sort of strict about masks. And Marsha 6:01 oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Marsha 6:03 Because it's interesting here in Seattle, they're still well, it's like, it's hard to know, people are out walking around without masks on. Kelly 6:11 Yeah, outside was mixed. Yeah. And I don't wear a mask outside unless... There was a couple of places on the trail where it got crowded... that, you know, I put my mask on. Just because there were so many people. Marsha 6:25 It's interesting, where you go in stores, like, I went, Oh, the hardware store everybody's masked up, the grocery store everybody's masked up. I went down...this was a couple weeks ago, I went down to pick up some Thai food, they are a masked up at the Thai place. But right next door, there's a bottle shop and I bought like a four pack a beer. Nobody in there had a mask on. So I don't know. Now that's several weeks ago, and now the Delta variant is now I guess, sort of taking off. Kelly 6:59 Yeah. Marsha 6:59 So maybe people are getting more cautious. I wear a mask. And I'm also trying to wear a mask, too, around... I'm not around a lot of children. But the the little girl across the alley from me comes over a lot. And you know, she's seven, I think right? And she can't get vaccinated. And I hear different stories that even if you're vaccinated, you can carry it. And then I've also heard you can't carry it. So I don't know. I thought it's better just to mask up when Frances comes over. Kelly 7:28 Well, if you're vaccinated, it's rare. It's rare, but you can actually contract it. Marsha 7:33 Right. Kelly 7:34 And if you do contract it, it's not generally as bad. The people who are ending up in the hospital, most of them are, are people who have not been vaccinated. But yeah, while you had it, if you had a breakthrough case, while you had it, you would be infectious. Marsha 7:50 It's not a hardship to wear a mask around Frances. So... Kelly 7:53 Right, right, Marsha 7:54 or out in public at all. So I'm still masking up in store. Kelly 7:57 Yes, me too. But well, I don't go to the store very often. But yeah, I have I have been been doing that. So. But it was nice to get out. Marsha and I were talking about this before the episode started. And she said to me, Kelly, have you been off the property since last March? Marsha 8:13 It sounds like maybe you have not been off? Kelly 8:17 Your answer to that is pretty much no. Where did I go? Oh, I know. I went to meet some work friends. We went to... we got together and we worked on some stuff to get ready for classes. And I mean, we're talking about, you know, Watsonville. So it was not that far away. Maybe 25 miles, maybe 35 miles. I was like, Oh my god, I don't think I've been in the car and gone this far in over a year! I mean, my longest car trip has been like to go pick up groceries or you go to the grocery store, which I don't do very often. That's, you know, during the worst of it, we had it delivered and then and then... or Robert would go get groceries. And then once everybody was vaccinated, Aunt Betty went back to doing some of the grocery shopping and Robert was doing the other grocery shopping so you know, I'm lucky to not have to do that. It's not my favorite task anyway. But honestly, that's the furthest I've gone! Marsha 9:20 You have staff. [laughing] You have staff to take care of you. [laughing] Kelly 9:26 Yes. And so and, and you know, there'll be days where I think oh, I'm going to go I'll go out to Monterey and walk on the rec trail. But you know, like Robert takes the car. The truck is almost always now parked in the backyard. It's a little bit of a... it's not like Oh, just run outside and jump in the car. Right? And then if I'm gonna take two dogs, I can't walk that far yet. So am I going to take one? What am I going to do? Am I going to take Bailey because she can go far? She could do a you know, a normal rec trail walk without stopping at every bush and, you know, lots of breaks. And then I If I leave Bailey home, or I mean, leave Beary home? What am I gonna do with him is Aunt Betty gonna be home? Can she watch him? Or she you know, does she have other things to do? So anyway, it's just my-- you know, it is just become, it's just become so easy to stay at home. So it was...I have to say it was really nice to blow the dust off. Get out and, and actually smell the ocean. Yeah, so that was really, really nice! Marsha 10:28 And dust off your restaurant manners. Kelly 10:31 Exactly. Marsha 10:32 Did you know how to behave? At the restaurant? Kelly 10:34 I did! Actually, yes, yes, I did! Marsha 10:38 I read in the New York Times that a lot of people don't want to go back to waiting tables because people are being so rude. You know, they they're out of practice going to a restaurant I guess. So well, I'll tell you why I had a beer already. I'm making an effort to get out of a certain room that's under my house. The name can't be mentioned. So I went for a hike today. I don't remember if I talked about this or not. But I went to visit. Kelly 11:07 You did, yes. Marsha 11:08 Ben up in Index. Yes, I did. That's what part of the discussion... Anyway, there was a woman who was on that hike with with me. And so I gave her my name and email address and she contacted me. And so we got together today. And we did a hike and a friend, another friend of hers. And so when I got home, I gave the dog a bath. Because he's very dusty. I took a bath. And then I poured myself a beer and I laid on the bed and knitted for a while until it was time to record. So that's why I had a beer so early. But anyway, it was a nice hike. And I'm just gonna say it was... People who live here in the northwest will know what I'm talking about. People who don't live in the northwest will be kind of amused by the name of where I went. Um, so the the hike was to Fragrant Lake. I don't know why it's called Fragrant Lake. It didn't smell bad. It didn't smell good. It just was a lake. But anyway, it's um, near Larrabee State Park, which is on-- this is the part that people are gonna laugh--Chuckanut drive. And so, Kelly, full disclosure, before we recorded we were looking at, I think when we first started when we first called you said what are you doing? I said, I'm trying to figure out why is it called Chuckanut. So and we figure it out. It's a ... it's a native name. Kelly 12:33 Yeah, and Wikipedia says that it's Chuckanut well there's mountain a mountain range and, and Chuckanut is a word for a long beach far from a narrow entrance. Okay, so just south of Bellingham is what it says. Yeah, Marsha 12:55 so it basically connects. It's about about 21 miles long. Oh, Kelly, we can walk it! Kelly 13:02 The trail? Oh, fun. Yeah. Marsha 13:04 21 miles, that's our number. Anyway, the it runs from about Burlington...No it's further north than Burlington up to Bellingham. Kelly 13:15 okay, Marsha 13:15 And it runs along the water so it reminds me very much of.. kind of Big Sur a lane in each direction, you know. Steep wall to one side and steep drop off to the other side down to the water and more trees than Big Sur but it's just as dramatic as that. Really pretty. So anyway, we went on that hike today so Kelly 13:36 but not 21 miles? Marsha 13:38 No, we didn't do 21 miles it's four or something. Kelly 13:41 Yeah, nice. Marsha 13:43 But I have been I have been out and about and I don't know if you saw my Instagram post, but the the in-laws or yeah, the... so well I should say actually, technically my former brother-in-law and sister-in-law and nephew, but they came to visit. And I have to say we had a great time. It was just a fun visit. And we did all kinds of things. But one of the things we did is I, as I talked about in the last episode, Ben is just obsessed with Index, Washington because that's the big-- where all the walls are for climbing. And that's where I had gone two weeks ago for the hike. Well, they were having on Saturday, July 31, they were having a kind of an art festival with music and and all different kinds of crafts for sale and he really wanted us to go up there for it. Okay, whatever. So we went. It was really fun, really good music. They had a brought in a... like a trailer with a woodfired pizza oven on it, you know, so you can get pizza there. And Kelly 13:43 Nice! Marsha 13:48 But so that was really fun. So we walked around, did that and then and then they were really wanting to do a hike. So Paul--no Ben said, Yeah, there's a couple of different hikes but the one I would recommend is one called Lake Serene. Now I know I have listeners that live here in the Pacific Northwest who are hikers, and they'll go, yes, Lake Serene. Ben said, "I don't know," he said. And I said, "How long is it?" He said, "So like maybe like six miles round trip. And you know, the elevation gain," he said, "I think it's less than 2000." Wrong! It's eight miles! I think... now I don't remember if it's 2400 or 2600 feet of elevation gain, they actually... Someone's done a great job on the trail where they've... so it's pretty easy going at the beginning kind of wide. And not a lot of rocks or roots, you know, on the trail. But the further you go, it becomes actually like stairs. Someone's done, built the trail, they've actually taken the rocks and put them in place where they actually form steps that you have to climb up. And then at certain points, they've actually brought up big like four by eight beams and made stairs. Kelly 16:00 Okay, Marsha 16:00 Yeah, it's, it was hard. It was really hard. And we started way too late, because Ben and I got to index about 10 o'clock in the morning. But the... my brother in law and sister in law and the nephew and Paul, they arrived, they got there about 12:15 even though we all left at the same time. They stopped and had breakfast and they did all this stuff along the way. So they were really late. They got there at 12:15. Looked at the Art Festival, then they decided they want lunch. So we get to the trail at 2:50. Which is way too late to be starting. And Kelly 16:33 oh yeah. Marsha 16:34 But I didn't know it was eight miles. Kelly 16:36 Oh my gosh. Marsha 16:37 Anyway, so we start out, it takes us about two hours to get to the top. I arrived at the top at five I think and we hung out there till six. And then we started the the trip back down. And we got back to the trailhead, probably around eight o'clock or 8:30, something like that. Then we had to go from the trail head back into Index. And the thing is, Index is such a small town. There's no restaurants there. And the pizza truck was gone. So we decided we have to find food. Because now it's like we've been out. And now we're you know, we get back in. I mean, now it's like the minutes are just ticking away. Kelly 17:13 Yeah. Marsha 17:14 And it's now like 9:30. And and so I think the only thing we can do is just start heading down the road, down Highway 2 back towards Seattle. And to see what we come up with. Well, everything's closed, right. So the nearest town we can find anything is the city of Monroe, which is... they have fast food and everything. Well, like, and but the thing is, if you're that starving, I don't think you could be that picky. But like nobody can eat McDonald's. Nobody can eat Taco Time. So we end up at this pizza place. But the pizza place is now...it's 10 o'clock and they start, they stop indoor dining at 10. So everybody walks away and I said but the door the door said they're open till 11. Well, they're open for takeout or delivery till 11. I said, let's just order the pizza and we'll just go sit in the car, because now it's Kelly 18:00 The voice of reason, Marsha! Marsha 18:03 I know! So it's now you know, it's like 10, 10:15, 10:30 we finally get this pizza. And my sister in law said to me, Well, are we going to go find a picnic table? Where are we going to eat this? I said, you're eating in the car. We're not finding a picnic table. We're not driving around in that hour of the night looking for a picnic table. And her son, my nephew said, we've got all those chairs in the back of the car that Paul had brought for us to listen to music. I said pull those chairs out. So we pull the chairs out and set them up in the parking lot of the pizza place. And we sit there till about 11:30 at night in a row in the strip mall parking lot eating pizza and salad and having root beer and anyways. I don't know, do you know how... do you ever have that experience where something should be awful, really the idea of being-you're so hungry and you're tired and you know you're super sweaty but now you're just really cold because you're wet and it's cold. But then you end up having like a great time sitting in the pizza place because was because we now we've been fed. And we're laughing and everybody sort of revived. It was like the funniest thing. And then in the middle of all of this, I posted a picture of this on Instagram and the video. It's the streetsweeper. The street sweeper arrived in the parking lot. So we're sitting there now with this truck going around. I don't know, the whole thing was so ridiculous... Kelly 19:28 Funny! Marsha 19:30 ...that I think in some ways it was sort of the highlight of the day in some ways. You know? Kelly 19:35 yeah, yeah, Marsha 19:36 Do you know what I mean. Like something that should be so awful ended up being so funny. Kelly 19:41 An adventure! Marsha 19:42 it's a kind of an adventure. Yeah. And I have to say my nephew is 14 and that's that age. That's the age grumpy and crabby. You know, honestly, and... Kelly 19:54 teenager... Marsha 19:57 Teenager truthfully! That's how they are. He is the most chipper kid! I mean, he's just cheerful. He didn't complain once on the hike. Happy. So it's like, oh my gosh, like, teenagers can be happy? [laughing] So yeah, just really just, he's a cool kid and it was just a really, really fun visit from the family. Kelly 20:23 Nice. That's really good. Marsha 20:24 So, yeah. Anyway, so those are my adventures in hiking. Because I have to get out of... as we know, we have to get out of a certain part of the house. Kelly 20:34 Well, and apparently, I just need to get off of the property. Marsha 20:40 You have to get off your property. Anyway. Well, okay, so we've now... this is... I'm looking at the clock here. That's 22 minutes and we haven't even gotten to fibers. Kelly 20:50 Yeah, I think you have the most interesting things to talk about. Marsha 20:55 So I've been working on, let me say I've been working on the Atlas. It's a pullover, colourwork pullover, by Jared flood. And it's been... it's been really interesting. So since we last recorded, I finished the second sleeve. I stayed up till... because today is Thursday... Tuesday night, I stayed up till 2:30 in the morning, because I became obsessed with the sweater. [laughing] Marsha 21:24 So I attached both sleeves. So as a reminder, this is you know, bottom up. You knit the bottom, you know the sweater from the bottom up, then knit the sleeves and attach them under, under the arms and then do the yoke. And when you Kelly 21:37 when you attach them, it seems like a really amazingly high number of stitches. Marsha 21:45 Seems like an amazingly high number of stitches! And it's also, I have to say, it's really hard to attach. Because you have the big circle of the body. And then you have these two little circles on the sleeves. And it's it's it's hard to get the, the... well, they're not...they're circular needles, but a certain section of the circular needles are straight, right, And it's really hard, it's not my favorite. Kelly 22:14 When I've done a sweater like that I've used two circular needles. So that... so that one of them is going like on the front part of one sleeve, the front of the sweater and then the front part of the other sleeve. And then the other circular needle... Marsha 22:28 Oh, that might be better... Kelly 22:29 ...the back part of the sleeve, the back of the sweater and the back part of the other sleeve. Yeah, I was not able... I did a baby sweater that way because I was trying to understand the construction before I did a sweater than I was making. And when I did the baby sweater I think that that's where I found that suggestion. Because in a baby sweater it's especially hard because the turns are so tight. Marsha 22:53 Yeah. really tight then, you know, yeah. Kelly 22:55 So it was like oh, okay, this is not just good for a small sweater. This would work really well. I was having that same trouble with the large sweater so I so I used the two circular needles. You know, you have to make sure you keep track of where the starting of your... where's the starting row marker supposed to go? Marsha 23:15 Right Kelly 23:16 I suggested that to Aunt Betty on a sweater that she was doing. And she was having a little bit of trouble at first because it was color work too. And so she had to kind of like rethink when the pattern says at the start of your round, the start of her round wasn't between the two needles. The two sets of circular needles. Like it wasn't the middle of the sleeve. If that makes sense? Marsha 23:42 Yeah, no, it does. I should have done that because it was it was kind of a struggle I have to admit it was not really-- but I wrestled it into submission. Kelly 23:50 but you're done, yeah, wrestled it Marsha 23:51 I wrestled the thing. So the sleeves are attached and so I that that night Tuesday as I say I stayed up till about 230 in the morning to attaching the sleeves and then I did two rows of the color work and then I was like okay, I'm still wide awake at 2:30. I thought, you have to go to bed, that's ridiculous Kelly 24:11 Well after that and still being wide awake if you if you did keep going, you could have been awake all night. [laughing] Marsha 24:21 So I've learned... so as everybody knows I've not really done color work. I did years ago and I did it the wrong way. You know, I just kept dropping and picking up the different colors and that's not the way you're supposed to do it. So I talked about this in the last episode, but Jared Flood has a great video which there's a link on the show notes about how to-- about color dominance. So we talked about that. So I do know that the the dominant color is in your left hand and I guess the submissive color... [laughing] is in your right hand. And so then he has a really good video too, about trapping the yarn. And so that that's excellent. What I did not know how to do though in this while I was doing the color work is there are some areas where you are... So let me just say, when the the submissive color is in your right hand you're throwing, right, and the dominant color in your left hand you're picking. I throw when I knit, I don't pick. I don't know what throwing is really called. I always have the yarn in my right hand and I throw and so I don't pick or continental with the yarn in my left hand. So I'm having to learn sort of get comfortable with that. So he talks about picking up or trapping the yarn. But I'm throwing so with the yarn is in your right hand. Kelly 25:52 I mean, it's with both colors in his right hand. Is that right? I think that's what you said. Marsha 25:57 That's true. Yeah, he was demonstrating holding the dominant color in your right hand. But he also does, he said he's more comfortable holding both colors in his right hand. So I had to watch a video, how do you trap the yarn, continental style. And so I put it... There is... I found one a really good one, it's short. It's only a minute long. And it's from knittinghelp.com. And they have a great video. It's just Trapping the Yarn, Continental in parentheses. So I have that in the show notes. So I had to figure that out. And there are you know, all these... Everybody says this, but what did we do before we had YouTube? Because there's so many tutorials, you can get a question answered instantly by looking at a YouTube video. What I'm at now, though, is, and I talked about this before, is the chart tells you...The color work has three colors, and it tells you which is going to be the dominant color each row. But let me restate that a better way. Each row indicates which is the dominant color and which is the submissive color. So and then some of the rows, you have the dominant color in your left hand and some of them you're going to have to submissive colors in your right hand. Okay, yeah, this has got me confused. I'm not sure how you manage, do yarn management, with two colors in your... well with three colors. So one in my left hand and two in my right hand. So I have to... I've stopped because I now need to go watch another... there's got to be a video about how you do that. Yeah, because right now I was started out and I'm just twisting the yarn, I mean, the yarn keeps getting twisted and twisted. And so there's got to be a way, perhaps his technique of holding the two colors where you twist your hand. To watch that again, Kelly 27:48 I had three colors when I did the Orcas Run sweater in some rows, very few. But there were some rows where I ended up with the the white, the dark brown and the beige color of the CVM. And I think I looked up something, but it was really a matter of just kind of like angling your finger one way or the other. Yeah, you didn't really have to twist it. It turned out that you didn't really have to twist anything. I could not describe it to you now. But when I was doing it, I do remember it was kind of like something about the angle of your finger holding the yarn. So yeah, I'm sure you can find something because I must have found it. I must have found it somewhere. Although I'm not... I'm not much of a video tutorial person. I would much rather see the words like a blog post. I'm sure I probably found a blog post somewhere. You know, what people used to do before, before we used to read blog posts. And then before that they had grandmothers and mothers who really taught them I guess or friends. It doesn't involve all that twisting. Although I guess your yarn could get twisted up as you're going but but you really aren't twisting things. Yeah. Marsha 29:04 So I've done...let's see how many rows have I done of this so far? I've done eight rows. Kelly 29:12 Okay. How's the color looking? Marsha 29:16 Oh, it looks pretty good. I've not done-- I've not done really any more than I did. I've not done as much as I did in my sample. Kelly 29:22 Oh, okay. Okay, because I remember with your swatch you were feeling... you were telling yourself to just keep going with that plan, but you were kind of questioning how it was gonna look. So I'm curious. Just, Marsha 29:38 I'm still questioning. But I'm planning ahead. Yeah, yeah. Because I have no choice. Kelly 29:45 Right. You have the yarn. You have the yarn you have. Yeah, Marsha 29:48 I have the yarn I have and I don't and there really are. I think there's only eight colors. And they're really--the only one that would possibly work is maybe like the cream would be more contrast? Kelly 29:59 Right. But that wasn't what Mark wanted. Marsha 30:03 No, and I and I, but everything else is sort of, I don't know, I just don't think that the work. So I'm plowing ahead and I, and I like this yarn. It's very, it's it's a woolly wall, and I'm finding all kinds of things in it. Straw and plastic. I'm not sure where that's from, oh, it's almost like they, they bundled the wool up in a, you know that that plastic, you know, like blue tarps? You know, they're sort of fibrous, Kelly 30:33 Kind of like feed bags. Yeah, this is the reason that you should never if you're a fiber producer, you should never store your fiber in a in a feed bag, those plastic feed bags, because that's basically what they are. They're woven. They're woven plastic strips. Yeah, they're woven out of plastic strips and those plastic strips break off and anyway, it gets in the wool, and that's what you're seeing. Marsha 31:03 Yeah, yeah. Like I and just before we started recording, I pulled this like, little piece and like, Oh, I'm gonna pull that out. Because that can't be comfortable. You know, having it in there. I'll pull it out. It's like, it's like it was about two inches long. Kelly 31:15 Yeah, spun into the wool. It really degrades the price of your of your wool. I can't even remember now where I heard this. It must have been at like a fleece judging where someone was talking about it, and how how bad it is for the price of your wool if you have if you have any of that plastic in it. So. So anyway, that's why when you said that it was like, Oh, I remember. I remember hearing about this stuff. Marsha 31:43 But that's all I have for projects either. Then I have not picked up my socks. I've not picked up my shawl. I have in the evenings in the nice weather, I just been sitting on the deck and spinning for about an hour or 45 minutes or so. So I'm, I'm still spinning but not any... No progress of any significance to report. Kelly 32:05 You still have quite a bit of that spinning to do before you're finished with that project. Marsha 32:09 Yeah, yeah. But I've just been obsessed with this sweater. Kelly 32:15 Well, that's cool. It sounds like it's gonna be really pretty. Marsha 32:18 I think it's gonna be pretty. It's shockingly bright. I mean, I don't think most men want to wear this sweater. But Mark is. He likes color. Kelly 32:29 Yeah, yeah. No, I think it's really it's gonna be really pretty. Yeah. Marsha 32:34 You'll see him on the beach from a mile away. Kelly 32:37 Right! Well, Robert has a couple of T shirts that are bright like that. He has a bright Kelly green one and bright orange. Marsha 32:45 And he likes bright socks too. Kelly 32:47 Yeah. Marsha 32:48 And Mark likes breaks. He likes brown socks too. So anyway. Well, enough of my projects. What about you? What's going on with your cardigan? Kelly 32:56 Well, yeah, I'm also pretty monogamous. And not, not very much has happened. Although I think from the last episode. I have actually finished and bound off the bottom. Marsha 33:11 Oh, wow! Kelly 33:12 Yeah, I think I was in the pockets. Marsha 33:14 Yeah, we were talking about pockets. Kelly 33:17 And so the pockets are, I want to say like six inches deep. I think I might have gone a little too far. I thought I was following the pattern and counting but maybe not. I think I was supposed to have five in the honeycombs. And that's what I have. So I have the the pockets. They're they're kind of... well it's not blocked, so you can't really tell and the ribbing on the top and the cables pull them in. But right now they look like skinny deep pockets. Marsha 33:49 Mm hmm. Kelly 33:50 But I think once it's blocked, they'll be more proportional and they won't... they actually won't look that deep. So I got past the point I finished the pockets. I did the... I think it's a one inch of ribbing or an inch and a half of ribbing at the bottom which seemed too short to me because I always put like... I love ribbing so I just do a lot at the bottom. But I didn't. I thought, This sweater is already long enough. Because it's it's tunic kind of. Well, like a sweater you could wear over leggings and you're behind will not show. Marsha 34:20 Right. Kelly 34:21 So I don't know if you'd call that tunic length but it is long. That was my--that's what I wanted and I looked on the project pages. Oh, by the way, the name of this sweater is called Dark Green Forest. And if you look on the pattern, I think on the pattern page it looks pretty long. But then if you look on the project pages, there are quite a few people who put quite a bit of length into the sweater. I mean it is designed to be long. The woman the the very first picture shows it like below the pocket you know, below the back pocket of a pair of jeans. So anyway, I'm excited about the progress that I've made because I got to bind off the bottom. But then once I bound off the bottom, it just sat for a while. And then the other night I picked it up and I needed something just mindless to do. So I, I work the pocket lining of one of the pockets. So while we've been sitting here, right now, I've picked up the stitches for the other pocket lining. But I'm not very good at counting. I think I've admitted that before. And for these pocket linings, I really want to make sure I do the right number of rows. So I'm not knitting on it right now because I know I would... It's such a short little bit of knitting that I know I would go across and back and across and be like, Oh, wait, am I on this row? Or did I just do two rows? And so I'm not knitting on it right now. I'm just sitting it on my lap and I'm, I'm petting it. But then I have to pick up the sleeves. And I'm gonna admit to something here. So how many conversations have we had about alternating skeins? Marsha 36:16 Oh, my God, Kelly. Don't tell me. Kelly 36:19 So I am alternating skeins. I am! Marsha 36:21 Okay. Kelly 36:22 And what did I tell you about your sweater? How you should like save off some of the yoke yarn for the sleeves. Marsha 36:32 Mm hmm. Kelly 36:32 So that you're not going to start the sleeves with a totally different skein? Marsha 36:36 Mm hmm, Kelly 36:38 Guess what I did not do? I did not save any of that yarn at that level where I separate it off for the sleeves. So I think it'll be all right... Marsha 36:49 Well, we're always good at giving advice, but not following advice, right? Kelly 36:52 Like what's the point of learning from your mistakes? Then after you've learned from the mistake, you make the same mistake again another time. I mean, I felt like I learned from my mistakes because I was able... as they say you know if you can teach another person, then you know something. And I taught you how to do that, I talked about it in the podcast, I taught all our listeners about that. And yet, I just plowed ahead. So there will be a color change mark. But there's a... it's very slight. And there's a color change mark when one of my skins ran out and I had to put another one in. It's just I mean, you know, hand dyed yarn. So I don't know, I'll look for the skein that looks the most. I mean, they all... this is the problem. They all look, they all look exactly the same. So maybe it will be more fine than I think. But I wish I had a few yards of... I wish I had a few yards of the yarn where I left off with the sleeve to blend into the next one. So anyway Marsha 38:05 Lesson learned--again. Kelly 38:07 I know. And I was trying to think well, could I undo it? And like rip back but you can't because if I rip back I'm gonna be ripping back across the body. Not doing that! So we'll see. I'll report back. It's a it's a, but it's not meant to be a you know, go out to dinner sweater. So it's not going to be a big deal if it's terrible. But I don't think it... I don't think it'll be terrible. I just wish I had remembered. It's dumb not to remember that. Marsha 38:39 Yes, it is. Both 38:40 [laughing] Marsha 38:44 But you know what I would have done? I mean, the thing is, you know I made a very similar... I mean, it's sort of the same vein as this sweater that--I don't even remember what it was called. Remember it was--we dyed the yarn at your house? That teal color. Kelly 39:01 Yeah, Recoleta? Marsha 39:03 No, wasn't the Recoleta Looking at my page... looking at this... Oh, here it is Northern Lights. Oh no, I'm sorry. It's called Iba I-B-A by Bonne Marie Burns, or Bonnie Marie Burns. And I called it Northern Lights Iba. And it's very... It almost looks like it's variegated yarn. If you look-- I'm looking at the pictures of it now. And that's what I did is, I knit the whole body and then I went to pick up the sleeves and they're completely different. So I had to rip the whole I ripped it all the way back and just recast on and redid the whole thing alternating. So dumb! Kelly 39:41 Yeah, cuz you didn't alternate at all. Marsha 39:42 I didn't. At all. Yeah, Kelly 39:44 Yeah. Well, at least I at least I managed to do that. And But yeah, I was like, yeah. Oh, well. Oh, well. Well, we'll see. I mean, maybe, maybe you won't even be able to tell I pick up the sleeves, but I think I think you probably will. Marsha 40:06 It's funny. I'm just it's just a comment. I haven't worn that sweater in years. And when did I finish that? 2018. I need to wear that sweater. Kelly 40:16 We should do...We should do a sweater round up on one of our episodes where we just get out all our sweaters. And we just talk about them and why we're gonna keep them, why we don't wear them, or why we don't wear them, what are the ones we do wear? Why do we wear them? That would be very interesting. We should do that. Let's do that next episode. Marsha 40:39 Okay, Let me write this down. Kelly 40:42 Okay. Yeah, I think that would be interesting. I would like to know... Well and the other thing about about skeins and handspun is that I... With a funky grandpa sweater, in that one I was saved by the stripes, because it has those little thin stripes of dyed color. Because that yarn when I... I mean that was a sweaters worth of wool that I carded and spun. And those skeins when I would put a new skein on. I mean, just because of the the variation in the wool. Those skeins were different colors. It was natural. I hadn't dyed it at all. It was just the natural gray but the skeins were different colors. And so even if I were making a sweater out of handspun that wasn't dyed, I might consider alternating skeins. When you have done a sweaters worth from a fleece you know they, the skeins, can be very different. Not the whole skein is different. But the part of the skein where you start the new skein can be different than the skein, the part of the skein, where you leave off, Marsha 42:02 right Kelly 42:03 and it can make a stripe. You know, you can have a sharp division of color. Whereas in within the skein, you have color variation, but it's not a sharp division of color. Marsha 42:16 Yeah. Kelly 42:17 So anyway, that's just a tip, if you're planning to do a handspun sweater with your summer spin in yarn. But that's where I am with my project. That's the only thing I worked on, I did not do any spinning, I don't think since the last, since the last episode. Really everything that I have, all my creative energy has been going toward getting my class materials ready for school. We don't start until... students come back on the 30th of August. So I still have a good chunk of summer left, which feels really good. But you know, we'll be online, I'm online. Our classes are-- they were trying to get back face-to-face with more classes. So they have some that are fully face-to-face. Very few. Some that are hybrid, where students will be on campus, one or two days a week, and then the rest of it is online. And that's that's a type of class we've always had. That's just not in the pandemic, we've always had hybrid classes and online classes. But we have many more online classes, you know, now with the pandemic, and very few hybrid or face-to-face, about maybe 40%, I think. But my classes are all online, because I've worked so dang hard to get them ready. Plus, plus, I am not confident that-- I'm not confident that we're going to stay. Marsha 43:48 Oh, in class? Kelly 43:49 ...any of the... Yeah, yeah, I think that at some point during the fall semester, it's likely that we might have to close down the face-to-face classes. So I didn't want to be in a position to have started with plans to do face-to-face and then ended up online anyway. So I just elected to do... I selected online classes. So anyway, I've been working on those. And actually, it's been fun. I've been enjoying that work. And it's been a long time since I've thought it was really fun to get my classes prepared. Yeah. So, you know, I've had some professional development and some of the things that we've done in these workshops, I'm now getting to implement and I'm feeling more comfortable with the system that we're using. So anyway, it's just been, it's been really fun. And it's quite a creative process because you have to create all these materials, you know, all the things I would have told... All this is obvious but but when you really think about all the things you would have told students while you were in class, because I'm doing an asynchronous online format. So everything I would have told students in class now has to be created to be provided to them on the, the, you know, the learning management system. So that's a lot of content creation. But it's creative. I mean, it feels creative to me. So it's been, it's been really, it's been pretty fun. Marsha 45:22 That's good. Because it, it didn't start out so fun. This whole online thing. So I'm glad you're having fun. Kelly 45:29 Yeah, then I won't go into a lot of detail about my pain. Everyone's heard it. But yeah, I'm getting some of the... I'm starting to reap some of the benefits of the learning that you know, all of that learning that I had to do. And so that's nice. It's nice when you move from rank novice, to feeling like you actually have a little bit of expertise. That is a good feeling. Marsha 46:00 Yeah. Kelly 46:01 It's taken a while, but, but I started to feel that way. So ask me again in November. [laughing] Marsha 46:09 Okay. Kelly 46:12 We'll see! We'll see whether I have progressed from rank novice to having some expertise or not. When it's not hypothetical, so. So anyway, yeah, that's all my all of my projects, I am going to just talk briefly about one of Robert's projects, because it's so interesting. So we have a toilet, that is 1938. I think the date stamped on the toilet is 1938. Purple. And it hasn't worked for a while. The mechanism on the inside was leaking. And he tried to get another one and it was still leaking. And so for a while we were using it like, turn the water off at the wall after using it, go back in to use it turn the water on at the wall, use it, turn the water off. Which is was terrible because the thumping in our pipes, I mean, something about that particular valve made that thumping sound happen in the pipes almost every time and sometimes it was like, Oh, my Gosh it's gonna shake them loose, and they're gonna break and that can't be good. So he took it out and put in a more modern toilet. Oh, the idea was, we're going to do this for now and then see what we can do with this. So anyway, he's been cleaning it out. Well, okay, it was not, it was not a dirty toilet. We-- it was cleaned before it was taken out of the house. So, but he's been cleaning off all of the deposits, mineral deposits from you know, since 1938. And so he's been working on this project for about, I don't know, five days, with different kinds of products. First starting with vinegar, and then moving on to hydrochloric acid. He brought me in a chunk, I took a picture and I showed it to Marsha, when we were first starting to get ready to record. He brought a chunk of this in that had just come off. And he said there were like four or five of them. It's like three eighths of an inch thick of calcium deposits. Marsha 48:22 It's shocking.I had no idea. Like, I.. Kelly 48:25 We'll put a picture in the show notes. Yeah. We have hard water. And then think, you know, 80 some years of hard water deposits. It's a, it's a chunk, a good three eighths of an inch thick, and about four inches long. And he said there were, I think at least four of them that came off like that. Four big pieces like that, plus a whole bunch of other, a whole bunch of other little bits that came off. But yeah, Marsha 48:56 yeah, who knew? I mean, it's just amazing. It really is kind of, I mean, Kelly 49:00 So and I could do the math, I'm kind of curious. I'm not-- I can't do it in my head here during the podcast. But you know, think about the circumference of the of the pipe, you know, where it flushes. The circumference, and think about going in three eighths of an inch all the way around. Like how much smaller that is. How much that restricts the flow. So anyway, very interesting. It's been an interesting project, he's found a place to get the interior workings of the toilet. He found out the model number. He's going to be able to I think get the interior workings but they're backordered. It's not the same kind of interior workings as a modern toilet has. So anyway, I'm excited about this project but very gross. The calcium I mean, it's just calcium, but Kelly 49:43 It's calcium, yeah. Kelly 49:59 But it's just it's, it's gross. Marsha 50:04 I find it less gross as more just sort of amazing. Well, what I want, I was like, what does it do to your insides? Like you're drinking that water? Right? Is it just passing it through? Kelly 50:18 Yeah, it doesn't sit. It doesn't just sit there. Well, it's calcium. Your body uses it. Marsha 50:22 Oh, that's true. Well then you're absorbing it I guess. Kelly 50:25 I think, yeah, yeah. I would think, I don't know. But this little chunk, it has all these striations like, archeology, Marsha 50:34 you need to count all those and see the rings. So yeah, like I like how many years is that? 1938 to 2021? Kelly 50:43 It's over eighty years. Marsha 50:45 Oh see this is why your the math teacher. Kelly 50:46 Yeah, it's over eighty years. Marsha 50:48 So you have like, in theory, you got 80 layers. Yeah, you need to get a bandsaw, cut it in half and count all the layers. Kelly 50:57 Yeah, when I was in, when I was in junior high we... I grew up in Fremont. And in Fremont. Well, right now it's the Tesla plant. But it was the GM plant, there was a GM auto plant there. And when I was in junior high, I took a class, a plastics class. And so we got to use all the like, tools, you know, lathe, and bandsaw, and sanding and all that, like they do in woodshop in metal shop, but it was with plastic. And one of the things that we got to work with, which was I thought was really fun. And it's the same idea. It's all the auto paint that had built up on the pipe over the, you know, there's like piping over the, I want to say conveyor belt, I don't know if that's the right, the right word, but in the, Marsha 51:45 in the assembly line, Kelly 51:46 assembly line. Yeah. So there's like a pipe and the paint spray. So these layers of paint build up on these pipes, and then they would crack them off. And you'd get this big chunk of layers of paint. And then, and then you could sand it down and make things out of it. So you know, people make rings or small things, but, but it was about probably, maybe three quarters of an inch thick. And round, you know, like, round on one side, because they've been attached to a, like a pipe. And then, and then you sand it down and shape it and all that. And it was really fun, because you could get some really cool colors. And you could see the rings, like the, the rings of, you know, in wood. And it was all different colors, depending on what they were painting. And so, so. So that's kind of cool. And it was, you know, kind of ugly at first because it was all rough you know. But I don't think you could polish this calcium. I don't know, maybe you could I'm not gonna do it. Marsha 52:55 Well, it'll be interesting to see, you know, if once he gets the new mechanism, how well it works, you know, because it probably was so constricted. There's no flow, you know? Kelly 53:05 Yeah, no, it didn't work very well before. But But I can Yeah, I can see why. So anyway, that that that's not my project. But it's something that has been going on here that I think is interesting to share. So all right, well, we do have the summer spin in and that ends in about a month. So keep spinning. And we are going to have prizes, we're going to have prizes provided by Three Green Sisters. And so get your finished objects into the finished object thread. There's one for skeins, finished skeins, and one for finished projects made out of handspun. So we don't have as many people participating as last year. But we do have quite a few people participating. And we do have a lot of people who are still weaving from the winter weave along. So that's kind of fun, to still be going into the winter weave along thread and... saying I have to get going to my Marsha 54:07 I have to get going on my spinning project. I have to finish it by the sixth. I have to get going. Kelly 54:12 You have a month. Yeah, well, you have time, you can do it, you have time. And then the other thing is we wanted to take some time to thank our patrons. So we have a Patreon account. And that's a way that listeners can contribute to the podcast if they like to, you sign up to be a patron at a particular a particular level and then you just, you, know make that contribution monthly. The idea of it is it's a, you know, monthly monthly contribution for however long you would like to support us. And we have some patrons that I want to thank so I'm going to just read off the names and then we also have a Patreon Patreon patron giveaway. So I just want to make sure that we thank Connie and Cheryl and Jan and Heddi, and Jane and Colleen, Mindy, Eman, Amy, and Patti and Joan. And we have Tammy and Teresa to thank and Kathy. And Nathalie, thank you so much. Martha, Melody, Angie, Joanne, JoyLaine. Thank you! Gretta, Barbara, Rachel W., Angela, Vicki, Charlene, Erika N. Debbie, Erica J, Rachel S. Pat, Carin, Catherine, Jenn, and Janine. So yeah, thank you so much. I really appreciate all of the support from our patrons and the funds that come in through the Patreon account go to our hosting fees, prizes, or shipping costs. All of those things. Our transcribe, transcribing to make the transcript. We have that expense. All that is covered by our patrons. So we really appreciate it! Yeah, we really appreciate all they do for the podcast, making it available to everyone. Marsha 56:12 So thank you. Kelly 56:13 Yeah. So what we're gonna do... Marsha 56:16 we're not done? Kelly 56:18 We're not done, Marsha 56:18 we're thanking them but we're thanking them in another way, too. Kelly 56:22 Exactly. any of our patrons can get a pattern of their choice up to $8. So all they have to do is contact me on Ravelry. Let me know what your pattern selection is. And you can... then I'll just go ahead and and get that pattern dropped into your Ravelry-- your Ravelry inbox. So yeah, we just want to let people know how much we appreciate their support. Marsha 56:48 So start looking at your patterns. Pick your favorite pattern and let us know! Kelly 56:52 Yeah, it's always interesting. We did this last summer and it was really interesting to see what people were were choosing. I got a few things added to my queue. . Marsha 57:01 Oh, yeah, dangerous. [laughing] Kelly 57:03 Yeah. Inspirational you could say, Marsha 57:06 Okay, well, anything else? Kelly 57:08 No, I think that will do it for us, Marsha. Marsha 57:11 Okay. Well, I'm gonna go back to my sweater. Kelly 57:16 Okay. Marsha 57:17 Get lost in color work. Kelly 57:19 Yeah, that sounds fun. Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing it. Marsha 57:23 Hopefully, well...Hopefully when we record in two weeks, I'll have the yoke done. We'll see. Kelly 57:28 Oh, that'll be good. Yeah. See, anyway. Marsha 57:31 Alrig`ht. Kelly 57:31 Okay. Marsha 57:32 Okay. Well, we'll talk in two weeks. All right. Bye. Kelly 57:36 Bye bye. Thank you so much for listening. To subscribe to the podcast visit Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Marsha 57:44 Join us on our adventures on Ravelry and Instagram. I am betterinmotion and Kelly is 1hundredprojects. Until next time, Both 57:53 We're the Two Ewes doing our part for world fleece! Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Jul 26, 2021

Heritage sheep breeds, ink as the new souvenir sock skein, and Marsha's realization that she needs to get out of her basement are all on the agenda this week. Plus, a reminder that we have just over a month left of our Summer Spin In. Show notes with full transcript, photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects Spinning the brown and green merino. Atlas (Ravelry link) by Jared Flood using Navia Tradition . The pattern is also available at his website . I have completed the body to the armholes and almost completed the first sleeve. I've washed and blocked it to see how it looks and to be able to measure the body. Kelly's Projects I'm continuing the Oxford spinning. I am still keeping my options open for a 3-ply where I'm more careful about the twist. I'd like the yarn to be more loosely plied than my 3-ply sample. I have almost three full bobbins of singles and plenty of fiber left. I carded about 400 grams. Here is the project page for this handspun . Information about Oxford fleece: Livestock Conservancy status is "watch." Fewer than 2,500 annual registrations in the United States and an estimated global population less than 10,000." originated as the result of crossing Cotswolds and Hampshires . imported into America in 1846. one of the largest breeds of sheep and is only surpassed in body weight by the Lincoln. Not only does it lack uniformity in body type and size, but there is also considerable lack of uniformity in color markings and in the weight and quality of the fleece The new breed that we know as Oxford today is a bit smaller, only 200-250 pounds, a result of that push in the 1930s for a more compact animal followed by the resurgence of the older type. staple length, generally around 1-2". remains rare in the United States, having been supplanted by the Suffolk. This situation is difficult to explain, as research has shown time and again that the Oxford excels as the sire of market lambs and the breed's overall profitability may be second to none. I've made good progress on the Dark Green Forest cardigan (Ravelry link) by Christina Körber-Reith. She also has the pattern at her website, Strickhauzeit . I'm using handspun 3-ply (fingering to sport weight) from a CVM (Romeldale) fleece that I overdyed. I've gotten down to the pockets. The sweater has a ribbed front band and honeycomb cable down the sleeve and on the pockets. It has saddle shoulder construction and a square "sailor" collar that also has ribbing. Information about CVM sheep: status is "threatened" with fewer than 1,000 annual registrations in the United States and an estimated global population of less than 5,000. American fine wool breed, and the California Variegated Mutant, or CVM, is its multi-colored derivative. Romney-Rambouillet crosses were bred for several years and became known as Romeldales. colored lambs appeared in the Romeldale breed. Glen Eidman became interested in these sheep and linebred them for several generations Sheep breed resources: Livestock Conservancy , Oklahoma State Breeds Directory . Other Discussion Marsha talks about mistakenly donating some of her favorite children's books by Bill Peet. Ella Elephant , Jennifer and Josephine Great documentary on Netflix by the actress Geena Davis about equality in the media. Here is a link to the YouTube trailer of This Changes Everything . Pens--SF Pen Show August 27-29 . Held about 35 miles south of SF in Redwood City, Kelly and Robert will be there Saturday, August 28. Summer Spin In - Ends September 6th Just over a month to go! Prizes from Three Green Sisters Full Show Transcript Kelly 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha and this is Kelly. Marsha 0:05 We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at to use fiber adventures.com. Kelly 0:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects, Marsha 0:29 and I am betterinmotion. Kelly 0:31 We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Both 0:36 Enjoy the episode. Marsha 0:43 Good morning, Kelly. Kelly 0:44 Good morning, Marsha. How are you? Marsha 0:46 I'm doing well. Kelly 0:47 Good. I want to ask you a question. Okay, so Marsha, what knitwear Are you wearing today? Marsha 0:55 Not a stitch? Kelly 0:57 Not a stitch of knitwear. Kelly 0:58 No. Kelly 0:59 Well, now, that actually makes sense. Because what season are we in here in the Northern Hemisphere? Marsha 1:07 High summer? Kelly 1:08 Yes. Marsha 1:10 And... but not where you are I take it, based on this question. Kelly 1:13 And I'm not complaining. I'm just providing you information.But I am currently wearing ...although probably some of it will come off. Marsha 1:23 Wait a minute, let me get a pen. I have to write this down. Kelly 1:25 So I'm currently wearing from head to toe... I'm currently wearing my Rikke hat. I'm wearing the Habitat sweater that I crocheted. And I'm wearing handknit socks. Marsha 1:40 Kelly Kelly, you need to book a flight ASAP to Seattle. Kelly 1:43 I heard that, that there's, you know, all this heat going on all around the country. And I feel bad for everyone who is you know, going through all the heat and the fires and, and, and then there's, you know, flooding. I hope that all of our listeners in Germany are okay, so I don't want to complain about my lot in life. But let me just provide you with some information. Anybody who's suffering from heat should come to Monterey County, because in the last month... I looked up the history in the last month, we've had two days above 70 degrees. Marsha 2:22 Oh, my goodness. Kelly 2:23 And guess how high we got in those two days above 70 degrees? Marsha 2:25 71? Kelly 2:29 Yes. And 72. Oh, my God, it was a heatwave. Yes. So yeah, we do have some higher temperatures coming. Next week, we get one... But by the time it gets here, the the prediction of these high temperatures almost always goes down by about four degrees, four or five degrees. So we have 80 predicted for Tuesday of next week. So we'll see if that happens. You'll have to check back. Good thing I have knitwear that's all I have to say. Marsha 3:06 It was interesting thinking about these changes in the weather because it's happening around the world and and some terrible, terrible things are happening. But that heatwave we had here in Seattle, where it was you know, 110? There's been many effects of it. I mean, people died. That's terrible. But I was listening to our local NPR station. And they were saying that over 50 people have become ill by eating shellfish. Because it got so hot. There's a bacteria that forms in shellfish in hot weather. People have been getting sick because the temperature is so high. They also lost a lot of oysters and other shellfish because they literally cooked in their shells because it was so hot. Kelly 3:59 Oh my gosh. Marsha 4:01 So it's really... There... that heat way we had is going to have a real impact on food production here in the Pacific Northwest, just those few days now. Kelly 4:12 Yeah, Marsha 4:14 It's really interesting the impact that Kelly 4:16 well, not just the shellfish. I know when we have had high temperatures here, they typically will come in, like in September, sometimes even as late as October. But when we get those high temperatures in September, we've had apples on the trees, and they're like applesauce. I mean, if you don't have the apples off the tree by that time, then after those couple days of you know, high 90s or mid 90s. Those apples are terrible. So I can imagine the impact that has had. Marsha 4:53 Well I wonder if this cool weather you're having is going to have an impact impact on production because you live in an agricultural country community, right. And they're kind of cool weather crops. Kelly 5:03 Yeah. Marsha 5:04 But this is awfully cool for them. Kelly 5:07 So we grow a lot of strawberries here. Lettuce is not having any problem. There are... there are more and more berry fields-- regular berries. And I don't know, I don't know if the lack of heat has has affected them at all. We have an apricot tree and a plum tree and the apricot are just now starting to get ripe, which I think is really late for apricots. I don't know because this tree hasn't produced very well in the past. So I don't know what its typical timing is like, but I seem to remember apricots being a more early summer fruit when I was a kid. We had an apricot tree when I was growing up. It's probably not super abnormal, honestly, for us to have this kind of weather here in Salinas. I mean, it's not-- I don't think it's normal, normal, but I don't think it's super abnormal. If I went back and looked at the history, I mean. I remember when I first moved here, I didn't take off a sweatshirt all summer long. It was-- I was freezing to death all the time. And that's kind of how I feel this year. And maybe I just like to complain! Well, and the house would be warmer if I closed the windows, but I have to have open windows in the summer. [laughing] And that's dumb because it's not warm outside. But that's just the way it is in summer you open the windows and sleep with the windows open. So anyway, yeah. Marsha 6:42 Okay, this leads me to something Kelly. Because we are...are we complaining? Kelly 6:49 No, Marsha 6:50 a little? Kelly 6:50 I'm not gonna... we're not... Marsha 6:54 just a tad. Anyway. So I I have something just I have something to say. So the last episode, I was walking Enzo and listening to the episode. And about halfway through the beginning before we got to any fiber stuff. I texted you. And my text was, Oh my gosh! Shut up about your basement! Marsha 7:24 And I was... I don't remember know what your response was. But anyway, I went back and it was like 10 minutes, Kelly, that I talked about my basement. As I was walking along my thought was first like, Oh my goodness, shut up about that basement! Nobody cares. And my second thought was, You need to get out of that basement. Kelly 7:44 Marsha, get a life! [laughing] Marsha 7:47 And so I'm here to announce. This is the last time I'm going to talk about my basement. It's not healthy. And I got out of my basement and I went last Tuesday or this... Tuesday of this week. This is Friday that we're recording this. Tuesday, I went up to Index, Washington and for people who are out of state, that's a small former mining town up on highway two. It's near-- on the way to Stevens Pass, which is you know, big mountain pass Kelly 8:17 And north on you right? Marsha 8:18 North of me. Yeah. And the reason I went up there is Ben, my son is working up there on and off during the summer. He met up... Well, I should back up and to say Index was originally a mining town. That's how it started. But now it's become a huge destination for climbers. And apparently it's world renowned, this area, for climbing. They have great rock. Like I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm just quoting Ben, because I'm not a climber. Kelly 8:49 Yeah, like what makes a great rock as opposed to just a rock? Marsha 8:55 So anyway, he goes up there and climbs. And there's a guy who lives here in Seattle who goes up there all the time and climbs. A guy named Richard. Apparently he bought a house up there, a small cabin. And so Ben has been going up and helping him fix it up, make it sort of... It's it's kind of rough. And so he's been helping him and so he goes up there for about five days at a time and then comes back. So I thought a nice outing would be to go see Ben in Index and do a hike. So I went up on Tuesday, I finally found Ben. That was kind of, well, I will, well... Do you want to hear the story about how I found Ben? Because he said to me, Index is really small. I have no idea what the population is. A tiny, tiny town and there's like two streets when you come into town. You can go left or you can go right and so he says, when you come into town you go left and you just go down to the--you know, keep going down the road and you'll see the house. I go into town. I go left. I can't find the house. I'm driving all the way almost to the end of the road, I'm now getting into Forest Service land. I'm going-- I go back. That can't be right, I go check again. So I go up and down this road about three times trying to find him and I finally gave up and thought, I'm just going to go walk the dog around the town and check it out. And then I'm going to go do my hike. And I was just getting ready to leave when I get a text from him because there's very poor, so there's no real cell service there. It's very hit or miss, I get a text like, I'm glad you're coming. You'll see the house. It has a whole bunch of free stuff out on the road. So I'm like, Okay, well, I'll go down this highway, you'll go left down this highway, which I did. And I finally see some free stuff by the side of the road. But it looks like it's been there for a long time, because there's like weeds kind of growing through it. And I don't see his car at that house. But I see there's like a driveway and kind of a long like alley kind of thing. And so I decided to go down that maybe the house is down that road. And I go down this little driveway and I see a guy working on a house or a garage or something and I just get out and I said, Are you Richard? And he said No, I'm not. And I said, Oh, I said. Well, do you have a minute to hear my story? And he's kind. He said, Yeah, I have a minute to hear your story. And so I said, Well, my son is up here working for a guy named Richard from Seattle who bought a house and I give a little story because there's a little story about how he got the house and who used to live in the house and how they got that person out of the house. And he says, Oh, I know that house. Because it's a tiny town anyway. You're probably ahead of me in the story. It's that when you come into town you turn right. Not Left. [laughing] Kelly 11:51 Right. Oh my god. Marsha 11:53 The details, right? Kelly 11:54 Yes. Marsha 11:55 So I go. Oh, I know. Yeah. So anyway, I and I, because I said to him, Well, it's a small enough town. I figured somebody would know the story. And he said yeah, I know the story. That was really funny. Anyway, I went back the correct direction, found Ben, immediately saw the house. We chatted for a little bit and then I went on my hike. So I did do a hike. So that was really nice to see. So this is the point of my story it's-- what's the phrase? Oh, the devils in the details? Kelly 12:27 Yes. Marsha 12:27 That's the phrase? Yeah, yeah. Kelly 12:30 Yeah. Well, I'm glad you got out of the basement, Marsha. Yeah. So it sounds like you had a nice a nice little outing. Marsha 12:37 Yeah, it was really nice. And it's beautiful up there. Really, really beautiful. And, yeah, so that's the last time that wore is going to cross my lips in this podcast Kelly 12:49 Ok, right! Good to know. Marsha 12:54 Let's see if I can do it now. Kelly 12:57 Oh, funny. Anyway, all right. Well, okay, since you aren't going to talk about the thing that will not be named. What about your projects? Marsha 13:09 Well, I...not a lot, well, not a huge amount to report. I've been spinning. So I have ... I'm almost done with a second bobbin of the brown for that brown and green that I'm making. Okay, and so I have one more bobbin that I need to spin and then I can ply that together. So I work on that in the afternoons. You know, sit out on my deck, and spin for a little bit. And so I'm making progress on it, but it's not, I'm not working on it exclusively. And then I do have progress to report though, on the Atlas pullover that I'm making for my brother and I have knit the body. Keep in mind though, I have not done the ribbing yet, because I did a provisional cast on. But I've knit up to the armholes and then set that aside. I did wash it though, and block it. Because as you know what we talked about the last episode, it looked like a holiday wreath, a big sausage tube kind of. So I did wash and block it and I can... now it's laying flat, so it'll be much easier to measure. And then I did a provisional cast on for the first sleeve. And I'm almost done with the first sleeve I have about 10... Let me look at my pattern. I have about six more rows. And then I will set the sleeve aside and start the second sleeve. So it's going pretty quickly. I think because it's on size seven needles. I find it's not really...maybe it's because I am normally working on three to five somewhere around... or socks or on ones. Yeah, I find it's a little more challenging to knit with. It's like, I've heard this before. Sometimes with larger needles and thicker yarn, like this is a worsted weight. You're a little harder on my hands and there's something about this yarn too. It's a little hard to knit with in the sense that it doesn't really slide along the needles very well. And it's interesting. Kelly 15:29 You have you have metal needles? Marsha 15:32 Yeah, right. Kelly 15:33 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Marsha 15:35 And it's much better. I'm doing okay, Kelly, I'm drawing a complete blank. What's the technique called where you have the long circular needle? Magic loop! Oh, my God. Okay, now I remember that. Magic loop. [laughing] I'm doing that and that's pretty easy. The body was I was kind of struggling with it. I finally put it on long a longer cable and it seemed easier, you know, having a longer cable for some reason. They seem like they slide it slid better along the needles. I don't know why that would be. Kelly 16:06 Well, maybe because they're just not so tight. I don't know. Marsha 16:09 Yeah, maybe. I don't know. It was interesting, too. This is, I don't think I mentioned this in the other episodes that the, I've mentioned, the name of the yarn is this Navia or Neyvia? tradition. But it's from the Faroe Islands. Oh, and I, which I had forgotten. And when I looked at the label, later on, I realized that and when I washed it, it kind of bloomed. It's still a woolly wool. You know, you definitely would want to wear this over like a flannel shirt or something. But it's, it feels a little softer having been washed. A lot of dye came out of this yarn, too. This is a bright green and a lot the water it just--the water was almost the color of the yarn. It really lost a lot of dye Kelly 16:58 Did it fade? Marsha 17:02 It didn't fade. It had excess dye. Which might affect the feel of the yarn.It had excess dye in there. So it feels it feels different. It's it's never gonna, I mean it's softer. It's never gonna be a soft yarn at all. Kelly 17:20 right Marsha 17:20 I mean, you're always gonna have to wear a shirt, you know, under this, but, and it kind of bloomed. It's very hairy, kind of. It's really it's really nice yarn. And I think it's gonna be super durable, too. Kelly 17:34 You'll have to put a picture in your project page, as I'm looking at your project page right now and you just have the wreath. I guess you'll need to take some more pictures now that it's been blocked and flattened. So you can actually see it's a sweater. Marsha 17:49 Yeah, I'll do that. And I'll put the sleeve in there too. I did think I was talking to Mark and we were talking about the sweater and I said this sweater is going to be the kind of sweater that you wear to the beach. You wear it when you work in the garden. I mean this is gonna be a working sweater. Just like, remember the sweater that you made for gardening at 90? Kelly 18:09 Yeah, Marsha 18:11 Yes. And I said to him, You cannot-- you not cannot save this sweater for something nice. Not, you know, I don't just mean to abuse it because you never abuse anything but it's not going to be a fine sweater that you save. You go out and you chop wood in this sweater. Actually it would be too hot chopping wood. You go sit outside Kelly 18:34 during Snowmageddon in this sweater. [laughing] Marsha 18:36 Yep. Anyway, no this--it's like it's a working sweater is what it is. Kelly 18:45 Yeah, nice. That'll be really nice. Anyway, looking forward to see to seeing it. Marsha 18:51 So that's all I really have to report. I've not picked up my socks and not picked up my simple shawl at all. So nothing to report on those. Kelly 18:57 All right. I had thought the last time we recorded that I would get the blanket finished. The Faye's Flower blanket, that Persian Tile Blanket, by the next episode because I wanted to be able to talk about it but I did not. I've been screaming along on my other project. So the sweater. The blanket is just still sitting with not very much left to do in terms of sewing it together but then quite a bit of edging to do but none of that happened so I probably shouldn't even be talking about it. But what I have done, worked a lot on, is the the sweater that I'm making out of handspun it's... The pattern for that sweater is called Dark Green Forest. And it's by Christina Korber-Rieth or Reith, I think is the way it's pronounced and it has that square... What did you call it? Sailor collar? Marsha 20:04 Mm hmm. Kelly 20:05 Which I think is the right way to describe it. Saddle shoulders with the cable. Anyway, I am all the way down to the pockets. In fact, I'm right now I'm working on it. I'm on the third of the honeycomb cables that goes down the pocket. So I think I have maybe... 2-4-6? I maybe have about six or eight more rows to go before the pockets are finished. Marsha 20:37 Wow! Kelly 20:37 I know! Yeah. I'm excited about how fast it's going. And so then once I finished the pocket... Its top down. So once I once I finished the pocket, or you know, the body down to the bottom of the pockets. I think there's a there's no ribbing at the bottom. I should have looked. Let me just check here. Yeah, there's the regular, you know, the the ribbing on the front band. Oh, yeah, there is a ribbing at the bottom of this sweater. So the pocket cables, open up into a ribbing. So that's all that will be left. Once I finished the pocket. All that will be left is the ribbing on this on this sweater. And then of course finishing the sleeves. Marsha 21:32 So I guess I'm not understanding. Are the pockets are knit separately and attached to the sewn on front of.. the front side of the sweater or is that pocket the front side and there's a piece in the back? Kelly 21:45 Yeah, I'll have to go in the back and make the back part of the pocket. Oh, you open up a slit. Marsha 21:54 And okay, I do have to say I have never made-- I've never made pockets before. Kelly 21:56 I haven't either. Well, no, that's not true. I made pockets in the orcas run sweater. That's the only sweater that I put pockets in. But I did make pockets there. I do have to talk about something odd in this pattern. Not, not bad. Just it cracks me up. I don't understand it. You do the colla, gotten done with the collar and the yoke, the yoke of the sweater, you're into the body. So you divide it for the sleeves, separated the body and the sleeves. And then you get into the step that's called "finish the body." Step six. So you do like three and a half inches under the... after the underarm after you split. And then it says, "set this aside and prepare the pocket edgings." And I thought well, that's weird, because the pockets aren't until you get to the bottom of the sweater. So I was confused about why you would do that. I read it like, I don't think I have to set this aside now and do the pocket edgings. So when I got to the place where I needed to put in the pockets, I went to do the pocket edgings the pocket edgings are literally four rows of ribbing that you then attach. You like split for the pocket. And then on the-- you put some of the stitches-- at the top, you put some of the stitches at the top of the pocket hole on waste yarn, and then the bottom of the pocket hole you attach this ribbing so that it kind of the ribbing kind of pokes up above where the hole of the pocket will be. Marsha 23:32 Mm hmm. Kelly 23:32 Why would you set aside your sweater at the armholes, do four rows of ribbing twice, then set them aside? If you're me, something that small could actually get lost doing it so much..so early. Like, I don't understand it! Marsha 23:53 because you don't need it for I mean, how many more inches? Kelly 23:55 For another like 12 inches? Or ten inches at the least. Marsha 24:00 I have a... I have a theory, okay. Maybe it's like, you know, when you're doing socks, you know, you do the ribbing and you do like top down, you do the ribbing. You do the ankles, you know the length of thing and then just as you're getting bored and sick of that you start doing the heel flap, maybe and then we and then when you get tired of all that detail of heel flap, turning the heel, the gusset Oh, you get to back go back to that mindless stuff. Kelly 24:27 Maybe it's to give you a break. Maybe. Yeah, maybe. My original thought was that it was to prevent you from you know, have you do it early so that you wouldn't just skip the pockets because you were afraid do you have enough yarn. But they're only four rows. I mean, this would not even get you... four little rows. This wouldn't even get you... this much yarn wouldn't even get you one round. Right? It wouldn't even get you all the way around the sweater. Marsha 24:56 Yeah, maybe it's a joke. Yeah. It's maybe the pattern designer thinks, You know what, I'm going to mess with you! Kelly 25:03 Yeah. She's messing with my mind. Because literally, that when you get to the body, you work three and a quarter inches like this. And this is for all sizes, you work three and a quarter inches after the armhole. You know, after separating. That's step 6A and finish the body. And step 6B is prepare pocket edgings. And then you go to Step 6C and that's when you do your shaping and knit for rows and rows and rows and rows and rows and rows and rows before you get to the pockets. It's a mystery. But, but I did them when I needed them put them on. They look great. Because I always like everything I knit, right?[laughing] It all looks great. So I'm really happy with this. I'm really happy with the progress. It's going really fast. Seems like it's going really fast. So yeah, I'm loving this handspun sweater it's going to be another one of those sweaters, I think, that gets a lot of that gets a lot of wear. Marsha 26:08 Mm hmm. Kelly 26:09 The only other thing I've been working on....Oh, let me just say a little bit about this. I will put some information in the show notes about the two different sheep breeds that I'm working with. Since it is the Summer Spin In. I put some information... But this is CVM. And that stands for California Variegated Mutant, which is the multicolored version of the Romeldale. Remember the judge Mark Eidman. I think his first name was Mark, Marsha 26:41 Who just passed away? Kelly 26:43 The one who passed away. It was his father who discovered some colored lambs that were appearing in his Romeldale flock, and instead of culling them they actually bred them for the color. And so that's where the California Variegated Mutant comes from. And I have a CVM fleece in the garage, it's a darker than this one, it's more of a, it's more of a dark gray. This one was more of a beige that I overdyed. But I really like it. It's not, you know, they call it a fine wool. I wouldn't say it's like, a super fine, at least not this one. It's not a super fine wool. It's a little it's a little more fine than like a Corriedale. It's gonna be a nice sweater, and I like CVM to spin. And then the other thing that I have been spinning is Oxford. And I have a little bit of information about the Oxford sheep also. They were imported into the US in the 1840s. And it says that it's one of the largest breeds of sheep, only surpassed by the Lincoln. Although this fleece was quite small. I think it was quite small. It's probably about five or six pounds. And that's I mean, if I when I bought a Lincoln fleece, they've been bigger than that. So skirted heavily, or maybe a smaller or younger Oxford sheep. I don't... it didn't say lamb, but it was in the market class, I'm pretty sure. Anyway. The staple length is one to two inches, which is true. That's what I'm finding in this, this fleece that I have. So it's one of the livestock Conservancy breeds as well as the CVM is also a livestock Conservancy breed. So... but I've been spinning that I'm, I'm on my third bobbin. I decided to spin all my singles first and then ply them, which I hardly ever do. But I still was kind of undecided. Remember, I talked last time about how the three ply seemed too tight. I mean, that's kind of silly, because I can just ply it more loosely. That's not a characteristic of three ply, so much as it is a characteristic of my spinning. So I'm still, I'm still debating whether I'll make a two ply or a three ply with this. But if I do a three ply, I want to experiment and, you know, ply it loosely. I don't want to ply this really, really tight. I want it to be kind of a fluffy, fluffy yarn. So I have enough bobbins, I think, that I can just spin the... well maybe not the rest of this, but I can at least spin four bobbins and then I can either ply three of them together or I can ply them two and two so I think that's what I'm planning to do is spin four bobbins and then decide whether I'm going to make a two ply or or three ply. So yeah, I'm I'm making good progress on that spinning, it's a little bit boring because it's a white. It's a white fleece. I think I'll dye the yarn when I'm done. Well, that's it for my projects, Marsha. I know that you aren't going to talk about a certain part of your house, but you were doing some cleaning out. And I have a question about that. So you posted on Instagram that you were taking two big garbage bags full of yarn to destash at the Goodwill. And I just thought it would be interesting to hear, like, how did you decide what you were going to get rid of? Marsha 30:42 Well, it actually was pretty easy. I'll tell you what I got rid of. It was spirit yarn that I got from the Goodwill. Kelly 30:50 Okay, Marsha 30:50 Those days when I would go to the Goodwill. I have used some of it. Like, for example, I remember I was getting all kinds of worsted weight yarns for that Afghan that I made that I used my dad's old sweater then took apart and combined it with other yarn. Kelly 31:09 Yeah. Marsha 31:10 So a lot of that worsted weight Goodwill yarn went into that. Kelly 31:14 Yeah, it wasn't that wasn't that blanket, like five pounds or something? I remember you weighed it. You went to the pet store or the vet. Yeah. [laughing] Marsha 31:19 Yeah. Yes. I went to the vet to use their scale. Because my scale wouldn't hold it. It wasn't big-- you know, the scale, my bathroom scale wasn't big enough to hold it. But I and then I still kept a lot of that worsted weight yarn that I got at the Goodwill because my plan was to make an afghan for my brother. And I'm still determined to do it. If I don't do it in the next couple of years, then I'm going to have to just get rid of that yarn. Kelly 31:47 Oh, okay. Marsha 31:48 And then a lot of it came from the destash room. So if Gayle and Charlene and Barb and Tracy are listening to this... Do you remember the first year we went to the knockers retreat? And I could not believe! I could not believe people were giving away yarn for free, I could not believe it. And I was like going in there and like, feeling guilty that I was taking it and they're all laughing at us because we-- I was sneaking in there Every time I left the room. Kelly 32:15 Every time you couldn't see Marsha it was like, Oh, where's Marsha? I bet she's in the destash room. Marsha 32:24 Well, here's my takeaway. There's a reason why all that yarn was at the Goodwill. And there's a reason why it was all in the destash room. But I was just, you know, I was so excited. And I had all these possibilities of things I was gonna make and how could anybody possibly get rid of it? It's so wonderful. And I have used a lot of it. I have to say I did use a lot of that yarn. Kelly 32:48 Yeah. Marsha 32:50 And there's some things I did. But I thought, you know, I've not used it in how many years? And I have so much yarn that I purchased at Stitches, and yarn crawls, and two trips to Scotland and a trip to Iceland. And I'd rather be knitting with that yarn, that I've invested money and it's beautiful yarn. Kelly 33:12 Yeah. Marsha 33:12 And so I thought it was pretty easy decision to make... to decide. But I did think it was funny people's reactions to the Instagram post about what I was getting rid of. Because one person's comment was, "Is it wrong that I'm trying to read the labels?" So funny. [laughing] And somebody also wanted to know what Goodwill I was dropping it off at, you know. And then it was interesting, on--because I have it set up when I post something on Instagram it posts to Facebook. And there was one woman that commented that-- I can't remember how she worried but basically, oh, that I've reached that age where? Because I think my comment in my post was-- and I was joking. I truly was joking when I said this-- I won't live long enough to knit all that yarn. She really thought.. like her response was, Oh, you've reached that age where... and that, you know, I'm preparing for my death by clearing out my house so that my heirs won't have to deal with it. And it's like, okay, I never--that is not what I was thinking at all.[laughing] That is not at all what I was thinking I don't consider myself to be that age. I just tried to lighten my load and I somebody else should have it. Kelly 34:35 Yeah, who who is this person? A friend? A friend would not consider you to be old! [laughing] Marsha 34:44 Anyway, so it was... that was amusing to me that comment because that's not how I see it. You know, I was really... I guess you have to be careful. what I think is funny is not what other people think! Kelly 34:56 Right? Marsha 34:57 Or some people think when I say things I think are funny, they take it literally like I'm preparing for my death. Kelly 35:04 Right, right. Well, thinking about the the feeling of being so excited about all the yarn at the destash room at the NoCKRs retreat and how there's a reason some things are in destash. I remember when I was doing the Master Gardener class and they started having, cutting, you know, cutting giveaways and seed giveaways, and they started encouraging us to bring things that we were...you know, bring cuttings and so they'll put stuff out in the patio, and oh my gosh, it was like, you had to be careful not to get elbowed in the ribs or, or knocked aside, when all these gardeners would just, like, practically make a run for the patio. And, I mean, honestly, it looked like a bunch of yard waste. [laughing] Marsha 36:02 Yeah, Kelly 36:02 You know, I mean, that's literally what it was, was people's yard waste. And, and, and I just... I was right in there, you know, getting excited and throwing elbows to get my thing that I needed. And then I found out about this cutting day that they had in Monterey and I went to that and I got some of that, you know, some of the stuff that people were giving away and when you plant it, you realize why they're giving it away. Like not not that they're getting rid of it out of their yard. Marsha 36:36 Mm hmm. Kelly 36:37 But the reason that they can give you all these cuttings is that it's super invasive and spreading all over, they have to dig it up every year to get rid of some of it. Like Alstroemeria was one of them that, you know, there was just always always somebody bringing Alstroemeria And anyway, I don't have to go into all the... Marsha 37:02 I have it in my alley. That alstromeria in the alley and is it just takes over you know, yeah, it takes over. Yeah. Kelly 37:09 Which is good in some settings, but, it's just kind of funny that it's the same, you know. Yeah, free plants. Destashing plants causes the same sort of frenzy. Marsha 37:23 The other thing I was gonna say about the NoCKRs retreat, and that was the first time I experienced that people are just giving this yarn away and my... But many of the attendees didn't even go in the room. Right? Or they went in the room to put their stuff there and they never went in, or they just go in there casually look. And, and I really, but now I understand. They were able to do because they have so much at home, but they could exercise restraint, probably because they had so much. Kelly 37:52 And maybe had done the same kind of clearing-- done the same thing. Marsha 37:56 Yeah. So I'm sure at the time, people were like, Oh, yes, she will learn. Kelly 38:02 Right, right Marsha 38:03 Give her a few years. And she will learn! Kelly 38:05 Yeah, everybody's at a little bit different, different stage in that in that process. Marsha 38:11 Yeah. But I will say though, I did order plastic boxes. Well, I should say I had all my yarn in, you know, these plastic like drawers. I got them at the Goodwill. And when my stash... and I had one and then a my stash got a little bigger and then I found another one, it got bigger. So they're all from the Goodwill. Anyway, I just pulled all the yarn out. And the stuff that I decided I was going to keep I just temporarily put it in paper bags labeled it and then I ordered plastic bins and those arrived actually just yesterday. And so last night I started putting my yarn in there and then I'm gonna be... because some of the...I will say some of the wool, one batch, like a sweater quantities worth of yarn, actually, I discovered had some moth damage. So I I just threw that in the garbage. And I didn't even give that away. I just threw it in the garbage. And then I... so I have cedar and lavender which I'm going to put in those bins to protect it somewhat. It'll be much easier to see what I have, too, because some of the bins were clear. Some of them that I had before, and some were not clear. It was in bags, it was just all kind of random. So now it's going to be much more organized and I can actually can see what I have, visually being able to see everything every time I go down into that place in the house because I can't say the word. Both 39:39 [laughing] Marsha 39:45 Oh no, I'll call it the cellar. There we go! When I go down to the cellar. I think then it it'll be reinforcement. No you don't need to buy anymore. I really don't need to buy any. So like I'm going to show up at NoCKRs... Kelly 39:58 We'll check back! Marsha 39:59 Yes, I'm going to show up at at Stitches when it happens again. And when Black Sheep happens again, I'm going to show up, but I am really going to try not to buy anything because I seriously have enough yarn. And it's a crime to just buy something and put it in your stash and not use it, I need to use it. It's not a crime, that's too harsh, right? Kelly 40:20 It's just, it would be nice to use it. if it's a crime. everyone listening to this is a criminal. [laughing] Marsha 40:29 That's true. That's too harsh. It's not a crime, but it'd be nice to knit with it, you know? So anyway, Kelly 40:36 And if you truly aren't going to knit with it ever, and you know, you're not going to ever get to it, then yes, it is. It's time to get rid of it. It's the whole, you know, I mean, that's what all those seed packets and cuttings represented. And that's what yarn in the destash room represents. It's like, hope and possibility. You know, I can... I mean, I still have that have that feeling about some yarn that's been sitting in my stash forever. And like, really? Is there still a possibility or a hope that I'm gonna use it? Um, yeah, maybe? Marsha 41:16 Yeah, I think that's hope. And I think also a lot of it, I was just inspired by it. Oh, just, you know, oh, this is... I have these ideas about what I was going to do with it. And it'll go to somebody else's idea. So, right. Well, and what about you? I see we have a note here about fiber books. Kelly 41:37 Yeah, I still...So there's the inside studio, it's been painted, there's a bookcase there now. Actually, yarn shelving that, you know, that was was put in. It's still not painted, but I've got my stuff on it. But the boxes of stuff that came out of there, I still haven't put away. They're still sitting in the living room. And I was looking at them the other day thinking, Okay, I've got to do something with this. And, you know, there's not enough room on the shelf, the shelf unit, to put the books and the yarn. So now I have to make decisions about about books and, and some of them are not knitting books. And those are going to be hard, hard decisions to make. But I have a whole box...probably box and a half maybe--of fiber books. And so I just have to figure out what I'm going to do with them and whether I'm going to destash them. What am I going to keep. Marsha 42:39 Do you look at them? Kelly 42:43 Some of them. Yes. Like, I know for sure I have the book. It's old. It's called Socks, Socks, Socks. And it's just a whole bunch of different sock patterns. I have. And I've made, I've made quite a few pairs of socks out of it. And then I used it a lot before I really was experienced knitting socks to know like, how many stitches should I cast on given the given the, you know, the height of the sock or the type of yarn, you know, I go and look at the cast ons for the different socks to know how many stitches I should cast on before I just kind of got to the point where I just know what to cast on. But I think I'll keep that one because because I've used it so much. And so there's not just there's not just useful information in there and patterns that I might use again, or patterns that I might use. But there's memories about my early knitting days connected to that book. So like that book, I'll keep but I bought, I bought two really nice hardback books by Nicky Epstein of edgings. So one is called like knitting on the edge. And the other one is called something else. So there's, there's two different types of edging, I can't remember now. There's, like edgings that are part of the garment and edgings that you add to the garment. It's kind of like a stitch dictionary, but of edgings. And they're beautiful books. I've never looked at either one of them past, you know, just like flipping through when I first bought it and then flipping through when I put it in the box to put it away. And will I ever really use that to create an edging on something? And probably not, you know, but then I think oh, but there's so many really cool things I could do. And then I keep them so... And they're really pretty books. Marsha 44:35 And they're so small and you have a big house. Kelly 44:37 Oh, they're not small. These books are not small. They're a lot more like coffee table Marsha 44:40 They're big and you have a big house. Kelly 44:43 They're more I mean, they really are like the coffee table. They're an odd size. Actually they don't fit on the bookshelf there. They're like legal size length. sideways. Like they're oh they're wider than they are tall. So they're an odd shape. They don't fit on the bookcase. So they'll probably end up going, but but you know, there's a lot of things kind of in between that spectrum of I'll definitely keep this and, and these books are pretty, but I will never use them. Marsha 45:17 Yeah. Kelly 45:18 And so I have to make some decisions there about what I'm going to do with them. So I kind of don't want to even open the boxes. Because I know I mean, I know that the number of books that I can actually keep on that shelf is, is small. And they've been in boxes for like, two years. Three years, maybe. Yeah, I haven't missed them. Yeah, right. So yeah. And then I have the other books. I have a box of dog books. Dog Training books, dog picture books, dog breed books from, you know, the, when we had labs and water spaniel, and, and there's just too much emotional connection to all that stuff that I know I don't really want to think about it, but I don't need it. I clearly don't need those books. They've been in a box for a really long time. There's been only a very few that I've dug into the box to get. Marsha 46:24 Yeah. Well, I mean, I in terms of books, I have cookbooks, you know, my cookbooks. and then combined with my mother's cookbooks, and I some were duplicates. So I got rid of duplicates, obviously. But... Kelly 46:39 And those are possibilities and hopes of what you could cook. Marsha 46:42 Exactly. And and I you know...But there's I don't know, like I...the truth is, honestly, there's just certain cookbooks, I make stuff out of all the time I go back to. The rest, I don't really look at that much. And then a lot of times I get inspiration. It's like, Oh, I have these ingredients. What can I make out of it? And I just do a little Google search. Right? And so I'm actually using the internet a lot more. Kelly 47:10 Yeah, Marsha 47:10 but I....ugh... someday. I'm not ready. Kelly 47:14 Right, right. Marsha 47:14 I'll go through them and get rid of things. Kelly 47:16 Yeah. But you have a...you have a bookcase for them. Right? They're all sitting on the shelves. Marsha 47:22 Yeah, they're all in the library. Kelly 47:25 I knew when I got rid of those shelves, that I was gonna have to get rid of a lot of books. And I did. But it's gonna take me several rounds of destashing to get rid of the number of books that I need to get rid of. Because they're just... there's... Yeah, there's some emotion attached to them. So... Marsha 47:45 Well. All in good time. Kelly 47:47 Yeah, yeah, that's true. That is true. The the closet behind me got cleaned out. I don't know if I was talking about that I wanted to do that. But the closet behind me here in the... where I record, the dressing room in the other bedroom? We got that cleaned out and I got it put back together, there's a lot of room in there now. I could put the boxes of books in there and not think about them for another three or four years. [laughing] And at which time that I might be ready to get rid of them. We'll see. Marsha 48:20 So I just... I just... as we're talking about this, I'm just thinking about emotional attachment to books. And I I've gotten rid of pretty much all of Ben's books that he had when he was a little kid you read to him and he had a lot of books because I worked in a bookstore, right? So I would just buy stuff, which I realize now in hindsight, I should have just gotten them from the library. But there were some books that I hung on to because I loved reading them to him so much. And all this whole series of books by the author Bill Peet. Do you know him? Kelly 48:53 That doesn't ring a bell, no. Marsha 48:56 Last name is P-e-e-t. And he was the author illustrator of these books. And I love the the art, the illustrations, I love them. And then the stories were great. Like there was-- Ella was one of them. And Ella was an elephant from the circus. And she she lives in... she was very pampered. And she got a little bit too big for her head and decided to to leave. Run away from the circus. So she runs away from the circus. And she gets captured by a farmer who realizes that this is really great to have this elephant you can work on the farm, to work on the farm. And it's a story basically, you know, sort of be grateful for what you have, because it's not necessarily greener on the other side. So there's that story. There's another one that we loved to read called is Jennifer and Josephine. And now I can't remember which one was which. I think Jennifer was a cat. And she lived in this old car. Kelly 49:57 Oh, I see the illustrations. I went to his website. And I'm looking at the illustrations, so cool. Marsha 50:02 Yeah, anyway, Jennifer and Josephine and I think Jennifer, as I say, was the cat. And Josephine was the car. And it's like an old Model T. The cat, this is her home, and some salesman comes and buys the car, and they throw some new tires on it. And Josephine is shocked that she's now being driven. She's been sitting for years in this junkyard, and the cat's distressed and driving crazy and the salesman is just a horrible person. He treats Josephine the car terrible, he doesn't realize the cat's in the car. And he crashes the the car, and it goes into the river. And so the cat goes and sees a farm, goes to the farm and gets... draws attention...A little girl, the farmer's daughter goes out and finds the car, tells the dad. The dad comes and gets the car and pulls the car out of the river. Saves the car, saves the cat. They're excited to have this cat now. And he's excited to have this car because he couldn't afford a car. So he he now fixes the car up and Josephine the car is super happy because she's never driven over 15 miles an hour. I don't know. They're such charming stories. He was so charming. Anyway, I'm going off on this, telling about these stories, about the this author Bill Peet but I used to read those to Ben all the time. And there was another one Lyle, Lyle Crocodile. Kelly 51:42 Oh, yeah. Marsha 51:42 I don't remember the author. But Lyle is a crocodile that lives in New York City in a bathtub in some family's apartment. And he's very erudite and and is a good conversationalist. And that people invite him to tea parties and cocktail parties and stuff. This crocodile. And we would read those all the time. And so when I moved, I had saved those books to come to the house. And there's bags of books to go to the Goodwill and of course, you're ahead of me. Mark took them all to the Goodwill. All the Bill Peet books are gone and Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile are gone. And I was devastated. I'm still kind of devastated by it. Now the reality is, am I ever going to read those books again? Probably not. Kelly 52:27 And some child is getting to read them. Marsha 52:30 Yes, exactly. Kelly 52:31 Which is what books should have. A book that's not being read is sad. Marsha 52:36 Yeah. Right. Kelly 52:37 I mean, I don't know if books actually feel sadness. But... Marsha 52:41 You know, anyway, they were just...Maybe what I should do is just go out and buy a copy of Ella and Jennifer and Josephine, because those were kind of my two favorite from that. Those books anyway, of that from that author, anyway, Kelly 52:55 Well, I'll put the pages in the show notes. Okay, because I was just looking at the pictures while you were talking. And they are. They are really cute. Very cute. Marsha 53:10 And since we're talking about it, since I was not planning on making a book recommendation, but I here's that that was a recommendation. I've been watching Netflix and working on Mark's sweater. And I watched a documentary the other day, which I just wanted to mention that because I thought it was really interesting. And it's called, people have probably heard of this. But if you haven't, it's called This Changes Everything. And it's a documentary made by the actress Gina Davis. It says here in 2004, Davis launched the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which works collaboratively with the entertainment industry to dramatically increase the presence of female characters and media. So this documentary talks about her, why she started this institute. And then different actresses' experiences female directors' experiences trying to make it in the film industry. And how most media are... a lot of the entertainment that we watch in the United States and around the world is coming out of Hollywood and how women are portrayed on film. And how... so it's it's an excellent documentary, and I highly recommend it. It's really good. I will say the one thing that sort of...At the end of the film...One of the things they talk about is how difficult it is for women directors to get jobs, directing films. And they actually have lists of when studios are going to make a film. They have lists of directors that they pass around that you know who's made it. This is who you want to consider first, this is who you would consider second. If none of those are are available, way down the bottom of the list are these, are the people you might want to consider. And one of the women--who is way, the only woman on the list--who was way down at the bottom was Kathryn Bigelow, who won an Academy Award for The Hurt Locker. So she's an Academy Award winning director, but she's at the bottom of the list, right? Because men are getting the these jobs. Anyway, this does not take away from how good the documentary is. But at the end, I'm reading the credits. And you know who directed the documentary? Kelly 55:24 A man? Marsha 55:25 Some guy named Tom! And I'm like, I'm sorry, what? Kelly 55:34 Oh, yeah. Marsha 55:36 Now, that doesn't take away from it really, because it was an excellent, excellent series or documentary. I recommend it because it really sort of opened your eyes to how women are portrayed in film and in television shows. And how many women who when they do get a chance, how much money they're making for the industry. Kelly 55:54 Yeah. Marsha 55:56 Interesting. You know, but they still selected the man. Not to take away from the man either right? He did a great job, but it's just humorous to me. But anyway, I'll put a link in there. Kelly 56:09 That'd be good. Marsha 56:10 What else we got going on here? Are you going anywhere at all? Or? Kelly 56:13 Well, in August, I am going to be at the San Francisco International Pen Show. Marsha 56:21 Yeah, who knew? Kelly 56:22 I know. Well, you know, they have a conference for everything. Marsha 56:28 Right. Mm hmm. Kelly 56:30 I'm sure that the pen people would be surprised that there's something called Stitches. Marsha 56:35 Yes. Right. Kelly 56:36 So I'm going to go check it out and see, see what that... see what that world is like. And I'll be there on the Saturday. It's in Redwood City, which is actually south of San Francisco. That's actually really nice. It's it'll be an even an easier drive to get there. But yeah, we're planning to-- planning to go and take a look at the the pens and if any of our listeners are going, also planning to go to the Pen Show I'd love to love to see you will have to let me know. Marsha 57:13 Say Kelly, pens don't take up very much space in your house! Kelly 57:17 Yeah. But you know, what's funny, is, you know, the the sock yarn skein that you buy the souvenir sockyarn? Apparently, in the pen world, the equivalent of that is ink. I saw an ink cupboard on Instagram yesterday. Like, oh my gosh, that is definitely more ink than you could use in a lifetime. I mean, because every time you you put your put ink in your pen, I don't know, three to five milliliters, I think. And these, you know, jars of ink are like 20 milliliters, 30 milliliters, some of them are like 70 milliliters. Marsha 58:06 Wow. Kelly 58:07 So definitely more ink than you could use. It's definitely an ink collection. As opposed to a stash of ink for use, I think. But yeah, you know, because you can buy a bottle of ink depending on the ink you can buy a bottle of ink for you know 10 bucks. Whereas a pen Marsha 58:26 Cheaper than... cheaper than yarn! Kelly 58:29 And, and then you know, some of the pens are some of the pens are quite inexpensive. Some Chinese fountain pens are quite inexpensive, they're you know, their pens, you definitely... you can get for under $20. But a lot of pens are more expensive than that. And so yeah, if you don't have... if you can't satisfy your collection urge by buying a pen, you can get a souvenir. You can get a souvenir bottle of ink wherever you go. So anyway, that's on my that's on my agenda for August. And I'm really looking forward. Really looking forward to it. Marsha 59:12 Yeah, it'll be fun. Kelly 59:15 It'll be interesting to see another, you know, another world. So another hobby world. Marsha 59:22 Mm hmm. Kelly 59:23 But my box of pens, my one cigar box that I converted into a pen box is full. And so I'm calling my collection complete. Marsha 59:34 But I happen to know that you have more than one cigar box. [laughing] Kelly 59:36 I do. Yes. And actually. Well and that Mark. Mark did yeah, I have three of them. So but only one of them has been outfitted to hold the pen so far. Yeah, but we did go to dinner with a work friend the other night and he gave me, he gave me a Chinese fountain pen that he had, like, Oh, this is really nice. And he's like, yeah, I think it was about five bucks. And I can't believe you bought this pen for only $5. He's like, why don't you take it? So, so in full confession, I do have one pen that doesn't fit in the box. So I could start a second box, but I will not do that anytime soon. So, but I might find something that I like at the pen show. We'll see. Yeah, yeah, I'll definitely bring home a souvenir bottle of ink Marsha 1:00:39 Well, I guess the last thing that we need to talk about Kelly is the summer spin in. Just to remind people it's going on. And it... we just have about a month to go before it ends. Labor Day, which is September sixth. We'll have some prizes from Three Green Sisters. And we'll have more details. But... Kelly 1:00:59 Yeah, and I have also some fiber from Sincere Sheep. That will be... I never took a picture of it and put it up on the thread. But I also bought some fiber from sincere sheep. That'll be our prize too. Marsha 1:01:11 Okay. All right. Yeah. So keep spinning. Yes. All right. Well have fun at the pen show! Well, I'll talk to you before that. Kelly 1:01:17 Yeah, it's not till the end of August. We'll record again. Marsha 1:01:19 Yeah. Yeah. Okay, well, then I will let you go so you can get out there and start spinning. Kelly 1:01:24 All right. Marsha 1:01:26 All righty. Kelly 1:01:26 Bye bye. Thank you so much for listening. To subscribe to the podcast visit Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Marsha 1:01:34 Join us on our adventures on Ravelry and Instagram. I am betterinmotion and Kelly is 1hundredprojects. Both 1:01:41 Until next time, we're the two ewes doing our part for world fleece. Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Jul 12, 2021

Wool fiber carding and preparation is our topic in this episode as our Summer Spin In continues. Current spinning and knitting projects along with a couple of rants are also on the program! Show notes with full transcript, photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects I frogged the foot of my Drops Fabel sock, turned the heel and I am knitting the gusset. Picked up a long dormant shawl called Simple Shawl by Jane Hunter that I started in March 2018. Using Michael CWD in the colorway San Francisco Fog. Cast on the pullover Atlas by Jared Flood for my brother. The yarn I'm using is Navia Tradition . My gauge is 20st/4" instead of 24st/4" so I am making the smallest size. I have knit about 7" of the body, excluding the ribbing. Because I cast on with a provisional cast on and the body is all stockinette it is very curly. It looks like a holiday wreath! In the last episode, I mentioned that the color work chart distinguishes "dominant" color and I was guessing what this meant. Thank goodness for YouTube and Jared Flood who has a great video explaining why we want to pick a dominant color and the technique for doing this. I'm still spinning on my green/brown merino. Hidden Brain : This is the link to the website. Then search for the episode, "Why We Hold Onto Things" from May 31, 2021. I was unable to put a direct link to the episode. Kelly's Projects I finished carding about 400 grams of Oxford batts and sampled them. Yes, actually sampled! I made two small skeins of about 20 g each. One is 2 ply and the other is 3-ply. Since the fleece was slightly sticky I used boiled water to put in the wash bowl and they both washed up nicely. I like the 2 ply best. It is softer and fluffier. I now have a full bobbin of singles all spun up. Here is the project page for this handspun . I started a handspun sweater! I am using a new pattern called Dark Green Forest (Ravelry link) by Christina Körber-Reith. She also has the patterns at her website, Strickhauzeit . Her website also has both measuring/fitting and bust dart tutorials. Summer Spin In Topics Don't forget your tetanus shot! From Nathalie (SuperKip) Two additions that might be helpful: Don't prep fleece when you're pregnant (toxoplasmosis is a danger) For 'rescue'-fleeces, a flick-carder is also very helpful, this also gets rid of many waste types of yarn. Carding Fiber preparation tools: Hand cards, flick carder, mini combs, combs, drum carder, blending board Hand Carding with Beth Smith Spin Off Free Guide to Wool Carding and Combing Skirting How to Skirt a Fleece by the Spinning Loft How to Skirt a Fleece Video by Rayne Fiber Arts Mill processing Fiber Shed Mill Inventory Producer Directory Fiber Prep Ravelry Group: Fleece Processor List Mendocino Wool and Fiber Valley Oak Wool Mill Morro Fleece Works Full Transcript Marsha 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha Kelly 0:04 and this is Kelly. Marsha 0:05 We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at toTwo Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Kelly 0:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects, Marsha 0:29 and I am betterinmotion. Kelly 0:31 We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Both 0:35 Enjoy the episode. Marsha 0:43 Good morning, Kelly. Kelly 0:44 Good morning, Marsha. Marsha 0:45 Well, how are you today? Kelly 0:47 I'm doing fine. I'm out in the trailer. I've been complaining about how cold it is here. It's in the 60s again, again every day. Well, not right now it's less than that here now. But I'm wearing an undershirt, a long sleeve shirt, a flannel shirt. And on top of the flannel shirt I have a shirt jacket that will probably come off as we go. But it's cold here. Marsha 1:19 Well, it's cool today. I don't know what the temperature is. But it's it's overcast. And the wind is blowing. It's very cool. And I but I have to say I'm not complaining. It feels very nice. After that hot hot weather we had Kelly 1:29 Yeah. Marsha 1:30 It was like 110. Like, I still, even now two weeks later, people are still like how'd you do with that heat, right. But everybody's asking, but so it's nice. And it's overcast and breezy and cool. But that's how it was yesterday morning. And then it turned out to be a beautiful day it was actually quite warm. So yeah, sort of typical for us is cool, and overcast and sort of misty in the morning. And then Kelly 1:55 Yeah, it's been wet almost every morning here for the last week. So it's been cold in the house. And of course I'm not going to-- I am not running the heater in July. That's ridiculous. Marsha 2:10 I don't know if they have this in other parts of the country. But there's a group in in Seattle, all the neighborhoods have a group in this way. It's called Buy Nothing. And it's basically where you can't sell anything. You just post everything out for free. So I've been posting up things like yesterday, well, the one that I thought was so interesting is--I think I got it as a Christmas gift years ago.It's a, it's for grilling, it's a fork, but also has a thermometer in it. Like 10 people wanted it. So I just had to pick somebody. And then other stuff nobody wants, you know, but it's kind of fun. I mean, you know, Kelly, remember you were talking about in front of your house, because you do live on a high traffic street. You just were putting stuff out in front and then and then it was fun to see how fast it went. And then you started going around looking for things to give away. It's kind of like, it's like now I'm very motivated. And I'll tell you why I'm motivated in a second. But anyway, someone's coming today to pick up--I have an old ice cream maker, you know that we had probably in the 60s, right? That we used to make ice cream. It's the hand crank kind that you put ice in and the rock salt and stuff. And so and she's all-- this woman is super excited about it, because she's gonna use it for their Campfire or Girl Scout troop to make ice cream, which is really fun that's going to get used, right? Kelly 3:33 Yeah. Marsha 3:33 it's it's kind of fun. It's a little addictive. And you know how I am. For years, I've had such a hard time getting rid of stuff. But people are so excited about it. You know, and this other woman, you know, she's excited because I just posted up-- I have a, you know, a large, really large stainless steel mixing bowl. And I posted that up and she's like, Oh, I'm a baker. And I said I'm a baker too, you know. So I thought maybe I'll meet my neighbors this way. Because it's just, you have to be in a certain block radius. So, um, so probably I think it's, I think it's nationwide. Kelly 4:11 I don't know. Marsha 4:13 So I will... let me just say why I'm doing this as is. You know I've...as you know, the listeners now I have my house that I've had in Ballard for many years. I'm getting that ready to rent. I moved into the house I was growing up in. I've had to combine two households. And I've done really well getting rid of stuff. But there was that last stuff that you know, that you hang on to. You think maybe I'll use it, right? Maybe I will make ice cream in the hand crank ice cream maker. And I've been thinking that for how many years? My mother had it in her basement and I thought it's never going to happen. So and if I do get a wild hair that I am, I will go buy one again but I'm probably never going to miss that thing. So I'm...and I had a...Yeah, there's all kinds of things I'm getting rid of and little things but they'll just make space and so I'm now motivated. In the basement because... and Kelly you know this and people if you're following my Instagram feed, you probably know what I'm doing. But I took everything in the basement.. The basement is divided into half. One half is...there's a rec room with a fireplace and a bedroom. And the other half we always called it the dirty part of the basement. But that's where the washer and dryer is and the workbench and stuff, the furnace, hot water heater. So I took everything out of that dirty part of the basement and put it into the rec room. Then I had the wiring redone the plumbing redone for a new hot water heater, new washer dryer, new sink. And then we painted the walls because it was just bare concrete walls. Well actually, they've been painted with calcimite which is like, almost like a chalk like substance, and it doesn't... you can't paint over it. The paint just peels off, so I had to wash down all the walls. Scrub the floor, degrease the floor. So I painted the walls, the trim on the windows, I painted the floor... two coats of concrete paint on the floors. So now I... last night I started moving things back. But Kelly, did you look at my Instagram post this morning? Kelly 6:20 No. Marsha 6:21 I think I posted it last night of the shelving unit, Ben shaking it. He said they're not safe. So I ordered last night, I just saw that you can go and order and pay for stuff at Home Depot and just go pick it up. So I ordered it and I get a text in about 15 minutes that it's ready. So Ben went over and picked up the shelving units and we built three shelving units. So today after we finish recording, I'm going to now start putting things that I'm keeping back on the shelf. And my plan is, if it doesn't fit on those three shelving units I'm not keeping it. Kelly 6:55 Oh, that's a good idea. it will keep you honest Marsha 6:57 And my other plan . Yes, and this is my other rule. Nothing sits on the floor. If it sits on it, I can't keep it if it sits on the floor. It has to go up on a shelf. Is that a good plan? Kelly 7:11 Yeah. Marsha 7:12 Do you think it's attainable? Kelly 7:14 I don't know. We'll see. How many people want your free stuff? Marsha 7:22 Yeah. Kelly 7:26 Oh, my goodness. Yeah. Marsha 7:28 So anyway, and I will put a... Well I think I got kind of motivated too because pulling everything out... when I saw all of the stuff in the rec room my thought was, I'm one item away from being a hoarder. One more item and it might be at the tipping point. And then as Ben said to me, you know, a lot of stuff is not my stuff. A lot of it is stuff that is other people's stuff that I inherited. So like, I've talked about this before, but you know, 10 sets of dishes that were all inherited from various relatives that I didn't buy, I don't want them, but I now have them. And I don't know what to do with them. And so and then along those lines, having that conversation with Ben sort of motivated me. It did, it sort of did motivate me and then also, he recommended the podcast Hidden Brain. I think the show airs on NPR, but it also is in the form of a podcast and he had an episode and I will try and find a link to it. I forgotten the name of it. But it's something basically about why we keep things and a lot of times it has no monetary value but it has sentimental value. And how do you and how... Which is true. Like I have these...I talk about all these dishes I have. That old treadle sewing machine... things I don't necessarily want. But the people who gave them to me really wanted me to have them. My aunt really wanted me to have that treadle sewing machine but I don't use it. So it's silly to keep it but I feel sort of duty bound to keep it, you know, and all the family history and photographs. I don't want them. And so I've decided I'm going to contact other members of the family and see if they want them. So they can store them and not me. Kelly 9:18 You should just do like my aunt's have done and... Marsha 9:24 just put it on their porch... Kelly 9:27 Grab a batch of pictures, stick them in a bag and just either put them in the mail and send them or, well, like my my aunt will send something home with Aunt Betty or my mom drops something off when she comes here. It's like you start divesting yourself by giving the stuff to to other people. So yeah, like zucchini. You can just drop it on their porch. [laughing] Marsha 9:54 And you speed away. [laughing] Maybe I should put my family photos on Buy Nothing. if you want instant family. Kelly 10:02 Funny! Marsha 10:02 No, I just think... and like the other thing too is I have been saddled with things. I adored my aunt. I loved her, my dad's sister, but she did all the family history. And I have three banker boxes full of all of her research, two trunks full of photographs. And I don't know how many plastic bins full of photographs. And I got, well, chosen or saddled with the family history stuff. And I, the truth is, I don't really care that much. And I know that's terrible to say, because everybody's doing all this family research, but somebody else in the family who is more motivated and cares more than I care should probably do it because I... My aunt, I think thought I cared a lot more than I really cared about all the family history. So anyway, way too much information about what's going on here. But I'm in purge mode. Kelly 11:05 All right. Marsha 11:07 So, Kelly, yes. Should we talk about, like, fibery things now? Kelly 11:11 I think so. Marsha 11:12 Okay. Kelly 11:13 You're not purging any of that. Right? Marsha 11:19 Well, I know I'm not yet right. Not now. But I do need to figure out a different way of storing. Kelly 11:23 Well, that's a perpetual question. What do you do? Yeah. How do you store those? Yeah, yeah. Marsha 11:28 So let's get to projects. Do you want to go first? Kelly 11:31 Sure. I'll go first, because mine is short. Oh, first of all, Marsha 11:35 is that good? Kelly 11:36 I don't know. Well, it's fine. It's, it's kind of normal. It's kind of the way it's been recently. But I finished carding about well... I'm gonna say finished because the Oxford fleece was in two bags. And I finished one bag of the Oxford a fleece and it's about it's about 400 grams. And so then I sampled. So I, I made a two ply, about 20 gram skein, I think, of two ply and a small skein also of three ply to see which I liked better. And I was, I was thinking I was gonna like the three ply better, but I liked... I actually liked the two ply better. It's fluffier, part of it might just be the amount of twist that I put in the three ply. Even though I like a nice round three ply. This particular yarn that I made, it feels sort of buttoned up. It's kind of like, you know, it's round. And, and, and, you know, bouncy, like a three ply is, but it feels kind of just too much twist. There's just too much, too much twist in it. And it just really wants to be a little looser. At least that's what I'm thinking. If I had done the three ply, with less twist. I mean, normally, you put a little more in, because you're going to be untwisting a little bit more when you ply the three ply. And so I think that might be what happened. I wasn't intentionally doing that, but maybe that's what happened. Anyway, it just feels a little too tight. And the other one feels nice and fluffy and loose. And so think I'm gonna do a two ply. And so I started a bobbin. Last-- yesterday, and I managed to spin an entire bobbin, most of a bobbin, of this Oxford fleece. So I'm still keeping my options open that I may opt to do a three ply. You know, I'm not gonna ply it right away. Think about it, and I'll do a second bobbin first before I decide, but I'm pretty sure I want to do a two ply with this. So it's nice, it's it's springy. It's softer than I expected it to be based on when I was carding it. Marsha 14:06 Mm hmm. Kelly 14:08 But it's like a medium You know, kind of a medium workhorse kind of fleece but softer than the Perendale. That Perendale that I talked about a couple of episodes ago, that blue and green one. Blue, green and yellow from the prepared fiber that I bought from Sheep Spot. The Oxford is a little softer than that. Actually is quite a bit-- it feels quite a bit softer than that now that I'm spinning it. Now I think I mentioned that I didn't do the best washing job when I first washed it, so it's a little sticky. So I just when I washed it, I just used boiling water in the bowl, along with some soap and washed the skeins and they came out really nice. So I wasn't too worried about it. I had done that before. So I wasn't too worried about the, the fact that it was a little sticky spinning. And it's perfect for spinning now. Because even though you know, even though the weather is cool here, you know, it has been in the high 60s. So if I sit in a little sunny spot and spin, it slips really nicely. You know, it's more lanoliny than sticky once it gets a little warmed up. So I mean, I'm not, this is not spinning in the grease by any means. It's... Marsha 15:32 Right. Kelly 15:33 It's, it's clean, but it's still got more lanolin in it then I really liked to have. So that's one thing that I'm working on. My spinning project. But I also started another project for our spin-in which is, you know, making something out of your handspun. So I started a handspun sweater. Marsha 15:59 Oh, Kelly 16:00 So I spun the yarn years ago, well, over several years. Maybe people who've been listening for a while might remember. It's the CVM fleece and I had it processed at Yolo fiber mill which is now Valley Oak Wool Mill, a different owner. But it's up in Woodland, California. And I had it when we first moved here to this house, so that would have been '05. I'd had the fleece for at least at least a year, maybe came from the fair in 2004. Sat around here for a while before I sent it away to be processed. And then once it came back, I started spinning it and I used that same fleece for the... There was like six pounds of it. And I used that same fleece that sort of taupey beige fleece for the Orca sweater, the Orcas Run sweater, my big, bulky sweater. But this is a fingering weight, three ply, and then I dyed it red over the kind of beige color. So that made it kind of a terracotta, rust, I don't know what you would call it exactly. But it's real pretty. The dye color was called dark red. And I found a pattern. So, again, I had talked many times about what pattern I was going to use, right? I had a couple of choices in my queue that I was pretty sure I was going to use one of them. And then finally I just decided you know what I'm going to go looking again. And so I found a pattern called Dark Green Forest. And it's by Christina Korber-Reith. Korber-Reith is her last name, k o, r, b e r, dash r, e, i, t, h, she's German. And I actually looked up how you how you pronounce it. Marsha 18:17 Mm hmm. Kelly 18:17 In German. And...but I can't say it that way. I did the best I could. But she has, she has some really interesting patterns. Nice, kind of the long sweaters that I like, cozy and casual. The one I'm using has a cable like a honeycomb cable down the sleeve. It's got a saddle shoulder, which... I don't know if I've ever done an actual saddle shoulder before. But I think this is a saddle shoulder because the cable comes down from the collar and then goes down, down the top of the shoulder and then down the arm. The collar is a square collar. I don't know that it would be called a shawl collar. But it's nice. It's...you start at the... you start at the collarr and go down and it's it's one of those collars that folds over and is just square. You know, it's just Marsha 19:22 like a sailor's collar. Is that what they call it? Kelly 19:24 Yes. Yeah, I think that is what you would call it. That is what it's like, exactly like that. And it has ribbing on it. So I've gotten... I've gotten down... I'm in the the arm hole increases. Marsha 19:43 Mm hmm. Kelly 19:45 But I got messed up somehow. And I need to... I'm trying to decide whether I want to go forward and see if I'm in the right place for the cable. You know that cable crossing, or do I want to rip it back again, because I already ripped it back once to to get back to where I thought I knew where I was. And now it's not looking right. So. So I have to decide what I want to do. Do I want to forge ahead? Assuming that I'm right?Or, or did I somehow make a mistake again, not paying attention and get an extra, you know, an extra row in there. So. So anyway, that's where I am with that. But I'm really liking the pattern. It's fun. It's well written. I've made good progress, but with a collar that big. I still haven't gotten that far down, you know? Yeah, I'm in the, in the yoke. A little bit below what she calls the yoke in her pattern, so. But I'm excited about it. I have a sweater on the needles again, something more than a dish cloth. Marsha 20:55 Mm hmm. Well, I was just looking at the pattern. I think it's a very nice pattern. And I love the color. That terracotta color, I think is really nice. Kelly 21:03 Thank you. Yeah, I'm really pleased with it. I was laughing because somebody, I was talking to somebody about making things. And I suddenly realized, I like everything I make. I mean, it's good, right? I'm making it so it should be made the way I like it. But, but it was kind of funny. This person that I was talking to was much more critical of her stuff than I am. I'm like, you know, Oh, I like that. You say Oh, I like the color. I'm like, yeah, isn't it great? Oh, I like how your sweater turned out! Yeah, yeah, isn't it great? [laughing] Marsha 21:48 That's interesting. I'm trying to think... do I like everything I make? I like most things. I've had some. I say I like everything I've made. I like the yarn and the color and stuff. Sometimes. They don't fit right. Kelly 22:05 Yeah, I have some. Yeah, I have some fit complaints about some of the things I've made. Mostly related to raglan sleeve shaping that has the raglan part starting at like two stitches. And yeah, my top of my shoulder is much broader than two stitches. So unless we're talking about, you know, a totally high neck collar, that's not enough. But even those, I mean, I yeah. I guess it has to do with when, right? Especially when I'm making it or when I first finish it. It's like, Oh, I love this! Once it's in my drawer or closet for a while I sometimes realize oh, I don't love this as much as I thought I did. You know? Marsha 22:56 Yeah, Kelly 22:56 I--you know, I noticed because I don't grab it out as much. Marsha 22:59 Yeah, yeah. Kelly 23:01 But yeah, no, I'm not very critical of my own work. There's, I've made-- I did make one hat that I thought okay, this is really ugly. Marsha 23:12 Was that the charity hat you made? That you were talking about in the last episode or two episodes? Kelly 23:17 Oh, no, I, well...I guess I could count that one. I think that one's kind of ugly. And oh, well, not ugly, just not the best thing I've ever made. So maybe two things. No, this is one I made a long, long time ago. And I was going to a meeting and I just had to grab stuff to make a hat. You know, I knew I was going to be sitting in a meeting for a long time. So I just grabbed yarn. And the colors didn't really go together. And then I decided to make stripes. Because I thought oh, if I if I make the stripes of this way, it'll look better the colors will actually go together. One was like a teal and the other one was like a rust color. And they just didn't, you know that can be... that could be a really pretty combination. But this particular teal and the particular rust just wasn't wasn't a good mix. So I know that that hat sat in my stash for a long time with me thinking, well, maybe it's not so bad if I look at it in a different light. Oh, I think it's all right. Or then I thought, oh, maybe I'll just overdye it and I thought you know, I just just put it in the bag of goodwill stuff. Marsha 24:26 Mm hmm. Kelly 24:28 So I finally did get rid of it. And one of my, you know, times of going through the closet and getting rid of stuff that hat went in. So yeah. Anyway, but those are my only two. Really my only two projects at this moment are the spinning project and the new sweater on the needles. So... Marsha 24:48 Well, very nice. You're busy. Kelly 24:50 Yeah, I had hoped to wash fleece. And I won't go into a lot of gory detail but my top load washing machine from 30 years finally died. So... Marsha 25:06 Yes, so did you get another top load? Kelly 25:08 Yeah, yeah, it's another just basic washing machine. So it's coming on Friday. Marsha 25:14 30 years. That's actually a really long time for... I mean today for appliances, Kelly 25:21 The one we just bought will not last 30 years, I'm sure. Marsha 25:24 Well, good. Kelly 25:25 So we'll hope it works. Nobody at the place knew anything about, you know, things like can you just... Marsha 25:32 can you wash a fleece in it? Right?They really couldn't answer that question. [laughing] Kelly 25:34 Will it just spin and drain? Oh, you know, can you open it up in the middle of the cycle? You know, all that stuff. They didn't know anything about it. So we'll see. I have my fingers crossed. I think I'll be able to use it. I'll be able to figure something out. It has a pause button. So you know it locks but it does have a pause button. So I should be able to... Yeah, I should be able to do something with it. I don't know. But it doesn't have... it has an automatic water level. That might be a problem. Marsha 26:08 Oh, yeah, cuz you want to Kelly 26:10 Yeah, cuz I wanted to fill and then put stuff in. So I need-- I might need to figure out how to make it fill with nothing in it. Stupid. I don't know why they can't just make a--Well, I won't go into a ramt. It just, it's just ridiculous. There's nothing wrong with a regular washer. And I you know, I was reading through all of the things and oh, you know, you need this washer because it's gonna make your clothes last longer. I'm sorry. People don't want their clothes to last longer. People want to go shopping and buy a new outfit next month. It doesn't make any sense. Marsha 26:51 Actually, that's a really good point. I never thought about that. Because that was the the selling point of those front load front load washing machines is they're more gentle on your clothing because there isn't the agitation. But to your point, we don't want our clothes to last because we buy clothes are so inexpensive that we just buy new clothes. Kelly 27:11 And honestly, my clothes have gone in a... Now I just sound like an old lady on a rant but my clothing has gone into a top load agitator washer for 60 years. I have never felt like my clothing wore out too fast from going in the washing machine. Never! Not once have I had something that I thought, oh my god, it just wore out so fast from going in the washing machine. Marsha 27:40 Okay, so since we're on rants, I'm going to add my little rant to this. It's not about washing machines and appliances, which that could be a whole--that's a whole nother podcast of ranting! Light bulbs. So Marsha 27:54 Oh no Marsha! [laughing] Marsha 27:57 I'm gonna say... [laughing] But here's the thing. I remember when they came out with the LED light bulbs. And the big selling point of those light bulbs is that they were going to last 25 or 30 years. So I had all these random light bulbs, and I discovered most of my lamps are three way. So I bought all new light bulbs. Because I as I say had all these different light bulbs. And so I bought all new three way light bulbs. Put them in probably two months ago, and two of them have burned out. Now, I think... And I clearly sound like a conspiracy theorist when I say this, but I don't think I am. I think it's the truth. I think they're designed to break because it's not-- it doesn't make any sense. It's not a smart business model to make light bulbs that last 30 years right? Because nobody's gonna go buy your light bulbs. They won't buy them again for 30 years. Kelly 28:50 right Marsha 28:50 So the business model is they use less energy, which is good. But they cost more. Like I don't know, they cost more to make? I have no idea. They cost more to buy which is good for the manufacturer. And you have to buy them just as frequently or more frequently than an incandescent bulb so it's a great business... it's a business model that makes sense. You don't want them to last. Planned obsolescence. You don't want things to last, you want things to slow down. You know, you want things to break and wah, wah, wah, wah, wah. Old lady, old lady Failor here! Kelly 29:30 And old lady Locke here having our rants Marsha 29:34 Okay, does that make me sound like a conspiracy? Kelly 29:38 No, why would you make something-- Why would you make something like a light bulb that would last for 25 years? Because yeah, once people... Marsha 29:47 It's a bad business. Kelly 29:48 It's not an appliance. I mean appliances don't even last 25 years! Marsha 29:53 Your furnace! The furnace doesn't last. I mean it's funny, the the oil furnace that was in the house. This house was put in 1929 and my parents took it out in the 70s so that still forty... but there was nothing wrong with it they just wanted... they were sold a bill of goods that electric was better which is ridiculous. Kelly 30:14 Okay, now, last one last rant! That big green furnace in the basement that I loved the look of? We had replaced and it had, I mean it had had trouble and it was inefficient and eventually we did end up getting a new one last year because our furnace had gone out a couple of times. Remember it was out for a while last November a year ago? So it had died. This is again a 1920s furnace they had to cut it up to get it out of the basement because it was so big. So we get a new one and it has a thermostat on it with a programmer, right? Prrogrammed thermostat and Roberts like okay, we have to do this because programming your thermostat is really really more efficient because you know you you have a timer, blah, blah... I said it's not more efficient because if you have it on a timer it's going to come on whether or not I'm cold. If I'm cold I turn it on and when I'm not cold anymore I turn it off and that's more efficient. He's like, no no it's much better... Guess what! Even though our furnace is much more efficient then the old one was, because we had it on the timer for the winter our heating bill was more! Marsha 31:37 Oh yeah? Kelly 31:38 I'm turning that off so now I'm only going to turn it on when I'm cold and turn it down and not turn it on in the morning you know before you get up. It just... Marsha 31:53 Yeah. well I say that's an interesting point because I know that they...The reason they say that you should have a program is that then you're not like, oh I'm cold turn it up and then it's putting all this energy into heating it up. You know it's just like it keeps it at this constant temperature but to keep it the constant temperature you're using energy, right. So I can see there are these things we accept as the truth that are not necessarily the truth. Kelly 32:18 Yes. Marsha 32:19 Well... furnaces. I go back to furnaces. My friend Susanna she has a house built in like 1900, I think. Here in Seattle, and she has the original furnace. Yeah, and it works. Yeah. So think how old that furnaces like over 120 years old. Kelly 32:35 Yeah, very cool. Marsha 32:36 And it works fine. So and I've spent evenings in her house and it's a lovely temperature. So there you go. Okay, and enough ranting Where are we I think because we got sent we went down this rabbit hole of ranting I believe I'm talking about my projects. Kelly 32:50 Oh my gosh, yes, you are. Quickly. [laughing] Sorry. Marsha 32:55 I have to get through these fast. Okay, so my socks. I frogged my socks because, remember the socks I'm making. I forgot to turn the heel. So I rip that out and I turn the heel and I'm now working on the gusset. Kelly 33:07 Oh, good. Marsha 33:08 I'm working intermittently on my Simple Shawl that I started years ago but I work on that periodically. I'm still spinning the green brown Merino. Nothing new to report on that. So I will.. don't need to talk about that. Since we talked too much on our rants, I won't go into all of that. But I did cast on the pullover Atlas by Jared Flood for... And I'm making this for my brother. And the last episode I had swatched. I talked all about swatches. And so I'm not getting gauge. I'm getting 20 stitches in four inches as opposed to 24 stitches in four inches. Okay, so based on his size and my gauge, I'm making the smallest size. And that's... and so he brought back the the other Jared flood sweater I made for him and which we talked about. Is it Cobblestone? Yeah, he brought that back and I measured that and it's the same, it's gonna be a little bit bigger, maybe about an inch bigger, which I think is good because he doesn't want... he wants it more slim. As I talked about in the last episode, he wants it a bit more slim fitting, I don't think it should be super slim fitting based on the weight of this wool. So I think it's gonna be the perfect size. Kelly 34:22 Well, that's good. Marsha 34:24 So that's good. I do have... But now I want to talk about the color work. I do have some concerns about the color work, but I have to let it go. Because... well I shouldn't even say this, it's perfect. I know I'm just kind of concerned. So the body of the sweater is this very bright grass, Kelly green kind of. And then the color work is in a navy blue and kind of a light like a sky blue robin's egg blue. My concern is, you know, when you...when you talk about, like you take a picture of your color work and put it in black and white, and you see how the colors work then and what stands out? My concern is that the, the...when you look at them together, the light blue and the green, sort of blend together a little bit. There's not as much distinction between the Navy and the green or the Navy in the light blue. I'm, I'm committed to using these colors. So I don't I mean, I'd have to buy a different color. And looking at the colors. I... there's like there's not, there's not a huge range of colors in this yarn. So my options are like red, brown, white, gray. And that's... I'm kind of wondering if maybe, like the white would be, I don't know. I think I'm just gonna start knitting it and see how... because just looking... because I didn't complete the whole color work pattern. And maybe it will all be fine. In the end. I don't know. Kelly 36:04 Well, and Mark chose those colors, right? Marsha 36:08 Yeah, well, Yes, he did. Kelly 36:13 Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's what he wanted. Marsha 36:17 Yes. But I think there's one thing picking the colors. And then picking colors for color work. Kelly 36:21 Yeah. Marsha 36:22 Right. Because I don't know that much about it. And he knows nothing. Well, he knows a lot about color. Don't get me wrong. He knows a lot about putting colors together because of his background in design. But a knitted fabric? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Anyway, I don't know. Kelly 36:38 He was looking at the pattern. I remember him looking at the pattern and right, and looking at the colors that he selected. So I don't know, anyway. Yeah. Marsha 36:49 So yeah. I'm not gonna worry about it. It's just something that's just is flickering through my brain. I wonder, huh? Wondering. And but again, when you complete the pattern, it might be fine. Just doing... I think I did 10 rows of the pattern. And the whole colorwork thing is well over that. So anyway, but the other thing I want to say is, do you remember in the last episode, we were talking about that in the pattern, it's a very well written pattern. But when you get to the color chart, it actually tells you on each row, which is your dominant color, and I had no idea what they were talking about. And so I said, I'm assuming the dominant color is going to be you knit..., you hold it in your dominant hand, in my case, that's my right hand. That's completely wrong. [laughing] So anybody who listened and knows anything about color work will know that that's wrong. This is what happens when you have no information, but you act like you're an authority. So I anyway, I... Kelly, you had pointed out that Jared Flood actually has a good video on explaining dominance. And so I put a link in the show notes about that, you actually are supposed to hold the the dominant color in your left hand. And I would I recommend the video, there's other videos out there too, but explains why you want to pick a color as a dominant color. And then also how you use it. Typically, people hold the dominant color in their left hand, he is not as fast that way. He actually holds both colors in his right hand. But he has this very interesting technique, which he demonstrates in the video of twisting your hand, so that you have the two different different yarns available. And he also talks about, there's another video he does about stranding and how you capture the floats in the back, which is very good. And this is all common knowledge for people who do a lot of color work. Not having done any color work, this is really informative. So I'll put, I put a link in the show notes on the video about dominant color. And then also in their patterns, they tell you which is the dominant color. But he said most color work patterns, they don't tell you. So also techniques for deciding which would be the dominant color. Kelly 39:04 Oh, that's good. Because Yeah, I have noticed that that's not something that's usually in the in the description. Yeah, at least in the description. Like, when you read the pattern, the pattern page, you know the description in the pattern page, you don't see it. Maybe in the written pattern, it will tell you but but yeah, that's good. Marsha 39:24 And then he and then even to the point to where the dominant color may change throughout the pattern. So you know, like in so like... Kelly 39:35 interesting. Marsha 39:36 Yeah, so yeah, so that was just very interesting, something I knew nothing about and I made that offhand remark and I realized like I was wrong! So I just want people to know and I, I did there were some comments in the show notes and people had posted. One listener posted a video, a link to a video in there. So all that was really helpful. So I just wanted to share that That's so... That is it for me with projects. Kelly 40:03 All right. Marsha 40:04 Oh, and I should say too about this sweater, and I talked about this before--that you're supposed to do a tubular cast on. And then knit two and a half inches of ribbing, and then start the body. And as I talked about in the past, and in the last episode, I'm doing a provisional cast on and just starting with the stockinette. And then I'm going to go back and do the ribbing. So I have done about seven inches of the stockinette. If I had included the ribbing, I'm supposed to knit it from the cast on with the ribbing, I'm supposed to about 10 and a half inches of the body where I then start doing shaping though, Kelly 40:41 So you're close to shaping. Marsha 40:43 Yeah. This, if I subtract the two and a half inches, I need to knit eight inches, and I'm about at seven inches now. So another inch and I'm going to start the shaping. When you do this technique, it's very curly. It's like I'm going around and around and around and it never seems like I'm getting anywhere. Yes, it looks like it looks like a holiday wreath because it's bright green. And it's just basically a big log, I mean and a big umm... Yeah, it's like, it's like a wreath, kind of. Around and around. It never seems to grow. So and I think I may have done this with his other sweater too, is that when I finished the whole sweater, I will probably wash and block it before I go back and do the ribbing. Because it is so curly. I think it's gonna be very difficult to measure how it should be. Kelly 41:34 Yeah. Marsha 41:37 So, but I'll report in on this. So as I say that's it for... that's it for projects for me. Kelly 41:44 Good. Sounds like you're making good progress. Marsha 41:49 on some projects, yeah, not so much on others. Kelly 41:53 Well, the summer spin is moving along. And it's also Tour de Fleece. I forget what day we're on now, I was doing pretty well at the beginning of it. Accounting for what I was doing each day that had to do with spinning. I had a couple of days that I didn't card or spin or anything so I got kind of off. But anyway Tour de Fleece is going on. The summer spin in is going on. And in this episode, we're going to talk a little bit about fiber preparation. Marsha 42:27 So and Kelly, you mentioned this last time, but we'll mention again. Don't forget your tetanus shot. Kelly 42:32 Oh, yeah. And then we had some feedback, too. Marsha 42:34 Yeah. So Natalie, Superkip. She added don't prep fleece when you're pregnant. And because toxoplasmosis is a danger and I'm not sure what that is. I honestly did not Google it. All I know is, it's a danger. So okay. And I did watch a video to where she said she always wears gloves. Just latex gloves on. So that's probably smart to do too. And then Kelly 43:00 I have to say I wouldn't do that. Yeah. I like the feel of it. I know. But if you're squeamish about about touching, yeah, I guess. Marsha 43:13 Yeah. Yeah. So anyway, so I wanted to mention that. Kelly 43:19 And then she also mentioned about when we talked a little bit about the rescue fleeces that might have more stuff in that, you know, bargain fleeces that might have stuff in them, more so than something that you'd buy at a fiber festival. And she mentioned a flick carder being really helpful. And I had forgotten to mention that but yeah, that is a good example. Its a good use for flick carder, if you can somewhat keep the locks of your fleece intact. When you wash it, if it's the type of fleece where that happens. Then you can kind of just brush them out with a flick carder, brush out the ends and you can get out a lot of the waste that way. Marsha 44:02 The first thing I was just going to mention is if you if you get a raw fleece and you know we've talked about washing it, but what we did not talk about was skirting. And so I was just gonna mention, we won't go into great detail but the concept of skirting as you lay the fleece out with the cut side down, and the so called dirty part up and then you just go around and you pull out areas that are matted, or areas where the fibers look like they're broken. If there are manure tags on it, or bad stuff that you just don't want in there. Probably as we talked about in the last episode if you've bought a fleece at you know like from a show it probably will be pretty well skirted, but it's a good idea just to go through it again. The other comment too on the video Well, I'll just say I put a link in to a video by Rain Fiber Arts. That was very good. And she is talking about how to skirt a fleece. And she also talks too, if you see if there's any signs of eggs, or moths or something, and just don't even let that into your house. Kelly, you can add something to this too, about, what are your thoughts about things to look for, when you're skirting that you'd want to pull out? Kelly 45:30 Usually the parts that you don't want are around the edges, you know, so like the, if the fleece has been rolled up, and you can unroll it and see kind of, you know, depending on how it's been rolled, and how well you're able to unroll it, you might not exactly be able to see the shape of the sheep. But you know, like the manure tags would be in the back edge, the britch wool, which is the wool on the backs and kind of toward the backs of their legs, is more coarse, usually and that's towards the edge of the fleece. If they have, you know, the fleece around their legs might have been, well, like the fleece that I was carding the Oxford, there were some sections of that fleece, some pieces of that fleece that had dark hairs in it from the leg. Dark leg hairs in it, which really, if I had been doing a better job, I would have, I would have skirted a little bit better and taken taken that out. And that would have been around the edge, as well. Yeah, sometimes, sometimes around their neck, you'll find a lot of hay from, you know, from eating. And so you can take some of that out, if you want to, you know, be real harsh with your skirting and get out the most of the veg manner. So a lot of it is around the edges. The other thing that I wish I had done more of with this fleece that I have, is... and I did a little bit of it when I was picking and carding. But a lot of times you can shake the fleece, if you can shake the fleece. Especially if you have... I would love to have a table that was like mesh. Because the second cuts, any second cuts, well, you know, a lot of that will fall away, a lot of the veg matter will fall away, some of the things that you don't want will fall away and, and you can see it a little bit better if you shake it, you can see, you know, where are those areas where you have second cuts and those little short bits. So I need to do a better job of that. My habit is, you know, to look at the fleece when I first get it home, and then roll it back up and put it away and then I get on a tear about washing and I just grab some of it, you know. What I really should do is lay it back out, sort it. Look for places where the fleece is really nice and put all that together. And wash just that section and be really intentional about what parts of it you wash, as opposed to just, you know, grab a piece of it that's going to fit in the washer and wash it. So you can be intentional about your fleece, if especially if you get a nice one, right? Where you want to keep the nicest bits together. If it's a fleece like a lot of the... And maybe this is why I do it. A lot of the bargain fleeces that I've gotten, you know, they're just jumbled in a bag. And there's no knowing what what part of the fleece is what. So that's how I got my start and maybe that's why I have some bad habits when it comes to grabbing out bits to wash. Marsha 48:56 Yeah. The first fleece I bought was actually a Shetland fleece. And I just took it out of the bag and I put it i... like tore it in half or smaller batches and just washed the whole thing. Yeah. And that was a mistake because what... and now this is specific to Shetland, but I took a class by Judith McKenzie about taking a Shetland fleece and because the fiber so different depending on where it is on the sheep, you really don't want to take the... You can do anything you want to do, but it's better to separate out the different fiber, different textures and fibers because-- and I didn't know that about a Shetland. So I just, you know... but I think in any fleece there are going to be different textures depending on where it is on the sheep. So I did that. I just washed all of it and carded it and started spinning it. Is it bad? No, not necessarily but it could have been better. Kelly 50:00 Yeah, it's just different. You know, if you if you want a really super... if you want to get like, every type of yarn you can get from a fleece, then you have to be more intentional about it, right? You'll find the finest part and you'll make a nice yarn that's fine and soft. With the more coarse part, you'll make something that's a more workhorse yarn. But, but if you want to just make a sweater, you just mix it all together and make a sweater. I mean, there's nothing wrong with doing that. Yeah, right. Marsha 50:36 Well, and I was... the other thing I was gonna say about skirting is sort of, for me, you know how I am. It's like, I want to use every bit of it. Because this precious thing I bought, I want to use every bit of it. Yeah. And it's okay to be aggressive, you know? Yeah. Well, you don't need to save all of it. It's okay. Kelly 50:53 I think I've told this story before about the, I think it was like 40 pounds of fleece that I got from... I was at a spinning day and somebody said, Oh, you know, my brother in law has fleece in his barn. Would you be interested? I'm like, of course! So I went and got this 40 pounds of fleece. And I'm pretty sure that's what it came out to be. And anyway, I opened it all up on my lawn and made piles. And I found myself at the end, even though I had so much of it, I found myself going back to the trash pile and taking taking bits that I had skirted out and putting them back. So yeah, you know, it's hard. It's greed. Fleece Greed is a real thing. Right? So, but but some people are better at that than than others. And then there are some people who keep their carding waste. You know, when I'm carding, and I clean off the carder, the waste that's on the small drum of the carder, I toss it. But there are people who save that and use it for something else, you know, and you can do that. But I, that's not something I do. I think about it. [laughing] And then I tell myself how much fleece I have in the garage. And I toss it in the bin. Marsha 52:23 So about carding, let's talk a little bit about carding, then, oh, as I say, it's a huge subject. So and we can't go into the minutiae of it. But let's just talk sort of, in general about carding. The different tools and whatnot. Kelly 52:33 Well, I put a couple of links in the show notes about it, I have a drum carder, and I, one of the things that I can say for sure, whether using hand cards or a drum carder, is that you really want to not overload, you know. Less is more. You really can go faster if you don't try to put too much in. And I have also learned that it's faster for me, even though it doesn't seem like it, if I do some picking first, which is like separating all the fibers. And so I'll just, you know, stand at the table and pick a whole bunch of, you know, like a whole box of fiber, one of those, you know, reams of paper boxes. I'll take a bunch of fiber, and I'll do the picking until I've got a good amount in one of those boxes, and then I'll start carding. And that really helps because it's already-- the fibers already separated and doesn't get clumped and stuck in the drum carder, and then I usually do two passes. With this fleece that I have, I did the first pass and got a bunch of batts. And then I pulled off strips from each one of those bats and blended them you know, blended them together and did a second pass. I've done with some fleeces depending on how, how much what kind of fleece it is and how it looks, I might do a third, a third pass. Or if I'm blending two colors together. I'll do, you know, I'll do each color that I'm blending, each part that I'm blending separately. And then I'll pull strips off and weigh them and run them through the carder together and then probably have to do a third pass to get them better blended. The first pass usually isn't very well blended and then the second one is much better. So I do a first one to just kind of get everything organized separately. And then a second one to blend and then a third one to finish the blending if I want the blending to be more even. So you can do the same thing with the hand cards, the blending. I've done that before. It's not so... I don't do so much weighing when I use the hand cards, I just kind of eyeball how much I'm putting on. I might weigh it ahead of time to say like, I want 70% of this and 30% of that. And so I have my two piles. But then when I put it onto the cards, I'm not weighing each time I use the hand cards, I'm not weighing these. So yeah, that Carding is... I enjoy it, it seems like it will be a slow process. But actually, that 400 grams that I carded, you know, went through the carder, I picked it, and then it went through the carder twice. And it was a, you know, a couple of hours, maybe two or three times during the week. So I mean, that's not that much time. It didn't seem like it was that much time. Marsha 55:53 No, it's not bad. You just listen to podcasts or watch TV or something. Yeah, Kelly 55:58 yeah. Or listen to a zoom meeting. [laughing] Kelly 56:09 So that's um, that's how I card. Now, the flick carder, we talked a little bit about that already. That kind of requires that you have the lock structure still intact in your fleece. And then I just put it on my lap on top of like a magazine on top of my lap and just brush out the end of the of the, the tip end of the fleece and then turn it around and brush out the the back end of that lock and then set it aside and start another one. And that works really well. I don't have mini combs. And I kind of would like to have mini combs. I have the big combs that you clamp onto a table and I took a class on using those, which was really good. But I haven't really used my combs much since then. They're I mean, they're really a nice piece of equipment. But for some reason I'm not... I'm just not in the habit of getting them out and using them. And I think mini combs might be something that I might like to have. Because, just because they're something you can just sit and do. Marsha 57:17 Right, right. Kelly 57:19 So I'd be interested to hear what people think about mini combs. And then the other thing I have not used is a blending board. And I know most of the time people are using a blending board with fiber that's already processed to to you know, mix colors together and make interesting rolags or punis. So, but that's not something that I've ever done. So I'd be interested to know how many of our listeners have used either a blending board or mini combs and whether they think either one of those things is kind of an essential, an essential tool. Marsha 58:04 How big are mini combs? Kelly 58:04 About, probably about, I would say the ones I've seen, maybe about two and a half to three inches across. They're smaller than hand cards. Marsha 58:16 Okay. Kelly 58:17 But they they have the same kind of, you know, like, the same kind of tines as like the bigger combs. I think two rows of tines. And you use them the same way where you put them perpendicular to one another. Like you put the fiber on the one comb and then you... Marsha 58:35 Oh here I'm looking online at them right now as we speak. Kelly 58:39 So I've been thinking about maybe getting a set of mini combs, because that is one type of preparation that I haven't ever done. And I know there are a lot of people who really like it and you can get a lot of the garbage out of your fleece that way. Moreso than with carding. More waste, you know, there's more waste, but you get more of the best part of the fiber. Marsha 59:12 Right. Yeah. Okay. Kelly 59:15 So, anyway, so that's my, my experience of of carding and combing fiber preparation. So and I have a couple--Like I said, I have a couple of links in the show notes for that. Marsha 59:28 Okay, good. The other thing that we I just I thought that we decided we should talk just touch on, too, is also mill processing. You don't necessarily have to process this yourself. And so we have some links in the show notes. Fibershed did a mill inventory of mills across the... Well Fiber shed is a California based group. So they show one mill in California, they show mills across the country, but they don't have them listed by name, so. But the link is in there, it's interesting to look at. There's also a link to the producer directory. And that Kelly too, we were talking about that before we recorded. That has not just mills, but people who are producing fiber. And also on Ravelry there's a Fiber Prep Ravelry group. And they don't have mills listed in like a central location to go to see all the mills that are listed. But in the discussion thread, people are talking about the different mills. Yeah, I think my sense is, what you have to do is you just have to Google mills for processing, wool, alpaca, whatever and search for the mills. I know some of the mills popped up. But I know the three that I know, fairly locally to me. They're processing their fiber for their own yarn. They're not processing fiber anymore for people who just want to have a fleece processed. So yeah, there are mills out there. I think though, you have to just Google and start searching. As we said, there, it's difficult to find one location that just has a list of all of the mills doing small batches of in the United States, right? Kelly 1:01:21 Yeah, Valley Oak Wool Mill is the one that that I've used in California. And then there's also Mendocino Wool and Fiber Company. Again, this is just California. I think the eastern part of the United States has a couple of really well used mills and there are a lot. There are more of them in that area. But yeah, Mendocino Wool and Fiber is the other one. I haven't used them but their website, I can put their link in the show notes as well. mendowool.com is their website Marsha 1:02:01 When we... what we talked about in the last episode is you know if they can't... most not all, but mills can either just wash it and and prep it for spinning or you can just have it processed into roving or you can have it processed into yarn if you want to do that. But that's another resource. Kelly 1:02:23 And it is true there are a lot more of them that process your wooll into fiber preparations. Morro Fleeceworks is another one in California that I was forgetting. A lot more of them process into roving than process all the way to yarn. There's a real lack of mills, small mills, that process your wool all the way to yarn, and a lot more of them just the process or fiber. Marsha 1:02:58 Yeah. So I just wanted to mention that. All right. Um, so let's just briefly talk about carding. I, you know, I have a drum Carter, I have the carding the combs that I use. I don't have a blending board, which would be kind of nice because I do remember I bought... I think it was up on Whidbey Island at the Whidbey Island spinners... little packets of mohair locks that were dyed. And those are great to blend in. So I was thinking I should probably get it. It'd be nice to get a blending board but all in good time. Right. Kelly 1:03:45 Mm hmm. Well, you can do that blending with your with your drum carder too. Marsha 1:03:51 Yeah, that's how I've done it in the past, because I did some at your house with your drum carder. So I should, I should try it here. Anyway, so anything else we need to add to this topic? Kelly 1:04:06 Um, I think if you are going to go look at the fleece processor list in the Ravelry group that we've posted, if you are going to go look at that list, I would suggest starting at the most recent posts. Because the thread has been going for like six years or something. So you know, something you get out on page one is maybe not even...Maybe not even there anymore. Marsha 1:04:34 Yeah, yeah. Kelly 1:04:36 Yeah. So Well, I'd be interested in hearing what other people do and also you know, if you have a mill that you've used to process fleece that we haven't mentioned. Maybe we could start a list. Marsha 1:04:53 Yeah, there you go. Maybe. Yeah, we should! I know like some people have used Shepherds Wool that does Crazy that we like so much. People have had yarn prop don't Kelly 1:05:07 Stone Hedge Marsha 1:05:08 Stone Hedge. That's the one! That's the name of it I want to say because they make shepherds wool their worsted weight. Yeah. So I know that they've had them. So maybe we should start a list Kelly. if nobody's done it, maybe we need to. Kelly 1:05:24 Yes. Well, we can start by-- we can start by asking our listeners to provide us feedback. With mills that they've used or that they know of in their area. We've got three California ones listed on our show notes for today. But yeah, we need to put in some other states. Yeah. All right. Project. Project. Yes. Just what I need. [laughing] Marsha 1:05:53 So anyway, but the summer spin-in goes through Labor Day, which is September 6. Kelly 1:06:00 So and we have two finished object threads. One is for finished spinning. And the other one is for finished projects. So if you're making something out of hand spun, you can join us. You don't have to be spinning this summer to join in. Marsha 1:06:15 Yeah. Kelly breaking in while editing 1:06:18 Oh, coming in from the future, to say that we forgot to tell you that we will have prizes from Three Green Sisters again this year! We'll talk more about that next episode. Marsha 1:06:31 Okay, Kelly. So and then do we have any more housekeeping? Kelly 1:06:34 I don't think so. Marsha 1:06:36 All right. Well, then, I guess we'll say goodbye. Kelly 1:06:38 All right, Marsha. Marsha 1:06:40 We'll talk we'll talk to weeks. Kelly 1:06:41 Okay. Bye bye. Marsha 1:06:42 Alrighty. Bye bye. Kelly 1:06:43 Thank you so much for listening. To subscribe to the podcast visit to Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com Marsha 1:06:50 Join us on our adventures on Ravelry and Instagram. I am betterinmotion and Kelly is 1hundredprojects. Kelly 1:06:58 Until next time, we're the Two Ewes doing our part for world fleece! Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Jun 28, 2021

How to select a wool fleece and where to purchase a wool fleece are today's topics. This might cause money to fly out of your wallet so beware! Also, some interesting pooling shows up in an FO. Show notes with photos and links, as well as a full transcript can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects I have a finished project! I finished my Walk Along Tee by Ankestrick. I love it and it fits so well. I highly recommend this pattern. I had knitted halfway down the foot of my second Drops Fabel socks when I realized I had not turned the heel. So now I need to frog to the heel flap. Not happy with myself. Picked up a long dormant shawl called Simple Shawl by Jane Hunter that I started in March 2018. Using Michael CWD in the colorway San Francisco Fog. Started swatching for the pullover Atlas by Jared Flood for my brother. The yarn I'm using is Navia Tradition . It is a very wooly wool. Mark likes his sweaters to be slim fitting but I think this sweater should have some ease. Also, I'm not great at colorwork so this sweater is going to be a challenge. I'm still spinning on my green/brown merino. Kelly's Projects I finished a Perendale braid from Sheep Spot. I spun 3-ply and used a fractal technique. I split the fiber into 3 pieces lengthwise. Spun the first one, split the second one into two and split the third one into three. Found two more bobbins with Santa Cruz Island singles. I have some carded fiber left so I guess I should spin the rest of it onto a third bobbin and ply it off. No knitting or crochet this week, but lots of dog training! Beary is doing great, his thyroid is stable and he's lost twenty pounds in the 8 weeks that we've had him. Summer Spin In Topics Don't forget your tetanus shot! Selecting a fleece what to look for http://livestockconservancy.blogspot.com/2019/07/selecting-raw-fleece.html Spinner's Book of Fleece , Beth Smith The Great Fleece Makeover , Emonieiesha Hopkins, SpinOff Magazine A great article on how a fleece that is not a coated, prize-winning, spinner's fleece can still be a good experience and make good yarn. Where to buy a raw fleece Wool/Sheep Festivals: Black Sheep Gathering : Show cancelled for 2021 but there is a list of producers selling their fleeces. Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival : Festival also cancelled this year and there is also a list of vendors selling raw fleeces Oregon Flock and Fiber 2021 in Albany, Oregon, October 23-24 Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival 2021, October 2-3 Natural Fiber Extravaganza , July 9-11, Lebanon, Tennessee Knitters Review Fiber Festival directory Check out your county fair website Shave 'Em to Save 'Em directory Direct from farms: I did a quick internet search and found these Nistock Farms : Still have 2021 fleeces available. Informative website. Located in the Finger Lakes region of western New York state. Sanctuary Wool/Homestead Wool : Located in Wisconsin. Their fleeces are from rescued sheep. Also, Fibershed Directory for California For example, Red Creek Farm , Peggy Agnew emailed her for information about purchasing. On Etsy: Lots for sale by the pound or the entire fleece Check out your local spinning guild! Sources for braids and roving--including my most recent purchases: Huckleberry Knits Sheepspot has dyed fiber braids using less common sheep breeds. Sincere Sheep Fiber is locally sourced (California) Valley Oak Wool Mill has roving. Show Transcript Marsha 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha and this is Kelly. We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com Kelly 0:22 and we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects Marsha 0:29 and I am betterinmotion. Kelly 0:31 We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Both 0:36 Enjoy the episode. Marsha 0:42 Good morning, Kelly. Kelly 0:43 Good morning, Marsha. Marsha 0:45 Well, how are you today? Kelly 0:46 I'm doing fine. As we were talking about earlier before we started the podcast. I thought I'd have a nice quiet morning to record and apparently the city has to come inspect our roof work that we had several weeks ago now, maybe months ago. Anyway, so there may be someone on the roof outside my window looking in as we're recording. Marsha 1:10 Okay. Kelly 1:11 If I suddenly scream in surprise, that's what happened. Marsha 1:17 Well, I have lots going on too. We were a little late recording because I was on the phone with the plumbers. I'm having the plumbing redone in the basement. Well not completely redone but I had a leaky waste pipe. So I have that replaced and I'm having a new washer dryer delivered in July. And so they had to redo the plumbing for that. I'm relocating them and that's been quite an endeavor. But the big waste pipe was leaking. So I was all excited to go down there the first they came. They were here two days. And the next morning I go down there look at the floor to see, Oh, it's gonna be all nice and dry and everything. I won't have to have my five gallon bucket there anymore. And there's a cascade of water down the Kelly 2:03 No! Marsha 2:04 So I called. I thought well maybe just one of their seals didn't seal or something. Come to find out that it's actually the the four inch waste pipe that goes up. The vertical one that goes up between the two bathrooms. So I now have a hole in the wall in the main floor bathroom, and I cannot use the second floor bathroom. Which is the one I use. So they're coming Friday. This is what? Wednesday? They're coming Friday to fix the pipe in... the big four inch pipe in the bathroom wall on the main floor. Kelly 2:42 That's not too long. Marsha 2:44 No it's not too long but it is a challenge living with it. I didn't realize... okay this is gonna... This is gonna make me sound very elitist when I say this and very privileged what I'm going to say. I haven't lived in a house with one bathroom and multiple people for a long time. And so you know I I'm living with Ben. He's living with me right now. And so I have to run down in the morning. You know, I have to run down to the bathroom, but he's in there. And so what do you do? Well, Kelly 3:17 coffee can in the basement! Marsha 3:20 Worse than that! Kelly 3:22 Backyard! Marsha 3:23 Backyard! I went out in the bushes in the backyard and tried to find a place where the neighbors wouldn't see me but I thought afterwards maybe I should not have worn my bright red bathrobe! Kelly 3:35 Right exactly. Like when we used to go to hunt tests. I learned when we used to go to hunt tests that that was when I did not wear my white underwear. That's when you have your darker colored underwear so that you're not flashing white in the bushes! [laughing] Marsha 3:51 Do you remember your Civil War socks for Robert? Kelly 3:54 Yes. Marsha 3:55 Wasn't that part of the things-- they had to be a dark Kelly 3:57 yes Marsha 3:57 you didn't want to take your boots off and then be seen and shot... so anyway... Kelly 4:03 You need a camo bathrobe. [laughing] Marsha 4:05 That's probably way too much information. But anyway, I was delayed because I my point of bringing all this up as I was delayed this morning because I was on the phone with the plumber. So yeah. Anyway, Kelly 4:15 well, yes. This is the old house version of the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Marsha 4:21 Yes, I know. Anyway... Well, that probably was probably the whole world did not need to know that but desperate times call for desperate measures. [laughing] Kelly 4:36 Exactly. Marsha 4:37 Well, after all of that, let's get to the projects, shall we? Kelly 4:42 Yes. And you have some big news, huh? Marsha 4:45 Yes, I have big news. I finally finished the Walk Along tee! Kelly 4:48 Yay. Marsha 4:50 Yay, very excited. It fits great. And I really recommend the pattern. Now. It's true. I didn't do it exactly. Actually, I really didn't modify it that much. I just really what I did is I made the sleeves a little bit longer, not the, because the pattern is either like cap sleeves or full length sleeves. I just made the sleeves a little bit longer, but not full length. And then I just didn't add the sort of the look of having the sweater under a sweater. Marsha 5:19 Oh, yeah, Marsha 5:19 I didn't do that. But it's very nice. And I I really like it. Marsha 5:24 All right, I saw the pictures. It looks really nice, I think. Yeah, I love the color. You have to wear it. You have to now wear it to Seabrook. Marsha 5:34 Yes, I will. I'll wear it Kelly 5:35 Down to Mocrocs. Is that the the name of the town or the beach? Marsha 5:41 Well, the official town, I think Seabrook is actually in Pacific Beach is the name of the town, but the actual beach that I believe Native American name is Mocrocs. Kelly 5:53 Okay. And that's the name. I mean colorway. Yeah, that's to let everyone know why I suddenly made this divergence. Marsha 6:02 So Kelly, I just wanted to.... are you on Ravelry? Can you see my... Marsha 6:07 Oh, no, I am not. But I can get there soon. Keep talking. Marsha 6:11 Well just... I want you to take a look at my picture. And I look at it and I really love the T shirt. But it does.... We've talked about this before. I believe I have a little pooling on the left breast on this one. [laughing] Remember, I was talking about that in something else? Kelly 6:11 Yes. Marsha 6:11 So just take a look at this. Let me... nobody's commented, but I look at it. Now when I wear it, I will not see it because I will be wearing it. But when I look at the photograph,[laughing] Kelly 6:44 oh, yes, you do. [laughing] Kelly 6:54 Okay, so pooling on the left breast and peeing garden. In the same episode. [laughing] Marsha 7:01 Oh my gosh, [laughing] Kelly 7:03 we might have to have a an explicit rating. [laughing] Marsha 7:11 But wasn't there something I've ... Kelly 7:14 You have a little matching pooling going on the right hand side, too. [laughing] Marsha 7:22 I started laughing because I thought, do you remember the endless discussion about how I was blending the yarn? Kelly 7:30 All the yarn management! Marsha 7:35 So much yarn management. And I have Kelly 7:38 but it's really pretty. And I don't t hink it's a big deal. I mean, when you look at the picture of it hanging kind of flat on the on the dress form, it's different than when you actually are in it. Marsha 7:50 Yes. And I think I'll have to actually try it on and post another picture because that mannequin is not my dimensions necessarily. Oh, well, that's life. Kelly 8:05 It just goes, it just goes to show you that that sometimes all that yarn management turns out to be no different than if you had just worked from one skein? I mean, who knows? It might not be but Marsha 8:21 yeah, cuz it's, you know, it's hand dyed. Kelly 8:23 Mmm hmmm. Marsha 8:24 And you can actually, if you look at it sort of below the pooling, there's a little sort of diagonal striping going. Do you see that? Kelly 8:32 Yeah. Marsha 8:32 It's just so again, it doesn't really bother me. I just think it's... I find it kind of amusing. And I, I really don't understand how it happened because I was so careful. And I had labeled everything. And that part where it happened is I'm not doing any shaping. at that point, right, I'm just going around. And I also use that great technique that helical knitting where you... Now the helical knitting, I will say, You're... the point where you change yarns keeps moving around the sweater. So because you're in that point where you change. Yeah, Kelly 9:14 So that makes it a little different than if you had always changed in the same spot. Marsha 9:19 Yeah, and I don't know if that has something to it. Kelly 9:21 Yeah, I don't know. The people who do planned pooling might be able to tell you more about that. But I've never done it. Marsha 9:27 Planned pooling? Kelly 9:27 Yeah, there's I mean, there's patterns for that where you... remember we saw at Stitches Marsha 9:31 Your, your sock? Well, yes. And then your socks. You did the Kelly 9:35 Oh, right. For Dennis, the Bengal socks? Marsha 9:39 Yeah. Kelly 9:40 Yes. Now those were a little different because it was planned pooling but then you also did short rows to turn around and go back the other way to make this to make the point at the end of the stripe, like so where the where you you know, because the tiger stripes have don't go all the way around the tiger. You know what I mean? So anyway, yeah, very interesting. And I think your sweater, your your tee, looks really nice. Your sweater turned out really good. All laughing aside. Marsha 10:15 Oh gosh. Okay, and then um, so I'm still spinning on the green and brown Merino. I've just been working on the brown. Then what else? Oh, I started knitting Well, I've been continuing to knit on the...my Drops Fabel socks. But the other night I finished the Tee shirt and so I thought Okay, I'll go pick up my socks and start knitting on them. I thought... I went to measure them against the... I'm halfway down the foot of the second sock. And I went to measure it against the first sock to see how much further I had to go. And I thought that's weird. Like the heel looks different. And then I realized I didn't I did not turn the heel. Kelly 10:57 Oh, no! I've done that before. Marsha 11:02 And it's like, What is wrong with me? Like I like how did I not do that? I that's so weird. And I what's also really weird about it is I remember my when I did the gusset. My numbers were way off. Anyway, I should have known. So now I have to rip back. Kelly 11:21 Oh, well. Marsha 11:22 Yeah, that's something to keep me busy. You know, start again. It'll keep me off the streets, you know, out of bars. And then I... Oh, I forgot to put this in the show notes, Kelly. But what I'm knitting on right now is... I had to look it up. I cast this on probably two years ago. It's a shawl. It's just called Simple Shawl. Oh, yeah. It's from hedgerow yarns. This was yarn that I bought down in San Francisco. Kelly 11:50 And I'm looking at it right now. That's pretty Marsha 11:52 Yeah, it's a... Kelly 11:53 Kind of denim looking. Marsha 11:55 Yeah. And it's... I bought this at Atelier Yarns in San Francisco. Actually, I bought it in 2017. And I think that was the time when I met you for Stitches West. And then I went into San Francisco, right. And just went to some of the yarn shops and I think that's when I bought that. Anyway, the colorway is called San Francisco Fog. That's why I love the colorway. And it was hand dyed. And it just says on the label Michael's CWD so I don't know anything about them. He's not you know, in that there's really no information about that company but anyway, it's very nice. It's kind of like denim, it has... okay, it reminds me of dirty jeans. You know, muddy jeans because it has that denim blue, but it also has some brown. Yeah, kind of a cocoa brown in there. Like you have mud on your jeans. Kelly 12:49 Yeah. And it's pretty I like it. It's a pretty color. Marsha 12:52 it's really nice. And it's kind of... what I think is kind of nice about it is it's it's quite a kind of a neutral yarn, where a lot of the shawls I make have lots of color in them. Yeah, this one's kind of neutral, which I think will be a nice. Kelly 13:07 Yes. Marsha 13:08 Let's see, when did I cast this on? Oh, I cast on in 2018. Kelly 13:14 Yeah, well, it'll be nice. Your your point about it being a neutral is, is a good one because I have a shawl that I made... Oh, man, way back when I started-- first started to spin. And I didn't even really know how to make a shawl. I mean, I didn't have a pattern. I started at the bottom and then I just made increases on the sides. Like I was doing... I had a dish cloth pattern that did that. And I thought oh, I could do this for a shawl. So I did. So it's with my handspun but it's like three different colors of blue. That kind of blue gray, Blue, a blue gray, and then a more tealy kind of a blue. Anyway, it turned out really good. And I use that all the time. That shawl. I mean it just it's just a good color with almost anything I'm wearing. I can grab it. Yeah, I think you'll be really happy with it once it's done. Marsha 14:04 Yeah. Yeah. Kelly 14:06 It's probably happy to be out of the knitting bag! Marsha 14:09 I know. Well, it's been... you know, it's funny, because it's been to Scotland. And it's been... I took it to Iceland. Kelly 14:15 Oh, it's kind of like the Pismo Beach socks. Yes, you're gonna have to, you're gonna have to bring it with you now everywhere you go. Marsha 14:22 Yeah. And then I started swatching for another project. And it's the Atlas pullover by Jared flood. And this is for my brother. Do you remember when you were up here? I think for the dye workshop that we did. And we went over with our friend Janis over to Tolt and Mark was our driver. And he bought this yarn for me to make a sweater. And so it's Navia Traditions. Kelly 14:51 Yeah, that's gonna be a really pretty sweater. Color work yoke. Marsha 14:55 Yes. And so he he likes color. So I think a lot of people would have reversed these colors, but he's using a really bright kind of grass Kelly green for the body. And then the color work there's the color work is in that grass green. And then two other colors. In his case he picked navy and a kind of a bright blue light, like robin's egg blue. And so I did the swatch I not really proficient color work. So I'm going to need a little help on this. I think I'll be asking questions probably. You are great though. Because I called you other night when I was doing the swatch because they said obviously you want to do the swatch in the stockinette, which is the main body of the sweater. And then it's a color work yoke. And then you want to do a swatch in the color work, which I did. But I was swatching, you know, color work knit side and then purling back color work. And I said... my comment to you was isn't my my gauge going to be off? Because the whole... when I do the sweater, the color work is all done in the round. In stockinette. So all on the knit side. And so you said what a lot of people do is you knit on the right side, then slide your swatch to the other side and leave a huge long loop in the back and pick up the yarn and knit again. Yeah, so that's what I did. And it worked out a lot better. I do think-- I think doing color work in a swatch is going to be very different than doing the actual sweater. It was very slippery. Because I you know, it's I mean, I made a pretty sizable swatch, but it's still not like having all of that weight of the sweater and all those stitches, you know, to get any kind of rhythm. Yeah, so but it looks pretty good. And I think this is a very well written pattern. And I-- and also when you get to the part where you're doing the color work, it tells you of the three colors that you're using, which one is supposed to be the dominant color. I'm assuming, and listeners can give me some feedback, that I'm assuming that the dominant color is the one that you're going if you are throwing the dominant colors in your right hand. I'm assuming Kelly 17:21 Yeah, I don't know. Marsha 17:23 I have to read up on that. Or as I say if anybody wants to weigh in on it. The other thing about this sweater, too, is Kelly you and I talked about this. That Mark likes his sweaters to be very slim fitting. He's slim and he likes slim fitting sweaters. I think because this wool is it's worsted weight and it's it's a very woolly wool. The kind I think you probably want to wear over a flannel shirt. Yeah, I think he's gonna want more ease in it then he thinks he wants because it does... what does say the pattern say? Three to five inches of positive ease and I think he's gonna want that. So we're having some...we're in discussion right now. Marsha 18:09 And then and I'll talk more about this too when I start doing it but I think Jared Flood is also the designer of the other sweater that I made for Mark which I am now drawing a blank on it. What was that that blue one I made for him? Oh, here it is Cobblestone. The sweater is designed that you you you do a tubular cast on at the bottom of the sweater, do the ribbing and knit up to the armholes. Put the body aside, do the same thing with the sleeves and attach them and then do the yoke. But I found I did not do that with cobblestone. What I did is I provisional cast on for the body, knit up to the armholes, provisional cast on for the sleeves, did stockinette up to the armhole, attach the sleeves, did the yoke and then I went back and I actually had to knit some stockinette down before I did the ribbing to get the correct length. And because what I find interesting about this method that the pattern says is how do you know where the armhole is going to fit? Is it gonna be you know, an inch from the armpit or two inches from the armpit? So and that makes a difference on how long the sleeve is going to be? Right, depending on where the armhole hits on your body. So I don't... I can't really wrap my head around doing that method. I think. So. I'm going to do this method. Kelly 19:34 Yeah, I think worked with the other. I think it's a good idea that you had when you did that last sweater. Mm hmm. Marsha 19:41 So anyway, that's what I'm going to do on that one. And then that's it for me for projects. Kelly 19:46 All right. Well, you have more than I do. I did spin a four ounce braid, which was good. I had done a little bit of spinning for the last episode with that Santa Cruz Island which I need to talk about a little bit more, but I had a Perendale braid and Perendale is kind of a medium, I would say a medium to long wool. A little more woolly than Corriedale, which I consider to be usually like a medium. Or a little less against the skin than a Corriedale. I probably wouldn't make a hat out of this. But it's... but it's not. It's not as coarse as I thought it was going to be just based on what I had read about Perendale. And when I got this braid from Sheep Spot, and she has a lot of interesting breeds to select from. And I bought this last year, I think I bought it when I was buying prizes for the for the spin in and I bought it for myself. But anyways, blue and yellow. And then of course green where the blending happened in the braid, and I decided to do it as a fractal. It's a three ply fractal spin. So just to describe what that is, the way I got ready to spin this... For those of you who don't know, I divided the braid into three parts, because I was going to make a three ply. So vertically stripped it into three parts, vertically. And then one part I just spun it straight from the from the start to the finish, you know, I didn't do anything different, I just spun that. And so that gave me relatively long color repeats. My sections of color were were pretty long. And then the second bobbin, I took one of those strips that I had stripped out and I had weighed them and they were all roughly the same weight, I had to make a little bit of an adjustment as I was pulling it apart to make sure that I got this, you know, equal, kind of equal sizes. The second one I then split into, I split that one into two pieces vertically. So I had thinner strips, and I spun. And so I spun those. And I spun, you know, the first one end to end and then got the second one end to end. And I kept track of what order, you know, what was the start of it, and what was the end of it? Marsha 22:15 Right. Kelly 22:15 And so my color repeats are less, right? They're smaller. Because the fiber was... the piece of fiber that I was spinning from was was more slender. And then the third bobbin, I did exactly the same thing. But this time I did it in three, three parts. Yeah, three parts. And so it was 1/3 of the braid, split lengthwise, and then I took that 1/3 and I divided it again into three parts. Marsha 22:47 Okay, Kelly 22:48 And spun that. So now my color repeats are even smaller. So I've got one bobbin with longer color repeats, one bobbin with a little bit shorter color repeats, and then one bobbin with even shorter color repeats and I a plied those together. And that's what they call fractal spinning. I'm really pleased with the skein. I'm not sure it looks any different than if I just like, spun randomly, and then plied it together. But when it's stripes up, when you when you knit it up, it does have a different... I've seen in a couple of books or articles about fractal spinning compared to other ways of managing the color in your braid. It does look a little bit different when you knit it up. So it will be a little bit stripy, when I knit it up, but pretty blended. I mean, there's a couple of sections that are all blue and a couple of sections that are all yellow, and mostly it comes out... it reads green even though the the braid by itself just looking at it was more blue. This this yarn actually reads more green when you look at it, but it came out really nicely. And I plied it kind of loosely. I didn't i didn't ply too tight. Like I usually try... I usually like to ply tightly. But since Perendale is kind of a longer staple, I thought, Well I'm gonna ply it more like a longwool without so much twist in it. So that's what I did. I'm really happy with it. So that was kind of a fun experiment. And then I took what was left I'm not sure I'm gonna have enough to really be able to tell... but I took what was left over after the first bobbin ran out. And then I just plied a two ply because I want to do a little swatch of each and compare the two ply fractal to the three ply fractal spin. But I am going to do a little swatch of both of these so that people can see the difference and I can see the difference between a two ply fractal and a three ply fractal. The one thing that you will definitely be able to tell is there's not as much color variation in the two ply. Partly because it was only two bobbins worth of color playing together. Marsha 25:04 Right. Kelly 25:04 And partly because there was only a very little left on the bobbin. So you know, it didn't really have enough yarn to get all the way through all the different colors. But anyway, it'll be an interesting little experiment to make a swatch with both of those and compare them side by side. Yeah, so that was my spinning. Going back to the Santa Cruz Island, fleece. I was so excited because I had emptied bobbins of the Santa Cruz Island. And it's like, okay, I can call that finished, you know, even though I still have some fleece left, but it's like, okay, I can call that spinning project finished, right? Marsha 25:42 Yeah, Kelly 25:43 I was looking around in my stash for what else I had that I could just do a quick little spin with. And I found two about third full bobbins of Santa Cruz Island singles. Two, not three, two. And it's... I want to make, you know, to match the yarn I already had, I wanted to make it... I would make a three ply. Not that I really need any more of that. I was gonna make socks with it. And I have plenty for a pair of socks, but just kind of like Oh, no. So now, I do have some more fiber that's already carded. I did find that too, when I was digging around. So I will spin the yarn that I have, or the the fiber that I have that's already carded, and spin the third bobbin. And I just want to be done with this project. But you know, the little bits that I didn't want to throw away on those other two bobbins are insignificant compared to the mountain that's on these two bobbins Marsha 26:49 right, right Kelly 26:50 In comparison. I could have easily thrown that away. But anyway, I I now have another Santa Cruz Island job to do. So. I will do that. I like that fleece. It's really fine. It'sjust, it's tricky to spin. I mean, I have to do... I talked last time how I really am doing kind of an inch worming technique. And then I had to stop and pull out little neps of tangled fiber every so often. So it's not it's not exactly rhythmic Zen spinning. Marsha 27:26 Yeah. Kelly 27:27 So I did no knitting and crocheting. In my... since the last time we talked, I mean, I didn't even do any. I finished the last dish cloth. And I didn't even... I didn't even get any more on those. So that's kind of strange, but I've been doing a lot of dog training. Nothing formal, and not any real formal stuff, but you know, walks and, and trying to keep them from fence fighting. And so Beary's here sort of crunched into the corner where I'm recording right now. So you know where I am Marsha in the dressing room. Right? Well, he could be lengthwise and have plenty of room. But he's crosswise. So his head is jammed up against the cabinet. And his rear end is jammed up against the closet. The size of him is you know, the whole width of this little dressing room area. So, but he's, he's snoring. So he's happy. He doesn't mind being crunched in the corner here. Marsha 28:40 Well, and he can probably curl up into a tighter ball now because he's lost so much weight. Kelly 28:44 Yes, yes. He had a vet appointment last week. And so we got to, you know, get him weighed and get his result of his thyroid test and all that. He had a new thyroid test. But yes, he lost. He's now 113 pounds. Marsha 29:00 Wow. So that's amazing. Kelly 29:03 Yeah. Yeah. So just just to kind of recap for people. When he got to the ASPCA in January, he was 163 pounds. When we brought him home, he was 133 pounds. And now he's 113 pounds. In like ...it was about seven weeks, seven and a half weeks that he lost the 20 pounds. Marsha 29:27 Wait a minute, I say 50 pounds. Yeah, he's lost 50 pounds. Kelly 29:31 Yeah, he's lost 50 pounds. So he's got another probably 10 to go maybe. Maybe? I don't know. At first I thought he would... He was you know, he was shepherd and just heavy and needed... He could be probably 90 pounds would be his his final weight. But he may be crossed. Well, we talked about that. Marsha 29:54 Yeah, he's big, big boned. You know Kelly 29:58 He's got something in him that makes him bigger so it may be that he only has another 10 or so pounds to go so we'll see. But But yeah, the vet was really happy and his thyroid is stable. It's good, it's all in in the good ranges and the vet said keep doing what you're doing which is a lot of exercise and training and organized, you know, chewing activity like the frozen Kongs filled with dog food mush, doggy milkshake. Marsha 30:36 Did you like my comment? You posted that on Instagram. And it was like everyone thought Oh, it looks like milkshake. Yeah, but knowing what's in it, I think it looks disgusting. But the dogs love it. Kelly 30:48 Yeah, it is. It is pretty disgusting. I have some turkey fat from Aunt Betty made a turkey. Like a turkey breast roast last night for dinner. So I have some turkey pan drippings that are gonna go in the next version, the next round of the of the frozen Kongs, and it's funny because you know, I had to I wanted that magic bullet so that I could, you know, make smoothies and stuff. And I got it one year for Christmas. And I did use it for the first year. But, you know, before we got Bailey, it hadn't been out of the cupboard for months and months and months. And now that's what I use it for. Making dog milkshakes to pour into the Kongs to put in the freezer. So anyway, yeah, the dogs are getting healthy. I don't know about me, I'm not having my kale smoothies anymore. [laughing] Marsha 31:44 That's really good news. Kelly 31:45 Yeah, yeah, Marsha 31:46 It really is good news. Because he's just... I'm sure he feels so much better and you know he can move so much better. Kelly 31:55 He had the the senior dog blood panel because we know they told us he was eight at the ASPCA. But I have never had an eight year old dog acting this lively. And I'm pretty sure he's not eight. I mean, just watching him with Bailey and the, the constant playing that they do and all his I mean, just the things that he's doing now it's like, Okay, this dog is not eight, I just can't believe it. And his teeth. I mean, you can't always tell by their teeth. You know, we had one dog whose teeth were good for her whole life. And then the other dogs, you know, their teeth got bad right away. So you can't really tell. But his teeth are good. And his his energy level is high. So I just think he's not eight. But there's no way to know except, Marsha 32:48 yeah, Kelly 32:48 how long he lives, you know? Yeah, if he lives another 10 years, then he's definitely not eight. Marsha 32:54 Yes. Yeah. Kelly 32:55 But we won't know that. Yeah, so huh. So anyway, yeah, Beary's doing great. He starts obedience class at the SPCA on Saturday. And I got an email with homework that was like 10 videos. I was like, Oh, my God, I have to watch 10 videos, because I am not a video learning person. But I did. I watched them. They were all really short. But they were good. So I have homework before we go to our class. So he's supposed to be doing his name. And, you know, responding to his name and a couple of other things that I need to do. I have been working on down with him, but he doesn't like to lay down. I mean, he lays down fine when he wants it. Marsha 33:42 Yeah Really! Yeah. Kelly 33:43 But he's not he doesn't follow a treat to go down, which I've never had a dog that wouldn't do that. Marsha 33:51 So that's interesting. Yeah. Kelly 33:53 He, he pops up. And I've tried all kinds of different ways to keep his rear end from popping up. And it doesn't seem to work. So I need some tips and tricks from the from the trainer on that when we go to class, maybe. I've been just waiting. Mostly just waiting until he's tired. And then I tell him to sit and then I just stand there. And then when he does finally lay down, I tell him down. He's getting there, but that's going to be a tough one. Marsha 34:22 Yeah. So anyway, he doesn't really like to be told what to do. Kelly 34:28 Right. That is true. Yeah, he's getting better. But yeah, Marsha 34:33 He didn't come that way. We know he's learning. But Kelly 34:36 yeah, yeah, he's already... he's doing some crate training now, too. He's doing great now that he can, you know, he's thin enough that he can actually turn around in the crate. He's using the Wolfhound crate, and he fits great. And he goes in there just fine and he's quiet. And he doesn't break the crate. Marsha 34:54 Yeah. Kelly 34:56 So that's a nice fresh breath of fresh air compared to Bailey. Marsha 35:00 Well, good. That's really good to hear. I mean, I think that that's just really good news that he's lost so much weight and his panels are all good. Kelly 35:06 Yeah, his health is great. Yeah, his health is doing really well. So, yeah. Well, now that we've talked about all our projects, including our plumbing and dogs and all of that kind of stuff. We have a summer spinning topic for everybody. Marsha 35:21 Yes. So we thought we would talk about the whole process of selecting a fleece and where to buy a raw fleece. And so let's just dive right in. Okay. Kelly 35:33 And before we do that though, I just want to remind people that if you are going to be working with raw fleece, you should just make sure that your tetanus shot is up to date. Marsha 35:46 Oh, that's a good idea. I wouldn't even have thought about that. Kelly 35:49 It seems like every time you have an injury of any kind that could be tetanus related they give you a tetanus shot anyway, even if you're ...even if you just had one almost But you should have had a tetanus shot, I would say, because it's easy to... it's easy to have a puncture wound, using carding equipment or wool combs or being stuck with a sticker in your fleece. It's easy for that to happen. So anyway, Marsha 36:21 that's a good idea. Yes, that's good, because I would not have thought about that. So and you probably just get that at the pharmacy. Don't you think? You can get so many vaccines now just at the pharmacy? I mean, if you can get a tetanus Kelly 36:33 maybe, Yeah, probably. Marsha 36:35 I don't know. I have to look into that. Okay, so I have about selecting a fleece. How do you start just buying a fleece? What do you look for? Kelly 36:42 Well, Marsha 36:43 Kelly, any thoughts? Kelly 36:45 I tried to buy a fleece this morning from Instagram. And I don't think I'm going to get it because there was somebody else who was interested in it before me. But so what did I look for? Well, it was Wensleydale, a Wensleydale cross, which means it was a long wool, which always attracts me seeing those long curly locks. Just gets me. So that's what I look for. It was six pounds, which is a decent size. Again, that's what I look for. I am not... I'm not wanting to buy fleece, you know, oh, I'll just take a pound of that. Or, Oh, is it three pounds fleece? Now six pounds is a good size for a fleece. It's kind of like cones of yarn, you know, big and juicy. So, so that was an attraction. And then, and then it was gray, which is also an attraction for me. So long wool, gray, six pounds. And the price was right, it was priced at $50, which is about $8 a pound. And I think that's pretty... I think that's that's excellent. And then plus shipping. So for for a long wool that's a good price.You're not going to find... you're not going to find Merino at that price. But Marsha 38:14 Right, right, Kelly 38:15 But for a long wool. So that's what I look for. I wasn't thinking of a project, I wasn't imagining what I was going to do with it. Nothing like that. It was just like, oh, pretty long, curly, good pric-- buying! Marsha 38:33 Well, I will confess, before we really get into this, I will confess that online, doing some research, I was looking at producers and Etsy and there was many that I wanted to click buy. But I had to restrain myself. And what really gets me in this is excellent marketing. And if there's any producers who listen to this, this is excellent. This is how you get people to click buy. If you have a photograph of the sheep that the fleece came from, or just the name of... just the name of the sheep makes me want to buy because there's like this... I don't know it's just sort of... it's very... it's like a story and anytime there's a story about a product I get more and more tempted to buy it. Kelly 39:26 Yeah, well it's the same as a yarn having a name like Mocrocs Beach as opposed to you know the colorway Kelly 39:36 or San Francisco Fog. I bought San Francisco Fog because I liked the name. Kelly 39:39 as opposed to color number 5973. Marsha 39:44 Or I remember at... now we're getting a little off of the topic of buying a fleece but I remember one time at stitches. I do not need another skein of hand dyed sock yarn, but I bought one because the name of it was It Was Comic Con and I Was Drunk. I had to buy it, right? So, yeah, so if there's a backstory or something it's really very appealing for me anyway, personally. But so anyway, but what I was gonna say the first thing is... I was gonna say is online, there's... The Livestock Conservancy has an article about selecting a raw fleece. And I would really recommend that, because it talks all about staple length, coated versus not coated. What else Kelly? Kelly 40:38 it talks about the health of the lock and looking at health, the strength of the lock or the health of the sheep. It talks about the different breeds. Marsha 40:49 And so I-- that's just a great source, I think just start there. You get much better information than well, we could, and concise information to what we could give in just the podcast. But I think that's excellent. And the other thing we were sort of talking too before we started recording about-- let me just back up. When I, the first time I bought a fleece, I was like, Oh, I want it. This is what I want to make out of that fleece, I'm going to buy that. I think I bought a Shetland fleece at Black Sheep gathering. And I didn't know anything. No, I take that back. It wasn't, it was I split it with a woman down there. And it was now I don't remember now I think was like a Merino Corriedale mix, I think or something. And I didn't know anything. And I just thought, Okay, I'm gonna buy this. And then this is what I'm going to make out of it. Well, I don't think that really is. ..Maybe if you're really knowledgeable, you can get to the point where you can say-- you can look at a fleece and know how it's going to spin up and know how you're going to-- what you're going to make. Yeah, but I kind of think I think as a beginner, you probably just have to buy the fleece that you will like, and after you wash and card it and spin it. It will then tell you what you should make out of it. Kelly 42:00 Yeah, that's true. Marsha 42:02 Because you may have an idea that you want to have yarn, a yarn that really blooms, but that particular fiber is not going to do that. So it doesn't mean that it's going to end up being a bad yarn. It's just a yarn that's not-- it's gonna be a beautiful yarn that's for another purpose. Kelly 42:23 Yeah, yeah, that's true. I mean, so my love is when I see fleeces that are silver, silver gray longwool. Marsha 42:37 Yeah, Kelly 42:37 So I that would not be a good choice if what I wanted to make was a you know, a light fluffy cardigan. You know, like my Funky Grandpa sweater. If that was what I wanted to make, that would be the wrong choice. If I'm going to buy a romney for example long wool, I might be able to make like a coat kind of sweater, cardigan. Or blanket, or you do some weaving with it, weave a blanket, but I'm not going to be able to make a light fluffy cardigan out of a romney wool. So a lot of it depends on on what it is you want to do with it. I mean, you know, my, my advice is you just spin to spin, right? And see what happens. And so my advice would be for first spinners it would be to try all the ones that you just you look at it and you love it. Yeah, if it sings to you, and you go, Oh, my God this is so gorgeous. Get it! You know, if the price is right, and you're up for the adventure, I would say just go ahead and get it. And then you'll see what what the yarn is that it makes. And you don't have to spin the whole thing. You can, you know, and you don't have to buy the whole thing. Sometimes you can split fleeces with somebody. Or you can, I know on Etsy you can buy... sometimes people are selling them by the pound and so you can buy just a pound of a particular kind of fleece. So Marsha 44:08 If you do buy a whole fleece though, I think there's a couple things to sort of keep in mind. Find out if it's been skirted. And that's when they remove all of the wool that's not really usable and the tags which is manure. And you can buy a fleece that has all of that, but just know that you're paying. You're gonna be throwing away a lot that you're paying for. Kelly 44:29 Right right. Yeah, so if you're searching on Etsy, I would say one of the things to put in your search is spinning or hand spinning. Just to make sure that you know you're going to... you're going to get something that people are at least calling a hand spinners fleece. Although we will talk later, I found a great article on those bargain fleeces or free fleeces and how do you, you know, make sure that you can use a fleece like that. So, yeah. Marsha 45:03 And then the other thing and I, I've never had this experience, but they talked about it when we went to the Black Sheep Gathering. Well what they had said and people who were there, the general consensus is if, if you're buying a fleece that's been part of a show, you're going to get a good fleece. Just because people have carefully prepped them for showing Kelly 45:27 And spent money to put them in the show. Marsha 45:30 Right? Yes, there's an investment to show them. And so you really couldn't go wrong buying any of those. We did have though, do you remember the one judging where the fleece had an odor to it, like a sour odor or something? And they said that it was, I don't know, I don't remember now what was wrong with it. But I guess what the general... what I would take away from that is smell the fleece. If it just doesn't smell like that delicious, wonderful... which we like. Some people hate but we like that lanolin woolly smell. Then avoid that one. If it has any kind of weird sour or off putting odor that doesn't smell right. Kelly 46:15 A dirty dish cloth. Marsha 46:16 And so anyway, I was gonna say that the... I think that the Livestock Conservancy website is really good. And we'll have the link in the show notes. Yeah. And also the spinners book of fleece by Beth Smith is really good. Kelly 46:27 And that can help with you know, like, what kinds of fleeces will do what kinds of thing. What breeds will do what kinds of things, you know. Is it a medium, fleece? Would it make that fluffy cardigan? Is it better for outerwear? Will it be just good for rugs and blankets? It will give you a good idea of of that. Yeah, the other thing to think about too, is what kind of preparation you're going to work on. What kind of ability do you have to wash it. So like, if you're gonna buy... If you don't have a good capacity to wash a fleece and you're gonna have to wash it, you know, little by little, and you're not sure how it's going to work, you might not want to buy a Merino--a really greasy fleece like a Merino. You might, or you might want to, if you do buy a fleece like that, you might want to have someone else do it, have it processed. Marsha 46:45 Yeah, Kelly 47:21 Or even just washed by a processor. I mean, that's a possibility. That you can have a processor just wash your fleece and send it back to you clean. Just because that that does take a lot of water, a lot of soap, a lot of time to get all that grease out of the fleece. And so depending on what your washing situation is, you might be better off having a fleece that's not quite as greasy. So the article that I did find about the kind of fleece that I've always liked, the bargain fleece, is called The Great Fleece Makeover. And it's by Emmioneisha Hopkins in Spin Off magazine. And she talks about three different fleeces that she had and, and they were, you know, dirty in different ways. They were flawed in different ways. And yet she was still able to make beautiful yarn out of them. Time, you know, there's a time investment to that. If you have, you know, flaws. So for a lot of people any kind of veg matter in their fleece: stickers, hay, anything like that is just a no go. And I've never been like that. That has never been something that I totally just you know been put off by and I think partly because when I started spinning, coated fleeces were very rare. And so you know, you always had some of that in your fleeces, but now with coated fleeces, you can get, you know really pristine fleeces without any of these problems. But you pay the price, right? So if you get a free fleece or you have the opportunity to get some fleece for a very good price, I would really recommend this article The Great Fleece Makeover. So you can see, you know, what kind of things does she look at? And what kind of things does she do? Wool combs are what she uses, because they take out a lot of the garbage you know, the short cuts of wool, the really short pieces, you know. If the shearing is inconsistent, they take out a lot of the vegetable matter if there's a lot of that, and they make a really nice preparation. So wool combs are a really good thing to have if you're interested in working with the bargain fleeces. A carder also gets out a lot of the stuff that's in it. A drum carder, or hand cards, but not as much as combs do. So anyway, that's a good article that I would recommend to people looking for a fleece. But there is just something about walking around a fleece fiber festival looking at all the fleeces and just falling in love with one. And and if, if that doesn't happen to you, then maybe you're just not a spinner for fleeces, for raw fleeces, right? If you can walk through a fiber festival and you don't feel pulled... drawn to fork over money for at least you know, three or four of them and have to rein yourself in, then, you know, maybe braids are your are your jam. And that's okay. You know, yeah, processed fiber might just be what you are in love with. Marsha 50:41 Well, and the thing about the processed fiber you said about time and like, you can just start right away. I like that. And that's nice. Like I've used... it's all been, you know, the commercially processed roving that I've used for the combo spins. Kelly 50:51 Yeah, Yeah, I'm in a really bad place right now because this Perendale was my last... was my last dyed braid. I have a couple of braids of Coopworth that are natural color. And that's it. So you know, I don't have anything that I could just grab. Which is kind of on purpose because I have a lot of stuff that I need to process. [laughing] So how do you buy one? If you are going to fall in love? If you think you might fall in love, where would you find those fleeces? Marsha 51:34 Well, so the first place I know where I bought all of mine was going to some sort of festival. So now, the pandemic has, has changed all of this because a lot of these festivals are not happening. So Black Sheep Gathering is always in June. That's also been cancelled. But a lot of them have online sales. Kelly 52:01 yes. Marsha 52:01 Or a list of the producers and you can contact the different producers. So we have links to the Black Sheep Gathering in the show notes. There's the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Kelly, you added the Ore`gon Flock and Fiber in October is that on? Kelly 52:16 Yeah, in October, it's on. And they moved it to Albany so it's in the same location where Black Sheep Gathering was the last time we were there. Marsha 52:26 Oh, Kelly! Kelly 52:27 I know. Marsha 52:29 Maybe! Kelly 52:29 It's a possibility. Marsha 52:33 Oh, but school's in session ... Oh, no, but you're Kelly 52:35 Yeah, but I'm online. Marsha 52:37 Ah. Oh Kelly! Kelly 52:38 So I yeah, there's, there's a possibility. Yeah. Marsha 52:45 Okay. Kelly 52:48 Vermont Sheep and Sool festival is also happening in October, according to their website. They have dates in early October. So and then I found another one that's actually happening coming up fairly soon. That's the Natural Fiber Extravaganza in Lebanon, Tennessee. And it's July 9 through 11th. It's a mostly alpaca. It's put on by an alpaca association. But that looked, that looked interesting if you're in that part of the country. And then I also found Knitters Review has a fiber festival directory. Now I put the link to that in the show notes as well. A lot of them when you go to the website you see the 2020 information and you see "cancelled" but if you're willing to like search out your area. If you're looking for a particular area you can in a particular month you can narrow it down pretty well to just look at the ones that are, you know, pertinent to you and see if they have them. And then our county fair last year I kind of spaced and didn't even think about it but the Monterey County Fair last year they had their wool show, their wool auction, they just had it online. Marsha 54:04 Oh yeah? Kelly 54:06 So and then you had either pickup or shipping of the fleece that you had bought. I didn't even know about it until after it was already done. It was already done is when I realized. Marsha 54:20 Yeah, and I know the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival that one actually I think that was in May. It didn't actually happen but it was all online. But there you could check it out and see if there's still things available. And as I say, they all have vendors listed that are still selling their fleeces. Kelly 54:37 Yeah, the listing of vendors is the nice thing. Yeah, in these websites, so. So yeah, check out your county fair website. And then the other thing I just put in there, I know we've talked about the Shave 'Em to Save 'Em, and that's through the livestock Conservancy. The same website that Marsha mentioned about selecting a fleece. But they have a directory. And you can find different, you know, the rare breed fleeces there. And then also, there's the Fibershed directory. California has the Fibershed, I think Canada, Canada has a Fibershed organization. I don't know if other areas have a Fibershed organization. But if you have a Fibershed in your area, you can look at their website. And they usually will have a directory of producers of all kinds of things, not just wool. I think there's a, there's a hemp farm, and a flax farm on the Fibershed directory. And so there are some other websites, so lots of resources in this set of show notes. Marsha 55:45 So I just, I also just googled where to buy a raw fleece, you know, and the first one that came up was a farm in, it's in the Finger Lakes region of Western New York State. It's called Nistock farms. And they--you have to reserve the fleece. But they still have some available. But it was interesting. They have an interesting website just to read it too, because they they have a lot of information about processing your...washing fleeces. They also are part of the Livestock Conservancy. And they're members of the livestock Conservancy. And they talk a lot about how their... how important is to keep their their flock healthy. So they no longer take their sheep to to be judged at shows because they don't want to expose them to all the different diseases that sheep can get, apparently, and they don't bring in rams from outside the farm for breeding. They just have their own rams. And then, and now I'm getting into something I really don't know anything about. But the breeding of sheep. You can't breed them too many times because you have to bring in new Kelly 57:08 Right, genetics. Marsha 57:09 So when they do bring in a new ram, they have to be quarantined, they're tested and then they have to be quarantined for a certain merit amount of time before they enter the breeding program. Very, very interesting. I mean, if you if you want to go really deep into it, it's a very interesting website. And then the other one I found and I just think this is just sweet. And Kelly, you said we had talked about this before but the Sanctuary Wool website. They're located in Wisconsin, and their fleeces are from rescued sheep. This is the one where they have their pictures. And you know... Kelly 57:45 Which, I'm looking at them right now. Oh my gosh. Marsha 57:49 I know. Kelly 57:52 Good looking fleeces, too. I know when we first mentioned them, one of the caveats was, you know, we had not bought fleeces from them. And I don't know if they even had a website at that time or I don't think it had any pictures. So it was kind of, you know, I don't know what this will be like, but here's some information about it. But these look beautiful! East Friesian Polypay. And that's another thing! That.. so that's another thing that gets me-- a breed I haven't spun before. Yes, when I see a breed-- that's how I ended up with the Santa Cruz Island fleece. Marsha 58:31 Right. Kelly 58:31 It's rare, and I had never spun it. And it was just intriguing. And this one is also intriguing East Friesian Polypay. Marsha 58:41 Huh? What is that? I know there's Friesian horses. I think they're from Holland. Kelly 58:47 You're asking me a question I don't know the answer to. I really don't know what East Friesian sheep is. And I don't... I know Polypay is is a relatively newer breed. Anyway, one pound six ounces for $18. Wow. Add To Cart! Tthe lambs fleece, the locks average four inches long and there's very minor debris remaining to remove. So I anyway, I would say take a look at this. If you don't worry about the danger to your wallet, take a look at this website. [laughing] Marsha 59:06 Well, and there was another. I don't know if was this website or there's another website I was looking at. And what I wanted to put in the cart the name of the sheep was something like Big Gal, something like that. Anyway, but she was an older sheep and so they said as she's gotten older, more and more gray hair is in the fleece. Oh and that one I just like oh, I want it! Yeah, because of her story, she's just this old lady, you know, and I kind of wanted the old lady fleece. But anyway... Kelly 1:00:08 Sally's Fox on her Vriesis website would sometimes have her older sheep fleece. And she would describe it in such a way that just made you want to buy it. Marsha 1:00:22 Yeah, yeah. Oh my god very good marketing. Kelly 1:00:25 Yes. Marsha 1:00:26 For those of us with no self control, Kelly 1:00:29 I'm clicking closed now. I'm having self control, because I already tried to buy one this morning. I do not need any more fleece. How many do you think I have in my garage? Marsha 1:00:43 I don't know. Because I know how many I have. Kelly 1:00:45 I think I might have I think ten. Marsha 1:00:48 Oh Kelly, I think I have eight. Kelly 1:00:55 You know that True Confessions will be next next episode. [laughing] Marsha 1:00:59 Actually, I take that back. I think I have nine because I think I'm not counting the... my friend of mine in the knitting group gave me the alpaca fleece. So I don't think I'm counting that one. And that thing's a monster. It's huge. I didn't know alpaca had such big fleece but this thing seems huge. I don't know what I'm going to... I don't know but I was hoping during this our summer spinning that I would.. I obviously I can't wash and card all of it. But just some of it. Just because I've never spun alpaca. So anyway, the other place to buy, too Kelly, is... I didn't even think about this. You recommended it, Etsy. So that was another thing that I started sort of doing a deep dive into Etsy and there's tons and tons and tons of fleeces on Etsy Kelly 1:01:46 And if you know the name of the farm, that's a good way to look online. I follow some farms on Instagram. And so you know i've been, I follow them for you know, they might have lamb for sale, or they might just post nice pictures, or but some of them if you go to their website will have, you know, might have some fleeces for sale or might have processed fleece for sale. So that's another resource, too. If you're still not able to find a fleece, there's another way. Marsha 1:02:22 Anything else you want to add about where to buy a fleece? Kelly 1:02:26 Another thing to look at is fiber ills. So Valley Oak, she's the one that that posted this morning about the fleece that I almost bought. Marcaile at Valley Oak Wool Mill, but she also has roving that she sells, you know. She doesn't usually sell fleeces. She's helping someone else sell a fleece. But she does have roving. And so if you have a wool mill, that you know about, near you, or you know, that that you follow on Instagram or whatever, check out their website and see if they have their own roving for sale, and you can buy already processed fleece from them, you don't just have to buy a fleece and send it to be processed, you can just buy wool that's been been processed. So you know, your local, if you have some local mills, you can take a look and see if they have anything on their website. But then there's also those people who you know, there's a real nice thing about grabbing a braid and starting to spin. And I just my recent purchases, I mentioned Sheep Spot already. And I purchased a couple of braids of fiber the other day, which I think are going to be prizes, from Sincere Sheep. Her fiber is locally sourced. And then I also love the colors of that Huckleberry Knits has. That's up by you. Up in up in Washington, and there I mean, there are lots and lots of other people who have braids, but these are some examples of places that I've recently purchased. Marsha 1:04:10 The other thing I forgot to mention this is spinning guilds. Sometimes somebody will have something that they want to sell, or they know a producer that has too many and they're just looking for like, maybe they'll give it to you but if you pay for the shipping, right? So but that's also a resource. So I belong to the Northwest Spinners Association here in the Pacific Northwest and they have a Facebook group. And lot of times they're posting things.They post things, you know, funny articles, funny spinning cartoons and stuff, and interesting articles. Sometimes the equipment for sale, and then sometimes there's been fleeces too, that's another good source just to find, you know, they're all good sources. Kelly 1:04:58 So yeah. Yeah, we have lots of ways to make your money fly out of your wallet. . Marsha 1:05:05 Yeah, really. [laughing] Anything else on this topic, Kelly 1:05:10 I think just the main thing is that, you know, if you're interested in, in that process that you know, fleece to fiber, that whole, you know, the whole spectrum of the process, I would say it's, it's definitely worth doing once. And after you do it, you'll know what parts of the process you like, and what parts of the process you don't like. And then you can you know, you can decide. No, I'm just going to buy already processed braids of fiber, or I like washing fleece, but I have to wash it in small batches. So I'm only going to buy fleece by the pound I'm not going to buy entire fleeces. Or you could be like me, and if it's 10 pounds, that's even better. And so you really want, the bigger the fleece, the more attractive it is. Marsha 1:06:04 That is true. Like that was when we went to, I don't remember, I think it was the Monterey County Fair. And they had the auction. We got a really good deal on those. Like remember, we got a 10 pound fleece or something or a 12 pounds. I mean, it was a huge fleece that we got. And it was really quite inexpensive. And part of the reason is because it is so much for a hand spinner, right for hand spinner to go through 10 pounds Kelly 1:06:31 Really, Yeah, Marsha 1:06:32 Now granted... Oh, I one thing we didn't say is when you do buy a fleece, too, that when you wash it, you do lose. The weight will go down, right, because that weight is debris in the fleece Kelly 1:06:44 And when you card it, when you card if you do your own processing, or if you send it out to be processed, when you card it, there will also be waste. So you could lose, you know, you could lose as much as half by the time you have, or more, by the time you skirt it, wash it and process it and have it ready to ready to spin. Marsha 1:07:10 Because every time you do something to it, you lose. Right? Kelly 1:07:13 Right. So like I carded yesterday, I have an Oxford fleece that I started carding yesterday. I didn't put that in my projects. And I carded. I picked which means you pull the fiber apart. I picked and put through the drum carder what was 100 grams. So I decided I was just going to do it in 100 gram batches. So I did 100 grams. And then I put it through the carder. And when it got through the carder, it was only...When it got, you know, done being carded the first time, now it's only 95 grams. And I'm going to put that through the carder probably two more times, just to get it really nice. And by the time I do that, I'll probably be down to, you know, 75 or 80 grams. But yeah, the big fleeces are attractive to me. But they're not attractive to everyone. You know, it's helpful if you have a friend who will split it with you right, Marsha? Marsha 1:08:09 Yeah. So I'm always, I'm always willing to split. Kelly 1:08:15 So. All right, well, I think that's a, I think that's a good amount of information for someone who was interested in how to go about purchasing a fleece for the first time. And what are we going to talk about next time. Do you remember? Marsha 1:08:33 So the next episode, we're going to talk about carding of fleece, blending, prepping and process. Okay. So that's the plan. Kelly 1:08:41 All right. Marsha 1:08:43 So good. We have to do some research. Yes. Kelly 1:08:46 Well, I have one on the carder too right now. So I'll start now. I'll do my research. Partly do my research that way. Marsha 1:08:54 Okay, cool. All righty. Okay, well, with that we'll say goodbye. Kelly 1:08:58 All right. Marsha 1:08:59 We'll talk. Kelly 1:09:00 Okay. Bye. Thank you so much for listening. To subscribe to the podcast visit Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Marsha 1:09:08 Join us on our adventures on Ravelry and Instagram. I am betterinmotion and Kelly is 1hundredprojects. Kelly 1:09:16 Until next time, we're the Two Ewes doing our part for a world fleece. Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Jun 13, 2021

Our Summer Spin In is underway and in this episode we answer listener questions on washing a fleece and drafting techniques. Show notes with full transcript, photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects Walk Along Tee by Ankestrick (Ravelry link) It has been slow going but the sleeves are done and I've started the bottom ribbing! Halfway on the foot on the second sock of a pair of socks for myself using Drops Fabel Print that I bought in San Luis Obispo. My Barber Pole spinning project has hit a road bump. All the green and brown has been plied into a three-ply. I decided to spin a bobbin of just dark brown in Navajo (or chain) ply. This was not successful because I'm an uneven spinner and this technique emphasizes the variation. Back to the drawing board. Kelly's Projects Faye's Flower Blanket , a crochet project, is mostly sewn together. The triangles and corners need to be put on. I am using single crochet to attach them all. The pattern is Persian Tile Blanket (Ravelry link) by Jane Crowfoot. I am using Knit Picks Brava worsted. Finished one charity hat. It's a beanie style with a small 1" ribbing and the rest is just stockinette with two fingering yarns held together. Dishcloths! I've made about 7 dishcloths out of some cotton spirit yarn that Marsha and I dyed about 4 years ago and never did anything with. Spinning Questions We Answered: Drafting Techniques: What are the different drafting techniques and what are some tips? How are you drafting? What hand is where? Short, medium, long… Forward, backward… Drafting techniques: what have you used and what is your favourite? What is the preparation? Commercial preparation: top vs roving vs sliver vs batts Abby Franquemont's take on it How to get started with long draw? Here is a good article: Seven Drafting Techniques How do you wash a fleece? Here is a good article: Washing Grease Fleece and for further information you can listen to our episode on washing a fleece and read the show notes for lots of links! Washing: Episode 27B Fiber Myth Busting Bonus Episode . Resources: The Intentional Spinner: A holistic approach to making yarn. Judith MacKenzie McCuin. 2009. The Alden Amos Big Book of Handspinning: Being a compendium of information, advice, and opinions on the noble art and craft. Alden Amos. 2001. More cool info! A Spinner's Study Ravelry group . This month's breeds (June 2021) are Finn and Teeswater. The spinning challenge for the month is "Spinning and Plying the Other Way." From SalPal, Sarah: The Three Waters Farm Ravelry group maintains a bundle and thread of patterns that are good for handspun. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search#pattern-topic=257… Momdiggity--Jo Ann suggests that any pattern calling for Spin Cycle yarn would be a good pattern for handspun. Spring Summer 2021 Knitty-Spin column by Jilian Moreno: Planning for a Project-The Beginning Drafting from Worsted to Woolen , Craftsy class be Jacey Boggs Faulkner. Summer Spin In Memorial Day - Labor Day May 31st - September 6th Transcript of Show Marsha 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha and this is Kelly. We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventure dot com. Kelly 0:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects, Marsha 0:29 and I am betterinmotion. Kelly 0:31 We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Both 0:36 Enjoy the episode. Marsha 0:43 Good morning, Kelly. Kelly 0:44 Hi, Marsha. People will notice that we are not together. We're coming at you from separate microphones in separate states. Marsha 0:58 And yes, I think we have thought it would happen. But well, we should explain why we thought it was going to happen. Maybe people don't know that we were together over the Memorial Day weekend. That you and Robert drove up from California Kelly 1:12 It was a very exciting trip, for lots of reasons. Marsha 1:17 And well, so we should say that you brought the two dogs. You brought Bailey, who travels pretty well. She's gone camping with you hasn't she? Kelly 1:26 she's gone... Well, not too much because of the pandemic. Marsha 1:32 Okay, Kelly 1:32 So she's gone on two camping trips. The first one was right before the pandemic started. And she was... she was just learning. You know, we had not had her all that long. And so she got a lot of walks. And she was-- we were really worried about, you know, leaving her in the crate when we had to leave the trailer and stuff like that, because she went crazy and broke crate doors and stuff. And then the last time we went camping was in November of 2020. So she's only been twice but she's pretty good. Yeah. I mean, at least she's, she's more experienced at living with us. Yeah. then then then Beary. Kelly 1:40 And then I'm sure this is Beary's first camping trip. Kelly 2:23 I would guess, yeah. Marsha 2:25 And he did great. They will both dogs did great Kelly 2:29 Well Beary came to us not even really knowing how to get into the car, and not liking getting into the car and he has a ramp that we use to get him in. And at the SPCA they were really, you know, really careful to tell us you, you can't push him up the ramp, and you have to lure him with food and toys and you know, get that cheese in the can and you can spray it on the ramp, get him up there. And anyway, we didn't do that. But we did use a lot of liver and we taught him to get up into the truck, which is much higher than a regular car, with the ramp. So we were practicing. We were practicing on the ramp for a couple of weeks before we left. Marsha 3:14 It's steep! That ramp is pretty steep The truck is really tall and the ramp is not that long, either. It's what, six feet maybe Kelly 3:23 Maybe Yeah, Marsha 3:24 unfolded. So it ends up being kind of a steep ramp. And I was watching and he does sort of have to get a running start. Kelly 3:31 Yes. {laughing] Marsha 3:32 And then don't stop. You don't want him to stop on that ramp. Kelly 3:36 He'll just start sliding back down. But, and when we're first practicing, he would get tired. Like he would go up it a couple times. You know, I could only do it, I can only practice with him a few times because maybe like by the fourth time it was too much work. Now he's in much better shape now. Marsha 3:56 Well, so we have to talk a little bit about well, there's so many things. I know that, but you guys, you basically arrived on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, which I don't know what the date is that like the 29th I think or something like that. Kelly 4:10 Something like that. Marsha 4:10 I don't remember, anyway. And you left Tuesday morning. So Memorial Day was Monday and you left Tuesday morning. And while you were here I think Saturday we just sat on the deck the whole day, didn't we? Kelly 4:25 Yeah. Marsha 4:26 And we took the... we took our dogs for walks through the neighborhood and then just sat on the deck and everything. And then both Sunday and Monday we took them to the dog park at Magnuson Park which is on... people who are not in Seattle that's on Lake Washington. It's a former, I believe, Navy base that's been converted to quite a nice park with all sorts of different activities there. Anyway, one part of it is a dog park where you can take your dogs off leash and you were, I think, a little worried about Beary at first, but you let him off and he did fine. Kelly 5:05 Yeah, I wasn't sure. You know, we only had him a month. He doesn't really have much in the way of training. And you know, he recognizes his name, I think. And then he doesn't have a reliable, you know, come when called. But it was such a long walk from the parking lot to the dog park that he wasn't he wasn't fast enough to get away from me. If he wasn't coming. If he wasn't coming, I could have run over and gotten him and brought him back to where he needed to be so that... Marsha 5:43 Well, yeah, because I be parked at the southern end which then you have a long walk to the dog par. There's a parking lot that you just walk a few feet to the dog park but of course, I made them go on the long one, but it was better. It was funny though watching him because, and we've talked about this Kelly... I should also say too, that the three dogs Bailey and Beary and Enzo all got along pretty well. They--when you guys first arrived, we just took them for a walk. And Enzo was. really curious as to what who these dogs were and what was going on, but we didn't have any problems at all with them Marsha 6:19 No, they were fine. A little grumbling and raised lip Marsha 6:22 yeah, Kelly 6:23 And hey, this is my space. But it wasn't bad. It was it was relatively easy. Also just so everyone knows, they were also very highly managed. Marsha 6:35 Yes, Yes, they were. Well, they were. Kelly 6:39 It felt easy, because we were doing a lot of work to make it that way. Marsha 6:42 Yes. Well, they were on leash a lot all three dogs were on leash. And I think Enza was on a leash the night you arrived. Yeah, Friday night and then a good part of Saturday. Yeah. And then I finally let him off leash it because he was pretty good. I mean, he was pretty good about leaving them alone once they all kind of lost interest in each other. Kelly 6:48 Yeah, Marsha 7:04 But your your dogs were on a leash a lot and then oh, at dinnertime you would put them, you know, put them in the truck. So...Yes, there was a lot of managing going on. Kelly 7:15 Yes, in their giant four wheel drive silver crate. [laughing] Marsha 7:20 Yeah. Just a side note about that truck. I've never seen such a big truck! I mean that it's...I hope Robert doesn't listen to this. Kelly 7:32 It's Ridiculous! Marsha 7:33 I'm sure it's lovely. But it's it's so big. And the... And I know Kelly, you're, you're shorter than I am. Right. And I'm not a giant but I'm also not really short either. I'm just average height. But I swear the hood of the truck is over my head or level with my head it'ss so tall. Kelly 7:35 That's ridiculous. And the key fob weighs about 17 pounds. Marsha 8:05 Because if you drive a big truck, you have to have a key fob with some heft to it. Kelly 8:10 Yeah, it's a it's a manly truck in the most ridiculous way. But I have to say it. It got us up there and got us back. Marsha 8:23 And filled with furniture Kelly 8:25 filled with furniture, filled with dogs. Yeah, it's gonna pull a bigger trailer because that's another part of the reason we went up there was to take a look at a trailer that we bought that we're having worked on. That will replace the little trailer. It'll be a little bit bigger. And so this truck will pull that bigger trailer. So you know, I can't laugh about it too much. But Marsha 8:49 yes, stop your complaining! It's funny, because I did think that your old truck was big. It seems small compared to this one. Kelly 9:01 Yeah, yeah. If they were sitting next to each other, it would look puny. Mm hmm. Yeah. Marsha 9:08 Anyway, but uh, yeah. So that so part of the trip was to go look at the trailer, which is in Bend Oregon, right. So you looked at that, and then you came up. And then the other part of the trip, besides seeing me and Ben and my brother in the dog thing was to pick up furniture. Kelly 9:28 That you and Mark had been very graciously storing for us throughout the pandemic. Yeah. Marsha 9:37 And I think the mirror was actually Kelly 9:39 a year before the pandemic. Marsha 9:42 I think it's more than that. Kelly 9:42 No, I mean, it was a year before the pandemic started. Marsha 9:45 Oh, yeah, I think we've had it two plus years. Yeah. Kelly 9:48 Cuz we were supposed to come pick it up. We were planning to come pick it up last year, but the pandemic happened so it had already been in your house, a year when we were, when the pandemic. At least a year when the pandemic started. So yeah, Marsha 10:04 you posted on Instagram about getting... like... something like getting your crap out of our house. And I didn't say this, but what I wanted to say is it didn't really make a dent. [laughing] Anyway, but it's very nice you have the mirror and then a secretary that my brother had found and Robert's using that, and he's very excited about it. He's been posting pictures of it on Instagram Kelly 10:33 Yeah, he's very excited. So yeah, he likes it. Marsha 10:38 And it's old. Kelly 10:39 And it's fancy, because Robert is fancy. [laughing] Marsha 10:44 So my brother says it's from 1790 to 1810. Something around that. Kelly 10:49 Kind of cool. I wish it could talk. Marsha 10:51 I know. But you know what I was thinking. It's a perfect place for you to write with your fountain pens. You need to use your antique fountain pens. Kelly 10:59 Oh, yeah. Well, I don't know that he's gonna let me near it. [laughing] Marsha 11:08 Well, it's very nice. Anyway, but the so the dogs were great. I was laughing though. When we were walking through the dog park, that Enzo and Bailey, were darting all around sniffing and you know how they run ahead and then they run behind you and they run ahead. And Beary reminds me of a container ship, you know that it takes three miles to stop. He doesn't... he just walks in a line. He doesn't veer off to the right or left like he, if he sniffs anything, he sniffs it because he is crossed his path, or his path has crossed it. Not that he's... you know, where the other dogs, ooh they smell something and they start off in another direction? He doesn't do that. Kelly 11:50 He conserves his energy. Marsha 11:52 He conserves his energy. And didn't we notice we think that he... we were laughing we thought he had a little bit of a waist. Yes. Kelly 12:05 Because I can almost feel a rib. Marsha 12:12 He is a very sweet dog. Kelly 12:14 He's very good. Yeah, I was very, very pleased with how well he did and when we... we camped in a tent. And it turned out to be a six person tent, which was perfect because there's me and there's Robert and there's Bailey and then there's Bearry who's like three people, so we fit perfectly. But when we blew up the air mattress inside of the tent and, you know, made the bed and he comes in and he immediately lays down on the air mattress like "Well, good god. Finally you got me the right size of dog pillow." He was just so funny. He cracks me up. He's a very, very goofy dog. And he just, he's a lot of fun. So he had a great time. Bailey worries a lot. But I think she had a good time too. And I had a great time. And we didn't have time to record. Marsha 13:14 We didn't have time to record. We didn't even really knit very much. Kelly 13:18 Not very. You were able to do some on your on your sweater. But yeah, I did a couple dishcloths. Marsha 13:23 A little bit and we were mostly just managing dogs, getting furniture, you know, walking dogs. Cooking, talking. Whatever. And the weather was gorgeous. Kelly 13:41 I was surprised for that time of year. I was kind of surprised. And I felt really lucky that the weather was so good. Marsha 13:47 So we spent pretty much three full days on the deck. Kelly 13:49 Yeah, it was nice. It's very nice. Well, let's talk about what you were working on on the deck. Marsha? Marsha 13:56 Oh, yes. What was I working on? Oh, my projects. Oh, so my... Well, my sweater. And we had a some conversations about my sweater too. So the Walk Along tee by Anka Stricke. I have to tell you where I am now. I think actually, I can't remember, Kelly. I was working on the sleeves when you were here, wasn't I? Yes, it was my second sleeve. Anyway, I finished both sleeves. Kelly 14:21 Yeah. Marsha 14:22 And I was listening to our last episode. And I was talking about making them not three quarter length, but just to hit just above the elbow. We had that whole conversation about what's the right length. Anyway, and I ended up making them so they hit sort of, you know, halfway between the arm pit and the elbow. So they're not...they're not capped, So they're not capped sleeves, but they're not...They're definitely not three quarter and they're definitely not down to the elbow. Kelly 14:53 Yeah, they're like a regular sleeve, I think they're like a regular short sleeve. Yeah, that's like a regular --like a women's t shirt short sleeve? Marsha 15:02 Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And, and I'm gonna have plenty of yarn. I was worried about yarn. And we've had a lot of conversations about that. I'm fine. And I... Kelly 15:12 The dreaded yarn chicken is not on the table! Marsha 15:13 Yeah, yes. And I did. So the last episode, I think I was talking about how I had put the body on waste yarn and was gonna do the sleeves, and then go back to the body. So now I have gone back to the body. And when you were here, we I tried it on. You said I should make it an inch longer before I start the ribbing, which I've done. And now I've done... I've done two rows of the ribbing, and I have to do a total of five. And then I'll bind off. Now what I had talked about doing is putting... On the sleeves, you do the five rows of ribbing, and then you do reverse stockinette to make sort of this in the contrast in color. And we had a conversation about that we decided that it's probably best not to do that. So I'm not going to put that contrasting border on I'm just going to do the ribbing and bind off and call it good. So I'm getting close to being done. Kelly 16:09 Yay. Marsha 16:10 Finally, yeah. Kelly 16:13 I need to weave in the ends on that tee that I made. Because I think there is some time I could actually still wear it with the weather we've been having. I could actually. I don't have anywhere to wear it to but but I probably could with the weather I probably could still wear it. And same with you. Right? When you finish it. You'll still you'll still have plenty of weather you could still wear a wool tea. Yeah. Marsha 16:41 On Instagram, Kelly, I posted a picture of you sitting on the deck and you have your bare feet but you have a flannel on. Somebody, I remember somebody made a comment about your bare feet and the flannel. And it's like, yes, it's Seattle, you wear flannel in the summer. Maybe you don't have it on all day. But you probably have it on in the morning. And in the evening. Yeah. So I can wear too. I can definitely wear this, I can wear this during part of the summer, because it is not exactly hot here all the time. So anyway, but yeah. And then I'm still, you know, endlessly working on the pair of socks that I've been working on for months and months. There's really nothing to report. I'm still on the foot. I do, you know, three or four rows every so often when I pick it up. Yeah. And then I would continue to work on my spinning project. But I think, Kelly, why don't you talk about your projects, and then we'll talk about my spinning because we're gonna talk a little bit about spinning. Kelly 17:41 Okay, yeah. Marsha 17:43 Does that make sense? Kelly 17:44 That does make sense. So I have some exciting news and then some really boring. Okay. So the most exciting thing is that since the last episode, I've actually put together the entire... all of the octagons and squares of the blanket that I'm making for my grandniece. I'm calling it Faye's flower blanket. It's a crochet project. I've been talking about it for a while. It's made of Knitpicks Brava sport. No, Knitpicks Brava worsted weight, is the yarn. So it's the Persian Tile Blanket by Jane Crowfoot. And I really love it, it looks great. It's all put together with you know, single crochet, I didn't sew it together, I single crocheted it together. And I was able to with the yarn, because you know, I talked about how much yarn was leftover. I was able with the yarn I had leftover to always be crocheting it together with a color that was on the edge of either the octagon or the square that I was putting together so that that was nice. I didn't have to... I didn't end up having to mix colors at all with the with yarn that I was, you know, that I was putting it together with and I just now have the triangles that go on the sides. It's the triangles have to go on it and then four corners. And then I'll be done. Marsha 19:23 All right!. Kelly 19:24 Yeah, but I think she's gonna really like it. Because it's so colorful and it's turned, it's turned out really nice. And I might, I keep thinking maybe I'll make another one of these. I still do... once everything is put together. I still do need to do the edging as Marsha and I talked about Yeah. So it's not you know, it's not like it's gonna be done tomorrow Marsha 19:29 And have you thought more about how you'll do th edging? Kelly 19:50 I am probably just going to do the edging as the pattern calls for just four rows of it and that's not... nothing, nothing special. The real action is in all the flowers. So I think the border will just be kind of plain. Marsha 20:08 Yeah, it would distract. Kelly 20:10 I may, depending on how much yarn I have left, I may have to do like, not the same color all the way around the whole blanket. You know, for each round, I may not be able to use the same color. But I don't think that will be a problem. I think it will, it will go just fine. There won't even be noticeable with as much riot of color is going on in that. So that's really exciting. It went together a lot faster than I expected it to. And then I finished a charity hat, this little beanie with this... Usually I make you know enough ribbing that if you wanted to, you could fold it up when I make a hat. But this time I thought No, I'm just going to make it one inch or one and a half inch. I don't remember something like that. A ribbing and then the rest of it is just a little beanie. Not slouchy or anything like that. And it's made of, it's actually not... I don't think it's very pretty. I just made it with all the scraps I had left of sock yarn. And the colors. only marginally go together. So I'm not sure it's the best looking thing. But I said that to Robert and he said, Oh, I think it looks nice. So I guess you know, to my eye the colors don't go together but, but they do kind of. I started with the yellow and purple that I had used in one hat and then from that I went to just a purple and then I did purple and blue and I added in a pink stripe. And anyway, by the time you get from the bottom to the top, it's changed from this purple and gold. You know, purple and gold purple and yellow, to like a bright blue and greeny blue color. So, kind of a gradient but not really. It's a hat. It'll be warm. It's okay. Marsha 22:19 It will fit someone's head. Kelly 22:20 Yeah, it's not ugly. It's just not.... it's just not the prettiest thing I've ever made. So yeah, and then dish cloths. I've been making dish cloths. That was my travel project. I did work on the hat while we traveled but mostly I worked on dish cloths. I worked on dish cloths a little bit on your deck. So I've made about seven dish cloths out of I think it's well,... It turned out to be four skeins of yarn... so I guess, no three skeins it's three skeins of yarn that we had dyed. Some cotton yarn, 100 gram skeins that we had dyed. I think it was originally on cones. Marsha 23:12 Were they cones or ball? Well you know those balls that are wrapped around cardboard centers you know Kelly 23:18 Yes, it's nice cotton. Yeah, I don't know. It's thicker than crochet cotton. Marsha 23:23 Mm hmm. Kelly 23:25 So yeah, I don't remember what it came on but it came from the... it came from a weaving stash so Marsha 23:35 Isn't it the stuff I brought down that I got at the goodwill? Kelly 23:38 Oh, yes. Yes, it was you who'd gotten it. That's right. Yeah. Marsha 23:43 I went there...that was the days when... in those days when I used to go to the Goodwill. I don't go there anymore except to drop stuff off. Kelly 23:54 She's leaving the yarn for the rest of you who are in the Seattle area! [laughing] Marsha 23:57 Yeah, really go to the Goodwill and find treasures. Kelly 24:01 So yeah, we got dyes for cotton yarns, and we had dyed all of these. This was maybe four years ago, maybe five years ago. It was very early in the podcast that we dyed this and then we just never did anything. We were going to do something with it. And we were going to have it as a show topic, dyeing cotton, and we never did that. But anyway, it's making nice dish cloths. I guess. I haven't used one yet. Marsha 24:32 But well, and I haven't either because I would go out in the kitchen and there would be a dishcloth sitting by the sink. And then I go out to the kitchen a couple days later. Well, I was back and forth in between two days by go a couple days later I go out there and there was another dish plot that you had made. I've not used them. I promise I'm going to use them because I am under strict orders to use them But yeah, Kelly 24:58 I just threw one away. The last one that was in my drawer, I just threw away with a hole in it. So actually, I've put it in the compost with a hole in it. So I need to, I need to get the ends woven in and get a couple of these in my, in my drawer. So yeah, it's my standard dish cloth pattern it's, I think it's called the triple L tweed stitch. And it's, I just, I borrowed it from a pattern that was on Purl Soho. And I really like it. So I use it to make dish cloths all the time. And that's it. That's the sum total of my knitting and crocheting. So crocheting the blanket together, knit one hat, knit seven dish cloths. In what, three weeks? Because we were late, this episode is late. That's a lot of time for very little amount of production. Marsha 25:55 Yeah, yeah. Well, we got the rest of the summer. Kelly 26:01 Yep. Yeah, true. Marsha 26:03 So I have not gotten very much done either. But because I've been very busy with projects around here. But anyway, um, so let's just talk a little bit about--we had some topics. Well, let's talk about our spinning projects now together. And then we can talk because we had some questions from listeners. So spinning projects, let's talk about that. I, as everyone knows, I've been working on a green and dark brown, three ply. And the last time we talked, I think, I don't remember now where I was, but I have finished plying all of the green. And so all I have left is the brown. And this is a Merino. And what I decided to do is just to spin one bobbin of the dark brown, and I want a three ply. So I decided to do a Navajo ply. And the the upside of a Navajo ply is you just need one, bobbin, and you don't need to spin three bobbins of yarn. And which I learned too is that the whatever was on the bobbin, that singles on the bobbin ends up on... all of that yarn ends up on another bobbin Do you know what I'm saying? It's if you have three bobbins you can't fill a bobbin with three bobbins. Kelly 27:25 Right, right, right. Marsha 27:27 But the Navajo ply, you just know that it's all going to fit on that bobbin. And the downside of a Navajo ply, is, if you are spinning like me a bit unevenly, is you don't have two other plies that might fill in if it's if you're in a thin section, it won't be paired with a thick section necessarily. So because you're you're doing... the Navajo ply is basically like a crochet chain stitch. Kelly 27:59 In fact, it's also called the chain ply. Yeah. Marsha 28:02 Okay. So, which is great if you're doing like... if you want to, you want to keep the color order in your roving, keep that color order in your final yarn is great. But you then have it spinning in order. So if you have a thick section, it's all going to be thick. And if you have a thin section, it's gonna be thin. Because you don't have your two other bobbins of yarn that are randomly being placed together. And so three singles are...at some point, it's all going to be... the chance of having three thick pieces and three thin pieces ply together are greatly reduced, right. So I spun an entire bobbin and plied it. And it's it's nice yarn, but it's not going to... it doesn't match with the three ply that I did with the two colors. So that's going to become something else. And I have more roving, which I'm going to just spin three bobbins and ply it the way I did the other. Kelly 29:14 Do the traditional three ply. Marsha 29:15 Yeah, yeah, Kelly 29:16 yeah, in the same way that it keeps... in the same way that using that chain ply technique keeps all the colors together, right? It preserves your color order. It also preserves your thickness. So the thin parts stay really thin and the thick parts get really thick. And yeah. Marsha 29:37 And what I would say is I don't, I'm not such a.... I'm not such a perfectionist that I think that that yarn is now bad yarn, right, though. It's not bad yarn, because I think it looks good. It's just that it doesn't match the yarn that I have, which is a problem if you're going to use use it together in a project. Kelly 29:58 Yeah, I mean, it's not even really that thick and thin. It's just that it's, it's different when you put it next to the other yarn that you've made. it is very different. Marsha 30:09 Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So yeah, that is that is true that is not, you know, when you're seeing the yarn thick and thin, it's not like night and day. It's not really dramatically different. But it's different enough that I don't want to use them together with, you know, in a project. Kelly 30:28 Yeah, and I have a feeling that even if your yarn was totally consistent, that just the texture or the feel of the, of that chain ply technique is different than a traditional, a traditional three ply. I mean, if you're making socks, and you know, you've done a traditional three ply, and then you have one bobbi left and you just chain ply it and use that. You know, in case you have yarn chicken issues, you're not going to notice, Marsha 30:59 okay, maybe I'm not thinking of this the right way. But if you have three bobbins, you're pulling the single off the same direction, right? So the way you spun it is all coming off the same direction. But with a chain ply, because you're making a loop is one half of the loop going back the other direction. It's the opposite direction. So it's like, like... I always when I spin a single the, the bobbin is turning... I say it's turning to the right. Yes, it's turning to the right. So is that an S? Kelly 31:41 You spin z and ply s. Marsha 31:44 Okay, so but with the chain stitch ply or Navajo ply isn't one of the singles is going to be z or S or what? I'm now... I'm getting confused, but they're not going to be all... you said. What did you say that you spin singles Z and ply S? So if you are ... if you have three bobbins, you would be plying all of this three z singles. s ply, right. But with the Navajo ply, the at least one of them is going to be s and the two zs. Is that? Kelly 32:32 I think if you turn it upside down, you know, if you turn it back the other way, it's still it's still spun the same direction. Marsha 32:40 Oh, it is. Kelly 32:40 Yeah, but but you're right, there's something about making that loop. There's something about making that loop that makes it a slightly different texture, I think it feels different. Or maybe it's the twist, the amount of twist you put in. That might be part of it too. Because it's easier to get too much twist or to get more twist when you're trying to manipulate that, you know, making the crochet chain loop. Marsha 33:08 And it could be me just being tense. Well, yeah, I mean, when was the last time I did this type of plying it was years ago. And so I thought, Oh, it's gonna be exactly the same. Well, it's not going to be, it's never gonna be exactly the same, because it's a completely different vibe. It's a different technique. Kelly 33:31 Yeah, it's a different technique. Marsha 33:32 So it was it was an idea I had, but it was not... Yeah, it didn't work. And Kelly 33:38 and yeah, and it's like you said it's not bad yarn. It's just not the same as it's not the same as the other ones. And when you do it more... When you use the same technique, you'll get something that's closer. Marsha 33:39 Yeah, yeah. So that's where I am, back to that. But anyway, Kelly 33:58 All right. Well, I am I just finished spinning. I had about I had about 20 grams of Santa Cruz Island fleece left, had 20 grams unspun. And then I had tiny little, maybe like one gram amounts on two different bobbins. And so I thought, Oh, I know I need to get this off my bobbins and I don't want to throw it away because that was a really nice fleece. So since I had some ready to spin, I just spun all that up onto those two bobbins plus another bobbin. Split it up to make it even as I could. And then I three plyed it. So I have a traditional three ply of the Santa Cruz Island, which is the same fleece that I used when I made I made the sock yarn that I put in the fair years ago. And I had this... I think it was 2018 when I did it, and so I had this leftover from then so it's been sitting on my bobbins since then. So I wanted to clear them off for the summer spin in. But while I was spinning, I was thinking about how different this spinning that I was doing was from what you were doing. And then also thinking about the questions, some of the questions that we gotten in the thread about drafting techniques and fiber preparation. And so let's just talk a little bit about drafting. So how do you draft Marsha, when you're spinning this yarn that you're spinning right now, how are you drafting? How do you hold your hands? And what do you do? Marsha 35:40 Well, it's sort of depends upon the hour and the day of the week, because I have to admit, I'm not consistent, I keep changing a little bit I normally do. Yeah, I keep changing a little bit. And I don't know, it's not even about whether that's right or wrong. That's just how I am because we're human, and we need to move our bodies and sometimes my hands get tired, so I have to change a little bit. And, and sometimes, depending, like when I first start a bobbin, I am a little, it's a little it's different than when I'm just getting into the rhythm. So I typically I hold the fiber in my left hand. And I always think of what you said, you know, you have to put, like you're holding a baby bird, or a butterfly or something in your hands and not like, grasp it really, really tight. I always sort of pre draft my fiber, let me just say that what I'm spending is, most of what I've been spinning recently is just roving that I've purchased. Which is different than something that you've carded yourself, it's a little bit, you know... Kelly 36:43 You have a lot more choices. I'm that's what I think about a commercial roving, I think you have a lot more choices in how you can draft and what kind of techniques you can use. Marsha 36:53 Also, I'd say to just about I keep sort of changing throughout the spin, especially when I've done the combo spins, because if you're using different fibers, like sometimes I have, you know, Merino in there and targhee and corriedale, and then silk thrown in there. So that, and sometimes the mohair too. So that changes, you're going to have to change how you draft depending on what fiber you're actually spinning. Kelly 37:19 Right, right. Marsha 37:20 But typically, like just now what I was just doing, you know, 100% Merino, I hold the fiber in my left hand. I've pre drafted it. So it's fluffy and kind of light and open. And then I try not to do that, that...what do you call it? Pinch an inch or whatever? Kelly 37:37 Inchworm. Marsha 37:40 And that's where you know, you hold the where the twist is going in. Just before that twist, you hold it with your thumb and forefinger and pull out the yarn, I find that I get more cramps in my hand. That's how I started spinning, because I felt like I had more control. But now that I've gotten more comfortable, I find that I get more cramps in my thumb, if I hold it that way. So what I do is I, a lot of times, I don't even use my right hand, I don't, like I'm just holding it in my left hand. And then every so often, if it starts getting a little thick, then maybe this is why I have thick and thin bits too. And if it starts getting a little thick, then I just take my right hand and pinch. So it doesn't... it stops putting that twist into the thing and maybe unroll it a little bit and pull it out. You know, but I did sort of, and sometimes I get a long, I get a long piece with a twist in it that's maybe 12 inches long. And then I just sort of pinch both ends and sort of pull it apart a little bit to get it to the thickness I want. Does that make sense? Kelly 38:38 Yeah, Yeah. Marsha 38:40 You know, I don't know what you call that. Kelly 38:41 Well, there's a lot of different names for the different techniques and it sounds like what you're doing is... Marsha 38:47 I'm doing chaos. Chaos, the technique! Kelly 38:51 No, I mean, I think you're doing a lot of the things that happen in a long draw. Right, because you're using only one hand and then your other hand is helping when you need to, to kind of pull it out a little bit more and make it a little bit thinner. Are you pulling back with your left hand very much or mostly just holding it straight? Marsha 39:09 Yes, I'm pulling back. Kelly 39:11 Spinning is such a, I mean, it's such an old form of creation, that I think every person who who's ever spun has spun slightly differently. And you know, there's categories of techniques, but within that there really is a lot of variation. So, but like that inchworm technique is called a short forward draw, because you're taking out a little bit and you're pulling it a short ways. You're drafting it a very short ways and then you're letting the twist into a very short little segment. So short forward draw because you're pulling forward. I typically don't pull forward with my right hand most of my spinning is happening with my left hand, that's where I hold the fiber, too. And so I usually do backward draw, maybe not short, backward draw, but maybe a longer backward draw using my right hand... I probably use my right hand more than you do. If I were spinning like a commercial roving, not trying to spin long draw, I probably use my right hand, it sounds like I use my right hand a little bit more than, than you do. But mostly I, I, you know, pull backwards with my left hand. And my right hand is helping things along, as opposed to actually doing the work of the spinning. But it's interesting. So the commercial preparation that you have, you know, the commercial roving or commercial top allows you to do a lot of different things with it. Right, you can do all those. What I was spinning the Santa Cruz Island, I was spinning punis, which are like a roll of fiber off the drum carder... or the not the drum carder, the hand cards. And really, because the fiber is so short, they're really tiny, thin, you know. The reason I'm calling them punis and not rolags, it's just the size of them. You normally when you roll it off of the hand cards, you have this like sausage shaped thing of fiber, it's called a rolag, the ones that they make with cotton, are much smaller, you know, and thinner diameter, and they call them punis. Marsha 41:32 Okay, Kelly 41:33 And because cotton doesn't stick to itself, they kind of roll them, we kind of you know, smash them a little bit to make them stick to each other better and not come apart. But with wool, you don't need to do that. And especially with this Santa Cruz Island, you don't need to do this because it is so crimpy that it's it really sticks to itself. So with these tight little...and the tightness of the of the roll that comes off of the handcard wasn't because I made it to be super tight. It's because of the crimp of the fiber. And what that fiber just wanted to do, it's not going to make a loose kind of loose sausage shape. It just had to come off in this little tiny, narrow diameter roll. Anyway, it's so clingy to itself, that really the only way that I could spin it was with either short forward or short backward draw, which is not my favorite. But it's a nice fiber. And I really enjoyed spinning it because it's an unusual breed. And it's one of the endangered breeds. So I'm happy to spin it the way it wants to be spun. But this is a good example of a fleece is going to tell you how it wants to be spun. Because I couldn't do... I could not do a long draw with it, that fiber just clings to itself way too much. Yeah, I couldn't do my normal kind of relaxed, backward draw spinning because the fiber just clings to itself so much. Sometimes you can use whatever you want. And sometimes you have to go with the with what the fiber is telling you to do right. Yeah. Marsha 41:51 I don't know that you have to start and go oh, and think to yourself, oh, this is the technique. This is the typical, or this is the technique that I need to use, or the draw that I need to use. You just organically do it because you have no choice. But to just to do it because of the fiber will tell you. Kelly 43:37 Yeah, that's right, I didn't sit down and say this is what I'm going to do to spin this fiber, it just, that's what I had to do to make to make it, you know, to make it work. And because the fiber is so short and so crimpy, in my carding I've created, I've created neps, you know, little tangled balls of fiber. And so I'm also I was also constantly picking off as I was going along, constantly picking off those little neps where I could, to make the yarn a little bit smoother. And I was only doing that because that's what I did for the skein that I entered into the fair because I wanted, I was hoping I would get a ribbon for it. And I did. So I was being really careful when I spun that. So I was trying to at least marginally make it match that yarn that I spun, because I want to make a pair of socks. And so this will give me a little bit more flexibility, you know, when I'm knitting it, into how long to make the top part of the socks because I'll have a little extra about 20 more, it turned out to be about 20 more grams. You know, by the time I had a little bit of waste at the end and everything. I got about 20 more grams of yarn out of it. So that was kind of nice, but I thought it was a good contrast between a carded preparation on my part and a commercially combed, or you know, mill carded preparation on your end. And then the two different techniques that we're using. Interesting, though, we both-- and maybe because you talked to me when you got your spinning wheel, but it's interesting that we both hold the fiber in our same hand. All the fiber with our left and a lot of people who are right handed do it the other way. Marsha 45:27 Hmm. It's interesting. Maybe it's because I, the first time I spun I spun on your wheel. And you showed me how to spin and you probably said, put it, put it in your left hand and I follow orders, you know, Kelly 45:38 yeah, I probably, I probably did! I switch sometimes and spin the other hand again, if I'm spinning for a long time, and I think oh, my hands getting a little tired. But that's...my typical is to put the fiber in my left hand. Marsha 45:51 I did some research. And I did find an article and this was on spinning daily.com. There's an article by Janine. I don't know how to pronounce this. It looks like back ridges, ba k r i g e s. And it's seven drafting techniques. And she has the names of the seven and descriptions and photographs. So I'll put a link to that because that was actually pretty interesting. Kelly 46:18 There's another really good resource for people, Oh, I thought I linked it and I didn't, I'll have to grab the link for you to put in the show notes. There's a craftsy class that I took from JC Boggs Faulkner, called Drafting: From Worsted to Woolen. And it was really good. I enjoyed that class. And she had swatches made out of all the different drafting styles. And some of them, I thought, Wow, you can really tell the difference between those. And some of them, I thought, okay, there's barely a difference. And so it's not going to matter in to my, for my purposes. It wouldn't matter whether I used one drafting, you know, one of the two drafting techniques or the other. And so, you know, it's like, Okay, well, I could just choose whichever one I liked, the better, whichever one I like better, because it looks like you get the same thing when you knit it up. So that was an interesting course, too, that I'll make sure is linked in the in the show notes in case someone wants to take that Craftsy class. It's still available. I checked it this morning. Marsha 47:21 Any more to add to about drafting. Kelly 47:24 I have a link in the show notes about the different names of the different preparations and you know, what is top versus what is roving versus what is sliver versus a batt of fiber. And so I have a link from Abby Franquemont's website that that I thought was a good kind of a primer on, you know, what are the... what do the different terms? What do the different terms mean? Marsha 47:49 We do have a question about how to get started with long draw from howmanystitches Liz, who's in Scotland. Did you want to touch on that? Kelly 47:57 Sure. I just want to thank prairie poet and supercut. For the other questions about what kind of drafting techniques we use and what our favorite drafting techniques are. We kind of got into earlier long draw is, you kind of just have to have a, well have a carded preparation, first of all, would be my suggestion, have a carded preparation of fiber, and then just be willing to make a lot of mistakes and have the yarn break, and then you just start again. Because you, you have to try not to touch it with your right hand and let the fiber come out of your left hand. Marsha 48:41 I think what we said is, you know, not only do you pretend you have a baby bird in your left hand, but you have a glass of wine in your hand. So you can't touch your left hand. Kelly 48:51 Yeah, yeah. And, and it works. I mean, and it's gonna be lumpy when you first start and you have to be, you have to be prepared to have lumpy yarn when you first start because you're--you have to just get the feel of it. And you have to be prepared to have it sometimes stretched out too fine and break. You know, slip apart, drift apart. It doesn't really break, but like you know, drift apart. And then you have to start again and pull out your end and start again. But you eventually do get the feel of it. And, and it is pretty amazing that it works. And you can also there's like a something called a double draw where you where you draw it back. And you let some twist get into it. And then once the twist is in it, you can you can pull it even pinch it off, you know, don't let any more fiber come out of your hand and pull it back even more and get it to be finer and like the lumps come out. Any lumps, you can get those lumps to come out by pulling a little bit more. It takes, it just takes experience and willingness to be wrong. Marsha 49:57 Yeah, Kelly 49:59 Again, that's my opinion and my experience. If you get frustrated by having it drift apart, or frustrated that you can't make consistent yarn, then it's just going to be an unpleasant learning experience. But if you just know that you're going to make lumpy yarn and get better the more you do it, then it will be... it will be a great experience. It's a fun way to spin I think. And it's pretty fast. Marsha 50:26 Yeah, Kelly 50:27 If you've ever used a supported spindle, that's another way that you could kind of get started. Not a drop spindle where you're using both your hands, but a supported spindle where one of your hands is having to spin the spindle and the other hand is drafting. That gives you a good... I think gives you a good feel of what that is like. So yeah, let us know, if you want more information, we can do a little bit more research. Marsha 50:53 I have a question. Just as we're talking about this, what is the best drafting technique to use when you have those long wools, you know, like a Lincoln? Kelly 51:02 Typically, people say, you know, with a long wool, you can comb it and keep all the fibers in order, you know, all parallel and spin worsted. So a worsted spinning would be where you don't let the twist get into your fiber hand, you keep all the twists in front of your, for us, it will be our right hand, keep all the twist in front of our right hand. And then be able to draft the fiber in your left hand. So you could do a short forward or, or short backward or you know, kind of go back farther because it's a long fiber, so you keep your hands further apart. Right here, your inchworm would not be an inchworm it might be like a, I don't know, a five inch worm. Because you want it you know, you need to keep your hands further apart. So you're not pulling on the same piece of hair. Marsha 52:02 Right. Okay, Kelly 52:03 I don't typically do a worsted technique, even with long wool. I'm... my tendency, when I'm just spinning for like, relaxing pleasure, I let the twist back into my into my left hand. I'm not, I'm not real good about keeping that twist out of my fiber hand, you get a little hairier yarn that way, you know more halo, less smooth. But that doesn't bother me. But if I wanted a really smooth long wool I would make sure I didn't let the twist get back into my back into my fiber hand. Okay, I wanted to just give a couple of other resources that I think are really good for people who are just beginning. Or if you have some resources, but you haven't really built a spinning library or ,you know, done more than just looking up a few things in Ravelry groups. There's one book that I have, called The Intentional Spinner: A Holistic Approach to Making Yarn. And that's Judith Mackenzie McCuin. And it's a 2009 book, I would really highly recommend it. And then the other one I have is the Alden Amos Big Book of Handspinning. And I love this title: "Being a Compendium of Information, Advice and Opinions on the Noble Art and Craft." And this is by Alden Amos and it was in 2001. And he has since passed away but he was a very opinionated guy. Lots of spinning knowledge from you know, hand spinning to machine spinning. And so there's a lot of historical knowledge in that book and a lot of other things. So those two books I think are really a lot of information in them. And then I also wanted to mention the Spinner's Study Ravelry group. This month they're spinning, they pick a couple of different types of fleece each month and this month they're spinning Finn and Teeswater. And the spinning challenge for the month is called spinning and plying the other way. So we were talking about spinning z and plying s. So I think what they're doing is doing the opposite of that and looking at what that what that does to the yarn. I also wanted to mention that we've been talking about knitting with your handspun and Salpal had mentioned to me, sent me a message, to say that the Three Waters Farm Ravelry group has a bundle and a thread of patterns that are good for handspun. Marsha 54:38 Okay, Kelly 54:39 And so we'll link to that in the show notes. And then Joanne, momdiggity, she suggested any pattern calling for Spincycle yarn would be a good pattern for handspun. Marsha 54:50 That's true. Kelly 54:51 And then the other thing that I found is this month just by coincidence, the Spring/Summer 2021 Knitty Spin column in Knitty magazine. It's written, it's a column by jillian Moreno, is "Planning for Your Project, the Beginning." So she's talking about how do you, you know, if you're going to knit something, and you're going to spin for that particular project, what kind of things do you have to think about? And so all of those resources will be in the show notes. And then we had Marsha one more question, and that was about how to wash a fleece. Marsha 55:27 Mm hmm. Kelly 55:28 I'm haven't washed a fleece in a while. Marsha 55:30 I know I haven't either, Kelly 55:31 But superkip that's Natalie. She asks, How do you wash a fleece? This is what she says. "For the washing bit. I usually do a cold soak or two and then wash my fleece with really hot water. And in the second hot water wash, I add dishwashing soap. It works to get it clean. But I do have a lot of lanolin left in my fleeces" and then she says, "I was recently advised to use colder water or wash with soda. However, the soda felted my fleece, I might have used too much soda. And the colder water seems counterintuitive. Although I have not tried it." This was a couple of weeks ago. But I hope that we can give some advice to Natalie on this. Marsha 56:16 Well, first I think we have to discern, differentiate what the soda is. Explain that when it says soda it's not baking soda she's talking about it's soda ash right or, or washing soda, which is different. And I I had to look this up. So it's... baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. And soda ash or washing soda is sodium carbonate. And it sounds like from what I'm reading, it's a bit more caustic. And can be an irritant to your eyes, nose, throat. And looking at Wikipedia it's used as a sweetener in soft drinks. Think about that. Kelly 57:03 That sounds odd. Marsha 57:04 I know. And I also didn't realize what it is and that it is used a lot because it changes the pH. So it's used also for dyeing non protein fibers. like cotton or Kelly 57:25 Yeah, we used it when we dyed this yarn that I'm knitting right now the dish cloths, Marsha 57:31 right. So it changes the pH, I guess and so then the the dye can attach to the fibers is my understanding. So I don't and I was trying to get what does it actually do? How does it separate the lanolin from the wool? Kelly 57:51 But I know it's a washing aid. I mean, just in general, you can buy washing soda and you put it in for especially if you have hard water it it makes your laundry detergent work better. So from that standpoint, I guess. I guess that might be why she was advised to use it. I don't ever use that on wool. Yeah. I it it's wool likes an acid Ph. And it's too basic. And so I I know people do use it, but you are limited to how long you should keep the wool in contact with it. Marsha 58:32 Yeah, the article I was reading it says not to use more or leave it to soak any longer than 20 minutes and I wonder she doesn't say how long she left it. But she she says here she thinks she may have used too much. But I wonder if maybe it was in there too long. Kelly 58:48 Yeah. Either one of those things could have done damage--could damage your wool. Make it really harsh. And kind of I want to say crispy or crinkly. Marsha 59:01 So it was the the washing soda or soda ash. Was that something that was probably developed before we had detergents. Kelly 59:09 I would say yes to that, Yeah. Marsha 59:11 Because when I see people use different things like a lot of times they're using that wool wash you can get anywhere with Eucalyptus in it. Kelly 59:21 Eucalan. There's also another one. There's a scour there's a Unicorn Scour. That's actually not for washing garments but for washing fleeces. Marsha 59:33 But I just I use what you taught me to use, which is I use Dawn and I don't know.... I know SuperKip is in Europe. So I don't know if Dawn is available. I think she's in Holland I believe. I don't Kelly 59:47 Dish detergent. I think a dish detergent is-- for me that that works really well. And if you use that I would use dishwashing soap in both of those washes. Mm hmm and And make sure the water is really hot and that it doesn't cool off, you know before you drain the water, because the lanolin can reattach to the fleece. It's basically you know, it's like it's like grease. And so if you think about your dishes, even if you put detergent in dishwater if you then go to bed and leave them in the dishwater overnight and it cools, that grease will be redeposited on your dishes. I prefer to use dishwashing detergent and really hot water. And we do have an episode where we talk about washing fleece it's Episode 27B, Fiber Mythbusting Bonus Episode, where we talk about washing, washing fleeces and there's some links in that show, 27B. In that show's show notes there are also some links to some resources about detergents and how detergents work. And Marsha 1:01:02 Well, I was going to say we didn't even talk, we're just talking about washing it with detergents and hot water. We didn't even talk about the washing with the fermentation process. That's another whole episode about that. But that's where you basically, you let it just kind of for lack of a better word ferment in it. The suint, which is the sweat from the sheep. Kelly 1:01:24 Right. Marsha 1:01:25 And I've never I've never tried that you've tried it Kelly 1:01:28 Oh, I didn't do it the true way. But I did let it sit in water and get very smelly for about a month before I washed it. I ended up going ahead and using soap to wash it too. But I did have to use less. And it washed up faster. Yeah, but but I don't know that I actually got fermentation happening. Hmm. It just was very smelly. Marsha 1:01:54 Yeah. So, but I have a question about that--when, after you took the wool out the fiber out and washed it It didn't smell, right? It's just while sitting the it's the water that it's sitting in that's so bad. Kelly 1:02:08 Right. Yes. Okay, one thing that that that I think sometimes people don't do when they wash wooll is one, use enough water and the other, use enough soap or detergent. And it depends on the fleece too, you know. Is it a super super greasy fleece or is it a not so greasy fleece? Different breeds have different amounts of lanolin. But anyway, yeah, good. Great question. Lots of opinions about that question. If you go out and look. Look around for you know, advice about how to wash a fleece. The Alden Amos book talks a lot about using soda to wash fleeces and soap instead of detergent, which I think if you're using soap, maybe the the washing soda helps not create the scum that soap and hard water would create. Lots of methods have been used over the years. And maybe the washing soda is an older method too like you said. Before detergents were widely available when people did use soap more. Marsha 1:03:22 Yeah. So anything else we need to say about it? Kelly 1:03:27 I don't think so. I think that's it. Marsha 1:03:30 We'll talk more about spinning over the summer during the summer spin in. And if people have questions they want us to answer or try to answer. Just put them in the in the forum, the discussion thread. Kelly 1:03:45 Yeah, or email us.Two Ewes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Marsha 1:03:51 And since we are talking about the summer spin in we should just remind people that it started Memorial Day, which was May 31. And it ends September 6. We will talk more about washing fleece because I I have--someone gave me a alpaca fleece. And we've been talking about sheep's wool. But now it'd be interesting to talk about how you wash alpaca, but that'll be another time. I have questions about that. I have questions for you about that. So Kelly 1:04:20 I don't think I've ever washed alpaca. Oh, well, maybe you'll have questions for someone else. Marsha 1:04:27 Or maybe I'll just have to answer the questions and answer my own questions. Right. Well, the last thing I was going to just say is that we had such a great time on our visit and it didn't really hit me until after. Well, when you walked up on the front porch. It kind of hit me as like this is the first time we've seen each other since February 2020. It was last time you saw us when we went to Stitches. Kelly 1:04:53 Mm hmm. Marsha 1:04:54 And it was kind of like and then when you left I felt like wow, we just saw each other It's been so long since Kelly 1:05:02 Yeah, face to face. Marsha 1:05:05 It was really kind of remarkable. And I we have to thank science right? Kelly 1:05:09 Oh, yeah. Marsha 1:05:10 Yeah that we were able to...you were able to drive up here and visit. So thank you to scientists. Kelly 1:05:18 Yes. Thank you for that vaccine! Marsha 1:05:20 Alright with that, I guess we should say goodbye. All right. We'll see you in two weeks. Kelly 1:05:25 All right. Bye. Kelly 1:05:26 Thank you so much for listening. To subscribe to the podcast visit Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Marsha 1:05:33 Join us on our adventures on Ravelry and Instagram. I am betterinmotion and Kelly is Kelly 1:05:39 1hundredprojects. Until next time, were the Two Ewes, doing our part for world fleece. Transcribed by https://otter.ai

May 16, 2021

In this episode we discuss knitting with handspun yarn, including estimating yardage, picking needle size, and selecting potential patterns. Show notes with full transcript, photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects Walk Along tee by Ankestrick (Ravelry link) I've put the body on waste yarn to check length. I've decided to move on to the sleeve which will stop just above the elbow instead of ¾ length. I started the gusset on the second sock of a pair of socks for myself using Drops Fabel Print that I bought in San Luis Obispo. Still spinning the green and brown three ply. Kelly's Projects Ripped out the Bear Brand Yarn socks and will be starting them again with no pattern. Faye's Flower Blanket. All Octagons and squares are done. One more triangle to do. Then 4 corners (small triangles). Topic: Knitting with Handspun Selecting a needle size to swatch Selecting potential patterns "My yarn isn't good enough" The allure of spinning thin The allure of spinning smooth, worsted style yarns Measuring yardage in a skein Good first projects Good projects for textured yarn More intermediate to advanced considerations Do these yarns/fibers go together? Summer Spin In Memorial Day - Labor Day May 31st - September 6th Transcript Kelly 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha and this is Kelly. Marsha 0:05 We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Kelly 0:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects, Marsha 0:29 and I am betterinmotion. We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Both 0:35 Enjoy the episode! Marsha 0:43 Good morning, Kelly. Kelly 0:44 Good morning, Marsha. How are you? Marsha 0:45 I'm doing good. Kelly 0:47 Good. Marsha 0:47 How's the newest member of your family doing? Kelly 0:50 Oh, he's doing great. Beary is fitting in pretty well. He's walking up to about a mile now. He lags toward the end of a mile. But he's been able to go a mile. The first week... So a week ago he was at the vet. And he got his thyroid medication lowered. That's good. So now he's only on a point eight-- I think it's milligrams-- pill once a day instead of twice a day. So that's good. And he lost. He had lost last week he had lost three pounds. Marsha 1:28 All right. So and that's really not with any diet change. That's just the walking right? Kelly 1:32 Yeah. Well, more activity. I was trying to feed him the same amount that he had at the at the SPCA--hat they had told me they were feeding him. I was trying to feed him that same amount. It actually was a little bit less food than normal, because he wasn't really eating. And, you know, my dogs eat! Marsha 1:56 Yes. Kelly 1:57 Even Bailey. You know, she's, well, she had Nash to contend with, she had a lab to contend with. So she knows you put your nose in the bowll, and up until it's gone. And I don't know if she was like that before we got her. But she learned to be like that, at least having Nash around. And he wouldn't, he would eat a little bit. And then he'd walk out a little bit into the yard and then he'd pee. And then he walked back and he ate a little bit more. And then he like, walked over kind of towards Bailey to see if maybe she had something better. And I was like, okay, you're not gonna-- if you're not going to finish this, I'm going to pick it up because it's gonna cause a problem. So he wasn't finishing the whole amount. So then I started feeding him lunch, I thought, you know, I'd feed him lunch to help keep his metabolism high. And so I was doing that. But he wasn't really eating lunch. You know, he wasn't seeming hungry. And so he was getting a little bit less food. But anyway, yeah, he lost three pounds. And I don't know how much he's lost since then. Bu t I do think he's lost a little bit. His feet. [laughing] He looks like he's lost weight in his feet. Marsha 3:12 Oh, really? Kelly 3:13 That seems really strange. But that's the only place I can kind of tell. They look less puffy. Like his feet were really round, not like a shepherd. And the vet said she thinks he's mixed with Tibetan Mastiff. Marsha 3:28 Okay. That's very specific. Kelly 3:31 Yes. But I went and looked at their pictures. And he does kind of, he does kind of look like that. They have a tail that kind of arches over their back. And he doesn't have that. But they have the like, they call them cat feet in the standard. where, you know, their feet are round and tight. And the shepherds feet are more elongated. Marsha 3:56 Yeah, yeah. Kelly 3:57 So anyway. And his feet were like round and tight. And they still are, but they're less round. Like they look less round on top, you know? Marsha 4:07 Well, I mean, maybe he was retaining water or something. his ankles were swelling, you know, like my grandmother, [laughing] and, you know, with all this activity, things were moving, maybe. Kelly 4:17 Yeah, it's hard. It's really hard to tell. And you know, of course we can't weigh him because you can't pick him up and step on the scale with them the way you could with a smaller dog so so he'll have to wait till he goes to the vet again, for us to know for sure. I'm hoping I can get the vet to let us bring him just for our weight check. Because I don't want him to lose weight too fast. And that's part of-- that's part of regulating his thyroid if he is losing weight too fast. That could be an indicator that his thyroid medication is too high. So so I'm hoping the vet will, you know, say we can bring him in like every two weeks or something for just that. for free, just let them take him in and weigh him and bring him back out. Marsha 5:01 Enzo's vet you could just bring your dog in any time because they just have the scale there in the lobby. So you can just go weigh your dog. In fact, that's where I went. Remember that the big giant afghan? Kelly 5:16 Oh right! [laughing] Marsha 5:17 I went and weighed it on that scale.[laughing] Kelly 5:19 Marsha went to the vet to weigh her blanket! Marsha 5:26 Yeah, but now with the pandemic, you can't, I can't go into the lobby, Kelly 5:30 it's a little more of a thing of a production for them to come to them and get in weighed. So. But things are supposed to open here in California on June 15. And I don't know if that means everything. Like from then on. I actually think that the vets are probably secretly glad that no owners are in the office when they do their vet checks. Because dogs are always worse when their owners are around in situations like that. I think, I mean, they're probably-- I wonder if they'll... Well, I don't know what they'll do. But yeah, there's probably been some some added convenience to just picking the dog up in the parking lot and taking it in. Marsha 6:16 Well, and then you don't have all the animals in the lobby, too, because that's another thing, too, is altercations in the lobby. So yeah, well, that's exciting news that he's he's making some progress. Now. The thyroid medication, though, that's not because he's overweight, but he is... he will even if he loses weight, he'll be on thyroid medication. Kelly 6:40 Yeah. A weight gain is probably due to his thyroid issues. Okay. I mean, some of the weight gain might be other reasons. But some of it, I mean, definitely for a dog to be as overweight as he was, there was a thyroid problem there. That's what the vet said anyway. Marsha 7:01 And then, I'm assuming, given what you know about his history, which is very little, I'm assuming that the thyroid medication started after he went to the SPCA. Kelly 7:11 Yeah, they, they noticed that. They, they stitched him up from his wounds. And then they noticed that he wasn't kind of bouncing back. And he was very lethargic. And then, you know, the vet first thought it was just because of the what had happened to him and then being in the shelter. And then she decided, no, it's, he needs to have a blood test. So they did a blood test and his thyroid was was extremely low. So he's progressing nicely. He now lays on a pillow, it takes me about 10 times of putting him back before he is convinced that I mean it and just stays there. Or maybe he's just too exhausted. That's how I feel at the end of it! [laughing] Too exhausted Marsha 8:00 that you need to go lie down. Kelly 8:02 But the other day, I even I even came in and took a nap. And brought them back in with me during the day and you know, closed up the bedroom and, and took a nap for about an hour and a half and he was quiet in the bedroom. So he's got the routine, you know, the the normal routine plus, He knows, in this location, this is what I do. So that's good. In the backyard he's been fence fighting with the neighbor dogs, him and Bailey. So that's not good. But we're working on that. Marsha 8:31 And he and Bailey are doing well together. Kelly 8:33 go Yeah, they're having a great time. You know, they've had a couple of little tips, little fights, but nothing major. He's learning how to get into the truck. And in fact, that's one of the fights they had. He has decided that the truck belongs to him. And if she tried to get too close. If the door opens up on the truck in the backyard and she tries to get too close to it. That that's the two times they've had fights--it has been around the truck. So now I have to really watch when the truck gets opened that, you know, he...that the two of them are not real close to the door. Because he he now thinks that the truck belongs to him and she's not allowed to get near it. He loves his truck, which is good. That's what we wanted, but not quite. Marsha 9:22 He loves it a bit too much. So possessive of it. Okay, well. Sounds like making lots of good progress Kelly 9:26 Yeah, yeah, we have Marsha 9:31 So that proves that you can teach an old dog new tricks. Kelly 9:33 Yeah. Yeah. [laughing] Marsha 9:35 Fitting right in and learning that learning the routine. Hmm. Kelly 9:38 Well, I think the routine is the biggest part of it, you know, just having that. Like, this is what we do every day. And not necessarily always at the same time. But, you know, these are the, these are the things that we do. And then you gradually we've been gradually increasing what those things are. So, luckily the weather's been good and we've been able to use a lot of the outdoor space. School's almost over. Marsha 10:04 Oh, how many days? Kelly 10:06 I mean, well, I'm not... I wasn't counting it in days. But I guess I could now because we're in the middle of the second of the second to the last week. Next week is finals week. I'm so glad. This week though, I'm, packed with student appointments for them to go over things and do review and such.Mostly out of guilt. Because it's the end of the semester, and I haven't been able to do as good a job as I wanted with this online stuff. And so now I'm feeling like, Okay, well, I need to make up for that by by allowing for all this extra makeup work and all that. So yeah, a teacher's life! It's never good enough. Marsha 10:56 I thought of you because the other day this was oh, maybe two weeks ago. Ben had his-- one of his his instructors had office hours. There were three hours long office hours. And Ben was in the office for three hours. Kelly 11:12 Wow. Marsha 11:14 So like, yeah, I guess, all these students were coming in and going, coming in and going out. Kelly 11:19 Right. Marsha 11:19 But I thought of you and it's like, that was a long time to be in a meeting, you know. I thought of you when he was talking about this, Kelly 11:34 I think we all do it. Marsha 11:35 I'd have to go take a nap after that. Kelly 11:36 Yeah, I think we all do it at the end of the semester, you know, we want to give students all the opportunities that we can to get the material and yeah, and I, you know, I had such high hopes at the beginning of this semester that, you know, this time I was going to get the online thing. The second time around doing an online, I was gonna get it right. And of course, it doesn't feel like I got it right at all. But it was better than last time, I'm trying to have a growth mindset. [laughing] It was better than the last semester. So I have one class that's a repeat of the class I had last semester. And that class is better. And then this class, the calculus class I had last spring when we were half face to face and half online. And I have to say that the online portion of it, this spring is better than the online portion that I did last spring. So I have improved, and I have high hopes that it will be even better. In the fall semester where I'm online. I'm teaching both of these classes again. So totally growth mindset. I'm gonna be better. I haven't mastered it yet. But I will! You know, that kind of that kind of thing. But then there's a little bit of aspect of guilt, because you haven't done as good a job as you want to do so. Yeah. Yeah. But you know, that happens to me every semester, whether we're online or not, it's just a little bit exacerbated in the online environment. I always felt like I could have done better. Well, I tell new teachers, teaching is a black hole that you could pour all of your time in and never be good enough. So you can't be a perfectionist and do this job. Or you'll burnout. You know, you have to be--you have to be willing to say, Well, that was good enough. And I'll do better next time. Or I'll try. I might not, but I'm gonna try. So anyway, I'm just glad the semester is almost over. Marsha 13:40 Yes. And you have the whole summer to look forward to. Kelly 13:43 Mm hmm. And our summer spin-in. Marsha 13:48 So summer spinning! Should we get to get to the knitting and the fibery portion, the playing was string portion of the podcast? Kelly 13:57 Yeah. Marsha 13:58 So do you want to talk about your projects or... Kelly 14:00 Sure I am making really good progress. In fact, I'm crocheting on it right now. I'm making really good progress on the Persian tiles blanket. And I'm making it for my grand niece and calling it Faye's flower blanket. I don't have the name in the shownotes of the designer, but it's called Persian tile blanket. If you want to, if anybody wants to go look at it. And then I have it in my projects as Faye's flower blanket and that will be linked to in the show notes. But I've got all of the octagons done--20 of them! Which that was exciting when I got that last one done. In fact I almost made a 21st not remembering that I was--that I had been on 19 and 20 was done and then I reminded myself. So I moved to finishing the squares and all the squares are done. And then what I'm crocheting on right now is the last row of the last triangle. So now all I have to do are the four corners, which are also triangles. But this is lik-- it's called a triangle granny square, or granny triangle or something. So I'm on the last row of the last one of these. All I'll have are the four corners. And then Marsha 15:24 I'm looking at the projects on Ravelry. Then do you have you have to sew them all together? Right? Kelly 15:28 Yeah. And then I'll be all done. I'll be all done except for this big huge project and sewing them all together. [laughing] Marsha 15:35 Sorry to bring that up. But then it looks like it has a border around it to then do. Kelly 15:43 Let me look, I have the pattern right here. You know that I haven't... Marsha 15:46 By the way, Kelly, there's a border. [laughing] Kelly 15:51 [reading pattern] Once these are together you will have uneven blanket edges. To make an even edge you need to work around of stitches. So I do four, five, six rounds of edging! Kelly 16:07 Oh, no wonder I have so much yarn left! [laughing] Marsha 16:10 Yes. Kelly 16:17 I'm thinking, Oh, my God I have so much yarn left over. But it's gonna take a lot of yarn to go all the way around that blanket. I might have to buy more. [laughing] Marsha 16:27 And you made it a little bit bigger, you put some more squares on it. Kelly 16:30 Right. Yeah. Marsha 16:32 Um, also I'm sorry to be... Kelly 16:37 No, this is funny. This is an example of why you should read all the way through your pattern. Marsha 16:44 So but then also, what I was going to say is, I'm looking at the... I don't know if you're on Ravelry. But I'm looking at the other projects. Some of them have just the way you described. It looks like it's a very sort of simple border. But I'm looking at one and it's it looks like KayVicknits. And she has like a, like a lace border around it. I mean, an interesting... Kelly 17:07 Oh, wow. Marsha 17:08 And let's see if she has anything in the notes Kelly 17:10 I don't think I'll be... Marsha 17:12 But yeah, all the way around it. It's got like a triangles all the way around it. It looks like Kelly 17:18 Oh, interesting. Oh, I see. Yeah. So Oh, that is pretty. Yeah. Marsha 17:23 So if you really want to use up your all that yarn, Kelly 17:29 I actually...now that I'm looking at the border, I might have to buy, I might have to buy more yarn. But we'll see. I have an I have an awful lot of it left. I think I will just do the plain border though. On the edge. We'll see. I don't know. Getting it all sewn together is going to take a while. And the version that I'm doing will look more like the Eastern Jewels version. There was a kit, apparently, for this. There was the regular Persian tile blanket where it's all the same. Every octagon is the same. And then there was the eastern jewels version that had all the octagons different it looks like it's all different sizes of flowers. And that's the look I'm going for. And I think I've accomplished that. Marsha 18:22 Okay, Kelly, now go. I'm sorry, go look at the projects. Go look at bytheseashore, her project. And she has a very interesting border on hers. And in the show notes it actually said that she did the zigzag edging from LillaBjorn crochet. Kelly 18:42 Oh, so that is cute. She did.... So there's a little--there's a stitch in the octagon and the triangles, where you make a criss cross of treble crochets Marsha 18:53 Mm hmm. Kelly 18:54 And it looks like that's a criss cross. She's used that criss cross of treble crochets all around the edge. That is nice. Yeah. Huh. Okay, I'm gonna favorite her project. Because people who are listening, if you have not discovered this, if you save a project in your favorites, then on your project page, it will show those favorites in the lower... well for on the computer, it's in the lower right hand corner. So anything that I like the the comments on or that I'm interested in--I favorite that project and then that makes it pop up in my project page. Take a look at it. It's a nice, it's a nice feature because I've been... I've in the past had to kind of like you know, make a list of links of the ones that I wanted. And then I realized, oh, if I just favorite them. They show up at the bottom of my project page and I can get to them easily. So yeah, I'm really happy with it, I think it's turned out really nice. I am not looking forward to sewing it together. But I am looking forward to seeing it kind of come together. I've laid it out on the table. And I really like the way it looks. Yeah, it's really nice. It's like a riot of color. Marsha 20:23 Yeah. Well, it's Kelly 20:24 And I know there are people who say a riot is ugly, no matter what kind of riot it is. Marsha 20:34 Well, I think it's such an interesting project. Because as you say, it is a riot of color. But everyone's done such different things where it's like you're doing it, it's like, well, a riot of color. And then there's other ones that I think are equally beautiful, but they're very different, where they make every square, or whatever the main one is, exactly the same. And those are so it's very geometric. And it's and those are beautiful too. Kelly 21:01 Sort of Islamic or Moroccan looking. Yeah, like or well, Persian. It's called Persian tiles. Marsha 21:12 Right. And so the one I'm going on right now is KoKoRoRoknits And that's--she's done everyone exactly the same. And it's, it's very pretty, it's very geometric. Just a completely different look, you know? Kelly 21:26 Mm hmm. And actually kind of reminds me of Mexican tiles. Yeah. The the Mexican tiles that some people have on their houses or, you know, on on their steps, Marsha 21:37 Something to think about...your edging. Kelly 21:43 Yeah. I'm gonna have to reorganize the yarn and see what I have left and see what I can still do. Yeah. So anyway, that's, that's one project. And then I did make a couple of charity hats, a couple of nights where I didn't feel like crocheting. So I used som-- I have fingering weight yarns that I've kind of put together in a little kit, to use doubled for charity hats. So I just worked on those mostly--purples and pinks. And then the other thing is just the, I'm getting ready to start the socks out of the Bear Brand. Caprice yarn. And I wanted to mention, speaking of that yarn, we talked about that Bear Brand Caprice vintage yarn a few episodes ago. And just to remind you, that's the one that it says it's 100% virgin wool. But it really feels elastic. Like it's got some kind of elastic in it. And it looks like there might be an elastic ply. If you look really closely, there's a really thin ply. That looks like it might be elastic. So I think when they say...I don't know, it doesn't say 100%, it might say all, all virgin wool. I think they're referring to all the wool that's in it is not recycled. But it doesn't say on the label that the yarn is all wool. But anyway, we talked about this in a previous episode, how interesting this yarn is, and I am going to make a pair of socks out of it. I've ripped it out, ripped out the last pair and I'm going to restart them. Maybe today. I have a meeting this afternoon. It might be good meeting knitting, because I'll be done with my crocheting, most of it. Kelly 23:33 I got a message from Jane Haskell about our conversation of the bear Brand Yarn. She says "I heard you mentioned Bear Brand. Attached are copies of covers of two books. One has many socks, including Argyle circa 1950" and then she has in parentheses, "or MCML" because that's the way it was listed in Roman numerals and Marsha 23:56 Oh. [laughing] Kelly 23:59 If you can read Roman numerals. [laughing]"The other is circa 1939. Both were my grandmother's and have her notes in them. I have many more vintage books of my two grandmother's and two grand Aunts and possibly one great grandmother's that I am yard saling this summer." I would like to go to her yard sale Marsha 24:23 Yeah really! Kelly 24:23 [continues reading] "I do not have any bear Brand Yarn from stash that I inherited or if I do I've already sold or goodwilled it. I copied the inside of the cover of the 1939 books so you can see what it says." And she sent me that copy. "There are other pages about blocking, measuring, showing illustrations of measurements, and darling little swim costumes and so on." So she says she she loves our show and listens while she's driving. She lives on an island on an island in Maine's Penobscot Bay, where there is a knitting retreat this summer sponsored by Portland's, Maine yarn. Marsha 24:52 Okay, Kelly 24:53 So thank you, Jane for sending that information. The copies that sh sent me, were really interesting to look at about this yarn and I'm gonna, I'm gonna print it out and stick the page inside of the bag that I have the yarn in, so I won't forget,y ou know, what kind of yarn it is and where it came from. So that was interesting to get some information about my vintage yarn. Marsha 25:24 Yeah. Interesting. Well, yeah, maybe we have to get on a plane and go to her yard sale. [laughing] Kelly 25:33 Go and buy more knitting knitting books. I just got rid some a few years ago Marsha 25:39 I know, I just got rid of a whole bunch. But that doesn't stop me from dreaming. Kelly 25:44 I know. I know. There's so interesting to look through those, through those old fashioned, old fashioned books. That's the end of my projects. Marsha 25:53 Well, I don't have a lot to report. I'm knitting on my sock, right now as we're talking. The Drops Fabel Print that I've been working on a really long time. And I'm working on the gusset. I have one more decrease round. And then I'm just going to be doing the foot. So I don't know, maybe in two weeks, I'll have finished it. I don't know, it's sort of my you know, the mindless knitting that I do. Kelly 26:23 Yeah. Marsha 26:24 Then my Walk Along Tee. Um, you know, in the, in all the past episodes I've been talking about how I'm a little anxious about the quantity of yarn, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, last night, I knit to about 11, I think was about 11 and a half inches of the body, which they say to knit. And then what you are supposed to do is then you bind off, but then pick up stitches in the contrast color to make it so it looks like you know there's a T shirt under a T shirt, which I'm not going to do. But if you do that, it's more of a tunic length. And I don't want it tunic length. So I decided last night to put it on waste yarn and try it on. And I think I'm at the length I want. I'm so this is my... Well, I still have to do about a half inch of ribbing. And then what you're supposed to do then is, as I said, you bind that off and then pick up stitches to knit in stockinette in the contrasting color. What you do on the neck edge, and the sleeves, the cuff of the sleeve is you knit in ribbing, and then you change to the contrast in color and you just do, I believe it'd be reverse stockinette. So then that contrasting color sort of curls back and makes like a tube kind of you know, and so I I have to make some decisions. Do I put that same detail around the bottom of the sweater? Now I know a lot of people are saying, well, you don't really want to have a line around the widest part of your hip. I'm not too concerned about that. That never really bothers me having stripes. But I'm.... So I've decided how I'm going to do that. I'm also trying to decide should I just finish the sweater now? The bottom? Or should I just leave it on the waste yarn and go and do the sleeves and finish the sleeves? And then think about the bottom? That'll give me more weeks to think about it? Or do you know what I'm saying? Kelly 28:30 That's what I would do? Marsha 28:31 Okay, Kelly 28:31 Yeah, that's what I would do. Marsha 28:33 And then what I had planned on doing with the sweater is to make three quarter length sleeves. I may have enough yarn for that. Because I have... I just-- I had to put-- I have just two balls left I mean, so it's basically roughly a little less than one skein left because as I've talked about endlessly that those skeins I split into half into two cakes. So one of the cakes I've used maybe a quarter of it. The other cake, I just maybe did two rows of the body with the second one. So I think between the two of them, I would have enough to do three quarter length sleeves. But now I'm trying to think. I'm beginning to think I don't want three quarter length sleeves. I think I just want short sleeves, not cap sleeves, but just come down like mid because three quarter length would come down. Kelly 29:24 Like past your elbow. Marsha 29:30 Past my elbow. So I don't know. That's what I think. Kelly 29:31 that's what I think too. Marsha 29:32 And so I'm thinking maybe I just want it to come down. maybe longer like this. The the pattern shows that you just knit a few rows and then you start all of the ribbing and the contrasting reverse stockinette. So it's more of... it's like a short short sleeve. I'm wondering if I want to have it come down just just right before the break in my arm kind of, or above that. Kelly 29:55 Yeah. Yeah, Marsha 29:57 I have to do some thinking. Kelly 29:58 It's best not to have your... like they say you don't want to stop something at the widest part. And so it's best like not to have your sleeve stop at the biggest part of your bicep. Kelly 30:13 Okay. Kelly 30:15 So to either be up a little higher or down a little lower. Marsha 30:18 Okay, why is that? Kelly 30:19 I don't know, I guess it has to do with, like, to look flattering, you know? And I have no idea if it makes it makes it look smaller or if it just makes it look more balanced. You know, I don't know if it has to do with... When you say flattering a lot of times flattering is a euphemism for skinnier. Oh, yeah. That makes you look thin, right? And that's not what I mean. Marsha 30:51 Right. Kelly 30:53 So I don't know if that rule applies because it does make you look thinner, and that's what they mean by more flattering, or if it actually has to do with the aesthetics of it. And kind of the balance of the garment. Marsha 31:07 Do you remember that the T shirt you made? I think it was the Havasu Falls. And don't the sleeves hit... Kelly 31:13 I didn't make that. Marsha 31:15 Oh, what's the one? Kelly 31:17 Oh, Havana? I made one called Havana. Is it brown? Marsha 31:22 No, the one that was like, oh, and maybe it is brown. The pattern the Kelly 31:28 Summer Fjord? That's the one you made. That's my gold one. Marsha 31:35 No, no. Okay, I'm wrong on that. This is where we have the bad podcasting where we go down these rabbit holes that were not prepared. Let me look at...let me look at your projects. Kelly 31:52 I'm guessing it's probably Havana. Marsha 31:54 I think it is Havana. Kelly 31:58 It's a kind of a pale Brown. Marsha 32:00 But you made that quite a while and I'm having to scroll down through all of these. All of your projects. Oh, yeah, Havana? Yes, that one. Okay, so let me look at that one. Let me look. Oh, yeah. So those sleeves hit you right above the elbow kind of. You know, they're a little bit..they're not cap sleeves, but they're not three quarter length. Kelly 32:23 Right. Yeah, they're .... I put them... I made those end at the elbow, like right above my elbow. Marsha 32:31 Do you think that's a flatteringlook? I'm looking at the pin. Yeah, Kelly 32:33 I like it. Yeah. I like those sleeves a lot. Marsha 32:37 Okay. Kelly 32:39 I like that sweater a lot. I think it's a really flattering sweater. Marsha 32:41 Okay, so then my question is ..., Kelly 32:44 And by flattering. I don't mean it makes me look skinny. Marsha 32:50 Okay, so now I'm looking at Honey of a Tee and you have three quarter length sleeves. Do you like... are you happy with that? Kelly 32:58 Yes. Marsha 32:59 Well, you're no help because you like both of them. I Kelly 33:03 Well, it depends. I like those because... I like those because I think of that as a warmer sweater. Even though it's made out of cotton. I don't-- I don't think of wearing that sweater when it's warm out. The way I do the Havana, that one I wear when it's warmer. I actually think just looking at the pictures. I think that Havana sleeves look better. Marsha 33:31 So then this is my other... the question I have to then in my mind about this is a merino wool t shirt. So am I gonna wear it in the summer? So do I...? That's why I think I want a little bit longer sleeve than what they're showing in the picture. But I don't know. Yeah, I don't I don't want full length I've decided. But I am thinking... maybe that's why I was thinking originally three quarter length sleeves because it is a wool sweater. I don't know that I'd be wearing it in the summer. Kelly 34:07 But I think probably if I had made the sleeves on this-- the Lavender Honey is the pattern. I think if I had made the sleeves on that a little bit shorter, it would look a little bit less like my sheet sleeves are just too short. Oh. I like this sweater a lot. And I wear it a lot. But it does...Looking at the picture, it does look like maybe my sleeves are just a little too short. More than that I purposely made them that way. Marsha 34:41 Okay. Kelly 34:42 I mean, I don't think it's ugly. I like it. But it does. It does look like an odd length Marsha 34:48 I think... okay, well that helps Kelly 34:49 If you made them--if you made these sleeves, the longer sleeves I would say have them stop right after your elbow. Whereas mine go like halfway between my elbow and my wrist. Marsha 35:03 Yeah. And that's the thing with three quarter length sleeves, too, is you have to find that length that where it looks finished and not like I ran out of yarn. Kelly 35:16 Yeah, that... I mean, that is kind of the danger. You want it to look like it was on purpose. Yeah. Marsha 35:24 Anyway, so I'm making progress on that. And then the other thing I've been working on is spinning. And so yesterday, we had a beautiful day and I had been painting at the other house and I came home and I sat on the on my deck, yay! And I've got my--I've got my pots planted. And I've got the umbrellas out there. And so it's a very different, very different experience than a year ago at this time where it was a dust pit back there, no deck. But anyway, I was working on spinning. So I'm almost done. I think the... Okay, the last time we recorded I had ordered more fiber of the bitter chocolate, the dark brown. And I have that. I have not opened the package yet, I have probably another just 12 inches of the brown roving to spin, and a little bit of the green. So my plan is to ply that last of that green with the three ply with the three ply with the brown. Then all the brown that's leftover, I'm just gonna do a three ply of the solid brown. But I haven't finished plying the green and brown together yet. So I'm going to... I still have that to do. But I'm making progress, you know? Kelly 36:41 Yeah, that's a that's a big... I mean, it's a big spinning project to make a sweater. Marsha 36:46 Yeah, it is. Marsha 36:48 And I have not had... and honestly, I've just not had a lot of time to spin, or the time that I've had to spin, I've been so tired that I just get into bed and you can't spin in bed.[laughing] Kelly 37:01 Right. Marsha 37:02 Right. Anyway. So that's it for me for projects. I think it's a nice lead in to--talking about spinning a nice lead in to a question that we have from a listener. Kelly 37:13 So yeah, one of the questions that I've had was about knitting with handspun. And so I wanted to talk a little bit about you know, what, what has been our experience knitting with handspun and some things that especially new spinners can think about or use as tips or, or tricks or strategies or whatever. So one of the things that I kind of don't like to see is when people talk about how much handspun they have, and that they've never knit with it. Like, oh my gosh! You have to have to knit with your handspun. But now, if you were to ask me that when I first started spinning, I had no desire to knit with my handspun I just wanted to make yarn. And then of course, you know, the knitting and the weaving were partly self defense against all the yarn I was making. My main goal was to make yarn but but it is really satisfying to make something out of your own yarn. I think I always really enjoy it. So one of the things I just wanted to mention is how I select a needle size to swatch and I learned this a long time ago. And I usually, I mean I usually do this as a way to kind of identify what needle I'm going to start with. I get out my needle gauge and I double up the yarn and I poke it through the holes in the needle gauge and I look for one where it it goes through pretty easily. It isn't like scraping the edge the whole time. It's not so big that, you know, it doesn't touch at all. Where does the yarn doubled fit through the needle gauge the best? And that's where I start and then I usually swatch one down, one needle size down from that and one needle size up from that and then I look at my fabric. And then if if I think, oh, maybe I want to try a little bit looser or a little bit tighter I'll, you know, I'll go even further up or even further down but usually one up and one down gives me three choices. And one of those three choices is a fabric that I like and a gauge that I like and then I'll go look in Ravelry and use the gauge as one of the filters in the advanced pattern search. I think I've talked about that before--how I use that in the advanced pattern search. Marsha 39:42 and I'm just.. This is not about... This, my comment, too This is just about doing swatches. And this is not about handspun this was all swatches. And people probably know this but I had not known this and I think my friend Kim told me this, is that when you do your swatch, like if you're going to do three different... I just, I don't make three individual swatches, I just do--I make it all one. I just chang the needles. But to keep track of which swatch is which size needle, you put holes in there for the size needle. So if you're knitting on size three needles, you put three, you know, three yarn overs, knit two, and then knit two together, yarn over, knit two together, yarn over, knit two together, so you get three holes. So then when you look at your...right at the beginning of the swatch, so then when you wash it, you know which, which one is which. Yeah, so five yarn overs for if you're using five, size five needles, etc. Do you do that? Kelly 40:41 Yes. The only time that I haven't done that is been has been when my needle size is so big that I don't have enough. I don't have enough stitches on my swatch. And instead of making a bigger swatch, you know, wider swatch, I have just used a different technique, like, you know, make a little note or, or tie a little string on it with the right number of knots, or something like that. So, but yeah, I do use that technique a lot. You have to make sure that you swatch long enough if you do that. Because if you make little, you know, four row swatches, and one of your rows is holes. That's not going to give you a very good idea. Marsha 41:27 Yeah, yeah. Kelly 41:29 But, I like to, I like to make a good size swatch. And then I always wash the swatch too, just to see what that does to see what the fabric looks like. So yeah, and then I just select the pattern based on based on those patterns that match my gauge. Because I don't, I don't like the game of trying to get trying to get gauge, I'd rather get a fabric I like and then find a sweater that uses that gauge, then try to get a gauge that my yarn is not going to want to do. Marsha 42:03 Well and then also select a pattern that, beyond gauge, a pattern that will work with the type of fabric that you've created or what type of... because you know even with with handspun, but even commercially made yarns, some work in lace, some don't some work with cable, some don't. Some you know, some work with texture, some don't. So that's why another reason to make kind of a large swatch too is that you get a better sense of what it's going to look like. If you were to do cables, or Kelly 42:39 Yeah, like a really textured yarn. Don't bother with a really patterned a really detailed pattern like cables or, or... Well, that's sort of what happened with those socks, right? I was trying to, it wasn't handspun. But I was trying to use the Matcha pattern that had, you know, some texture to it, with a yarn that already had texture. And it was pointless. Marsha 43:05 Yeah, yeah. Kelly 43:06 So you do have to be be aware of that. So, but we've had a lot of people make things out of their very first handspun in the summer spin ins that we've had in previous years. So yeah, so I think I think we do have a good, a good track record of helping people and supporting people. And the group of people who are who are chatting in the thread, also giving a good, good amount of support to people who want to make something out of their handspun. Yeah, it's always fun to see that happen. Marsha 43:40 Yeah. Kelly 43:41 Now you've knit with your handspun. I mean, you're not a new new spinner, but you knit with your handspun. And right away. Marsha 43:48 Well, my very first one that I made, I think it's still in a ball. And then I'm like, Oh, I'm going to spin some yarn and I'm going to make a hat for Ben. That thing is like it weighs... It feels like it weighs a pound. I should weigh it. It feels like a weighs a pound. Super dense. super heavy. But you know, I will never throw it away. And then I... so this kind of leads into another thing we were just going to mention. But anyway, I said I was gonna make him a pair of socks. And out of my handspun. And I was going to try, I was trying to spin fingering weight or sock weight you know, but it's worsted weight. And so these are very heavy, heavy socks and they're... and I got the... You wouldn't think that I would get the stitch count off given that they were so big. There wouldn't be that many stitches for a worsted weight pair of socks. But one of them I got this. I don't know how I did it, but I have too many stitches. So one is significantly larger than the other. So but I still have those But just a side note about the comments about the yarn isn't good enough and the allure of spinning thin. One of the things like I talked about that a lot, I don't seem to be able to spin... To date, I have not been able to spin yarn that's finer than DK, perhaps. It's always ends up being worsted weight Kelly 45:28 Well, and you always make a three ply. Right? I mean that you could make it... you could, you could have a fingering weight yarn if you use the singles. At this point, Marsha 45:41 yes, yeah, yeah. , Kelly 45:45 or maybe only two ply, Marsha 45:48 yeah. The but then I've made I guess I've made two sweaters with my yarn, right? Did I make two sweaters? Because I did the, I can't even remember! Kelly 46:01 You made two combo spins. Marsha 46:02 I did the combo spins. And I made two. And I really I have to say I just really like knitting with the handspun. It's a different experience knitting with handspun. Because there is, because I I'm a newer spinner than you are. And that first combo spin I think was the first time I had spun a sweater quantity of yarn. And so because it is handspun, there is variation. And that's actually kind of fun to knit with to see. I found it enjoyable. It just yeah, it felt really good to knit with my handspun and I don't know, it just... it's it's because of the irregularities it's just much more textural and but when you actually knit.. Kelly 46:52 There's so much more life. So yeah, there's some element of life to it, that... Marsha 46:58 it has a bit more soul to it. Kelly 47:01 And also, I mean, it has a little bit more spring to it, too. I mean, really, I mean literally has more spring in it, I think, than a commercial yarn. Its more elastic. I mean, it depends on what you're spinning, but for the most part, I think my handspun is much more elastic than than any commercial yarn. Yeah. Marsha 47:27 Yeah, I just like it. It was very enjoyable to knit with. Kelly 47:29 Your first project wasn't a sweater, but I know of people whose first project has been a sweater. And I, you know, I'm not gonna say... I'm not gonna stop anyone from jumping in feet first like that. But I think some good first projects are like what you mentioned. A hat is a good first project. I made potholders out of the the really ropey heavy, dense yarn that I made originally. I made potholders, I made a little bag for my spinning wheel oil, and the potholders I felted. So they were really nice and thick. So those are good, some good first projects. But a hat is a good project, a cowl is a good project. Socks, I think probably better if... One of my first projects was socks, too. And they were super dense. In fact, I, I couldn't I could barely knit two together. Because the yarn was so thick, and my needles were so small. And they you know, I just, I had an impression of how thin the yarn was, when it really wasn't, you know. Marsha 48:43 And, and that was my experience with the socks that I made for Ben. It was so dense that it's very difficult too. My hands hurt and knitting together for the decreases was really, really challenging. Kelly 48:59 Yeah, so probably, I mean, probably you were using needles more along the lines of sock needles, using a yarn that was closer to worsted weight. Marsha 49:08 Yeah, yeah. Kelly 49:09 And so slipper socks would be a better, a better choice, you know, a worsted weight pair of slipper socks would be a better a better choice probably then. Just for ease of, ease of knitting. But yeah, there are a lot of I mean, there are a lot of good projects for handspun. And this idea that your yarn isn't good enough. I mean, a lot of people will say that, you know, I want to get better before I use my yarn. I would say... I would say your yarn is good enough. It's a matter of the right, you know, finding the right project for it. And it's only the super early yarn that is so dense and ropey. I mean, people quickly, I think, move from that sort of ropey plying, really dense plying. And that happens pretty quickly. Marsha 50:02 Well and that ropey hat that I made. You can see, you know, when you when you're plying and you get those little corkscrews, that you can't undo and lots of that! And so and you can... so many of you can actually see it in the finished project. But you have to start somewhere. Kelly 50:23 That's right. That's right. Marsha 50:25 But I have to say, with the two sweaters that I made, as I say, the yarn is, has character, you know, they have thin bits and thick bits... Kelly 50:38 Beautiful! Marsha 50:39 Oh, yeah. They're, I think they're really nice. The, but what I was going to say is that, and we've talked this about this before, but you have thick and thin bits in the single, but then when you ply it, that changes. But you still may, even if you still have thick and thin bits after you ply it, that all changes again, when you knit it up. Kelly 51:02 Yeah. Marsha 51:03 And so those thick and thin parts really begin to sort of just disappear, I think. And worst case scenario, if you have one, that's just one spot that's super, super thin or super, super thick, you cut it out and just Kelly 51:17 Right, Marsha 51:18 spit, splice the yarn together and keep knitting, you know, Kelly 51:21 if you have a bad spot, or if you have one of those pigtails from plying that you don't want to be in your... Marsha 51:27 Oh, that's what it's called? Kelly 51:28 The pig tail is what I call it. I don't know if it's...I don't know if that's what it's called or not, but that's kind of what I call it. Marsha 51:39 So, um, but then Kelly, uh, how about measuring the skein? Kelly 51:44 Oh, yeah, that's the other thing that happens when you're new, is you have a misperception about how much yarn you made. And, and there does seem to be not so much anymore. There used to be a lot of, a lot of I don't know, like, you know, the social media kind of pressure about spinning that I didn't have, because there wasn't social media. Right? I didn't know what other people's spinning looked like, you know, other than when I went to guild meetings and saw it on, you know, saw what they were working on. But I didn't do that very, I didn't do that that often. And Spin Off had episodes, they had issues where they started to after-- I'd been spinning quite a while-- they started having issues where you would send your yarn to them, and they would photograph it and they would put the skeins in the magazine, the photographs. And that was the first time that I really had a ton of exposure to other people's yarn. And that wasn't even, you know, real life exposure, but picture exposure. So I didn't have you know, the pictures that people will post. And I'm not, I'm not criticizing people for doing this. But I think somebody, the way people perceive it is different, like people will post pictures, and they'll put a coin along with yarn, right. And the idea is to give you some some element of scale, you can tell how, how thick or thin the yarn is. But sometimes I think when I see, you know, some of these pictures are especially... it used to be more common. I would see I would see these pictures or I would hear people talking about how thin their yarn was. And it was like that was the only thing that was valuable was the thin yarn. Like if it wasn't thin it was not worth spinning or doing anything with and you had to try to get as thin as possible. Well, there's a use for thin yarn. But I don't knit with lace weight all the time. Marsha 53:47 Right? Kelly 53:48 So like, what are you going to do with, you know, dozens of skeins of lace weight and thinner. So you know, make the yarn that's going to fit what you're going to... what you're going to make. And so if you like knitting with DK weight yarn, then that's the weight that you should try to spin for. If you like fingering weight yarn, then you can try to spin for fingering weight and that'll you know, that'll mean your plies are a little thinner. But experiment, you know, with thick yarn and thin yarn. And there's nothing inherently better about spinning thin, I guess is my my point. And then the other thing that's also true is the worsted yarn. A lot of times I'll see at a spinning event that, you know, people are spinning like this. They call it inchworm style. And again, there's nothing wrong with spinning in that in that way. It makes it very smooth, compressed yarn, because you're only letting a little bit of fiber out and then you're smoothing it down before you advance it. So it makes it very smooth, and also very compressed yarn. Which is fine if you're wanting worsted style yarn, right? That's what worsted style is. Very smooth and compressed. But if you want something fluffy or light, then you know use a different spinning style. And you'll have fluffier yarn or it'll have a halo to it. And there's something nice about about the fact when you wash it, it gets a little bit fuzzy, you know, more fuzzy. So I guess... I guess the point I'm trying to make is that, I would suggest if you're a new spinner, just spin and see what happens. I mean, it's... Yeah, it's good to have goals. And it's good to try things like to give yourself a lesson or a challenge. You know, for learning. But when you're first spinning, I think, just spin and see what happens. And some fibers are going to want to be more smooth and other fibers are going to turn into a yarn that's really fluffy. And sometimes you're going to get a yarn that's thick, and sometimes you're going to get a yarn that's thinner, depending on the, the, you know, the fiber that you're using. And that's how and then you can kind of learn what they say, like what the fiber wants to be. And then don't try to make fiber be a way doesn't want to be. Marsha 56:25 Right. Kelly 56:27 So anyway, that's... Yeah, I think that's kind of an important thing to think about. Marsha 56:33 But we started this about measuring the yardage. And so Kelly, you want to talk about how you how you measure or how you taught me to measure the skein? Kelly 56:42 Yeah, How did I get from... because you said that already...measuring the yardage. How did I get off... Marsha 56:47 I know, I'm trying to guide you back on topic graciously, but I don't think I did it very graciously. [laughing] Kelly 56:55 No, that was nice, Marsha. Thank you. [laughing] Kelly 56:59 Measuring the yardage. Be careful when you measure on the niddy noddy because it's going to be stretched. So like I have what's called a one yard niddy noddy. And it's not actually one yard. Like if I, if I measure a piece of yarn that goes around, even if I use like cotton string that doesn't stretch at all, and I go around my... or if I take the tape measure and go around my niddy noddy, it's not quite a yard. It's a little short of a yard even though it was advertised as a one yard niddy noddy. And then if I wind the yarn on to it, of course, it's tight. So just counting how many times... Actually it's a two yard... Sorry, it's a two yard niddy noddy. So just counting the number of times I went around doesn't really give me the yardage that I have. That... I did that, I made that mistake. I made that mistake before. Thinking I had way more yarn than I actually had. Yeah. So now what I do is, after I've washed it, skeined it up and washed it, I just lay it out kind of flat on the ironing board or on the table. And then I just measure, I just measure how long that skein is kind of, on average, like I put the tape measure, kind of in the middle of each end and and measure. And then I just you know, and I count how many, how many threads there are. Marsha 58:21 Now you do that though, after you've washed the yarn. Kelly 58:25 Yeah, I do it after I've washed it. And, and I don't count it while I wind it on because I can't do that. You know, I could count and say, Oh, I went around, you know, 300 times as I'm winding it on. I don't usually do that. I usually count them after it's been washed. Just because I know I'm not going to keep track while I'm winding. Marsha 58:50 Okay, well, do you want to know what I do? Kelly 58:52 What do you do Marsha 58:53 So because you gave me the niddy noddy, your extra niddy noddy and so I think we have the same one it's the two yard one. So in theory, what I do is I do count as I wrap around the niddy noddy I count up to 20 and then make a mark on it on a piece of paper. Kelly 59:11 You're much more disciplined! Marsha 59:12 And then because I could not count 300 I would lose track right? But if I just count to... and if I'm really distracted I just count to 10 but I count around 20 times mark on a piece of paper or 20 times mark it so then it ends up being... say I have it's I've wrapped around 80 times it usually ends up being an odd number you know 87 times. Then what I do is I multiply that by two and then I measured the length, I take it off the knot and I don't stretch it really tight but I just hold it straight out and I measure it usually it ends up being 30 inches Kelly 59:48 yeah mine's somewhere around there. Marsha 59:51 So what I end up doing... but I haven't washed it yet though. So what I do is I then my math is you know the number of wraps-- times I've wrapped around, say it's 87 times, times the length, which is 30 inches, then doubled times two, then I divide it by 36. Kelly 1:00:11 Right. Marsha 1:00:11 And that tells me how many yards I have. Approximately. Now, I have not. So this the yarns that I'm working on now, I then I put a tag on it. You know what the fiber is, how many yards, approximately, I think I have based on that, then I weigh it to figure out how many ounces I have. You could also do grams too, but how many ounces that skein is. And then in the lower right hand corner of the tag, I put a one and then a slash, you know, like if you're gonna do percent, one slash, and then when I'm all done... So you'll have one, you know, a skein one, skein two, skein three. And then when I'm all done, I fill in how many skeins I have. So it's one of ten, two of ten, three of 10. Don't ask me why I do that. Just because I'm I, it might be kind of weird. But then I know what was my first skein. And what was my last skein. And I was thinking the reason I... Well, actually I do, actually, you can ask me why I do that. Because I do have a reason why I do that. Marsha 1:01:17 Why do you do that Marsha? Marsha 1:01:19 So that my theory is, when I start, say I'm going to knit a sweater, then I can knit with my first and my last skein. Maybe alternate my first and last skeins. And so that is because there is going to be variation, I would think because you are like, for example, this green and brown that I'm spinning, it's it's over a period of months that I'm spinning it. And sometimes I take a week or two weeks break that I'm not doing anything. So there is going to be variation between the first skein and the last skein just because, yeah, weeks, months or years have gone past, right. So that's sort of my idea is well if I then can blend them, keep track of those skeins, I can blend them as I'm knitting, alternate those skeins. Kelly 1:02:05 That makes sense. I think you would especially if you were a newer spinner, it might get finer as you go, even if you're trying to keep it consistent. And even if you have a control card, you know, or a piece of yarn that you're using to spin to, it's very likely that you are going to get better, your spinning is going to improve. And and a lot of people when their spinning improves, they do end up you know, they have more facility with drafting and they do end up with a thinner yarn. Yeah. Marsha 1:02:36 And then the other thing I do is I... So with that first skein, so I know I have say 150 yards and it weighs two ounces. I know that my... so then I then I can figure out well, how many yards am I getting per ounce? Kelly 1:02:53 Yeah. Marsha 1:02:54 And so, and I have... I'm starting with this many ounces of fiber, it gives me a little bit so it's not accurate, because it's only my first skein. But it gives me kind of a sense of like, well, how much yarn do I think I'm going to get, how much yardage am I going to produce out of so many ounces of yarn. And then as I say, then I add in skein two, skein three, and it's to see... And it's pretty accurate from that first skein, even as I started adding and doing the math to see how many ounces or-- excuse me-- rephrase that. How many yards per ounce I'm going to get. It stays pretty consistent as I started adding in the skeins. Does that make sense what I do. Kelly 1:03:37 Yeah. And then that gives you an idea whether you have enough fiber or do you like in this particular sweater quantity that you're spinning right now. You decided you needed to buy more fiber, because you knew you weren't going to get the yardage that that you were hoping for. Yeah, no, I think that's I think that's really good. I think those are kind of our main thoughts about knitting with your handspun. Or crocheting, doing any kind of working with your handspun. like, how do you find... Marsha 1:04:05 Or weaving? Kelly 1:04:06 Yeah, yeah, we didn't even talk about weaving, weaving is a great thing to do with your handspun. because textured yarn makes really nice weaving projects. And you don't need to worry about gauge. Marsha 1:04:24 So what are what are what are good projects for textured yarn, in knitting or crochet, do you think? Kelly 1:04:34 Um, I Well, I think the the slipper socks is a good one because it will be... they will be nice and squishy and I think a nice cowl would be good in a textured yarn. You know, for for knitting or crocheting. Marsha 1:04:50 What about people who are more advanced and you start doing sort of like those, what's the word... Art art yarns, you know. Like they actually spin...that's what I was thinking of like when you spin in, you intentionally spin like thick and thin, exaggerated... Kelly 1:05:11 Yeah, I've seen some really pretty sweaters with the slubby yarn, you use kind of a loose gauge and that way the the real slubby parts can, can show up. Well, like my Sonny Bono jacke is at a really loose gauge, and that yarn is definitely art yarn, you have all those locks sticking off the yarn. So I do think a looser gauge is best for those kinds of yarns. And you could use them as... I've seen people use them as like the, the, you know, brim of a hat and then the rest of the hat is ... like the the part you fold, or like a cuff, you know, on a sleeve or a yoke like a stripe in the yoke. So you could use your handspun along with something else. And that's a really nice way to to use up just a one skein, you know, one small skein of yarn? Yeah, in a project that's not a handspun, not fully a handspun project. Marsha 1:06:17 Do you have anything more you want to add on this topic? Kelly 1:06:18 I don't think so today. I think that's, that's good. And then we'll add other topics. And we're interested in knowing... I put a question in the summer spin in chat thread, to let us know if you know if there's anything that you would want to hear about during the spin in. The topics that you'd like us to talk about in spinning on the podcast, you can do that. You can send us an email, you can contact us through our website. Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. We have a Contact Us page, you can contact us there. You can contact either me or Marsha on Instagram, through direct message and we can add your your question to our to our topic list. Marsha 1:07:01 And we'll talk more. Hopefully, we'll get a lot of good questions. And we'll add some. We'll talk about spinning over the next few months. Because just a reminder, the summer spin in starts. It's Memorial Day through Labor Day, which is May 31 through September 6. And so we'll be talking more about spinning over the summer months. Kelly 1:07:23 Yeah it's a good three months, a little more than three months of spinning. Marsha 1:07:28 By September, people will be saying, please stop talking about spinning! You've spun us dry. [laughing] Kelly 1:07:40 Anyway. All right. Marsha 1:07:41 So I'm excited about projects plans. So anyway,so Kelly, do we have any anything else we wanted to say? Kelly 1:07:51 I don't think so. Marsha 1:07:52 Should we say goodbye? Kelly 1:07:53 Yeah. Yeah. Let's say goodbye. We'll see everyone in two weeks. We'll talk to everyone in two weeks. All righty. Bye. Bye. Marsha 1:08:04 Bye. Kelly 1:08:04 Thank you so much for listening. To subscribe to the podcast visit to Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com Marsha 1:08:12 Join us on our adventures on Ravelry and Instagram. I am betterinmotion and Kelly is 1hundredprojects. Until next time, where the Two Ewes doing our part for a world fleece! Transcribed by https://otter.ai

May 2, 2021

Kelly shares happy news about adopting Bear, a big, sweet, eight year old shepherd. And Marsha has a surprise finish! Show notes with full transcript, photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects Walk Along tee by Ankestrick (Ravelry link) I finished my Abington Mitts by Jennifer Lassonde (Ravelry link) just in time for the end of our Extremities Knit/Crochet Along. I started the gusset on the second sock of a pair of socks for myself using Drops Fabel Print that I bought in San Luis Obispo. I ordered another 8 oz of the dark brown roving for the green and brown three ply. I plan to spin the brown separately and make a striped sweater. Kelly's Projects I finished the Huck weaving sampler from the Jane Stafford Guild. I'm now ready for May and episode 4. Faye's Flower Blanket. I now have 16 octagons Extremities Knit/Crochet Along This KAL/CAL was inspired by the generous donation of these patterns: Abington Mitts , Jennifer Lassonde, Down Cellar Studio Coffee Socks Collection , Dotsdabbles Designs, Deborah The KAL ended on April 25, 2021 and the winners are: jacquiemari--Jacqueline. She made legwarmers. Wins the Abington Mitts pattern by Jennifer Lassonde JillMabelina--Jill. She made a pair of Bernie mitts. Wins the Coffee Socks Collection by Dots Dabbles Designs. Summer Spin In May 31st - September 6th Get ready to spin! Our Summer Spin In takes place again from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Transcript Marsha 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha Kelly 0:04 and this is Kelly. Marsha 0:05 We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Kelly 0:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects, and I am Betterinmotion. We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Marsha 0:36 Enjoy the episode. Marsha 0:43 Good morning, Kelly. Kelly 0:44 Good morning, Marsha. I just had to look to see if it was actually still morning and it is. It's technically, it's technically morning. I am very tired. Marsha 0:58 Well, you have big news. Kelly 0:59 I do. Yeah. Anybody who follows me on Instagram... And if you don't follow me on Instagram, you should! 1hundredprojects, the number one, hundred projects, you will have seen that we have a new addition to the family. And I, you know, I know that raising a baby--that type of new addition to the family is much more difficult than what I'm doing. And I... it's only actually been two days and things are already getting better. But I am totally exhausted. We adopted a new dog. So his name is his name is Bear. I call him Beary. He is,... well... I don't know if I told you Marsha. I'll tell everybody how this actually happened. We were not looking for another dog. I mean, we do... Marsha 1:52 Yes, I actually, I don't and my brother asked me. So why did they do this? Why did why did you this? Kelly 1:57 Yeah. So I mean, we miss Nash, you know, we lost him in the fall. And he was kind of nice to have around. And then Betty liked having a dog when we would go off. To have a dog to stay home with her. But we weren't really looking for another dog at this point. And I actually think a one dog household is too few dogs. But again, we weren't really thinking about another dog at this point. Bailey still young. And I still got a lot of work to do with her. So. But anyway, my friend Paul is interested in getting a dog and he's been talking about it for I don't know, maybe two years. And first he wanted to get a lab and he was asking me about lab breeders that I knew. And then he was thinking maybe he get this breed and maybe that breed. And just for listeners, he's a friend that I've had since I started at Hartnell. And I helped him find his first dog, which was a boxer that I co owned with him and trained and did obedience got her got her CD title. And then he got--I helped him find his last dog, which was a wirehaired pointing griffon. So anyway, now he's looking for another dog. And so and I just you know, I said you know, you're you're working so hard at this trying to find a dog online and feeling concerned. Why don't you look at maybe a rescue? Oh, I don't know, I think I want to raise a puppy. I want to know what it's gonna be like, but you know me, he was kind of not really open to it. But Marsha 3:32 but but he didn't say no. Right? Kelly 3:35 So periodically, over the last couple of months, because every time I talked to him, he's like, I need to get a dog. What do you think about this breed? What do you think about that breed? So I just thought, you know what? I'm going to go on, look at the shelters. So I did and I did this about three months, three or two months ago, I guess. I went to look at the shelters, and there really isn't much. In fact, that's an interesting thing that the shelters all have shortages. But anyway, I saw this German Shepherd male who it was very overweight. And I saw about two months ago and I thought oh, he's the old guy, you know, a senior and I thought well, he'll be, you know, he'll be adopted because everybody's being adopted now. This is how it's working. And then I went back and he was still there. And then the third time I went back, he was still there. I texted Robert and I said what do you think? It'd be like... His situation just reminded me of Nash coming to us later in life after a kind of somewhat unknown background, you know, to just kind of be the lay-around-the-house dog. And so Robert said, Yeah, okay. I think that might be okay. And so I contacted the SPCA. Well, it was so much faster than Bailey! Marsha 4:54 Because Bailey was a really long time. You had to pass a lot of hurdles. Kelly 4:58 Yeah. mmmhmmm. Marsha 5:00 It took a couple months, right? Kelly 5:00 They had to inspect my house and, and she had an injury that had to heal too. So that was part of it. But, you know, I was at... we were out at the boarding facility, I don't know, for 10 days going every day to see her, you know, before she was able to come home. So I contacted them on Saturday. I emailed or filled out the form on Saturday, I got a phone call. I thought I wouldn't hear back until Monday. But I got a phone call on Sunday, saying, Do you want to come meet him? Can you come on Monday? So then Robert's, like, they're just trying to get rid of him? What's wrong with this dog? And I said, well, what's wrong with him is he's you know, low thyroid, and he has a lot of weight to lose. And, you know, he's eight. And they just want to send--he's been there a long time. They just want to get him a home, you know. If we're interested, they're gonna take us up on it, but, but he was really suspicious about how fast it went. And then we went and met him. And they had, you know, they asked us to bring Bailey so Bailey met him too. And, you know, they kind of didn't really interact, they just kind of did their own thing. in the, in the area where, where they meet. We, you know, we walked them together kind of on leash. And then, and then she was-- they were able to both go off leash together, but they pretty much just kind of ignored each other mostly. Sniffed a little bit, but that was it. So then, you know, is like, are you? Well, what do you think? Are you interested? And I said, Yes. And so like, 20 minutes later, we were leaving with a ramp because he didn't like getting into the car. And you can't lift him up because he, he doesn't like being poked or prodded or pushed or lifted, or anything like that. And he turns around and grabs you, not biting you. But he does, like let you know that he doesn't want you doing that, which we're working on. So anyway, we've had him for two days. This is the third, this is the third day. Marsha 7:10 I just, I mean, it's such a shock, because, well, I just think it's amazing that you can just go and get a dog that fast. Kelly 7:18 That's what Robert said. He said, how do they know that we're a good home? Like they talked-- They talked to us for half an hour. You know, we brought Bailey and they saw how Bailey was with him. And then they sent him home with us. Like, how do they know we're gonna be good? Marsha 7:34 You know, it's like when I gave birth to Ben, I couldn't believe the hospital was gonna let me take him home. Don't they know I don't know what I'm doing? I mean, it's kind of amazing that anybody can have a baby and you can just Kelly 7:48 Yeah, yeah. Yeah, Marsha 7:50 But it's the same thing. And I, I've told you this too. About my friend that had moved to Spokane, came to visit Seattle and got a dog and And literally, he just filled out the application paid his fee and left with the dog. And then the poor dog came to my house and met Enzo and we had lunch and then got in the car and drove across the state. Kelly 8:14 Yeah. Marsha 8:16 And it worked out fine. That dog adores Darryl, you know. And Darryl adores the dog. It worked out fine, but it's like, they just let the dogs go with anybody. It's just so... strange. Kelly 8:27 When I volunteered there I never wanted to let any dog go with anybody. Marsha 8:31 Yeah. No owner was good enough. Kelly 8:34 Anyway, but he's, he's great. He, he's hard. It's really hard. I mean, basically, I'm used to having dogs that, you know, they they, they communicate. I know how to communicate with them. You know, we had to work on it with with Bailey. And you forget how much you had to work. I had to kind of remind myself of how hard it was when she first came. Because now she seems so easy. But yeah, like he didn't know how to be in the house. And the first day, it was great because the weather's been really good. So we've just been able to spend all day out in the backyard. And I've gotten, I have to admit, very little work done. But you know, I can set my computer up on the table in the backyard and I can work and I can be in the... I've been able to be in the trailer and talk to him through the window of the trailer. He can come and look in the door of the trailer. But he can't he can't get in because he's too big. He can't lift himself, you know, into the . Marsha 9:35 So I know like Well, let's just let's talk about some of his issues. Kelly 9:40 Okay. Marsha 9:41 You said he has, is it? He has hypo thyroid? Because I don't-- I can't say it.. Kelly 9:46 Yeah, hypothyroid he's low thyroid, and he's on thyroid medication. And he was at the SPCA for three months. He came in with a wound from being attacked by a dog. And he was surrendered. And then they stitched him up that was kind of on his shoulder and they stitched him up. And then they discovered that he had this low thyroid problem. Marsha 10:14 Well, and also doesn't he have...He's had, like you said, a chronic ear infection, which has damaged one of his ears. Didn't you say that, too? Kelly 10:20 Yeah, he had... They didn't realize at first but but after, you know, they fixed him up, and they realize his ear had a problem. So then they had to go in and clean out his ears. And they cleaned them and then they came back, you know, got really bad again, and they so they put him on antibiotics for his ears and ear medication. And...but the one ear bothers him, he shakes his head a lot. Even though it's clean. The vet said it's clean. It's just the ear canal has kind of a lot of scar tissue. And it just... she said it just feels funny. And I Marsha 10:22 Yeah, Kelly 10:51 well, when he got to the... he's he lost 30 pounds. I think she said. Yeah, he lost like 30 pounds. And I think, I mean, he should probably be more like 90 pounds. Unless, unless he's just a bigger dog than I think in terms of his body structure. I'm thinking probably he should be around 90 pounds. So he has another like 40 pounds to lose. Marsha 11:25 So he should be about 90 pounds. He is did you say he's like 137 pounds? Now? Kelly 11:31 He's 133. Yeah, when he came home. Marsha 11:33 133 when it came home? And he'd lost... Kelly 11:38 almost 30 pounds. Yeah. Marsha 11:40 30 pounds. So he would have been like 160 pounds. Kelly 11:44 Yes. Marsha 11:46 And he should be around 90. Kelly 11:48 Yeah, like a large German Shepherd would be... a male German Shepherd would be like around 90. Marsha 11:54 He was like double what he should be. More than double what he should be. Kelly 11:56 Yeah. And you know, I don't know, do ear canals get fat? [laughing] I have no idea. But he's, he's very, he's very. He's very sweet. But he just he does whatever he wants. He's like a 130 pound toddler. And he doesn't really understand the word no. Right? I mean, he's not probably had a lot of interaction. He probably was a backyard dog, you know? And so he doesn't really... Like I'm just so much blah, blah, blah, blah, when I talk, and so he doesn't really understand the word no or anything. Yeah, you know, and he goes where he wants and he weighs a lot more than most dogs. Marsha 12:09 He can just go where he wants, because he is so big. Kelly 12:47 So I'm gonna say something that is probably controversial to a lot of people. But he came to us on a buckle collar. And, like, I can't control him. Right. I'm not that--I mean, I'm not as strong as I used to be when I had the wolf hounds. But also the wolf hounds, they thought I was stronger than them. You know, I mean, I knew them since puppyhood. So Marsha 13:14 but at 137 pounds, 133 pounds. Kelly 13:21 He weighs more than I do. Yeah, Marsha 13:22 He outweighs, you. Kelly 13:23 Yeah. And he's also he's used to doing what he wants, you know. So I couldn't I mean, I could barely walk him. So after one day, we got out the the chain collar that Nash had used and, you know, I wasn't jerking him around or anything, but it just gives me a lot of, a lot better control. And we were able to go for three walks yesterday, three short walks yesterday. And you know, he's not dragging me around now. Literally, he was dragging me through the house to get to toys. The first night it was like, every time he saw one of Bailey's toys, which, you know, we didn't know he was coming, so I had not dog proofed the house. And so he'd see one of her squirrels that she has--the squirrels in a tree--and he'd like take off. I was like flying behind him. Cuz he was on leash. Oh my gosh, it was so hard that first night. Marsha 13:33 Wow. Kelly 14:02 He just, you know, he went where he wanted and, and, and he's surprisingly fast for a big guy. If you if he's got something on his mind that he wants, he's surprisingly fast [laughing] Oh my goodness, but so so that that has made it a little bit easier to to have some control when he has the leash on. But he's still I mean, he still... he wants what he wants when he wants it. And but he's very... Marsha 14:48 Just like a toddler. Kelly 14:49 Yeah, exactly. Exactly. 130 pound toddler. But he learned he does learn how to sleep on the pillow the first day-- the first night. He can't be crated, because we don't have a crate big enough. And I tried the ex-pen, but he just walked pushing the ex-pen. So the ex-pen is just moving around the room as... Like, Okay, this is not gonna work! [laughing] Marsha 15:22 Well, cuz you were saying because he's a backyard dog he's not housebroken either, right. So how is that? So I have a couple questions. That was the other issue he had. There's really no training. Not housebroken. He really is not comfortable in the house. Right? You said he was... He's used to being outside. So he sort of anxious being inside and having to spend the night inside. So what other issues did he have? [laughing] So I guess I'll just ask my question. So he seems to be doing better being inside, right. The first night you said was sort of challenging, but so you picked him up Monday? Kelly 16:01 Yeah. Marsha 16:01 So it's only two nights. Kelly 16:02 Yeah. And since Robert works, swing shift, I was by myself in the evening. During the day, we were out in the yard, and it was fine. You know, he he had, he was able to go around the yard, we took him off the leash. And he was able to go around the yard and, you know, do things and-- but then when it's time to come in and got cold, and I needed to come in for the night, I brought him in, and we we sat up in the spare room. And I put the two dog pillows in there. And Bailey, he and Bailey were both there. And I told Bailey to lay on her pillow. So she did. And then I just sat and crocheted while he paced and paced and whined and whined and paced and whined and paced and whined. Until, luckily, he's so big! Because he can't stand up for that long, right. At a certain point, he had to sit down. And then once he sat down, he can only sit for so long before he has to lay his body on the ground. So, so finally he lay down. But you know, I would try to be as still as I could, so he wouldn't pop up. But you know, it was only going for like 20 minutes at a time. And then he'd be back up pacing and whining. And that was from about dinner, like 6:30 after dinner, until I finally thought you know what, okay, he's getting a little more comfortable in this room, but we have to sleep in the other room. Maybe this wasn't such a smart idea. I should have probably started already there. So then I got the bedroom ready and put the pillows down and closed the door. And so then I just let him pace around in the bedroom while I sat in the bed and did more crocheting. And again, same thing, you know, pacing and whining and pacing and whining until he finally laid on the pillow and, and fell asleep. And then Robert got home. I stayed up until Robert got home. And then once Robert got home, Robert took him out one more time. And then we--but we were up a couple of times during the night that first night to take him out and stuff. But last night he slept all the way through the night. I mean, Robert gets home around midnight. Robert took him out then. But he slept the whole rest of the night. So he was tired. We were both tired. Marsha 18:14 Yeah. And and then what about the diet? Are you... how are you going to approach that because he obviously needs to get off additional weight? Kelly 18:23 Yeah. The vet actually said she doesn't think he'll lose any more. I think maybe because of his thyroid issue? I'm not really sure. That surprised me when she said that. But she told me you know how much he was eating. And we're going to keep him at that amount for a while with just the extra activity and see what happens. So and then, and then we'll kind of gauge how he's going. I don't want to give him too little. You know, you don't want him to lose weight too fast. Right, like people so, yeah. So anyway, right now, it's just kind of the same amount, trying to feed him the same amount as what they were giving him but you know, watching... using a lot of that food as treats. You know, to teach him things. Marsha 18:44 So and then the housebreaking do you think? Kelly 18:51 They said he was clean in the kennel. Like he didn't go in his kennel. At the SPCA they would, you know, they take.. they try to take the dogs out and, and let them go to the bathroom outside of their of their pens. And they said, you know, he would hold it so that he could go when they let him out. So that was good. So that, you know, that's good. That makes it a lot easier to housebreak. So just making sure that he goes out often. You know and we've been spending... I mean, it's only been there's only the third day and it's been gorgeous. So we've been able to be outside, which is nice. But when we do go out, you know when he is in the house he's on he's on the leash or inside of a closed room. Marsha 19:56 And then you just have to keep track of a time too like... You know, I got Enzo as a puppy. You know, like, I was like, every 30 minutes or 40 minutes. Yeah, I was taking him and giving him the opportunity. Kelly 20:08 Yeah,yeah. And it doesn't have to be that often with Beary because he's, he's older and he does have control. It's not like he doesn't have any control. It's just he doesn't know that, you know, that room over there that we're not in is not the right place. So. But he doesn't have access to... he doesn't have access to any place except right where I am. Which is why it's so tiring, you know, Marsha 20:33 Yeah. Kelly 20:34 I'll just tell one more story. And then we'll get to get to the the podcast topics. But the first day, every time... So I have to take him in with me when I went to the bathroom, right? Because nobody was home. It's just me. So I'd take him with in with me on the leash into the bathroom. And he would spot the wastepaper basket, and like dive in headfirst and eat something out of the wastebasket. So every different bathroom, we went in, of course, has a wastebasket, and it's still on the floor. And here he goes diving into the wastebasket to eat something. And so yeah, so now all the waste baskets are up off the ground. In all of the bathrooms. [laughing] Marsha 21:19 It'll be interesting to see as the months go by, if you're able to get some of this excess weight. If he starts feeling better, you know? Kelly 21:27 Yeah, yeah. I think like some of the issues of not wanting to be lifted into the cars just like okay, that hurts. You know, and, and, and then... Yeah, so we'll see how that goes. Yeah, but it's a it's a fun. It's a it's an exciting thing. It happened super fast. It was totally unexpected. And it's been really exhausting. [laughing] But it's good. It's really good. Yeah, yeah. Marsha 21:57 All right. Well, So I'm excited to hear about it going forward. But should we talk project? Kelly 22:04 Yes, we should. Marsha 22:06 I have no, I have no dog updates. Enzo is just sleeping here on the floor next to me. Okay, seriously now, projects? Yes. Would you like to go first? Kelly 22:16 No, go ahead. Marsha 22:18 Okay. So, um, well, I don't really have a lot to report. Walk Along, still working on it. By Ankestrick the T shirt. Still working on that. I'm alternating working on that and spinning. I ordered another eight ounces of the dark brown Merino roving. And we talked about this in the last time that I'm running out. I'm not going to have enough of the fiber that I had to make a sweater quantity. And so I decided to order more of the the dark brown to finish plying with the green, but also to have extra so I can just do three ply of this... of just the brown Yeah, so then when I... So I should have enough for a sweater I'm Fingers crossed! So then I can do stripes or something to have enough for a sweater. That's what I'm hoping. I'm just going to throw in there... I'll finish about my projects, but before I talk about my other things that are going on. About roving, remember the last time we talked about when you're plying the singles and a single breaks and how you find the end. We did have...we talked about you know ideas. We did hear from Jolene Jojocraftsalot in her comment was a tip on when you apply breaks and you can't find it try a piece of tape and tap it around on the bobbin of yarn to see if it will find the elusive end. That's an interesting idea. Kelly 23:44 okay. Yeah sort of like a lint... like getting lint off your sweater but with tape and you hope instead of lint the end of the yarn will stick to it. Marsha 23:54 Yeah, so that's a good tip. And I'm working on my socks. I think last time we were talking I was working on the heel flap I've now have finished the gusset and I'm moving on to the foot. Not a lot there to report but I finished something! Kelly 24:11 Yay! Marsha 24:12 Guess what I finished! I finished my mitts my Abington Mitts! And you remember the last time we talked I said I was not going to promise that I was going to finish them that evening because I never do? Guess what I did that night! So I posted them in our thread which, we will talk about this later, but our extremities knit and crochet along. I posted that and that has ended and we'll talk about that in a little bit. But I did finish those and that's all I have to report. All right. Nothing. I'm not a lot of progress on anything. Just just steady. Kelly 24:51 Well, you've had a lot of stuff going on at your house. A lot of cleaning and painting and the house projects. Marsha 25:00 yeah, I think I mentioned this contractor finished at the the rental house, finished the basement. Well his part of that. Now it's my job to go in there and paint it. So I've started I was over there Monday and Tuesday washing down the woodwork on the main floor, which the contractor wasn't there, but it was just dusty and I'll just be honest, dirty. I guess I'm not that great a housekeeper or I guess I didn't routinely wash that. [laughing] Well, I don't think I've ever washed down the woodwork in the living room and the dining room. I've washed down the kitchen and the bathroom before but I didn't routinely wash down woodwork. And so guess what? It was a little dirty! It needed to be washed. So it looks great and the good thing is it was a good paint job I did years ago and it's held up. And just a good cleaning and it's ready to go nice. So yeah, anyway, but... But what about your projects? Kelly 25:56 Well, um, I had that... I had the Huck weaving sampler from the Jane Stafford guild and I think it was on the loom last time. I don't exactly remember. I think I had tied it on to the loom. But I hadn't started weaving or maybe I had started weaving and I... Oh no! I had woven the first part of the sampler and cut it off the loom and washed it. And then I wove the last part of the sampler and I only got... I was thinking I would have another like yard length and with the loom waste and just the shrinkage and stuff I only ended up with about maybe about 18 inches, but I wove it off. So the first one I wove, the same silk that was in the warp I used as weft, and I made a small shawl that I actually have hung up in the studio. It'll probably be a sample, I probably won't wear it as a shawl. I'll just keep it in there to kind of look at what I did. And then the second part of it, I wove with this linen, I have some cones of linen. And they're stained. This was like a porcelain blue color, pale porcelain blue. And it's a really rough spun linen. And I had used a cone of dark gray with that purple silk to knit a sweater, that Cherry Vanilla sweater that I made years ago. And this one was a porcelain blue color. And I thought oh, I'm gonna weave with it and see how it weaves up. And also, since this is just a sample, if the stains don't wash out, you know, that are on the cone, then I'll know. First of all, it's not stained... like the outer edge was stained, right. So just the first few yards, but the top and the bottom also have stains on it. So you know, as you go into the cone, you're going to pick up those stains at the top, that dirt right at the top of the cone and at the bottom of the cone. And so I was, you know, wondering if that was going to be worth using or not. You don't want to make a really nice project and then it doesn't wash out. So I thought, well I'll weave with it and see if it washes out. And it mostly did, there was a little bit of the kind of rusty looking stains that stayed. But small enough that you really can't, you really can't tell if you really... You know, if I didn't know it was there and go looking to see if didn't wash out, I don't think I wouldn't have noticed. So that gives me an idea that I can use those cones which, most of them are dirty in that same way. I can use those linen cones for other things which is which is kind of nice because I think it's really it's yarn I picked up when the weaving program at Hartnell stopped and there was a lot of yarn in the in the weaving classroom. And I managed to score. It felt like a score to me! I managed to score all these you know, rustic linen cones. But if they were you know, too dirty to use then I needed to know that. So anyway, I wove that and I have it sitting on my vanity in the bedroom just for you know, just to use it for a little while. But I think it's probably just going to be a sample that I'll keep downstairs near the, you know, near the loom and do something with it in the studio. So that was fun and got all the huck weaving done now. I'm waiting for the Jane Stafford guild. They have switched over on their classes. And I think they might have had been having to switch over on their website too. I was having a little bit of trouble accessing their website Anyway, once that switchover happens and they're in the new their new site, she's supposed to release her next her next episode for the month of May. So I'm all done. I'm keeping up again. I have my April project done and my May project we don't know what it is yet so I can't get started. Kelly 29:50 And then I have been working on... I mentioned sitting and crocheting and saying, Good, good. Good boy! Like the calmest voice I could have is what I kept doing as I crocheted.So I did get some crocheting done. And I am now up to... let me just look. So I need 20 octagons. For this blanket, I'm going to make it 4 octagons by 5 octagons, a rectangle instead of a square. I've got 15 of them. No, I've got 16 of them done because I finished one last night. So I've got 16 out of the 20 octagons done. Marsha 30:37 Oh, getting there. Kelly 30:38 Yeah, I'm close on the octagons. I'm close the squares. I need 12 and I have eight done. And then the half squares, which would be triangles, I need 14 and I don't have any of those done. And then I need four corners, which are also triangles, but they're smaller triangles. And I don't have any of those four corner triangles done so. So I've still got some... I've still got some work to do. Kelly 31:07 I'm going to end up with a lot of extra yarn, the the number of balls of yarn that they call for for this kit for the kit that you know or the for the pattern I think was so you had enough colors, but you end up with a lot of leftovers. So I'm going to have a lot even though I'm doing... Well I bought extra because I ended up buying the kit of mini skeins, the package of mini skeins. So I bought more yarn than I thought I needed. And I even needed less than that. So even with the extra octagons I'm gonna, I think I would have a significant amount of this yarn leftover but you know, Mother Bears work good in acrylic. And, and charity, charity hats in acrylic. Yeah, there's lots of things I can do with it once I'm done. So yeah, I'm making good progress on that, again, it's really been the only thing I've been working on. I don't have a knitting project. Well, I have those socks that I started that were going to be the Matcha socks. And then I started calling them Not Matcha socks because I couldn't even see the pattern. But I haven't picked those up. And I do think I'm going to... At first I thought I can just start where I left off. And no one will ever know that it was a pattern and it was supposed to be a pattern and and now I'm just doing them plain. But right now I think I'm just gonna rip them back and start over. So, but I haven't done that. So yeah, I have just the one crochet project going and that's really it. That's the only active project I have. Marsha 32:42 So we've got a lot going. To me, it seems like a lot, you know, Kelly 32:45 And well, the last couple days for sure. [laughing] But school, you know, school has been busy and, and, and starting a project there's always a little bit of friction, right? You have to figure out what you're going to make and you have to get the yarn balled up and you have to find the right needles and you have to do the thing-- the, you know, the kind of fiddly parts of getting going and I just haven't really had a chance to do that and the crochet has has been inspiring me to keep going because I'm so close now. Marsha 33:17 Yeah, Kelly 33:19 I've been pretty monogamous there. So yeah, that's that's it on my yarn projects. I now have a big, big furry project. But it's not, it's not yarn. [laughing] Marsha 33:33 So we did have the extremities knit and crochet and macrame along. I was waiting for some macrame socks to show up but we never got any! Kelly 33:46 But we did have some nice entries. What about 50 of them I think. 50 entries into the extremities knitalong and there were some crochet things I do believe if I'm remembering correctly. Anyway, we're gonna draw prizes for that and then we'll talk a little bit about some of the some of the projects that people that people submitted to that. So we have two prizes. One is the pattern for Abington Mitts by Jennifer Lasonnde. And then the other project, the other prize is a pattern, actually a pattern collection. The Coffee Socks Collection by Dots Dabbles Designs. Marsha 34:30 Earlier we did the random number generator and pulled our two winners. So do you want announce who they are? Kelly 34:37 Sure. Yeah, so the winner of the Abington Mitts pattern is Jackimarie, Jacqueline, and she made leg warmers. She actually made two pairs of leg warmers or boot cuffs, really cute! And we drew her name for one of those pairs. And so she's gonna win that Abington Mitts pattern. So congratulations, Jackie Marie Marsha 35:03 Congratulations.Yeah, yeah. Kelly 35:05 And then our second winner. Our second winner is Jillmabelina, Jill. And she made a pair of Bernie mitts. Marsha 35:16 Yes, she actually made two pair. Kelly 35:17 Oh, did she? That's right. I remember that now because it reminded me when I read it, that I had downloaded the pattern to make the crocheted Bernie you know, Bernie at the... it's a little amigurumi of Bernie at the inauguration with his mitts. And I, someone had posted a picture of it in one of my texts, you know, in one of my text groups of work friends had posted a picture of it. And I said, Oh, yeah, I saw the pattern. And somebody said, Oh, I'd love to have one. And I said, Oh, I'm downloading the pattern now. And then I never made it for her. So it reminded me that I had kind of promised to make a crocheted Bernie. I think probably that ship has sailed, but... Marsha 35:26 I know. I think that meme is is done, but then it may come back. Kelly 36:14 But the mittens are really really cool. And she made a really nice couple of pairs of those. So Jill, you win the Coffee Socks Collection, by Dots Dabbles Designs. Marsha 36:27 And then I was just gonna it's always fun to see what people make. I mean, I'm always intrigued by the patterns. And, and so just a couple things. I just, well, I just... I tallied up, we had 25 pairs of socks, 17 mitts or mittens, or I'm putting it all in the same category, the fingerless mitts mitts or like wrist warmers. And the two leg warmers, and one set of puppets that go on your hands. So that's so anyway, Superkip, Natalie, she made panda puppets, and they're crocheted and they're adorable. They look like little mittens and they're puppets. Kelly 37:09 I think she said the intention is for that to be... to actually be used as like oven mitts or like barbecue grilling. Marsha 37:19 Oh, okay. Yeah. And the other one is, UlricaC. She did socks. And the pattern is called Vanilla Is The New Black. And I comment on this because it was such an interesting heel. Did you look at this one. Very interesting heel. Kelly 37:38 It has kind of a diagonal? Marsha 37:41 Yeah, they're like, their like a Chevron on the back of the heel kind of and then I guess, a couple stitches of stockinette that go up. Anyway, they're an interesting heel, so I just wanted to comment on that. And then FerretSue, Sue, did the Hilja, that's probably not how it's pronounced, but the Hilja wrist warmers by Alex Bird. And I went to look at the pattern and it's it's called an Estonian inlay technique called Roosimine. And did you see this one? It's very interesting. It looks sort of like... I don't think this is what it is. But it sort of looks like the the backside of stranded knitting. Forming a pattern. It's very, very interesting. And so I wanted to comment on that Kelly 38:35 I always love to see the different techniques that people use. Mm hmm. Yeah. Marsha 38:40 And then the other one I commented was both knitnaround by Patty and bikesbrewewes by Kelsey. They both did mitts that are colourwork mitts with birds on them. And Patty did Springboard mitts. And Kelsey did Providence mitts. And they're really, really pretty, but it just was interesting that they both did mitts with birds. Yeah, very nice. So that was just some comments. Well, a lots of socks and lots of nice sock patterns. Kelly 39:16 Yeah, there's one sock pattern, the U-turn socks by, that were made by Joylaine. Those are so interesting. I have to get that pattern. Because the socks... like the front of the sock is is done, you know side to side, like if you were knitting in the round. And the back part of the sock is knit lengthwise. So like you're knitting like from the... from the top of the sock down to the heel. I don't know...by looking at them... Because they're striped, you can kind of tell the construction, but I don't know how it was done. Like I kept looking at their pictures and like, oh, how did that... how does that work? So I think I might have to try that. That looks Very interesting. And, and maybe a self striping yarn. I don't typically knit with self striping yarn because I don't make plain stockinette socks. But these look like a lot of fun. So maybe I can get a fun sell striping in and try the U turn socks. And then thinking of socks. Michelle, MichEmbrey on Ravelry. Marsha 40:24 The monkey socks? Kelly 40:26 Yeah, she made several pairs of socks, actually, because she's doing-- Have you heard of sock madness, Marsha. Marsha 40:33 I've heard the term, but you'll have to explain it. Because she's got about three pairs of socks Kelly 40:38 It's a contest on Ravelry where teams of people knit socks, and I think it goes along-- I'm gonna, I'm gonna go out on a limb because I don't know all that much about it. But I have a feeling it has something to do with March Madness. But it's sock madness. And so there's some competition aspect to it. Where people get eliminated, teams get eliminated like they do in the basketball tournament. And so you have like two weeks to knit the socks. And your team has to knit the socks faster than the other team or something. Anyway. I remember hearing about it when I was going to a knit group over in Pacific Grove at Monarch. And a woman there was doing it is like, oh my gosh. And basically she would put her vacation around this sock madness, like, you know, kind of plan vacation days and things for her her work so that she could participate in sock madness and kind of maximize her knitting time. Because she was so into this sock competition. And it just sounded it sounded so crazy that it was fun, right? [laughing] Like, oh my gosh, maybe I'm interested in this. Oh, I probably shouldn't be. Marsha 41:55 You have another project a big project! Kelly 41:57 Yeah, well, yeah. And I'm not that fast of.... I'm not that fast of a knitter, either. So. But anyway, very interesting to see all her socks and you know, the different patterns and they're not. They're not plain patterns. I mean, these socks that people are racing to finish are complicated, complicated patterns. So and then the one last project that I've mentioned thinking of, of socks and interesting methods, is Lisa Casson. She made yoga socks, and she used a knitting loom. And I thought that was really interesting. I mean, I know about knitting looms, but I really never think of them as a way to actually make a project like a pair of yoga socks. I mean, it is actually a tube. But I wouldn't have ever really thought about that. So she used her knitting loom and made a nice pair of yoga socks with the you know, cut out for the heel and the toe. Marsha 43:02 Well, and I just now I'm looking at all the projects, and I realized I made a mistake on something. I thought they were mittens, but they're... because they were felted. Oven mitts by FinnElliknits. Did you see those? Oh, and that's Ellen. Yeah, they're oven mitts. It's a... Kelly 43:19 That's a really good idea. I need some potholders! Marsha 43:21 Yeah. Kelly 43:22 Oh, I'm looking at them right now. Yeah, Marsha 43:23 yeah. And then there's a pot holder in the back. And I just, I was just glancing at it and thought, Oh, they were mitts. But now that I realized I made a mistake. It's actually their oven mitts. What a great idea! Kelly 43:33 That is a good idea. Yeah. Marsha 43:37 When you said about you're gonna go out on a limb about what the sock madness is? I was gonna say you're gonna go out on an extremity. [laughing] Kelly 43:50 Oh, that's good. I like it! [laughing] Marsha 43:55 Anyway, congratulations to... Well, first of all, thank you to everybody for participating. This is really fun to see what people did. And then congratulations to our two winners! Kelly 44:07 So go ahead and get in contact with me and I will pass along your name to to our donors, Jennifer Lassonde and Debbie from Dots, Dabbles Designs. Marsha 44:19 Just last two things. We have the summer spin in starting. And that's gonna run Memorial Day through Labor Day. And for those people who are not in the United States where we celebrate Memorial Day and Labor Day, that'll be May 31 through September 6. And traditionally, Memorial Day is sort of the official start of summer and Labor Day is sort of the official end of summer. So that's why we pick those dates and we'll talk more about that. We've done this in the past. And we'll talk more about the the summer spin in in the next episode. Anything you want to add about this ? Kelly 45:01 I'll put up a thread, a chat thread, where we can start talking about our spinning aspirations. For the summer. Fiber prep, washing fleeces, buying braids of fiber to spin, all that kind of stuff. Marsha 45:17 We can start buying fleeces. Kelly 45:19 Yeah. So we can start talking about all the all the stuff we're planning to do in the summer with our spinning. Marsha 45:28 And then I just had one last thing. One of our listeners Jolene, I'm sorry, wrong person. I'll read my list here, Sarah, Salpal. There she had asked in the thread what overshot weaving is. And I had tried to answer the question, just looking at, you know, doing a Google search of a definition of overshot. And then her response was okay, maybe this is a question for Kelly. But how the heck do you do it? Do you alternate the background color and the contrast color so the plain weave is happening behind the overshot? Does that? I did not answer your question, because I don't know how to answer her question. Can you answer that? Kelly 46:08 Yeah. Well, and actually, she got... she got some good answers. Cindy Q answered her in the thread also. But that is what happens. You have the kind of a background that's tabby. And then, so every other pick, that's when you throw the yarn across the weaving or you know, weave it in and out, every other pick is plain weave. So you do a plain weave, and then you do a pattern, which means you'll have like a float, the yarn will be floating over the top. Marsha 46:39 Okay, so when you say pattern, that's the what? The overshot? That's got the floats. Kelly 46:44 Yeah. And so those all those floats stacked together to make designs. And this is... snowflake type designs is the way I would describe them. That might not be exactly right. Or, or like I'm looking at a quilt that's hanging on the door behind me to absorb sound. And it's like a star shaped design, you know, that they have in quilting. So that kind of sort of star shaped design. There's different... there's all different designs, but they're made from these layers of threads that are going across, they're going across many threads, just like a float in stranded colorwork and the floats in stranded colorwork are usually on the back. And these floats are on the front creating the pattern, but it wouldn't be stable. You wouldn't have a stable fabric without those tabby or plain weave threads in between each of them. So and normally, too, the threads that you--that are the pattern are a thicker yarn, and then the threads that make up the the ground, the plain weave that goes in between are thinner thread so you don't really see the plain weave that much you mostly see the pattern threads, but the plain weave is there to stabilize. Okay, so all right. Yeah. It's really an interesting pattern. And I think Sarah is interested in maybe trying it on her rigid heddle loom, which that would be an interesting, an interesting thing to try on rigid heddle. Marsha 48:15 Well, I think that is everything. Do you have any last bits of housekeeping? Kelly 48:20 No, no, I think I better go rescue Robert from watching the dog that I wanted. Marsha 48:29 Yes. Well go take him for a walk. He's on. He's on a training program now. Kelly 48:36 Right. Marsha 48:39 We should all be on a training program. Kelly 48:40 That's what Robert said. They're going to get in shape together. So Marsha 48:44 Okay. Keep us posted and keep posting pictures because I love seeing the pictures. Kelly 48:50 Will do! Yeah, he's super photogenic. Bailey's hard to photograph, but he's really photogenic. And and yeah, I have some really good pictures of him already. Marsha 49:00 And he doesn't move as fast either. [laughing] Kelly 49:02 That is true. That's a good point. [laughing] Kelly 49:09 All right. Marsha 49:11 Okay, we'll talk in two weeks, Kelly 49:12 bye bye. Marsha 49:13 Bye bye. Kelly 49:14 Thank you so much for listening. To subscribe to the podcast visit Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Marsha 49:21 Join us on our adventures on Ravelry and Instagram. I am betterinmotion and Kelly is 1hundredprojects. Kelly 49:29 Until next time, we're the two ewes doing our part for world fleece! Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Apr 18, 2021

Lots of ends to weave and finished objects to discuss this week. Plus we announce the winners of our Winter Weave Along. Show notes with full transcript, photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects Walk Along tee by Ankestrick (Ravelry link) Abington Mitts by Jennifer Lassonde (Ravelry link) Almost done. I started the heel flap on the pair of socks (Ravelry link) for myself using Drops Fabel Print that I bought in San Luis Obispo. Spun three more skeins of merino green and brown three ply. Have a total of five skeins and 716 yards Kelly's Projects Finished! Iced Matcha socks (Ravelry link) from the Coffee Socks Collection by Dots Dabbles Designs. I used Invictus Yarns Seraphic . Finished! Frog and Toad (Ravelry link) from frogandcast.com . Finished! Reading in Bed blanket (Ravelry link) Started the Huck weaving sampler from the Jane Stafford Guild Winter Weave Along The Weave Along is over and we drew winners! Listen to see if you won! Extremities Knit/Crochet Along This KAL/CAL was inspired by the generous donation of these patterns: Abington Mitts , Jennifer Lassonde, Down Cellar Studio Coffee Socks Collection , Dotsdabbles Designs, Deborah It ends on April 25, 2021. Knit anything for your extremities (hands, arms, legs, feet). Full Transcript Marsha Hi, this is Marsha Kelly and this is Kelly. Marsha We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha We blog and post show notes at to Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com Kelly and we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects Marsha And I am betterinmotion. Kelly We both look forward to meeting you there. Both Enjoy the episode. Marsha Good morning, Kelly. Kelly Good Morning, Marsha. Marsha How are you today? Kelly I'm doing all right. The sun is finally coming out. I would say if you want to travel to my neck of the woods don't come in April. April's not-- I don't think April is that good of a weather month for the Monterey Bay Area. It's cold. It's very coastal feeling this morning that cold ocean breeze and overcast and the sun is now finally coming out. So maybe I'll get my hat and my fleece vest off att some point today. Marsha Well, we are having beautiful weather in Seattle. Kelly That's good. Marsha I haven't checked the temperature but warm, you know, Sunny blue sky. Yeah, no rain in the forecast. I think it's gonna be up to 70 Kelly Oh, nice. Marsha I'm sorry. I don't know what that is in Celsius for those who are on Celsius. Kelly 30? Somebody in the Ravelry group posted and they said they have like milestones, like body temperature is 37. Marsha Okay, Kelly I think they said 30 degrees was like a 70 degree day. Now, I may be totally wrong on that. But but that's-- I'm just doing that from memory and then you know, zero is freezing. And below zero is nobody wants to, nobody wants to feel that! Marsha Anyway, Well, anyway, it's beautiful. So I have Mark came up and helped me move the patio furniture app onto the deck. So we've been sitting in the furniture and we got the umbrellas out yesterday Kelly Wow! Marsha and, we've had so and I'm... you probably saw my Instagram post that I painted the south side of the garage. Well, primer and first coat yesterday. I have to do the second coat today Kelly You and Robert so I just have to ask. Did you vacuum it before you primed it? Marsha Well, Ben power washed it for me. [laughing} Kelly Okay. Because I looked out at one point when Robert was... and he's got the vacuum up on the roof of the garage and a paintbrush, like to brush off cobwebs and stuff like that. Oh my gosh, he is meticulous. Marsha He is meticulous but he's doing it the right way. Kelly Yes, yeah. No, I have no complaints. I just laugh when I see. I mean like, Who in the world looks out the window and sees someone vacuuming the garage wall? [laughing] Marsha Well, I have to say I did not vacuum it but I, as I say Ben went out and power washed the south side. And then what started this whole thing, I probably talked about this but what started the whole thing is he was super excited about power washing and he powerwashed the driveway and I said well why don't you power wash my pots, my the planter pots, which he did. And then on the south side of the driveway where I have the tomatoes, the neighbors have a fence so it creates shade like from the pots down. And so it's super mossy, there was like an inch of moss over there. And he was--can hardly wait to get over there and attack the moss. He powerwashed that whole walkway, power washed the pots. I said Well then, if I'm pulling the pots away... Because they're so heavy, I take all the soil out, which is now piled up in front of the garage so I can't get my car in the garage. If we're going to do all this I should paint the garage because the garage has not been painted in, I don't know, 15 or 20 years? I don't know. A long time. I don't remember when it was painted. Kelly Well that's what led Robert to paint was that the he wanted to get the garage painted before the grape came back. You know, he pruned it. So it was all pruned back and you can actually see the garage wall. And, and he knew you know, within a couple of weeks that was all going to start leafing out again and so he's like Okay, I gotta get this garage wall painted. Yeah. So so good to do it while the pots are out of the way. Marsha Yeah, but then I have a tendency, well I was like, just put the paint on there. It's okay. And it's like no, my father was a painter. And I can't, I can't do that. So I, as I say Ben power washed it, I primed it. I put my first coat on. So and I'm gonna go put the second coat on. So that's the right way to do it. Now, all of this, that was just one side of the garage. I have, you know, it's a rectangle. So I have three more slots. [laughing] Kelly Yeah, that's the west side. So that's one of the sides that gets the most Marsha No, it's actually south side. Kelly Yes. The South Side. Yeah. Marsha But I, you know, my parents built that garage. And my father taught me how to put the shingles on it. So it has cedar shingles from probably 1968. And he showed me how to nail shingles onto the side of the garage. So when I was-- okay, let's see. I was probably 10. And I sided, at the age 10, I sided the south side of the garage. Kelly That's cool. Marsha Yeah. Anyway, and he told me how, like you put a double row at the--the first row at the bottom is a double row, double thickness. And then and how to use the now I don't even know what they're called. Is it a snap line? Chalk line? Kelly Oh, yeah. Marsha You know, to to get a, to, so that they're all even. And so I was out there painting them. I thought I did a pretty good job at the age of 10. Kelly That's nice. Yeah. Marsha Child labor. Kelly Exactly. Exactly. Marsha But I remember as a kid thinking, it was really fun. It was, yeah, it was super fun. So he left, he showed me how to, he showed me how to do it and then he left me on my own out there one day, and I just did the whole thing. But I will say, I'm not 10 anymore. [laughing] And painting, so you know, primer, and then the first coat, my right hand holding the brush. I can't hold-- I in fact, I intentionally did not buy as big a brush as my dad would have used. He had like an eight inch brush, they would use like my hand can't hold that you know. So I have a smaller brush. But by the end of the day, my right hand was really sore and my left elbow. I pinched a nerve or something in their, I--or done something. And I think what it is now with my left hand is or my left elbow is from holding the paint pot. You know, just imagine holding something in your hand. All day, Kelly Right Marsha So it's-- I think it's affected my elbow. Yeah, I'm a wreck. Kelly Well, even with all of that you still are able to knit right? Marsha Yes, I'm working on socks right now as we're recording. So I'm still able to knit. Yeah. Kelly All right. Marsha Anyway, enough home improvement. Should we talk knitting? Kelly Yeah. What are you working on? Marsha Well, I'm working on my socks. Just the you know, vanilla socks. In fact, I don't even have it in the show notes. It's the What yarn is this? It's the Fabel yarn that I remember we bought it down-- I reaching over to my bag to grab a label--when we went to San Luis Obispo years ago for the yarn crawl. Kelly Oh, right. Marsha And this is Drops Fabel Print. I've talked about this before, but not for a while. This is the second sock and I'm just starting the heel flap. It's you know, it's an easy project. Kelly Yeah. Marsha So since I'm talking about these should I just talk about my projects? Kelly Sure! Yeah, that's a good idea. Marsha Because I don't have much to report. Marsha I've been periodically picking up the Walk Along Tee by Ankestrick. And I have-- I really have not progressed much since we last talked. In fact, I have to tell you, I listened to the last two episodes while I was painting the garage. And knowing that we were going to record today, thinking Well, there's not much more to report. I think I've knit four more rows since we last talked. So but as I say, there's been so many projects here. Oh, and I should say too. Not much knitting got done last week because Ben had his wisdom teeth taken out. And so,last Wednesday, a week ago, so there was a lot of up and down the stairs changing ice packs making milkshakes and getting him to take pain meds. He alternated between ibuprofen and Tylenol. So yeah, I have not made a huge amount of progress on that and then the Abington Mitts also haven't... Kelly Oh no! You jinxed them when you said you hope they're not like your skull. [laughing] Marsha They are like my skull but as I said, again as I'm out there listening to the podcast the last episode while I was painting, we reiterated the deadline for the extremities, extremities knit crochet, macrame along. And I need to get going. Kelly Yes. April 25th, right? Marsha Yeah. So I need to get going. So I'm so close. I just have to do the thumb. Kelly Right! So yes, Don't jinx yourself. Marsha Yeah. You know what I also, when I listened back to myself, I always, this is what I always say. "I'm going to do that tonight." [laughing] I'm not saying that. That seems to jinx me too. Kelly Okay. Oh my gosh. Marsha But the one thing I have been working on though, is the spinning. So I plied... have made three more skeins, I plied three skeins of yarn. So I now have a total of five, which is a little over 700 yards. And I think I'm going to get at least two more skeins, and maybe a bit more. But I had the idea that I was going to make a sweater out of this the green and brown three ply. But I'm not going to have enough. So I do think I will have more of the brown left. And even if I don't have enough of it. I can order more. Which I should probably do that sooner than later. So I was thinking well maybe I would just add stripes to the sweater. Kelly Yeah. Marsha To to extend it. So I think that will look okay. If I have like that barber pole yarn mixed with a solid but it's that same, the same color. I think it will be okay. Kelly Yeah, I think that would be really pretty. Marsha We did have a conversation though. Just thinking about spinning. We did have a conversation. I called you. Do you remember I called you last week, I think or this week that? Kelly Oh, right. I want to know how that how that went. Marsha Yeah, well, so I'll tell people what happened. So and this probably happens to a lot of people, is that you're single is-- you're plying and one of your singles will break. And then you can't find the end on the bobbin. And that's what happened. And so I called you and I said because you know, you have been spinning a lot longer than I have, you've probably had this experience too. And you said a couple of things to do. One of them is put the bobbin back on the spinning wheel and spin the opposite direction that you plied it. But, and but loose. I mean, you don't have the yarn coming--well, because you're trying to find the end, right. So you just let it spin on there. And it will sometimes just fly out. Kelly Right Marsha That didn't happen. Kelly I don't have too much luck with that. I haven't had too much luck with that technique either about Marsha that didn't happen. But I think what it did is it must have loosened it some way because I finally took it off. And I just took it out in the sunlight. And I actually found the end Kelly Oh, nice. Oh, that's good. Marsha So because I had done that before I took it outside in the light and I could not find it. So I do think that that spinning, did must have jarred it some way that I could find it. But just the other advice you gave me too. And this is not-- this doesn't help find the end. But just when you're spinning, don't let the singles pile up too high as you're spinning across the bobbin and keep moving at across the hook sooner. Because I sometimes you know, as I'm watching TV, or I'm talking, I lose track of what I'm doing. And sometimes they get a little too high and then they can fall down onto the next row is that the right way, how would you describe it? Marsha Kind of like the next layer the way I would... Marsha Layer, right.So I'm going to keep that in mind for next time. Because that has it's happened to me more than once that Kelly And a lot of people use something called a Woolly Winder. And Robert from the very beginning, when I first got my spinning wheel, he was like this needs to have something where it's you know, laying the laying the thread down or the yarn down, going evenly all the way across and then coming back. Like you know, like a fishing reel. And I said, No, you just move the yarn on the hooks. And then I discovered, you know, this was back in 98. And then I discovered that there was this thing called a Wooly Winder that I think that's what it's called, that does do that it it winds your yarn onto a bobbin more like a fishing reel would do so you're not moving the hooks yourself. Marsha Make sense. Kelly Yeah. I like to move the hooks because it helps me remember not to sit in one position. Not to put my hands in one position. Not to, you know, not do things that could give you a repetitive stress injury, the more adjustments that you make to your body, the better. But a lot of people like to have that and just be able to get into that rhythm. And, and it, you know, people think it helps, and it probably does helps them make a more consistent yarn to, because every time you stop and start again, you have the possibility of your yarn not being, not being consistent. But I'm old school enough to think that that moving the yarn from one hook to another is, is good for you. But I also am guilty as you are forgetting and then, Oh, no! And the finer you spin, the worse it is, the more careful you have to be about that happening. Marsha Yeah, and I also think, too, is if you, if you have the the single on the bobbin. And you just went and decided that you were going to wind it into onto another bobbin or something. Not that you would do that. Like so you're just going to take it from the one bobbin and put it onto another bobbin... Kelly People do that. They put it onto like a storage bobbin. Marsha Right, I think then you might not have as much of a problem. But when you put it on the the lazy Kate, it has to have some tension on it. The bobbins that you're plying off of have to have some tension. Otherwise, if they move too fast, then it all starts twisting back onto itself. Kelly Right, right. Marsha And so I think that tension also then forces the single down into the layers. Kelly Yes. Marsha And I don't know how to get around that other than, as you said, spin... change more frequently. Kelly Yeah. And the other thing that I have done with my lazy Kate, when I wanted to make a super, you know, try to be super consistent in my plying, I was taking a class and I was trying to follow you know, the instructions of the class. And so, on our wheel, the lazy Kate on the little Herbie, is connected to the wheel. And I mostly ply from the Kate on the wheel. But if I have a yarn that I think is going to be really temperamental, what I learned in the class I took a while back, is that if you have the Kate away from you, it gives you the chance, it gives the yarn a chance for the twist to even out in the singles. And so if I have something that I think is not going to behave nicely, I'll take my Kate off. And, you know, put it behind me, like four or five feet. Kind of prop it up behind me four or five feet. And that does, that does help. Because it doesn't get so tight. You know, you know that that that tightness when you're when you're trying to pull it up, up from the bobbin instead of out from the bobbin. Marsha Yes and I--and so we have the same wheel and I find that I tried plying with the lazy Kate attach to the wheel the way it's designed. It was a nightmare, because I, it kept...Yeah, I was not able to do it. So you had shown me that trick. And so now I always like I sit in my chair in the study, you know watching TV,which is probably part of my problem [laughing] with my applying and then I put the lazy Kate behind me and I block it with the table leg to try and hold it up. So, because you want it to stay upright and not have the bobbins hit anything. So that stops them. The other thing is Kelly, you remember when I got the Ashford wheel? Kelly Yeah, Marsha It came with a lazy Kate. Kelly Oh okay. I don't remember that. Marsha And so I tried that too. And it's, it's basically it's like two posts that stick up. Wood posts that stick up and then the bobbins go in there. Ours are put in perpendicular to the ground, right? These bobbins are parallel. But there is nothing to slow them down. So they just--and I tried I thought, well maybe it'll be easier. No. It did not work at all. It's-- I think that's just going to be for storing bobbins because they look pretty. Kelly So my my Wyatt wheel has a Kate like that built into the wheel and it does not have a tension--any tensioner on those bobbins. And so what I've done is I've taken the springs, the springs that do the tensioning for the Herbie and I just put them on there so you might try it. It might not fit the same springs or those springs might not be long enough. It depends on how long the, what are they called, the sticks that go through the bobbin are. But if you can find springs to go on the end of them to provide a little bit of tension. Marsha Yeah, I could just go to the hardware store probably and get something. Kelly That might be a better Kate because you're not pulling up from the bobbin you are actually pulling out from the bobbin. And it's a little bit, it's a little bit easier to keep your attention even in that case. But you have to, you really need to have some tension on the bobbins in the Kate. Marsha Right. I think I'm going to, I'm going to bring that lazy Kate from the Ashford to the hardware store, because what I've discovered? Men love anything to do with spinning wheels. They'll be like, oh! Yeah, they're gonna love it. It's engineering, right? Kelly Yeah. Get some assistance with those springs for sure. Marsha So that's it for me with projects. Kelly Okay. Well, I'm glad you didn't have to waste yarn, you know that you didn't have to cut through your yarn. Because just to finish that conversation, the last resort to try to find your end is really just to cut the yarn and start spinning, or start unraveling. I've just cut the yarn and then started plying, from that, you know from that section just to wait to see what happens. And sometimes it makes a tangle. And then you have to cut even more off. And sometimes you found the end and sometimes. And sometimes you end up, you know, your cut end you ply back to the one that was hidden. And then you can find where you need to start up again. So but that's not much fun, because you often will end up having to unwind a lot of yarn. Marsha Yeah. Before and put it in a compost pile. And that's and I was really hoping and I'm glad it didn't happen because I want to use every bit of yarn... Kelly your already short Marsha ... that I can Kelly Yeah, yeah. Marsha In fact, I even like I've had some sections that have, you know, when you're plying, and you get the twist in one of the singles, but you can't get it out, it ends up just plying into the three. And that's not nice. I cut some of those out but I saved them. Just in case I need it for some something and then also when you skein the yarn on the niddy noddy, and then you have to tie it in four places. Well you don't have to, but I do tie it in four places. I have some waste yarn of some other commercial waste yarn that I tying the little... because each one say it's four inches, right? How many stitches how many knit stitches is four inches? You know, like maybe I could get the maybe that four inches what I'm gonna need, you know, Kelly Your yarn chicken stitches. Marsha Yeah, so I have my little stash set away. Kelly Yeah. Marsha And also, you know, on the niddy noddy, too, it doesn't always-- as you're winding, it doesn't always make-- two ends don't always meet so sometimes you have to unravel a bit and so that'll be 18 inches, 20 inches or something. And so I've been saving all of those. Kelly Sometimes what I do there is I'll take waste yarn and tie it. It depends on how precious the yarn is. Most of the time, I don't do this, but if I'm trying to keep as much yarn as possible, I'll tie waste yarn to the end of my handspun and then use that waste yarn to finish the, to finish the loop around and then tie it to the starting end. Marsha Oh, that's a really good idea too. Kelly That saves you. It saves you, you know, a yard or less than a yard. Saves you Marsha yeah Kelly Saves you from having to throw that little piece away. So so you maybe haven't had a lot happening with your knitting, Marcsha, but I had a Finish-a-Palooza! I'm sure you can see it in the in the show notes finished, finished finished! Marsha Mm hmm. Kelly So the biggest finish of all was Frog and Toad. Frog and Toad are finished and delivered. Marsha Well, and I want to ask you about that too. Yeah. So Kelly they turned out so cool. I was so happy with how they turned out. And I I definitely have somewhat of a desire to knit them again. We'll see if that actually comes to comes to pass but Marsha so and will... and were they a big hit? Kelly They were a big hit. Yeah, so I had my I've had my second vaccination. And that was right before Easter. And then so I was gonna deliver them on Easter but I didn't feel well. So I just stayed home that day and laid low. And you know, the reaction wasn't fun, but it only lasted a day and I think if I had been--if I had been a little more, a little less stubborn, the nurse at the vaccination site, she said, you know, if you're not feeling well after the vaccine, you know, go ahead and take a Tylenol or, you know, go ahead and take Tylenol or Advil, you know, that's fine. And, and I know when they did the trials, they didn't tell people, you know, don't take anything after you have the vaccine. And so I'm sure people did who didn't feel well. And, you know, the vaccines are 95% or 90%, something like that, effective. You know, in the trials with people possibly taking something afterwards, but I had gotten it into my head that you, you know, you want your immune response to kick in, and I don't I, in talking with one of my colleagues, she said, You know, that's not really logic. That's not really that logical, even though it seems logical. It's not, it's not really the way the body works. But I had kind of thought, Well, you know, when you're sick, you kind of want that response to happen. Marsha Mm hmm. Kelly And, and so you know, as much of your immune, letting your immune system deal with the problem as you can is good. And so, you know, maybe not take something right away. So I didn't, and I think I would have felt much better if, as soon as I started feeling a little sick, I had taken something and for some reason, I thought, No, I should probably let my body just do this. Anyway, I don't think that's, that's not really good biological logic, according to my biology teacher friend at school, and the nurse at the at the vaccine clinic. So if anybody has their next vaccine coming, listen to what they say. Marsha Yeah. Kelly And they tell you if you don't feel well, to take something, I would say take something. But anyway, enough of that. I didn't get to deliver them on Easter. But on Tuesday after Easter, we were, my mom who has been vaccinated fully and met her 14 days. She had like her freedom... what my aunt Pat calls her freedom day when her vaccine was, you know, fully the 14 days afterwards after her second vaccine. And Aunt Betty had passed her Freedom Day and Dennis had passed his freedom day. And Kye, who who runs the Post No Bills brewery, my nephew, he'd had his freedom day. Anyway, so we all met at Post No Bills. Even though I really hadn't had my freedom day. We all met at Post No Bills, and Sarah brought the kids. Of course Post No Bills is a is a, you know, brew house. So we sat outside, they couldn't even come up on the patio. So they were down. They were down, out, you know, out from us a little ways. But I went out there with them and gave them their presents. And, and Faye was really happy with her Frog and Toad. She had never read the books before. So she was excited about that. And and then, of course, there was a little bit of throwing of Frog and Toad between her and her brother. Which I knew was gonna happen, I mean, their stuffed things. So it doesn't really matter. But it was kind of funny. That's the first thing they do is start throwing them back and forth. And then, you know, taking off the clothes, putting on the clothes, she was having a good time with them. So So yeah, very big hit. This Frog and Toad project was a very big hit. So she's now taking them to the grocery store to teach them how to grocery shop, according to Sarah. Because they've never been to the grocery store before. Marsha Mm hmm. Kelly So anyway, she's having fun with them Marsha very cute Kelly Yeah, yeah. And I had a great time making them so. Lovely pattern Really well, really well done. Yeah. So. Marsha So I'm looking at your picture on Ravelry. They're very cute. And their mouths, their mouths and their eyes it's very... well and their little toes and it just.. Kelly Yeah, there's every little detail about them is fun. And every time I do a little detail, it was just, it made them even better. So it's a really-- I think they're really fun. It's a really fun knit. And there are just so many things. I just kept telling Aunt Betty, Oh my gosh, I'm so delighted by this. She's like, I don't think I've ever seen you so delighted by your knitting before. But the little knees and fat little calves and anyway... Very cute project and well received. So I finished that. I finished the Iced Matcha socks last night. So they're done and I did have to redo the toe on one of them. Thinking of sock toes and Robert, it kind of made me laugh. I decided I was going to just follow the pattern and not just do the toe I always do. And it's slightly different. I mean, it wasn't wildly different. So I don't think it was the pattern. I think it was more that I jumped the gun on how... Well I think there's two things. I think I jumped the gun on how soon to do that first toe, which often happens to me. It's like, Oh, yeah, they're far enough. I'm ready to do the toe. And really, they couldn't use another quarter inch of length. And then I want to say, I can't remember exactly in the pattern, but the number of stitches that people typically decrease to before they Kitchener I've actually found that I like to have more than that. So like I'll use at a minimum 16 stitches on my needles when I Kitchener. So and I think like when I was first making socks, I want to say they were having me go down to like 10 or something. Marsha Yeah, Iusually leave 10. So what is, why, what was your thinking? Why? Kelly [laughing] It just, it cramps my toes. Marsha Oh, okay, Kelly They just seem a little smaller. I just like the I just, I just like to have a more blunt end to the toe. Here we back... Marsha You don't like looking at the pointy toes in your drawer. The dresser drawer. Kelly Yeah. Except it's, you know, my eye. For some reason, it just feels more comfortable on my foot to have a little bit wider. Like they're not, I don't think of myself as having particularly wide feet. Especially when I was younger, but I do have now on one foot a pretty good size bunion. And so maybe that's why, you know, maybe that my foot is just wider at that. At that. Kelly Yeah, Kelly Now and so. So anyway, I took that one sock out and added to the toe. And now I'm and now I'm done. So the pattern's very cool. We talked last time about how I was gonna-- thinking about making a pair of them inside out. Marsha Right. Kelly But the thing I didn't think about is when you stretch them over your feet. That ribbing doesn't look the same... that wobbly ribbing isn't wobbly anymore. Okay, so if you stretch them over your over your leg, it would just look like a one stitch stockinette ribbing. So I don't know I would use... I would use that reverse pattern on something that didn't have to stretch. Because then you could actually see how that ribbing wobbles in and out. But the right side of my socks, I really liked that. I really liked the pattern. I think it would be a good one for a highly variegated yarn. Mine is a little bit variegated. It's a little more variegated than tonal. But it's not--it's not a really wild variegation. But I think in a you know, pretty wildly variegated yarn, this would make a good pattern for that too, because it would break up that, you know, it might break up the... not that pooling is bad, but it just kind of gives another texture to the way the yarn is is changing. So those are done in time for the Extremities Knit Along. Kelly And then I finished the reading in bed blanket. Marsha Oh, nice. Marsha Correct. Yes. Kelly Yeah. And Robert will say it's not entirely finished. Because, I'll tell you why. Because I washed it. And this is a little bit of a cautionary tale for people who want to weave with different yarns. Like when I do the blanket with the Gotland yarn that you bought, I really won't have to worry about this so much. Even if I'm doing wide stripes. It's all the same yarn. Kelly It's dyed different colors, but it's all the same yarn. But as you know, different yarn felts in different ways, right. And I always like to full a blanket so it doesn't feel like and look like burlap. I like the all the yarns to kind of snuggle together and I maybe like it a little more felty then fulled. I don't know. I just I like that look of you know, nice well fulled blanket. And what that means is that some of them had the tendency to shrink in more than others. So the one of the yarns in there was the Tasmanian Comeback and that shrunk up more than the other yarns did. And so I have a stripe--well, I have different stripes, but like I have a five inch stripe and a two inch stripe of the Tasmanian Comeback. A couple different stripes. And those stripes shrunk in so on the edges you could see it pull in. So I laid it out on a table and I stretched, pulled those out. So they were even, you know, I did a pretty significant like block, you know, stretching that part out. I tried to get all the edges as even as I could. And I did a pretty-- I thought I did a pretty good job. But I didn't want to leave it on the table to dry. It was a nice breezy day. And I thought I'm going to hang it up. So I took it out and I hung it up in the tree and then it blew. And so anyway, it ended up with like hanger marks. So Marsha Oh Kelly Even though I had made the edges straight, once I hung it up, now my edges... One edge is kind of wobbly. So it's not permanent, I have to just wet it and do that blocking process again, let it dry flat, so it'll be straight, and it won't have little bumps where the clothespins were. Marsha Right? Kelly But so that's what Robert was saying is, well, it's not done because did you rewet it and straighten it out? No.[laughing] But I'm really happy with it, it's got a nice drape to it, I used a twill threading, a point twill threading, so that it's like denim. Right, twill is like denim. So the the diagonal goes up and then turns around and comes back down for a point twill. So it's got some diagonal interest in it. And then I have the, you know, the horizontal stripes of the different colors. And if I wanted to avoid that, that differential shrinkage, what I think would have been a good strategy would be to, first of all have more shuttles than I have. So that I could stripe the yarns in a small, smaller section. So like to, you know, throw two weft picks of one color, throw two weft pics of another color, throw one or two weft pics of a third color. You know, just alternating like I did in the warp. The warp doesn't have any one thread more than a few times in a row. Marsha Yeah. Kelly And if I had done that with the weft, I wouldn't have had any worry. But because I had a limited number of shuttles. I thought I'll just use this one, I'll just use this one shuttle. And you know, fill it with one color, use it up, fill it with another color use it up. And so that's what I did. So in stripes, but super happy with it. I twisted the fringe. That took a while. But I you know I did like, you know, a certain number of strands twisted one way, another group of threads twisted the same way, and then ply them back on each other and knot it. So I have, I don't usually do things with fringe. But I have a fringe on this blanket. So yeah, I'm super happy with it. I have not yet used it to read in bed. But maybe tonight. Marsha And you don't have a finished picture of it. Kelly I know. I don't! I have to take a picture of it. Marsha That's funny. I guess he's using that as you know, all the last little bits that you have to do before the project is actually finished. That's funny. Marsha And then I also, I thought when you were talking about Robert about like saying that it's not really completed. I thought he said something the other day and I thought what was it about weaving in ends and I looked and it's on Instagram. He said the front the garage is complete and complete is in quotes. And then in parentheses, he says "I do have a few ends to weave in." Marsha Yeah, yeah. Anyway, Kelly That's a good, it's a good expression. Marsha Yeah, no, it is. Kelly At least we all know what he means when he says that. His family's probably What! Marsha Yeah. Anyway, so yeah, he's picked up he's picked up our jargon. Kelly Yeah, just a few ends to weave in Marsha And, and then anything else? Have you started anything? Kelly I haven't started any... Well, I haven't started any new knitting projects. I still have the crochet blanket and I've been off and on working on that. You know, nothing really new to say there for a while. I'll just be working on squares and octagons. But I did start, once I got the blanket done, I thought okay, I'm gonna put the next Jane Stafford project on my table loom. So I had already wound the warp for it. And so I put it on, and I did a little weaving. I did a little weaving of the sampler. In fact, I'm knotting, I'm knotting ends right now. It's a seven yard warp. So I cut off I think about it's a little more than a yard that I've woven so far. It's a purple silk. It's the same purple the coned purple yarn that I used for that sweater that Cherry Vanilla. Marsha Yeah Kelly that I made, I held a strand of this, along with a strand of gray linen. I think those were the two yarns I used for that sweater. And I love that sweater. And I've had this yarn, my God, for a long time. I think I bought it in the early 2000s. And I thought, Oh, I'll just, I think I'll use this. The the sample that that Jane is weaving is a purple bamboo. And it just reminded me that I had this yarn, so I went got it. And that was the yarn I wound for the warp. And I also used it for the weft. And it's the the weave structure that I am practicing is called Huck. And it's a lace weave structure. And I don't have a picture of it either. I'll take a picture for you to see while we're talking here. Marsha Oh, yes, Kelly Huck lace is related to Canvas, we, which is the last week the last episode. So it was kind of similar. It has kind of a similar look, there are some differences. But this was you know, just a little experimental piece that I've done. And so now I'm knitting the fringe on this. I'm not actually sure I'm going to leave it with fringe or if I'm going to hem it. It's just a sampler. It's long enough that it could be a scarf, but I don't typically wear-- I don't typically wear scarves. I mean, I may give it away to somebody at some point, but I think I just might keep this as a sampler and hang it on the wall in the studio. Marsha Yeah, yeah. It's nice. Kelly So I have a lot of... maybe, six more yards, I think. Yeah, I think was a seven yard warp so I, I have five to six more yards to play around with. I don't have enough of this yarn to continue using it for very much longer as weft. So I'm going to have to get creative with what I use as my weft yarn, which could be kind of fun. So but yeah, I'm keeping up with the Jain Stafford Guild, which is, this is a first. I've never... This is the first year I've ever woven along and not just watched the videos for you know, while I was knitting or you know, before bed or whatever. So yeah, I'm actually doing what the what the video is talking about. So that's been fun. But that's it. So I have a kind of alarming status have nothing on my knitting needles. I do have ends to weave in and pictures to take for a couple of projects. my sweater, for example, that striped sweater, the striped pullover. I still have ends to weave in there. But yeah, nothing is actively on the needles. That's a little odd. Marsha Yeah. Kelly So well, stay tuned. There'll be something next time. Marsha Yeah. Well, since we've covered projects, we should talk about the Winter Weave Along since we've been talking about weaving. Kelly Yeah, Marsha It actually ended. And should we say anything about it? Before we talk about our prize winners. Kelly Well, just that it was really fun. And we had, I think over 600 posts in the chat. Of course it was going on since, you know, November. But lots of really good discussion in the chat. And some people that... I always like it when like an episode will strike a chord with somebody and somebody who's never posted before will post in the episode thread and say, Oh, I was just listeni ng. And you said such-and-so. It's always fun to hear from people. I mean, of course, it's fun to hear from people that I feel like I know online already. But it's it's fun to see new faces show up. And this year, in the Winter Weave Along, there were a lot of new faces who showed up. And that was fun. It was nice to get to know some people that you know, have not participated in the Ravelry group until now. So that's been fun. Marsha So should we just start with our prize winners then? Kelly Yeah, let's do that. Marsha Okay, so I'm going to go first. Before we go on, we should just say, too, that we pick names with the random number generator. Kelly And mostly from the finished object thread, although I did, I did also select one from the chat thread. Marsha Yeah. So this is gonna--The first three are from the finished objects. And our first winner is number two, which was JoanneCarol. Joanne from Santa Cruz. And I want to make a comment about this too, that she made woven potholders with a potholder loom. And I had one of those as a child and I had a huge bag of the... they kind of remind me like, hairbands kind of there, that you stick on that loom and then I think you crochet around the edge to finish them. And I remember I had one of those and I made so many of them that I started walking around the neighborhood knocking on doors, trying to sell them. You would never let your child do that now. But anyway, that's what I did. Kelly Did you actually sell any? Marsha Yeah, I did but I can't believe that, you know, in this day and age, you would never let your child just go and walk around the neighborhood and knock on random, I mean, neighbors we didn't know. Kelly You know, we did that all the time selling Girl Scout... you know. Well I wasn't in Girl Scouts, I was in Bluebirds, Campfire. Selling campfire Mints. Oh my gosh. And then the number of candy bars that we sold for school things. Yeah, we did that all the time. Marsha Yeah. So I was in Campfire, and we sold Campfire Mints, and we actually literally just went knocked on people's doors. And now nobody does that at all. They're all you know...Anyway, but that's another rabbit hole conversation that we won't go down. But anyway, so congratulations, Joanne. Yeah. And Kelly, do you want to announce the second winner? Kelly Yeah. So the second one is a weaving book. And I haven't, I haven't purchased it. I'll go ahead and and purchase it and have it sent directly. And since we had quite a few Weaver's using rigid heddle looms, it's a choice one of two books, either the Marguerite Porter Davison red paperback book, which is the paperback version, newer version, of the one that I always use to find interesting weave structures. So that's for a four harness loom. And then or there's a Liz Gipson rigid heddle book that has 17 projects in it. And so depending on which kind of Weaver you are, and which book you would like, I will send you one of those two books. So the winner of that number 40. Teaandknittingtoo is Colleen in Ohio. And she made napkins as her first double heddle project. And I think she has rigid heddle loom and bought a second heddle is what she did. Because I did see she was weaving on a Cricket in one of her project pages. And then she also made a scarf later on in the weave along and has posted that as well. So congratulations, Colleen and just let me know what which book you would like and your address and I'll get that sent along. Marsha And I have to just interject I made a mistake on the first prize winner. Joanne I didn't say what she won. Kelly Oh, how do they do that on the on the game shows? Well tell Joanne what she won! Marsha Yes, Joanne, I do apologize. I'm sorry. I actually am reading notes believe it or not. [laughing]. So a pair of Christmas dish towels that Kelly that you wove. Joanne, also I know you'll contact us and send us an email or through Ravelry and we will get your address and get those to you. So okay. And then I will... the third one is a class that was generously donated by Erica at Weavolution. And she has a great website for weaver's with projects and discussions and classes and lots of resources. And the winner of that is number 51 Heddicraft and she is also in Santa Cruz. We have a little bit of a Santa Cruz... Kelly We had a large Santa Cruz contingent in the weave along this year, I have to say. Marsha But Heddi made, she made, she entered a lot. She had quite a few projects but the number 51 was some spring tea towels that she made. Kelly So she was a weaving machine! And I think she's new to having a floor loom if I'm remembering correctly, she's a relatively new weaver and and maybe it was weaving with a rigid heddle at first or or maybe last summer and then started and then got... I'm, I'm mistaken. I think she has a table loom that she bought a stand and treadles for because I was asking her about her stand and how she liked it. Because I have also a table loom and I was trying to decide do I want to buy a stand or do I want to put it on just a card table or do I like having it on the six foot table that I just cart in from the garage when I need it. But yeah, I think I do think she's a relatively new weaver as well. So all right. And then the next prize is a gift certificate, a $70 gift certificate for the Jane Stafford guild or for the Jane Stafford website. You can use it toward whatever you like. You can use it toward a guild subscription. You could use it for yarn or kits. She has equipment on her site has quite a few different things on her website. And so I'll give certificate for her site is going to CindyQ, our friend in Washington, yes. Now CindyQ, she made a queen size blanket. She had had a large collection of handspun. Sounds familiar. And over the years, you know, had just been spinning and you know, certain handspun she didn't have a purpose for and so she just been collecting it. And she put them all together and made a beautiful blanket. Sort of, I want to say purples, blues, grays all from her stash. And yeah, that was a fun project to see. And she finished it fairly early in the Weave Along. If I'm remembering correctly, she talked about it, you know, from the, from the stage of getting out all the yarn and identifying what she had, and then planning the project and everything. But but once she got going, she really got that done quickly. And yeah, it's beautiful. Yeah, it's really nice, huge. Marsha It's huge. Yes. Kelly Queen size bed blanket. So, very inspirational there. So Cindy, let me know, I, I actually I think I have your your email address, but just confirm for me your email address so I can get that gift certificate. It's like an E, you know, an E card, gift certificate that will be emailed to you. So all right, congratulations. Marsha We also have a drawing for the chat thread, we're going to pick out-- we've picked one person from the chat thread. And they're going to also win a pair of Kelly's Christmas dish towels. And the number we drew is number 538. And that's Cian also known as Suzanne in Florida. And she posted a canvas weave sampler. So congratulations to everybody who participated. A couple things I just wanted to note about I went through, you know, I've been following everybody and noting what they were saying about their projects. And it seems like a lot of people were new, that was like the first time waiting on their new loom. In fact, it sounds like Suzanne, that she just got a floor loom and that's what she was weaving on, her new loom. And there was also making things I hadn't thought about making out of handspun-- or I'm not-- sorry, out of hand--excuse me. Hand woven material. Sorry. Um, the one thing is a lot of people made dish towels, right. And I was struck by Kelly11 that she made potholders where she doubled up the fabric and then put an edging around it. And really cute potholders and they are... Kelly, you told me this, it's called overshot is the technique. Kelly Oh, yeah, Marsha Really beautiful! And the other thing she did too, was she made tote bags, a tote bag out of the dish towels. Which I thought was a really clever idea. Kelly Really clever. I have a dish towel addiction. And that means that my dish towels take up two drawers in the kitchen, plus a part of a shelf in the upstairs linen closet. And so yeah, that's a really good idea for a dish towel warp, if I feel like making dish towels, but I don't I don't find another drawer to put them in. Yeah, that's a good idea. Marsha And then the other person that was was interesting, too, was MissIssabel. And she made shawls using an elongated hexagon pin loom. Kelly Mm hmm. Marsha And those were really interesting too. And a pin loom is something that is not a huge investment. You can just make one. I actually watched a YouTube video about how you can make your own pin loom, so that was interesting. And then oh, and then Seine1. She talked about was the first time seaming a weaving project. I never really thought about that as I am assuming, Kelly, you know more about this. It's where you're taking two pieces, I guess. And you're seaming them together to make a larger... Kelly right. Marsha Then to make like a blanket or an afghan Kelly Something wider. Yeah, like Stella last year made a baby blanket seaming the two strips. Well Heddi made panels that-- she didn't seam them, but she hung them as a as a closet door. Marsha Yes, Kelly That was interesting. But yeah, even when you have a narrow width loom, you can still get a wider width piece of fabric by seaming them, by seaming them together. Marsha It was, it was very interesting what everybody was doing. I enjoyed seeing all the finished projects. Kelly Yeah, I did too. I have to say this year... I've never I've never really been a big fan of overshot. I always think... Well, I have some scraps, some overshot quilt scraps or you know, coverlet scraps that I bought at the quilt show. Gosh, a number of years ago, the Pacific international quilt show. They had a booth that was selling all kinds of things, but one of the things that they were selling, they had this big bin of, of cut up pieces of old coverlets, hand woven coverlets and that those are traditionally done with overshot and I like, I like it for that look, right. For the sort of bedspread, old fashioned colonial style coverlet look. But I had never really thought Oh, I would love to weave something in overshot. But the projects! There were several overshot projects this year. I think there was a class going on that people were taking And out of those several projects it's like okay, this is kind of inspirational. This is not, this is not your grandmother's overshot.[laughing] So I I'm like, Okay, I'm looking forward. I don't know when we'll do overshot in the Guild, but I may just put something on the lumen and work on overshot. The only overshot that I've ever woven was some potholders, some Christmas potholders. So real small project that, you know, just took me a couple of weeks at the weaving class. I wasn't really studying it or anything, I think the loom was actually maybe already even warped. You know, I was just weaving off an old warp from someone else. So it wasn't like I really learned anything. I mostly just followed the directions. But I was really impressed with the kind of versatility of overshot that I didn't really think of. So, yeah, it was fun. Marsha Another year. We'll start Kelly And now we're ready to start our, uh... not quite yet. But pretty soon we'll be starting our summer spinning. Marsha Yes. We'll talk more about that later on. But we're planning on doing that again this year. Kelly Thank you to everyone who participated, it was a lot of fun. I learned a lot. I think a lot of people learned a lot. It was really informational and educational, and fun to get on the thread every morning and read what people were doing and making. So thanks to everyone! Marsha And so just a reminder, we talked... we touched on this briefly earlier, but our Extremities Knit Crochet Along or any other type of crafts you want to do for your extremities. And that is underway and that ends April 25. And the prizes are the pattern for the Abington Mitts by Jennifer Lassonde and the Coffee Socks Collection by Dotsdabbles Designs. Marsha So get your finished objects in I and I'm saying that to myself. [laughing] Kelly Let's see what's today? Today's the 14th so you have 11 days Marsha. Marsha Yeah, Kelly And how many rows? Marsha Five Kelly And how many stitches? Marsha 12. Kelly So 60 stitches in 11 days. You all you have to do is six stitches a day. Marsha Well, maybe tonight.[laughing] Kelly All right. You officially jinxed yourself. [laughing] Marsha I know! It's not it's not happening tonight. No, you know what I need to say is I am not doing that tonight. Right? Kelly That's right! I have too much going on. I'm not doing that tonight. Marsha I am not doing that tonight. So we'll see what happens now that I've put that out there. We'll see what happens tonight. Kelly Oh my gosh! Marsha Anyway, Do we have anything else? I don't think we do. Kelly No, I don't think so either. Marsha Well, I will get off the phone and I will go put that final coat of paint on my garage right? Kelly Yeah, I have papers to grade Whoo hoo. Marsha Put on your...put on some latex gloves. Kelly Well, actually, yeah, no, they're not really papers. But yes, I have Marsha Oh, they're not real actual paper. Kelly I have virtual papers. I have grading. okay. That's what I should say. Yeah, integration practice to grade. So. All right. Marsha All right. Kelly It's been fun. Marsha We'll talk in two weeks! Kelly All right. Kelly Thank you so much for listening. To subscribe to the podcast visit Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com/ Marsha Join us on our adventures on Ravelry and Instagram. I am betterinmotion and Kelly is 1hundredprojects. Kelly Until next time, we're the Two Ewes Both doing our part for World Fleece!

Apr 4, 2021

Tree removal competes with Spring Break weaving and the stuffing of Frog and Toad for the content this week. You never know what you'll hear about on the Two Ewes show! Show notes with full transcript, photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects Walk Along tee by Ankestrick (Ravelry link) Abington Mitts by Jennifer Lassonde (Ravelry link) Almost done. Just the thumb to finish. In the evenings I've been spinning the green and brown merino. Kelly's Projects Iced Matcha socks (Ravelry link) from the Coffee Socks Collection by Dots Dabbles Designs. I'm using Invictus Yarns Seraphic . It is a merino/cashmere/silk yarn in a gray blue purple tonal color. I want to knit more with this yarn base! I started stuffing Frog from Frog and Toad (Ravelry link) from frogandcast.com . I'm using the crushed walnut and it is staying inside and not coming through the fabric. Frog is currently sitting in a tumbler with a funnel in his head! I realized I should put the needles into the provisional cast on before I start filling them so I will be ready to kitchener the top. I anticipate it will be somewhat messy. Canvas weave sampler (Ravelry link) from JST Online Guild. Throughout spring break I spent time weaving and watching the Canvas Weave videos of Season 5. I used the warp that I wound at Christmas and adapted the sampler threading to fit the number of threads I had. I wove a dresser scarf for the linen cupboard, 5 dishtowels, and a small hand towel. I had Cesar Chavez day off and I got the Reading in Bed blanket (Ravelry link) threaded onto the loom and ready to start weaving. This is all using my handspun yarn. With 6 epi compared to 22 epi and a 3 yard warp instead of a 7 yard warp it went really fast! Like the difference between a fingering weight sweater and an Aran weight sweater. News/Other Extremities Knit/Crochet Along This KAL/CAL was inspired by the generous donation of these patterns: Abington Mitts , Jennifer Lassonde, Down Cellar Studio Coffee Socks Collection , Dotsdabbles Designs, Deborah It ends on April 25, 2021. Knit anything for your extremities (hands, arms, legs, feet). Transcript Marsha 00:03 Hi, this is Marsha Kelly 00:04 and this is Kelly. Marsha 00:05 We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 00:09 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 00:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Kelly 00:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hudredprojects Marsha 00:29 and I am betterinmotion. We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Both 00:35 Enjoy the episode. Marsha 00:43 Hi, Kelly. Kelly 00:44 Hey, Marsha. How's it going? Marsha 00:45 Pretty good. Kelly 00:47 Good. Marsha 00:48 lots going on here. Kelly 00:49 Yeah, nothing noisy, though. We waited till late enough that all the noise is gone. Marsha 00:54 Yes. We were actually.. were scheduled to record yesterday but moved it to today because yesterday, I had the Alaskan yellow cedar Kelly 01:06 bonsai! Marsha 01:07 Yeah, the former so I just the former bonsai. So I think I talked about this. But in case I didn't a really quick story about this is when my parents bought this house in 1962, there was a Japanese garden between the two houses that actually belonged to the neighbors. And in that Japanese garden was a bonsaied Alaskan yellow cedar. That was maybe four feet tall. And years have passed. Kelly 01:38 Yes, I can say because I was born in 1962. So yeah, 59 years have passed Marsha 01:44 yes have passed. Anyway, it was about 40 feet tall, and had grown. There were originally five trunks. And two are removed. I was able to remove two of them a few years ago, because the reason I wanted to get rid of this tree is it had damaged the sewer line. And we had to put in a new sewer line, irrigation line, the new deck, and a new roof. So it does so much damage that it was-- it had to go. And here's the real reason. Last summer sitting on the new deck, I got hit twice by bird poop! Because the crows would hang out in the tree. That's the real reason. [laughing] Kelly 02:28 Well, the palm tree next door, the date palm or? Yeah, I think it was like a date palm next door, was taken down yesterday, also. So we would have had tree work at one of our houses regardless. And Robert saw the owner of the house this morning. And he's like, what happened to the tree? And he said, Oh, it was old it had to go. Which there was nothing wrong with that palm tree. I'm not a particularly big fan of palm trees. But it was it was a nice--I mean, it was a pretty nice specimen. If you like palm trees. In your case, you really actually did have a good reason to get rid of the tree. Not just yeah, Marsha 03:11 It had done so much damage. Yeah. And it is just, I mean, I'll put on it... I have not posted any pictures yet on Instagram. I'll post pictures and when people see... Yeah, you know what it was like, but it was kind of a an emotional day, just because I don't like cutting down trees. I mean, this was a, it was a spectacular tree. It had been beautiful at one time, but it's just so big and in completely the wrong place and cutting off light. So my bedroom is much lighter, the kitchen is much, much lighter. But mostly it was just the damage. And then, you know, Kelly 03:49 Well and the fact that it was right next to the neighbor's garage, and pulling up things that it shouldn't Marsha 03:55 Yeah, it's about a half inch from the neighbor's garage, you know. So anyway, it's been a long process, I won't go into the whole thing. But have you have to get a permit in the city of Seattle to have a tree taken down, especially a tree this size. And it was it was a long, a long journey. But they finally got the permit. And they came yesterday and cut the tree down. I got the estimate and signed the contract in August, last August. And I can-- got the -- I think was on Thursday or Friday of last week. I got the email from the company that was going to cut the tree down that they had received the permit and they had scheduled me gave me the date that the tree was scheduled to come down. I said that's great. And so then I call them on Monday to confirm because it's in the contract and I confirm, I confirm once again that they are bringing protection for my new deck. Because this tree is sandwiched between my deck, it's, it's about four inches from my deck, the base of the tree. And so I had confirmed that they were going to bring protection and put something down on the deck. And they arrived at nine o'clock in the morning with nothing, no plywood to put on the deck. And the guy who was-- I found out later was the manager of the crew was a little snippy with me, a little rude. And I was like... and I kind of have that feeling of like, What do I do? And I decided, you know, WWRD, what would Robert do? And Robert would go out there and tell him to stop until they got the plywood. So I went out there and I told them to stop. And they said, okay, and they stopped for a few minutes. And then I went back in the house, and I saw they were dropping branches again. So I went back out and I said they have to, I said, I told you to stop, you need to stop. I've called the company. And they are sending plywood and you need to-- I'm telling you--you need to wait until the plywood arrives. So they stood there on my deck. And I went and made a cup of coffee and I sat in my breakfast nook, which is right overlooking and I just sat in the window so they could see me and then they just stopped. They dropped--put all their tools down at that point and went and sat in their trucks. Kelly 06:40 Cursing out Old Lady Failor Marsha 06:42 Yes. But I, you know, like in the end, I want to say something sort of sexist. I... it... there's moments like this when I wish I had a man. But you know that because I sometimes feel being female. And now, you know, when...when I was... Well, I think it's always been this way, just being female, that I think that I'm discounted in some way and especially when I was younger. And then when you get older, you're discounted in another way. Right? And I...and it's...and so I just thought, you know, Robert would go out there and tell them no, you're stopping! Because they all said to me, Well, we have insurance to cover any damage to the deck. But my point is, I don't want to have any damage done. I don't want to go down that path of having to deal with it. I don't even want to deal with having a damaged deck. Kelly 07:36 Why? Why would you want.. Yes. Why would you not take precautions rather than just say, Oh, I have insurance in case something happened? Marsha 07:42 Yes! Kelly 07:43 That does not make sense. Marsha 07:45 Yeah. So yeah. So I'm glad I did it. And then I did go out afterwards... So I'm not gonna say the name of the company because they ended up being great. And the we had a rough start. But they once the plywood came, the guys got to work, there was a crew of five. And I was watching them. And it really is remarkable what they were doing because they have to climb up into the tree. And it's 40 feet. They're up there. 40 feet with rope. You've had tree work done. So you know Kelly 08:14 my tree work, yes,endless tree work. Marsha 08:17 And then they, you know, they tie every branch. Before they cut it it's tied onto a rope and then it's lowered down. So there's..it's not like they're just up there dropping wood, you know, they're very careful. And such a tight area that they had to work in with two houses and a garage and the infamous deck. So I went out at the same time they're doing all of this. First Mark and then later on Ben and I were working on the garage roof because we've had to do some patching because it was leaking. And so we were...that's another whole story for another episode of the podcast, but we're up there working on this roof. And I came down at one point. And while I was up there working, I got to thinking, I wonder if there was just like... Oh, I know what it was! It was when the the young woman from the company arrived in the pickup truck with the plywood. She then said to me, okay, now we're grinding out the stump, right? And I said, No, we're not because first of all, it was too expensive. But also, they couldn't.. if now that the deck is built, they can't get the machinery in there. And just to grind out the stump was going to be the same price as removing the tree. And it doesn't matter. It's an area once the my fence is up it's like a no man's land. Nobody goes over there. So I wasn't going to do that. And so then I started thinking about that. I thought, how come she didn't remember that I'm not having the the stump removed? Marsha 09:43 So the young man who was the foreman of this group, this team that removed the tree I said to him, you know, when he had a quiet moment, he was smoking a cigarette, and I said, Hey, can we just talk for a minute? And I could just tell he's like, Oh my god, what's this woman want now? But I went, I said to him, I said, I just want to talk about this morning. And I said, I think we were both a little irritated with one another. And I said, I got to thinking, is it perhaps you were not getting any inf...? Were you given any information about the job before you arrived? And he said, No, I was given your address and told to cut down the Alaskan yellow cedar. He said, I had no idea that there was a deck. I had no idea that it was sandwiched between these two houses. I had no idea that it's like an inch from the the garage and three inches or four inches from your deck. He's had nothing. Yeah. So and he said, I came in you know, it's a dangerous job. And so his adrenaline gets a little up, which I understand after having watched them. Kelly 10:43 and especially if you arrive and find all these obstacles that you have to be worried about. Marsha 10:48 Exactly. And then he said, you know, and he said me, I apologize to you, too. He said, I was kind of rude to you. And he...and he was he was very rude to me! And I said, you know, I accept it. I said, that's fine. I said, I think we were both a little frustrated with one another. And he said, Yeah, yeah, he was not given any information about what his job was going to be. As I say, we figuratively, not literally, kissed and made up. [laughing] Kelly 11:14 There was no kissing. [laughing] Marsha 11:16 Yeah, there was no kissing Kelly 11:17 No actual kissing that occurred! Marsha 11:19 And he was a very... and, he started talking. He's a very interesting man. He's actually a certified arborist. And so we started talking about the other trees in the back garden and things that he said he would like to come back and, you know, work on them, because he said they they need some help, which they do. Yeah, they definitely do. They've, I mean, the whole garden needs some work. So anyway, it turned out fine. Kelly 11:43 Well, and I, I can vouch for having an arborist do the work as opposed to just a tree service with the trees in our yard. But But I have to , you know, you said the tree was in the wrong place. So there was one arborist that we had that-- he's actually too busy now and working mostly on the Monterey Peninsula side of the county--and so we haven't been able to use him, but he was really good. And, and so one day, he was talking and he's like, you know, this... Robert had planted... We have Monterey Cypress, really large ones in the yard. And there were some babies. And so, you know, thinking sentimentally as you do, like, oh, we'd like to grow one of these babies to replace them. Because our cypresses are at the end of their life. And you know, the death of a tree could take 100 years, but they're definitely in the, the death side of their-- not necessarily tree hospice. But you know, they're on the downward slope of life, most. And some of them are gone, and have had to be removed. So anyway, Robert had planted one of these babies, and he's like, you don't want this tree here. You really don't want this tree here! Because by the time it gets to the point where it needs work, I'm going to be too old and you're going to be too old. So I started talking to him about like, well, what tree should we plant? And we have a lot of space. You know, there's quite a bit of space. Like, well, what tree would work?. And he reminded, he reminded me of me in the summer that I volunteered at the SPCA where people would come in to adopt a dog. And I would be like, read their application. Like, in my head. I knew they were going to adopt a dog. But in my head, I was like, No, no, this is not a good enough family. No, this is not good enough! And basically, there was no tree that was right for the space. He cared so much about the trees having the right habitat, that he he practically couldn't tell me a tree that I could plant to replace the cypresses because it would, it would like physically hurt him to be in the wrong place, right? To not have the habitat that it deserved, like the Monterey Cypresses deserve the habitat of highway one, where the wind is pruning them, and they can break all they want and they can have all these broken hangers. And you know, it doesn't matter, but the wind keeps them pruned. Anyway, it's just like, I couldn't get him to tell me like he was so so so... I don't know, just so reluctant to tell me a tree that would be right. I really can vouch for having an arborist. They do a great job making sure that the trees in your yard are not just cut right but that you know information about them. Marsha 14:59 Yeah. So I even gave him cuttings. So he was excited about something that's in the garden. Yeah. So I gave him cuttings. So Kelly 15:12 You know the other thing about about that job that I think about whenever we have...Here again, 15 minutes in, and we're still talking about trees! [laughing] Marsha 15:21 More than that! Kelly 15:24 But when I, when when we have three work done, I'll always think about, you know, like, as a job. Anybody who likes to climb, like Ben likes to climb. I don't know if he would like to climb trees, but you know, people who like climb, who like to work outside who like... I mean, there's there's some science involved to the arborist job. But there's also the working outside and the climbing and it just seems like an interesting... It seems like it would be an interesting career choice that people wouldn't necessarily think of. Marsha 16:00 Well, and there's a there's a real skill set, because you have to know how things are going to fall. Marsha 16:07 Right. Kelly 16:07 How to cut so they grow the right direction. Marsha 16:10 Oh, yeah. Kelly 16:12 What to cut to make the tree not grow in a funky way? Marsha 16:17 I was thinking, Well, I was just thinking, Yes, that's true. Yes, you have to... In fact, Ben has said that he is interested interested in that, too. You know, the, the being an arborist. But just watching these guys with the ropes, you know, going up there that you've got a chainsaw, so you have to be strong. But a lot of it is, is I think, sort of like what Ben, how Ben talks about rock climbing. It's not so much about strength, but it's about skill, you know, using using your body the right way and, and, and using your tools to um... what's the right word... is like leverage. Yeah, that's not the right word. I don't know. But you know, to, like, block and tackle. Kelly 16:59 Right, right. Marsha 16:59 If you just had a rope you couldn't move it, but if you have the block and tackle you can move something. Yeah, I was so thinking that way. Kelly 17:05 It was a real problem solving. Marsha 17:07 But the other thing is funny is like you were talking about, you know, it always hurts you a little bit to take a tree down. Kelly 17:12 Yeah. Yeah, even the palm tree that I didn't like, I was sad to see it go. Marsha 17:16 Yeah, and so it was, it was just, it was a difficult day, in a lot of ways. Because I had to go I had to channel Robert and and... you know. Or, as I say, pull up my big girl panties. And go out there and tell him to stop. It was kind of emotional, too, just because I don't like that--cutting down a tree. And honestly, if this tree had been in a different spot in the garden, it would still be there. Right? It just it was in the wrong spot. And I have another, that deodar cedar out in the front yard, which I will never get rid of. It's beautiful and I've spent a lot of money you know, having work done to it to make it..to keep it. And so it does hurt to get rid of it and so I was kind of emotional and when Ben finally arrived to help me with a roof and I said to him you know I'm just kind of emotional about the tree and I was all... And he says to me, Oh My God, grow a pair! [laughing] Kelly 18:27 Someday he'll be sentimental about something. Marsha 18:29 Yeah, he's not sentimenal now, he's too young. Right now he's too young to be sentimental about anything Kelly 18:35 That's right. Marsha 18:36 Mostly it's just the idea that I don't like cutting down a tree. Well, anyway, Kelly 18:40 Well, you could plant another one. Marsha 18:42 No, I'm not going to plant another one. [laughing] Kelly 18:43 No, I don't mean in that spot. I mean you can plant another tree somewhere. Marsha 18:48 Oh, I can plant another tree. Yes. Well actually what I really like to have is an apple tree Kelly 18:54 so there you go. Marsha 18:56 Okay, so Kelly! Kelly 18:58 Knitting! Marsha 18:58 I'm now looking at this is 20 minutes and 40 seconds of tree talk. So let's get on to Kelly 19:08 There's fiber in wood! Marsha 19:10 That's true. [laughing] So let's go on about projects. So I don't have very much so I think I'm just gonna go first. Kelly 19:19 Okay. Do it. Marsha 19:20 I don't have very much. So I have really nothing to report on the walk along tee. I've knit on it a little bit but I've not made very much progress because other things have been going on. And mostly I've been spinning. So every night I've been spinning on the the Merino in the green and then the bitter chocolate. And so I almost have enough now that I can start plying it. Kelly 19:48 Oh cool! Marsha 19:49 And then I am almost done with the second Abington Mitt by Jennifer Lassonde. I bound off the second mott. And I just now have to go and pick up the stitches for the thumb. Kelly 20:07 Oh, you just have one thumb left to do that's it? Marsha 20:10 One thumb. And it's only... I only have to pick up 12 stitches. Kelly 20:13 Oh my gosh. Yeah. Marsha 20:14 And and knit five rows. So yeah, I'm so close. Very hoping this will not be the like the skull. [laughing] Kelly 20:24 Don't jinx yourself by saying that! [laughing] Marsha 20:26 Yeah, so maybe tonight, I should just finish it so... Kelly 20:30 Nice. Marsha 20:31 Anyway, I like them a lot. So anyway, that's all I really have. Oh, that's it. I don't have much to report. Kelly 20:39 All right. Well, I have a lot because last week was spring break. This week we have Cesar Chavez day. So I'm not sure why... I'm not going to get into a whole calendar and union discussion on top of the tree discussion, but I am not really sure why the union decided not to give us Easter week off as our spring break, because then Marsha 21:05 Yeah, that's odd. Kelly 21:06 Cesar Chavez day would have been in the middle of spring break, and not an additional holiday. But instead, they split the 16 week calendar into halves, and gave us spring break after week eight, which was the week before Easter week. So I had spring break, came back, now I have Cesar Chavez day off, and then go back to work. So weird. But anyway, the end result of it is great, because I got a lot of stuff done. So I have been working. In fact, I'm working right now on the Iced Matcha socks from the Coffee Socks Collection by Dotsdabbles Designs, and I finished the first sock. And I've got the... I'm at the top of the second sock, I've got the cuff finished. And then I'm starting on the pattern. And I think I mentioned this before, it's not really cable either way I thought it looked. It's more purl stitches. But it's really fun, really easy to memorize. And I also, I should take a picture of it showing the inside. Because even though it's... even though it's just done with purl stitches, that the design on the inside makes these ribs that are curvy. So you have this like, I don't know, they're like wobbly ribs. I really like the inside, I think I might make a sock that was wobbly ribbing. The outside is a three by one rib. It's...that's the base. And the pattern is a three by one rib. So the top of the sock is a three by one rib. So if you look on the inside, you have a one, one stockinette stitch going up, right. When you get out of the ribbing that one stockinette stitch curves in and then curves out and then curves back in and curves back out. And so you've got this really interesting, ribbed pattern on the inside that I would not have expected based on what's on the outside. Marsha 23:12 Oh, that is so pretty. Kelly 23:14 You would not expect even though it's just purls and knits on the backside makes that sort of wobbly rib. Marsha 23:22 Mm hmm. Kelly 23:23 So I think I might use this again and make socks inside out. Well, you know, inside out from this pattern. Yeah, and have that wobbly rib pattern. It's really pretty. So and I love the yarn. It's a it's got some heft to it because of the silk and maybe because of the cashmere. Nice and soft. And I love the color. It's a bluey-purple color. So anyway, Iced Matcha socks, Invictus yarn, Seraphic. And it's a Merino, cashmere silk yarn. And it's really nice. The other thing that I've been working on, I've basically finished all the knitting for Frog and Toad. And I got excited and started stuffing Frog with the crush walnuts-- walnut shells, and I figured out Okay, I'm gonna use a funnel because I don't want these things all over the place. And I put them into one of my really tall glasses. So he's sitting inside of a glass with a funnel in his head, like Marsha 24:25 Like a specimen, right? Kelly 24:26 Yeah! And he has a funnel, the open crevice of his head. Then, you know, his provisional cast on and I start stuffing him and I'm poking this stuffing down into those legs and poking into the arms and suddenly I realized, Oh My God! When I get the stuffing all the way up to the head, I have to be ready to knit him closed. You know, do my, my kitchener stitch. I haven't even picked up the provisional stitches. So I thought okay, Kelly, just stop. put this aside. Come back to it. Pick up all those stitches. And then you know, do the job, right? Don't just get excited that you can stuff...start stuffing him. So he, right now he's sitting in a glass on my kitchen table with a funnel in his head. Marsha 25:15 I say like Doc Ricketts. [laughing] Kelly 25:18 Like Doc Ricketts lab. [laughing] Yeah. So anyway, but all the clothes are done, I just have to fill them up, fill up Toad and kitchener the the head together. And that's, I think I might do that outside. Because that seems like it could be a very messy job with all those crushed walnut shells. So yeah, but they have to be done by Sunday. So I don't have a lot of time. But I have a little bit of time to get that finished. Because I'm gonna take them over to, I'm gonna take them over to Faye and take Kye his books on Easter. So drop those off. Do a drive-by, drive-by drop-off because I still-- I will have my second vaccine because I have it on Saturday. But you know, I mean, the full immunity doesn't happen for 14 days. So I'm still going to be careful when I see them. But I will drop it off on Easter. So that's Frog and Toad. And I'm already starting to forget how fiddly they were and thinking, Oh, I could make another set. I have a colleague whose daughter is the same age as Faye. And I thought, Oh, you know what? I should get another set of those books and make another Frog and Toad. I don't know if I'll do it, but but I am kind of forgetting the pain of the fiddly-ness. Oh, and then I have weaving! Marsha 26:43 Mm hmm. I saw your post on Instagram. You've been busy. Mm hmm. Kelly 26:48 Spring Break I declared myself a weaving retreat. I cleaned house Saturday and Sunday of spring break. I edited the podcast on Monday of spring break and did a little bit more housework. And laundry, I think. And then I declared the rest of spring break to be a weaving retreat. And so basically all I did was weave. The last day I didn't stop for lunch. I just wove. Like all day long, I wove. Dinner was on our own. You know, there was just me and Robert here and we just ate while we wanted. And I just wove all day the last day of my of my designated weaving retreat. So I did the canvas weave sampler from the Jane Stafford guild online. And what I turned it into was instead of doing just one long sampler I made the first part of it... was a... I called it a dresser scarf, like a little table runner, but for a dresser. And so I made a little and I don't know, is there another name for it? Marsha 27:57 Well, runner, I guess but I don't know. Kelly 28:00 Yeah. Marsha 28:01 I don't know, Kelly 28:02 Like a like a, a woven doily, you know. So anyway, I made a cover, a top table topper, dresser scarf for the cabinet that Robert has for the linens in the dining room. Marsha 28:17 Mm hmm. Kelly 28:18 And so it's a little wider than I would like it. And he expected it to, like, flow over the edges. And I didn't do that. I made it like stop at the top not hang over. So I did that first that was just plain canvas weave. And then it was bright white because I used the warp that I had put on--the warp that I had a wound at Christmas time that was white with red trim. And I wove it with white and then I tea-dyed it. So now it's beige and looks a lot better. So that was the first thing and then after that I made towels, and I made I think six towels altogether. Five dish towels and a hand towel and did a whole bunch of different experimenting and used a whole bunch of colors. I had just a fabulous time! I got them washed, washed them up, hemmed them up. The only thing that's not quite finished is I'm going to hand hem the thing I made for Robert and that's not--that is not done but the first hem is done like the the sewn... you know to get the raw edge out of the way and then I'm going to turn it and hem it by hand the last hem so. Marsha 29:35 Wow, impressive. Kelly 29:36 Yeah, it was.. that was a lot of weaving. I was tired. Marsha 29:41 And it--was it sort of cathartic to just to do that after all of the the first half of the quarter? Kelly 29:49 Oh yeah, I totally. I totally felt like making things is my mental health. Like just the ability to just stand there at the loom and just make stuff was... Yeah, it was it was so... rejuvenating, I guess would be the word. Yeah, it was! It was great. And I watched the Jane Stafford videos and I watched my, the knitting men video podcasts that I that I started watching a little while ago, I caught up on those and... Sweet Tea, No Shade and Needles at the Ready. And then I watched all the, you know, some other knitting podcasts, and I watched Netflix. And you know, just standing there at the loom with a computer going, and thinking, and just making, I just felt really, really good. So that was fun. And then I thought, Okay, well, weaving's gonna be on a hold for a little while. But I had a little extra time. So first, I wound the warp for the next Jane Stafford guild thing. She put out the information about what it was going to be and it was small, it's a scarf. And, and I thought, well, maybe I'll make it into a dish towels. And then I thought, No, just make a scarf, because it's not wide. It'll be fast. And you have yarn, so I wound the warp for that. So that's all ready to go as soon as she publishes the next episode, which is huck weaving. And then the Reading in Bed Blanket, I had the time to actually thread the loom with it. I yeah. But the reason is, after you know, weaving something with 300 and some odd ends, you know that you have to thread twice once through the dent and once through the hetal. And then you have to tie them all. There's a lot, there's a lot of threads, right? Marsha 32:03 Mm hmm. Kelly 32:04 The the blanket is, you know, like worsted weight yarn. And it's only six ends per inch as compared to 22 ends per inch. So that's a lot fewer threads. And then the warp is only not even three yards long. Because the blanket is going to be three feet wide, and five feet long. So it's not even two, the blanket is not even two yards long. And then you need a little bit for waste. So I think its like a two and a half or three yard warp. So really short. So I was able to thread it, Robert was able to help me wind it on it went really smoothly. It didn't take hardly any time at all. It felt like making you know, an Aran weight sweater after making a fingering weight sweater, Marsha 32:58 a lace weight sweater? 33:00 Yeah, yeah. Going from size zero needles to size nine needles or something. It was really, it was really easy and fast to just do an evening. So a couple of evenings. So I got that I got that accomplished. And so I've got something to... I've got something ready to go to start weaving tomorrow, which I won't because tomorrow is a work day. But you know, I have something ready to weave on the loom and then I have something warped and ready to thread on my table loom once I get the instructions from the the Jane Stafford guild on how to weave it, so Marsha 33:42 Okay, Kelly 33:42 yeah, Marsha 33:43 That's very nice Kelly 33:44 My projects! Marsha 33:47 Well, I was looking at Ravelry at your reading in bed blanket. Kelly 33:51 I'm so happy with it. Marsha 33:53 The colors are nice. 33:54 I did make a rookie mistake. I will, I will admit to a rookie mistake, even though I've been weaving for a while. When I was counting, I was organizing my-- I was doing it in three parts. And I thought, okay, I've got I've got 24 ends in each section. I knew how many ends I needed. But I was counting in a place where when I count once it was actually two warp threads. So I got about two thirds of the way through it. I got two sections done before I realized that every thread I counted was actually two warp threads. Marsha 34:38 Mm hmm. 34:39 And I didn't need to go any further. In fact, I had already gone further than I needed to be because I went further than half. You know what I mean? If I was going to count everything, if I was going to count every two as one, I only needed to have half of it. So anyway, I won't explain how that happened it's kind of embarrassing that I even made that mistake but but so I you know so I stopped. And I have a little section of the warp that that I didn't use at all that I'm going to use for my weft I'm going to save it and if I have to use it for weft threads I will. But yeah it's really pretty on the loom I I'm really happy with the way it turned out. Marsha 35:27 yeah. Well the colors are pretty, really nice 35:30 and it's all handspun Marsha 35:32 mm hmm 35:33 and not all dyed by me. I think two of them are dyed by me and three of the-- three of the colors came that way. You know came dyed and two of them I dyed but it's... I'm going to be really happy with it when it's done. So I'll keep you posted once I start weaving Marsha 35:50 Yeah. Really nice. And what else Kelly 35:56 the Weave Along is ending! Marsha 35:59 Oh no... well, is that it? Kelly 36:00 Yeah, that's that's my projects 36:04 yes the weave along is about to end so quickly go in there and put your projects in there. 36:10 Yeah, actually by the time this gets posted it will be over Marsha 36:15 Yeah, yeah, 36:16 By the time this episode is up and published it will be over. In the next episode we'll announce prizes and talk about... talk about sort of the highlights of the Winter Weave Along. 36:29 So um, we should also then talk about our Extremities Knit and Crochet Along. I'm making the Abington mitts for that and that ends April 25. So and that's it. Anything for your extremities which we've talked about in every single episode but we'll just briefly say it's hands, arms, legs, feet. So you can... and it does say even though it does say knit crochet along, you can weave you can macrame, you can... Kelly 36:59 I haven't seen any macrame socks or hats or anything in there! [laughing] Kelly 37:05 Or those friendship bracelets or I mean...Jewelry. Kelly 37:08 Yeah, jewelry. Would work Marsha 37:10 Yes, anything. So Kelly 37:13 an ankle bracelet? Oh yeah, I need an ankle bracelet. I have beads. I should make myself an ankle bracelet--crochet an ankle bracelet with the beads I have. 37:25 So anyway, we will draw the winner after the 25th of April and I will have two winners. One will receive a copy of the Abington Mitts pattern and the other person will win the Coffee Socks Collection patterns. 37:41 So yeah, so thank you! Shout out to Jen, Boston Jen for the Abington mitts pattern and Dots Dabbles Designs, who is Deborah, for offering us the Coffee Socks Collection prize. Marsha 37:58 Yeah. So Kelly, is there anything else we have to talk about? Kelly 38:04 I don't think so. This was an amazingly short episode. Marsha 38:10 Most of it was talking about trees. [laughing] Kelly 38:17 Well, you know, sometimes you just don't have a lot. You don't have a lot of knitting going on. It has been I mean, I had a lot because it's spring break, but you've had a lot of construction stuff going on. So 38:30 yes, cuz I yeah, cuz I've got the Ballard house under construction right now or you know, the remodels. So I have a lot going on. So Kelly 38:39 I do have one question. Marsha 38:41 Yes. 38:41 I just thought of this. Have you been able to find a or been able to sign up for an appointment for a vaccine? Do you know? 38:52 No, I have not. I've actually I signed up for the... in Washington State, they have the Washington, what is it now? 39:02 Find your phase. 39:03 Oh, find your phase, find your phase dot wa dot org. I think it is anyway, the point is, I signed up for that. And I have received three emails. And so they send you an email and so for the... and it says, you get it. I got it like at nine o'clock in the morning, and there's there's a there's ... over the next three days, there's appointments available at these locations. And then you get in and you just start clicking on it and but nothing's available. There was nothing available at all. So then the three days pass I get another email for over the next three days. There's spots available at at all these locations. Go in there, nothing available. Got my third one. Their spots, they'll but all these locations and nothing's available. So I don't know. So you know, you were talking about your experience. It's sort of like getting concert. tickets. And so I've heard today that even though my medical insurance is not Kaiser Permanente, you can go to Kaiser Permanente and get a...go to their website and schedule an appointment. Okay, so I was going to... I was... Tonight, that was something that I was going to do is see if I can get an appointment. So what I'm finding is I fit the criteria now I'm eligible, but I can't find an appointment. And I think it's one of those things, you have to just, I think, really, what I need to do is just sit down and just start in the morning and just early in the morning and just start looking. 40:38 Yeah, where to get them? Yeah, ours, I mean, I always just looked at the county, the county website, that's where I started looking at the COVID data, because I was interested in, you know, how bad it was in Monterey County. And I started looking at that, and that's where I was looking for the vaccination information, but there's getting to be more and more supply. So 41:00 I think so. And I think that it's one of those things when you get the email, you can't wait three hours. Like I saw the email and well, I mean, when I looked at my email, when I first looked at my email, I saw Oh, I have an email and I realized it had been sent like, three or five hours before. That's just too late. Yeah, I have to just like every morning, like, just start checking my email. 41:19 Yeah or check the site that they tell you to go to, like, just bookmark the site and just go to it. Marsha 41:26 Even when I... After I get the vaccine, I don't really think that I'm going to be going to restaurants and Kelly 41:30 Rght. No. 41:31 I don't honestly, like sitting here right now, I have no idea when I'm gonna be going back. I mean, I feel like once I get the vaccine, I'm probably not going to go back. When am I going back? Kelly 41:41 I don't know. Yeah. 41:42 Not really. I don't really have. I mean, I would like to go somewhere on a plane. I mean, because I want to go someplace. But I'd like to go back to the life the way it was when we got to travel and stuff, but I can't see myself getting on a plane. Kelly 41:55 Right.Well, that'll take a while. Yeah, 41:58 So yeah. Anyway. Well, so yes, it's something that I need to work on. I think I need to be at be a bit more proactive or more on the ball with it, too. And I'm going to, you know, as soon as I get the email as soon as I, I mean, I need to start searching for the email, instead of just like, Oh, look, I got an email. 42:16 Yeah, well, and I had, you know, emails from colleagues. It'd be like, Oh, I was on the website. So I saw there's this many appointments available. You know, I had I had that sort of network. Marsha 42:27 Yeah, yeah.Okay, well, um, since we have nothing else to talk about. I'm sure we could go on forever. Kelly 42:34 But let's not. Yeah. [laughing] Marsha 42:39 Okay, my dear. We will talk. 42:41 Yes. Bye, everyone. Bye, Marsha. Marsha 42:43 Bye. 42:44 Thank you so much for listening. To subscribe to the podcast, visit Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Marsha 42:51 Join us on our adventures on Ravelry and Instagram. I am betterinmotion and Kelly is 1hundred projects. Kelly 42:59 Until next time, we're the Two Ewes Both 43:02 doing our part for World Fleece!

Mar 23, 2021

What's blooming, tomatoes, Frog and Toad, and lambs join in with the knitting content this week. It must be the start of Spring, or even Spring Break! For full show notes with photos and links visit our website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com If you'd like to become a patron and support the show financially, visit our Patreon page . Transcripts at bottom of post. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Kelly's Projects The Iced Matcha Socks by Dots Dabbles have been restarted with a more appropriate yarn. The handspun I had originally planned was abandoned because I thought I would run out of yarn. So then I cast on with Bear Brand Caprice--a vintage sock weight wool yarn that is very stretchy. But it also had textured bits. So I found the pattern wasn't showing up. So those will become my Not Matcha Socks ! I'll just continue them without any patterning. Even in plain stockinette these socks will be ultra-stretchy. So what about the Matcha socks ? I restarted them with Invictus Yarns Seraphic--a lovely merino, silk, and cashmere blend. Yummy! Most of my knitting has been on Frog and Toad from frogandcast.com . I just have Frog's jacket to finish and then I will stuff them with crushed walnut shells from PlumEasy . Mending socks: I found a bag of socks that needed work. So I fixed one pair of (pre-Ravelry) cotton/wool socks that had gotten a hole. I've started to fix a pair of (pre-Ravelry) purple wool/silk socks that I really loved. And I rediscovered the CoBaSi Socks that I made in 2017. After one wearing I discovered one toe was too short. I'll be ripping it out and making it about ¼ inch longer. Marsha's Projects I have knit about 9" of body of the Walk Along tee by Ankestrick . I am still worried if I will have enough yarn but I'm assured by other knitters I'll be okay. Stay tuned... I finished the first of the Abington Mitts by Jennifer Lassonde and knit to the thumb gusset of the second. Love the mitts and the yarn is perfect for them...and free! News Livestock Conservancy released a press release about their Shave 'Em to Save 'Em campaign. You can see more about the project and a video at rarewool.org . The Finnish artist Liisa Hietanen is a crochet sculptor extraordinaire. Check out her lifesize replicas of people in her town. Lambs! Twinsetjan has an Instagram feed full of lamby cuteness! Extremities Knit/Crochet Along This KAL/CAL was inspired by the generous donation of these patterns: Abington Mitts , Jennifer Lassonde, Down Cellar Studio Coffee Socks Collection , Dotsdabbles Designs, Deborah Extremities K/CAL ends on April 25, 2021. Knit anything for your extremities (hands, arms, legs, feet). Winter Weave Along Ends on March 31. Transcript: 1:02:00 Marsha 00:03 Hi, this is Marsha Kelly 00:04 and this is Kelly. We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Marsha 00:08 Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 00:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 00:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Kelly 00:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects Marsha 00:29 and I am betterinmotion. Kelly 00:31 We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Marsha 00:36 Enjoy the episode. Marsha 00:43 Good morning, Kelly. Kelly 00:44 Good morning, Marsha. I'm celebrating. I should be having champagne. Marsha 00:51 No, you don't like champagne. You need to have something you like. Kelly 00:54 Well, I'm having coffee. which is which is fine. This is perfect. It's exactly what I want. And I'm having it in my mug that I got at the thrift store. The downtown-- the same downtown shop where I got the Niebling tablecloth. That same day, I bought two mugs and they're sort of Mexican pottery style with a lot of flowers, a blue flower with a pink center and then a pink bud and green leaves. Well, they're restaurant china. And I think they would have been like Mexican restaurant china. But I thought since it's not only just the first day of my spring break, but it's also the actual first day of spring. That would be appropriate. Marsha 01:39 Yes and things daffodils are up here in Seattle and trees are you know like cherry trees are beginning to bloom. Kelly 01:48 Yeah, we're on kind of the same the same flower schedule this year. Because all of our the plums have already-- the the earliest plums are already done. The Santa Rosa plum is, the new one, is fully bloomed. The apricot has started. And then just the other day, the cherries that are later, the cherry trees in our the little orchard area of our backyard. The cherry trees have now just have a few blossoms opening. So yeah, and I have one last batch of daffodils that are kind of in a more shady area in the yard. And I think they're also a later a later variety because they haven't come up yet. Yeah. But all the rest of them are done. Marsha 02:37 I was as you know, all last week, we were down at the beach. But the week prior to that I did a cleanup in the backyard you know and all the ferns like I cut off the fronds from last year. So then there's space for the new ones to come up and, and I cut down a bush and I did a bunch of cleanup in the back garden everything. But what I'm really excited about is, you know, I always have the pots on the deck with all the just the annuals in there. And that's the real color in the backyard is the pots. And last year, I was not able to do that because I didn't have a deck! Kelly 03:17 Right. Marsha 03:18 So I'm very excited this year to plant those pots one of my favorite things to do so. Anyway, Kelly 03:28 Yeah, you usually do that, what like in April? Marsha 03:32 Yeah, April, May, sort of depending on... well. And then the other thing-- I'm in a different house than I used to be in, the vegetable garden at the other house was a great spot. It was on the south side of the house. I don't have as much space. And so this last summer, I put tomatoes-- there's a three or four foot wide concrete path on the south side of the garage. And so I put tomatoes out there last year, I guess I've had them for the last two years. And they do really well because they're up against the house. But I always remember I would go to the nursery near the house and they always would have the tomatoes in the in the greenhouses and they were really particular that they didn't really want you to buy the tomatoes until all danger of frost had passed and so that the nights didn't drop below 50. Well in Seattle, that's a little hard. I mean, you're really putting them in July, late June early July for the nights not to drop below 50 and so when you're... I got impatient and I just went and I bought some tomatoes at Fred Meyer and they'd had them sitting out there since March, you know sitting out in their Garden Shop. And then I also bought some from the nursery that and I put them in late June, early July. Guess which ones did better? Kelly 04:55 The Fred Meyer. Marsha 04:59 And I think that they So the theory the nursery said is you take they've been grown in a hothouse. And then you shock them by putting them outside, right? And so then it--they don't produce, grow as fast and produce as much. My feeling is that they must have been shocked so early... Kelly 05:13 They'd gotten over it! [laughing] Marsha 05:15 Th ey got going, then, you know, I don't know. It was just funny that Kelly 05:18 They recovered! Marsha 05:19 Those cheap tomatoes from Fred Meyer that have been sitting out in the cold and march did fantastic. So... Kelly 05:25 That's funny! Yeah, by the time you bought them, they had gotten over their shock or all the weak ones had died. And you got the strong... Marsha 05:33 Yeah. Yeah, Kelly 05:35 The Darwin tomatoes. Marsha 05:37 Yeah, my Darwin tomatoes Kelly 05:38 My mom says, she always said, you know, she has a really warm backyard. She lives just north of San Jose. And it gets pretty, gets pretty warm there. And she lives in Fremont, which is where I lived growing up, you know, where I grew up. But she lives in the different part of Fremont with a little different climate and is much warmer. And she even still says you don't plant tomatoes until May 1, because the soil has to warm up. Yeah, you know, even if that even if the exterior temperature the air temperature is, is fine. It's the soil temperature that needs to be right for tomatoes. And if you plant them early, you don't get any benefit from that. Marsha 06:09 Yeah, that's exactly what they were saying. Kelly 06:25 But you did clearly benefit from your Fred Meyer tomatoes! Well, one more plant thing here. This is a knitting podcast. But one more plant thing related is we have a company called Annie's Annuals in the, the San Francisco Bay Area. Now I would dearly love to actually go up there, they have a nursery, and mail order business and they have a beautiful catalog. And I always get tempted, I bought a lot of things from them. And I do like, I do like their, their plants. And they, they pack them really nicely. And you know, they ship really well. And but I do find like I have some of the same varieties that I've bought at native plant sales. And then I'll buy you know, another one. Like, Oh, I want another one of these! And Annie's annuals has it. And so I order it and it comes in They're kind of wimp!, They are used to being in this really lush, well-cared-for environment. If you look at the the nursery, and you look at the, you know, their catalog, the pictures of their nursery on the website, and, and everything in their catalog, everything is just really lush and beautiful, and thickly planted, and you just get the feeling that these plants are really well cared for. And then they come to my yard where, you know, a native plant has got to hold its own, you know, I don't do supplemental watering and in much of the backyard at all, you know. They get what they get in spring, and then they have to make it all the way. They have to make it all the way till the rains. And there have been a lot of times where the things that I bought from Annie's annuals, you know, they haven't they haven't made it. So yeah, I would... now when I buy from them, I treat the plants a little nicer, and I kind of slowly wean them off of care. Marsha 08:17 Yeah. Yeah, you can't just throw them into the desert. Kelly 08:30 No, I have to. I have to give them a little bit of pampering. But it is true. They do seem to. They do seem to be more used to fertilizer and water. And so their little princess plants. Marsha 08:47 Yeah. Well, before we move on to knitting, I just have one other thing I just want to mention is some feedback from Kelly, from you, and also from our listeners. So you know, I was talking about Enzo and how he seems sort of bored and everything. And so I've been doing a lot of playing with him. And we've been trying to work on tricks. And of course, we had I just had a week at the beach where he had, you know, three and a half hours a day on the beach and was just exhausted, you know, when he come back to the house, which is great. You know, that was I think there's nothing better for a dog than just being off leash running on the beach. That's so much fun. And then he got, you probably saw the pictures too where he, we met up with Jean from String Theory Yarns in Seabrook and her dog Cooper, who is an English setter and you met him as a puppy. Kelly 09:38 Right! When we had the meetup there, must have been a couple of years ago.Yeah, he was --she had just brought him. Marsha 09:48 He's just like the sweetest dog. He's very super chill. very chill dog and, but very happy to be on the beach. But we were laughing because he's he's black on white spots and he has all these, you know, feathers or pantaloons, you know. But we didn't realize how dirty our dogs are because he's, you know, Orkney's brown and Enzo is black. Kelly 10:13 Oh, yeah. Marsha 10:14 Cooper is black and white has a lot of white on him and his legs because of the, like the, you know, the foam on the beach, it's kind of green? His legs were green when he's, when he's done on the beach, it was very funny. Anyway, no but here's the thing. So it was very good and sort of therapeutic I think for Enzo to be on the beach. For this to get him out of his his doldrums and h is funk that he's in. But, here's something that I've discovered about Enzo, in the last couple of months. The other thing he does is like I for example, I this morning, I went to type, the show notes on my laptop, and he was asleep on the bed. As soon as I get the computer out and I start typing on the laptop, he gets up and he runs down to the basement and gets in his crate. Every time! And every time I get out the computer to type an email or type anything on the laptop, he gets up and goes and hides--I say hides--he goes down and gets in his crate in the basement. What is that about? Kelly 11:12 I don't know. Marsha 11:14 Like, and I thought, am I like, typing in an angry way? You know, because he is so sensitive and soft, you know? Kelly 11:21 Yeah.He knows that the computer makes you tense, like, Oh, she's on that computer again. She's gonna be mad. Marsha 11:27 Have anyof your dogs done anything like that? Or does Bailey? Are they sensitive in that way? Are they just, Kelly 11:33 I'm not sure I would notice this because I'm not sensitive in that way. I think one thing I have noticed with Bailey, and I find it really irritating, but it is kind of funny. She'll be in the trailer with me and she has learned what the end of a zoom call sounds like! So when I'm in a meeting, and you know, doing my Zoom thing, she'll be fine. She'll, she knows to lay on her pillow. And now I rarely have to, you know, wrangle a dog while I'm in a meeting. But whatever it is that I say when, you know, when people are leaving, when the meeting is over and when I'm leaving, she knows what that is. Because she'll immediately get up and come over and start pestering me. As soon as I start the Okay, bye, you know, whatever I say at the end of it at the end of a zoom call--suddenly, she is up and she's poking at me and prodding at me and trying to get me off the off the bench. And and sometimes it's not the end, right? Sometimes somebody has to leave the meeting. Or like if I have, if I have a student, like I'll have office hours, drop in hours, for students. And I'll have a couple of students and then one of them will be done. And so I'll say goodbye to the one student. And then here's Bailey like being a real brat. And I still have a student on the call that I'm helping. So anyway, that was just I just noticed she has discovered what the end of Zoom call sounds like. Marsha 13:12 Yeah, yeah, well, and I also Enzo is similar to that. I have these cameras at the front door back door. And then I have one out at the garage. And I get an alert on my phone that makes a little sound if there's any-- if the cameras detect motion, an animal, a person or vehicle. And so Enzo has also now connected that sound that it might possibly somebody at the back door that he wants to see. Ben coming in or my brother coming in. And so a lot of times, not always, but a lot of times he'll hear the phone make that little sound because there's a there's an animal, a squirrel will set off the cameras or the wind blowing a branch or something. And he jumps up and runs to the back door all excited. And then his tails up and then there's nobody there and his tail just slowly drops down. So sadly, so sad. Kelly 14:06 Well and that tail of his is like a flag. If you could see it, you can see it like does kind of sink sadly. It's so funny, Marsha 14:17 We will get to knitting, but just thinking about those cameras. I can see what's going on when people come to my house or they leave the house and you know Ben always says like, oh Enzo, like he's always teasing me about Enzo like, you know, he's, he's not that smart. And it's always to get my goat, you know. And I saw him on Saturday night Ben had come to dinner and he'd been playing with the dog and everything and then he leaves. And I can and then I can see the video after he left that he actually calls Enzo to the back door and Enzo's still standing there. And then he goes and he gets down on his knees and he hugs him and he kisses him on the top of the head. So when I'm not around, total love is shown to this dog. Kelly 15:01 Yeah.So you're spying on private moments between a boy and his dog? Marsha 15:04 Yeah, but it made me feel good! Kelly 15:07 Yeah. Marsha 15:08 I mean, I know he loves him, that Ben loves Enzo, but he sometimes -- I think for me, he tries to-- I just like the dog so much, just to sort of put me in my place about him. Kelly 15:18 And tease you about him. Marsha 15:21 Anyway, anyway, on to knitting. I think you should go first because you have a lot to report. Kelly 15:26 Okay. Marsha 15:26 Well, you have a darling thing to report. Kelly 15:28 I have some fun things to talk about. So first of all, I am currently, right now this minute, knitting on the Matcha socks. And I have a long, it's kind of a, it's kind of a story. But before I get into the story of the Matcha socks, I just need to say that this yarn is so luscious. And compared with the yarn and I you know, it's a different yarn from what I'm using to knit my other projects. And so it's really a treat. So this is Invictus yarns, Seraphic. And the colorway is Endless Night. So it's a purple. It's a it's a kind of a blue gray leaning purple. Tonal. Yeah, mostly tonal, not really variegated, more tonal. Marsha 16:18 Mm hmm. Kelly 16:19 But the yarn is 70%, superwash, Merino, 20% silk, and 10% cashmere, so it's nice, really nice! And I'm using it for the Matcha socks. So this is the story because this isn't what I was originally planning for those Matcha socks. Remember, I was gonna use my handspun Marsha 16:43 Mm hmm. Kelly 16:43 So I was gonna use my handspun. And I got it out. And I looked at it and it's a little short in yardage. And it's a little thicker than fingering, a little short in weight, and a little thicker than fingering. And sometimes handspun is more dense or has you know, has more weight per yardage, even if it's the same thickness. And it's a little sticky too, I mean it was that old fleece that I had. So the yarns a little sticky, so there's probably some lanolin that could wash out of it. That would make it less, you know, a little less weight. But I just started thinking I'm going to--this is going to be short of yarn . It's already short of weight of a sock, you know of a sock yarn skein. Some of that weight is the probably the lanolin that's making it sticky. It's a little thicker, I'm not gonna have...I'm gonna run out. So I changed plans. And so I grabbed something called Capri. Let me just, I have to look Marsha 17:51 Is this in your in is this in your project page? Kelly 17:54 Uh, yes, I have a project and that is called now Not Matcha Socks because because they were I Marsha 18:00 was looking for your Matcha Socks. And now I see there's Not Matcha Socks. Kelly 18:03 Yeah, so these are, these are not well...So let me just say this. It's Bear Brand Caprice It was one of the vintage spirit yarns that I have, sock yarns that I have. And I thought oh, this would be so cool. So I grabbed this blue kind of a navy color and I thought these will make really nice navy blue socks. So I started looking...you know and the -- Let me just talk a little bit about the yarn before I go on. It's the label says "Magic-Skein. Ready to Knit. No balling or winding. Draw yarn from center." So, you know, this is that type of commercial skein but I guess at some point in time, in history, that was a big deal. There was a new a new innovation not to buy your yarn in a hank. And so Marsha 18:55 okay, well, it's funny I'm just gonna say, interject-- I always thought this was the old way of doing it. What they were the way these were wound this Caprice is wound and that the idea of buying the hank was a new thing. But maybe it's the other way around. Kelly 19:08 I have a feeling it's a Back to the Future thing. Okay, that originally it was in hanks, and then somebody came up with this preskeined idea. I don't know. I'm just saying I'm just thinking, why would they make such a big deal on the on the band, calling it a magic skein and ready to knit, draw yarn from center, blah, blah blah. Also made in the USA. So I don't know what the vintage of this is. I could probably find it online. I've done that with some of my older yarns, figured out when, you know, when they were for sale. But it's Bear Brand Caprice. And I got this--I'm pretty sure I got this from the destash room at the NocCKRs retreat one year. And then it also says all virgin wool. Now I don't think it's 100% wool yarn because it's super stretchy. And there it looks like there's a thread, a ply of something that's not wool in it. So I think all virgin wool means all the wool is virgin wool. Not everything in it is wool, but there's no other thing on the label telling the content. And I think that's also an old, an old-fashioned thing. I think now they have to, I mean, I think it's a requirement that you have to label. You have to label with what's with what's in it. So anyway, this yarn is really stretchy. And I thought this would be cool. I really want to knit the socks. What I didn't realize is that it has a little like a little nub or nep every, I don't know, like every inch or so on the skein is a little slubby part. texture. So I'm knitting along and I'm like, Oh, this texture is really cool. This is this is going to make really nice socks. And then I get to the patterning. And it's like realization hits me. I'm not even going to be able to see the pattern because of the texture. And I can't read my, I can't read my knitting very well, because it's dark blue in and the texture of the yarn. So it's like, wait, was that a purl stitch? I'm taking my glasses off, and I'm looking to see okay, was that a purl stitch or a knit stitch? Because there's a lump there, but I don't think that's the purl lump. Anyway, finally after about two inches of ribbing, and then a little bit of the pattern. I thought this is ridiculous, Kelly, you cannot continue these socks with this pattern. This a very bad marriage of pattern and yarn. Marsha 21:53 Yeah. Kelly 21:54 So but I am going to continue them. I'm just going to rip back a little. Actually, I could just, I could just keep going you you'll never be able to tell that one sock had some purl texturing in it from the Matcha Socks pattern and one sock didn't. You'll never be able to tell that I should just keep going. So I have about three inches. And so I just left them there and then I dug through the spirit needles collection that you brought. Marsha 22:23 Oh, right. Kelly 22:24 Last year right around this time when you came for our... No. Yeah, when you came for Stitches. You brought it because we were gonna bring it to the NoCKRs retreat. So I've actually had a pretty good time with that bag of, of, honestly, there must be over 100 sets of needles in that bag. Marsha 22:43 Yes. In fact, I because I needed the--My shirt, my t shirt I'm working on is on threes. And I don't really have a long enough pair of threes. And I thought oh, I should have called Kelly and have here send it, Kelly 22:55 Yeah. So I dug into that. And I grabbed out another. I used to have multiple... Well, I had a birch set. I really liked the birch needles. I can't remember the name of the company that makes them but I had two sets of the birch needles. And over this--and I had them for years. But over this last year, or maybe maybe the last two years. So the year of broken foot and the year of pandemic did a real number on my wooden needle sock needle collection. I think I had a little bit of stress going on. Marsha 23:37 Yeah, Kelly 23:38 Because I broke, I broke a lot of them. So now I'm just down to one set. And so the the Not Matcha Socks are on the remaining birch needles. And then I dug out a pair of size zero bamboo needles from that, that bag and that's what I'm using for the actual real Matcha Socks with this beautiful, luscious Merino, silk , cashmere yarn. Marsha 24:05 So that you don't have in your project page though. Kelly 24:07 No, I haven't actually, I haven't put that. I'll put that in before before we go to publish. Marsha 24:12 While you've been talking. I have been listening! But I've also been looking at Bear Brand on... Oh, well I just googled it and then it just referred me to Ravelry and so I'm looking at Ravelry there's all kinds of yarn on there but I do not find Caprice. And what... and it's a bit...there's all kinds. There's Angel Crepe and there's Petite Knitting Worsted. I don't know what that is. It says it's sport weight. Marsha 24:43 But there'ssomething called Deluxe Crepe Vilain. Marsha 24:49 Wow, Marsha 24:49 Casa Laine. There's all kinds there's three pages of yarn. There's something called Ever Match. Ever Match Baby Zephyr? There's something called Gigantic. Feather Glow, Lady something whether I can't read it. Heather Laine. Anyway, there's all there's a ton. There's three pages of yarn on there. Okay, but there's no information about, you know, when it was made it might be okay. I have to find a...It's just interesting Ravelry has everything on there all kinds of. Kelly 25:26 Yeah, well, in one of the yarns I have I have some silk yarn that I bought from somebody who was destashing when I was in the weaving class. And it's, I was able to find a newspaper ad. I just googled and was poking around trying to figure out, you know, how old this yarn really was. And I found a newspaper ad and I don't remember now what the year was. But, you know, I was able to find out how old how old the yarn might have been. I mean, that doesn't give me... that doesn't tell me that it wasn't sold after that date. But, but it was kind of fun to see the newspaper ad for, for that particular yarn and know, you know, at least when it was being advertised in a newspaper. So it gives you a you know, it gives you an idea anyway, so But yeah, I'm so I, It's weird to knit with because it's so stretchy. But it's going to be a nice pair of socks that that Caprice, lumpy, lumpy sock yarn. It's fairly thin. It's a light fingering, I would say it's a light fingering but with the texturing it works with the size with the size zero, the size zero needles, so it reminds me a lot--nd this brings me to my mending part of the episode--do you remember the CoBaSi sock? Marsha 27:00 Yeah, Kelly 27:00 it reminds me a lot of the CoBaSi sock. And I was-- I don't remember why I was poking around. Maybe I was digging around for things to use for the frog and toad, which I'll talk about in just a bit. But I uncovered... You know, I think I'm so virtuous with no unfinished objects. And, you know, I don't have like, piles and piles of things that need to be mended or projects that I haven't woven in the ends and they're just sitting there waiting. Not true anymore. Or maybe it was never true. [laughing] I just had this idea. Anyway, I dug out, I found this bag of socks that needed to be mended. And, and in the socks in this bag are my CoBaSi socks. So, they are like a turquoise and a red orange. And I striped them opposite. So like I started one of them with the red orange cuff and I started the other one with the blue cuff, turquoise cuff. And then I striped them. And I did toes and heels also in the same colors. Really fun. I enjoyed doing them. I really liked knitting with the yarn because it was so stretchy. But once I wore them, I thought one of the toes was too short. And then when I when I looked at it, I realized Yeah. I had , I don't know, probably a quarter of an inch less in one toe than another toe. I'm not sure how I did that. But maybe when I lined them up to measure them against each other. I lined the stripes up evenly. Yeah, and they were alternating stripes of about a quarter inch. So that's probably what happened. So anyway, when I wore them and found that one of them was uncomfortable, I put them away to rip out the toe of the one sock... three plus years ago! I don't even, I don't even know. It was a long time ago. Anyway, I found this and I have to repair them. I haven't started. I did start to take apart the toe of the one sock but I haven't done any of the knitting. But the CoBaSi is not quite as stretchy as this Bear Brand Caprice. It's it's more stretchy. It's got to have elastic in it. I can't imagine how it's 100% wool. So yeah, it just doesn't say that on the pattern. And then the other thing I found in this bag, were a pair of cotton socks that needed to be mended. So I mended those. And those I made Oh my God, my niece's were... They're all in their 30s now, I think even the youngest one. And they were Marsha 27:08 OK, that's shocking Kelly 28:07 I know. They were in high school. I think they were in high school. Marsha 29:48 I remember when the oldest was born. Kelly 29:51 I know. I know. It happens. Marsha 29:52 Okay, let's not let's not go down that path. Kelly 29:54 Children grow up. Your own included! Marsha 29:56 Gosh darn it. Kelly 29:58 Yeah, so anyway, The cotton socks I found needing repair I made for myself a long time ago. So I repaired those. And then I have a pair of wool and silk socks pre Ravelry think this is Hazel Knits. And so I have to repair the heel on on one of them but the other one is going strong. So I haven't... I started with a duplicate stitch and I think I'm going to actually, I think I'm actually going to cut out the heel and like just pick up stitches and just re knit the whole heel because the the threads are real it's really threadbare. I can't remember now if it actually had a hole or if it had just become so threadbare that I put them in the mending pile. But I... these are one of my favorite pairs of socks all ribbing all the way down on the top of the foot. And super felted I mean, I you know I that's it's washable wool but they've been around a long time. So, so they're kind of they're kind of filthy but they're really comfortable. And I remember I remember really liking them and that's why I didn't just toss them I put them in the mending bag. So I have one pair mended one pair started and then the CoBaSi socks, the CoBaSi socks are not they don't need mending they just actually need finishing. That's, so that's all the socks that's happening a lot of sock stuff is happening. And then the other thing is Marsha 31:28 I'm going to I'm going to interrupt for just one minute. I'm going to go back to your your the other sock, the Caprice Kelly 31:37 Oh yeah. Marsha 31:37 So while you're talking I, You know I said I had just googled and so one thing is kind of interesting this answers sort of two questions. Because you remember I had when I made the the Christmas tea cozy and I was using some yarn from Sears that actually said it was like a C grade or something? Having saying it was like worsted weight it said it was C? I just what popped up in here is for 10 cents you could buy an interchangeable yarn chart from Sears and it says what are interchangeable yarns it says interchangeable yarns are yarns that when knitted by the same person on the same size needles will have the same gauge. Anyway, they are all have groups ABCD and E Kelly 32:24 Oh sort of like that yarn-- craft yarn council like one two, like what they have now. Marsha 32:29 Yeah. And then it has about how to use this chart. Blah blah blah it goes on. But then on the second page it has the interchangeable yarn chart group A lightweight and it says recommended needle size two three or four and on there is Bear Brand. Oh, and there's... Let me see if I scroll down. What you have is you think is its fingering weight? Kelly 32:53 Yeah. Marsha 32:54 Well anyway, this just says okay, here's also Bear Brand and or, and, or Fleischers. And there's baby Germantown, Casa, Laine, Crepe Velain, all these ones we were talking about. So I think this is a Sears...Well, maybe it's not a Sears brand, but it was something that was sold by Sears I should say.And I'm just looking down here to see if I find Caprice. I don't see it Kelly 33:22 Well, and it may be that, it may be that someone listening was the donor to the destash room. Marsha 33:33 Anyways, at the top on the very first page where it has, you know, the whole description of what are interchangeable yarns? This has got to be from the 60s because there's a woman and she's knitting and she has a knit suit on and she has the, you know the bouffant hair? You have like a braid that went around the front and then you had your hair all puffed up and hanging long. That's so this is clearly the 60s. Kelly 33:55 interesting. Marsha 33:56 So there you go. That's my little bit of research while we were talking. Kelly 33:59 All right, well, the yarn that is in the same bag with this, actually, I don't think it came in the same bag though. I think I put it there. But I have another batch of these tiny little magic skeins, called Spinnerin and it's actually finer than sock weight. And it's it says it's 6% nylon, but again, it feels very much like... it feels very nyloney. It kind of reminds me of... Do you remember like the the knit shells? Yeah, older ladies would wear really fine, fine gauge knit. And storebought is what I'm thinking now. I'm not thinking of a hand knit one but that that kind of crepey feeling. nylon knit shell. So anyway, that's what that feels like. And I'm not sure what I'll use that for. I don't think I'll make socks out of it because it doesn't feel wool enough. And it's very thin. I think. I think even with the size zero needle, it will have a lot of holes in it. So it may be relegated to a weaving project. Yeah. Or it might be relegated to the trash. I don't know. That's hard for me to do so probably not, but I don't see much use of that. It just it feels really? Marsha 35:18 Yeah. Kelly 35:19 Synthetic. In a way that I don't think I would find... in a way that I don't think I would find a use for. We'll see. Marsha 35:27 Enough. Enough of that searching on the Kelly 35:30 Antique Socks. Yes. Marsha 35:31 Yeah. Yeah. Kelly 35:33 So with with that yarn experience of the Not Matcha Socks compared to the yarn experience of this cashmere silk Merino. Oh my gosh! I might have to buy more of that. That's just really lovely. So, but my other thing that I've been working on and I am in love with is Frog and Toad. Marsha 35:58 Yeah. Kelly 35:58 And I talked about them before. And at that time, I think I was still working on Frog. My goal is to get them finished by this Sunday, which is Easter. And, I have the set, the four book set, of the Frog and Toad books for Faye and then I'm gonna, I'm gonna have these, and then I have a set of books for Kye as well. Not frog and toad. He likes Marsha 36:20 Okay, you just threw me into a panic. I'm sorry to interrupt again. Tomorrow is Easter? Kelly 36:24 No, no. Next Sunday, the following Sunday. Marsha 36:27 Okay. Oh my god! Okay, deep breath. Okay. Yes, continue! Kelly 36:35 Marsha, if it even if it was Easter tomorrow, nobody in your family seems to know. You could just like Marsha 36:42 that's true. Kelly 36:43 Just like keep going right past it. Marsha 36:46 I don't have to panic. Just, maybe I'll do that next week.I'll just do it next week and pretend that it is. Kelly 36:53 So it's, I think it's the fourth of April. Okay. I don't remember exactly the day but it's at the end of our spring break. So it's next week, okay. But I'm almost finished. So Frog is finished and Toad. Well, they're not stuffed, so their heads are still open at the top. But you can see on my project page that they have their clothes on. Toad has his bathing costume which I made out of kind of a pale turquoise and cream color. And then Frog is a really kind of yellowy green color. And he has these gray brown like taupy natural color wool, light gray pants, and they're ribbed. So they look like little corduroy pants. They're so cute. Oh my god, they're cute! Last weekend, I had my vaccine. And I could, I worked on, I was a little nervous. I don't know why I was nervous. But I was just a little bit nervous. So I just I like focused totally on getting the eyes done and putting the eyes into frog and toad. And then and then I had a headache after I got my vaccine but it felt like a headache from like doing all this really close, close work. So I don't think my original headache wasn't that you know, the headache that I had as I drove home from getting my vaccine was I'm sure not from the vaccine. I did feel a little bit sick the next day but but all this little tiny close work to make the eyes-- I did that last weekend. I made the pants and now I have the jacket. I just have one more sleeve to go on the jacket. But then you have the details. So like I thought I was done with the the bathing costume but then you need to do, like, edging, you know around the sleeves?And I skipped the edging around the neck because I thought the neck looks pretty good the way it was. But this little jacket is gonna need all its edging so it doesn't roll. You know, so the stockinette doesn't roll. There's just all these little tiny details that are exactly what makes them perfect in terms of matching the books. And I just keep getting the books out and comparing my little Frog and Toad with the Frog and Toad in the books and yeah. So I'm having a lot of fun with this. The jacket's almost done I actually bought the crushed walnut shells that she recommends for the stuffing. I mean it's one of the things that she has on the on the pattern for the stuffing is crushed walnut shell so I bought those and I bought the ones that have lavender. So it will smell nice and, but it's very fine. So I'm really glad I decided to go down to the size zero needles with the yarn I was using. Because if you if you didn't have really really bulletproof fabric, that little walnut is like sand. That little walnut sand is going to come out. And I might, I might just test a little bit of it with mine. I think Toad is a little bit felted because I washed him kind of vigorously to make sure that he was nice and tight. Frog might have a little bit of gap, but I think he's pretty good. But if he-- if the stuffing, if the sand, you know, the walnut shells look like they're going to come out. I think I will just wash him just a little bit more. Marsha 40:34 Mm hmm. Kelly 40:35 And get him more fulled. Marsha 40:37 Yeah, Kelly 40:38 so that he's a little stiffer. Marsha 40:40 They're, darling. They're... their expressions... Their eyes are so cute. Kelly 40:45 I can't wait to put their mouth on. Kelly 40:48 You know, you do that last. I don't know why. Maybe because it's easier to follow the line with them stuffed. I'm not exactly sure. But yeah, very, very cute. So those are, those are my projects. Marsha 40:48 Yeah, Marsha 41:06 Very cute. So Kelly, my projects, I'll give you an update on what I'm doing down the beach. I worked a little bit on my sweater that the T shirt that I've been working on. Kelly 41:16 Oh, I have a question about that. Okay, did you need to buy more yarn? Marsha 41:20 Well, I was gonna talk about that. Oh, not buy more yarn. It's the Walk Along Tee by Ankestrick, and I've made about nine inches of the body. And I have probably two two inch balls of the second skein. Kelly 41:36 Oh, well, yeah. Marsha 41:37 And remember, I divided them so. No, I have even less than that. They're probably about an inch. So I have about two one inch, say I have like a two inch cake left. And then I have one more skein and I did not buy more, she has lots down there. Worst case scenario, I can call Jean and just ask her to send me a skein. But Kim said she, she's making the same sweater and of course was there with me at the beach. And she said she's still doing the increases of the Raglan. So she's not gotten to the body yet. But she did say that the pattern, a friend of hers made the pattern also and the sleeves are quite slim. They're not loose baggy sleeves. So she said you're not going to be using that much yarn on the sleeves. And I have to remind myself too, that I've knit because of the Raglan shaping, you know, it goes down the shoulder down off the shoulder down to about armpit level, Kelly 42:32 right. So a good portion of the sleeve is done. Marsha 42:35 Right. And then I'm planning on making three quarter length sleeves. So and then the cuff, I'm going to make like the collar which is the contrasting blue. So that's my plan, to just wait and see how I do. And then also the bottom of the sweater, I'm going to put the contrasting edging on. And I don't want to make it very long. I want it to be sort of mid hip, or a little above mid hip kind of. And so I can wear maybe wear a sweater over it or short jacket or something Kelly 43:10 Right Marsha 43:11 So I'm going to take a wait and see approach. Kelly 43:13 That's Yeah, I sometimes panic, or worry too much about running out of yarn. And then I end up with extra. Marsha 43:23 Right? Yeah. So, and I did check my row gauge. Because remember my last sweater that was one of the issues I had. I was using so much yarn because of the the row gauge was off-- was not the same as the pattern. And this is correct. So I should be okay. Yeah, I'm also not putting in all of the increases, they're supposed to be for increased rows, where you increase four stitches per row? I'm only going to put in two because I don't want it-- it would be--otherwise it'd be I think too much fabric around the hips. And so I've knit I think, I don't know if I said this, but I've had about nine inches of the body. Okay, so you know, another I don't know how long I will have to figure it out. Kelly 44:07 Yeah, but not that much. But not not that much longer. Now because of the bottom edge. Marsha 44:14 Yeah. And I think you know, I was saying earlier that I don't have very long needles. So I think what I might do is put it on waste yarn or get another set of needles that I can put it on. So I can try it on and see how it's fitting. That'll give me a better sense. But at the beach mostly what I worked on was the Abington mitts. That is the pattern that -- one of our prizes for the extremities knit Kelly 44:47 Yeah. Marsha 44:48 Knit along and or crochet along or weave along or macrame along or fill in the blank along. Anyway so I finished one and I've knit to the thumb gusset of the second one. Kelly 45:05 Oh, wow. Marsha 45:07 So, but they were pretty quick because I'm using DK weight on size six needles. So the only thing is on these, so when you do the thumb gusset, put the gusset on waste yarn, then knit, continue knitting the rest of the hand as long as you want it, and then you do ribbing, then you go back and pick up the thumb gusset, pick up two stitches. And then just knit in the round, you pick up two extra stitches, and then the first row after that you decrease two stitches. And it does say in the pattern, if you have fat thumbs.. Apparently I have fat thumbs! [laughing] No, she doesn't say if you have fat thumbs. But if depending on it, you may want to not put in those two decreases. And I think I'm going to go back on the second one, I'm not going to put the decreases in. And on the first mitt I made I'm going to-- I think I'm going to rip it out and redo it without the two decreases. I think it'd be a bit more comfortable. Kelly 46:07 Yeah. Marsha 46:09 So, but they're really nice. And it's a fun pattern. It's really easy. Even though you have to use a cable needle needle for all the cabling on them. It's pretty easy to memorize the pattern. And it goes very quickly. And there's so little you know that I knitted a whole mitt down there at the beach practically so Kelly 46:29 nice. Marsha 46:30 A mitt and a half and six days. So did you see my picture on Instagram that I did sit a lot at the beach? Yes. Kelly 46:38 The butt shaped divot in the couch? [laughing] Marsha 46:42 Yes, I had a butt divot in the couch. So that's it for me on projects. I don't have a lot going on. Kelly 46:50 All right. Marsha 46:51 That's it. Kelly 46:52 Okay. Marsha 46:52 Oh, and I actually, I did not bring my spinning wheel. But when I got home before I left for the beach and then when I got home yesterday, we got home you know mid day. I worked on spinning on the yarn that I've been spinning-- the olive green or pine green and the bitter chocolate the dark brown. I spun on that a little bit. So I've got, now I have two bobbins of green and one bobbin of brown. Yeah. And so I've made two skeins, but then I had to you know reload the bobbins. So I'm almost ready to-- I have one more bobbin to spin up more yarn and then I'll I'll finish plying. Kelly 47:30 All right, Marsha 47:31 Yeah, but that's, that's it for me. Kelly 47:33 Okay, well, we had a couple of other, just let's just do business, get the administrative business out of the way. And then there's a couple of fun things that I just wanted to share. So we have our Extremities Knit Along/ Crochet Along/Everything Along that Marsha just mentioned, just want to remind people that that ends on April 25. And so you can get anything for your hands, arms, legs, feet, lots of good stuff going on there. And we have two prizes. One is a pattern for the Abington mitts that Marsha mentioned. And the other one is the pattern Coffee Socks Collection by Dotsdabbles Designs, and that's where this Matcha Socks pattern that I was talking about. That's where the Matcha Socks pattern comes from. The winter weave along is quickly coming to an end. It ends on March 31. And so that's just a little more than a week away. So not much time there. But I'm hoping to at least get some something on the loom. I won't-- I probably won't even get it all the way threaded. But I do have a project that I want to, that I want to get on the loom during spring break. During this week, what I really should do is housework but no. So Marsha 48:48 It can wait Kelly 48:49 That's ending on March 31. And so if you're weaving, I hope this inspires you to get your weaving finished and get your your last woven projects into the, into the thread. So but then I had something I wanted to talk about, that came across our email, Marsha and I thought, oh, let's just talk about this for a little bit. The livestock Conservancy sent me a press release. And it was about their campaign, Shave 'Em to Save 'Em. And the idea is that people have this passport, and they make projects out of all these different wools that are from critically endangered sheep breeds. So I just wanted to let people know about that. And we'll put a link to it in the show notes. So how it works is you buy wool from one of these rare breed fiber providers. And you get a stamp in their passport. And then you earn things. You can earn prizes. They have a Ravelry group and you can sign up for to the Ravelry group. They have prizes that they're giving away. You share your pictures either on Facebook or Ravelry. And you can earn things for completing projects. And the more breeds you use, the more stamps you collect, the more things you can earn. And I think some of our listeners maybe are participating in this. And then they have a list of fiber providers and a little online directory. 180 breeds. And I don't know of all the breeds are sheep breeds, because the livestock Conservancy has poultry and other kinds of livestock in it as well. So the online directory might be all the breeds, you know, not just for the shave them to save them. It's for people who want to buy, you know, who want to buy a sheep for their flock, or who want to buy a particular breed of chicken for their flock of chickens, and so on. But anyway, I thought it was kind of an interesting little thing, and they have a video, and we'll link to their site. rarewool.org is one quick way to get to their project. And then they have a video and stuff. So I'll put that in the show notes. Marsha 51:08 I thought interesting. Very cool. Yeah. It's really fun. Kelly 51:11 I know, I heard about it. I think it's been going for over a year. I want to say I originally heard about it. And I did go on their, their Ravelry group, and then I kind of forgot about it and then got this email. And I thought, oh, I'll just remind people about this. Yeah. Here's an interesting little fact. It says fiber providers are seeing an uptick in their sales for the past two years, so must be going on for two years. A recent survey of those fiber providers indicated that 37% of shepherds had sold 50% to 200% more wool than before joining the initiative. Marsha 51:48 Oh, very cool! Kelly 51:48 That's Yeah. That's pretty...that's pretty impressive. Marsha 51:52 Yeah, no, this is great. I mean, I, I've been looking at the page, and I'm gonna look a little bit more at it. Kelly 51:59 it's almost it's a fiber buying time. Right? It's almost the time where I start thinking about, I want to buy some spinning fiber and maybe the summer spin-in will, you know, come along at some point. So Marsha 52:15 I'm thinking this is, this is a little off topic, but it's lambing season, and we follow several shepherds. But have you been following TwinsetJan?. And so yeah, so if you are on Instagram twinsetjan is the account name and it's Jan and she is has Fair Winds Farm in, I believe it's in Pennsylvania, I think. Anyway, she had a ewe that delivered four lambs, which is I think, very unusual. And four or excuse me, three males and a little female, and the female. I don't know what her initial weight was, but she's only like, maybe three pounds now. Or maybe she's up to four pounds. She's a tiny, tiny, tiny lamb so she's brought her into the house. And she's doing these darling Instagram posts, you know, all in first person in the lambs perspective and all the things that she's doing. And very cute and she's named Pikachu. And she's so cute because she just has black around her eyes. Her eyes are black but then she has all this black fur. No, it's not fur, what do you call it? Kelly 53:31 Wool! [laughing] Marsha 53:31 Wool wool around her eyes. She's darling. She's so delicate and tiny. Yeah. Kelly 53:38 Yeah, they're Finnsheep and apparently they have large--twins and and triplets and quadruplets or multiple Marsha 53:50 Oh, really? That's not unusual? Kelly 53:52 multiples are common Marsha 53:52 Okay. So it's not unusual. I thought in general sheep. It was too you know, they would have Kelly 53:57 Yeah, finnsheep are known for having-- I want to say large litters. But for having multiples. Marsha 54:06 Okay, yeah, Kelly 54:09 Yeah, she's really cute. You should definitely.. I'll put her Instagram in the shownotes as well. Because it's really worth following. Marsha 54:17 Yeah, she's very, very cute. And, yeah, anyway, but it's lambing season. So we follow two other shepherds that it's just been really fun to see all the lambs and, and in the business of it, yeah, there's the business you know, and just what's involved with trying to keep them alive and healthy. Because this is their business. So Kelly 54:41 yeah, well, one of our one of our friends Kathy straightfork, she has lambs. She has sheep for the first time this year and she has lambs and she's been sharing. She shared pictures of the the lambs that she had one ewe that gave birth to twins. And was not really happy to take care of the little girl twin. And so she's been, you know, dealing with that situation trying to get the mom to at least feed her. And then she has another you who is due pretty quickly. I want to say she has blue faced Leicester and they have the biggest like satellite ears! Kind of like Bailey's ears, you know, real big and so it's been fun to, it's been fun to see her pictures, too. And hear you know what's going on. So it's a busy time for for those people with sheep. Marsha 55:37 But these lambs are so cute. Kelly 55:39 They really are. And baby goats too. I want to say it was probably early April when we when we found out that my niece in Seattle had COVID. So I started sending her Instagram pictures of baby goats. Just to you know, say okay, here's your here's your bright spot for today. And I sent her all such funny little videos of these goats like flying around the pasture or like just like walking along and then all of a sudden just leap in the air and skitter away, like for no reason. So funny. So yeah, it's a good time of year to be following sheep and goats on Instagram. Yeah, Marsha 56:19 yeah. Yeah. So I think that's about it. Do we have anything? There's Kelly 56:23 one more thing and that is the Finnish artist. I just wanted to -- it was shared in the 2 Knit Lit Chicks Ravelry group and I saw it and then I started digging around and looking, looking for more information. So her name is Liisa, Hietanon, I should have looked it up--the pronunciation for that--and in Finnish. But she's an artist, a Finnish artist, and she crochets all sorts of things. But the thing that brought her to my attention was an article about how she had crocheted life-sized replicas of the people in her town. And they're amazing. You can barely tell who's the real person and who's the crocheted version. And you know, thinking of doing these frogs and all the little details that you have to select, to make them actually replicate Frog and Toad in the books. I can only imagine all of the different things that she's thought about to make sure that these crocheted replicas actually, you know, mirror the features of these people in her town. It's amazing. So I've linked to her in the show notes as well, her artist's website, in the show notes as well, and you can take a look. Pretty amazing. Marsha 57:38 Yeah, they are. I'm looking at them now. They're very amazing. They're really yeah, they're very cool. Kelly 57:42 Pretty fun. Marsha 57:43 So with that, I think we're almost at the end, and I just have to let you know that Enzo, when we started to record, he came up and got on the bed, and he's been sleeping on the bed. So the typing sent him away. But the recording brought him back. Kelly 57:59 So you must not be tense when you record, Marsha! It 's all that uploading of your tax documents that has traumatized poor Enzo. Marsha 58:16 Yes. I don't know if we talked about did we talk about that. But Kelly 58:19 you and I talked about it. Marsha 58:20 You can imagine that I've always just, would fill out like a little paper workbook that the accountant sent me and this year, you know, as as you know, Kelly, how much I love being dragged into the 21st century and having to use technology. But I did it. I finally figured it out. It took me two solid days probably. Yes. All that scanning. And and as I say we had a conversation about this. And I realized what they're doing is they probably have to scan all those documents themselves. So normally, I would just send them copies of everything, what they're doing now is they're putting the work on the client, right? They're just foisting it off on-- that sounds too negative, but they they're just making us do the work at this end. So they don't have to I think is what they're really doing. Kelly 59:08 I don't know how much of it is is safety but it I have to say when I when I grade going forward, when the pandemic is over and I'm back face to face or when the pandemic has ramped down, I think I will still have a lot of my students assignments just be uploaded. I don't really prefer grading online. There are some nice features to it. There are some things that are are easier to grade online. But I would always when I got stacks of papers, I would know that you know there was a potential cold coming on, because I just collected a whole bunch of tests that I had to grade. And you know, I would always joke about how I was going to spray my papers with Lysol. I wonder too if that's part of it. You're not having all of that stuff arrive from everybody Marsha 1:00:00 Yeah,I didn't even think about that. And I that makes sense. I didn't. Yeah. And honestly, I didn't think about that. Kelly 1:00:06 I know that the pandemic, I mean, they've said, I've heard different places that actual transmission by, you know, touching objects of COVID is not the real transmission mechanism. It's still important to wash your hands and stuff, but, but that's not the real transmission mechanism the way they originally thought, but it is definitely a disease transmission. Maybe it's just my imagination, but I have experienced that, you know, the the colds come when the tests come and I have to grade papers. So, Marsha 1:00:39 yeah, so maybe it is really not just like they're trying to make us do the bulk.They're trying to protect it. So it's probably... Kelly 1:00:46 it's probably many fold the reasons for doing it. But that, but that's one, you know, you sharing things, sharing objects is something that people are trying to prevent in the pandemics. Yeah, I wouldn't want to be opening a whole bunch of other people's mail. Marsha 1:01:01 Yeah, yeah, that's true. Kelly 1:01:02 I wouldn't want to be collecting a whole bunch of student papers. If I were you know, actually in class, I'd be like, No, you can leave that right there. Marsha 1:01:12 Yeah, Kelly 1:01:13 All right. Well, I'm glad Enzo is no longer traumatized by your typing. Marsha 1:01:20 I will I will try and type lightly and test it and see if. After we hang up, I will try typing on the computer so he gets up and runs to the basement. Kelly 1:01:31 Oh my gosh. Marsha 1:01:32 All right. We'll talk Marsha 1:01:33 Join us on our adventures on Ravelry and Instagram. I am betterinmotion and Kelly is 1hundredprojects. Kelly 1:01:33 Okay, Marsha, bye. Bye. Bye, everyone. Thank you so much for listening. To subscribe to the podcast visit Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Kelly 1:01:50 Until next time, we're the Two Ewes doing our part for a world fleece!

Mar 10, 2021

More discussion about shots (not from a glass) and needles (not for knitting). Sorry! We finally get down to knitting, bored dogs, and new projects. We end by laughing at own ridiculousness when read in a transcript. Show notes with full transcript, photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . If you'd like to become a patron and support the show financially, visit our Patreon page . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects I'm still working on the pair of socks for myself using Drops Fabel Print that I bought in San Luis Obispo. I've knit about 6" of my Walk Along tee by AnkeStrick and I'm using Little Fish Stitches fingering. Beginning to worry if I will have enough yarn. Spinning on and off with olive green merino roving. We had one beautiful sunny day this week that I could sit on the deck and spin. Heaven! I'm combining it with another merino I ordered from Paradise Fibers in Spokane, Washington in a dark brown called Bitter Chocolate. Making a 3 ply with two green and one brown single. I've spun two skeins. Swatching to make the Abington Mitts by Jennifer Lassonde as part of our Extremities Knit/Crochet Along. Using Dale Garn Helio that I got from Kim's bag of yarn headed to the thrift store. Enough yarn for a brown and a burgundy pair. Kelly's Projects I finished the pair of socks for Robert ! And another Ice Time Hat ! The Ice Time Hat is a pattern given to me by BostonJen of Down Cellar Studio podcast . I used two different yellow and purple variegated skeins. Check out my project page . Started the Iced Matcha Socks by Dots Dabbles . I'm using handspun wool mohair yarn that I spun from batts I carded. The wool is Charlotte (a gray sheep whose fleece I bought twice in the early 2000s). The mohair is a similar vintage mohair fleece that I bought and dyed. Both of these patterns are from the designers who have donated prizes for the Extremities K/CAL. I also started Frog and Toad from frogandcast.com . I've finished Toad and now need to start Frog. Then there are clothes to make. Extremities Knit/Crochet Along This KAL/CAL was inspired by the generous donation of these patterns: Abington Mitts , Jennifer Lassonde, Down Cellar Studio Coffee Socks Collection , Dotsdabbles Designs, Deborah It ends on April 25, 2021. Knit anything for your extremities (hands, arms, legs, feet). Winter Weave Along Ends on March 31. We will have prizes, including a class generously donated by Erica at Weavolution . Ep 157 final Mon, 3/8 5:41PM • 59:38 SUMMARY KEYWORDS yarn, knit, socks, laughing, transcript, marsha, appointments, pattern, talking, extremities, vaccine, people, thought, podcast, weaving, hat, crochet, pair, fun, vaccinated SPEAKERS Kelly, Marsha 00:03 Hi, this is Marsha and this is Kelly. Marsha 00:05 We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 00:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 00:17 We blog and post show notes at TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com. Kelly 00:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects, Marsha 00:29 and I am betterinmotion. Kelly 00:31 We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. 00:36 Enjoy the episode. Marsha 00:43 Good morning, Kelly. Kelly 00:44 Good morning, Marsha. It's Friday. Yeah. I'm not sure Friday means much to to a lot of people during a pandemic, but it means a lot to me. Marsha 01:01 Yeah, it doesn't really mean... it doesn't mean... Friday, in fact, well, yeah. Friday doesn't mean that much to me anymore. But yeah, if you're retired, yeah. And you know, Ben does his own school thing. Idon't... I'm not involved in that. And and Kelly 01:14 I hope I should hope not. Marsha 01:16 I know at the age of 23. I should not be involved in it. I'm not. Such a relief. Kelly 01:23 I have students whose children are involved in their college education, helping them but Marsha 01:31 Oh, yeah, yeah,your children appearing in zoom meetings and stuff. Zoom. Kelly 01:35 That too. Yeah. I have a couple of students that come to my office drop in hours, and their children are usually in the background, or you can hear you can hear the schooling going on in the background, while the children are on their own zoom, their own zoom meeting. So. So yeah, I have a class for kind of a beginning level math class, you know, basically no prerequisites. You know, anybody can take it. And some of those students have their kids helping them. "I got confused, and I watched your video, and then I got my kid to help me." Marsha 02:14 So yeah, it's a family, a family affair. Sweet. Kelly 02:20 When parents talk about, you know, having school and kids and all of that, I always, I always tell them how, how much I think it's great. Because it's such a role model for their children, you know, that you continue to learn, but it's rough. I can't imagine the students I have, who are, who are parents who are going back to school, who are working, who are helping their children do their school, I always admire, you know, the parents who are coming back to school and the amount of work that they have to do. But in this pandemic, it's just been, like magnified. Yeah, very impressive. Yeah. their commitment to education. 03:01 Oh, yeah. Marsha 03:02 It's a struggle, but it'll be worth it in the end, you know? Kelly 03:07 Yes. And some of us in the struggle, I'm not including myself in that us really, some people in the struggle will be able to talk about it in the same way that, you know, of the sacrifices that people made during war time. Or, and some people are not, are not stepping up in that way. I sort of wonder what it would be like if they were having to live through war time, or, you know, like, the Greatest Generation they talk about, that, you know, lived through World War Two and made all those sacrifices. And our society is not quite measuring up, I don't think, to that standard. Marsha 03:47 Well, I don't know. I mean, well, you mean, in terms of wearing masks? 03:52 Willing make a..? Being willing to make a sacrifice? Marsha 03:55 Oh, Kelly 03:56 for the good ofeveryone. Marsha 03:59 It may sort of depend on where you live. Kelly 04:01 Yeah. Yeah. Marsha 04:02 You know, because if you're talking like masking specifically, everybody masks up. In fact. I mean,here... Kelly 04:10 what I'm specifically talking about here, I guess I should I should be clear. What was specifically talking about here in California, is all of the complaining about teachers not going back and the teachers unions not wanting to go back and parents can't get their kids back in school. And, like, I understand that, I understand that it's hard. But you don't get to have your same old life. Right? I mean, this is what I want to say to people, right? You don't. None of us gets to have the same life we had last February, none of us does. Marsha 04:16 My mind was going... Well. And I say even with the vaccine, it sounds like we're not going to have our same lives, right? Kelly 04:55 For a while at least. Marsha 04:56 it's going to be a different version of our of our of our same You know, yeah, so, Kelly 05:02 I think I talked about the whole, you know, push to get teachers vaccinated which is happening, and that's really good. But what was being said about what was happening and what was really happening were two different things. And so it makes it seem like, you know, well, all of you teachers are all vaccinated. So why aren't you wanting to come back? Well, we're not all vaccinated. I have my appointment, though. Marsha 05:26 That's good. Kelly 05:27 Yeah. Quick shift of the subject to be more positive. Okay. Just to be clear, I was finding myself going to an ranty place and I don't want to do that. So Marsha 05:45 well, just before you shift, let me just say here, like, I think that where I live in Seattle, everybody's wearing a mask. And so like, it seems to everybody's very compliant. I'm not going to restaurants. Stores that I've gone to, I always go in and say like, you check, how do you want me to do this? Everybody seems very on board with this in my world. In fact, so much so like, when I take Enzo for a walk, I always bring a mask with me. Because even though I don't come in contact with anybody, everybody's masked up even walking through the neighborhood. Yeah. Which I don't even know how necessary that is. But I think it's sort of it's becoming kind of a sign of solidarity, you know, but anyway, yeah. Yeah. But yes, on to more positive things. You're getting your vaccine. Yay. Kelly 06:27 Yeah, yeah. So my first dose is the 13th. And honestly, it felt like I was trying to get concert tickets. We had multiple alerts coming out on the faculty email at work, saying, Oh, I just checked the site, and they've got vaccine appointments, and then I go and no appointments. And when I got up in the morning, I get on the computer, I always check and I go through the whole thing. And the dumb thing is that you had to go through the whole process of putting in all this information. Not all of your information, but you had to click a whole bunch of places, just to be told that there were no appointments available. Like, okay, I'd rather on the very front page, right when I, you know, right, when I click on to the front page, you tell me there's no appointments available. But anyway, I do that every morning, and nothing would be available. And then the other morning, the other morning, I got on and I checked, and there was nothing. And all the dates were old. And I mentioned to Robert Oh, they haven't even updated this website yet. You know, they've still got all the old, all the old dates, they don't have the newest dates. And so then I went on to do my you know, play on the computer, read Ravelry, read my email, that kind of stuff. And I'm reading my email and one of my colleagues had emailed that there were now-- there was-- our county office of education was hosting a vaccine site. And so I went to that. So get this. She, she so it came on, it came on the screen, sometime in like a 10 minute timeframe of when I had looked and when I got the email that it was there. So I went there. It was I mean, at most 10 minutes after it had been live on this website. They had multiple appointments, like six to eight appointments every four minutes, from 10 until 4pm. Marsha 08:32 Mm hmm. Kelly 08:32 So that's a lot of appointments. Marsha 08:34 Yeah. Kelly 08:36 And I made mine. So I got it. I was like, Okay, I'm going to pick a time that has, you know, five appointments available as opposed to two because I don't want to be cart-jacked. You know, I don't want to get to the end and find out my appointment was already taken. So I do that. And then I texted some other people to let them know. And then I went back to look and they were all taken. Marsha 09:01 And you were cart-jacke? I mean they took that one. Kelly 09:05 Oh, no,no, no, I got mine. Okay. But I I texted and then I went back to check on it to see to see like, how many more appointments there still were, and nothing! Okay, so like within 15 minutes. All those appointments, you know, eight, five to eight appointments every four minutes, from 10am to 4pm. All of those appointments were taken within probably 15 minutes. Wow. It felt like I was... or like I was trying to get yarn from a super super popular dyer! Wake up in the middle of the night when the update happens and like in the early days, the Wollmeise I think was one of them. Yeah. You know, people used to get up in the middle of the night to try to get Wollmeise yarn. And anyway, I felt like that as I was trying to get my point. I've never been this excited for a shot in all my life, not even a shot of bourbon! Marsha 10:07 So then, so you'll have, I'm assuming this is the two part vaccine. Kelly 10:14 Yeah, yeah. Marsha 10:15 So then how do you know when you get your second one? Kelly 10:18 I don't know. Yeah. Marsha 10:20 Okay, how that's gonna work? Kelly 10:22 I'm not sure how that's gonna work. Yeah, I'm assuming that the same site will have the second round. And then all of us who got appointments for that first site will go to the second site, go to the second round at that same site, but I don't know for sure. I don't think we know for sure. Marsha 10:41 I was gonna say the thing about the websites, too. So let me just say, you know, in the state of Washington, I don't know what this is, all states have this. But we have Find Your Phase where you can go and find out. And you know, I'm not...I'm not eligible yet. But I went back. They say, well, they will, they will email me when I'm eligible. And I've not received any notification. So I thought, well, I'll go back and to see where I am. Maybe there's more. Because it said, when I when I registered for it, they said they don't know when my category would be eligible. No information, check back. So I thought I'll go check back. You have to register again, there's no way to go in and just log back in and find your own status, even though I've registered. And so this is a long way of saying I think they've... they've thrown these websites together as quickly as they can. And they didn't have I think... Normally with websites don't they go through for companies, they go through testing, right? Everybody uses them to check them all out. I don't think they've had any time to do that. And so there's problems in the system. Yeah Because I have no idea. You can't... Right now, I'm sure if anybody lives in the state of Washington, any of our listeners, they can tell me what's really going on but I couldn't find my status in there. I just had to reregistered again. So and then just add to all of this hearsay, rumor, confusion. Um, my brother registered in Find Your Phase and never got notified. But he's he has medical insurance with Kaiser Permanente. And so he went to the website, and he just started poking around and, and he was able to make an appointment through their website to get the vaccine. And he's never been notified that he was eligible by the state of Washington. Yeah. So I don't know. And he said, also their website, too, again, I think that they are doing the best they can sort of getting something in place, right? But he said that there isn't, like, on the website, if you want a vaccine, click here and make your appointment. He said, You have to dig down through the site, you actually have to say that you want to make an appointment to get like a flu shot or any kind of shot. And then you have to go through the and then it gets you to the part where say what I want is the COVID-19 vaccine. Kelly 12:33 Yeah, like they should have just a big button right on the front, a big button that you push to...Yeah, right. So I bet you're right. I mean, I'm complaining. Marsha 13:08 No, I mean, I mean, Kelly 13:10 it's something that had to be put together quickly. Marsha 13:13 Well, and I should say cuz I'm not... I have no idea. Now. The President came out two or three days ago saying that pretty much everybody who wants a vaccine will have it by May. So I think I will get it soon. I mean, I just it's just a matter of being patient. But I will say again, rumor hearsay, guessing, all this. It is interesting like people posting on Facebook or Instagram that are getting the vaccine. There's somebody who posts on Facebook, I know who posted that she was getting the vaccine. And as far as I know, she doesn't meet any of the criteria-- multi generational household, age, underlying health, as far as I know. And so like, how did she get it? I don't know. It's like, you know, let it go. Just let that go. Kelly 14:08 It's possible there's something you don't knowabout? Marsha 14:10 It's possible there's something I don't know. Because like, it could be an underlying health condition that I don't know about. So. So it's not about-- you can't sit there going like, well, how come they got it? You know, but yeah, that's-- Yeah, we're human. And that's where our mind goes, right? But it really, you know, vaccinate as many people as possible it doesn't really matter even.. you know? Kelly 14:33 I'd be and in my thinking,...Gosh, we've been on this topic for a long time. Sorry, everyone. Marsha 14:39 Yes, I know. Kelly 14:40 But my thinking you know, at first was well, I'm not in contact with anyone. I'm not teaching face to face yet. I don't really need to get the vaccine. You know, I wasn't too worried about jumping.... I wasn't sitting on the computer like it was a rock concert that I wanted tickets to or you know, Hamilton or something big. Cuz I thought well I'm home, you know, I'm not teaching face to face, I'm not going to be teaching face to face in the fall. I don't have to rush. But what you want is everyone, everyone who can, to get it. Marsha 15:13 Yeah, Kelly 15:14 Everyone who can get who can't who can, by whatever means really should get it because that's how you get immunity in, you know, community wide, right. So in the mathematics, there's an interesting-- there was an interesting article about mathematical modeling. And the mathematical model was, what if we do it in phases versus what if we do it as whoever wants it, come and get it? And it actually was more effective in the mathematical modeling, to make it available, you know, to make whatever was available available to whoever wanted it. Marsha 15:52 I know, that's what I was kind of wondering if that would actually make more sense. Kelly 15:55 It was, mathematically, it was more effective. Yeah. But politically, you know, like, I'm getting the vaccine, even though I'm not going to be back in the classroom. Robert goes to work every day. He doesn't work directly with the public, but he goes to work every day, and he's not eligible yet. Yeah. But politically, I mean, they're not distinguishing between educators who are going back to the classroom and educators who are not, it's just easier not to do that. And they, you know, and the the political reality is they needed to make sure that educators got vaccinated because there's such a pressure for our schools to reopen the K 12 schools to reopen. So anyway, yeah, this is a long topic. We're probably, we're probably, we're probably treading on the boundaries of what our listeners are wiling to listen to Marsha 16:46 people are gonna be listening to this walking the dog driving the car going. "Oh, for goodness sakes, stop talking!" Kelly 16:53 Where's the knitting? Marsha 16:54 Where's the knitting? Well, yes, while we wait... So anyway, patience is a virtue. I will get mine soon. I I'm looking forward to it. My vaccination. I'm excited. So anyway, and grateful that we have one. Yeah, pretty speedy the process. Kelly 17:12 Yes,so...and apparently CVS, this part of the email I got this morning. The CVS website is already doing appointments for the Johnson and Johnson one shotvaccine. So all right. That was cool to see. Yeah. That's a lot of very fast science. Marsha 17:30 Yes. Yeah. Okay. Ah, so we talk knitting? Kelly 17:37 Yeah. That's what they're here for. Right? Marsha 17:43 Yeah.Let's give... Kelly 17:43 Sorry, you guys! Marsha 17:44 Let's give them what they want! Kelly 17:46 Yes. Marsha 17:48 Okay, so how about you? Do you want to talk about your projects? Kelly 17:51 Sure, yeah. Okay. So I finished Robert's socks. They turned out really nicely. I'm actually Oh, I'm calling them finished. And I'm actually weaving in ends right now. But, but they're finished. And I've marked them as finished in the project page. He hasn't worn them yet, because I haven't woven in ends. But he tried them on. I did end up making the toe of the first sock bigger than I had done before. The look so funny! I, I have a picture of them. And because of the toe is made from my hand spun it's thicker. It's a little-- it's not quite fingering weight. It's a little bit heavier than that. Plus, it's a, it's a denser yarn. They have the most bulbous toes, but they're not pointy. So he loves them. And I'm like, they look so big. And he said, No, no, they look perfect. So Marsha 18:51 yeah. Are they comfortable? The Kelly 18:52 Yeah, he likes them. Marsha 18:53 The big poofy toes. Yes, he has room for his for his toes. So they're not 19:00 pointy, and they and they are big enough, but they do kind of bulge out while the sock is ribbed. So that's part of it, too. So the ribbing sucks in the foot of the sock. And then I added stitches when I made the toe because it was too dense and stiff and tight. So anyway, yeah, it's they're interesting looking. Marsha 19:25 Well, you'll have to share a picture of them. Kelly 19:27 So I will Yeah, the leading men fiber arts yarn is really nice. I'm gonna get myself some more of this. Maybe not this color. I don't know. I like this color! But it's just a really nice sock yarn. This is-- I think this one might be bfl sock, I can't remember now. But it just it feels nice. It was nice to knit with and the put up is very large. You get a lot of yarn in a skein of this. Marsha 19:59 [Laughing] Okay. Sorry, I'm interrupting. I'm just looking at the Kelly 20:04 you see what I'm talking about? Marsha 20:05 Yes. Yeah. Kelly 20:10 The toes are quite bulbous. Marsha 20:11 Yeah, but they look comfortable. Kelly 20:14 Yes. And they aren't--I mean, they aren't baggy when he wears them. They actually do fit it. Yeah, it's really more of a function of the, the ribbing on the foot, making the ribbing skinny Marsha 20:25 It's when they're lying in repose. [Laughing] Kelly 20:31 But they don't have pointy toes when you fold them top to bottom. [laughing] Marsha 20:36 Yeah, Kelly 20:37 Speaking of starting socks, I did start the Iced Matcha socks by Dots Dabbles. And the yarn I'm using is a handspun. It's a gray. It was... the sheep was Charlotte and I bought her fleece a couple of times. It's the same fleece that I used for the funky grandpa sweater. Marsha 20:56 Okay. Kelly 20:57 And I finally had used both. I bought two of her fleeces two different years back in the early 2000s, late 90s. And I finally spun up the end of it a couple of years ago with some mohair. So these are mohair wool. It's only a two ply. So I don't know how hard wearing they will be. But the mohair should help. It's probably a little bit thicker than a fingering weight. But not not, not so much bigger that I won't be able to use like a size one needle. And I usually use size zero, I'll probably use a size one. And anyway, I decided to make the iced matcha sock pattern. It's like ribbing, you know, has kind of a ribbing effect, which I like. And then it has a little bit of detail, but not so much detail that I won't be able to knit on them during school meetings and that kind of stuff. So and then I'm going to start another pair of of socks. I don't know which ones. I think maybe one of the cabled pairs from either from this collection, or maybe one of the Louise Tilbrook. I have quite a few of her patterns. And I have one pair of socks that I really like that was one of her patterns. So I might make one of hers. They're very involved. So, so the the Iced Matcha of socks will be sort of a medium-involved. Not not super involved, which will be good. So I'm enjoying, I just barely started those. So that's there's not much going on there. Except basically a cast on. I did also finish another Ice Time hat. The first one that I made I don't remember if when I talked about it last. But the first Ice Time hat that I made her pattern. This is from the pattern is by Jennifer Lassonde, Down Cellar studio, BostonJen. And she gave me as a gift, a copy of this pattern. And so I thought, oh, I'll try it. And I mean, I used two variegated yarns. And I looked on the pattern because it came out a little small, my gauge, you know, I usually knit pretty tightly. And so I thought, Oh, this is a little small. But then I looked on the pattern, and she has as the head circumference 18 inches, I think, which is smaller than what I normally do for a hat. Plus the cross stitches, I think have a tendency to make it tighter. Yeah. And plus, it's like a beanie. Marsha 23:41 Yeah. Kelly 23:42 And so, so I thought, Okay, well, this is good, because it's the size for a kid and that was my plan. But I want to make a bigger version. So first, I was gonna, I was gonna just add, you know, like, one pattern repeat or two pattern repeats. And, and then I thought, well, it's when -- when you do the decreases, you divide it into fou. Into four groups to do your decreases. And so like the decreases make an X on the top of the hat. And I thought, okay, that's going to make those four groups different sizes. Marsha 24:18 Yeah. Kelly 24:19 And I just thought, you know what, I'm just going to add four repeats, because 18 inches is small to me for hat circumference. Marsha 24:26 Mm hmm. Kelly 24:27 So that's what I did made it a lot easier to do the decreases and then made the slouchy version, which is more like the kind of hat--again, this is nota hat that I'm going to keep-- but more like the kind of hat that I wear. Doesn't smash your hair as much, you know, hat head. So anyway, I really like it. It came out really great. And so now I have a pair like a mother and daughter a pair of hats. Marsha 24:57 Sweet Kelly 24:58 Yeah, in purple. purple and yellow. Marsha 25:02 So I don't they're not in your project page yet, though, right? Kelly 25:06 Oh, you know, the first one I finished a long time ago. And I just put the second one in the same. So it's farther down on the project page. Oh, I'm, I'm suddenly distracted, because there's someone on the roof right outside. Marsha 25:19 Oh, really? Kelly 25:22 We had the roof put on. And then they had to replace some flashing and replaced--we have these like scupper boxes that the water goes down. They replaced those. And so apparently they're here to do something else with with the flashing. So I suddenly looked up, and there's a stranger on my roof. Right outside the window. Because the Marsha 25:49 and he's wondering why you're talking to yourself? Kelly 25:51 Yes. [laughing] Because the kitchen window or the kitchen roof is right outside the vanity area where I record so anyway. Life at the Locke household! Marsha 26:03 Yes. Kelly 26:05 So both of the designers, dots dabbles of the Iced Matcha socks and Jennifer Lassonde from this Ice Time hat have donated prizes for our extremities KAL that we'll talk about. So it's fun to be using. It's fun to be using their patterns. Although a hat does not count for the extremities KAL. Marsha 26:25 Yes. Kelly 26:27 I looked it up. It's not an extremity. several I looked actually I looked at several dictionaries. When you you know, I looked at I put in extremities and then I looked under several online dictionaries. And none of them included heads. So Marsha 26:46 it's a headless knit along. Kelly 26:50 Exactly! I started something really fun. Marsha 26:54 Oh, yes. Kelly 26:55 Yes. Frog and Toad. Oh my gosh. So cute. And you know, I was talking about socks. The socks being only medium-level involved. Then I started with toad. that's involved! Okay, that kind of knitting is involved, right? I mean, it's kind of sorta like your rabbit. Marsha 27:20 Yeah, lots of increases, decreases. And it's just like a blob until you... it starts. And then they begin to take shape. But originally, initially, you don't really know what you're making, Kelly 27:31 Right! Marsha 27:31 you know, it's the legs but what? Kelly 27:34 It's pretty much one piece, you do have to go and add the arms at the end. It's pretty much one piece. So that was good. You don't have a lot of sewing to do for the extremities. But you do have to do sewing for the eyes. Okay, and you do, you do like afterthought heels where you cut your knitting to make the holes for the eyeballs. Marsha 27:58 Oh, Dear! Kelly 28:00 Yeah, so it reminds me of... I looked at the pattern and it reminds me of when I did the afterthought buttonholes. Because it's a real small thing that you open up, you know, you cut open a piece of your knitting. And Marsha 28:14 so this type of knitting I have to say I'm, I always think the same thing. The mind that can think this way. , To create these very--just adorable and just so creative. I mean, to think like, they can figure out you have to put your decreases here, your increase there and your short rows here and like how they can do all that? How many frogs did the designer make to get the final pattern? You know? Kelly 28:45 Right.A lot of experimentation. Marsha 28:47 Yeah. Kelly 28:48 In the creation process. In fact, her website is frogandcast.com. So as of today, March, what is it March 5 2021. The front page of her website is this little bear and the whole article is about about how she, how her design process for this bear worked. So I highly recommend it as a very interesting read. And it's also a cute pattern. But I'm not going to make this bear I'm going to stick to my Frog and Toad. So I've made toad. And I'm going to.. I want to start on frog soon. I'm gonna wash him, the toad, because I'm using the Ruama. Now I can't remember how that is pronaunced. Finnulgarn Marsha 29:42 Oh, right, right, right Kelly 29:43 that we bought. So this is yarn that Marsha and I bought at stitches one year because we, I was taking the Argyle sock class and so at lunch during my class, during a break, and Marsha and I went down to the floor of the marketplace. And we just started putting color combinations together. And it's Ruama Finnulgarn is what I'm using. The frog is going to be our Toad is in a brown color. And then I have another one of these Ruama Finnulgarn that is alpaca and I have a green, like a limey, goldie... Lime is not the right word, kind of a goldy, green color, kind of an avocado. You know, like 1960s, avocado, refrigerator look or something. Anyway, it's kind of a goldy green that I'm going to use for Frog. And I have the books. And I've been getting the books out and comparing the pictures on the book to the My yarns and stuff to to try to get the right combination. So but this yarn is the the one I use for Toad that doesn't have the alpaca in it is a little bit. It's toothy. You know, it's a woolly wool. And so I know those soften up when you wash them, so I'm going to block him before I stuffed him. And also the yarn will kind of bloom and help keep the anything is stuffed, you know, help keep the stuffing from showing. So yeah, but I'm using size zero or size one needles. I think I'm using size zero and the let me just double check. Yes, it calls for size one. And I'm at I'm using a size zero needle because my yarn is a little thinner. The pattern calls for a DK yarn. And I'm using a thinner yarn its more like a sport. Marsha 31:43 I'm sorry, it calls for DK and size zero needles? Kelly 31:47 It calls for size one needles. Marsha 31:50 Oh one, ok. Kelly 31:50 and it has a I mean, Marsha 31:52 that's still that's really small. Because it's you want to have a really dense, right? Kelly 31:56 Right, , so the stuffing doesn't show. Yeah, so anyway, I went down to size zero. And actually it was worked out well, because the size zero needles that I have are short. And the size one needles were longer. And it's so tiny, that it's really nice having the I don't know, they're just like maybe four inch needles, double points. They're they're small. They're small double points. And, and I don't use them. I can use them on socks. Like I bought them for socks. And I use them for socks for me. They're not my favorite sock needles, because I like using the wooden ones. But I can use them for socks for me. But for socks for Robert. With 72 stitches. They're just too, they're too short. Yeah, but they're perfect for this. I think magic loop would work. You know, you just have to keep track of where where she says to place the markers. Yeah. So that you can make all the all the little adjustments. Yeah, but super fun. His little fingers! You do little you do on his on his on his hands. You do little PicoT bind off. So you get little fingers. It's so my gosh, so cute. Marsha 33:20 Again, Igo back to what I said. It takes a certain kind of mind. Yes, like amazing mind. This kind of stuff Kelly 33:27 His little knees. He has nice has a little frog legs have little knees. So very fun. Very fun. I can't wait to start Frog this weekend. I'm hoping I'm hoping maybe I can have I can have them done by Easter would be kind of a fun thing to do for to give to Faye for Easter. So yeah, that's kind of my that's kind of my plan. We'll see if I am able to do it. But but that's what I'm hoping. fiddley definitely worth it. So that's my, that's the extent of my projects Marsha. Marsha 34:08 Well, and I just have to ask the the, the Afghan the Oh, Kelly 34:14 I have been working on it. The last the last time we recorded I hadn't done any significant work on it at all. But I have been working on it. Now I've made probably maybe five of the squares. Not the big octagons. But the smaller, the smaller ones that can connect and kind of... I made about five of those. And then I made another I have I have done one of the octagons but then.. I was... One night I was just focusing on something simpler. And so it's basically just a granny square. And then it has an edge that has a little bit of detail something a little more complicated. So I was just doing the basic granny square part and I did about I did about five of them and then I started...Another day, I picked them back up and started doing the outer edge of each of the squares. So yeah, I made made some progress on that. So maybe sometime in the late spring, I'll be done. I'll be done with that one. But I'm not going to make any promises. Marsha 35:15 Yeah. Yeah. Never make promises. Kelly 35:20 So what about you? Marsha 35:21 So my Walk Along Tee, I've knit about six inches of the body. And I love the technique that we have discussed the Helical, right, we discussed? It's, it's great. There's some times when I get to the... there's fake side seam on the sweater and where you do you hold the yarn in front, and then slip the stitch through the back loop. And sometimes if you have any details, something like that, that's just not straight stockinette then you have to do a little fiddling around. Yeah. So like, as I said, in previous episodes, you know, this would not work for cables, or Yeah, this technique, it just has to be stockinette. But so I'm, that's just sort of my knitting when I watch Netflix. I just go around and around and around and around on them. I think you do about... you start doing increases on the way down. And I think I talked about this before, I'm not sure if I'm gonna put all of them in it. It ends up being a total of 20 stitches, which is fair amount, so I may not put all those in. I'm also beginning to worry about if I'm going to have enough yarn. Kelly 36:37 Oh. Another one of those Marsha 36:41 I know. It could be just illusion. Kelly 36:44 Yeah, yeah. Marsha 36:46 Because I have now... I had three skeins which I divided into half, right. So I had six cakes. I've used up two cakes. And I am probably halfway through the second set of two cakes. And I'm six inches of the body. And then I also have to do sleeves. So I-- but I'm going down to-- we're going down to Seabrook. I think we leave the 13th. So and that's where I bought the yarn at the string theory yarns in Seabrook, Washington. So I'm, when I'm down there, I'm going to have a better idea and I can maybe pick up another skein. I'm hoping I don't have to, but we'll see. Anyway, so I'm making progress on that. And I've been spinning on and off on the olive green Merino roving that I have that I'm combining with the dark brown, that's called bitter chocolate. And I've I had made two skeins and now I'm just filling up the bobbins again, so I filled the two green and now I'm filling up the brown bobbin. So I had-- it was-- we had a couple of nice days this week. And so I think it was Wednesday. It was nice. And I just sat on the deck. My new deck. Kelly 38:13 Yeah. Marsha 38:15 And spun. By the way, thinking that I was sitting out there spinning, Did you see my Instagram post of Enzo, staring at the dog. Kelly 38:26 Yes. Yes. Marsha 38:27 Isn't that the funniest thing that was so cute. Anyway, if you don't know what I'm talking about, go to my Instagram. And you'll see the picture of Enzo looking at the neighbor's dog. But the neighbor's dog is in the window peering out and they stare at each other for a good 15 minutes. It was pretty funny. Kelly 38:45 I feel bad for Bailey because I think she's, I mean, she spent a good a good part of her life before she came to live with us living at a dog boarding kennel right? Doggy daycare and boarding kennels. So, so she was around other dogs all the time. And now it's you know, it's just her. And we have neighbors and they have... one of our neighbors has dogs that they fence fight, which I don't like so I keep her away from that. But the other neighbor has a lab that sometimes I can't find her in the backyard and I go looking for her and she's down at the fence and they are just like nose to nose at the fence talking to each other. Like, you know, not barking. Just like somehow communing. They're like keeping company with each other next to the fence. I feel like ohhh. Marsha 39:36 I was gonna ask that, put this question out to people and to our listeners later on in the podcast, but since we're on this topic, I'm just going to mention it. Because Enzo has been acting really weird recently. I've been doing long walks, I take him out and he just drags towards the end of his walk. I have to pull him along to get him home. And he's very lethargic. So I thought and I was like.. I wonder if I had to take him to the vet, you know, he's not it. Maybe there's something wrong with him. I finally thought, I think he's bored. Kelly 40:08 Mm hmm. Marsha 40:09 His life is basically sleeping around the house while I do things. One long walk during the day, and then back to sleeping around that house. Kelly 40:16 Yeah, he doesn't want the walk to end. Marsha 40:19 Yeah, that's what I'm kind of wondering. And so I, I'm varying the route. I also am playing with him every day because I realized I wasn't playing with him. And Ben doesn't live with me now who would have time playing with him. So I, every day I take, I either chase him around the house, chase him around in the backyard, which he loves. Or I, the other thing I do, which he loves is that down in the basement, I take the ball and he stands at the top of the stairs, I throw the ball up to him, and then he kicks it, he knocks he pushes it down the stairs. And then I throw it back until we do that for about 40 minutes, 45 minutes, depending on how long we want to do it. And then I also decided to get him back into agility. But I'm having a difficult time getting him into class because I think so many people have dogs now. I went like all of the... We've done all the obedience classes, but they're all full till April or May. And so I signed him up for agility, but I can't get in until I think the end of April. Yeah. So I'm going to put it out to listeners if you have any ideas what to do to keep him... because he does seem depressed, kind of or bored. Kelly 41:30 I'm going to give a suggestion. I am interested to hear what people have to say, but I'm going to give a suggestion. tricks. Teach him tricks. Marsha 41:40 Oh, yeah. Kelly 41:41 Well, you took a class, right? You did a trick class. Marsha 41:44 Yeah. But I can't get into it now. So. Oh, but I can just do it on my own.I don't need to go. Kelly 41:51 Yeah. So I mean, yeah, you know how to, I mean, you have some ideas for how to teach some of this stuff. But it's kind of fun. Is it a little more entertaining? I'd do that, at least for me, it'd be a little more entertaining than throwing the ball up the stairs for 40 minutes. Yes, for the human part of the partnership, it's more interesting Marsha 42:13 well and use his mind more you know, I because that also, you know, he just needs to use his mind. But like, my brother came by yesterday said what's wrong with the dog? And so like he saw I was like, okay, you're here. He's usually excited. He's super excited to see Mark. But he was excited and then like, laying on the sofa. And then Mark came back in the house and he didn't even get up off the sofa. I have a towel down on the basement sofa and doesn't even get up to the greet him. He's like, That's weird. I mean, cuz he usually... Like they say poodles are smart. I sometimes wonder because he's super excited to see you. You go out to the garage, you come back into the house, and he's like, Oh, you've been gone. He's so happy to see you. Like literally two minutes, but, okay. Yeah, so anyway, people, listeners, if you have suggestions for how to get my dog, I don't think he's really depressed. But I think he feels like he's depressed and bored. And like the rest of us in the pandemic, you know. But anyway, yeah, so I'll go back to projects. so I've been spinning and I'm enjoying that I just find the spinning so meditative. And just that one day where I was able to sit out there on the deck was so nice in the sun. It just sort of gives me hope that spring is on its way. And then I, as we're talking I am swatching to make the Abington Mitts by Jennifer Lassonde and as we talked in... that's our segue into our, the knit along. But I just tell you, the yarn I'm using is Dale Garn Helio. Kelly 43:53 Is that like a Dale of Norway yarn? Marsha 43:54 Oh, I'm sorry. It's it's a Heilo. It's H E I L O, and it's a, I believe it's DK weight, which is what is required for the mitts. Kelly 44:04 Something from your stash. Okay. Your Spirit yarn. Marsha 44:07 No, no, it's not from my stash. It's from Kim's stash. I went and had dinner with her one night and she had a bag of yarn that was going. She had gone through her stash and she had yarn that was going to the Goodwill. And I said do you happen to have anything that's this weight because I don't need a lot for the mitts and I don't really want to go out to a store so... and I didn't have... I have DK weight but I didn't have anything that was not painted. I want a solid or semi solid. I thought it would look better with this pattern. And so she had this yarn, a whole bag of this yarn in two colors. The one I'm going to use is kind of milk chocolate color, brown, like a natural color. And then also she has another color in here a kind of a burgundy. So I think there's another yarn I can make two pairs, one in each. Kelly 44:59 Oh, that's fun! Marsha 45:01 So anyway, I'm swatching for that. And so for our knitalong, so we should talk about the knitalong Kelly 45:08 So we are having an extremities knit along, and it was inspired by two offers of prizes. One is the Coffee Socks Collection that I already talked about, by Dots Dabbles Designs, Deborah. And the other gift that we got-- offer of a prize--was the Abington Mitts that Marsha is making. And so with these prizes when they came at the same time, and one was for feet, and one was for hands, and so we just decided, oh, let's have an extremities knit along/crochet along so you can knit or crochet anything for your hands, arms, legs, feet. Marsha 45:45 We've had lots of discussion about this, but it's not your head. Because Kelly did lots of research and your head apparently is not Kelly 45:55 according to the authorities on the internet [laughing] Marsha 45:58 Yes. According to the internet, your head is not an extremity! Kelly 46:02 That's no no hats in this time. Yeah, but legs, feet, arms, hands, you know, there's lots of lots of possibilities there. Mitts, socks are the most... Marsha 46:15 And even though we're saying it's called a knit/crochet along you can weave, you can macrame. Kelly 46:24 Okay, I don't know macrame sock? That Marsha 46:28 Yeah. Interested in any you know, like any? We were also talking in the last episode, what is it called the Kelly 46:35 Nalbinding. Now, that's how you say it? That's a that's a close facsimile of how it's pronounced at least. Oh, Marsha 46:45 you know what I think would be really cool. Do you know those lace the little lace gloves that Ruth Bader Ginsburg would wear? Kelly 46:53 Yeah, Marsha 46:55 That'd be really fun to make. 46:56 Oh, you know, as we're sitting here, I'm sitting in the vanity area of our spare bedroom. And at the vanity table normally... not right now because I move everything when I want to record. But at the vanity table, I have a little, one of those little vanity mirrors with perfume bottles. And then I have a pair of crochet gloves. Do you remember Marsha when I bought those at the antique store? Marsha 47:24 Yeah, Kelly 47:25 I have no idea how old they are. But they're teeny tiny still little crochet stitches. And they have the little buttons. They're long gloves though. They go up your arm and they have the little ...they have the little buttons and the buttons are crocheted. And the little button loops are all crocheted. The button holes don't go all the way up the gloves. Like the whole gauntlet part of the glove doesn't open up. There's just a section of buttonholes. Yeah, that would be fun. A knit or crocheted set of fancy, old fashioned. Marsha 48:01 They were kind of like fishnet kinda. Kelly 48:04 Yeah. Like afternoon tea gloves. Marsha 48:06 Mm hmm. I'm as we're speaking, this is bad podcasting, but I'm just looking at online and there's like a, there's a crocheted pair. From J and P coats. It looks like it's very old because it's a black and white photo with an old car. Okay. I don't know if they're Yeah, Kelly 48:25 that's a that's a company that makes like the crochet cotton. Yeah. Oh, that would be fun. Well, and you know, the other thing that I thought of is our we had bought the silk to make silk socks. Last year at Stitches. I haven't started those yet either. But I'm gonna-- I'm gonna stick to the socks that I have for right now. But yeah, the mesh gloves. There's there's a lot. Marsha 48:50 We'll search, Yeah. And apparently you can buy this on on Amazon. It's not that old a book. It was published in 2009. I guess that is old. Well, no. That's right. Kelly 49:03 I'm thinking of like, gloves from the 1950s or something. Marsha 49:08 Yeah, that's what it kind of looks like but it's a it's like those lace gloves like she wore in that really fine cotton. And so and there's other patterns here too. So Kelly 49:15 cool. Marsha 49:16 Yeah, I don't know. Okay, well, we went we went down a rabbit hole on that. Okay. Kelly 49:23 But you know, you can have a, you could have a nice pair of gloves for Easter. So lots of possibilities. Join us. There's a chat thread and there's a finished object thread. Quite a bit of chat going on about the projects that people are doing not very many finished objects yet but there are a few I noticed. Marsha 49:42 So, 49:43 and then our Winter Weave Along, not much time left. I have hopes of getting at least something else started if not finished. But we'll see. The only reason I still have hope is because I have spring break. Coming the third week of March, so two weeks, two weeks from now I have spring break. Yay. So maybe I could do something during spring break in terms of the weaving, but otherwise, I'm almost, I'm almost sure that I don't I, I'm almost sure I won't get something finished. But I might get something else on the loom. Because it ends March 31. So another year of weaving coming to an end for us. But if you're in the Jane Stafford Guild, her year of weaving is just starting. So that's kind of fun. Marsha 50:37 Okay, one ends and one begins so you get you get to truly a full year. Well, I guess it's been a full year. Kelly 50:44 I haven't ever kept up with hers. And like woven the thing, the projects in the guild, at the time that everybody else, you know, at the time that the the videos come out? I wanted to do that this year, but I'm not sure. I don't know. This might not be the year teaching online. It's getting better. I have to I have to admit it is getting better. But well, you know. It's it's not my favorite thing. Marsha 51:11 Well, we should not end the podcast on the same vein as it started. Listening to Kelly rant about stuff she doesn't like! Yes. So anyway, the winter weave along is, is ending March 31. So get your projects in, put them in the finished objects thread. Then we'll be doing a drawing and one of the things that we have as a prize is a class that was donated by Erika from Weavolution. So. And then the other thing that I just wanted to say, before we end is I wanted to thank our new patrons! We have three new patrons. Jane, Heddi, and Jan since the last time I mentioned new patrons. So if you'd like to be a patron, how you do that is you go to patreon.com/twoewes. And you'll see our... I guess it's a channel or a page. I don't know, our account. And then and you can you can become a patron and support the show. So really, thank you so much Jane and Heddi, and Jan for for contributing to the show. It allows us to provide, you know, the podcast hosting and prize mailing and all those kinds of things and something new, Marsha! Something really exciting that we're able to do because of the patrons. Transcripts. Oooh! Oh, yes. Kelly 52:41 So we now have a transcript of our podcast. Having used the transcription service for my classes, I learned a little bit more about the company that's powering the transcriptions for our for work on our classes. It's otter.ai. And so I went to their website, and they have regular accounts for regular people. And not you know, not just education and and such. And so I found out a little bit more about it. And so we just when the when the podcast is done, you submit it, it creates a transcript. You have to edit it because it's not entirely... It's not entirely accurate. It doesn't always understand when Marsha and I talk over each other. So there is a little editing to do for that. But But now we have a transcript that is attached. It's in the show notes at the end. So we have our regular show notes posted on the blog. And then at the end of that show notes post is the transcript. Okay, I have to say it is almost as an nerving to read as my math. My teaching transcript. I don't know if you read if you had a chance to read? Marsha 54:06 I didn't read it. And now actually as you were talking about all this I was sort of thinking to myself, I don't know that I want to read it because...Oh, here it is. Okay. Here. I'm sorry. I think this is what we say every every episode. Kelly: hi Marsha. Marsha: Hi, Kelly. Kelly: How's it going? Marsha: Pretty good. Kelly: Good. Kelly 54:28 Yes. It doesn't... I have to say, yeah, it made me laugh to read how it sounds, but it makes it available to people that wouldn't be available to otherwise. Marsha 54:41 So Kelly, we need to edit this. Because you say you know "good," and then I say "had pretty exciting weather here in Seattle. A little unusual for us that we had a huge snores" Oh! This is what I said "Excuse me, snore a huge snowstorm came through. [laughing} I did actually say that! Okay, [laughing] Kelly 55:06 yeah. Marsha 55:07 Okay, This is terrible. This is embarrassing. I'm gonna have to do a much better. Kelly 55:14 So now remember when we talked about how I was like, Oh my god, how could I have been teaching this long and not make any sense? Marsha 55:23 Yes. Well, what I'm just laughing about is is that it was not the episode where I'm trying to explain helical knitting. Yeah, and I'm waving my hands around in the air trying. Yeah, but so Kelly 55:39 it's been an interesting process, we'll probably get better. The transcripts will probably get better as we go along. But, you know, I become more aware, it would never have occurred to me a year ago, two years ago, it would never have occurred to me that you would need a transcript for a podcast. My thinking would have been well, why would someone who can't hear even think to listen to a podcast? Right? And, and my, my eyes have been opened, you know, having to make my class accessible to my students. And then other things, you know, the conversations about racism and structural, structural racism. And all of those conversations have just kind of opened my eyes and made me think about things that, that I didn't think about before, I would not have thought about a reason for making a podcast, an audio experience, available to someone who couldn't hear. Marsha 56:40 So I'm not.[laughing] I'm sorry, I am not laughing about what you're saying. Just so you know, I'm sort of chuckling because I'm listening to what you're saying. But I'm also kind of scanning the transcript. So I'm sorry, I am not laughing at all at what you're saying. Kelly 56:52 What are you laughing about now? Marsha 56:54 Okay, so um, so it was very pleasant to sit out there on a snowy day because you have heat but anyway, period. Then that night, it just started coming down and it snowed all day period. I mean, all Friday night, Friday morning, or excuse me, Saturday morning, all Saturday into Sunday. Just It never stops. And we have I mean, eight someplace about eight inches probably at my house. Snow, that's a lot of snow for us. We don't usually get that much. But of course then Sunday, late Sunday afternoon or evening. It just turned around. [laughing] Kelly 57:36 Marsha, this is what we talk about. Marsha 57:38 Oh my gosh. [laughing] And then it just became soup out there. You know? Kelly? We have to do a better job. This is terrible! So eye opening what sounds okay in normal conversation is not okay. The transcript it's unreadable. Pretty much. Oh, my gosh, it's too funny. [laughing] Well, anyway, I have work to do. On clarity, Kelly 58:15 We both, we both do, I think, having having read through it last last time to do the editing. Yeah, we both do. So anyway, now we have transcripts. And I'm very happy that we're able to do that. And it's thanks to the contributions of our patrons. So thank you very much for contributing to the podcast. Marsha 58:41 I'm still laughing I'm sorry. I will stop laughing. Kelly 58:48 Okay, Marsha. [laughing] Are we done? Marsha 58:54 This reminds me of those times over the course of our friendship where we'd have those laughing attacks. Kelly 58:59 Yes. Marsha 59:00 And have accidents. So I better get off the podcast. We better get off the phone before I have an accident. Kelly 59:07 All right. Bye! [laughing] Marsha 59:13 Okay, bye bye. [laughing] Kelly 59:16 To subscribe to the podcast visit Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Marsha 59:21 Join us on our adventures on Ravelry and Instagram. I am betterinmotion and Kelly is 1hundredprojects 59:29 until next time, we are the Two Ewes doing our part for a world fleece!

Feb 21, 2021

We talk about captions, speaking clearly, vaccinations and our pitifully small batch of knitting projects. Full show notes with transcript, photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects I'm still working on the pair of socks for myself using Drops Fabel Print that I bought in San Luis Obispo. I'm making progress on the Walk Along tee by AnkeStrick and I'm using Little Fish Stitches fingering. I've put the sleeves on waste yarn and knit about an inch on the body. I lost the tags on the half cakes of yarn that I had set up so I could alternate skeins and avoid pooling. I think it will be ok, but I spent so much time documenting my strategy. I started a spinning project with olive green merino roving I bought at the Whidbey Island Weavers meet up in April 2019. I'm combining it with another merino I ordered from Paradise Fibers in Spokane, Washington in a dark brown called Bitter Chocolate. Making a 3 ply with two green and one brown single. I've spun two skeins. Kelly's Projects I'm almost finished with a pair of socks for Robert . I'm using leftovers of Leading Men Fiber Arts Show Stopper, Independent Will colorway. I had 90 grams left after using it for argyle socks for my brother-in-law. I'm using gray handspun leftovers from his Civil War Socks for the toes and heels. I also started an Ice Time Hat . The yarn is Lady Dye craftivism kit singles (19th Amendment colorway) in cream, purple and yellow, held double with Duren Dyeworks fingering in a brownish purple and gold. The pattern is really fun and it's looking great! Check out my project page . Extremities Knit/Crochet Along This KAL/CAL was inspired by the generous donation of these patterns: Abington Mitts , Jennifer Lassonde, Down Cellar Studio Coffee Socks Collection , Dotsdabbles Designs, Deborah It starts now (February 2021) and will end on April 25, 2021. Knit anything for your extremities (hands, arms, legs, feet). Some examples include socks, leg warmers, mitts, mittens, gloves, and wristlets. There will be a giveaway thread in the Ravelry Group for you to post your FOs. Winter Weave Along You can join in with your weaving projects anytime until March 31. We will have prizes, including a class generously donated by Erica at Weavolution . Check out this great website for weavers with projects, discussion, classes, and lots of resources. The website has a handy Weaving Calculator that you can use for project planning.

Feb 14, 2021

Lots of tangents and a new KAL/CAL inspired by some new patterns for your hands and feet generously donated by the designers as prizes. Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects I'm still working on the pair of socks for myself using Drops Fabel Print that I bought in San Luis Obispo. I'm back to working on the Walk Along by AnkeStrick and I'm using Little Fish Stitches fingering. I was having problems where I was alternating skeins at the beginning of row which was at the back of the sweater. A huge thank you to MyBlueGirl and Sarahjhill for suggesting Helical knitting. This solves the problem of the messy looking change. I started a spinning project with olive green merino roving I bought at the Whidbey Island Weavers meet up in April 2019. Combining it with another merino I ordered from Paradise Fibers in Spokane, Washington in a dark brown called Bitter Chocolate. Making a 3 ply with two green and one brown single. Kelly's Projects Finished! I hemmed the Christmas Candy dishtowels and put them away! I also finished With Friends Pullover using the pattern Rachel by Josée Paquin . It still needs ends woven in and blocking. I'm really happy with how it turned out and I'm looking forward to wearing it. The Persian Tile Blanket is coming along, but I didn't work on it as much in the last two weeks. Instead I started a pair of socks for Robert. I'm using leftovers of Leading Men Fiber Arts Show Stopper, Independent Will colorway. I had 90 grams left after using it for argyle socks for my brother-in-law. Not sure I'll have enough but I'm planning to use toes and heels of a different yarn. Extremities Knit/Crochet Along This KAL/CAL was inspired by the generous donation of these patterns: Abington Mitts , Jennifer Lassonde, Down Cellar Studio Coffee Socks Collection , Dotsdabbles Designs, Deborah It starts now (February 2021) and will end on April 25, 2021. Knit anything for your extremities (hands, arms, legs, feet). Some examples include socks, leg warmers, mitts, mittens, gloves, and wristlets. There will be a giveaway thread in the Ravelry Group for you to post your FOs. Winter Weave Along You can join in with your weaving projects anytime until March 31. We will have prizes, including a class generously donated by Erica at Weavolution . Check out this great website for weavers with projects, discussion, classes, and lots of resources. The website has a handy Weaving Calculator that you can use for project planning.

Jan 25, 2021

Preventing pooling, planning with paper, and a dilemma about how to hide where you are alternating skeins. These are the topics of the day! Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects I finished Holey Comfort cardigan by Hinterm Stein and it fits beautifully. This is a great pattern. I am continuing to work on a pair of socks for myself using Drops Fabel Print that I bought in San Luis Obispo. Along with my friend Kim I cast on a Tee called Walk Along by AnkeStrick. I'm using Little Fish Stitches fingering that I got at the yarn shop in Seabrook. I have a bit of a dilemma about alternating skeins. The yarn is variegated and I want to prevent pooling. So of course, I'm alternating skeins. The problem is how to hide the place where it is happening, especially while working on the yoke. Kelly's Projects The Persian Tile Blanket for my grand niece is coming along well. I have about a dozen octagons finished and I'm planning to get some of the squares and triangles done before I finish up the octagons. I want the yarn colors to be well distributed. I'm still working on my With Friends Pullover using the pattern Rachel by Josée Paquin . However, I am planning to modify the ribbing on the bottom of the split hem by using the larger needle size and also by using garter stitch instead in the reverse stockinette sections of the ribbing. That will keep the ribbing from pulling in at the bottom, I hope. Paper, Planning, and Plotting We had our drawing for the giveaway and Marsha identified several themes in people's responses. Here's what she has to say: I went down a rabbit hole watching videos about Bullet Journals , Hobonichi Techno , and Elfinbooks . :-) Paper still seems to be the most popular...wall calendars, journals, dayrunners, notebooks for lists. Graph paper seems to be a favorite. Notebooks for keeping ideas for craft projects. Most people seem to keep track of patterns, projects, stashes, etc on Ravelry.

Jan 11, 2021

The solace of creating order, a nice button band technique, and plans for 2021. Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android or Subscribe on Google Podcasts Marsha's Projects Finished the body and ¾ of the sleeves of Holey Comfort cardigan by Hinterm Stein. Bind off is a really nice I-cord bind off. Sleeve width seems okay but need to decrease faster on the way to cuffs. It will be touch and go with yarn amount Working on foot of first pair of socks for myself using Drops Fabel Print that I bought in San Luis Obispo. Swatched with Little Fish Stitches fingering for a Tee called Walk Along by AnkeStrick. Techniques for neat button bands: pick up stitches with #1 needle and then knit with pattern size - Cocoknits Pick up exact number of stitches in body and then decrease to number of stitches called for pattern. Marsha purchased the Lady Dye Yarns kit: Schitt's Creek 2.0. Kelly's Projects I've been working a lot on the Persian Tile Blanket for my grand niece. I'm following the color choices (sort of) of a project by JenasaurusWake that I saw while watching FO radar. I'm using Knit Picks Brava Worsted in lots of fun bright colors and making color choices to make all the octagons look like they have different sized flowers in them. With Friends Pullover . I'm using two patterns: Rachel by Josée Paquin , and Fresh by Josée Paquin . I've put on the front hem The weaving is finished on the Ribbon Candy Christmas dishtowels and they have all been washed, but not yet hemmed. I had a rocky start, but was able to correct a warping mistake that made one of my white stripes bigger than the others. I also was inspired by the Jane Stafford Guild videos to go off my pattern and play with some twill treadlings. Plans for 2021 We talked about our 2021 plans and discovered that we are oh, so predictable. You don't even really have to listen to this episode! We said exactly the same things in Episode 106 in January 2019 and Episode 127 in January 2020. Recommendations Kelly recommends two YouTube knitting shows Sweet Tea, No Shade with John and Scott Needles at the Ready show with Kevin and Ray. Marsha shares videos (created by the tour company) from last year's Iceland trip. Video of our Icelandic cooking class Video of our visit to Icelandic geothermal plant and lava tube Ongoing Giveaway--Paper, Planning, and Plotting We are giving away two items to one lucky winner! Two Sheeps Calendar : A Celebration of Independent Yarn Dyers. Each month features an exclusive skein from an indie dyer and the link to order the yarn. It's not just a calendar! Pack of three Field Notes notebooks in the Snowy Evening design . To enter, answer this prompt: How do you keep your plots and plans straight? Paper, digital, other? Do you use a calendar? What kind? A notebook? What kind? Do you use a notebook for your projects or just Ravelry? When do you use paper and when do you use digital? Enter in the thread in the Ravelry group , or you can send a comment from our website , you can send us an audio file by emailing us twoewes@twoewesfiber.com, or send us a dm on Instagram From all the responses we'll draw a winner on January 20 and you'll hear the winner during the second January episode.

Dec 27, 2020

Holiday fun has exhausted Marsha while Kelly has been busy making a butt-shaped divot on her couch. Plus we have a patron giveaway and a surprise Winter Weave Along prize today! Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Marsha's Projects I haven't knit a stitch on the Holey Comfort cardigan by Hinterm Stein, but I did wind the fourth skein. I plan to bring it on a New Year's trip and make some good progress. But I am the boss of my knitting, so I might choose to work on something else instead! I turned the heel and started the gusset of a pair of socks for myself using Drops Fabel Print that I bought at the San Luis Obispo yarn crawl back in 2014. I also finished a holiday tea cosy in red and green using the pattern Nanny Meiers Tea Cozy by Amelia Carlson published by Fiber Trends. I used spirit yarn from Sears! Finally, I'm swatching with Little Fish Stitches fingering for a Tee called Walk Along by AnkeStrick. Kelly's Projects I've been working a lot on the Persian Tile Blanket for my grand niece. I'm following the color choices (sort of) of a project by JenasaurusWake that I saw while watching FO radar. I'm using Knit Picks Brava Worsted in lots of fun bright colors and making color choices to make all the octagons look like they have different sized flowers in them. With Friends Pullover . I'm using two patterns: Rachel by Josée Paquin , and Fresh by Josée Paquin . I've put the hem on waste yarn and picked up for the first sleeve. I'm going to start with the dark green at the top of the sleeve and then move into the stripe colors. I'll do the sleeves similarly to the Fresh pattern where the sleeves are mostly one color and then there is a little bit of striping. I finished 14 dishcloths in the Triple L Tweed stitch from the Purl Soho Slip Stitch Dishtowels pattern . I cast on a multiple of 3 stitches +1. It's usually 34 or 37 stitches because I like a compact dishcloth. I totally used up four different 108-yard skeins of Tahki Cotton Classic Ongoing Giveaway--Paper, Planning, and Plotting Enter on Ravelry , through the website comments page , or through email (twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com) by Jan 20th. Or email us a voice memo and we'll play your response on the show! The winner will get: Two Sheeps Calendar : A Celebration of Independent Yarn Dyers. Each month features an exclusive skein from an indie dyer and the link to order the yarn. It's not just a calendar! From twosheeps: Working with each dyer, we have obtained a limited supply of each exclusive colorway. The yarn in each month's photograph is available for purchase on the first day of that month. We are grateful to each dyer for creating, dyeing, twisting, and labeling these amazing skeins and are thrilled to showcase their talent in our company's first calendar! Pack of three Field Notes notebooks in the Snowy Evening design . From Field Notes: We've limited this 49th Quarterly Edition to 33,333 3-Packs. Each Memo Book cover features a unique snowflake illustration rendered by our friend and co-conspirator, Brendan Dawes . Each snowflake is different, so every book is different, and so for the first time in a Quarterly Edition – we've individually numbered each book. To enter, answer this prompt: How do you keep your plots and plans straight? Paper, digital, other? Do you use a calendar? What kind? A notebook? What kind? Do you use a notebook for your projects or just Ravelry? When do you use paper and when do you use digital? Marsha and Kelly will put up a thread in the Ravelry group, or you can send a comment from the website, you can send us an audio file (for example using voice memo phone app and emailing it, send us a dm on Instagram or email us twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com. We'll draw a winner on January 20 and you'll hear about it during the second January episode on about January 25. Patron Appreciation Time! Stuck at home we are reliving memories of travels. For the next few months we will be having a once a month patron giveaways to remind everyone of faraway places. The prize is a hat kit from Marsha's trip to Iceland. It is from the Uppspuni Mini Mill . The yarn is black with purple contrast color. If you'd like to go back and listen to the Iceland dispatches they are in Episode 129 and Episode 130 . The winner of the Icelandic yarn is Barbara G., a patron since January of 2019. Winter Weave Along We're brightening up the winter by having a giveaway from the Winter Weave Along chat thread. Nan4now is the winner of a cone of Sally Fox cotton. Contact me ASAP as her 2020 stock is dwindling! Vreseis is the website and she has been documenting her history on her Vreseis Instagram You can join in with your weaving projects anytime until March 31. We will have prizes, including a class generously donated by Erica at Weavolution . Check out this great website for weavers with projects, discussion, classes, and lots of resources. The website has a handy Weaving Calculator that you can use for project planning. Remembering our Amy with a Caps for Kids KAL To honor her memory, we are having a Caps for Kids KAL from now until February 15th, to knit or crochet caps in any washable yarn, any pattern, any size, and donate them to a kids charity. Please post a photo of your cap(s) here before donating them.

Dec 16, 2020

We celebrate the life of a fiber adventurer we've lost, plus we talk paper, planning, and plotting. How do you keep your life in order? Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Memories In Memory of Greenhook (Amy from Salem, OR) From her local Ravelry Group: Remembering our Amy with a Caps for Kids KAL To honor her memory, we are having a Caps for Kids KAL from now until February 15th, to knit or crochet caps in any washable yarn, any pattern, any size, and donate them to a kids charity. Please post a photo of your cap(s) here before donating them. Marsha's Projects I haven't knit a stitch on the Holey Comfort cardigan by Hinterm Stein, but I did wind the fourth skein. Finished socks for myself using Tilli Tomas Artisan Sock in Coconut Grove. Started another pair of socks for myself using Drops Fabel Print that I bought in San Luis Obispo. I have the book, Tea Cozies 3 by Sian Brown, Alison Howard and Vanessa Mooncie and have made the Pineapple and knitting Devon Violets . Started another tea cosy in red and green using the pattern Nanny Meiers Tea Cozy published by Fiber Trends. Using spirit yarn from Sears! Made the same tea cozy for my friend Gary. Kelly's Projects I'm making progress on my With Friends Pullover . I'm using two patterns: Rachel by Josée Paquin , Fresh by Josée Paquin . To view the changes that I made to the striping sequence, see my project page . I'm back on track after ripping out about 10 rows and I have about an inch or so to go on the body. I started the Persian Tile Blanket for my grand niece. I'm using Knit Picks Brava Worsted in lots of fun bright colors. I'm continuing to knit dishcloths using my favorite stitch pattern, the Triple L Tweed from the Purl Soho Slip Stitch Dishtowels pattern . I cast on a multiple of 3 stitches +1. It's usually 34 or 37 stitches because I like a compact dishcloth. I'm using four different 108-yard skeins of Tahki Cotton Classic and I'll make as many as I can with this amount of yarn. I have my table loom dressed with one of the Christmas dish towel warps. It is a red, white, and green warp that reminds me of ribbon candy. The pattern I'll be using is Textured Stripe from the Marguerite Davison Handweaver's Pattern Book. Recipe I referred to: Butternut Squash and Brussels Sprouts from NPR Giveaway--Paper, Planning, and Plotting Two Sheeps Calendar : A Celebration of Independent Yarn Dyers. Each month features an exclusive skein from an indie dyer and the link to order the yarn. It's not just a calendar! From twosheeps: Working with each dyer, we have obtained a limited supply of each exclusive colorway. The yarn in each month's photograph is available for purchase on the first day of that month. We are grateful to each dyer for creating, dyeing, twisting, and labeling these amazing skeins and are thrilled to showcase their talent in our company's first calendar! Pack of three Field Notes notebooks in the Snowy Evening design . From Field Notes: We've limited this 49th Quarterly Edition to 33,333 3-Packs. Each Memo Book cover features a unique snowflake illustration rendered by our friend and co-conspirator, Brendan Dawes . Each snowflake is different, so every book is different, and so for the first time in a Quarterly Edition – we've individually numbered each book. To enter, answer this prompt: How do you keep your plots and plans straight? Paper, digital, other? Do you use a calendar? What kind? A notebook? What kind? Do you use a notebook for your projects or just Ravelry? When do you use paper and when do you use digital? Marsha and Kelly will put up a thread in the Ravelry group, or you can send a comment from the website, you can send us an audio file (for example using voice memo phone app and emailing it, send us a dm on Instagram or email us twoewes@twoewesfiber.com. From all the responses we'll draw a winner on January 20 and you'll hear the winner during the second January episode on about January 25. Winter Weave Along You can join in with your weaving projects anytime until March 31. We will have prizes, including a class generously donated by Erica at Weavolution . Check out this great website for weavers with projects, discussion, classes, and lots of resources. The website has a handy Weaving Calculator that you can use for project planning.

Nov 29, 2020

We're recovering from Thanksgiving dinner preparations and cleanup. Even with a small gathering, there was more to do than we thought. Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Thank you to 3GreenSisters Etsy sho p for providing prizes for the Summer Spin In. Use the code TWOEWES to get 15% off and free US shipping until December 31, 2020. Marsha's Projects I haven't knit a stitch on the Holey Comfort cardigan by Hinterm Stein, but I did wind the fourth skein. I'm about to start the toe of the second socks for myself using Tilli Tomas Artisan Sock in Coconut Grove. Perhaps they will be finished during the episode! I talked about possibly returning my spirit yarn to the universe. As I looked at it again I got inspired to make tea cozies. I have the book, Tea Cozies 3 by Sian Brown, Alison Howard and Vanessa Mooncie and have made the Pineapple and knitting Devon Violets . Kelly's Projects I finally finished the Sonny Bono jacket . The real name of the pattern is Crescendo and I bought it from Amazing Yarns. The yarn I used is called Curly Locks and is a tailspun mohair yarn. I love this jacket as much as the one I tried on at Stitches in 2018. I'm making progress on my With Friends Pullover . I'm using two patterns: Rachel by Josée Paquin , Fresh by Josée Paquin . To view the changes that I made to the striping sequence, see my project page . I'm back on track after ripping out about 10 rows and I have about an inch or so to go on the body. I' m continuing to knit dishcloths using my favorite stitch pattern, the Triple L Tweed from the Purl Soho Slip Stitch Dishtowels pattern . I cast on a multiple of 3 stitches +1. It's usually 34 or 37 stitches because I like a compact dishcloth. I finished dyeing the CVM 3-ply handspun for another handspun cardigan. I still haven't selected the pattern but I've already made a gauge swatch and I have a few possibilities that I'm pondering. I have a few weaving projects. One is a repair to an unusually constructed rug that we have in the living room. The rug was made by sewing down narrow woven strips of wool weft on thread warp to a carpet backing. Our dog Nash had ripped up several strips in a few places on the rug. After investigating the construction I was able to sew the strips down. In some places it looks good as new, in other places it is just stabilized to prevent further damage. The other weaving projects are just at the wound warp stage. I have two 7 foot warps that I've wound for Christmas dish cloths. As inspiration I used two free patterns from Gist Yarn . One set of towels is a white warp with a narrow red stripe on either side and reminds me of candy canes. The pattern I'll be using is Tidal Towels . The other set is a red, white, and green warp that reminds me of ribbon candy. The pattern I'll be using is Textured Stripe from the Marguerite Davison Handweaver's Pattern Book. Winter Weave Along You can join in with your weaving projects anytime until March 31. We will have prizes, including a class generously donated by Erica at Weavolution . Check out this great website for weavers with projects, discussion, classes, and lots of resources. The website has a handy Weaving Calculator that you can use for project planning. For Rigid Heddle Looms, check out Amy D. McKnight . She has a blog and free resources. Liz Gipson, the Yarnworker also has lots of online resources for rigid heddle weaving. Blazing Shuttles has pre-wound warps and from there I found the Friendship Towels pattern at Schact . Gist Yarn has some beautifully subtle kits and also has supplies and free patterns. Jane Stafford Textiles has kits, supplies and the Online guild.

Nov 16, 2020

We each have new cast-ons and Marsha has a new appreciation for her spirit yarn. Plus there are new project plans, and even a new nonfiber interest. And what the heck is going on in Marsha's yard? Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Thank you to 3GreenSisters Etsy sho p for providing prizes for the Summer Spin In. Use the code TWOEWES to get 15% off and free US shipping until December 31, 2020. Marsha's Projects Holey Comfort cardigan by Hinterm Stein using Elemental Effects Cormo. Haven't knit a stitch in two weeks. But I'll get back to it. I just have a little thinking to do about alternating the skeins on the sleeves for the two different dye lots. Finished the first of a pair of socks for myself using Tilli Tomas Artisan Sock in Coconut Grove. Knit about 6" of the second sock. In our last episode I talked about possibly returning my spirit yarn to the universe. As I looked at it again I got inspired to make tea cozies. I have the book, Tea Cozies 3 by Sian Brown, Alison Howard and Vanessa Mooncie and have made the Pineapple and knitting Devon Violets . Kelly's Projects I'm making progress on my With Friends Pullover . I'm using two patterns: Rachel by Josée Paquin , Fresh by Josée Paquin . To view the changes that I made to the striping sequence, see my project page . I've made a mistake in the dots section so I have to rip out about 10 rows. I finished a solid blue charity hat using Cloudborn worsted and started another using two sock yarns held double. Both yarns are the second ball of Drops Fabel from our very first yarn crawl in San Luis Obispo. They are 50 gram balls and I bought two each for making socks. I made short socks with one and the paving mitts with the one ball of the other. The leftovers were perfect for a marled hat. I completed a dishcloth using my favorite stitch pattern, the Triple L Tweed from the Purl Soho Slip Stitch Dishtowels pattern . I make it smaller so it is a dishcloth rather than a towel, but I use the same stitch pattern and casting on a multiple of 3 stitches +1. It's usually 34 or 37 stitches because I like a compact dishcloth. I cast on at the beginning of the camping trip and bound off on the ride home. I decided to make a crochet blanket for my grand niece and made a yarn purchase. The pattern I'll be using is Persian Tile Blanket . But instead of making every square the same, I'll be doing something more like Jenasauruswake's Persian Tile Blanket . I got a huge box of yarn in a wide variety of colors from Knit Picks. I'll be using Brava worsted. A New/Old interest: Fountain Pens Kelly has used a fountain pen off and on since college and got a new one for Christmas last year. Meanwhile, a young colleague talked about discovering the fountain pen hobby and that made Kelly start thinking. Could she get her old pen repaired? Yes! Was there a podcast? Yes indeed! There is The Pen Addict blog and podcast . From there she started looking online and found Peyton Street Pens , an online vintage pen store based in Santa Cruz. A vintage pen and some ink were ordered! What a rabbit hole! Winter Weave Along Or Summer Weave Along if you're in the southern hemisphere! Starts November 1. It will go through March 31. We will have prizes, including a class generously donated by Erica at Weavolution . Check out this great website for weavers with projects, discussion, classes, and lots of resources. The website has a handy Weaving Calculator that you can use for project planning. For Rigid Heddle Looms, check out Amy D. McKnight . She has a blog and free resources. Liz Gipson, the Yarnworker also has lots of online resources for rigid heddle weaving. Blazing Shuttles has pre-wound warps and from there I found the Friendship Towels pattern at Schact . Gist Yarn has some beautifully subtle kits and also has supplies. Jane Stafford Textiles has kits, supplies and the Online guild.

Nov 2, 2020

Two (count them two!) therapy sessions on this episode! Plus we talk design--both architectural and knitting. And wait, there's more! A live FO and Winter Weave Along talk round out the show topics. Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Also, we have a coupon code for 3GreenSisters Etsy shop . Visit their site and use the code TWOEWES to get 15% off and free US shipping. Offer good until December 31, 2020. Marsha's Projects I've stopped knitting on Holey Comfort cardigan by Hinterm Stein using Elemental Effects Cormo since I'm running out of yarn. I've been perplexed why when the pattern calls for 1500 yards and I have 1600. I think the problem is row guage. I'm getting 37 rows instead of 35 rows per inch. Apparently, that makes a huge impact. I've learned my lesson and will check row gauge from now on. I ordered another skein which arrived this week so I can start again on the sweater I finished the Arne and Carlos socks in Pairfect. I cast on socks for myself using Tilli Tomas Artisan Sock in Coconut Grove. This is yarn I picked up at the first NoCKRs retreat destash room. This project was finished live on the episode! Kelly's Projects I finished the green socks I was making with Yarns from the Plain yarn . I started the new pullover and ended up using a combination of these patterns-- Rachel by Josée Paquin , Fresh by Josée Paquin . I decided not to use Muriel by Josée Paquin . To view the changes that I made to the striping sequence, see my project page . Get Your House Right is a book that we both recommend for information about architectural details. Just like in knitting design, it's the little details and bits of knowledge that can make a design look just right. The Fibonacci sequence is another one of the tools that relate to both architecture and knitting. I used the numbers from the Fibonacci sequence to make sure that the stripes in the pullover look balanced, even though I had to modify them a bit. It's Winter Weave Along Time! Or Summer Weave Along if you're in the southern hemisphere! Starts November 1. We'll talk about it more in the kickoff in the next episode! It will go through March 31. Planning a weaving project: How do you know if you have enough yarn? Quick and dirty method from Jane Stafford . Jane Stafford's Project Planning 101 pdf has additional information, plus some things to think about if you're planning linens. Weavolution is a website for weavers with projects, discussion, classes, and lots of resources. The website has a handy Weaving Calculator that you can use for project planning. Erica, the owner of Weavolution is generously offering one of her classes as a prize for our Winter Weave Along! Stay tuned to hear more about that! Weaving Suppliers and Kits Webs has dishtowel and wrap kits , Yarn Barn of Kansas has a LOT of kits , including holiday themed items, Halcyon Yarn has kits for table linens and a variety of scarves and cowls.

Nov 2, 2020

Two (count them two!) therapy sessions on this episode! Plus we talk design--both architectural and knitting. And wait, there's more! A live FO and Winter Weave Along talk round out the show topics. Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Also, we have a coupon code for 3GreenSisters Etsy shop . Visit their site and use the code TWOEWES to get 15% off and free US shipping. Offer good until December 31, 2020. Marsha's Projects I've stopped knitting on Holey Comfort cardigan by Hinterm Stein using Elemental Effects Cormo since I'm running out of yarn. I've been perplexed why when the pattern calls for 1500 yards and I have 1600. I think the problem is row guage. I'm getting 37 rows instead of 35 rows per inch. Apparently, that makes a huge impact. I've learned my lesson and will check row gauge from now on. I ordered another skein which arrived this week so I can start again on the sweater I finished the Arne and Carlos socks in Pairfect. I cast on socks for myself using Tilli Tomas Artisan Sock in Coconut Grove. This is yarn I picked up at the first NoCKRs retreat destash room. This project was finished live on the episode! Kelly's Projects I finished the green socks I was making with Yarns from the Plain yarn . I started the new pullover and ended up using a combination of these patterns-- Rachel by Josée Paquin , Fresh by Josée Paquin . I decided not to use Muriel by Josée Paquin . To view the changes that I made to the striping sequence, see my project page . Get Your House Right is a book that we both recommend for information about architectural details. Just like in knitting design, it's the little details and bits of knowledge that can make a design look just right. The Fibonacci sequence is another one of the tools that relate to both architecture and knitting. I used the numbers from the Fibonacci sequence to make sure that the stripes in the pullover look balanced, even though I had to modify them a bit. It's Winter Weave Along Time! Or Summer Weave Along if you're in the southern hemisphere! Starts November 1. We'll talk about it more in the kickoff in the next episode! It will go through March 31. Planning a weaving project: How do you know if you have enough yarn? Quick and dirty method from Jane Stafford . Jane Stafford's Project Planning 101 pdf has additional information, plus some things to think about if you're planning linens. Weavolution is a website for weavers with projects, discussion, classes, and lots of resources. The website has a handy Weaving Calculator that you can use for project planning. Erica, the owner of Weavolution is generously offering one of her classes as a prize for our Winter Weave Along! Stay tuned to hear more about that! Weaving Suppliers and Kits Webs has dishtowel and wrap kits , Yarn Barn of Kansas has a LOT of kits , including holiday themed items, Halcyon Yarn has kits for table linens and a variety of scarves and cowls.

Oct 25, 2020

Moving, organizing, dog training, and surprisingly only one real project each! Nevertheless we persist with the chatting! Row gauge issues might solve the mystery of running out of yarn. Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Also, we have a coupon code for 3GreenSisters Etsy shop . Visit their site and use the code TWOEWES to get 15% off and free US shipping. Good until December 31, 2020. Marsha's Projects I've been busy knitting Holey Comfort cardigan by Hinterm Stein using Elemental Effects Cormo. I've reached 21" from the neck and still have to knit another 80 rows plus 19 rows for bottom band. That seemed too long so I stopped knitting and moved onto the first sleeve. I've knit about ¾ of the sleeve but not see I'm running out our yarn! Time to start rethinking the project. Still knitting the Arne and Carlos sock in Pairfect. Kelly's Projects I'm working on a charity hat with the puffy rib stitch I liked so much on the socks. I'm using Cloud Born worsted that I got for free at Stitches last year. I failed on my goal to finish the Sonny Bono Jacket . The sleeve is clipped in place, ready to be sewn in. In my defense, we've been having our summer in October season here on the Central Coast. I finished a Ripple Bralette by Jessie Maed Designs. It was a quick knit and I had a lot of yarn left in the skein. It comes out so small it's hard to believe it would fit, but it does. Possibly I could get two out of one skein. Still haven't tested whether it will make me itch or not. I need a cooler day before I wear a wool bralette! I'm planning a new pullover and I'll be using a combination of these patterns-- Rachel by Josée Paquin , Muriel by Josée Paquin , Fresh by Josée Paquin I'm also still fantasy knitting the handspun cardigan out of the CVM that I want to dye. There are now two patterns on my list-- Breckon by Amy Christoffers , Anna's Cardigan - My Size by PetiteKnit It's Winter Weave Along Time! Or Summer Weave Along if you're in the southern hemisphere! Starts November 1. We'll talk about it more in the kickoff in the next episode! It will go through March 31.

Oct 5, 2020

We chat about bonsai trees and sled dogs, recap the Summer Spin-In, and draw lots of winners! Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Also, we have a coupon code for 3GreenSisters Etsy shop . Visit their site and use the code TWOEWES to get 15% off and free US shipping. Marsha's Projects The deck project is almost done. Just those last pesky details. I've been busy knitting Holey Comfort cardigan by Hinterm Stein using Elemental Effects Cormo. Knit about 12" of the body. Knit an 1898 Hat for Dave who came and helped on the deck. Used Hazel Knits Cadence (worsted) in the colorway Atmosphere. Kelly's Projects I started and finished a Dissent Cowl in memorial to Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Pattern by Clarissa Browning. I also knit another charity hat using scraps from my stash--this one with colorwork. I used corrugated ribbing, lice stitch and then did stripes on the crown. I finished the second sleeve of the Sonny Bono Jacket and have clipped it in place, ready to be sewn in. What My Sled Dogs Taught Me About Planning for the Unknown Summer Spin-In and Patreon Appreciation Drawing! The Summer Spin-In has ended and there were so many participants! Thank you! Two lucky winners were announced from the Summer Spin and one additional winner was drawn from the Patreon patrons to win bags from 3 Green Sisters . If you didn't win you should still check out their shop! They make project bags, spinning wheel bags and loom bags. They are offering a 15% savings for any bag in their shop. Use the coupon code TWOEWES. They also provide free shipping in the US. The coupon code is good until December 31. We also offered three $25 gift certificates at Sheepspot . She's a great source of dyed fiber from the more unusual breeds of sheep. All winners should contact me so we can get you your prizes.

Sep 19, 2020

Kelly dreams of an extreme shawl collar and Marsha takes on a daring knitting repair. Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Also, we have a coupon code for gorgeous bags from 3GreenSisters Etsy shop . Visit their site and use the code TWOEWES to get 15% off and free US shipping. Marsha's Projects The deck project is moving along. I visited a blacksmith for information about a gate using salvage iron parts. I've been busy knitting Holey Comfort cardigan by Hinterm Stein using Elemental Effects Cormo. Knit about 8" of the body. Realized that I had missed a garter stitch rib on the front band, so I did a trick Kelly taught me to fix the mistake. The pattern has increases on the front and back but on different rows. I had to make myself a chart to keep track of the increases. Here is the Rainey Sister's blog showing the technique of dropping back to fix a section of knitting. I did not finish the cotton spinning in time for our Summer Spin In. Too much going on here! Kelly's Projects I've finished the knitting for the Targhee Lamb handspun sweater using the Dark and Stormy pattern by Thea Colman . The vintage buttons are perfect and I've even worn it, but it still needs to be blocked. I finished the socks from handspun as we are finishing up the Summer Spin-In. I'm using the yarn I spun out of the Shaky K fiber that I got at Stitches this past February. I also cast on a second charity hat. The existing one is purple and pink yarn held doubled that I used for the Raticorn. The new one is turquoise and red handspun along with a ball of turquoise/teal leftovers from stash. I met my pledge and did two rows on the Sonny Bono Jacket. Once I finish this second sleeve and sew it in, then I only have the collar to finish. (Note: after recording I finished both sleeves and they are ready to sew in.) Potential Projects Marsha and I are both interested in the Buttoned Wrap by Paula Marshall . It's a crocheted shawl that would be perfect for a combo spin. I first saw it as a picture in an ad while I was reading the newspaper online. I thought it was a commercial product, but thought it would make a great project. I posted it on the Ravelry group. A group member went looking and discovered that it was a hijacked photo from a Ravelry project page! Vote Forward Letters Get out the vote! We are both adopting voters and sending letters encouraging them to vote. If you want to participate, go to voteforward.org and sign up to adopt voters. Summer Spin-In The Summer Spin-In has ended and there were so many participants! Thank you! We'll announce winners in two weeks. There were 126 entries in the handspun skein thread and 38 entries in the made from handspun thread. This is our best "along" yet! Two adventurers will win bags from 3 Green Sisters . Check out their shop! They make project bags, spinning wheel bags and loom bags. Even if you don't win a bag as a prize, they are offering a 15% savings for any bag in their shop. Use the coupon code TWOEWES. They also provide free shipping in the US. The bags are made from recycled, upcycled, repurposed, vintage and rescued fabrics. They have many sources to obtain our fabrics including an incredible fabric shop in NYC which lets them "dumpster dive" remnants, generous upholstery and drapery making shops who save their scraps, yard sales, Estate Sales and of course, second hand shops. Each bag is a one of a kind. It is their small way to give back to Mother Nature. Visit their site and use the code TWOEWES to get 15% off and free US shipping. www.etsy.com/shop/3Greensisters

Sep 6, 2020

Lots of home improvement talk (and some power tool noise) before we get down to the knitting this week. Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com .. Also, we have a coupon code for 3GreenSisters Etsy shop . Visit their site and use the code TWOEWES to get 15% off and free US shipping. Marsha's Projects: The deck project is moving along, but it's slower than we originally thought. I've been busy knitting on Holey Comfort cardigan by Hinterm Stein using Elemental Effects Cormo. I joined the body and have knit about 6". Really fun pattern and interesting details. Almost done with the bobbin of cotton fiber. Kelly and I discuss plying options and decide that it would be best to put the fiber on two bobbins and ply from the two bobbins. Singles management can be tricky with cotton, especially for a beginning cotton spinner. I'm planning to knit Walk a Long by Ankestrick using Little Fish Stitches fingering in the Seabrook colorway Mocrocks Beach. This is a custom colorway for String Theory yarn shop . Kelly's Projects I've finished the knitting for the Targhee Lamb handspun sweater using the Dark and Stormy pattern by Thea Colman . Weaving in ends, sewing on the vintage buttons that I found in my stash, and blocking will happen this week. I cast on another pair of socks from handspun as we are finishing up the Summer Spin-In. I'm using the yarn I spun out of the Shaky K fiber I got at Stitches this past February. This might be one of my fastest purchase-to-FO conversions if I keep moving along on an don't stall out on the sock. I also cast on a charity hat using the same purple and pink yarn that I used for the Raticorn. I'm holding the yarns doubled. One is a hot pink Stunning Strings fingering weight and the other is a sport weight merino cashmere. Both of these yarns are left over from Robert's neon argyle socks. Summer Spin-In The Summer Spin-In ends this Monday! (Sept. 7). We will announce winners in our next episode. This is our best "along" yet with 34 posts in FO made with handspun thread and 144 posts in handspun yarn thread. Two people will win bags from 3 Green Sisters . Check out their shop! They make project bags, spinning wheel bags and loom bags. Even if you don't win a bag as a prize, they are offering a 15% savings for any bag in their shop. Use the coupon code TWOEWES. They also provide free shipping in the US. Here is some information from the 3 Green Sisters : My sisters and I have been making purses and bags, knitting bags and project totes, loom carrier totes and spinning wheel bags for 19 years. We come from a long line of seamstresses. My great grandmother, Cecilia, sewed sequined and fancy dresses for the elite in San Francisco in the early 1900's. Cecilia passed down the craft to my grandmother, who taught my mother, who taught us. We take great pride in the quality of work-woman-ship in every product we make. Our bags are made from recycled, upcycled, repurposed, vintage and rescued fabrics. We have many sources to obtain our fabrics including an incredible fabric shop in NYC which lets us "dumpster dive" remnants, generous upholstery and drapery making shops who save their scraps for us, yard sales, Estate Sales and of course, second hand shops. Each bag is a one of a kind. This is our small way to give back to Mother Nature. Visit their site and use the code TWOEWES to get 15% off and free US shipping. www.etsy.com/shop/3Greensisters Yarn in the Shop Our shop has new colors in fingering plus two new bases of Climate Beneficial(™) Replenish Rambouillet! We have a new sport weight 3-ply Replenish Rambouillet. Marsha created these colorways as part of the Iceland Collection We also have an Aran weight 5-ply Replenish Rambouillet, in a variety of greens. Look for more colors in the future. Besides the Replenish Rambouillet, We have silver gray Romney and a white Corriedale/Romeldale cross milled by Marcaile at Valley Oak Wool Mill. These are Aran to Bulky weight yarns with a nice ply twist for a durable yarn. Both are currently available as natural colors, with some dyed versions available in the future. The shop also has some spinning fiber. Check out the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures Shop .

Aug 17, 2020

Rats, Arctic Char yarn, using buckets as stepstools, and other foolishness along with the sweater knitting this week! Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com .. Also, we have a coupon code for 3GreenSisters Etsy shop . Visit their site and use the code TWOEWES to get 15% off and free US shipping. We talk about the Iceland Collection of colorways on our new sport weight 3-ply and Aran weight 5-ply Replenish Rambouillet yarns. Marsha was inspired by the colors of Iceland (and some colors she imagined would be there in the summer months) while she dyed these beautiful yarns. Check out the episodes where she and Kim sent dispatches from Iceland, Episode 129 and Episode 130 . Marsha's Projects: I've been busy knitting on Holey Comfort cardigan by Hinterm Stein using Elemental Effects Cormo. Finished back and right front of yoke and picked up stitches for left front of yoke. Really fun pattern and interesting details. I have spun about a third of a bobbin of cotton. Interesting, but not my favorite fiber so far. Kelly's Projects I'm continuing Targhee Lamb handspun sweater using the Dark and Stormy pattern by Thea Colman . The cable pattern is interesting and fun. I use a cable needle and have a pretty wooden one that I love. I also started knitting rats . The pattern is really realistic. It's Rats! by Sarah Elizabeth Kellner . She has some really cute patterns, including The Scullery Cat , that are really appealing to me. Suggestion: when knitting something with a realistic look, I find it useful to look at the project pages and really analyze the ones that look wrong. So often it is a small detail of stuffing amount, eye placement, or contrast yarn choice that makes the designers project look so good. Without the contrast of other projects with different choices, it isn't always obvious what the designer did that makes the object so appealing. Total spinning yardage finished this summer: 4662 yds, 4265 meters. I still have the desire to do some fleece washing and carding and a little more cotton spinning, but I'm not sure I'll get that in before the end of the Summer Spin-In. Summer Spin-In The Summer Spin-In ends on US Labor Day (September 7). 3 Green Sisters makes project bags, spinning wheel bags and loom bags and is providing prizes for the Summer Spin-In as well as as a coupon code for listeners! They are offering a 15% savings for any bag in our shop with free shipping in the USA with the coupon code TWOEWES. Here is some information from 3GreenSisters : Our bags are made from recycled, upcycled, repurposed, vintage and rescued fabrics. We have many sources to obtain our fabrics including an incredible fabric shop in NYC which lets us "dumpster dive" remnants, generous upholstery and drapery making shops who save their scraps for us, yard sales, Estate Sales and of course, second hand shops. Each bag is a one of a kind. This is our small way to give back to Mother Nature. Visit their site and use the code TWOEWES to get 15% off and free US shipping. www.etsy.com/shop/3Greensisters Join in the chat thread and show off your finished projects in the FO threads. We have a thread for finished spinning projects and we'll also include a thread for finished projects made with handspun . So non-spinners can be included, too! Yarn in the Shop Our shop has new colors in fingering plus two new bases of Climate Beneficial(™) Replenish Rambouillet! We have a new sport weight 3-ply Replenish Rambouillet. Marsha created these colorways as part of the Iceland Collection We also have an Aran weight 5-ply Replenish Rambouillet, in a variety of greens. Look for more colors in the future. Besides the Replenish Rambouillet, We have silver gray Romney and a white Corriedale/Romeldale cross milled by Marcaile at Valley Oak Wool Mill. These are Aran to Bulky weight yarns with a nice ply twist for a durable yarn. Both are currently available as natural colors, with some dyed versions available in the future. The shop also has some spinning fiber. Check out the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures Shop .

Aug 2, 2020

We finished knitting, crochet and spinning projects. But the deck construction is still in progress! Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . We have a coupon code for listeners! 3 Green Sisters makes project bags, spinning wheel bags and loom bags and is providing prizes for the Summer Spin-In as well as as a coupon code for listeners! They are offering a 15% savings for any bag in our shop with free shipping in the USA with the coupon code TWOEWES. Kelly's Projects The Mariannes Cardigan by Trine Bertelsen is FINISHED! Robert's Pandemic Socks are FINISHED! 150 grams of Columbia fleece to yarn project is FINISHED! I think the amount that was listed on the bag of fleece wasn't up-to-date. It said 3 lbs and I washed up half of it and carded about half of that. So I just guessed it was about ¾ pound or 12 ounces. I know I didn't lose that much to waste and washing to only get 150 grams (5 ounces). That would be losing more than half. That would be expected with a high lanolin fleece, but not with this Columbia. I think my fleece record-keeping isn't quite up to snuff! Targhee Lamb sweater is now on the needles and I am through one cable chart repeat. I am using the Dark and Stormy pattern by Thea Colman Marsha's Projects: Summer Fjord by Trin-Annelie using Quince & Co Sparrow in three colors. Finished! Washed, held my breath, and put it in the dryer! The drop sleeves were perfect so I completed the ribbing according to the pattern and did not lengthen the sleeves. May give another trip though the dryer. I finished the first Arne and Carlos sock. The yarn is patterned to change color as you knit the different parts of the sock. However, the toe color changes quite early so the toe is similar to the socks Kelly made for Robert. I cast on Holey Comfort by Hinterm Stein with Elemental Effects Cormo. I love the coral color of this yarn! I finished spinning the Huckleberry Knits and Sauked in Farms roving. Have about 850 yard Dk to light worsted weight yarn. This is a 3-ply with two plies of variegated and one ply of solid. I started spinning cotton top. This is a challenge!! Summer Spin-In 3 Green Sisters makes project bags, spinning wheel bags and loom bags and is providing prizes for the Summer Spin-In as well as as a coupon code for listeners! They are offering a 15% savings for any bag in our shop with free shipping in the USA with the coupon code TWOEWES. Here is some information from the 3 Green Sisters : My sisters and I have been making purses and bags, knitting bags and project totes, loom carrier totes and spinning wheel bags for 19 years. We come from a long line of seamstresses. My great grandmother, Cecilia, sewed sequined and fancy dresses for the elite in San Francisco in the early 1900's. Cecilia passed down the craft to my grandmother, who taught my mother, who taught us. We take great pride in the quality of work-woman-ship in every product we make. Our bags are made from recycled, upcycled, repurposed, vintage and rescued fabrics. We have many sources to obtain our fabrics including an incredible fabric shop in NYC which lets us "dumpster dive" remnants, generous upholstery and drapery making shops who save their scraps for us, yard sales, Estate Sales and of course, second hand shops. Each bag is a one of a kind. This is our small way to give back to Mother Nature. Visit their site and use the code TWOEWES to get 15% off and free US shipping. www.etsy.com/shop/3Greensisters The Summer Spin-In started on US Memorial Day (May 25) and will continue until US Labor Day (September 7). Join in the chat thread and show off your finished projects in the FOthreads. We will have a thread for finished spinning projects and we'll also include a thread for finished projects made with handspun . So non-spinners can be included, too! Yarn in the Shop Our shop has new colors in fingering plus two new bases of Climate Beneficial(™) Replenish Rambouillet! We have a new sport weight 3-ply Replenish Rambouillet. Marsha created these colorways as part of the Iceland Collection We also have an Aran weight 5-ply Replenish Rambouillet, in a variety of greens. Look for more colors in the future. Besides the Replenish Rambouillet, We have silver gray Romney and a white Corriedale/Romeldale cross milled by Marcaile at Valley Oak Wool Mill. These are Aran to Bulky weight yarns (my gauge is about 3.5 st/inch on size US 10 needles) with a nice ply twist for a durable yarn. Both are currently available as natural colors, with some dyed versions available in the future. The shop also has some spinning fiber. Check out the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures Shop .

Jul 19, 2020

Negative test results, a DIY deck, walking, spinning, and knitting, and an updated shop are all on the show this week. Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Marsha's Projects: Summer Fjord by Trin-Annelie using Quince & Co Sparrow in three colors. I finished the body and decided not to put in the short rows to make the back longer. I now need to pick up for the sleeves. I had planned to make the sleeves longer but think I will wash and block the Tee before making my decision about the sleeve length. I spun two skeins of Huckleberry Knits (40/40/20 Targhee, bamboo and silk) and Sauked in Farm (50/50 alpaca/Babydoll Southdown Wool). It is a three ply with two singles of the multi colored Huckleberry Knits and one of the solid Sauked in Farm. Based on weight and ounces completed so far, I think I will have about 900 yards of DK weight. Enough for a vest? Kelly's Projects The Mariannes Cardigan by Trine Bertelsen is still on the needles. I'm ready to be done and have challenged myself to have this finished by the next episode. That will give me time to wear it during summer weather. I'm continuing with Robert's Pandemic Socks using Twist Fiber Studio Pisgah Fingering and Drops Fabel (same combination as the Paving Mitts). Robert and I have a different view of what looks like running out of yarn and what looks intentional. I wanted to add stripes in the contrast color. He says just start the contrasting toe color in the middle of the foot when I run out of the multicolor. Since his version is easier, that's what I'm doing. I finished the rug yarn Combo spin using Lincoln roving. I have about 900 yards. I started a Columbia fleece to yarn project. I washed and carded about half of the 3 lbs of fleece that I have and I've spun one bobbin. I'm planning a 3-ply in this fluffy woolen spun yarn. Summer Spin-In We have lots of new spinners in the Summer Spin-In. Quite a few of the veteran spinners shared pictures of what we made with our first handspun yarns--several spinning oil pouches and a couple of coasters/hot pads. The Summer Spin-In started on US Memorial Day (May 25) and will continue until US Labor Day (September 7). Join in the chat thread and show off your finished projects in the FOthreads. We will have a thread for finished spinning projects and we'll also include a thread for finished projects made with handspun . So non-spinners can be included, too! Yarn in the Shop Our shop has new colors in fingering plus two new bases of Climate Beneficial(™) Replenish Rambouillet! We have a new sport weight 3-ply Replenish Rambouillet. Marsha created these colorways as part of the Iceland Collection We also have an Aran weight 5-ply Replenish Rambouillet, in a variety of greens. Look for more colors in the future. Besides the Replenish Rambouillet, We have silver gray Romney and a white Corriedale/Romeldale cross milled by Marcaile at Valley Oak Wool Mill. These are Aran to Bulky weight yarns with a nice ply twist for a durable yarn. Both are currently available as natural colors, with some dyed versions available in the future. The shop also has some spinning fiber. Check out the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures Shop .

Jul 2, 2020

The Summer Spin-In is in full swing. Add in exposure to a scary virus, a little knitting, and some deck building, and it becomes a really full episode! Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Kelly's husband has been exposed to Covid-19 through someone at his workplace so we talk about that and how strange and scary it feels. Marsha is working on replacing the deck in her backyard and we talk about the project and what it has entailed so far.. She will put up a Ravelry entry for this DIY deck project . She recommends the Fine Home Building youtube channel for DIY videos. Marsha's Projects: I have finished the body and started the ribbing of my T-shirt, Summer Fjord by Trin-Annelie using Quince & Co Sparrow in three colors. I spun the first skein of Huckleberry Knits (40/40/20 Targhee, bamboo and silk) and Sauked in Farm (50/50 alpaca/Babydoll Southdown Wool). It is a three ply with two singles of the multi colored Huckleberry Knits and one of the solid Sauked in Farm. It will probably knit up with long color repeats. Kelly has inspired me to spin the cotton roving that I bought the first time I attended Black Sheep Gathering. Thank you so much to our listener you suggested the Summer Spin In. I find the spinning meditative and soothing. Kelly's Projects I'm back to work on the Mariannes Cardigan by Trine Bertelsen. The faux seam is working to hide the alternation of skeins better than when I didn't have the faux seam. I finished a pair of socks in handspun ( Falkland in a colorway called Tomato and Mink.) I spun the yarn in a long color repeat fashion. Just end to end from one end of the roving to the other. It was chain-plied to preserve the colors and there is a nice color division between the rust and the gray. The stripes are very large. I finished a skein of the green cotton that I was spinning. Once I boiled it with baking soda, the color shifted from a goldish green khaki to an army green color. I didn't have any washing soda, so I used baking soda and a little dish detergent. Marsha asked, "baking soda vs washing soda? What is washing soda, anyway?" Here are some links with information. Borax vs Washing Soda Baking Soda vs Washing Soda What is Washing Soda I also ordered more cotton! Check out Sally Fox Vreseis cotton lint . That led to more discussion about natural colored cotton and a promise to put some information in the show notes. This Color is Alive, on the Vreseis website is a great explanation. Also the Wikipedia entry on naturally colored cotton says, "Natural color in cotton comes from pigments found in cotton pigments and produce shades ranging from tan to green and brown. [3] Naturally pigmented green cotton derives its color from caffeic acid , a derivative of cinnamic acid , found in the suberin (wax) layer which is deposited in alternating layers with cellulose around the outside of the cotton fiber. [4] While green colored cotton comes from wax layers, brown and tan cottons derive their color from tannin vacuoles in the lumen of the fiber cells. [3] I started two new projects since the last episode, Robert's Pandemic Socks and a rug yarn Combo spin using Lincoln roving. Patron Appreciation! All patrons active as of the beginning of June get a Ravelry download pattern of their choice up to a $7 value. Contact Kelly (1hundredprojects) through Ravelry, Patreon or email (twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com) Summer Spin-In The Summer Spin-In started on US Memorial Day (May 25) and will continue until US Labor Day (September 7). Join in the chat thread and show off your finished projects in the FOthreads. We will have a thread for finished spinning projects and we'll also include a thread for finished projects made with handspun . So non-spinners can be included, too!

Jun 24, 2020

Another fun episode recorded with live visitors. We have big spinning plans and a finished Tunisian crochet project. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry to participate in the conversation. Marsha's Projects: I am continuing to knit on Summer Fjord by Trin-Annelie using Quince & Co Sparrow in three colors. I finished a camel, merino and silk braid from Huckleberry Knits for our Summer Spin-A-Long. I also started another spinning project with Huckleberry Knits 40/40/20 Targhee, bamboo and silk and Sauked in Farm 50/50 alpaca/Babydoll Southdown Wool. It will be a 3-ply yarn when I'm finished. Kelly's Projects I finished the Paving Mitts by Ellen Silva (twinsetellen). This is a fun, fast, Tunisian crochet pattern for mitts with a thumb gusset. Two thumbs up! I'm back to work on the Mariannes Cardigan by Trine Bertelsen. The faux seam is working to hide the alternation of skeins better than when I didn't have the faux seam. I started a pair of socks in handspun (Falkland in a colorway called Tomato and Mink.) I spun the yarn in a long color repeat fashion. Just end to end from one end of the roving to the other. It was chain-plied to preserve the colors and there is a nice color division between the rust and the gray. The stripes are very large. I re-started and finished spinning a tricolor cotton roving . I spun about 4 oz. and I already had some from previous spinning. Plus I found another skein as I was preparing to record. It's about 2 oz. I have a total of about 8 oz and 1600 yards that I plan to weave into fabric. I am planning more cotton spinning since I have such a large (and old!) cotton stash. A good portion of my cotton stash is Sally Fox Foxfibre. Sally Fox is a very interesting woman and you can hear an interview with her on the Weave Podcast Episode 52 or a two-part interview with her on Yarn Stories episode 201 and episode 202 . Definitely worth a listen if you are interested in fiber and recent fiber history. Sally's current farm is growing test crops of cotton, organic wheat for flour, and merino sheep. Check out her Vreseis website to purchase any of her products, including yarn, roving, and fabric. Finishing Cotton Yarn I finished my cotton yarn by bringing it to a full boil and then turning it down to simmer for about 30 minutes. I had Borax in the water to make the solution more basic. Baking soda and washing soda are other alternatives. A basic pH can intensify the color of the natural cotton. The Ask the Bellwether blog has an informative post on finishing cotton handspun. Schacht Spindle company also has an informative post on spinning cotton and includes some information about finishing the yarn by boiling. Bellepoint Rescue Farm--Wool Available A listener shared that Bellepoint Rescue Farm in Ohio has fleece that they would like to get rid of. The owners are willing to give it away if the receiver will pay for the shipping. They have a Facebook page where you can contact them for more information. Or contact me and I will put you in touch. Free fleece can be a lot of work, but it can also be a great fiber adventure. I made lots of very usable yarn from some free fleece from meat sheep that a farmer once gave me because he wante to get rid of it. Patron Appreciation! All patrons active as of the beginning of June get a Ravelry download pattern of their choice up to a $7 value. Contact Kelly through Ravelry, Patreon or email. Summer Spin-In The Summer Spin-In started on US Memorial Day (May 25) and will continue until US Labor Day (September 7). Join in the chat thread and show off your finished projects in the FO threads. We will have a thread for finished spinning projects and we'll also include a thread for finished projects made with handspun . So non-spinners can be included, too!

Jun 9, 2020

Thoughts on the recent tough days precede our project talk in this episode. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Before the project talk, we spend some time talking about the protests for justice for Black Americans and against police violence that were sparked by the murder of George Floyd. Since we recorded there have been even more protests and maybe even some signs that maybe this time, change really is on the horizon. To find a list of organizations involved in this fight, check out the Ravelry front page dated May 31, 2020 with links to places you can contribute. And be sure to vote! Marsha's Projects: I continue to work on Summer Fjord by Trin-Annelie using Quince & Co Sparrow in three colors. I've finished the yoke and knit about 8" of the body. I'm working on foot of first Arne & Carlos sock. These ultra bright socks are for my brother, Mark. Simple Shawl will probably stay on the back burner for awhile since I am swatching with Elemental Affects Cormo for the Holey Comfort cardigan by Hinterm Stein. I haven't measured my gauge for the swatch yet, but will be doing that and starting the sweater soon. I spent a glorious afternoon with my spinning wheel out on the deck. I am spinning a camel, merino and silk braid from Huckleberry Knits for our Summer Spin-A-Long. Kelly's Projects I finished the Babydoll Southdown socks . I am much happier with the finished socks than I was with the knitting. The fabric is sturdy and warm, and I love the color. I also started, finished and even wore my Handspun Targhee Hat . This hat may end up in the donate pile since it was slightly tighter than I like for a hat. It's nice and warm, but I find that a looser hat prevents "hat hair." I thought I finished spinning a brown targhee lamb fleece that I had carded and it was ready to go in the stash. I've spun about 1500 yards of a 3 ply (DK to worsted), although I lost about 100-200 yards in shrinkage when it was washed. I was thinking of knitting The Grandpa Cardigan by Joji Locateli , however, I'm unable to knit a swatch with the correct gauge and I'm not willing to do the modifications needed to use my tighter gauge for the pattern. So, I'm going to be swatching in stockinette and looking for a new pattern. I started the Paving Mitts by Ellen Silva (twinsetellen). This is a fun, fast, Tunisian crochet pattern for mitts with a thumb gusset. This is a great pattern for using scraps, although I'm using two yarns from my stash. I finally ripped and restarted Mariannes Cardigan by Trine Bertelsen. I've added a purl stitch in the center of each group of underarm stitches. This purl stitch will continue down the side of the top as a faux seam and will allow me to hide the alternating of skeins. The area where I was alternating skeins before was turning out to be very noticeable. Summer Spin-In The Summer Spin-In started on US Memorial Day (May 25) and will continue until US Labor Day (September 7). Join in the chat thread and show off your finished projects in the FOthreads. We will have a thread for finished spinning projects and we'll also include a thread for finished projects made with handspun . So non-spinners can be included, too!

May 24, 2020

Get ready for the Summer Spin-In! Wash and card fiber, spin yarn, knit with handspun. It all starts Monday, May 25. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Marsha's Projects: I cast on Summer Fjord by Trin-Annelie using Quince & Co Sparrow in three colors. Kelly and our friend Janis both have yarn to cast this on, too. We got it last summer in the clearance bin at Tolt. I'm working on foot of first Arne & Carlos sock. These ultra bright socks are for my brother, Mark. I recently picked up a Simple Shawl by Jane Hunter that I started March 2018! Using Michael's CWD in San Francisco Fog, to put it back in the knitting rotation, but I haven't made much progress since the last episode. This will probably stay on the back burner for awhile since I am swatching with Elemental Affects Cormo for the Holey Comfort cardigan by Hinterm Stein Kelly's Projects I'm still working on the handspun Babydoll Southdown socks . I'm not really enjoying the feel of the yarn, though. It's a good workhorse yarn and the gauge is nice and tight for a hard wearing sock. It's 100% wool--no nylon, silk or mohair for added strength, so that's good. But the fabric doesn't have the bounce of the yarn as I knit it. I finished plying the Fleeber's Farm Tasmanian Comeback . Light brown wool overdyed with red-orange. It's 210 yards and 129 grams. That sounds like a heavier weight than worsted but it also feels like a heavier fiber--more like a longwool. I started spinning a brown targhee lamb fleece that I had carded and ready to go in the stash. I've spun about 1000 yards of a 3 ply (DK to worsted). It was two boxes of carded batts. Now I have to card more of this fleece to get enough for a sweater. I'm thinking of knitting The Grandpa Cardigan by Joji Locateli . Also a possibility, but not quite as high on the list is Que Sera by Kirsten Kapur . This spinning (and now carding) project is really inspiring me for the Summer Spin-In. Show us your pattern! This giveaway is closing June 4th! How do you use your patterns and how do you store them? Check out the Ravelry group to participate in the thread. We will be drawing winners on June 4th for some beautiful Duren Dyeworks worsted weight skeins. Summer Spin-In Starting on Memorial Day (celebrated this year on May 25 in the US) we will have a Summer Spin-In. Join in the chat thread and show off your finished projects in the FOthreads. We will also include a thread for knitting with handspun. So non-spinners can be included, too. Other News Kelly is doing an online dog training class with Fenzi Dog Sports and one of the things she is learning is how to do shaping with Bailey. This video shows a dog that is already skilled at figuring out a shaping training session learning how to do the shaped skill of putting two feet into a box.

May 12, 2020

It was a fun chat this episode after a long week. Knitting, old cookbooks, vintage Norwegian sweaters, and a few tangents! We also announced the winner of the Cosmic Crisp giveaway. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Marsha's Projects: I finished the John O Groats socks made with Yarns From the Plain sock yarn. I also cast on Summer Fjord by Trin-Annelie using Quince & Co Sparrow in three colors. Then I picked up a Simple Shawl by Jane Hunter that I started March 2018! The yarn I'm using is Michael's CWD in San Francisco Fog. There's a new project coming, too. I'm swatching with Elemental Effects Cormo for either Holey Comfort by Hinterm Stein or Waits by Bristol Ivy and I'm swatching with North Ronaldsay DK for a Phrancko custom sweater for Ben. Kelly's Projects I started a pair of socks using handspun Babydoll Southdown yarn. First sock is done and I went through some gyrations to use up as much yarn as I could while still doing a top down sock. I can see the benefit of toe up socks, but the problem solving gave my brain something to focus on that was kind of a fun puzzle. I started another spinning project with some Fleeber's Farm Tasmanian Comeback. Light brown wool overdyed with red-orange. I'm planning a 2-ply dk to worsted weight yarn. One bobbin is spun. Vintage Norwegian Sweaters Marsha talked about finding photos of her family living in Norway in 1959 and the sweaters her parents bought. Marsha has also been finding fun little cookbooks that companies would giveaway to promote their products plus old clipping from her great aunt. Show Us Your Pattern. Closing June 4th! Show us your pattern! In the Ravelry thread show us how your used patterns look and tell us how you store your patterns. Marsha's patterns are folded and mutilated by the end of a project. She has friends who keep their patterns pristine. Check out the Ravelry group to participate in the thread. Summer Spin Along Starts May 25 (US Memorial Day) There's currently a thread in the group for planning for this. It will start on May 25 so there is time to think and plan.

Apr 26, 2020

Recording with a Zoom audience again this time! Two finished knitting projects, some "show and tell" and some finished spinning. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . This was another live episode so Kelly had the opportunity to "show and tell" her 1958 Lace Cardigan . This sweater was started before I was much of a knitter and had to be put away for quite a long time while my knitting skills caught up to my plans! The discussion about how little instruction there was in old patterns reminded Marsha of a series of videos by Arne and Carlos about Norwegian sweaters and their history . Marsha's Projects: I finished my Dusk Into Twilight Shawl by Rosemary Hill. I used Two Ewes Fiber Adventures Replenish Rambouillet fingering dyed by Kelly in three colors, Bourbon and Suede, Falling Leaves, and Aquamarine. Finished the heel flap of second John O Groats . Using Yarns From the Plain sock yarn. Finished Goro Anamara hat by Valeria Garcia. Using Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool Worsted. Correction: Frank Jernigan's website is Phrancko.com this is a correction from a previous episode show notes. Frank upgraded my account to premiere and I can get custom patterns for $1. Thinking of using Frank's program to make a sweater for Ben out of North Ronaldsay yarn. Kelly's Projects I've finished my spinning using a mixed wool roving from Shaky K fibers . It was a multicolor braid or Corriedale, Columbia and Rambouillet. Such a bouncy blend of fibers and the colors worked well for a 3-ply. I've also finished spinning a two-ply of merino and silk from Alexandra the Art of Yarn . It is burgundy and gold and as I started spinning I noticed that the singles matched well with two skeins of Wandering Wool Udaipur (also a merino silk) in Cranberry Bog. So I think this spin will join those two skeins and become something. A sweater would be nice and maybe it would be my first wool pullover? The Mariannes Cardigan , a pattern by Trine Bertelsen may not be completely fine, unlike Eleanor Oliphant . I tried it on and although the "seam" where I am alternating skeins starts out under the arm, it seems to be skewing and twisting so that the seam is more to the front of my body down at the bottom of the tee.. Will this block out? Do I want to find out the hard way? Or do I want to rip back to the underarms and try again? If I put a faux seam on each side I could more easily hide the place where the skeins alternate and the "jog" happens. Duren Dyeworks Spring Skeins Drawing Laura from Duren Dyeworks was having a sale AND she threw in an extra skein. The yarn is targhee heavy worsted to aran weight. We'll be using it for prizes for a new giveaway. In the Ravelry thread show us how your used patterns look and tell us how you store your patterns. Marsha's patterns are folded and mutilated by the end of a project. She has friends who keep their patterns pristine. Check out the Ravelry group to participate in the thread. Summer Spin Along? Fiber Adventurers have been talking about the possibility of a summer spin along. We both have plenty of fleeces and think it's a great idea since we have so many fleeces needing to be processed and spun. There's currently a thread in the group for planning for this. It will start at the end of May so there is time to think and plan.

Apr 12, 2020

It could be worse and Marsha's dreams prove it! Marsha has dreams of camping, training a horse in her house, and a line of people, six feet apart, waiting to rent rooms in her boarding house. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Kelly recommends Girl Beer from Strike Brewing in San Jose, CA , Made for International Women's day by her niece and her women brewer colleagues, it is a hazy double IPA. This pint sized woman is not too bitter and very strong! Marsha's Projects: I'm done with the stripes on my Dusk Into Twilight Shawl by Rosemary Hill and have started the final stripe of lace. I'm using Two Ewes Fiber Adventures Replenish Rambouillet fingering dyed by Kelly in three colors, Bourbon and Suede, Falling Leaves, and Aquamarine. No knitting on my John O Groats socks since we last recorded. Using Yarns From the Plain sock yarn. I finished my Isle au Haut ("eye la hoe") pullover by Beatrice Perron Dahlen in Imperial Yarn Columbia . Last episode I talked about changes I made for ease. Sweater fits great! Started a hat called Goro Anamara by Valeria Garcia. Using Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool Worsted. Its been a slow start. First time cast on with the wrong size needles. Second time by tubular cast on was super loose and funky. Going to cast on a third time with regular cast on. Lots of problems getting started, but all of my own making and nothing to do with pattern. Kelly's Projects I continue to slog along on my size three needles on the Mariannes Cardigan , a pattern by Trine Bertelsen that combines crochet and knitting. Not a lot of knitting time in the last two weeks so I've made limited progress. Plus, I'm getting tired of all this stockinette in the round… I think I have about 2 more inches before I can do the crochet hem treatment. I've started doing some spinning using a mixed wool roving from Shaky K fibers. It is a multicolor braid and it's been a delight to spin. The most exciting thing is that I finished the Cotswold Ruana ! I fulled it carefully in the washing machine and I love the way the fabric looks. The handspun yarn marinated for 20 years and then found the perfect project! Events The Ewes will do "Zoom Baaaah" for their next episode. We'll be recording live on April 23. Check Ravelry and Instagram for information about recording time. It's not too late to join in for a chance to win a skein of Cosmic Crisp! Enter in the Thread in Ravelry (finally!). Deadline is April 12th.

Mar 28, 2020

Our first episode recorded while livestreaming! It takes a really long time to talk about nothing… Because we are recording live people will actually see how long it takes! Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Marsha's Projects: I've knit a bit on my Dusk Into Twilight Shawl by Rosemary Hill. I'm done with the short row shaping and on the last row of stripe before I start the final stripe of lace. I'm using Two Ewes Fiber Adventures Replenish Rambouillet fingering dyed by Kelly in three colors, Bourbon and Suede, Falling Leaves, and Aquamarine. No knitting on my John O Groats socks since we last recorded. Using Yarns From the Plain sock yarn. Learned from a listener Sarah (salpal1) that the correct pronunciation of Isle au Haut is "eye la hoe". The pattern is by Beatrice Perron Dahlen. I'm using Imperial Yarn Columbia which is an aran weight in the color Juniper Green. We discussed in the last episode that the yarn has lots of knots. About 10-15 per skein. I learned from a listener, Sue, that the ranch no longer owns the yarn line. It's great to get listener feedback! Since the last episode I have finished both sleeves, attached them to the body and knit a little over half the yoke. I added eight stitches to the body for 4" of ease and I then had to remove those stitches in the yoke. The yoke has raglan shaping with a two stitch decrease at the four raglans which equals 8 eight stitches. Perfect! I did one extra row of decreases at the beginning of the raglan. Should be hidden there. What Marsha is currently watching: Arne and Carlos Daily Quarantine Knitting Podcast Kelly's Projects: I decided to keep going on the Mariannes Cardigan after looking closely at the place where I am alternating skeins. It actually is under my arm when I try it on and it looks ok. It is a pattern by Trine Bertelsen that combines crochet and knitting. I've made great progress on the Cotswold Ruana and may even finish in time for the Winter Weave Along end (March 31). I have about 18 inches to go before it is ready to come off the loom for finishing. That will go fast since there are only about 8-10 picks per inch. Then I will hem it and wet finish it. I might not finish that part by the end of March. I started another scrap hat using sock scraps. I'm down to very few tiny scrap balls. But I have some larger sock yarn leftovers. I'm using the rest of the skein of Little Fish Stitches Seabrook Sunset yarn that I got at Seabrook and holding along with a cream colored sock yarn that I'm surprised I have in my stash. Events Cosmic Crisp yarn giveaway. Thread in Ravelry (finally!). Enter by April 12th. Winter Weave Along --Started October 15 in the Two Ewes Ravelry Group. This weave along goes until March 31, so it ends in just a couple days. Marsha and Kelly are taking an online dog training class from Fenzi Dog Sports Academy . It starts on April 1.

Mar 18, 2020

Yarn talk, pandemic talk, and an eye-opening airport security experience. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Marsha's Projects: I haven't touched my Dusk Into Twilight Shawl by Rosemary Hill since we last recorded. I'm using Two Ewes Fiber Adventures Replenish Rambouillet fingering dyed by Kelly in three colors, Bourbon and Suede, Falling Leaves, and Aquamarine. I'm knitting on my John O Groats socks as we record. Using Yarns From the Plain sock yarn. We talked so much in the last episode I forgot to mention that I cast on a pullover called Isle au Haut by Beatrice Perron Dahlen. I'm using Imperial Yarn Columbia which is an aran weight in the color Juniper Green. The yarn has lots of knots. About 10-15 per skein. Really surprising that the company thought this was okay. Maybe this is why the yarn was on sale! My bust is 40" and the finished size choices were 42" or 46". I decided to cast on the smaller size but add eight stitches (2") to get 4" of positive ease. We'll see if my math works. Kelly's Projects: Finished the Dew Drop Shawl crochet shawl by Silke Terhorst. My project used a gradient handspun that I made from a Loop Bump in teal, purple, and gray. While at Stitches I made great progress on the Mariannes Cardigan that I am making as a tee. It is a pattern by Trine Bertelsen that combines crochet and knitting. I've split for the sleeves and I'm several inches down the body. The pattern calls for no waist shaping and I'm thinking about whether to do a little bit of increasing for a slight A-Line. Events Cosmic Crisp yarn giveaway. Thread in Ravelry (finally!). Enter by April 12th. Winter Weave Along --Started October 15 in the Two Ewes Ravelry Group. This weave along goes until the end of March so get your projects into the FO thread this month. Silberman & Brown is the stationery store Marsha talks about where she bought her desk blotter.

Mar 1, 2020

An extra large episode about a trip to Stitches West and a lot of projects and news from Kelly. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Marsha I finished a pullover called Seven Sisters by Sarah Pope using Baa Ram Ewe Dovestone. Love the fit! I made lots of progress on my Dusk Into Twilight Shawl by Rosemary Hill. I'm using Two Ewes Fiber Adventures Replenish Rambouillet fingering dyed by Kelly in three colors, Bourbon and Suede, Falling Leaves, and Aquamarine. I cast on the night before I left for Iceland and it was bus knitting. I am a little over halfway done. The shawl is going to be big using 1,500 yards. Haven't knit a stitch on my John O'Groats socks. Kelly: First, my newest project: Bailey, a 1-year-old German Shepherd (possible German Shepherd mix). We adopted Bailey in January and we've had her a little over a month. She had a rough first 11 months with about half of them spent fostering in a boarding kennel after the first half of her life landed her in the shelter with no hope of being adoptable. She is doing great and making remarkable progress. She is also a lot of work! But I'm ready to play dog games again and I'm looking forward to having a young dog in training. We've started doing some training, but we start class next week. She likes listening to the podcast! Thanks to whoever it was at Stitches who suggested it as a solution for her anxiety in the crate when the house is empty. It's been a long time since I've reported in about my fiber adventures. I finished my Habitat Cardigan , a crochet cardigan by Jess Coppom that I made with Lion Brand Heartland. I finished it in time for the first day back for spring semester for professional development. I got more compliments on this sweater than I have on anything in a long time. I wore it belted and with boots. I've since also worn in around the house unbelted and to work with and without the belt. It's a great sweater! I also finished Never Have I Ever Socks--Fix or Nix project. I decided to Nix the socks I had started, but instead of destashing the gradient sock blank, I decided to cast on a bigger sock cuff (80 stitiches) and make them long socks. So I started with 80 stitches and decreased with a little calf shaping and they are now finished. I used almost all of the sock blank. What is left is going to be used to reknit the foot of Robert's SF Giants argyles from my argyle class at Stitches 2018. Since the last episode I was in I've started and finished a Hat for Walking out of a mini-skein set that I got as a door prize at the retreat. It's a sockhead hat using the full amount of slouch so I could use as much of the yarn as possible. It is replacing my old sockhead hat that is faded and developing holes from sun damage. While at Stitches I made great progress on the Mariannes Cardigan that I am making as a tee. It is a pattern by Trine Bertelsen that combines crochet and knitting. I've split for the sleeves and I'm several inches down the body. The pattern calls for no waist shaping and I'm thinking about whether to do a little bit of increasing for a slight A-Line. Stitches West 2020 On our way to Stitches, we stopped in San Jose to visit Fillory Yarns , owned by Andrea Haws, who was on Marsha's Iceland trip. We had a great time! We met fiber adventurers and connected with friends from previous years. We took a Tunisian crochet class taught by Cindy Craig . Here is a video about the technique. The marketplace was great again this year. The vendors we spoke with said yellow and orange were the most purchased colors this year. Dusky burgundy continues to be popular. Some of the booths we thought were interesting were: Baltic Linen Designs and The Yarn Dynamic Loop Fiber Studio The Royal Bee Yarn Company Red Fish Dyeworks - We both bought skeins of lace weight silk to make socks. Saraba African Art - We both bought ikat fabric. We also met Frank Jernigan of Phrancko Designs . He has designed a program to create a custom fit sweater pattern using a top down, seamless "set in" sleeves. On his website is a video explaining the process. There is also a video of Frank being interviewed by Suzanne Bryan. Apple Fiber Studio donated a skein of their Cosmic Crisp yarn. Participate in the prize drawing by going to the thread on Ravelry. We'll draw prizes during our first episode in April.

Feb 8, 2020

The second in the Iceland Fiber Adventures series! Marsha and Kim finished their trip and some projects and then head for home. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Kim (KMDesigns) and I had great plans to record every 2-3 days but time, and the need to sleep, meant that we ended up recording Dispatch #2 on the night before we headed home. Therefore, we only discussed what we did that was fiber related but below are links to everything we did. Fiber Things: Uppspinni Mini Mill Haafell Goat and Sheep Farm Ullaverkstaedi Wool Shop Hespa Iceland Colors Reykjavík: Einar Jonsson Museum Culture House National Museum of Reykjavík Outside Reykjavík: Thingvellir National Park Fridhamer Tomato Greenhouses for tour, lunch and Icelandic horses. Gulfoss Waterfall Geysir Farm House and Ice Cream Lava Tunnel Geothermal Plant Selfoss Falls Black Beach The Settlement Museum Glacier Lagoon Diamond Beach Djupivogur Fishing Village Janine Bajus, Pattern Designer , designed two patterns for us to knit, the Convivencia Cowl and Snowflower Hat. These patterns were free to us but I don't see them on Janine's page so you will need to contact her for the designs. Events Winter Weave Along --Started October 15 in the Two Ewes Ravelry Group. This weave along goes until the end of March so you still have plenty of time for weaving projects. Stitches West is February 20-23 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. There is a podcaster meetup hosted by Yarniacs and 2 Knit Lit Chicks on Saturday the 22nd in the lobby bar area of the Hyatt (connected to the Convention Center).

Feb 1, 2020

A dispatch from Iceland with Marsha and her travel buddy KimFull notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Their hotel was right near the large Church in Rekjavik -Hallgrimskirkja Church. Rekjavik Food Adventures ! Marsha and Kim recommend a food tour as a great way to orient yourself to the city and find out about restaurants you can go back to during your stay in Rekjavik. They visited a famouse Hot Dog stand in Rekjavik , had a fantastic Artic Char at Messin , ate Icelandic rye bread , Lava cake, ice cream, and frozen carmel corn. They bought yarn at a few places including the Handknitting Association of Iceland and FK Supermarket in Iceland. All grocery stores should stock yarn! Wouldn't that be great? They went to more yarn stores, including Handprjon Yarn Shop , Litla Yarn Shop , and Alafoss Yarn Shop . One of the yarns they saw was a Polish hand-dyed yarn called Martin's Lab Yarn . The tour was originally planned with Cat Bordhi leading it but the tour leader was changed to Janine Bajus, Pattern Designer . She designed some patterns that the group can knit along the way. They visited Blue Lagoon Iceland and tried a few facial masks. The group spent a day at Salt Eldhus taking cooking classes while the wind howled outside. The view was beautiful and they were able to see the windstorm while they cooked lunch. Events Winter Weave Along --Started October 15 in the Two Ewes Ravelry Group. This weave along goes until the end of March so you have plenty of time for weaving projects. Stitches West is February 20-23 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. There is a podcaster meetup hosted by Yarniacs and 2 Knit Lit Chicks on Saturday the 22nd in the lobby bar area of the Hyatt (connected to the Convention Center).

Jan 19, 2020

Knitting, crochet and weaving are all in full swing! Also a frenzy of casting on for a trip to Iceland. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Kelly's Projects I'm close to finishing the crocheted sweater! It's the Habitat Cardigan , crochet cardigan by Jess Coppom. I'm making it with the Lion Brand Heartland that is called for in the pattern. The sleeves are on the hook right now and it should be done by the end of the weekend. I'm still hooking along on the Dew Drop Shawl crochet shawl by Silke Terhorst. My project is using a gradient handspun that I made from a Loop Bump in teal, purple, and gray. Once the sweater is finished I'll work on this more and get it finished. Stashbuster Weaving . Warp problems are fixed! Crowd-sourcing works! Several listeners helped with this problem. The bottom line is that when warping multiple threads at the same time I need to make sure they don't twist as I put them on the warping board. Winding onto a warping reel rather than a warping board can somewhat alleviate this problem, it seems. That would explain why the warping process in the video didn't talk about this potential problem. I could also use a warping paddle as another potential solution. Or I could go back to warping with one or two threads at a time instead of 4. I finished my Christmas cast-on of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus . It was from a fun kit that my mom found at her Joann store. The pattern is by Ann Franklin . Never Have I Ever Socks--Fix or Nix project: I have resurrected and fixed these instead of nixed. I am knitting them in tandem on dpns and making them longs socks using a larger stitch count to fit on my calves. So far I am really enjoying them. The double sock blank gradient from Invictus Yarns was too beautiful to nix and destash. Marsha's Projects I finished Shared Rib by Anne Hanson as a cowl and love it! The yarn, Old Maiden Aunt fingering in the colorway Crimson Lips, is wonderfully soft. I finished the first sock of my John O Groats Socks and have knit about 2" on the second sock. I'm using Yarns From the Plains fingering weight in the colorway Cumbrian View. I bought the yarn from the dyer at the Caithness Craft Retreat in May. The pattern I'm using is the sock recipe from Nancy Lindberg, NL7 Knit to Fit Socks . I'm getting ready for my Iceland trip from January 17 to February 3. I'm still mulling over what clothes to bring, but I have my projects ready to go! I'll be bringing a sweater called Seven Sisters by Sarah Pope using Dovestone Baa Ram Ewe from my stash. Pattern starts with a tubular cast on and is straight stockinette until I stop, knit the sleeves and join them to body and begin the yoke pattern. Should be good airplane and talking knitting. Also bringing a shawl, Dusk Into Twilight , by Rosemary (Romi) Hill. I'm using our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures Replenish Rambouillet in fingering weight. It's a three color shawl and I'll use Falling Leaves (multi), Bourbon and Suede (Rust), and Aquamarine (aqua). I think the pattern will also be good for knitting and talking. Because I was in the mood to cast on a sweater and use my stash, I cast on a second sweater called Isle au Haut Pullover by Beatrice Perron Dahlen. The stash yarn I'm using is Columbia from Imperial Yarns . It will be an unusual project for me: an aran weight pullover with a high collar. Daphne's Skull designed by Ellen Sibelius of Wooly Wonders hasn't been worked on at all since we last recorded. I thought I would set a goal to finish it by Stitches West the end of February. But that's unrealistic since I will be in Iceland. I will be lucky to get it done in time for the NoCKRs retreat. If I do, I can bring it to Kelly's and use her washer to felt it. Giveaway Winners! Fix It or Nix It Winner won a pattern of her choice up to $12.00 Quarterly Patreon Drawing winner won yarn from Quintessential Knits: Intrepid Otter northwest dyer, Superwash merino sock yarn. Green with navy speckles. Colorway "12" referring to the Seattle Seahawks football team. Thank you to patrons who supported us in 2019. Thanks also to the newest patrons Nathalie and Martha. To support us on Patreon go to patreon.com/twoewes. There are threads in the Ravelry discussion board if you have questions that you would like us to answer. Also, we are soliciting ideas for the kind of contests and "Alongs" that you would like to see in 2020. Events Winter Weave Along --Started October 15 in the Two Ewes Ravelry Group. This weave along goes until the end of March so you have plenty of time for weaving projects. Iceland January 17-February 3 Marsha and her friend Kim will be travelling to Iceland with Janine Bajus, who will be replacing Cat Bordhi as our guide and teacher on this trip. Stitches West is February 20-23 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. There is a podcaster meetup hosted by Yarniacs and 2 Knit Lit Chicks on Saturday the 22nd in the lobby bar area of the Hyatt (connected to the Convention Center).

Jan 4, 2020

Part two of the Mega Episode! Marsha's projects, an upcoming trip, and hopes for the New Year. If you haven't heard episode 126, please go back to get all the fun! Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . When last we heard from the Northwest heroine she had a dilemma. To rip back and use the correct needle size or keep going and bind off, leaving a mistake that probably no one would notice. What did she do? Read on and find out! Marsha's Projects Almost done with Shared Rib by Anne Hanson as a cowl. Old Maiden Aunt fingering in the colorway Crimson Lips. I finished the six rows of ribbing and was about to bind off when I realized the ribbing was suppose to be worked with the smaller needles. Ripped back and knitted ribbing again. Daphne's Skull designed by Ellen Sibelius of Wooly Wonders is not quite finished.I haven't picked it up since we last recorded. I've set a goal to finish it by Stitches West the end of February because KnittyBarb wants me to bring it to the show. I'm about to start the toe decreases of the first sock of my John O Groats Socks using Yarns From the Plains fingering weight in the colorway Cumbrian View. I bought the yarn from the dyer at the Caithness Craft Retreat in May. The pattern I'm using is the sock recipe from Nancy Lindberg, NL7 Knit to Fit Socks . Thinking about casting on a sweater either using New Lanark DK or Dovestone Baa Ram Ewe. Need a project for my trip to Iceland in January. Fix it or Nix It Ended the first of January. Neither Marsha nor Kelly got their button bands reinforced, but there were a few fixes for each and Kelly nixed a few pairs of half-finished socks. Events Winter Weave Along --Started October 15 in the Two Ewes Ravelry Group. This weave along goes until the end of March so you have plenty of time for weaving projects. Stitches West is February 20-23 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. There is a podcaster meetup hosted by Yarniacs and 2 Knit Lit Chicks on Saturday the 22nd in the lobby bar area of the Hyatt (connected to the Convention Center). Fiber Goals--do you have them? Kelly is interested in the tension between goals, challenges and to-do lists, and the idea that fiber crafts are a hobby that we do for fun. Do you have more fun when you have goals and challenges or when you have wide open choices? We can discuss this on the T wo Ewes Fiber Adventures Group on Ravelry . Come join the conversation! Marsha's Hopes for 2020 Health (weight, walking, core, knees, vitamins, attitude) In this part of the conversation we talked a little about developing habits and the book The Power of Habit Fun (fibery stuff, travel, cooking, agility) Fiber (colorwork class, Mark's afghan, spinning, more projects for others) Here Kelly said that she is looking for balance in her hobbies so that she is able to do all of them. Decreased governmental chaos Marsha's distress and anxiety over the state of the country transcends political "sides" and led Kelly to add the following resource. Bryan Stevenson on Hope To hear an excellent discussion on hop by Bryan Stevenson, jump to about 55:30 in this episode of the Stay Tuned podcast. Bryan Stevenson is a death penalty attorney who founded the Equal Justice Initiative. He is the author of the book Just Mercy (also being made into a movie). Kelly highly recommends listening to this short discussion on hope.

Dec 30, 2019

Marsha was a Marvelous Hostess for the Holidays and Kelly is considering a career as a Gingerbread Architect! Holiday shenanigans meant the Ewes haven't talked in awhile. This was a MEGA episode but polling in the Ravelry Group led to us splitting this into two regular episodes. This is the first of the pair. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . We had lots of catching up to do so the fibery content starts late. Skip to about the 27:30 minute mark if you'd prefer to get right to the fiber adventures. In our conversation about Christmas I promised the Spruce Eats blog links to the gingerbread house recipes. Here they are: Structural Gingerbread Royal Icing Gingerbread House Tips Kelly's Projects My newest cast on is a knitted Nativity from a Kit that my mom got me for Christmas. I'm close to finishing the crocheted sweater! It's the Habitat Cardigan crochet cardigan by Jess Coppom. I'm making it with the Lion Brand Heartland that is called for in the pattern. I'm doing the ribbing right now and I've made some modifications to the pattern due to my tight crocheting and maybe my choice of sweater size. I don't think that the positive ease is built into the pattern. I'm still hooking along on the Dew Drop Shawl crochet shawl by Silke Terhorst. My project is using a gradient handspun that I made from a Loop Bump in teal, purple, and gray. The rows are getting bigger and bigger as I go so they are taking a long time. I finished four towels (out of a warp of six) of my Stashbuster Weaving . These dishtowels have yellow/gold/orange/brown tones in warp, and I used mostly a cream/yellow cotton weft. My favorite of the four towels I alternated wefts. I used the pattern LDLLD with the cream as the light and a gold cotolin as the weft. I also used pebbleweave and another twill variation so each towel was a different weave structure. They were given as gifts for Christmas. I will have to straighten out my warp before I tie back on. I had some tangling starting to happen and I'm not sure what I did wrong. It's my first back to front warp and also my first time winding warp threads four at a time. Somehow in each bout of four there was twisting and tangling and it was ok until the end of the fourth towel. By that time the threads were so twisted it was affecting their ability to pull through the heddles as I advanced the warp. I've made two of the Mash it Up hats from the pattern Marsha talked about in a previous episode. I'm using sock yarn scraps that I had been saving for baby socks. I was tired of having so much and I wanted to deplete the jar. They will be charity hats. Marsha's Projects I finished a Mash It Up hat for Ben's girlfriend using this free pattern by Babs Ausherman that uses sock yarn scraps. Great stash buster pattern. The first hat was too big so I knit a second (middle size) that fits great. I also gave Ben and Bar each a skein of Shepherd's Wool worsted to knit them an 1898 Hat . I hope to finish Bar's before she leaves on January 9th. I'm almost done with Shared Rib by Anne Hanson as a cowl. Old Maiden Aunt fingering in the colorway Crimson Lips. Had a mistake and debated ripping back. Check the next episode to see how this ends! The sequel to this cliff hanger episode will be published the weekend of January 4th!

Dec 21, 2019

Eggnog, Syllabub, and more. Talking holiday drink traditions with Kelly's husband, Robert. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Come join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . The Uncle's Eggnog When Robert's Uncle Phillip died, his dad gave him an envelope of family pictures that Uncle Phillip had. The eggnog recipe was in the envelope so presumably it was part of Uncle Phillip's things. Uncle Phillip and Uncle Jerry had lived together for some years before Uncle Jerry died so we call it The Uncle's Eggnog. We really don't know where it came from or how they used it. I cut it down to a household size that makes about two quarts before you add in the eggwhites. After adding in the eggwhites it makes about 3 quarts, but if it sits in the refrigerator for a time before you give it away to friends the eggs will deflate and you can use the third quart to make the first two quart jars full again. Syllabub This recipe came from a story Robert heard on NPR in 2009 about making Syllabub at Colonial Williamsbur g. We made this over the holiday season and were enchanted. It is pretty magical how it turns out. I highly recommend this for dessert on New Year's Eve. If you wanted to bring a gift of syllabub you could make it in some glasses that you would give to the recipient filled with the finished dessert. Here are three different recipe versions from the Colonial Williamsburg website. Podie's Manhattans The key is a 2:1 ratio of bourbon to vermouth. Another key part of this recipe is to keep the whiskey in the freezer so it doesn't get diluted by ice when mixing! Robert also keeps the glasses chilled when he is planning to make Manhattans. Podie taught him to use Maker's Mark, but he also uses Bulleit Bourbon to make them. The cherries that Robert uses are Tillen Farms Bada Bing cherries. Tree Trimming Drink for Kids of All Ages When I was a child, our family tradition for tree decorating was a punchbowl full of 7-Up and lime sherbet. Robert and I continued this tradition for years but it became more and more difficult to find lime sherbet. And, let's be honest, we found other drinks! But if you can find the sherbet, or if you want to make your own lime sherbet , put it into a punchbowl and pour cold 7-Up over the top. It's pretty and festive and makes an occasion out of tree decorating! Thank you, Robert, for contributing to this bonus episode! Thank you all for the reviews on Apple Podcasts! It's so nice to hear from you! Marsha and I will be back next week for a regular episode.

Dec 7, 2019

Crochet projects on the hooks and knitting projects on the needles! We're finally back but not with full technology just yet. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Kelly's Projects I finished two gnomes for my mom using the Oh Gnome You Didn't pattern by Sarah Schira. I added beards to the gnomes instead of using a scarf. They are really cute with their hands in their pockets and tassels on their hats! I started a new crocheted sweater! It's the Habitat Cardigan crochet cardigan by Jess Coppom. It's big and cozy and I'm making it with the Lion Brand Heartland that is called for in the pattern. I've also started a crochet shawl. It's called the Dew Drop Shawl crochet shawl by Silke Terhorst. My project is using a gradient handspun that I made from a Loop Bump in teal, purple, and gray. The Sonny Bono Jacket is once again on hold and in need of another skein of yarn. One sleeve is done,(twice because the first one was way too wide), but I don't think I have enough yarn for the second sleeve and the collar. I've also been doing some Stashbuster Weaving . These are dishtowels with yellow/gold/orange/brown tones in the warp, using cream/yellow cotton weft. Marsha's Projects I'm working on Shared Rib by Anne Hanson as a cowl. Old Maiden Aunt fingering in the colorway Crimson Lips. About halfway done. Daphne's Skull designed by Ellen Sibelius of Wooly Wonders is not quite finished. I finished the teeth on the bottom jaw. Need to knit 16 teeth for the upper jaw. Slow going. Using 000 needles. Meanwhile, I started a new project! John O Groats Socks are a pair of socks using Yarns From the Plains fingering weight in the colorway Cumbrian View. I bought the yarn from the dyer at the Caithness Craft Retreat in May. The pattern I'm using is the sock recipe from Nancy Lindberg, NL7 Knit to Fit Socks . Mash It Up is the newest pattern on my needles. Started a hat for Ben's girlfriend using this free pattern by Babs Ausherman that uses sock yarn scraps. Great stash buster pattern. 2019 in Review We took a look at our Ravelry project pages using the advanced search button and then filtering by Year Finished. It's a fun way to look at the data in your projects. Kelly's Year in Review --Finished in 2019 5 pair of socks (4 shorties, 1 regular, all for me) 9 charity hats from spirit yarn 2 sweaters 1 shawl, a pair of cowls, a shawlette 2 Gnomes, 1 bee, 1 tarantula,10 bears, 1 sugar skull 3 (K)Not Along projects--quilt top and 2 punch needle projects No finished weaving, finished crochet projects are Bee, Tarantula, and most of the bears. Almost zero spinning! That's what happens when you break your foot, I guess! Marsha's Year in Revie w--Finished in 2019 4 Sweaters 2 Tees (So that's really 6 sweaters!!!!!) 4 hats 3 pair of socks Events Winter Weave Along --Started October 15 in the Two Ewes Ravelry Group. This weave along goes until the end of March so you have plenty of time for weaving projects. Fix it or Nix It- -Starts November 1st and goes through January 1. Join the planning on the Ravelry group discussion board. St. Distaff Day 2020 is Saturday, January 4th at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe, Washington. It is put on by a Chapter of the Northwest Regional Spinners Association . Stitches West is February 20-23 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. There is a podcaster meetup hosted by Yarniacs and 2 Knit Lit Chicks on Saturday the 22nd in the lobby bar area of the Hyatt (connected to the Convention Center).

Nov 10, 2019

Technology troubles meant you almost didn't get to hear this episode. But here we are! Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Come join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . This episode was recorded back on October 29 and is just now getting published due to Kelly's ancient Macbook finally showing its age. Learning a new audio software on a different computer platform meant little editing and a long delay in getting this out to you. We know you'll forgive our recording imperfections so we wanted to get this out to you! Marsha's Projects I'm continuing on Shared Rib cowl by Anne Hanson . Old Maiden Aunt fingering that in the colorway Crimson Lips that I bought at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival . I'm also working on Daphne's Skull designed by Ellen Sibelius owner of Wooly Wonders . To hear more about her designs check out Episode 109 . My progress has slowed way down because I got sick with a cold and the teeth have turned out to be very fiddly. It won't be finished in time for Halloween. I'm thinking of my next sweater project: Atlas by Jared Flood Snow Flower Heidi Kirrmeier Calder Pullover Rebecca Blair A shawl using Two Ewes Replenish Rambouillet Kelly's Projects I finished Seabrook Socks out of Little Fish Stitches yarn in the Seabrook Sunset colorway. I started Wooly Wonders Sugar Skull . (This has since been finished) Sonny Bono Jacket is back in active status. I'm working on the sleeves. Events Fibershed Wool and Fine Fiber Symposium , November 16th, 9-5 at Point Reyes Station Winter Weave Along --Started October 15 in the Two Ewes Ravelry Group. This weave along goes until the end of March so you have plenty of time for weaving projects. Fix it or Nix It- -Starts November 1st and goes through January 1. Join the planning on the Ravelry group discussion board.

Oct 20, 2019

Troubleshooting a tricky pattern, productive struggle, and planning to Fix It or Nix It are the topics for this week. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Come join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Marsha's Projects I finished 1898 Hat by Kristine Byrnes with worsted weight. Leading Men Fiber Arts Box Office Worsted in the colorway Wild Goose Chase. The pattern is available for free on the Seamen's Church Institute: Christmas at Sea website. I restarted Shared Rib by Anne Hanson as a cowl. I'm using Old Maiden Aunt fingering that in the colorway Crimson Lips that I bought at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival . I also started Daphne's Skull designed by Ellen Sibelius owner of Wooly Wonders . To hear more about her designs check out Episode 109 . Keep your fingers crossed I finished this by Halloween. ;-) Kelly's Projects My only project is the pair of Seabrook Socks out of Little Fish Stitches yarn in the Seabrook Sunset colorway exclusive to String Theory Yarn and Fiber . Using a pattern of traveling purl stitches inspired by Hermione's Everyday Sock pattern. I moved the spinning wheel into the bedroom but still haven't done any spinning. Exciting Shop news The Ewes have several new bases coming soon to the shop. Besides the fingering weight Replenish Rambouillet, the show will also have a sport weight and a worsted weight. In addition, there will be two small-batch yarns available--one Romney and another Corriedale x Romeldale. We'll keep you posted about a coming shop update. Events Fibershed Wool and Fine Fiber Symposium , November 16th, 9-5 at Point Reyes Station Winter Weave Along --Started October 15 in the Two Ewes Ravelry Group. This weave along goes until the end of March so you have plenty of time for weaving projects. Fix it or Nix It- -Starts November 1st and goes through January 1. Join the planning on teh Ravelry group discussion board.

Oct 5, 2019

Reviewing the WA Coast Meetup, a fiber mill, inspirations to cure a knitting funk, weaving plans and patron appreciation prizes round out this episode. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Come join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Thank you to Jean Chambers at String Theory Yarn and Fiber for helping us put on the Washington Coast Meetup! We had a great time meeting new fiber friends who felt like old friends right away. The unexpected theme of the meetup was dogs! All the attendees were dog owners, the shop has a new puppy, Marsha brought Enzo, and two of the attendees also had their dogs with them. So a beach run with the dogs was a highlight of Saturday afternoon. On our way to Seabrook we stopped by Olympic Yarn and Fiber Mill for a tour by the owner Lynn Lipski. She is also the creator of Lina Yarns . We toured her current mill and had a sneak peak at the new fiber spinning mill that she is opening in Cosmopolis, WA. Her operation is very impressive and her vision for providing a mill for local fiber and helping to build the fiber supply chain is definitely infectious. Marsha's Projects I finished Lounging Top by Joji Locatelli. The yarn is Debbie Bliss Juliet . I also finished the first sock with Schahenmayr Regia Design Line by Arne & Carlos . I'm using Knitted Wit Smarties for the toes and heels. Note: 45-yard mini skein is enough for heel and toe of one sock. I'm making another 1898 Hat by Kristine Byrnes with worsted weight. This time using Leading Men Fiber Arts Box Office Worsted in the colorway Wild Goose Chase. The pattern is available for free on the Seamen's Church Institute: Christmas at Sea website. Marsha's Plans I started Shared Rib by Anne Hanson back in February. The pattern is for a scarf, cowl, or infinity cowl. I've knit about 4" of the scarf but think I'm going to rip out and knit the cowl instead. The yarn is from Old Maiden Aunt fingering that in the colorway Crimson Lips that I bought at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival . Halloween is coming! I'm thinking about making the Daphne's Skull designed by Ellen Sibelius owner of Wooly Wonders . To hear more about her designs check out Episode 109 . Kelly's Projects I'm participating in the Oh Gnome You Didn't MKAL by Sara Shira. I was keeping up with the clues until I went off to Washington for the meetup. The clue that week involved stuffing the gnome so I put the project on pause for the trip and I haven't picked it back up. The mystery KAL is now over so I know how the gnomes look and they're very cute. I'll finish my two in time for Christmas and add a couple more traditional looking gnomes to the bunch, but right now I'm not in the mood for small pieces, stuffing or sewing. I did start a pair of socks at the meetup. They are out of Little Fish Stitches yarn in the Seabrook Sunset colorway that is exclusive to String Theory Yarn and Fiber . It's a very pretty orange and purple combination. Other than that, my knitting has hit a stall. I'm in a funk. Maybe that's for the best since it's almost time for the 19-20 Winter Weave Along! It will start on October 15th and go until March 15th. For handouts from the last two years, go to the pages section of our Ravelry Group . Third Quarter Patron Appreciation drawing! We so appreciate all of our generous patrons who support us with monthly contributions through our Two Ewes Patreon page . We have patron tiers starting at $3 per month. The money is used to help pay our hosting fees, as well as to pay for the purchase and shipping of podcast prizes. While we always appreciate prize donations, we also like to support makers and purchase their wares as prizes for our giveaways. Patron support contributes to our ability to do that. Thank you so much for your support! We announce two winners in the patron appreciation drawing! We also appreciate the support we receive from listeners in the form of podcast recommendations to others, prizes, donations, and participation in our community on Ravelry!

Sep 8, 2019

Kelly is making crochet charts and modifying a cardigan to a pullover. The (K)Not Along was a smashing success with beautiful projects and fun prizes. Hear some great listener feedback about non-gaping button bands. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Come join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Save the Date for the Two Ewes Washington Coast Meet-up at String Theory Yarn and Fiber in Seabrook, Washington, September 20-22. Friday 9/20 late afternoon/evening wine and cheese. Saturday 9/21 knitting and walking the beach. Shop opens at 10 am. Sunday 9/22 morning knitting. Shop opens at 10 am. Come for the day or knit the weekend away! Here is an RSVP form so you can let us know if you're coming! We want to make sure we have enough goodie bags for all. Find lodging for the weekend at Seabrook or in nearby Pacific Beach or Ocean Shores. Or join us for a day if you are nearby! Seabrook, Washington Thank you to Jean Chambers at String Theory Yarn and Fiber for helping us put on this fun event! Marsha's Projects Working on socks with Schahenmayr Regia Design Line by Arne & Carlos . I'm going to use Knitted Wit Smarties for the toes and heels. I recently ripped out the Neskowin Shell by Kay Hopkins. I changed her pattern and it didn't work. Too heavy and too short. The yarn is Debbie Bliss Juliet and I am knitting the Lounging Top by Joji Locatelli. Finished the yoke and about to join for the body. Almost finished with 1898 Hat by Kristine Byrnes with worsted weight Hazel Knits Cadence in the colorway Woodland. The pattern is on the Seamen's Church Institute: Christmas at Sea . This seemed to be the perfect pattern for an adventurer and yarn is from Seattle. Kelly's updates I started crocheting the yoke for Mariannes cardigan by Trine Bertelsen . The pattern has a crochet yoke, button band, and sleeve edging. I will modify it to be a pullover. I'll be using Blue Heron Egyptian Mercerized Cotton spirit yarn from Tracy (littletownknitter). The yoke is my crochet swatch. If the yoke isn't the right size I'll rip out and choose a different size. (K)not Along There were so many creative fiber related projects that were not kniting, not crochet, not weaving and not spinning. From needle felting to nalbinding, from chair upholstery to sewing, the Fiber Adventurers didn't disappoint! We talk about the projects and pull prizes for three lucky winners. Take a look at all the projects on the ( K)not Along Finished Object thread on Ravelry . Adventurer Feedback The Fiber Adventurers also didn't disappoint with their feedback about sweater closures. There are some great photos and explanations about grosgrain ribbon and button bands and buttonhole bands in the Episode 119 thread on Ravelry .

Aug 24, 2019

New puppies, cute babies on pattern photos, and LOTS of discussion and conjecture about button bands, zippers, and grosgrain ribbon. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Come join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Save the Date for the Two Ewes Washington Coast Meet-up at String Theory Yarn and Fiber in Seabrook, Washington, September 20-22. Here is an RSVP form so you can let us know if you're coming! We want to make sure we have enough goodie bags for all. Find lodging for the weekend at Seabrook or in nearby Pacific Beach or Ocean Shores. Or join us for a day if you are nearby! Seabrook, Washington Thank you to Jean at String Theory Yarn and Fiber for helping us put on this fun event! Marsha's Projects I finished the Lace Market T-shirt by Marie Green using Schoppel-Wolle El Linio several weeks ago. The neckline was too big and yesterday I finally reknit it. Fits perfectly! The Schoppel-Wolle Das Paar socks are finished and they match just as promised. I also finished Fine Sand by Heidi Kirrmeier. Using Fibra Natura Unity . Fits great! I also cast on another pair of vanilla socks for my brother. Using Schahenmayr Regia Design Line by Arne & Carlos . I'm going to use Knitted Wit Smarties for the toes and heels. I recently ripped out the Neskowin Shell by Kay Hopkins. I changed her pattern and it didn't work. Too heavy and too short. The yarn is Debbie Bliss Juliet and I am about to cast on the Lounging Top by Joji Locatelli. I'm making a hat for a friend that is going to be working in Antarctica. I plan to make 1898 Hat by Kristine Byrnes with worsted weight Hazel Knits Cadence in the colorway Woodland. The pattern is on the Seamen's Church Institute: Christmas at Sea . This seemed to be the perfect pattern for an adventurer and yarn is from Seattle. Kelly's updates I swatched for Mariannes cardigan by Trine Bertelsen . The pattern has a crochet yoke, button band, and sleeve edging. I will modify it to be a pullover. I'll be using Blue Heron Egyptian Mercerized Cotton spirit yarn from Tracy (littletownknitter). Also joined the Oh Gnome You Didn't mystery gnome knit along. Pattern updates start in early September. Billions of baby socks ! Well, maybe not billions. Six pairs are finished and I have another pair on the needles. Method 1: I often use the same sock formula that I use for my own socks and do them top down with a heel flap of half the stitches. I usually use size US 2 needles and 32 stitches. To turn the heel I go two stitches past the center do a decrease, do one more stitch and turn. Then slip one, go five stitches, do a decrease, do one more stitch and turn. Now every row I slip one, knit to the gap created by the decrease, do a decrease across the gap, knit one more stitch, and turn. Repeat until all stitches are used. Then I pick up for the gussets and keep knitting. A pattern, if you want one is Better-Than-Booties Baby Socks Method 2: For the most recent socks I've been using a short row heel and it seems faster. I've been using Basically Perfect Baby Socks by Diana Burch as a guide for the short rows. Listener Questions Yarngirl52 (Debbie) asked about adding a zipper, adding a shoulder button band for a toddler sweater, and finishing a button band. Should you use grosgrain ribbon or not; backer buttons or not. There are two ways to add a zipper to a sweater that doesn't have one. One way is steeking to add a zipper to a sweater designed as a pullover, another is adding a zipper to a sweater instead of a button band. Kelly responds: I haven't ever done a steeked sweater, but I steeked for the Clover, Bee, and Revery pillow. The pillow was knit in the round with an extra 5 or 7 stitches that were where it was cut and folded over to create the left and right edges of the pillow top. I did a crocheted steek where I crocheted up each edge before cutting. If I ever made another Cowichan-style sweater I think I would do it in the round and then steek it to put in the zipper. That way you avoid colorwork while purling. I added a zipper instead of a button band to the Mielie vest that I made (pattern by Hilary Smith Callis). I made the button bands a little wider because I liked that look. I also changed the order of putting on the collar and button band so I could fold the collar down over the top edge of the zipper. I sewed the zipper in by hand and I actually just used yarn to do it. The zipper on the Orcas Run was sewn by hand with sewing thread. I pinned it on, zipped the zipper up to adjust the pinning if needed, then unzipped it again and made small stitches all around the edge of the zipper. What about adding a shoulder button band to a toddler sweater that doesn't have one? Bluebell Pullover doesn't have a shoulder button band but has the envelope neckline that onesies have. To put a button band on a bottom up sweater would be straightforward. Instead of joining at the shoulders, just bind off (to provide structure) and then pick up for the button bands. One will need to have button holes put into it. I think I'd make it the front one, but it doesn't really matter I don't think. Putting a button band on a top down toddler sweater would be more tricky and would really depend on the construction of the sweater. Another trick I like when I want to alter a pattern is to find a pattern with the thing I want to add and either make it first to figure out the construction, or read through it and see if I can visualize how to make the changes I want in the original sweater. For example Diggory from Berroco is an example. It has the neckline with button bands and could serve as a great model of what to do. Besides, the baby in the pattern photo couldn't be cuter. Go take a look--we promise it will make you smile! Marsha found some resources about adding grosgrain ribbon to the button bands of a sweater. Neither of us have ever done this, but we spend a lot of time speculating and decide to experiment with the technique on two of our sweaters. Tips for adding ribbon to a sweater button band by Olive Knits. Adding a ribbon backing to your knit button band by Ms. Cleaver

Aug 8, 2019

Lots of travel knitting, a natural dye workshop with fiber friends and some listener questions about spinning and stash are the topics for this week. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Come join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Save the Date for a Washington Coast Meet-up! September 20-22. We'll be meeting to knit and chat at String Theory Yarn and Fiber . Find lodging for the weekend in Seabrook, Washington or in nearby Pacific Beach or Ocean Shores. Or join us for a day if you are nearby! Click here to RSVP so we can reserve your goodie bag! Here is a link to the Ravelry thread about the meet-up. We just spent a week together in Seattle! Kelly came up to join Marsha and some fiber friends for a natural dye workshop. The dyes used were coreopsis, lichen, avocado, and cochineal. They were dyed on a variety of natural colored yarns using different strengths of dye. We also used an ammonia modifier to change the color of the dye. Very inspiring. Marsha's Projects: I finished the Lace Market T-shirt by Marie Green using Schoppel-Wolle El Linio several weeks ago. The neck is too big and I had planned to re-knit picking up fewer stitches, small needles, and slightly less loose bind off. Where did the time go? I turned heel and worked gusset of Schoppel-Wolle Das Paar socks. About an inch of the foot is completed. I also finished body and neck band of Fine Sand by Heidi Kirrmeier, using Fibra Natura Unity . Knot a long: Nothing!!!! But that doesn't mean you shouldn't enter. So far we have 38 FOs, our biggest along ever! Enter by August 31st. Remember, it's any fiber related item that is not knit, crochet, spinning or weaving. We'll draw for prizes in our first September episode. Kelly's Projects The most significant FO for this week is my 5th metatarsal! Bone is 90% healed and the boot is off. Now on to the physical therapy! I also finished Two cowls from Alchemy yarn 100% silk. The pattern is Simple Yet Effective from Tin Can Knits . I finished the first one on the road trip to Seattle and the second one I almost finished on the trip back home. The Silk Cardigan from Dragonfly Fibers Dance Rustic Silk is also finished. The pattern is Koru by Aroha Knits . I got some good wear out of it during the trip to Seattle. The fit is good and the armscye works ok with some of my short-sleeved tees. I also finished the Tarantula that I was making for my grand nephew. Did you know that Tarantulas have 8 eyes? Two larger eyes and 6 tiny ones. I tried to make this tarantula as realistic as possible. The grands are keeping the class tarantula for the summer, so they are a little tarantula-obsessed! Finally, I finished the miniature punch needle rug . The kit by J. Conner Designs was a gift from Tori (wideanglemind). It was so fun and fast to do and turned out so cute. I will definitely try more of this mini-punch work. The fabric is thin and flexible compared to the regular punch needle. It is more like embroidery and is often called punch needle embroidery. Questions from Listeners PegofmyHeart (Peggy) asked about keeping her handspun yarn consistent. "When I returned to spinning I must have changed my gauge. Now I have a sleeve that needs to be ripped out. New fiber spun, hopefully at a better gauge, and knitted again. HELP!" Suggestions: Take a piece of freshly spun singles off the bobbin and let it ply back on itself to be stablized. I hang this on my wheel so I can keep checking my spinning against this yarn. Unply it so you can see the single if you need to. You can also make a "Spinners Control Card" where you wrap both freshly spun singles and the plied-back-on-itself yarn around a stiff card and keep that with your spinning. This will help with consistency in spinning. Don't wrap it too tightly or it will seem thinner than it really is. Other tricks are: Spin all the singles before plying and put them all on storage bobbins and ply them first bobbin to last bobbin, second bobbin to penultimate bobbin, etc. This presumes that the most widely differing bobbins are first and last and plying them together will average out the inconsistencies. Spin all the yarn before starting the project and calculate the yards per pound or yards per gram. This will help you see inconsistencies in the skeins and allow you to use the most similar skeins where gauge is important. Any that are significantly different can be used where it matters less or maybe they won't be needed at all. Cindy (CindyQ) and Valerie29 (Valerie) asked about stash busting, and stash organizing. Marsha suggests: I organize my wool stash by weight and store them in labelled plastic bins I pick up at the Goodwill. I have a separate bins for cotton and handspun. Braids for spinning are stored in those plastic covers that bedding comes in. Yarn/fiber I buy at stores is listed in Ravelry. I tried posting yarn I pick up at thrift stores/destash rooms in Ravelry, but it honestly got to be too much. As for using up the yarn, I made a scarf called Mini Mania using leftover sock yarn. I also made a Steven West afghan called Garter Squish that used up about 5,700 yards of worsted weight yarn. I made a shaw called Sunny Delight using yarn from the NoCKRs retreat destash room. Socks and hats are another great way to use up stash. Here are some other patterns I have been looking at to use up leftovers. Lily's Scrap Blanket Vintage Crocheted Throw & Afghan Briochevron Blanket (not sure I can do that much brioche) Stashbuster Blarf Stashbuster Sweater Kelly says: Right now I have yarn all over the place. Larger weaving cones are on a shelf in the garage and the smaller cotton, linen, etc. cones are in boxes in the garage since my only available looms are out there. Usually most of my knitting yarn is in baskets and bowls and sorted however I think looks nice. It varies. Sometimes by color, sometimes by type, sometimes by weight. Because of the electrical work mess, some of my yarn is also in boxes/bags in the living room (where big piles of stuff are being stored). After using an already created warp from a destash, I've been thinking that winding warps and storing them as warps would be a great way to have weaving projects ready to go. When the inside studio is available again I've thought of a system for threading cones onto chains that drape across one of the walls. I like to see my yarn in different combinations to get inspiration. The downside of this system is that there could be sun damage to the yarn if I don't use it regularly. I'm also not quite sure of the system for getting yarn down easily without having the whole string of cones come down on my head! My stashbuster projects for using leftovers are bears for the Mother Bear Project , charity hats, and baby socks. I also find that having yarn out on display gives me other ideas for combining yarns that weren't originally planned to go together. Another possible project for using up waste (thrums from weaving) and other leftovers are to make hot pads. One technique is to use multiple strands that are twisted and plied to create a square that is then sewn together and felted. Another technique is to wrap rope with yarn using a coil basketry technique to make a spiral the becomes a round hot pad. Both would be perfect projects for the (K)Not Along that is going until August 31).

Jul 21, 2019

Crochet critters, punch needle projects, finished sweaters, and listener questions are the topics for this episode. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry, or email us with your thoughts at twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com Marsha's Projects Finished Lace Market T-shirt by Marie Green using Schoppel-Wolle El Linio . The neck is too big. I intentionally didn't weave in ends because I thought this might be an issue. I'll reknit the neckline with smaller needles, picking up fewer stitches, and doing a slightly less loose bind off. I finished first sock using Schoppel-Wolle Das Paar . Cast on for second and knit about 3 inches. I cast on for a summer weight sweater, Fine Sand by (of course) Heidi Kirrmeier. The yarn is Fibra Natura Unity . The yoke and about 7" of body are finished. Nice yarn with some thick and thin sections that give it character. Kelly's Projects My Assam Cardigan is finished and I didn't run out of yarn! The seaming I used was mattress stitch and a variation of duplicate stitch since it was knit sideways. Pull the mattress stitch tight, but make sure the duplicate stitch has your seaming stitches the same size as your knit stitches so it shouldn't be pulled tight. The Knot Along practice punch needle project is finished. I learned a lot. I used handspun rug yarn leftovers and it's a good example of different colors with the same value not really having enough contrast for color work. If you look at the piece in a black and white photo you can see that the colors don't have enough contrast in value. I have several crochet projects finished! Beeyanka Honey pattern was put on my radar by a listener and I snapped it right up and made it during a camping trip. I also finished 8 Mother Bears (2 were knit, 6 orcheted). Actively in progress I have a crocheted tarantula for my nephew, the Koru Cardigan, and I'm getting ready to start a miniature punch needle project with a different kind of punch needle than the Oxford Punch Needle brand. I'll be using crewel weight yarn. It's a kit. Listener Questions Fiddlewitch (Joanna) asked about "how to get more out of ravelry and tricks on using the site." She also wanted "leads on who else is doing wonderful work out there. Who are your (who are our) favorite unsung designers? " Kelly: One of my favorite Ravelry features is the advanced search. You can do an advanced search on almost anything--forum posts, projects, your own stash, patterns. Just look for a link saying advanced search. For example, recently I've been using the advanced search to find patterns from lesser known designers, particularly designers of color. First I favorited some bundles that were created by others: Solidarity Swap Designers , POC Designers to Lift Up . Then I go to patterns and select " pattern browser and advanced search." Once there, the category My Notebook on the side has "favorite bundles" as one of the filters. I also like to use gauge as a filter in order to find a pattern that matches my swatch, rather than trying to make my swatch match a particular pattern. Finding bundles to favorite in the first place is a little trickier. You can find bundles on a group's main page or in an individual's favorites. Ravelry VP of Operations MaryHeatherB has a great set of bundles on her favorites page . Once you favorite/heart a bundle, you can use it as a search filter. To support makers who are people of color, you can also follow @bipocinfiber and @bipocmakers on Instagram . Also @ladydyeyarns on Instagram has been posting independent dyers and other makers of color and who are not always as well known.. Seine1 (Kathleen) asked "I'd like to hear about some of the Rav groups you belong to." Kelly: I belong to a lot of Ravelry Groups and you can see them all by looking at the side of my profile page. On the forum page of Ravelry you can organize your forums by clicking on the wrench on the upper right of the forums page. This allows you to adjust all kinds of settings to customize your forums page. In my forums I have the ones I'm most active in on the first tab, then I've divided the others into podcast groups, groups for techniques and topics, and the Ravelry main boards. Events Save the Date for a Seabrook, WA Meetup at String Theory Yarn and Fiber , September 20-22. Find lodging for the weekend at Seabrook or in nearby Pacific Beach or Ocean Shores. Or join us for a day if you are nearby!

Jul 9, 2019

Answers to your questions about finishing knits-weaving in ends, washing, blocking. There is no shame in not weaving in ends and you can be a little reckless with your washing. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or email us: twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com or contact us on our website . This episode's topics come from questions in our community on Ravelry: Finishing Knit and Crochet Projects Marsha: Two quick stories. 1. In the 80/90's when Kaffe Fassett's colorwork was the rage, he wrote that he didn't bother weaving in any ends because they were on the inside. 2. Bought a shetland hat on Orkney and the woman who knit it just knotted the ends and left them. No weaving. She said after a good wash the ends stayed put. I'll report back after wearing the hat. I always wash my finished project and lay it out on a towel on the spare bed in the shape of the pattern schematic. I then pin it in that share with T pins. If it is lace I block "aggressively" often beyond the size of the schematic. Linen goes in dryer. Here are some good videos by Suzanne Bryan. I met her at Stitches West two years ago. She is a master knitter and very informative. Here is her YouTube Channel Here are some of her videos on this topic: How to Block Knitting Blocking a Sweater (knit in the round ) Blocking a Sweater (in pieces ) Weaving in Ends in Garter Stitch Weaving in Ends in Stockinette On stockinette and garter stitch I weave in the end following the stitch on the wrong side. If it's very fine yarn I may un-ply the yarn and weave in the singles separately. Kelly: Russian Join Staci Perry, Very Pink Knits video Clasped Weft Join Louise Tilbrooke video On cotton and linen garments I have the best luck if I weave a little and then leave a tail hanging on the inside. Duplicate stitch is the way I weave in ends if I don't want them to show on front or back. If you don't want to do duplicate stitch after the fact this technique is like doing duplicate stitch weaving in as you knit: Knit with two strands together for 4-5 stitches or more for very slippery yarns. This is good for lace and other patterns where duplicate stitch is difficult. Cut the tails on each strand. Another way to secure ends is to use a sharp needle while weaving in ends and and split the yarn so the end is traveling inside of another yarn strand. Another tip: Don't cut yarn cleanly--pull a little and rip the scissors blade across making a rough edge. Even with nonfelting yarn the fibers will be able to grip each other a little when this end is woven in. Events Save the Date for a Seabrook, WA Meetup September 20-22 Find lodging for the weekend at Seabrook or in nearby Pacific Beach or Ocean Shores. Or join us for a day if you are nearby! Seabrook, Washington String Theory Yarn and Fiber

Jul 3, 2019

Castles and gardens share the spotlight with food and drink as Marsha and Kim wrap up their Scotland adventure on the East coast of Scotland. Marsha also fills us in on her project progress during the trip. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Come join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Marsha's Instagram feed Forse of Nature The Bay Owl Gary Rhodes Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe Dunbeath Castle Garden Tour King Craig Fabrics Dunrobin Castle Kincraig Castle Hotel Dovecot Studios and the Orla Kiely exhibit GPO Cafe and Rooms Be Inspired Fibres in Edinburgh

Jun 27, 2019

Neolithic sites, wool mills, and sticky toffee pudding are the highlights of the Orkneys part of Marsha and Kim's Scotland trip. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Come join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Kirkjuvagr Orkney Gin in Kirkwall A Yarn from North Ronaldsay wool mill North Ronaldsay lighthouse See Orkney Skaail house Brough of Birsay Viking settlement Brough of Gurness Viking settlement Barony Mill Foveran restaurant

Jun 20, 2019

Travel to John O'Groats and the Caithness Craft Retreat with Marsha and guest-host, Kim. Fiber, food, and drink adventures in the far north of Scotland! Kelly gives a (K)Not Along update and draws a prize winner from our patrons. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Come join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Trip Details Unlimited Color company in Ullapool Caithness Craft Podcast John O'Groats Natural Retreats Castle of Mey Kirkjuvagr Orkney Gin in Kirkwall St. Magnus Cathedral Knot Along Update Kelly has finished the quilt top she started in high school (maybe 1978?). It may be awhile before the backing and quilting part of the project begins, but she's determined to finish this memory quilt.

Jun 11, 2019

Food, drink, wool, and more in Inverness with Marsha and guest-host Kim as they travel in Scotland. Visit our shop: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com , join the community on Ravelry , or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Inverness Whisky Tours Knockando wool mill Video: Knockando Wool MIll- Our Story Loch Ness Knitting shop and Loch Ness Knitting on Ravelry

Jun 2, 2019

Learning new things as adults can be challenging, but also fun. Besides the usual topics, Marsha learns how much fun driving can be. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or email us at twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com or contact us on our website . Project Updates Marsha finished the pullover Cobblestone by Jared Flood for her brother. She washed and blocked it but he want the sleeves 1" shorter so some ripping back will have to be done. She used New Lanark Mill DK she bought in Scotland last year. It is nice to knit with and and becomes more beautiful after washing. She also made progress on her T-shirt, Lace Market by Marie Greene. She finished the yoke and joined the body. She is using a linen yarn call El Linio by Schoppel Kelly has been working on the Assam by Laura Chau . She is using Sockotta held double. It looks like she will have enough yarn. She also finished a pair of shortie socks. Other News Kelly had some sad news to report. She had to say good-bye to her almost 15-year old yellow lab, Ruedy. Anyone who has lost a pet knows how hard this is, but it was time. While Marsha's car is in the shop she ended up with a Dodge Challenger as her rental car. Who knew driving a muscle car was so much fun! Events (K)Not Along! The Two Ewes will be starting a challenge for fiber projects that are NOT knitting, crochet, spinning, or weaving. The NOT (or KNOT) Along will start on May 31 and goes through August 31.

May 9, 2019

Kelly is healing and Marsha is having fun with dog agility. Oh,yeah! We're also playing with string! Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or email us with your thoughts at twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com or contact us on our website . Project Updates Kelly finished some shortie socks with her Bee Yarn (Sunflower colorway from Duren Dyeworks). She also finished the The Double Trouble Reversible Beanie by Petite Knitter. Kelly is experimenting with color changes in her version . The inside layer has some tension issues, seeming to be a more loose gauge than the outside layer. More practice needed! Kelly also started a side-to-side cardigan called Assam by Laura Chau . She found this by doing an advanced pattern search for cardigans with the gauge from a swatch of Sockotta held double. Marsha has been working monogamously on the pullover Cobblestone by Jared Flood Two days ago she attached the sleeves to the body and has knit about 3" of the yoke. She is using the New Lanark Mill DK she bought in Scotland last year. Events Other ways to play with string...A (K)Not Along! The Two Ewes will be starting a challenge for fiber projects that are NOT knitting, crochet, spinning, or weaving. The NOT (or KNOT) Along will start on May 31 and goes through August 31, so think about what you want to be working on this summer that is (K)NOT knitting, crochet, or weaving. Marsha plans to make some Beeswax wraps and to deconstruct some drapes so they can be remade to fit her windows. Kelly plans to do some punch needle rug hooking. Recommendations Kelly: Water for bees , bee hotel for native pollinators, plant trees for bees .

Apr 29, 2019

A fabulous knitting retreat contrasts with a horrible injury, but the fun outweighs the pain in this episode. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or email us with your thoughts at twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com or contact us on our website . Project Updates Kelly is plugging away at Koru by Aroha Knits using the Dragonfly Fibers Dance Rustic Silk . It is in timeout due to a dropped stitch and will need to have about 4 to 5 rows ripped out and reknit. Meanwhile Kelly started some shortie socks with her Bee Yarn (Sunflower colorway from Duren Dyeworks). She will finish them before the episode goes live. She also is knitting a The Double Trouble Reversible Beanie by Petite Knitter. Kelly is experimenting with color changes in her version . Marsha has made progress on the T-shirt called Lace Market by Marie Greene and she is using Schoppel El Linio (linen) in Indigo. She finished the body of the pullover Cobblestone by Jared Flood, finished the first sleeve and started the second sleeve. She is using the New Lanark Mill DK she bought in Scotland last year. Other ways to play with string...A Not Along (or is it Knot Along?) The Two Ewes will be starting a challenge for fiber projects that are NOT knitting, crochet, spinning, or weaving. The NOT (or KNOT) Along will start on May 31 and goes through August 31, so think about what you want to be working on this summer that is NOT knitting, crochet, or weaving. Retreat Fun We had a great time at the NoCKRs retreat . Lots of relaxing (at least when Marsha wasn't fetching ice, etc. for Kelly!) lots of good food, lots of friends, and some learning. Monica (Kirbymo) taught us how to make Beeswax Wraps that are an alternative to plastic wrap. There are lots of YouTube tutorials, but this was a good one and included links to purchasing supplies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_bsxrqAF-s There were some great designers in attendance at the . Do check out their patterns on Ravelry. Celia McAdam Cahill Brenda Castiel Heddi Craft gave a demonstration on sock machine knitting. Her book is CSM: The Cookbook Elizabeth Doherty gave a talk on short rows. Recommendations Kelly: Don't carry a bunch of crap when you walk up the stairs in the dark! Marsha: Spicy Red Lentil Soup from The Splendid Table's How to Eat Weekends adapted by Nancy Leson food writer at the Seattle Times.

Apr 7, 2019

Celebrating member weaving projects and highlighting the work of designers who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. You'll definitely add patterns to your queue after this episode! Doing our part for World Fleece! Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or email us with your thoughts. Use email twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com or contact us on our website . Project Updates Kelly is plugging away at Koru by Aroha Knits using the Dragonfly Fibers Dance Rustic Silk . The patterned sections have become almost routine and she is approaching the length where she will begin armholes. Kelly also finished a small shawlette/cowl out of handspun. The project was started and finished in one weekend trip to San Francisco to see the musical Hamilton. Marsha has cast on two projects. The first is a T-shirt called Lace Market by Marie Greene and she is using Schoppel El Linio (linen) in Indigo. She also cast on for her brother the pullover Cobblestone by Jared Flood using the New Lanark Mill DK she bought in Scotland last year. Celebrating Weaving The Two Ewes celebrate weaving with a review of member weaving projects . Lots of members are weavers and participated in the recently finished Winter Weave Along. Besides looking at the finished object thread the Ewes went to the Ravelry advanced search, selected the "projects" tab at the top, selected "weaving" as the craft in the filter boxes on the left, and selected "Groups" from the very last filter box with additional characteristics. This allows you to select a Ravelry Group, for example Two Ewes Fiber Adventure. Once you do that you see a page of all the weaving projects by group members. Gorgeous and inspiring! A Diversity of Designers The Ewes highlighted patterns from the Designers of Color Bundle that was created by the Solidarity Swap Ravelry Group . Some of the patterns are: Lesedi Shrug by Noma Ndlovu , Mermaid Top by Rebecca McKenzie , Summertime Tee by Toni Lipsey (crochet) Inseparable Cowl and Shawls by Tami Gore And many, many others (over 70 pages of patterns!) The Two Ewes dare you to look at this bundle and not add to your project queue! Other ways to play with string...A Not Along (or is it Knot Along?) Group member Jill contacted Kelly about punch needle rug hooking. Kelly has been planning a project for awhile, but hasn't gotten started. Jill also wanted to do a punch needle project. So the Two Ewes will be starting a challenge for fiber projects that are NOT knitting, crochet, or weaving. The NOT (or KNOT) Along will start on May 31, so think about what you want to be working on this summer that is NOT knitting, crochet, or weaving. Recommendations Kelly recommends Fiber at the Speed of Life podcast by Erica (Weavolution) and Michele. They just published their first episode.

Mar 31, 2019

The Ewes talk knitting and then have a discussion of dyeing techniques in answer to a listener question. A little Enzo and a little bee news round out the episode. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or email us with your thoughts. twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com is our email address or you click contact us on our website. Project Updates Marsha finished Mountain High by Heidi Kirrmaier using The Croft Shetland Tweed by West Yorkshire Spinners that she bought at the The Yarn Cake in Glasgow. The sweater fits beautifully and she's happy with her modifications. She is still looking for a pullover pattern for her brother using New Lanark Wool & Textiles DK that she bought at the mill in New Lanark, Scotland last March. Kelly continues to work on Koru by Aroha Knits using the Dragonfly Fibers Dance Rustic Silk She ripped out the mistake and is now making good progress. She also finished 5 hats from spirit yarn (destash yarn): Caron Simply soft Mardi Gray. Variegated gray with soft pink, yellow and green. Acrylic yarn, called Mardi Gray. It was a full bag of 4 balls, 150 yards in each ball. Dyeing Techniques Discussion The Ewes answer a dyeing questionMomdiggity/Jo Ann, who asked, "I would love to hear you talk about your fiber dying techniques." Kelly and Marsha talk about choosing and blending colors, the different techniques they've tried over the years and in particular under-dyeing and over-dyeing. Kelly tells about her natural dyeing experiments and Marsha found two dyeing classes on Craftsy (now Bluprint ) that she thinks she may try. Both are taught by Sarah Eyre. Professional Yarn Dyeing at Home : dyeing solids, semi-solids speckled, and variegated. Discusses yarns, dyes, mordants, safety, gear and studio set up. Next Steps in Dyeing : gradients, sock blanks, self-striping, hand-painted, dyeing fibers. Twenty Stitches Notecard Giveaway The Two Ewes are having a giveaway for notecards that they received as a promotion from the Twenty Stitches booth at Stitches West. Twenty Stitches has beautiful cards, tags, gift boxes, and kits to make them. Here is an description of the product from the website. Clear instructions, pre-cut and perfectly spaced embroidery holes, a #20 Chenille needle, and all the necessary thread and adhesives are included in our kits, making it easy to create perfectly embroidered notecards, tags, and giftboxes. Our book artsinspired samplers are a fun way to practice or learn twenty embroidery stitches. Head over to the Giveaway Thread in the Ravelry Group to see how to enter. The giveaway thread will be open until May 8 when we will draw a winner for a pack of notecards to embroider. Winter Weave Along ends March 31. Don't forget to enter your weaving projects in the FO thread. Next episode will be a celebration of weaving and a drawing for prizes. Recommendations Kelly: Xerces Society Pollinator friendly plant list

Mar 17, 2019

Whisky tasting, a trip to the Scottish Highlands, a knitting mishap, and podcasting in pajamas are some of the tangents this episode! Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or email us with your thoughts. twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com is our email address or you click contact us on our website. Project Updates Marsha has finished the body and one sleeve of a pullover Mountain High by Heidi Kirrmaier (again!) using The Croft Shetland Tweed by West Yorkshire Spinners that she bought at the The Yarn Cake in Glasgow. She also swatched with New Lanark Wool & Textiles DK that she bought at the mill in New Lanark, Scotland last March. She is looking for a sweater pattern for her brother. Kelly continues to work on Koru by Aroha Knits using the Dragonfly Fibers Dance Rustic Silk that she bought last year at Stitches. Somehow she began using the left chart on the right and the right chart on the left so there is about 2-3 inches that need to be ripped out. The back and two fronts of the Sonny Bono jacket are done. Kelly will definitely need more yarn for the two sleeves and collar. There is about a skein and a half left and a call to Amazing Yarns is needed. Gauntlet was thrown down by Heddicraft who finished a linen bath mitt from 2 retreats ago. So Kelly dug in her stash for NoCKRs spirit yarn with a goal to use something up before the retreat. She is making hats from a variegated gray with soft pink, yellow and green. Acrylic yarn, called Mardi Gray. It was a full bag of 4 balls, 150 yards in each ball, so she plans at least 4 hats. Thank You Patrons! We have 21 Patrons at patreon.com/twoewes . Patrons help us buy prizes, pay for podcast hosting, and ship prizes. Patrons sign up for a support level starting at $3 per month. Our patrons help us make the show available for free to everyone. This month we're giving away two prize skeins of Studio Fingering from Neighborhood Fiber Company . Events The Winter Weave Along is ending March 31. Come chat with us about weaving in the We Sley thread on Ravelry and don't forget to post your finished objects in the FO thread . Our first April episode will be a celebration of weaving! Recommendations Kelly recommends coming home from work and putting on your pajamas at 5:15! Also, she recommends two shows she has been watching on Amazon Prime video: Unforgotten a British police drama about solving cold cases Case Histories , also a crime drama. Based on stories by Kate Atkinson .

Mar 3, 2019

A Stitches recap with a Two Ewes twist. We'll let the others tell you about the popular knits at Stitches West. We fell in love with skulls, knitted plants and animals, and furry jackets! Plus we met some great listeners. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or email us with your thoughts. twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com is our email address or you click contact us on our website. What did we wear on the Stitches West carpet? Marsha wore her cardigan Cloud Cover and her handspun combo spin sweater made with Simple Summer Tweed pattern . Both patterns are by Heidi Kirrmaier. Kelly wore the Mystery Knit Along with Cozy Up Knits using the Two Ewes Replenish Rambouillet and the Running Water cardigan by Claudia Eisenkolb. What did we work on at Stitches West? Marsha exclusively worked on a pullover Mountain High by Heidi Kirrmaier (again!) using The Croft Shetland Tweed by West Yorkshire Spinners that she bought at the The Yarn Cake in Glasgow. Marsha has a finished object her Slack Tide Scarf by Poststitch for her brother Kelly worked on Koru by Aroha Knits using the Dragonfly Fibers Dance Rustic Silk that she bought last year at Stitches. However, with three traveling stitch charts, it wasn't the best choice for social knitting. Anticipating the need for a second project Kelly brought an in-progress Mother Bear and a kit of leftover yarns. She got one bear to the point of needing some stuffing and started a second bear. What did we see at Stitches Ellen's Wooly Wonders has fabulous patterns including Daphne's Skull Amazing Yarns is where Kelly found her dream project. New cast on! Lady Dye Yarns had great colors and her signature "BadA$$ Knitter," Sheep Fro, and other bags. Neighborhood Fiber Company is full of beautiful yarns as always. It's one of our favorites. At Bay Street Yarns , Anne, spent some time talking to us about her Fire Relief yarns. Knitting on the Fringe had a wide variety of non-yarn products, including Fair Trade felted bags. New friends from Stitches The Two Ewes met some great new fiber friends including Rhonda Waipahu who came to Stitches all the way from Pennsylvania, Noelle in the double knit class who recognized Kelly's voice, Drummer Girl Creations aka Drummergirlmakes aka Patricia was at the show with her two boys. Later the Ewes met Marisa Quiltotaku who came with their friend Marianne, and Pamela who they met briefly last year but got to talk with more this year. She came with their friend Alissa. They tried to talk the Ewes into going to the pajama party, but the Ewes couldn't stay up that late! They also met Sarah, Imagined Landscapes, gnome designer extraordinaire! Madrona Fiber Arts Marsha attended The Madrona Fiber Arts with her friend Kim. The show had a nice market. They stopped by the Brooklyn Tweed booth where Kim mentioned to Luigi Boccia that the sweater she made several years ago with Loft and developed holes. Luigi explained the company discovered the original Loft was too fragile and has reformulated yarn. He extended a discount to each of us to try the yarn again. So a huge thank you to Luigi for doing this and for those knitters and crocheters who may have had a similar experience, do give the yarn another try. Recommendations Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism by Safiya Umoja Noble . This book reads like a textbook and takes both concentration and familiarity with the academic language of social justice studies. Kelly is really enjoying this listen but has looked up words, used the repeat button, looked up phrases,, and bookmarked clips a lot! Events We will be having a Thank You Patrons episode in March with patron appreciation drawings. To become a Patron go to http://patreon.com/twoewes . We have several levels of support for those who are interested. Other ways to support the show: tell others, participate in the group, leave us feedback.

Feb 18, 2019

Despite the noises and interruptions the yarn talk continues! Through downpours, laundry, head shaving, a neighbor coming by and odd thumping in the background, the show goes on. Hear the Ewes respond to the Fiberuary Challenge and Yarn Love Challenge prompts. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or email us with your thoughts. twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com is our email address or click contact us on our website. Project Updates Marsha finished her cardigan Cloud Cover by Heidi Kirrmaier and loves it. Marsha double checked the label on her fleece and it is Wensleydale x Cormo x Merino fleece. After our last episode Marsha ordered another skein of worsted yarn from Thirteen Mile Lamb and Wool to have extra for dyeing for the colorwork pullover, Snowflower by Heidi Kirrmaier. She is still in the planning stage for dyeing the yarn. Plus she wants to take a colorwork class. Marsha is almost done with Slack Tide Scarf by Poststitch that she is making for her brother and she cast on a scarf for herself called Shared Rib by Anne Hanson using Old Maiden Aunt Yarns fingering weight that she bought last March at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival . She also cast on a pullover Mountain High by Heidi Kirrmaier (again!) using The Croft Shetland Tweed by West Yorkshire Spinners that she bought at the The Yarn Cake in Glasgow. Kelly finished the Mystery Knit Along with Cozy Up Knits using the Two Ewes Replenish Rambouillet . It will be one of her Stitches garments if it gets blocked in time. Kelly has started the Koru by Aroha Knits . She's using Dance Rustic Silk from Dragonfly Fibers. News The Solidarity Swap on Ravelry is a pattern and/or yarn swap celebrating designers and dyers who are people of color or from underrepresented groups. The group has a designer bundle listing a variety of designers and Indie dyers that you might not have seen before. Another resource for finding designers, dyers, and other makers of color is Jeanette Sloan's site POC Designers and Crafters . AllFreeKnitting has added the Two Ewes to its updated list of the top 10 knitting podcasts . Upcoming Events Stitches West Northwest Regional Spinners Association Whidbey Weavers Guild Black Sheep Gathering

Feb 3, 2019

A little knitting and a lot of permission to break spinning and knitting rules. Wait--there are no rules! The Ewes share anti-racism resources, plus, listener questions and feedback to round out the show. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or email us with your thoughts. twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com is our email address or you click contact us on our website. Project Updates Marsha continues to work on her Cloud Cover cardigan by Heidi Kirrmaier. She is almost done with the collar and then will weave in the ends and block. She has been spinning her Wensleydale x Cormo x Merino fleece. It has been slow but steady progress but Kelly gives her permission to break some rules! Marsha is also planning her next project. She plans to use Imperial Ranch Columbia , a mulespun worsted weight yarn in the colorway Juniper Green. What is "mulespun"? Below are two links with for information: https://www.marrhaven.com/faq.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinning_mule She is also thinking about starting her Snowflower by Heidi Kirrmaier using worsted yarn from Thirteen Mile Lamb and Wool . Kelly is continuing the Mystery Knit Along with Cozy Up Knits using the Two Ewes Replenish Rambouillet . She made only a little progress in the last two weeks but still plans to finish by the February 14th deadline. She is dreaming of her next sweater, perhaps the Koru by Aroha Knits . The Ewes share some anti-racism resources recommended through the discussion about racism in the yarn community. The Ravelry Thread Racism and Inclusion in the Fiber Community # diversknitty and other hashtags on Instagram where the discussion started and continues Me and White Supremacy , a workbook by Layla F. Saad White Fragility by Robin di Angelo Seeing White , a series on the podcast Scene on Radio Although there was only a little knitting progress, listeners saved the day with some great questions and feedback. Momdiggity asked Marsha about how she splits braids for a combo spin so Marsha talks about that in the episode. The Ewes also had some feedback from the southern hemisphere. Leanne from South Africa shared with us about Knit-a-Square South Africa and the 67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day project. Aimee from New Zealand listens on her commute and was finishing up an epic project, her crocheted blanket . Meanwhile, back on the California coast, Stella provided an interesting article by Jilian Moreno about how your knitting style affects your gauge. Events We will be having a Thank You Patrons episode in March. We have reached a milestone and we'll have our second quarterly drawing, this time for two winners. Patreon terms of service don't allow us to advertise drawings for patron levels on our Patreon page so that information will be revised on the page. However, we'll have quarterly Thank You episodes on the show and we can recognize our patrons there. Other Events Northwest Regional Spinners Association Fleeber Farms Twisted Straight Fibers Whidbey Weavers Guild Stitches West Black Sheep Gathering

Jan 21, 2019

Scheming and dreaming about all the yarn and fleece projects for 2019. Did you know Marsha and Kelly both love the smell of fleece? Have you heard about the woven ruana and the sheep tea cozy a few too many times? What does it mean to raise your default level? It's all in this episode. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or email us with your thoughts. Email us at twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com We'd love to hear your 2019 Dreams and Schemes! Project Updates Marsha continues to work on Cloud Cover by Heidi Kirrmaier. It has an unusual construction. Knit yoke, then sleeves, then body, then collar. Marsha is hoping she doesn't run out of yarn before that big shawl collar is done. Marsha has carded a bunch of Wensleydale x Corriedale x Merino fleece and has been spinning it. This fleece is a gorgeous dark espresso color! More spinning is in Marsha's plans for 2019. Kelly has also been mostly monogamous on the knit front with the Mystery Knit Along with Cozy Up Knits . She's using the Two Ewes Replenish Rambouillet and loving the feel of the yarn. The shawl pattern is interesting and will result in a 3 color shawl in 5 weeks. No pictures of the full project because it's a mystery! 2019 Dreams and Schemes Kelly and Marsha are both training for distance walking this year. Kelly will be walking the Big Sur 21-Miler in April with her Dad who will turn 79 in March. Marsha got a copy of her training schedule and plans to follow the training, but not do the event. Join in the Ravelry group discussion if you have a fitness goal for 2019 and want some structure and encouragement or want a place to brag! Events Northwest Regional Spinners Association Fleeber Farms Twisted Straight Fibers Whidbey Weavers Guild Stitches West Black Sheep Gathering

Jan 6, 2019

Ringing in the New Year with lace knitting, a vegetable terrine, lots of project planning, and a geographic survey of our listeners. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry or email us with your thoughts. twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com is our email address. We'd love to hear from you! Project Updates Marsha continues to work on Slack Tide by Poststitch and is making steady progress. The yarn is Concentric by Hikoo, which is singles that are not pied. It's very "splitty" and difficult to knit with especially on knit two together, but it's beautiful fabric. Marsha is waiting for a day to herself to work uninterrupted on Rabbit by Claire Garland . Marsha is also knitting Cloud Cover by Heidi Kirrmaier. It has an unusual construction. Knit yoke, then sleeves, then body, then collar. Marsha has finished first sleeve and started second. She's still planning for SnowFlower by Heidi Kirrmaier The natural yarn arrived and she's been thinking about colors. The "snowflower" will be the natural color but the CC can be anything! Marsha has carded a bunch of Wensleydale x Corriedale x Merino cross and has been spinning it. This fleece is a gorgeous dark espresso color! Kelly joined in the Mystery Knit Along with Cozy Up Knits . She'll be using the Two Ewes Replenish Rambouillet for a 3 color shawl in 5 weeks. She is also participating in the 2019 Herbert Niebling KAL and the Yarniacs Self Indulgent Knit Along with some Niebling lace patterns. Her Glocklein is finished and she is planning for two more of these fun lace patterns. 2018 Statistics of Interest Kelly: 31 projects including 8 pair of socks (4 argyles, 3 slipper socks) and 3 weaving projects Marsha: 13 projects including 5 sweaters and 3 pair of socks. Most popular podcast episodes of 2018: Fiber Adventures in Scotland Ep 86: Events, Knitting Tips, and Bee Talk Ep 92: Sweaters and Blankets in Summer Ep 89: Spirit Dress Forms and Uncanny Coincidences Bonus! Argyle Socks and Edinburgh Sights Ep 85: A Two-Ply of Joy and Sorrow Ep 91: Project, Color, and Design Ideas from Listeners Ep 90: Naughty Knits and Combo Spinning Ep 93: Gathering Together Most popular episodes from previous years Ep 83: One Ewe's Year in Rev-EWE (12/31/17) Ep 20 a: Textiles on My Travels series Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Ep 1: Who Are Ewe and What Are Ewe Doing Here? (2014) Geographic location of listeners--top ten countries United States Canada United Kingdom Australia Sweden Denmark Netherlands Germany New Zealand Other interesting and surprising locations! The Two Ewes have listeners in places around the world, including the Isle of Man, Uzbekistan, Latvia, Peru, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore. Events: Author Stephany Wilkes has a book event at Books Inc . in Berkeley, California on January 8, 2019 at 7 pm. In February she will be speaking at the Treadles to Threads guild meeting February 27 in Contra Costa. Stitches West ! Thursday, February 21 through Sunday, February 24. Marsha and Kelly will be attending the meet-up hosted by Yarniacs and 2 Knit Lit Chicks on Saturday afternoon in the lobby bar area. Madrona Fiber Arts Thursday, February 14 through Sunday, February 17 in Tacoma Washington. Marsha will be there with Kim aka KMDesigns.

Dec 21, 2018

Lots of finished knitting, a fleece processing and spinning project, and a new warp are all on the show this week. We also pull two winners for Stephany Wilkes' book, Raw Material. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry and discuss the episode, or contact us with your thoughts. twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com is our email address. We'd love to hear from you. Kelly finished the Unice Unicorn Hood for her grandniece. She also finished a second pair of Jo's Perfect Slipper Socks . They are in one of the Western Sky Knits merino cashmere sport weight skeins that she has used for criss-cross colors in argyle socks. This is a perfect gift knit! The bulky-weight, 6-shaft weaving is finished, too. It turned out a little too narrow to be a loom bench cushion so it is now out in the cat's house as a warm and comfy sleeping pad. It was a great way to sample bulky weaving and the 6-shaft draft and to get used to the Macomber loom. The argyle socks are almost finished. The knitting is done and now the ends need to be woven in and the back of the leg and sides of the foot need to be seamed. Kelly wound warp to make a new weaving project for the 4-shaft table loom. The yarns are fairly thin and the sett will be 24 ends per inch. She plans to use this to warp back to front for the first time as part of the Winter Weave Along. Join in the weaving fun in our weaving discussion on Ravelry . She made a video (click here for part 1 and here for part 2 ) showing her stash and selection process. Marsha hasn't made any progress on her scarf, Slack Tide - Poststitch or her Rabbit - Claire Garland . But she has been busy working on her cardigan, Cloud Cover - Heidi Kirrmaier and her "vanilla" socks with Austerman Step with heels and toes in Knit Picks Stroll. Marsha also pulled out a fleece she bought two years ago at the Black Sheep Gathering. It is a 6 pound Wensleydale x Corriedale x Merino cross she split with Kelly. The color is a beautiful dark chocolate espresso bean. Marsha talks about carding the fiber and using her diz for the first time. Marsha also talks about her planning for her next sweater, SnowFlower , a pullover with colorwork and plans for dyeing the contrasting colors. Kelly is planning to join in the Mystery Knit Along with Cozy Up Knits . She'll be using the Two Ewes Replenish Rambouillet for a 3 color shawl in 5 weeks. Stephany Wilkes has donated a copy of her book Raw Material: Working Wool in the West and the Ewes donated a second. We've chosen winners. Check out the episode to see who won! Stephany has another book event at Books Inc . in Berkeley, California on January 8, 2019 at 7 pm. In February she will be speaking at the Treadles to Threads guild meeting February 27 in Contra Costa.

Dec 8, 2018

The Learn Along has people doing everything from brioche socks to knitting with a Shetland knitting belt. Marsha talks about learning agility and piano and Kelly is getting close to the end of a semester of learning. Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry and discuss the episode, or contact us with your thoughts at twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com Kelly's Projects Kelly finished the Running Water cardigan and has worn it three times. The fit is great and it is so soft and warm. Since the last episode she started and finished a pair of Jo's Perfect Slipper Socks . Two strands of fingering weight. From Cozy Up knits. Found out about it from the Cozy Up Knits youtube show . Four Canadian Prairie sisters who knit and design patterns. Kelly has also started a gift knit. She's making the Unice Unicorn Hood for her grandniece. The hood is done, she is now putting on the fringe that makes the mane. She is making it as a horse and not putting on the unicorn horn. Marsha's Projects Marsha has made very little progress on her existing projects. Slack Tide - Poststitch Rabbit - Claire Garland Cloud Cover - Heidi Kirrmaier She is getting "back on the horse" by knitting a pair of "vanilla" socks with Austerman Step with heels and toes in Knit Picks Stroll. Both are spirit yarns from the NoCKRs detash room. Learn Along Catherine Knuttson, (smallbirdworkshop on Ravelry) has donated patterns. Her website is smallbirdworkshop.com where she has yarn and patterns. Her patterns are also available on Ravelry. Marsha and I each were given a code for a pattern, too. I'm looking hard at Blue Spruce, but haven't made a decision yet. She has a collection of patterns that are good for variegated yarns. Check out her pattern page on Ravelry . To see all the wonderful learning that people did during the Learn Along, visit the FO thread in our Ravelry group . Listen to the show to see who won the drawing! Patron Drawing We randomly selected a Daring Adventurer to win the drawing! If you'd like to become a patron, visit patreon.com/twoewes One of our patrons contacted us about the Weavolution online weaving guild and website. Kelly joined but hasn't had a chance to poke around on the website yet. They have groups and patterns and classes available for purchase. Book Giveaway ends December 16. Stephany Wilkes has donated a copy of her book Raw Material: Working Wool in the West . Make a comment in the thread on our Two Ewes Ravelry Group to be entered. Stephany has another book event at Books Inc. in Berkeley, California on January 8, 2019 at 7 pm. In February she will be speaking at the Treadles to Threads guild meeting February 27 in Contra Costa. Marsha got to see Stephany in Seattle at the Eileen Fisher Renew store for a reading of her book Raw Material: Working Wool in the West and a panel discussion. Also on the panel was Kathy Hatori of Botanical Colors . Her dyes are used as overdyes for Renew. She has a studio located in Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. She sells natural dyes for designers and artists. Eileen Fisher Renew takes back clothes with a $5 credit. They repair, overdye, reconstruct and then resell the recycled clothing online and in stores. Marsha also talked about the New York Times article about American Giant trying to make flannel in US. The Annals of Flannel . And speaking of flannel and fabric. Kelly has sewing acquisitions! She purchased some Huston Textiles climate beneficial cloth (red), and some Vreseis brown cotton flannel. She already has natural climate beneficial cloth. A fabric stash is forming. Sally Fox, owner of Vreseis was recently interviewed on Yarn Stories Podcast by Miriam Felton. Our email address is twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com We'd love to hear from you!

Nov 25, 2018

Finished socks, an almost finished sweater and lots of knitting tips in this episode! Full notes with photos and links are in the podcast section of our shop website:TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry and be part of the conversation! Kelly has been working to finish the Running Water cardigan . The sleeves are almost finished and then it will be finished! She hopes to have it finished by the time this episode is published. Kelly raves about the Sockhead Cowl she made out of Tassie Merino from Carrie at Handmade Travels . The scrumptiously soft yarn is sourced from White Gum Wool in Australia . It was made in summer but she just started wearing it. Kelly discovered she could twist the cowl in the middle and fold it into a hat! Another rave is for the Mama Stamberg cranberry relish (with onion and horseradish) that Kelly will be making for Thanksgiving. It's been a staple on her Thanksgiving table for about 20 years. Kelly has also joined the Jane Stafford Online Weaving Guild and is excited to get back to the loom. The guild has an annual membership that gives weavers access to previous seasons of videos and also the current season of videos as they come out. At $75 Canadian it is a great value! The price will be increasing to $99 on December 7th so if you've been waffling about joining, now is the time! The Weave podcast had a really interesting interview with Jane Stafford about the online guild and how it works. Marsha finished the afterthought socks . She is not a fan of the method of afterthought everything, but they are done and she learned a lot. She cast on a pair of her standard socks using destash Austermann Step yarn from the NoCKRs retreat. She also cast on Cloud Cover , an open front cardigan by Heidi Kirrmaier. Marsha also talked about her new yarn from a local indie dyer Little Fish Stitches from Aberdeen, Washington. Tips! While talking about Cloud Cover, Marsha shares some tips for avoiding gauge issues between flat knitting and knitting in the round. She also shares a tip for casting on in the round. Knit a few rows first, and then join in the round. Sew up the gap later. This helps to avoid twisting when joining and also alleviates some of the awkwardness of trying to join in the round with small needles and small stitches. She's doing it with a sock she just started. The Learn Along ends November 30. Book Giveaway ends December 16. There are now TWO Seattle book events for Raw Material: Working Wool in the West. Stephany will be at the Seward Park branch of Third Place Books for an author event on November 28 at 7 pm and on November 29 from 5-7 pm she will be at the Eileen Fisher Renew Store for a panel discussion and book signing including Kathy Hattori of Botanical Colors . Kelly first heard about Kathy's work on the Weave podcast . Join the conversation about this episode in our Ravelry Group, or contact us with your thoughts. Our email address is twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com . We'd love to hear from you.

Nov 15, 2018

Joined by guest co-host Stephany Wilkes, sheep shearer, wool classer, and author of the fantastic new book Raw Material: Working Wool in the West . Order it at your local bookstore or online. Stephany is also president of the Northern California Fibershed Cooperative. She chats with the Ewes about her projects and then we discuss her book and her life as a shearer. Stephany can be found on Instagram as @ladysheepshearer . Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com . Join the community on Ravelry where we will give away a copy of the book Raw Material: Working Wool in the West. Kelly's Argyle adventure continues . The socks are roughly based on the pattern Men's Argyle socks #5710. She's not really using pattern that much, but she used it to create a Stitch Fiddle chart for the colorwork. Also active this week are the Humble Bee socks. The pattern was a gift from Sara Bauer (sarapomegranate on Ravelry and host of the Yarns at Yin Hoo podcast). Kelly has also joined the Jane Stafford Online Weaving Guild and is excited to get back to the loom. The guild has an annual membership that gives weavers access to previous seasons of videos and also the current season of videos as they come out. At $75 Canadian it is a great value! The price will be increasing to $99 in December so check it out. Stephany is just about to bind off yet another Purl Soho Boyfriend hat , a free pattern from Purl Soho, in Lani's Lana Rambouillet twist, a black and white wool twist, undyed. It makes the PERFECT marled hat. Highly recommend it for gift and travel knitting, a simple k1, p1 rib all the way around. Yesterday, she cast on the Anna Vest by Karen Templer of Fringe Association, and she has about 3" of the back piece done. I'm knitting it up in a heavy worsted, black, Shetland and alpaca blend. Her thoughts on this pattern? "I love it. Easy pattern to memorize, and I know I will get a ton of wear out of this vest in our coastal climate." Marsha continues to work on the afterthought socks . The long stockinette tube is finished and she is ready to do the steeking. Meanwhile, she has started on Rabbit , a pattern by Claire Garland. The rabbit is beginning to take shape! After project updates the three have a wide ranging conversation. Stephany shares her journey from a knitter looking for local yarn in a California yarn shop to the sheep shearing jobs she does across the state. Topics include "urban hubris," imposter syndrome, and the value of agricultural work; carbon farming and its potential to combat climate change; and the overlooked job opportunities in the world of sheep. For those in the Seattle area, Stephany will be at the Seward Park branch of Third Place Books for an author event on November 28 at 7 pm. Join the conversation about this episode in our Ravelry Group, or contact us with your thoughts. twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com is our email address. We'd love to hear from you.

Oct 28, 2018

Creativity, productivity, and community are three big benefits we've gained from 4 years of podcasting. In our 100th episode we have our usual project updates and then we spend some time reflecting on the experience of the last four years. Come join the community on Ravelry ! Marsha's Update: I have a lot to say about my Afterthought Socks ! It's a looooooooong stockinette tube and I'll be putting on cuffs, toes, and heels. We had quite a discussion about how to measure the spot for the heel. I'm sure some of our listeners can set us straight. Leave a comment here or join in the discussion in our Ravelry group. My other active project over the past two weeks is the Slacktide Scarf . It has a nice interesting stitch--the perfect antidote to a long, boring stockinette tube. I'm also planning for the Rabbit by Claire Garland and have ordered the yarn called for in the pattern. Kelly's Update: I'm running out of yarn on the Running Water cardigan . I'm almost done with the collar band and then will start the sleeves. Meanwhile, I've started two new pairs of socks. One pair is using the Humble Bee pattern by Sara Bauer of the Yarns at Yin Hoo podcast. The other pair is variegated argyle socks using the chart I created on Stitch Fiddle. Start with row 71 to get 2 diamonds on the leg (one front and one back) and one diamond on the instep. All three projects are right at a part where I have to pay attention so I'm not able to knit at all during this recording. A HUGE thank you to all our listeners! We never would have arrived at Episode 100 without you. You're feedback, encouragement, compliments, and suggestions have been so important to us. You have enabled us to create a wonderful community. Visit the Two Ewes Shop featuring locally produced yarns, from soil to skein. Small-batch, overdyed Romney and Shetland yarns grown and processed on the west coast, and the climate beneficial Replenish Rambouillet from Bare Ranch, a northern California ranch using carbon farming practices .

Oct 14, 2018

Lambtown Sheep and Wool Festival, two sweaters, some weaving, the Fibonacci sequence, and some dog talk round out the topics for this episode. All this knitting has left us wishing fiber crafts were more aerobic! Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Come join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page . Marsha finished her Iba cardigan by Bonne Marie Burns, well sort of finished. She discovered after blocking the sleeves now need be shortened by about an inch. Marsha loves the cardigan! It fits well and the Rambouillet yarn is so soft, silky, and plump. Marsha is also working on the picot bind off of her Elinya shawl by Ambah O'Brien. Marsha started a scarf named Slack Tide for her brother with Concentric by HiKoo by Skacel. She purchased the yarn at a great new shop in Seabrook, WA call String Theory Yarns and Fiber . The owner, Jean Chambers, is focusing on local yarns. Marsha also bought two skeins of Lina Fine Yarns and Textiles from Montesano, WA. Marsha also started her after thought heel socks as part of our Learn Along. Kelly was at Lambtown over the weekend. Sheep shearing, sheepdog demos, sheep to shawl competition, fiber friends and a great marketplace made for a fantastic time. She also took a class on combing wool and spinning for luster from Stephenie Gaustad. Her knitting continues to be monogamous, with all knitting energy going to the Running Water cardigan . She is using the Fibonacci sequence for the striping on the sweater. The sweater has a tubular bind off at the hem. The big loom has also been warped and Kelly is doing a long narrow sampler which will make a good loom bench cushion. The Two Ewes Shop has small-batch Romney and Shetland yarns, and the climate beneficial Replenish Rambouillet, with some new fall colors. Kelly's favorite is a color called " Just Say No to Pumpkin Spice Bourbon."

Sep 25, 2018

A nasty fall has Marsha under the weather, but the knits, crochet, and weaving talk goes on. Besides a sweater project for each, the Two Ewes talk about future fiber plans, the Learn Along, and some new fall colors in the shop . No full show notes this week, but do check out The Small Bird Workshop pattern page on Ravelry. Catherine has generously donated five patterns as prizes for the Learn Along. Her patterns are great. Take a look! Keep on Learning!

Sep 9, 2018

Marsha's knitting project has some woes, but the Wool Auction and Shop News are a big WOW! There's a Two Ewes Shop update with an exciting new Replenish Rambouillet yarn, produced with climate beneficial practices. Support the podcast AND the planet with these new fingering weight yarns. Kelly has no knitting projects on the needles and she has finished her first Papel Picado in filet crochet. It still needs to be washed and blocked, but it turned out great! There will be at least a few more of these finished before Halloween this year. Marsha had a set back with her cardigan Iba by Bonne Marie Burns. The skeins of yarn looked the same but when she started the sleeves she realized there was a difference. The hard lesson learned is this is what happens when you are so impatient to start knitting that you don't alternate skeins. Remember, no one ever regretted alternating skeins.Marsha unravelled the entire sweater and has started over, making good progress. The Monterey Fair and Wool Auction was a complete success and Kelly ended up with some nice fleeces. Six of them, in fact! Besides fleece and fair food, there was the most interesting chicken at the fair this year! See the full show notes .

Aug 26, 2018

Marsha is knitting, Kelly is swatching crochet techniques, and the Ewes are planning a Learn Along that will last through November. For full show notes with pictures, visit the Two Ewes website. Marsha is working along on her Iba by Bonne Marie Burns . She's using textured Rambouillet yarn from the same batch that is in the Two Ewes Shop. She loves the feel of the wool and the fit of the pattern. She also has the Elinya shawl on the needles for social knitting. Kelly has no knitting or crochet in progress, but she is swatching and practicing filet crochet in order to make Papel Picado. The real papel picado is a traditional Mexican decoration for Dia de los Muertos. Kelly found a pattern for a crochet lace version and has visions of making enough to string across an entire room. She is also looking for a sweater pattern for some coned cashmere fingering and some Chickadee sport weight to combine into one cardigan. A listener suggested Brise, a cute sweater designed for linen yarn. Another one the is in consideration is Running Water . One of Kelly's projects from last year was entered in the Monterey County Fair and won Best in Show! If you are coming to the fair, August 30-September 3, look for the Cowichan Sweater in the Wool Room. The Two Ewes are starting a "School Days Learn Along" that will last until November 30. To join, just participate in the chat thread in the Two Ewes Ravelry group and post your finished objects in the FO thread. All finished objects should be things for which you had to learn something to complete them. For example, Kelly will be learning some crochet techniques for the papel picado and Marsha will be taking a colorwork class so she can make a tea cosy that isn't too tight to fit over her teapot! Knit, crochet, weave, spin--all of those are eligible! Marsha ends the episode with a quote from Kyoko Mori's book Yarn: Remembering the Way Home .

Aug 26, 2018

Marsha is knitting, Kelly is swatching crochet techniques, and the Ewes are planning a Learn Along that will last through November. For full show notes with pictures, visit the Two Ewes website. Marsha is working along on her Iba by Bonne Marie Burns . She's using textured Rambouillet yarn from the same batch that is in the Two Ewes Shop. She loves the feel of the wool and the fit of the pattern. She also has the Elinya shawl on the needles for social knitting. Kelly has no knitting or crochet in progress, but she is swatching and practicing filet crochet in order to make Papel Picado. The real papel picado is a traditional Mexican decoration for Dia de los Muertos. Kelly found a pattern for a crochet lace version and has visions of making enough to string across an entire room. She is also looking for a sweater pattern for some coned cashmere fingering and some Chickadee sport weight to combine into one cardigan. A listener suggested Brise, a cute sweater designed for linen yarn. Another one the is in consideration is Running Water . One of Kelly's projects from last year was entered in the Monterey County Fair and won Best in Show! If you are coming to the fair, August 30-September 3, look for the Cowichan Sweater in the Wool Room. The Two Ewes are starting a "School Days Learn Along" that will last until November 30. To join, just participate in the chat thread in the Two Ewes Ravelry group and post your finished objects in the FO thread. All finished objects should be things for which you had to learn something to complete them. For example, Kelly will be learning some crochet techniques for the papel picado and Marsha will be taking a colorwork class so she can make a tea cosy that isn't too tight to fit over her teapot! Knit, crochet, weave, spin--all of those are eligible! Marsha ends the episode with a quote from Kyoko Mori's book Yarn: Remembering the Way Home .

Aug 19, 2018

A bonus episode with a sneak preview of 100 fleeces that will be at the 2018 Monterey County Fair Wool Auction on September 3. Kelly talks about the auction, how it works and what to expect. She also describes the beautiful fleeces, talks about the judge's comments, and shares which fleeces are her favorites. Here is an article from shearer Stephany Wilkes about canary staining. Here is an article from Montana State that has a chart that compares the 3 grading systems. Here is a website from Wildfibres that shows the grades of wool by breeds. The auction starts at 11:30 at the Livestock Pavillion near Gate 6 of the Monterey County Fairgrounds. Viewing starts around 9 am and wool buyers can get into the fair for free with a copy of a flyer. You can get a copy from me by emailing twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com or by going to the Two Ewes website and using the contact form . Check out the Anne's Web Ravelry group. The Anne's Web guild is the hosting guild for the wool show and auction.

Aug 12, 2018

Knitting and weaving, plus Alaska, sock recipes, and fresh starts in this longer-than-usual episode. For full show notes, including all pictures and links visit the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures website. Kelly has finished almost all her works in progress (WIPs) and is contemplating a clean slate on her Ravelry project page. She finished the woven blankets, using over 4400 meters of yarn in the process. She also finished the Sockhead Cowl that she had been working on last episode. She still has one Sockhead Cowl on the needles and plans to finish it by the end of the weekend before classes start on Monday. The yarn is Tassie Merino from Handmade Travels and it is so nice to knit with. Kelly plans to rip out the socks she's making from a sock blank and give that yarn a chance to be something that will better show off the long gradient. She also contemplates ripping out the small start she has on the Coloresque Wrap. But that will have to wait until she can find it. The yarn for that project has gone AWOL, perhaps because it really wants to be something else! The pattern is still intriguing, but she'll plan it with a different yarn combination. Marsha finished her Summer Fjord T-shirt by Trin-Annelie knit with Fibra Natura Flax. The top fit beautifully and the 100% linen is cool and comfortable. Marsha started a new cardigan, Iba by Bonne Marie Burns. She is using the textured Raucus Rambouillet yarn from the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures shop and loves knitting with it. If you'd like to support the show make a contribution at our Patreon page or purchase something from our shop . Thanks so much for listening and supporting the show!

Jul 28, 2018

Sweater fit, math for pattern modifications, and a way to help sheep farmers impacted by California wildfires add to the usual project updates in this episode. Join the Ewes for all this and more! For full show notes with links and pictures, go to twoewesfiberadventures.com Marsha's projects are her combo spin and a linen tee. The combo spin is almost finished and the yarn is really beautiful. She has selected a simple cardigan pattern and will talk more about that when she is ready to cast on. The yarn has a significant amount of silk in it and the feel is really luscious. The Summer Fjord linen tee is being bound off during the show. It is knit from Fibra Natura 100% linen yarn. Marsha had a mistake that she repaired by dropping about 5-6 stitches back a few inches and then reknitting only those stitches from the row. She has photos of the repair process on her project page in Ravelry. Kelly has three finished projects, including the Bobble Sheep pillow that she finished awhile ago, but forgot to talk about. A more recently finished pillow is the Clover, Bee, and Revery pattern. It has a fabric backing sewn on and two wooden bee buttons as a pillow back closure. This pillow has inspired her to make the Such is the Quality of Bees blanket out of the same yarn and using a doubleknit technique so that the front and back of the blanket both have the bee and rabbit pattern on them. Kelly also finished another pair of argyle socks . The yarn is sport weight, but knit up at the same stitch gauge as the socks she made from fingering weight yarn before. Marsha discusses a listener question about the math required to change a pattern when using a different gauge yarn. Another listener recommended Ann Budd's book, The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns and The Knitter's Handy Book of Top Down Sweaters . Marsha also recommended the Craftsy class by Amy Herzog, Sweater Modifications for a Custom Fit . There are additional Craftsy classes on yarn substitution and sweater fit by Kellie Nuss and Sally Melville that look interesting. Marsha is also interested in taking a class called Sizing Knitwear Patterns by Faina Golberstein, who is also a math professor. Kelly discussed the impact of the California wildfires on sheep farmers and ranchers. One farm in particular--owned by Sally Fox, creator of Foxfibre colored cotton--was threatened by the County Fire. Her property escaped damage, but she shared the story of evacuation on Instagram and that made Kelly think about the financial impact even when the property is spared. Sally's company is Vreseis and it is dedicated to sustainable cotton production. She sells cotton yarn and fiber, merino yarn and fiber, cloth, and wheat flour--all from her farm. With a purchase from her shop or a click of her donation button you can assist with the additional expenses of the recent fire threat and do your part for World Fleece! Take some time to look at her website and read the story of her cotton-growing journey. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts (for Android users) Stitcher or any other podcast app you like to use! We're also on Spotify and Tunein.

Jul 10, 2018

The Two Ewes are back home after a fun weekend at The Black Sheep Gathering. This year the festival was held in Albany, Oregon June 29th - July 1st. Kelly and Marsha discuss the highlights of festival. Marsha had twelve hours of knitting on the round-trip train ride from Seattle plus knitting time the festival. She is almost ready to start the ribbing and short row shaping on her Summer Fjord tee by Trin-Annelie. At the BSG Marsha fed her addiction with more braids for a combo spin in, this time in red. She also bought two braids to go with a white, grey, and yellow braid she bought a year ago. She is not sure how she plans to spin these braids. Will it be her Combo Spin 5? Marsha gave into temptation and bought a beautiful Corriedale x Romeldale fleece in steel gray. Kelly also bought a Corriedale x Romeldale fleece, this one is white. And she succumbed to a beautiful steel gray Romney fleece that was for sale in the non-judged market. Her purchases at the BSG were restrained because after the Gathering she picked up a Great Wheel style wheel that she was buying from a fellow adventurer. The wheel was made by Bill Wyatt in 2001. In addition to exciting additions to the spinning wheel flock, Kelly was able to make great progress on two projects. The Argyle socks are coming along nicely and the Clover, Bee, and Revery Pillow is almost done! For full show notes, including pictures and all the links, go to https://twoewesfiberadventures.com/blogs/podcast

Jun 24, 2018

Spinning and weaving projects are working down Kelly's stash, while Marsha finished a cardigan. The Ewes also discuss linen, based on a listener question. They're also in planning mode, thinking ahead to the trip to Black Sheep Gathering and projects that will work for that trip. Contact Marsha and Kelly here if you have a topic you'd like discussed, if you're interested in the Black Sheep Gathering Meet-up, or to provide feedback. Marsha has finished her Little Wave cardigan by Gudrun Johnson . She knit it using Neighborhood Fiber Company yarn that she got at Stitches West in February. She made some sleeve modifications that are detailed in her project page. Now she's working on Summer Fjord using a Fibra Natura Linen . Her yarn is in a heavier weight than called for in the pattern so there has been some adjusting of the pattern. Kelly and Marsha have both been wearing their Wool and Wire Jewelry from Never Not Knitting shop in Atascadero, California . Kelly has also discovered, that like her bees, she rarely travels outside of a 5 mile radius. Find out if you travel outside a radius by using the Radius Around a Point mapping tool . All the staying at home has led Kelly to use lots of yardage already this summer. She finished many yards of plying, spun a braid of fiber into a nice 3-ply skein , has a blanket weaving project on the loom , and has started her colorwork bee pillow . The pillow is a pattern by Mona Zillah called Clover, Bee, and Revery . There is a matching blanket that is also in Kelly's distant future plans. Speaking of blankets, the Karoo Vintage Mystery Crochet Along caught Kelly's eye. She has the pattern at the top of her queue and is thinking about yarn choices. Two pattern clues are out so far and more will be released between now and the end of summer. The project will be a SloCro according to the designer, Jen Tyler, and is meant to be crocheted over the long term. She has additional information on her Hooks 'n' Tales website . A listener asked about the biasing that occurs when knitting with linen. Marsha and Kelly talk about knitting with linen and share some information they gathered. Here are some links Linen and Hemp Lovers group on Ravelry Microscopic photos of different fibers Kelly and Marsha will be attending the Black Sheep Gathering held in Albany, Oregon on June 29 - July 1. We will have an Open House meet up on June 30 around 4:30 p.m. at Kelly's SF Giants themed trailer. Stop by and say hi!

Jun 9, 2018

The combo spin discussion last week prompted some great discussion about color, design, knitting, and spinning. So after the project updates, the Ewes talk about some of the ideas shared by listeners and the inspiration they provided. For full show notes with pictures visit our show notes blog . Kelly has done a lot of finishing! Not saving the best for last, she finished the Lime Green and Pink Argyle socks. They are so much fun that she's already cast on for the next pair of Argyles. The pattern she uses is adapted from this vintage sock pattern on freevintageknitting.com She also finished two summer tops. The first is Summer Fjord by Trin-Annelie and is really happy with the results. The second is Sommer Sleeveless Top by Mari Chiba. These will make a great summer tops if the weather on the coast ever warms up! Kelly also urges all California shepherds to enter fleeces into the Monterey County Fair Fleece Show and Auction. Entries are due July 31 and entry instructions can be found here on the Monterey County Fair website . The fleece judging is on August 11 by Shelia January and the auction will be held on September 3. For more information you can contact Kelly: twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com Marsha is almost done with her Little Wave cardigan by Gudrun Johnston but discovered the sleeves are too big and too long. She has unraveled the first sleeve and is knitting it again adding more decreases. Check out her project page for an explanation of the math she used. The pattern modifications continue with Marsha's Summer Fjord T-shirt and there is a discussion of changing the straight body to an A-line. In our last episode The Ewes answered a listener's question about Combo Spin yarn. Several listeners posted pictures of their combo spin techniques and finished projects. "Infryq" had very different fibers she was working with and decided to card six pieces together and and then spin the rolags. Check our her finished yarn on her project page . Gorgeous! "StaciDSL" wove with her combo spin. "Meemacox" made two different sweaters with one combo spin project. Just a reminder that Kelly and Marsha will be attending the Black Sheep Gathering held in Albany, Oregon on June 29 - July 1. We will again have a meet up around 4:30 p.m. at Kelly's trailer. Stop by and say hi!

May 29, 2018

The knitting has been naughty, but the Ewes have plenty to say about potential new projects and combo spinning. For photos of the Combo Spin sweaters that Marsha has made, check out our full show notes with pictures here . Marsha has been working on her Little Wave cardigan and is almost finished. The pattern is by Gudrun Johnston . Although Marsha has known how to read for a long time, (and has a degree in Literature) her reading skills failed her at times on this pattern. Who hasn't had that problem! Marsha's other active project, a Summer Fjord in DK weight , is requiring calculations and modifications since the original pattern calls for fingering weight yarn. So this project spent some time in the knitting bag due to complications. Kelly is making a Summer Fjord , too (in lace weight). She has finished the bottom ribbing. Now its at the point of picking up sleeves--not the most relaxing part of the project so it also sits in its bag. The pattern is by Trin-Annelie . The Argyle socks have also been naughty. The criss-cross lines aren't matching up with the corners and centers of the diamonds. They will have to be ripped back to a point where they can be fixed. Meanwhile, the Two at a Time socks aren't much fun, and a LOT of conference and travel knitting time left Kelly feeling tired of knitting on the Sommer Sleeveless Top . GASP!! All this knitting misbehavior has led to thoughts of new projects. Kelly is planning a sweater and talks about Melaine by Julie Partie , Bloom by Anne B. Hanssen , and the Koru Cardigan by Francoise Danoy . Nevertheless, the Ewes find plenty to talk about with a listener question from Leona on Combo Spinning. Marsha is working on her third combo spin yarn and Kelly is in the process of preparing some Lincoln roving for a combo spin. There is a lot of information about Combo Spinning and some great pictures in the Spin-Off Ravelry discussion group . There was a Spin-Along-Knit-Along in 2017 that was kicked off by an article by Debbie Held in the winter 2017 Spin Off magazine. The Passioknit Spinners Podcast also has some great information about Combo Spinning and an informative discussion on the her Ravelry group .

May 6, 2018

The Ewes are back to regular episodes with prize drawings, weaving, a couple stories and, of course, our knitting. The weave along ended with some prizes. One of the prizes is a Sweetheart Loom from Hazel Rose Looms . The Sheep Thrills KAL prize was also drawn in this episode. Marsha made good progress on her Little Wave cardigan by Gudrun Johnston. She has knit the body up to the armholes and has finished the first sleeve. When the second sleeve is completed both will be attached to the body and the yoke and saddle shoulders worked. This is the first sweater Marsha has made with this technique. Marsha cast on for the Summer Fjord by Trin-Annelie. This is the same Tee Kelly is making and like Kelly, Masha is using a different weight of yarn. She is going up to DK with Fibra Natura Flax (100% linen) and Kelly is going down with lace weight Sincere Sheep Linen. Lots of swatching, washing, measuring, and math went into the decision of sizes to make. There was pronounced biasing on Marsha's swatch so the Summer Fjord seemed a good choice with the different stitch patterns breaking up the stockinette. Kelly's Summer Fjord has the body finished and is waiting for some work on the neckline and sleeve caps to be finished. Kelly has been a little slow on her projects, although she did finish the Christmas dishtowels that she recently put on the LeClerc floor loom. The towels are all variations of Swiss Twill from the Marguerite P. Davison weaving book. Kelly has also cast on the Sommer tank by Mari Chiba. The yarn is some of her oldest stash, purchased in 2007 for a tank top shown in a magazine in May of that year. That sweater never got made and the yarn has narrowly escaped destash for a few years. Once again some math and pattern adjustment was required since the gauge of the pattern isn't the gauge Kelly got in her swatch. She is "test knitting" this for a friend who might also want to make it. Marsha's has completed three skeins of her Combo Spin #3 . Kelly and Marsha have a discussion on the math required to determine the final percentages of fiber in the finished yarn from the various fibers that were used. Marsha was unusually restrained in the destash room at the NoCKRs retreat in April with the exception of a large "friend" that drove home with Marsha. Kelly and Marsha tell the story of " Blithe Spirit " and her impact when was discovered napping at the NoCKRs retreat. Marsha tells the story of a very strange coincidence. Her son's girlfriend needed a bookcase so Ben and her dad went to the ReStore to look for recycled materials to build a bookcase. They came back with a chest that unbelievably had belonged to Marsha's mother Podie! The chest had been left in the house by the previous owners and Podie had used it in her sewing room for notions for over 50 years. They added the bookcase to the top, painted it green, and added the bead board to the back. Marsha had given the chest to the Goodwill over a year ago and the universe sent it back for Ben's girlfriend! Events on the horizon: Spinning at the Winery , Retzlaff Winery in Livermore, May 19 from 10-4 Black Sheep Gathering in Albany Oregon, June 29-July 1. Listener meet-up on Saturday, June 30. Monterey County Fair Fleece Judging , August 11 at 9 am with meet-up event after (Wool show information on page 58 of link)

Apr 15, 2018

Lots of knitting to talk about and then we're off to the NoCKRs retreat. An unedited episode to catch you all up on our adventures before we rush off to another fun time. Visit our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures shop.

Apr 3, 2018

The intrepid fiber adventurers have filed a few more foreign correspondent dispatches. And this time there's yarn! Also whisky, department store gin, interesting food, sheep, and castles. Join Marsha and Kim on this yarn lover's journey.

Mar 18, 2018

Kelly answers a few listener questions about the Argyle socks and then there are two dispatches from our foreign correspondent Marsha and her partner in travel, Kim. They see the sights, drink great Whisky, and eat wonderful food. And the Yarn Fest hasn't even begun! Here is a link to Kelly's Argyle chart for a 72 stitch sock. If you have a Stitch Fiddle account you should be able to download and edit your own version of this chart. Here is the link to the free vintage knitting patterns. http://freevintageknitting.com/

Mar 12, 2018

No show notes this time. We talk about what we finished to wear at Stitches West and then we talk about our fun weekend. Since this is late getting out to listeners, we are dispensing with show notes to just get this episode out!

Feb 13, 2018

A little knitting and a lot of planning for upcoming events on today's show. Plus a couple of knitting tips, the perfect spirit buttons, and some bee talk. To see these show notes with photos, go to our website . Marsha's Projects Marsha started her second combo spin sweater so she'd have something going when the Opteka is finished. She is quite close to finishing Opteka . Kelly's Projects Kelly continues to work on the Indigo Frost poncho . Another careless moment led to a mistake. Instead of ripping back 8 rows of over 300 stitches, she attempted to rip out and re-knit only the section of 66 stitches that contained the mistake. It worked really well and the poncho is back on track. Since the poncho had a mistake that needed to be repaired in a quiet time period, Kelly pulled the linen Summer Fjord top back out and put about an inch on it. It has a few inches to go before the bottom ribbing and will be finished in time for warmer weather. Kelly also found the perfect buttons for her Curious Cardigan . They are buttons from Marsha's mother's button tin and they'll be perfect! Bee Update Kelly and Marsha talk about the bees. Kelly did some honey harvesting since the bees aren't going to need their honey for the quickly retreating California winter. Kelly also suggested that people who want to plant for the bees consider trees, or at least shrubs for their concentrated volume of nectar or pollen. Xerces society has plant lists for different areas of the country if you are interested.

Jan 28, 2018

Knitting and spinning are so therapeutic for the difficult times in life. They also bring joy and a community that enhances the good times. Join the Ewes in this episode that includes a little of each. Plus, they talk about the Two Ewes Shop and some of their learning experiences with this labor of love connecting local shepherds, mills, and small-batch yarns to knitters and crocheters. If you read these show notes on your podcast app and want to see pictures, go to our complete show notes here . Kelly has two finished projects. She finished the Aztec Cupcake socks made with beautiful Duren Dyeworks yarn using the Slip and Swirl Socks pattern by Kristi of the In a Sknit podcast . The pattern and yarn are a perfect pairing and created this great design. She also finished the black Molly hat for her sister using spirit yarn from Marsha's stash. That leaves her with only one active knitting project, the Indigo Frost poncho . Marsha is also down to one active project. She's almost finished with her Opteka sweater. This is a pattern by Isabell Kraemer and it has an interesting hem detail that was fun to knit. The odd line in the photo is the demarcation between the part that was washed and blocked and the new knitting that has been done since then. Marsha washed and blocked the partially completed sweater to double check that she was getting the same gauge as her washed swatch. Both Marsha and Kelly are thinking about next projects. Kelly is swatching with some deep stash to see if it will work for the Knit it Down sweater . Marsha is thinking about either Vintersol or Snowflower for her next sweater knit. The Ewes are excited about some upcoming events. They will both be at Stitches West, Feb 22-25 . Kelly is taking an Argyle class and they will both be spending plenty of time in the market. They will be attending the meet-up in the lobby of the Hyatt (conference center hotel) on Saturday starting at about 2 pm. Marsha is visiting Scotland for the Edinburgh Yarn Festival March 15-17, plus some "fringe events" on Sunday, March 18. There is a podcaster lounge and she'll spend some time there as well as with the enticing vendor exhibits. In April Marsha will return to California for the annual Northern California Knitting Retreat, hosted by the two podcasts the Yarniacs and The 2 Knit Lit Chicks .

Jan 20, 2018

This weaving lesson episode is audio. Winter Weave Along 3 will be an accompanying pdf. If your podcast app doesn't deliver the pdf, visit the Weave Along thread in the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures Group on Ravelry. The episode was recorded "on location" in Marsha's weaving studio (aka dining room) in Seattle. The Ewes talk about Marsha's first weaving project from start to finish. As a beginner, Marsha asks questions and provides insights into the experience.

Jan 14, 2018

The Two Ewes are both in Seattle! Assembling spinning wheels, meeting listeners, weaving, knitting, and comparing notes on sweaters are just some of the activities from their fun week. Project Updates Marsha is knitting a new project since the last episode. The pattern is Opteka by Isabell Kraemer and the yarn is Imperial Yarn Tracie Too . This is Marsha's second long-sleeved pullover . She is wearing her Combo Spin sweater so much she decided to make another sweater with similar characteristics. Marsha has also finished a project already this year. In fact, it was finished in two days! Her first weaving project was a huge success. There will be more information about this in the next Winter Weave Along episode. Kelly is almost exclusively working on the Indigo Frost by Isabell Kraemer. The Ewes are definitely enjoying her patterns these days! Kelly's version is a vivid spring green cormo yarn from Sincere Sheep in the Virid colorway. The color work portion is being done with handspun left over from her Funky Grandpa cardigan. This will guarantee that she will stand out in a crowd! She also has weaving as her first finished project of 2018. The woven pouch is finished, sporting one of her favorite buttons from the button stash. The directions for the woven pouch can be found in the first Winter Weave Along lesson. Fiber Adventures Marsha's new/old Ashford Traditional got a good spin at the Spin-In. Many interesting wheels were there, including an interesting Dutch Moswalt wheel and an antique Norwegian Wheel with matching spinning chair that was for sale. The Ewes also made fiber purchases from a variety of fun vendors. Huckleberry Knits , Fleebers Farm , Sauked In Farm , and Homestead Hobbyist all got added to the stash. Fiber in the Wild Kelly was delighted to find that a new mill with spinning capability has opened in California. Valley Oak Wool and Fiber Mill in Yolo County is now the only mill in the state that spins yarn. This article details the story of the mill's owner and its recent opening. Stay tuned for more about this exciting development! Marsha shares a video in which Fairy Little knits a sweater in one day using time lapse video. Amazing!

Dec 31, 2017

Kelly looks back over the year 2017 and shares her best projects, the most popular podcast episodes, and interesting facts about the listener base. Marsha has a bad cold with a cough, not a good mix with podcasting. The shop is back open after a short break for the Christmas holiday. Upcoming Events January 6, 2018: The St. Distaff Day Spin-In at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe, from 10 am until 4 pm. January 7, 2018: Seattle Crafternoon starting at 1 pm. Contact us on Ravelry or email us here for location information. February 22-25: Stitches West in Santa Clara . On Saturday afternoon the Yarniacs and 2 Knit Lit Chicks meet-up will be in the hotel lobby of the conference hotel. March 15-18: Edinburgh Yarn Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. Marsha will be attending and is hoping to meet some of our UK listeners! Kelly's project year ended up with 23 finished projects and 5 of them are adult sweaters! A 6th should be finished by the time we ring in the new year. The Handspun Cowichan was finished in time for the camping trip and it was so nice and warm--the perfect camp sweater. This was The Orca Run by Beth Brown-Reinsel . Kelly's camping trip knitting was the blue crochet cardigan that she stalled out on some time ago. The pattern is The Curious Case of the Crazy-Stitch Cardigan by Michele DuNaier . She made great progress and hopes to have a finished sweater by New Year's Day. Other camping knitting included a charity hat out of some alpaca spirit yarn. It will be really warm. Happy New Year everyone!

Dec 17, 2017

Two finished projects and an almost finished project are the big knitting topics this week. Marsha continues to combo spin and Kelly starts a weaving project. Thanks to all who visited the Two Ewes Shop during the Shop Small sale and supported the making of this podcast! Marsha's Projects Marsha has finished her second Among the Shadows Shawl by Kelene Kinnersly. The yarn is Stonehedge Fiber Mill Crazy, made from mill ends. Marsha has also finished her Beeline Compost Spin pullover using the Beeline pattern by Heidi Kirrmaier. Marsha's second combo spin is underway. She thinks the skeins look similar to her last one even though her color planning was very different. These skeins will have a variety of fibers, including silk, and the yarn is quite lustrous. Kelly's Projects Kelly is almost finished with her Handspun Cowichan sweater. It is the Orca Run by Beth Brown-Reinsel . She is adding an applied i-cord edging to the fronts to give the sweater a little more room, provide a neat zipper placket, and give the whale snouts a little more room. Winter Weave Along Marsha has her yarn ready to go, but realized there is no reed in her loom. She'll be using worsted weight yarn so a 10-dent reed is the best choice. Kelly will be visiting soon and the Ewes will get Marsha started on her weaving. Meanwhile Kelly has wound warp for green and red dishtowels . Kelly has found a Ravelry Group that does a year-long weave along using the Marguerite P. Davidson book, A Handweaver's Pattern Book . The group chooses chapters from the book and then within each chapter, weave structures to experiment with. Meet the Ewes! Marsha and Kelly will be attending the St. Distaff Day Spin-In on January 6, 2918, at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe, Washington from 10 am until 4 pm. Here is a link with further information . On the next day, Sunday January 7, The Ewes will be holding a Crafternoon starting at 1 pm. Refreshments, a spirit yarn table, and other surprises will make for a fun afternoon! Bring your knitting, crochet, or spinning and join the adventure. Contact us on Ravelry ( 1hundredprojects or betterinmotion ) or email us at twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com for location information. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah everyone!

Dec 3, 2017

Monogamous sweater knitting, a little yarn dyeing for the Two Ewes Shop , and some weaving homework for Marsha are all featured this episode. Click here for complete show notes with photos. Marsha's projects Marsha is now obsessed with knitting with her combo spin yarn. She is knitting Beeline by Heidi Kirrmaier. She has renamed the project Compost Spin after listener GloriaMcC from Michigan reported that she had been hearing this project as the Compost Bin project. Combo Spin... Compost Bin. Guess it's a good thing we have show notes so people can see what we're saying! Kelly's projects Kelly is back to working on the Handspun Cowichan sweater. She has the body done and is ready to work the sleeves and collar. Like Marsha, she has been focused only on this knitting project over the last two weeks. Kelly has also been doing some dyeing. Right after Thanksgiving new colors were added to the shop and new items for spinners are coming in the upcoming week. The shopsmall2017 discount code is good for free shipping until December 10. One of our listeners has created a beautiful shawl from our textured Raucous Rambouillet yarn. It's a great example of pattern and yarn pairing. She used the the Among the Shadows pattern that Marsha has used twice now and created the Blueberry & Cream Shawl . Weaving Kelly and Marsha talk a little about how Marsha can prepare for her Winter Weave Along project. Marsha will be selecting yarns that she wants to use to make a sampler on her 4-harness table loom. Announcements If you are in the Seattle area, save the date for the Two Ewes Seattle Crafternoon on January 6, 2018. One of our spinning friends from the Spinning With Friends Ravelry Group, Eileen aka Leprkon on Ravelry, had a severe stroke in September and her community is having a fundraiser. If you'd like to contribute, check out the flyer in our show notes for this episode .

Nov 21, 2017

Visit the Two Ewes Shop , twoewesfiberadventures.com between November 24 and December 10. Use the promo code shopsmall2017 to get free shipping on all orders of $20 or more. The shop will be updated throughout the promotional period with additional items.

Nov 18, 2017

The Ewes are busy and so are the bees! Knitting with yarn from the Two Ewes Shop, combo-spin mania continues, charity hats, camping trips and a host of other topics make for a bonus-sized episode. Marsha's project updates Marsha finished her Recoleta by Joji Locatelli made with N eighborhood Fiber Company Studio Worsted . Marsha loves this sweater! After testing several hat patterns for our Single Shot contest, in the end Marsha made up her own hat pattern using Two Ewes Raucous Rambouillet from the shop . Marsha is obsessed with combo spinning. She cast on Beeline by Heidi Kirrmaier with her first combo spin. She is loving knitting with her yarn and seeing the colors change. Marsha started her second combo spin with rovings she bought from vendors at Fiber Fusion Northwest . At Fiber Fusion she also bought a breed study sampler pack of 32 fibers from Fleeber Fibers . Kelly's project updates Kelly has been knitting charity hats and cowls. So far five hats are finished, all using very old spirit yarn. Another hat and cowl are in progress. A fun long weekend camping trip was the place for three hats to be finished.An upcoming conference will allow for finishing the cowl. Kelly has some sweater plans. One is an old pattern from a 2007 magazine. She got rid of old knitting magazines, but did save some of the patterns that she had marked as potential so long ago. Knit it Down is one of those patterns. An Elizabeth Doherty pattern also caught her eye as a MUST KNIT! The pattern is Bodie , a textured cardigan with a long, almost coat-like, silhouette. The Handspun Cowichan sweater is moving quickly but hasn't been worked on in almost two weeks. The colorwork is giving Kelly a challenge (3 strands, 2 hands!), so she is being selective about when to work on it. Bee update: What's happening with bees in November? One the California Central Coast they're still busy as bees! Bringing in pollen and nectar and going strong. Well, two of the hives are still going strong at least. There have been late summer/early fall losses. Wishing all the US listeners a Happy Thanksgiving! We're thankful for all of our listeners. You have been so supportive and we're happy to you join us each episode for knitting, spinning, and fiber talk. Thank You!

Nov 5, 2017

Marsha and Kelly have been off the airwaves for about a month. Marsha was cleaning house when we last recorded and Kelly did some housecleaning instead of editing this episode. Thus the two week time warp. Wait, what? Cleaning house? Instead of podcasting? Who are these podcasters and what have you done with our regular hosts????? No further show notes this time since it is just time to GET THIS PUBLISHED! Join us on Instagram @1hundredprojects and @betterinmotion and chat on our Ravelry Group to hear more about our current projects. To get some of our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures yarn, go to the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures shop .

Oct 9, 2017

Combo-spin mania has overtaken Marsha and meanwhile, Kelly is weaving again. There's also some knitting. In the pet arena, Marsha and Enzo have earned their Canine Good Citizen Award and Kelly has a stray cat that seems to have adopted her family. Marsha's Projects Marsha continues working on the Recoleta by Joji Locateli and she is having no difficulty following the pattern. It isn't social knitting, but it isn't as hard as she first thought. Her Among the Shadows by Kelene Kinnersley continues to get a little work as well, but most of her time is being taken up by Combo Spin Mania! She has completed two skeins of 3-ply yarn and is beginning a third. The Two Ewes talk about all the variations on the theme of the combo-spin, including using only warm colors or only cool colors, or randomly selecting not only colors, but different fibers. This reminds Kelly of an artist, Amanda Salm, who wove many different variations of horsehair baskets while they were in weaving class together. Amanda's work explored seemingly endless variations in the types of vessels possible with horse mane and tail hair as the medium. Here is a link to her work. Kelly's Projects Kelly has a mistake in the Summer Fjord by Trin-Annelie that has to be ripped back before she can go any further. Meanwhile she has finished some woven dishtowels in preparation for the Winter Weave Along. It is so fun in weaving that a change in weft yarn will make a big difference in the finished projects. Kelly also gushes about the Leg Warmers/ Boot Toppers that she's making with the Shetland yarn available in the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures shop . They are 2x2 rib tubes that will be folded down to make cozy cuffs to go with her red/orange boots. The yarn is silky and softer than she thought. This project is a quick one for the Single Shot KAL that is going on for the month of October. There is a thread in the Ravelry Group where listeners can chat and participate and a winner will be drawn on November 1 from that thread. Aunt Betty is also making a Single Shot project from yarn in the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures shop . She chose the merino and it is a beautiful, soft yarn in gray and pink. She made a cowl and has almost half the skein left. Besides the Single Shot KAL, the Two Ewes also have a long-term Winter Weave Along. The weave along will be a 6 month experience that will include pdf lessons that will be delivered via the podcast app if you are subscribed, or by clicking the direct download link in the Winter Weave Along episodes on the show's libsyn website . Last week's lesson included weaving vocabulary and instructions for weaving a pouch on a cardboard loom. Next week's lesson will have more vocabulary and discuss yarn selection for weaving projects. There is a Ravelry thread for the weave along where participants can chat, ask questions and show off their projects. There will be a Finished Object thread from which the Two Ewes will select winners. The Weave Along goes from October 1 through March 31.

Oct 1, 2017

Our first pdf lesson has vocabulary for beginning weavers. It also contains instructions for making a cardboard loom and weaving a pouch with it.

Sep 24, 2017

An unedited episode full of knitting, dyeing, spinning, weaving, and future escapades! Enjoy! Click here to visit the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures shop where you can support the show and get beautifully sheepy yarn at the same time. Projects Kelly is almost done with the body of the linen Summer Fjord . The pattern has a drop shoulder and no sleeves. She is thinking about picking up stitches and adding a sleeve. She has also been working on charity hats. One hat, Molly , has been finished. It's a simple textured stitch background with one large cable going up the hat. The second hat is her own pattern started flat and then joined in the round after doing a button tab brim. Both hats are made from leftovers in the stash. Weaving off a cotton dishtowel warp that's been on table loom for almost 10 years. Marsha has made good progress on her Recoleta by Joji Locatelli and has starting the waist shaping. Marsha has been sidetracked knitting by her new obsession: combo spinning. She did not have any dyed braids but had 24 ounces of roving in her stash that she dyed. She then divided the roving equally by color and put in bags. Each bag is filling a bobbin with a bit of fiber left over. Very interesting project. So interesting, that not much is getting done around the house! Advent-ewes The Two Ewes are planning a Winter Weave Along! It will be a 6 month learning adventure with weaving. It starts on October 1 and will go through March 31. It will include weaving instruction for beginners. Weaving information will start at the beginning so don't worry if you are new to the craft. Marsha is a beginner so she will be learning along, too. Handouts in pdf form will be delivered through the podcast feed to all the podcast subscribers. (If you aren't already subscribed there are links to subscribe on the sidebar of the shownotes. Or use your favorite podcatcher app.) The Ewes are also planning some short video tutorial. There will be a project discussion thread with weaving help and community. Any kind of loom will work, rigid heddle, floor, table, potholder loom, cardboard loom, loom made with wallboard and nail, etc. An FO thread will be available later in the year and there will be a giveaway at the end. There is also a Single Shot project along! Quick and satisfying like a single shot. This is for that small project around 200 yards or less. The perfect fun and done project for a palette cleanser. Knit or crochet something quick and satisfying. Prize thread in Ravelry group. starts now ends Nov 1. Dyeing While Marsha dyed roving, Kelly dyed Shetland yarn for a project and put some extra in the shop. Check it out at twoewesfiberadventures.com ! Here is a link the article about natural dyeing in Mexico from the 9/19/17 issue of The New York Times . Future Escapades Kelly will be going to Lambtown in Dixon, CA October 7-8. Marsha will be traveling to Scotland for the Edinburgh Yarn Festival in March 2018. She is looking forward to meeting any UK listeners who will be going, too. And of course, the Two Ewes will be at Stitches West in Santa Clara, CA in late February.

Sep 14, 2017

Advent-ewes in teaching kids to knit, updates on finished projects (Kelly has two very exciting finished projects!), the Monterey County Fair Wool Auction, a visit to a mill, and some yarn shops in Washington. Kelly attended the Monterey Wool Auction and spun all week at the County Fair. Such fun! There were also some finished projects. Kelly finished the Octopus! The pattern is so lifelike you have to check it out. It is Opus the Octopus by Cate Carter-Evans. Kelly's version is named Orson. Also finished is the very interesting Wolkig cowl . It was a perfect pairing of yarn and pattern, with the ripples in the fabric enhancing the shine of the yarn. One finished project was done by Kelly's husband, but is no less exciting: toilet installation. Now all toilets in the house are in working condition (with the 4th purple one still disconnected and in need of retrofitting). Still on the Kelly's needles in active status is the Summer Fjord tee in Sincere Sheep Linen. Marsha finished her Twice Born shawl by Magdalena Lorentz and has made good progress on the Among the Shadows shaw by Kelen Kindersley. She also discusses the challenges of starting the sweater Recoleto by Joji Locatelli using worsted weight yarn from Neighborhood Fiber Company . Marsha visited two yarn shops and a mill on Whidbey Island, Washington. Kitty Purls in Langley, Washington Whidbey Isle Yarns and Gifts in Coupville, Washington Abundant Earth Fiber Mill in Clinton, Washington Marsha also discusses the fun day she had teaching Sarah, Aaliyah, and Crystal to knit.

Aug 26, 2017

A little knitting, a lot of knitting planning, and details about the scrumptious yarn and fiber in the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures shop . Kelly has taken a break from the Summer Fjord tee by Trin-Annelie She had made great progress, but then found a new fun project. Wolkig is a really interesting and EASY cowl by Martina Behm. It's a perfect pairing yarn and pattern. The yarn is a super shiny yak/silk blend handspun. Marsha is continuing to work on her two shawls, Twice Born by Magdalena Lorentz and Among the Shadows by Kelene Kinnersly. Meanwhile, she has swatched for three different sweaters so there will be a new project on the needles soon. The Two Ewes talk about the process of having yarn made from their fleeces and they describe each of the yarns that is available in the shop . There are three different gray yarns, a Merino, a Romney, and a Shetland. All are available in gray and also in beautifully overdyed colors . There are two white yarns that are available in hand-dyed skeins, a soft, fluffy, and textured rambouillet is available in a worsted weight . A more rare variety, a Border Leicester/Corriedale cross, is available in about a sport weight . The rambouillet wool is also available in carded batts . The batts are a blend of the wool, mohair, and silk noil. In appreciation for Two Ewes listeners, one lucky listener was selected to win an item from the shop.

Aug 12, 2017

More sweater knitting for the end of summer. Two kinds of linen and a cotton/llama blend--we're trying all the fibers! We also talk about organizing strategies for the transition into the school year. Marsha's Projects Marsha has started a new shawl with her Stonehedge Crazy! The yarn is fabulous.The shawl is the Among the Shadows and she is making it for the second time. Marsha has also finished her sweater using the pattern 221 Summer Cardigan by Diane Soucy . And since she has finished one sweater, she is ready to cast on another using the linen that she has been swatching. After swatching the linen biased so she is looking for a pattern that will mitigate the tendency to bias. Kelly's Projects Kelly has finished very little. One Mother Bear and one swatch of handspun are all she has to show for two weeks. The swatch will be submitted along with her county fair entries. It is a precursor to the Orca Run sweater that she has planned once the fair is over in September. She has started a new linen tee since the last episode. She is making the Summer Fjord and the construction is really interesting. "Advent-ewes" The Two Ewes have a new website with a shop ! The blog and shownotes will be on the new site as well as a shop with yarns and fibers from their fiber adventures. More details in the next episode! Join in our adventures with new producers and mills. Support the podcast and get something in return ! The Two Ewes also talk organization. Kelly celebrates New Year when school starts in the fall and gets structure and organization back into her life. Calendars and steno pads are her main supplies for organization. Don't Miss an Episode! Want to get the podcast automatically? Subscribe on Apple Podcast , Stitcher , Google Play Music , or even YouTube . Episodes will automatically load to your device. Episodes are also announced on the 1hundredprojects Instagram feed and in the Two Ewes Ravelry Group .

Jul 30, 2017

Planning and swatching for linen sweaters, a round-up of Tour de Fleece spinning, and our listener appreciation drawing winners are the main topics of this episode. Kelly's Projects Kelly's Tour de Fleece was successful and she will be entering a skein of Santa Cruz Island yarn in the Monterey County Wool Show. She also made progress on two different weights of California Variegated Mutant yarn and now has a sweater quantity (or close) of each. Her other finished projects for this episode are bears for the Mother Bear Project . She has crocheted 4 bears and knitted 1 bear. Marsha's Projects Marsha has made good progress on her Summer Cardigan and her goal is to finish it by next episode. She continues progress on her Twice Born Shawl and is enjoying the knitting. As part of the Tour de Fleece Marsha tried to spin every day. She didn't finish spinning the Targhee roving but made good progress. Marsha swatched the Done Roving Yarns DK Sweater Pack with #4, #5, #6 needles. Marsha wanted to make the cardigan called Cloud Cover , but thinks the yarn may too springy for the cardigan that needs a yarn that drapes. More planning is necessary! Linen Sweater Swatching The Two Ewes are both swatching for linen sweaters. Marsha is using Fibra Natura Flax yarn in Tarragon. Kelly is using a couple of truly golden skeins of Sincere Sheep Linen lace weight yarn that is no longer available. While swatching, both found that the linen stitches don't make a very nice fabric. Once washed, the stitches relax and are nicely shaped, even at the larger gauge. The fabric also feels much better after being machine washed and dried. The swatches originally had the feel of a kitchen scrubby! Kelly also found shrinkage with her swatch so will expect her sweater to appear too large during the knitting process. These swatches will be an important reminder during the sweater knitting process. Upcoming Events Want to see some wool judging? Mark your calendar for Saturday, August 12. The Monterey County Wool Show judging will be held at the Monterey County Fairgrounds starting at 9 am. If you are attending and want more information, contact us at twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com If you see a fleece you want to buy, the wool auction will be held during the fair on September 4, 2017. Subscribers Don't Miss an Episode! Want to get the podcast automatically? Subscribe on Apple Podcast , Stitcher , Google Play Music , or even YouTube . Episodes are also announced on the 1hundredprojects Instagram feed and in the Two Ewes Ravelry Group .

Jul 16, 2017

Kelly and Marsha talk spinning! Plus they give updates on current projects and news about upcoming events. Marsha's Projects Marsha doesn't have any finished projects to report but has made steady progress on her Twice Born shawl and Summer Cardigan . Marsha had a fun day with lunch and a visit to All Wound up in Edmonds, Washington with "laterknitter" and "jchant". Look how happy we are to be together surrounded by gorgeous yarn! Marsha had a fun day with lunch and a visit to All Wound up in Edmonds, Washington with "laterknitter" and "jchant". Look how happy we are to be together surrounded by gorgeous yarn! Kelly's Projects Kelly has finally finished the Playground Shawl ! This pattern caused her a lot of trouble, not because it is difficult, but because of her combination of slippery yarn and slippery needles. The only other active project is the Striped CoBaSi Socks . Oh wait! There's an octopus that needs to be stuffed and seamed up . Tour de Fleece Marsha has been spinning every day as time allows. Here is a link to to her Tour de Fleece project page for more photos. Kelly has also committed to spinning every day, along with a few other spinning related goals. Her Tour de Fleece 2017 page has a list of the goals and photos of the spinning projects. The first finished spinning of the tour is the Loop Bump that she plied with silk thread from the Black Sheep Gathering. Upcoming Events Kelly will be presenting to the Santa Cruz Knitting Guild for their July program. The title of the presentation is How Ply Structure Affects Knitting. Presentation will be July 20, 10:15-12:15 at the Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz. Want to see some wool judging? Mark your calendar for Saturday, August 12 at 9 am. This is the date of the fleece judging for the Monterey County Wool Show. The show is in conjunction with the Monterey County Fair and the auction is held on the last day of the fair which is Labor Day in September. But the fleeces are judged ahead of time and the Ann's Web Guild holds a potluck lunch for attendees of the judging. If you are attending and want more information, contact us at twoewes@twoewesfiberadventures.com Bees Kelly had an aspiring beekeeper come over to watch her recent bee inspection. Four of the five colonies are doing well. They were able to see a couple queens and they had the chance to eat honey comb right out of the hive. Join us for Morning Coffee! It's a chat thread on our Ravelry group that has been really fun. Come join the conversation. And if you're not a member of our Ravelry group, please join. Marsha and Kelly will be doing a member appreciation giveaway during our next episode.

Jul 3, 2017

The Black Sheep Gathering 2017 was so wonderful the Two Ewes can't stop talking about it! The wool judge was Judith MacKenzie so of course it was such a learning experience. There are also a few finished knits, some new fiber, yarn, and, you guessed it, FLEECE! Kelly arrived in Eugene after a long hot drive through the northern California heatwave. Marsha and Kim came down from Seattle on the train. They met and prepared for the opening of the show the next day. Marsha and Kelly spent Saturday in the fleece judging, soaking up all the information that Judith MacKenzie so generously shared with the audience. On Saturday, there was a side trip to two Eugene yarn shops. Cozy is a newly opened shop in the old downtown area near the train station. Youthful and spacious, this shop really showed off the many indie-dyed striped and speckled yarns in its stock. It also had a good stock of Flax by Fibra Natura and Marsha snagged some for a linen tee. Then on to Soft Horizons Fibre . This shop is in an old house filled with yarn. The attraction for the Two Ewes and their friend Kim was the Stone Hedge Fiber Crazy yarn. It has the largest selection of this yarn of any yarn shop in the northwest. Back at the fleece barn, Kelly found a gem of a fleece had gone unsold so she bought it. She also found some interesting breed blends at the Homestead Hobbyist booth . Both Marsha and Kelly found plying silk on wood bobbins and Marsha also found some batts that she loved. At the Jorstadt Creek booth, they both bought cashmere laceweight in support of The Great Steppe Fiber Project . Maddy from Jorstadt is going to Mongolia to teach spinning and help to provide women there with the skills to have a fiber company. To help pay for the trip and learn more, visit the gofundme page . As for the knitting, Marsha made good progress on her Twice Born shawl by Magdalena Lorentz. Friends helped her determine that the Easy Folded Poncho is finished and doesn't need the cowl neck. Kelly worked on an OLD project, her Playground Shawl , a pattern by Justyna Lorkowska. Started in August 2015, this shawl has been in hibernation since early last spring. Now it is back out and on its way to being finished.

Jun 21, 2017

Are you old enough to remember vacation slides? Did you ever go to someone's house for dinner and see their vacation slides? If so, you know exactly what you're in for in this episode. If not, don't worry, once you've listened you'll understand exactly what the experience was like! Marsha and Kelly were both on vacation. So, in addition to sharing their current projects, they share some information about their vacations. Kelly was in in the Texarkana area, visiting cemeteries in Red Lick, Texas and Lockesburg, Arkansas to see Robert's family graves. She also visited Civil War sites and stayed in an antebellum home in Vicksburg, MS. Marsha spent some time on the Washington coast with her brother and Enzo. To see Kelly's vacation photos, visit the show notes blog for episode 69.

Jun 10, 2017

This episode is an experiment in time travel. Because Kelly's Dead Relatives Tour conflicted with the recording schedule, the Two Ewes prerecorded this episode. Marsha shares her experiences of the shops she visited on the Puget Sound LYS Tour . Mad Cow Yarns in Lake Forest Park Wild Fibers in Mount Vernon Great Yarns in Everett Pinch Knitter Yarns in Stanwood All Wound Up in Edmonds. The two patterns Marsha bought are a poncho called Stone Point by Courtney Kelly and a cardigan called Harebell by Amy Christophers. She bought a skein of Madelinetosh Twist Light call Void to pair with her Apple Fiber Studio MacIntosh in the color way Moss on a Rock. She also purchased a giant, luscious skein of Done Roving Yarns DK Frolicking Feet Sweater pack. The skein is 1500 yards and weights over two pounds! You'll all hear more about Kelly's Dead Relatives Tour in Episode 69. Stay tuned!

May 28, 2017

It's been a wild week, but some real knitting, a little fantasy knitting, and lots of travel-knitting planning are all in this episode. Kelly finished the Havannah. This pattern by Heidimarie Kaiser is a great casual tee. Put in the beads that are called for in the pattern, or replace them with yarn overs for a more lacy style. Marsha is on track to finish the Easy Folded Poncho in time to wear it for Black Sheep Gathering at the end of June. It is knit in Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool that she found at the Goodwill. She also finished the Meret Beret but this one might be frogged because the yarn and pattern don't seem to be a good match. The two pairs of socks that have been discussed in past episodes will also need to be frogged and restarted. Neither the striped socks out of CoBaSi , nor the short socks on 9-inch circulars actually fit. Oh well. It's not sock failure, its a learning experience! Kelly's fantasy knitting and trip planning leads to a trip through her Ravelry queue. Most likely to be cast on are the Lavender Honey tee from an interesting cotton yarn in red and gray and a Mohair Bias Loop from two Habu yarns in red and eggplant. She is also thinking about the Huntertwasser Neptunia shawl, the Cancun Boxy Lace Top , the Icarus tank , the Sea Glass cardigan , and the crocheted Camelia Chameleon .

May 13, 2017

This episode is all about the knitting projects and the plans. Kelly continues to work on two summer sweaters and has cast on a couple new small projects. Marsha finished a small project while keeping up progress on her stockinette rectangle! Marsha's Projects The Easy Folded Poncho project continues, but meanwhile Marsha started an finished the Greenery Beret by Melissa LaBarre . She is having difficulty getting project pictures without someone to take photos of her during the daylight hours. She is planning the next sweater and has been swatching, but so far hasn't made a decision. Kelly's Projects A conference and a weekend with Dad means that Kelly has made good progress on both Edie and the Havannah tee shirts. Meanwhile, she started a pair of socks with the turquoise and orange CoBaSi yarn that came from Maker's Mercantile. The stripes have a small slip stitch detail and the colors are fabulous together. While recording, Kelly cast on another one of the In Threes baby sweaters using the last of her Colorando yarn. "Advent-ewes" Kelly visited Yarnitudes in Sebastopol when she picked up the bee packages. The yarn shop was conveniently just down the street from Bee Kind. While there she picked up cotton blend yarns for more baby sweaters. Despite multiple signs saying "Yarn," a customer came in and wanted to know where the antiques were. Trudy, the proprietress, said it happens all the time! Marsha had another call from the GoodWill and she left the shop with Madeleine Tosh and some Buffalo Wool. The Tosh was what she used for the hat and she is considering some options with the Buffalo Wool. It is a Canadian unspun wool yarn used for Cowichan-style sweaters. Upcoming Events Marsha and Kelly will be at the Black Sheep Gathering June 23-25, and there will be a Two Ewes meet-up on Saturday, June 24. No trailer this year, but we will definitely have a get-together with our fellow fiber adventurers. More details in the Ravelry Group and on the podcast as the event gets closer.

May 6, 2017

This bonus episode is all about bees. Our regular knitting, spinning, and fiber adventures episode will be published in Episode 66 on the weekend of May 12/13. Kelly picked up two packages of treatment free bees to add to her apiary. They rode home in the car and were successfully installed the same day. She is so happy with the improvement of her beekeeping skills since 2015. Click here for video of the package installation. The next day the existing hive that had been cut out of a drain pipe and had been progressing well swarmed. She saw the swarm from start to finish and describes the incredible experience. Click here for video of the swarm experience. These are my first attempts to create YouTube videos. We won't be changing the podcast to video, but it was fun to document the experience for a YouTube supplement.

Apr 30, 2017

The Ewes have been busy as bees outside of knitting, but still there's a finished top, one almost finished, some dyeing, and a couple things on the needles. A bee shawl is on the maybe list, and Kelly is headed to pick up some real bees. Join us for our adventures. Marsha has finished her Edie tee ! The Edie pattern is by Isabel Kramer and the yarn she used is Hempathy. This is her second Edie in Hempathy so no swatching needed. Now that's incentive to repeat a project! She doesn't yet have a finished project photo and that leads to a discussion of project pages and the Finished Object Radar feature of Ravelry . While talking about the Finished Object Radar on Ravelry, Marsha saw the Hollywood Flare Tunic by Vera Sanen and was intrigued. Kelly is almost finished with her Edie . This is also her second time with the project, but with a different yarn. The yarn is Linen Concerto, a variegated linen, rayon, cotton blend. Kelly's other project, Havannah by Heidimarie Kaiser , is making slow progress, but progress nonetheless. Marsha has been making progress on the Easy Folded Poncho and swatching for some sweaters. Meanwhile, Kelly is intrigued by two crochet shawls. Archangel by Katya Novikova is a pretty lace shawl with a Victorian feel. Hotel of Bees by Christina Hadderingh is a striped shawl with color and texture changes related to bees. The pattern was inspired by the book All the Light We Cannot See. This weekend Kelly is headed to pick up two packages of bees at BeeKind in Sebastopol, California. Each package holds about 10,000 bees who will be installed into two empty hives. During the discussion she mentions Les Crowder, an interesting and informative beekeeper who is a proponent of treatment free beekeeping.

Apr 15, 2017

A fabulous yarny time at the retreat and then a trip to a fiber mill and more time playing with newly milled yarn and dye pots. The Two Ewes are on a Spring Break adventure! Kelly's Projects Kelly is making great progress on the Edie tee-shirt that she is making with Linen Concerto yarn she bought at Stitches West. She is also moving along on the Havannah tee that she is making with Dragon Fly Fibers Rustic Silk Dance yarn. Marsha's Projects Marsha brought a shawl and her Edie tee as retreat and vacation knitting. The shawl is Among the Shadows by Kelene Kinnersly . She is using a very recent purchase of Feederbrook Farm yarn that she got during her post Stitches trip to SF. Advent "ewes" First there was the wonderful weekend at NoCKRs, the Northern California Knitters Retreat, held by the Yarniacs and 2 Knit Lit Chicks podcasts. Held at the St. Francis Retreat Center, it was a relaxing and fun time catching up with friends and meeting new friends. Lots of knitting and food and drink and laughing! Then we visited Ranch of the Oaks to pick up Kelly's yarn order. On the way we had to stop at Yarns at the Adobe , the yarn shop across from the mission in San Luis Obispo. Finally, we spent the last few days of the visit dyeing the yarn that had just been milled. So much fun!

Mar 27, 2017

I'm finished knitting except I still have to...Have you ever said that about a project? The Ewes have projects in various stages of completion, but many things OFF the needles! Just like our projects, this episode is finished, except for the shownotes! We may not have photos in the show notes this week, but take a look at our project pages! Kelly's project page . Marsha's project page. We hope to be back on track with normal show notes by Episode 64. Thanks for listening!

Mar 5, 2017

Knitting projects get finished and then the ewes are off on and adventure to Stitches West. Wearing ponchos and taking names! Marsha arrived on Wednesday and was able to hang out in the sun room finishing her NoCKRs shawl. It is Good Vibes by Nadia Cretin Lechen. Kelly finished her Om Shawl by Andrea Mowry and her Funky Grandpa by Maison Rilillie, and was able to wear both at Stitches West. Yarn, patterns for punch needle rug hooking, knitting needles for lace, and more yarn all came home with the Ewes. We loved meeting fiber friends and getting to know listeners we hadn't met yet. Then Marsha left to go to SF for the second half of her California adventure.

Feb 14, 2017

A completed poncho, a train adventure, a handspun sweater, and an amazing beekeeping experience are on this week's show. Marsha's Projects Marsha finished her Rodeo Drive Poncho . Marsha is really happy with this pattern by Staci Perry . She has also worked on her Good Vibes shawl . Even the Pismo Beach socks (yarn from the yarn crawl in our very first podcast) got a little knitting during her adventurous train trip! Kelly's Projects Kelly has finished 4 more Pussy Hats. She also finally got on the ball and knitted the button band the on Funky Grandpa Cardigan . This is a pattern by La Maison Rililie. The button band has an i-cord bind off and Kelly isn't sure whether it will lay flat or not. If, after blocking, it still isn't laying flat, she will need to experiment with needles that are either larger or smaller. She isn't sure which direction will solve the issue. Kelly has also been working on her poncho and is past the halfway point! She is using Andrea Mowry's Om Shawl pattern. "Advent-ewes" Marsha had quite the train adventure trying to get to Spokane to visit friends. Hours of delay had her almost hysterical! On the positive side, it gave her plenty of time to finish her Rodeo Drive Poncho. She had planned to visit a couple of Spokane yarn shops. One was closed while she was there. Another that she saw from the train, The Knitting Factory, turned out to be a music concert venue and nightclub. The third was a charm, Sew E-Z Too is a knitting and quilting shop and she was able to visit. Upcoming Events Marsha and Kelly will be at Stitches West on February 25-26. Come say hi to us if you see us. Also, we will be attending the meet-up organized by the Yarniacs and 2 Knit Lit Chicks. The meet-up is in the lobby bar area of the Hyatt (host hotel) and will start at around 1 pm. We can't wait!!! Bees Kelly had a great bee adventure last weekend. A small beehive was found in a drainage pipe where her husband works. The area is slated for some construction and the hive had to be removed so Kelly went in on Saturday to remove it and bring it home to her yard. The experience was AMAZING! She was able to cut down the combs and wedge them between rubber bands in frames that then went into her bee box. Overnight almost all the bees went into the box (because the queen and all their brood was in there). Next morning she closed them in and took them home. Such an interesting process! So far they seem to be doing very well. They are a small hive, but busy bringing in pollen. What would you like to hear us talk about? Many of our listeners have commented on the topic of compost and would like to know more. So next episode we will discuss composting and maybe a little gardening along with the knitting. What else would you like to hear more about? Leave a comment in the shownotes, email us at twoewesdyeing@gmail.com , or come talk to us in the Two EwesRavelry Group . Meanwhile, here is a funny video about urban farmers like Marsha and me.

Jan 29, 2017

The Women's March website and the Indivisible Guide website are both mentioned in this episode. Marsha and Kelly both attended marches and they talk about the experience. So many knitters made so many Pussyhats! The Ewes have also been thinking about 2017 goals, and the political realm, along with some personal challenges of the past year, have played a part in that thought process. If you are a new listener, you might want to listen to a different episode first. This one is not typical of the podcast, but we thought it was an important discussion to share with you.

Jan 15, 2017

We review our 2016 achievements and have a Fibershed segment where our minds are blown by discovering that compost can help mitigate climate change. Marsha is almost finished with her #PussyHatProject hat for the Women's March that will be held in Seattle. Other than that, she has been working exclusively on her Great Poncho Adventure project . She is making the Rodeo Drive poncho from Berocco Ultra Alpaca yarn. It is getting close to finished! Kelly's Great Poncho Adventure is moving along after a mistake in the colorwork meant she had to rip back about 4 inches of work. It was painful, but worth the effort. She has adapted the Om Shawl to three colors and is working this out of three different gray yarns from Neighborhood Fiber Co. Kelly has also been spinning. She finished plying two skeins of the endless 3-ply CVM . When combined with the bulky CVM singles she has spun, there is a total of 2.5 lbs (of the 6 lbs) that has been spun from this fiber. She also spun and plied some longwool fiber from deep in the stash (circa 2002?). She finished 6 #PussyHatProject hats and sent them (along with 4 more of her Aunt's hats) to Washington DC for the Women's March on Washington. There are 3 more to finish for the San Francisco march that she will be attending. Kelly was excited to share some work being done by Jeff Creque, the Marin Carbon Project and the Carbon Cycle Institute . She describes research done by Ryals, et al. in a paper entitled, "Impacts of organic matter amendments on carbon and nitrogen dynamics in grassland soils ." If you would like to hear more about Carbon Farming and other ideas presented at the Fibershed Wool Symposium, the videos are available on the Fibershed site . If you are interested in purchasing the Climate Beneficial Cloth or making a donation for application of a cubic yard of compost, click here for more information . Marsha and Kelly will be at Stitches West on February 25 and 26. We will attend the meet-up organized by the Yarniacs and the 2 Knit Lit Chicks starting at about 1 pm on Saturday in the bar of the host hotel. We hope to see you there! If you enjoy the podcast, be sure to subscribe and share it with your friends on Ravelry, facebook, Instagram, or elsewhere!

Jan 8, 2017

Seattle! The Two Ewes are together in the Emerald City. Knitting hats, hitting the yarn shops, and having a great start to 2017! Kelly arrived on January 5 to a partly snowy Seattle. It was a quick, three-day trip, and they managed to see three yarn shops. Hear about the visit in this short episode with the ewes recording together. Some highlights of the trip were the felted chair at Maker's Mercantile and additions to Kelly's linens and button stashes. The lowlight of the trip was that Tolt Yarn and Wool was closed for inventory (with no notification on the website). Alas, we were disappointed. But we perked right up by visiting Quintessential Knits only ten miles away. We also had the opportunity to visit Fiber Gallery one day while Enzo was getting groomed. It was wonderful to start 2017 with a visit! Our next time together will be Stitches West on Saturday, February 25 for the podcast meet-up in the afternoon and Sunday, February 26 for the Marketplace. We hope to see you there!

Jan 1, 2017

In Episode 47 Kelly talked about handspun singles. In this episode she talks about plying handspun yarn and the properties of plied yarn for knitters who are buying commercial yarn. She talks about what plying is and how it works, why spinners might ply yarn, and the number of plies and their effect on yarn. She also gives tips for yarn buyers and tips for handspinners. The pictures in the show notes show a skein of yarn, rather than a piece of plied yarn, but the three pictures illustrate how the individual fibers look in a plied yarn that is over-plied, balanced, and under-plied. Pretend each strand of yarn is a fiber in a plied yarn and you will see that in a balanced yarn, the fibers are parallel with the direction of the yarn. Here is Kelly's project page for her Swirl Sweater. Here is Marsha's project page for her Swirl Sweater .

Dec 18, 2016

Podcasting about percolators, ponchos, and Pendleton woolens. Plus, we have two giveaway winners! Marsha's Projects Marsha is making good progress on the Rodeo Drive poncho by Staci Perry . She has been focused on this one project and is making good progress. This despite a cabling accident caused by "knitting while podcasting" two weeks ago. Kelly's Projects Kelly is continuing with the Curious Case of the Crazy Stitch Cardigan by Michele DuNaier. She can't figure out why it seems to have two sides (since it is crocheted similar to the way garter stitch is knitted, doing the same thing on each side), but she thinks she now has it back on track. Kelly has also been doing a small amount of spinning while sitting in the living room enjoying the Christmas tree. "Advent-ewes" Marsha visited the Pendleton Woolen Mill in Pendleton, Oregon. She tells us all about the history of the company and the tour she had of the facility. The wool that Pendleton uses is scoured in Texas--probably at the same facility that scoured the wool for the fabric in the fabric CSA that Kelly has purchased. Here is a link to the scouring company and here is an article about the expansion of their scouring operation. Marsha took lots of pictures of the Pendleton Woolen Mill and the milling process. Marsha also discovered that the Beach Boys wore Pendleton shirts and called themselves the PendleTones. Marsha's brother Mark splurged and bought a Pendleton blanket. Marsha was able to visit the mill because she was spending the weekend in Walla Walla, Washington, where she and Kelly attended Whitman College together. She and Kelly reminisce about some of the familiar places and their college days. Giveaway! Two winners were drawn. One lucky winner will be getting a skein of Countess Ablaze yarn and a totebag that the Countess was kind enough to throw in with Kelly's order. The other will take home three skeins of Blacker Yarns from the Woolly Thistle Shop . These skeins were contributed by Claire of the Woolly Thistle and the New Hampshire Knits podcast. Upcoming Events Kelly and Marsha will be attending Stitches West ! It starts on February 23, 2017 and that is also the deadline for the Great Poncho Adventure. Share Us! If you enjoy the podcast, please share it with a friend! Just tell them TwoEwesFiber.com ! On the blog, the white box below the post has little buttons for sharing by mail or social media. If you are reading shownotes from your podcast app, use the podcast sharing button. Thanks!

Dec 3, 2016

A little knitting and crochet progress, and a lot of discussion about the complicated topic of consumption. Climate beneficial wool cloth, thrift store finds, supporting local farmers and small dyers, and (gasp!) knitting from stash for a year are all part of the conversation. Marsha has many things in progress (remember when she was a monogamous knitter?) but has been working exclusively on her Rodeo Drive Poncho . She loves the Berocco Ultra Alpaca yarn and is enjoying the simple but elegant construction of the pattern by Staci Perry. Kelly worked on socks while recording, but other than that the only other project has been some negative crochet. Ugh! Due to a mistake that she still needs to figure out, she did the second half of the back panel and the second front both inside out. The shell pattern is markedly different on these new pieces of the cardigan--until you turn them over and look at the back. But no one wants a sweater with two right fronts! Ripping out has occurred so the offending pieces can be redone. The sweater is her Curious Cobalt Cardigan , made using a Michele DuNaier pattern. The closest Kelly has come to a Poncho Adventure is to wind one of her three skeins. Stay tuned--she hopes to have more poncho progress for next episode. Kelly talks about her experience at the Fibershed Wool Symposium 2016 . There is enough material for a regular segment on the podcast for quite a few more episodes. The mission of Fibershed is to "develop regional fiber systems that build soil and protect the health of our biosphere." The Symposium followed a "soil to skin" framework and had panels of speakers from shepherds to clothing designers. One of the current projects is the climate beneficial wool Fabric CSA . The wool is grown in CA, woven in CA by H uston Textile Co. , and being offered for pre-sale. Kelly bought some and will be receiving it in April. She will have to do the wet finishing of the cloth since that part of the supply chain isn't available in the state. That makes her a "prosumer" of the cloth, participating in the production, as well as purchasing the product. The project is one of three farm-to-fabric projects that Fibershed has completed in their work to identify supply chains for a local textile economy. The conversation led the Two Ewes to a discussion about consumption, consumer culture, the "buy local" movement, and a group of San Francisco residents that several years ago decided to give up purchases (other than food and other necessities) for a year. The verdict? It's complicated! At Fibershed Kelly found out about an interesting KAL that they are hosting . The pattern is Radiata by Emily Cunetto . It is designed to be knit in any gauge of yarn that is local to the knitter, in other words, from their fibershed. Another event coming next weekend (Dec. 11, 2016) is a natural dyeing workshop using mycopigments from mycoflora . That's mushrooms! The teacher is Alissa Allen and it is being held in Santa Cruz, CA in conjunction with the Santa Cruz Mycoflora Foray. Kelly's family got an additional dog on the day after Thanksgiving. Nash is a yellow lab whose owner died. He is 10 years old and is very well mannered. He is fitting into the household very well. Marsha shopped for a rain jacket for Enzo so she could continue to take long walks with him in the Northwest rain.

Nov 22, 2016

New projects this time for both Marsha and Kelly. Also lots of poncho talk and information about The Great Poncho Adventure. The Ewes are making ponchos! There are also two yarn giveaways announced this episode. For photos and to subscribe to the podcast, visit the shownotes on our blog . Marsha's Projects Marsha has started her shawl with the NoCKRs yarns she got from Duren Dyeworks last year in commemoration of the retreat. The pattern is Good Vibes by Nadia Crétin-Léchenn . She was ready to start her poncho with some Spirit Yarn, but decided that it was not the right yarn for the pattern. Instead she is going to find some yarn that is better suited. Late breaking news! Marsha got some yarn for the poncho! The pattern she is using is The Rodeo Drive Poncho by Staci Perry . Kelly's Projects Kelly has made some progress on the crocheted Crazy Stitch Cardigan . It's a pattern by Michelle DuNaier. She has started on the shoulder and is almost ready to start the second side of the sweater. She also had a project that was both started and finished since the last episode! She made two pair of Helmikuu Boot Toppers (by Sunshine Ravioli) while on a camping trip. The yarn was leftovers of Rowan Soft Tweed. Each topper took less than a skein, so about 75 yards per topper. It was great to use up these leftover skeins. Yarn Giveaway The Two Ewes have two giveaways this episode! Thanks to Claire from The Woolly Thistle , (and the New Hampshire Knits podcast) we have three skeins of Blacker Yarns to give away: Blacker Classic , Westcountry Tweed , and Blacker Swan . All are DK weight, 50 g balls of yarn. Go to the Ravelry group and answer the question in the Woolly Thistle Giveaway thread to be entered to win. Thank you, Claire for supporting the podcast with these three skeins to give away to listeners! Here are the skeins that will be given to one lucky winner! The second giveaway is one of three GORGEOUS hand-dyed skeins Kelly bought from Countess Ablaze in England . Kelly told The Countess that she was going to use one of the skeins for a podcast prize, so she included a free tote bag in the order. So the lucky winner will win a skein of The Blue-Faced Baron fingering weight yarn in the color "This Ain't a Scene" and a black Countess Ablaze tote. "Advent-ewes" The Great Poncho Adventure has started! It's a poncho-a-long. Details are in the episode and in the Ravelry group . Make a poncho, a ruana, a buttoned wrap or a cloak. Start a new one or finish a work in progress. If you post on Instagram use #ponchoadventure

Nov 7, 2016

Frank's Spirit Yarn Afghan is finished and the Two Ewes are celebrating! Project planning has begun for Marsha's next blanket and Kelly is once again making progress on the handspun Funky Grandpa cardigan. Join us for a fun episode full of fiber adventures! Marsha's Projects The epic blanket is finished! Marsha finished Frank's Spirit Yarn Afghan and it is fantastic! The pattern is Garter Squish by Stephen West although it was made to be bigger than the pattern. Finished measurements are 6'8" x 5'7" and it weighs 5 pounds, 8 ounces. This blanket contains the memories of her father Frank. It was made from yarn that she used to make him a sweater many years ago. It also contains the Spirit Yarn from destashes, the Goodwill, and yarns from friends (including our listener HockeyRachel). This blanket is filled with good karma! During the podcast we had another live bind-off. Marsha finished another washcloth or dishcloth . This one was the Atomic Washcloth pattern and she edged it with crochet while we were talking. Kelly's Projects Kelly is back to working on her Handspun Charlotte Cardigan . She is using the Funky Grandpa pattern and knitting with early handspun from a sheep named Charlotte. She is now working on the second sleeve and is almost done. Next is picking up the button band and selecting buttons from her button stash. Kelly talks about the joys of knitting with handspun and the importance of not waiting until your yarn is perfect or you have found the perfect pattern. Kelly has also made progress on the blue crocheted cardigan that she is making. The Curious Case of the Crazy Stitch Cardigan by Michele DuNaier . The interesting construction is more curious than the stitch! "Advent-ewes" Kelly purchased yarn from The Woolly Thistle . St. Kilda Lace by Blacker Yarns is a blend of Soay and Boreray wool. Yarn from sheep she had never heard of was just too much of a temptation! For those interested in the two primitive breeds, here is a link: Sheep of St. Kilda . Soay and Boreray Sheep Society Claire of New Hampshire Knits podcast and owner of The Woolly Thistle interviewed a US shepherd at Rhinebeck who has Soay sheep in her episode number 52 . While in the Woolly Thistle shop, she also found Manx and Hebridean yarns, both with mohair. They are sock yarns (a bit on the heavy side of fingering weight) and will probably be part of some argyle socks for Robert . Next episode check in to hear about a giveaway of some other varieties of yarn provided by the Woolly Thistle for Two Ewes listeners! Marsha had another call from the Goodwill. (No, not on her phone, she just has a "spidey sense" about these things!) It resulted in the purchase of 22 skeins of one type of yarn and several other skeins of a couple other brands. Plus, she found some cones of wool and a cone of cotton/linen that she sent to Kelly. Wow! If you enjoy the podcast, share it with a fiber friend, or two! Send them to the website or share the podcast link with them! Help spread the word about the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures !

Oct 30, 2016

There is knitting in the show, but we spend the first 15 minutes in non-fiber chit chat. Does that tell you how we feel about our knitting right now? We are both in a project low right now with long term projects and projects in transition phases. Finishing these items and the excitement of new cast-ons will come in time, but for right now we battle the long project blues. Projects Marsha continues to work on the Stephen West Garter Squish afghan she is calling Frank's Spirit Yarn Afghan. She is working color twelve of fourteen and is ready to be done. It is hard to work on because it is getting so big and heavy. Definitely not portable! Marsha has been highly distracted by her new addiction...wash cloths! She as made WAHMingIt by Amber Perry, Spa Day Facecloth by Anne Mancine, Atomic Washcloth by Nanette Cormack, and is working on Ballband Washcloth by Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne. * As I was writing the show notes I realized that I made the Atomic Washcloth completely wrong. The peach color should be stockinette and the blue garter stitch. Oh well. It's a design feature. :-) Marsha is planning for her next project. She is looking at shawl patterns to use the Duren Dyeworks yarn she purchased at the NoCKR's retreat. Javala by Cailliau Berangere and Asunder by Lisa Mutch are under consideration. Marsha is also inspired the the poncho discussion and thinks the universe is sending her a message because she found eight skeins of Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool in navy at the Goodwill. Two possible poncho patterns are Easy Folded Poncho by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas and Mesa by Yumiko Alexander. Kelly has finished the knitting on the octopus and decided to wash and block before stuffing and sewing. Sewing will be a loooooooong project with eight tentacles longer than sleeves, plus the underbelly. The NoCKRs shawl came back out long enough for Kelly to make a mistake and then proceed for two more rows. Now it is back in the bag awaiting a little tinking. Ugh! She did successfully start a new pair of socks just for knitting during the recording. So now there are two pairs on the needles--both from yarns she bought this month at Lambtown. The green, yellow and orange pair are Invictus Yarns and the red, gray, and yellow pair are Duren Dyeworks. "Advent-ewes" Marsha wants to learn more about crochet. She loves Kelly's sweater Latticework Cardigan by Michelle DuNair. She also loves Irene Floral Lace Cardigan by Vicky Chan and Cairo Jacket by Doris Chan. There is an afghan call Modern Blanket of Flowers that is gorgeous, plus an intriguing shawl by Esther Sandorf called Stash Buster Blarf . Kelly will be attending the Fibershed 2016 Wool and Fine Fiber Symposium on November 19. The event has an interesting mix of talks-from fiber producers at one end of the fiber pipeline, to artisans and retailers on the other. If you enjoy the show, tell a friend! Use your podcast app to share the episode.

Oct 9, 2016

Knitting a blanket, an octopus, and some wash cloths have been keeping the Two Ewes in stitches these days. Fleeces, yarn, and fiber friends were in abundance at Lambtown last weekend. In addition, two public pledges will keep the Two Ewes accountable for some future projects! For photos to go with the links, see our blog ! Marsha's Projects Marsha continues to work steadily on her Frank's Spirit Yarn Afghan but found she needed to take a break from it. She discovered washcloths!! She has made two from the pattern All Washed Up by Jill Arnusch and is almost done with Diagonal Knit Dishcloth by Jana Trent . Both are free patterns. Kelly's Projects All octopus, all the time! Kelly has more than half of the tentacles finished and has been working mostly on this project . She did finally get back to the Mesa poncho by Yumiko Alexander so she could finish it in time for her sister's birthday. Finding buttons from the stash will finish it up! There has also been some casting on/hooking on! The Curious Case crochet sweater by Michelle DuNair and a new pair of striping socks . were both started during the weekend away. The yarn for the socks is from Invictus Yarns and was purchased at Lambtown. "Advent-ewes" Lambtown in Dixon, California was great fun! Quite a few Northern California fiber friends were also attending and Kelly talks about the fun they had, including watching the fleece judging and selecting fleeces. The judge for the day was Maria Rooney, a Romney breeder at Silver Creek Lambscapes in Oregon. Kelly bought a skein of green and yellow striping yarn from Invictus Yarns , a skein of red, yellow and gray striping sock yarn and a skein of blue gray to finish the NoCKRs Shawl from Duren Dyeworks . She also bought a smaller gauge punch needle for punch needle rug hooking from Wooly Walkers . This will join some other equipment and supplies she got at Stitches 2015 and Kelly has publicly pledged to start a punch needle rug project before the end of November. Bees and Dogs They are taking a lot of sugar water since they are a small foraging force and the food sources at this time of year are limited. Kelly hoped to be able to take video of the weekend inspection, but the sun was too hot and the phone camera kept shutting off. Maybe next time! Marsha talked about how nice it would be to have video of her training to help her see mistakes more easily. Marsha and Enzo are learning a lot in their training classes. Marsha is learning that she needs to practice more between classes! She has also publicly pledged to do so!

Sep 25, 2016

Beautiful Autumn days, ongoing projects, an Enzo the Poodle update, and some of our listeners' knitting are the topics of this episode. Marsha is coming to you from Seattle, as usual. Kelly is coming to you from a tin can somewhere on the Central Coast of California. :-) She forgot to plug in her microphone and was recorded through the not-so-good computer microphone. Sorry for this rookie podcasting error! Shortly after the last episode Kelly started to work on Opus the Octopus . He was the perfect project for her conference knitting. One sleeve of the Handspun Funky Grandpa was finished so that the needles could be re-purposed for the octopus, but that was the only other project she touched in the last two weeks. Marsha continues to work on Frank's Spirit Yarn Afghan and has passed the halfway point. She'll be starting the ninth color of thirteen. She gives her hands a break by working on her Havasu Falls Shawl . The Ewes share information about listeners' projects (including a beautiful shawl, a great poncho, a sweater, sock yarn scrap pajama pants, a knit dress and others) and they talk about future knitting plans. Kelly plans a second Edie tee shirt if she can find the yarn. A crochet sweater by Michele DuNaier is on deck next. It is The Curious Case of the Crazy-Stitch Cardigan . She'll be using a cobalt blue bamboo and cotton blend yarn, Valley Yarns Southwick from Webs. Kelly's final project in the planning stages is the Om Shawl , which is really a form of poncho! There are three colors of Neighborhood Fiber Company gray that will go into this poncho. Upcoming Events: Kelly will be attending Lambtown in Dixon, California on October 1-2, 2016.

Sep 14, 2016

Our monogamous knitting continues, but the wool fleece auction, bees, and planning for upcoming fiber events has kept life interesting! Project Updates Marsha continues to work on Frank's Spirt Yarn Afghan using the pattern from Stephen West called Garter Squish . She loves how the afghan keeps changing with each additional color. The afghan currently is about six feet wide and about 36" long. The afghan is no longer very portable, so Marsha is back working on the Havasu Falls shawl by Alison LoCicero. It's pretty good social knitting right now. Marsha also washed the black Wensleydale-Cormo-Merino cross fleece she bought at The Black Sheep Gathering. Kelly continues for work on her Funky Grandpa cardigan that she is calling Handspun Charlotte Cardigan because she is using handspun from a sheep named Charlotte. She reports on her experience of redoing one of the sleeves. Kelly also discusses dyeing yarn for the her next project, Opus the Octopus by Cate Carter-Evans. She is motivated by the need to have a project for to work on while attending a conference. (Since recording Kelly has been on work conference travel and has made some good progress on the octopus!) "Advent-ewes" Kelly attended the Monterey County Fair and the wool auction. She sat in on the fleece judging, volunteer with set up, and attended the auction. She exercised extreme self-control and purchased only one fleece, but it is a beauty...a Santa Cruz Island fleece from Blue Oak Canyon Ranch ! Here is a link to an article about these sheep to understand why we are so intrigued. Marsha will be attending some events this fall and wanted to remind people about the terrific website called Knitter's Review that lists world wide fiber events . Nice to read about the events and dream. :-) Bees Kelly is so happy to report that she had a bee swarm in her garden! Check out her Instagram account at 1hundredprojects to see videos of the swarm and how Kelly got the swarm into the hive. So interesting. Kelly highly recommends the book Honeybee Democracy by Thomas Seeley and you can see a discussion of the book here . If you want to see a presentation of the research that was in the book, here is a really interesting video .

Aug 28, 2016

Knitting monogamy and the fall semester have combined to reduce the yarn crafting of the Two Ewes this episode. Both are making progress on their Epic Adventures, though. View photos, and subscribe to the podcast at our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures blog ! Kelly has finished all the squares needed for the quilt that she started over 30 years ago. Now on to the sewing together! Kelly also started a new sock project for meeting knitting. The Angler's Loop socks have an interesting cable pattern along the back of the sock. The pattern is designed by Andrea Mules . Marsha has been moving along on Frank's Spirit Yarn Afghan . The pattern is the Garter Squish by Stephen West . She is on the third color now and, at the moment, is knitting on this project exclusively. Marsha did something she never thought she would do. She bought a tie-dyed skirt! This is not your grandfather's tie-dye. She talked with the dyer about the technique (which includes dye removal as well as overdyeing) and is inspired to try some tie-dye. Kelly attended the fleece judging for the Monterey County Fair Wool Show. The judge this year was Richard Jacobsen of Jacobsen Ranch . The fleeces in the show were spectacular, as usual! A "chrome" silver merino fleece caught everyone's imagination. There are a few unusual entries this year. The most exciting was a Santa Cruz Island fleece . This is a rare, heritage breed that had been feral on Santa Cruz Island. The Livestock Conservancy page links to a detailed and interesting article on the history of the breed by Lynn Moody. I don't know if she is the source of the fleece at the show. Here is an excerpt from the article. "Jim and I acquired our starter flock of Santa Cruz Island sheep from Marion Stanley in July 2010. As an avid (though not particularly skilled) handspinner and knitter and beginning weaver, I was looking for a hardy, self-sufficient and fuss-free breed with nice wool, marketable to crafters and artists, and that were "endangered" and needed preservation and promotion. That these sheep were nearly indigenous in my adopted state of California, had an interesting history, and came from an environment similar to that of our ranch, were added attractions. I began this study wondering when exactly sheep were first brought to Santa Cruz Island–there seemed to be some conflicting accounts-and what kinds of sheep made up the ancestry of these unique and fascinating animals." There were also Montadale and Oxford fleeces, not often seen at shows, and two Shetland fleeces. Although Shetland's aren't rare at wool shows, I haven't ever seen Shetland fleeces at the Monterey show. The auction will take place on Labor Day, September 5, 2016. The fair opens at noon, but the wool area is open for pre-auction viewing starting at about 9 am. If you have questions or comments and would like to email us, we are available at twoewesdyeing@gmail.com Or you can find us on Ravelry as "1hundredprojects" and "betterinmotion."

Aug 13, 2016

Civil War Socks, two epic projects, and a few rants from the Two Ewes are on the episode this week! Finished and Started Kelly finished the Civil War Socks (pattern by Karin Timour) and they fit her husband perfectly. The choices of yarn color were made as a result of reading this Civil War discussion board post . Marsha finished prepping the yarn for Frank's Spirit Yarn Afghan and she has cast on. This will be a long-term project. She is also continuing work on the Havasu Falls Shawl that she is making from a Freia gradient yarn . Kelly has started working on her long-term project, too. It is a quilt top that she started while in high school. Since the last episode she has made progress on this quilt, which she is planning to use as a queen-sized bedspread. It is a hand pieced quilt in the "Split Rail" design and is made from sewing project scraps from her childhood and teen years. For example, one of the fabrics is from the "Swirl Skirt" that Kelly had in the 1970s. Kelly has also started a Mesa poncho for her sister . She discusses the yarn structure and how that is affecting the knitting in an interesting way. Fiber in the Wild Marsha discusses an article about the resurgence of sewing from the New York Times (August 2, 2016 ). The article led her to the pattern for the Walk Away Dress. Another NY Times article details the use of the crystals on the leotards of the US Gymnastics Team. This led Marsha to a rant about women's athletic uniforms in the Olympics, but don't worry, Kelly derailed her before she started in on the Beach Volleyball uniforms!

Jul 31, 2016

Spinning, dyeing moth-proof yarn, crocheting bears, and knitting handspun singles are adventures in this episode. Kelly gives an extensive review of knitting with handspun singles so that spinners will know how to use their yarn without always plying it. Marsha has been researching the meaning of the old-fashioned "moth-proofing" that was done to her spirit yarn. We hope that both topics are interesting and helpful to you! For show notes with pictures, see http://twoewesfiber.com Marsha's projects Marsha has not done too much knitting recently but she has made some progress on the Havasu Falls Shawl by Allison LoCicero and completed spinning 10 ounces of golden Shetland roving that she got at the Black Sheep Gathering. She has also been doing a little more over-dyeing in preparation for the the afghan project she is making with spirit yarn. Detailed information about the preparations for this project (including the math that we discussed in the previous episode) is in the Project Page for Frank's Spirit Yarn Afghan . One of the colors came out lime green, as planned. The other skein was meant to be coral but turned out gold. The yarn was labeled as "moth-proofed" and Marsha has done some research about what that means . The process includes treating the wool with a pesticide called Mitin ff, and may be the reason that the dye didn't adhere properly. Kelly's Projects Kelly has started back up on the second of the Civil War Socks for Robert. She has put a few more sections on the NoCKRs shawl , too, but it is now time to figure out how much yarn she will need to do the final repeats. She has modified the New Beginnings pattern by Boo Knits in order to use two colors and wants to use all 800 yards, if possible. Kelly has also continued in her addiction to crocheting bears for the Mother Bear Project ! She now has 13 bears to enter into the Knit/Crochet Along that the 2 Knit Lit Chicks are hosting on their Ravelry group. To see pictures of the bears with the children in African countries take a look at the Mother Bear gallery ! Swatch-a-Palooza Kelly has been doing a study of knitting with handspun singles. She used a variety of handspun yarns and swatched them with a variety of needle sizes, documenting the process along the way. She has posted her article, complete with pictures, here on the Two Ewes blog dated July 31, 2016. Fiber in the Wild Marsha's ears perked up when she heard NPR commentators say that Hillary Clinton should "stick to her knitting" as a strategy for her acceptance speech. The Two Ewes weren't sure what that meant and speculated that it must be an old saying. After recording, they found this link that helps to explain the meaning!

Jul 17, 2016

Math, over-dyeing, color theory, and an interesting discussion of the Faroe Islands join knitting and spinning in the topics of this episode. Kelly's Projects Kelly has won the battle with the first of the Civil War socks . Several adjustments for fit were needed, but the finished sock is now perfect and it is on to the second one. The only other knitting has been on the NoCKRs shawl . The desire to use as much yarn as possible of both colors has led to some pattern modification experiments. Kelly has been doing a lot of spinning with two different wool/angora blends. One is a dyed gray and the other is a natural white. She also continues working on the CVM fleece with both a fingering/sport 3-ply and a bulky singles yarns on the wheels. Marsha's Projects Marsha was doing really well on her Fairfield Cardigan by Michele Wang but discovered she knit past the point where she should begin decreasing for the shoulders. Ugh! She now needs to do some ripping back. She started a shawl call Havasu Falls by Allison LoCicero using Freia Handpaints Ombre Lace in the color way Ice Queen. Since the last episode's discussion of the Tour de Fleece, Marsha has been focusing on spinning. She has one skein done and three bobbins waiting to be plied of the golden Shetland roving she purchased last month at the Black Sheep Gathering. When that project is done she plans to start spinning a big ball of unknown wool roving from Pendleton Woolen Mills. The Two Ewes have a discussion on the planning Marsha is doing to make the Garter Squish afghan by Stephen West. There is lots of talk of math including the golden ratio! The Garter Squish afghan is knit using two balls of worsted weight yarn. One in a main color and the second in ever changing contrast colors. For the main color Marsha will use the repurposed blue spirit yarn from the giant sweater she made for her father. For the contrasting colors she will use odds and ends from her stash. She didn't love some of the colors which leads to a Fiber in the Wild adventure. Fiber in the Wild Kelly and Marsha met Maddy Wallace (appledappy) at the Jorstadt Creek Dye Studio booth at the Black Sheep gathering. Maddy invited them to Over Dye Saturday held at the studio in Olympia, Washington. Marsha was able to attend and over dyed some of her thrift shop yarn that she will use in her Garter Squish afghan. Over Dye Saturdays supports Click for Babies who educate new parents on preventing shaken baby syndrome. Jorstadt Creek Dye Studio is owned by Kerry Graber (jorstadtcreek) and she is focusing on fiber from local producers featuring Icelandic, Finn, and Gotland wools all grown in the Olympia area. Her yarns are sold at Bazaar Girls in Port Townsend, WA and Yorkshire Yarns in Lakewood, WA. An Etsy shop is coming soon. Kerry is also part of a design group call the BK Collective featuring Jorstadt yarns. Marsha met two of the designers, Kaia Petersen (cayennepepper) and Jann Hoppler (jmhknits) at the studio. They have some lovely patterns. A couple of Marsha's favorites are.... Traslov Hat by Kerry Graber Garrison Street Scarf and Cowl by Kaia Petersen Ebb and Flow Shawl by Jann Hoppler A huge thank you to everyone at Jorstadt Creek. Marsha had a blast! Here are some pictures from the day or visit her project page, Frank's Spirit Yarn Afghan , for more photos. And finally, Marsha talks about a story she heard on the BBC World Service about sheep being used to map the Faroe Islands. Here are links discussed. Faroe Islands Sheep View 360 Free Faroese Sweater Pattern Free Sarah Lund Faroese Sweater Pattern For photos check out our blog.

Jul 8, 2016

Show notes coming soon.

Jun 19, 2016

Knitting, spinning and preparing for the Black Sheep Gathering has Marsha and Kelly so excited that they can't stay on topic! Lots of interesting (we hope!) tangents in this episode. Marsha has finished her Ricky for All Seasons by Vera Sanon. She loves the look and the fit and recommends the pattern. She is still working on her Spirit-Yarn-a-Long project, a shawl called Sunny Delight by Brian Smith. This will be great train knitting for her train trip to Eugene for the Black Sheep Gathering. Kelly cast on and finished a Spirit Yarn project. The Bethel Tank has been in her queue for about two years. She used some coned cotton that she and Marsha had dyed a couple summers ago in a dyeing experiment. Along with the cotton she carried along a strand of rough-spun linen coned yarn. The Spirit Yarn Along will continue until June 30 in the Ravelry Group . Winners will be chosen randomly from the discussion participants. Share your projects and Spirit Yarn stories. While discussing the projects Marsha speculated that there was probably a podcast about buying storage units. Indeed there is! Kelly found this podcast about buying storage units. Storage Auction Shogun's Podcast. Kelly is also working on Civil War era socks for her husband from a 19th century pattern. The toes, cuffs, and heels will be her handspun. It is a 3-ply mohair and merino blend fiber from Sincere Sheep. The leg and foot of the socks will be Invictus Yarn BFL sock in an indigo color. Going to the Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, Oregon? If so, we have a meet-up planned for the evening of Saturday, June 25. We hope you can join us. Listen to the show and check out the Ravelry Group for more details.

Jun 5, 2016

In this episode you will only hear one half of the Two Ewes. Kelly finished up the school year with a cold and wasn't able to record. We didn't want to miss reaching out to everyone so it is short episode with Marsha. Well, Kelly does make a short appearance at the end of the podcast since at editing time she had a little better voice! Kelly has finished two projects! She decided that a good day to bind off the I Love My Husband scarf was their 32nd anniversary. It was one of the projects that she brought on the camping trip they went on. She also finished the Edie tee by Isabel Kramer. She decided not to add the neckline edging, but she did add a moss stitch edging to the hem and sleeves. The yarn fabric washed up nicely in a cold water machine wash and a trip through the dryer. The hem and sleeve edges are rolling up, so it will need a bit of ironing there. She continues work on the Latticework Cardigan and hopes to finish before the Black Sheep Gathering. Breaking News! The sweater is finished! The end of the semester prevented her from selecting a spirit yarn project (although Pi Baby from last episode was made from spirit yarn). Now that school is over and the grading is done, she will be searching through stash for a good candidate. Marsha has not picked up her Fairfield Cardigan by Michele Wang for weeks since she has been working on other projects. She is almost to the bottom edge of her Ricky for All Seasons by Vera Sanon. She want the T-shirt to be a little longer than the pattern is written. She plans to put the bottom edge on waste yarn, finish the neck and sleeves and see how much yarn she has to make the Tee longer. Yarnia in Portland, Oregon was awesome and sent her 2 ounces more yarn to finished her Striped Study Shawl . Thank you so much Yarnia! Marsha is still working on her Spirit-Yarn-a-Long project, a shawl called Sunny Delight by Brian Smith. She has been spinning and carding the Merino fleece she bought last year at the Black Sheep Gathering. Marsha promised herself she cannot by more fleece at this year's gathering until she spins what she bought last year! Fiber in the Wild: Marsha visited just two yarn shops, Tolt and Quintessential Knits , during the LYS Tour of shops in the Seattle area. At Tolt she bought b aa ram ewe Dovestone DK from Yorkshire, in a light grey/blue call Brambly Bath . The yarn is 50% Blueface Leicester, 25% Wensleydale, and 25% Masham. Marsha had not heard of Masham so had to buy the yarn! We have a discussion thread in the Ravelry Group for the Spirit Yarn Along. Use your spirit yarn (whether de-stash or DEEP stash) to make something between now and June 30. Talk about it, show us pictures, and share the creativity. Winners will be selected randomly from the thread. Kelly attended the Spinning at the Winery on June 4 , held by the Treadles to Threads Guild at the Retzlaff winery in Livermore . What a fun event! In addition to spinning a braid from Woolgatherings, there was much spinning encouragement going on. Dagmar got going with her new wheel and Jennai actually won a wheel in the raffle! Woohoo! What a great day! Going to the Black Sheep Gathering ? If so, we have a meet-up planned for the afternoon/evening of Saturday, June 25. We hope you can join us. Listen to the show and check out the Ravelry Group for more details. There is a little Bee Talk at the end of the podcast. For photos check out our blog at twoewesfiber.com

May 25, 2016

� Kelly and Marsha have been busy with non-fiber responsibilities but still made progress on various projects and even started a few. Kelly finished a crochet gift for a first-time-father-to-be. Since it was a math department colleague, she made Pi Guy for the new baby. She is currently working on the scarf for her husband , the Edie tee and the crochet Latticework Cardigan that she cast on for the Spring Fever Knit/Crochet Along. Marsha continues to work on her Fairfield Cardigan by Michele Wang, but progress has slowed because she has started new projects. (What was she thinking!) She has finished the deceases for the armhole and will soon start the shoulder and neck shaping. She is making good progress on her Ricky for All Seasons by Vera Sanon and is about to start the shaping decreases for the body. In Episode 41 Marsha discussed her plans for a shawl using the Spirt Yarn from the NoCKR's detash room. She took home with her a skein each of Cascade Yarns Alpaca Lana D'Oro (multi), Knit Pics Capra (brown), and Ranch of the Oaks Alpaca (grey). She purchased a beautiful skein of The Fiber Company Acadia (cream) that coordinates beautifully with the Spirit Yarns. She cast on the shawl Sunny Delight MK2 by Brian Smith. Marsha also has a self-imposed deadline to spin all, or at least part of, the two fleeces she purchased last year at the Black Sheep Gathering before she attends this year's festival in June. Kelly discusses some Fiber in the Wild. We have a discussion thread in the Ravelry Group for the Spirit Yarn Along. Use your spirit yarn (whether de-stash or DEEP stash) to make something between now and June 30. Talk about it, show us pictures, and share the creativity. Winners will be selected randomly from the thread. Kelly is looking forward to Spinning at the Winery on June 4 , held by the Treadles to Threads Guild at the Retzlaff winery in Livermore . Going to the Black Sheep Gathering ? If so, we have a meet-up planned for the afternoon/evening of Saturday, June 25. We hope you can join us. Listen to the show and check out t he Ravelry Group for more details.

May 9, 2016

We did it! Kelly and Marsha completed the Big Sur 21-Miler walk on Sunday, April 24th and in this episode the talk about the experience. We also give updates on projects and announce the the winners of our Spring Fever Free-for-All. Kelly finished all her Star Wars Amigurumi! They were sent to her brother-in-law just in time for "May the Fourth be With You." He really loved them. Check out Kelly's project page to see all the fun she had posing them with each other for pictures. There are still more of them that she might make but for now the Star Wars toys are done! Kelly is currently working most on the shawl out of the NoCKRs 2016 yarn from Duren Dyeworks . She decided to reuse the New Beginnings pattern by Boo Knits . She has one shawl from this pattern that she loves and she decided she could make some adjustments so that it will work with the two colors and use up all the yarn. Kelly has swatched for the Edie t-shirt out of the Queensland Collection Savannah. This is the yarn that Marsha and Kelly both bought right before the retreat. It is a linen and silk blend. Marsha has made good progress on her Fairfield Cardigan by Michele Wang. She has finished the decreases for the armholes. She has cast on for a T-shirt called Ricky for All Seasons by Vera Sanon. She is using Queensland Collection Savanna a silk and linen blend. The sweater is designed for short, 3/4 length, or long sleeves, in either cotton or wool blends. Truly a pattern for all seasons. Marsha also talks about wanting to cast on a project using Spirit Yarn from the NoCKRs retreat destash room. She brought home some beautiful alpaca and cashmere and wants to cast on a social knitting shawl. Keeping in the spirit of Spirit Yarn, she is looking for a free pattern and will use the free needles she got from the destash room. She doesn't have enough yarn so plans to purchase a fourth color from her LYS where she has a gift certificate. Spirit Yarn Patterns: Outdoors - Maanel Livezey House Wrap - Jocelyn Tunney Pradera Wrap - Jocelyn Tunney Our Spring Fever Free-for-All is now done and we have drawn the names of the winners which are announced in the podcast. The discussion thread has been so popular we are keeping the thread open even though the contest is finished. Keep posting! We will have a new discussion thread in the Ravelry Group for the Spirit Yarn along. Use your spirit yarn (whether de-stash or DEEP stash) to make something between now and June 30. Talk about it , show us pictures, and share the creativity. Winners will be selected randomly from the thread. Going to the Black Sheep Gathering ? If so, we have a meet-up planned for the afternoon/evening of Saturday, June 25. We hope you can join us. Listen to the show and check our Ravelry Group for more details.

Apr 22, 2016

The Two Ewes record together this week since Marsha is visiting Kelly for the NoCKRs retreat (last weekend) and the Big Sur 21-miler (coming up this weekend). You'll hear about what inspired us at the retreat, the progress we've made on our current projects, and our plans to meet more listeners. We also talk about the idea of Spirit Yarn. The retreat was a great way for Kelly to get miles of spinning done! She worked on more of the yarn for her mother's Shibui Axis vest . Two large bobbins were filled and that should end up being 4-5 ounces of yarn once it is plied. Kelly also knitted on the Funky Grandpa cardigan that she is making out of handspun . Both of these projects turned out to be great social projects. Marsha worked on her Fairfield Cardigan by Michele Wang . She also started the Shetland Crescent shawl by Kieran Foley , but made better progress on the sweater. The projects at the retreat were so fabulous that Kelly was inspired to immediately queue the Mesa by Yumiko Alexander . It is a versatile garment that can be worn as a cape or as a shawl or as a poncho. She is also planning to make the Cancun by Erin Kate Archer . This boxy sweater is essentially a lace sampler. The version at the retreat was tunic length and very flattering! Marsha was inspired by the colors at the retreat. California knitters seem to use more colorful yarns than knitters in the Pacific Northwest. One item in particular caught her eye. It was a beautiful version of the Stephen West shawl Exploration Station. She was also inspired to one day take a trip with Kelly to Rhinebeck, aka New York State Sheep and Wool Festival . All that inspiration has led to some big plans! Kelly plans to make the Edie Tee since Marsha's finished project looked so fantastic on her. Kelly bought yarn that would be suitable while visiting the Continental Stitch in Morgan Hill just before the retreat to take advantage of the discount that they were offering NoCKRs participants. Marsha has plans to make Ricky for All Seasons by Vera Sanon Both of the Two Ewes purchased the custom dyed retreat yarn from Duren Dye Works . Kelly is thinking of making the two-color shawl Sjø by Katja Löffler . Marsha is considering the Daydreamer Shawl by Janina Kallio . Marsha and Kelly enjoyed the de-stash room at the retreat and came home with lots of Spirit Yarn. These are yarns that have been loved at one time, but now need good homes. They contain such spirit and potential that just looking at them provides so much inspiration for projects to come. Going to the Black Sheep Gathering ? If so, we have a meet-up planned for the afternoon/evening of Saturday, June 25. We hope you can join us. Listen to the show for more details.

Apr 10, 2016

Our adventures continue. Marsha has a revelation about lace and another about her mama bear ferocity. :-) Listen to us discuss current projects, bees, a puppy, and some "Fiber in the Wild"! Kelly continues the Star Wars crochet saga and has finished Luke, Han, Leia, and Jabba. Creating tea cosies would be a similar sculptural activity and Kelly recommends a look at the work of Loani Prior , an Australian knitter who is also on Instagram as @queenoftheteacosies. She has also finished the Wensleydale yarn she is making for her Aunt Betty to use for a Simply Garter Vest . The yarn is loosely spun and plied--a good way to make sure that the longer, courser wools don't end up feeling like wire. In fact, the yarn is shiny, silky, and very spongy in the skein. For the Spring Fever Free-for-All Kelly has "chained up" the Latticework Cardigan by Michele DuNaier . At this point she is almost ready to separate the sleeves. The crocheting is fun and fast. It would be even faster for an experienced crocheter. This is Kelly's first crochet garment, so learning the construction and fitting methods has been interesting. Marsha finished the knitting of her Edie Tee by Isabel Kraemer. Next is weaving in the ends and washing. The Two Ewes discuss the sweater's short rows and Kelly recommends the free Craftsy class by Carol Feller . Marsha hasn't had time to spin more of her Shetland fleece but she did spend some time carding. Marsha contacted Michele Wang , the designer of the Fairfield Cardigan , after she got stuck on the double yarn over. Michele was so kind to send photos of the how to work the stitch and now Marsha is back on track. Marsha discusses two books she is reading by Clara Parkes. The Yarn Whisperer: My Unexpected Life in Knitting and Knitlandia: A Knitter Sees the World . She also talks about two articles she recently read in the New York Times. "The Sock Queen of Alabama" is about an "artisan" sock manufacturer in Fort Payne, Alabama with two sock lines called Zkano and Little River Sock Mill . As more and more manufacturing is moved offshore, it is interesting to learn how one mill is thriving. The second article, "A New Breed of Opera Diva: Sheep" , is about the staging of Louis Andriessen's "De Materie", a Dutch avant-garde work that features a flock of 100 sheep! We cannot find a video of the sheep but here is an audio of the opera. Click here to go to the blog, or here to go to the Ravelry group for the much discussed picture of Gary wearing undergarments crocheted by a co-worker. Don't worry! The picture is work safe. :-) You may remember Gary from the Kilt Hose interview in Episode 5 . The Two Ewes Spring Fever Free-for-All is underway. You are encouraged to cast on a project for spring but casting on is not required to play. (But really, why would you pass up an opportunity to cast on?) The project can be anything that feels like spring to you. Maybe a Tee or lightweight sweater, spring colors or maybe you want to learn a new technique for a new season. It can be knitting, crocheting, spinning, weaving--or just talking about the above. Finishing is DEFINITELY NOT required! Isn't spring fever the urge to be irresponsible? ;-) We have a discussion thread called Spring Fever Free-for-All on Ravelry . The winners will be selected by random number generator, so the more you participate the more chances you have of winning. If you're on Instagram we're using the hashtag #twoewesspringfever. Contest ends at midnight on May 4th. Marsha plans to cast on a shawl for the Spring Fever Free-for-All with Friea in the colorway Melon. Here are some of the patterns she's considering. A couple of them she would need to combine with a complementary yarn. Shetland Crescent - Kieran Foley Hanami Stole - Melanie Gibbons Non Troppo - Asa Tricosa Merlin - Kieran Foley Havasu Falls - Alison LoCicero Windward - Heidi Kirrmaier

Mar 28, 2016

What's new with the Two Ewes? Well, not much knitting, but lots of other things have been going on. Both Kelly and Marsha are participating in the"Leave It" Division of the Caithness Craft Un-Knit-Along (UnKAL). There is also a chat thread for this UnKAL in the Twinset Designs Ravelry Group . Marsha has put her Striped Study Shawl in the closet and Kelly has sent her Playground Shaw l out to recess. :-) Meanwhile Kelly continues crocheting on the Starwars amigurumi. She has four done, Jabba on the hook and is planning at least ten more for the May the Fourth Be With You deadline! The designer's (Lucy Collin) Flickr page has even more ideas than the book that came with the kit! The Easter Bunny came out so cute and was so fun, Kelly decided to make a toy for both the "grands." The Purple Bunny was a free Drops Designs pattern with a few modifications that can be found in my project page. The purple mohair brushed up really nicely to make a slightly furry bunny. The companion toy was Marshall from Paw Patrol , a pattern by Melissa's Crochet Patterns . Bee-sides the toys, Kelly has created a nucleus hive. See this blog post for more information . She has seen the queen bee for the first time. Very exciting! Here is a photo of a queen bee from the Bee Informed website . Maybe someday Kelly will be able to take photos of her own bees. Marsha continues to work on her Edie Tee by Isabell Kraemer. She has about another 5" to knit and then will begin short rows to shape the bottom edge. Marsha has stalled out on her Fairfield Cardigan by Michele Wang because she doesn't understand a specific stitch. She plans to contact the designer for help because she wants to work on it while visiting Kelly in April. In January Marsha set the goal of spinning the Shetland and Merino fleeces she purchased last June at the Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, Oregon. She plans to attend again this year and promised herself she could not buy anymore fleeces until she spun what she already has! She's spun about half of the Shetland so far. Here is a link to information about cabled and crepe yarn . Kelly and Marsha discuss this variation of plying. Enzo is now a little over three months old and weighs 29 pounds. Kelly and Marsha had a good chuckle over some the the crazy looks for poodles that are on the internet. (Photos from Drue Johnson's Pinterest Board, Ridiculous Poodle Cuts .) Some of these looks seem borderline animal cruelty and Marsha promises she will never do this to sweet Enzo (unless he is a very naughty dog). ;-) We're having another contest with prizes! You are encouraged to cast on a project for spring but casting on is not required to play. (But really, why would you pass up an opportunity to cast on?) The project can be anything that feels like spring to you. Maybe a Tee or lightweight sweater, spring colors or maybe you want to learn a new technique for a new season. It can be knitting, crocheting, spinning, weaving--or just talking about the above. Finishing is DEFINITELY NOT required! Isn't spring fever the urge to be irresponsible? ;-) We have a discussion thread called Spring Fever Free-for-All on Ravelry . The winners will be selected by random number generator, so the more you participate the more chances you have of winning. Contest ends at midnight on May 4th. For photos, go to the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures blog .

Mar 12, 2016

Marsha and Kelly start off talking about Kelly's beautiful commute down the Salinas Valley (aka John Steinbeck's Long Valley). She hasn't stopped to take photos, but here is an example of what she sees two days a week. As she commutes, she has been listening to podcasts--many of them non-knitting related. One that she discovered and just had to try because it sounded so unusual is the Chameleon Breeder Podcast . The topic of raising chameleons led to the topic of raising bugs and this week's episode is about stick and leaf insects. Even more fascinating is the discovery that there is such a thing as the Ovogram insect egg swap service. Insect breeders use it the same way knitters use a mini-skein swap! The guest on this week's Chameleon episode owns the Full Throttle Feeders bug supply company. Kelly is now addicted to this informational podcast! On her commute today she also listened to True Crime Garage . Another fun (but totally irreverent) true crime podcast is White Wine, True Crime . Marsha fills us in on the The Seattle explosion that leveled businesses across the street from the Fiber Gallery. Marsha finished spinning our Two Ewes premium CVM and mohair that Kelly sent her to test. It's beautiful and the mohair reflects the light to give the yarn a luster. Marsha has about 200 yards. Marsha continues to work on her Edie T-shirt by Isabell Kraemer in Hempathy . She's making good progress in spite of the puppy responsibilities. ;-) Kelly has finished Darth Vader in her Star Wars Amigurumi project. She also finished the Bourbon Socks . Sweet Georgia yarn is scrumptious! She has finished about half of the yarn for her mom and has more ready to ply. Not much else has been touched in terms of projects. However, she is looking forward to participating in the Division One, Leave It Un-KAL that is being hosted on Ravelry by the Caithness Craft Podcast and the Twinset Designs Podcast . Marsha may have to join in, too! Marsha's puppy, Enzo, is doing well and getting BIG...over 24 pounds! Marsha talks about puppy class and Enzo's progress. If you want to see more pictures of Enzo check out his Instagram feed @enzo_fuesel or Marsha's @mfuesel . The Two Ewes are excited to offer batts, as well as the handspun mini-skeins made from them, as premiums for any listeners who would like to support the podcast! There is a limited amount of CVM and mohair still available for premiums of either batts or mini-skeins. There is also the gray fleece from Charlotte (that Kelly is using for the Funky Grandpa) that has also been blended with mohair. Any contribution of $15 or more will qualify for the premiums. Kelly will contact you to determine whether to send fiber (two approximately 1-ounce batts) or mini-skeins (two approximately 80-yard minis). If you are interested, please click the donate button at the show notes !

Mar 5, 2016

In this episode Kelly and Marsha give updates on projects and the goals we set for ourselves that was suppose to be two weeks but ended up being a month. Kelly has been walking but Marsha hasn't, but she has a great excuse! :-) It has been raining like crazy in Seattle and she is on puppy duty. Enzo is now almost twelve weeks old and can be crated for 2-3 hours, so Marsha has no more excuses! Kelly finished a Storm Trooper and is now waiting for more safety eyes in order to continue with other characters. First on the list is Darth Vader ! The pattern designer, Lucy Collin, has a great Flickr page with photos of all her Star Wars creations (including some that aren't in the pattern book). She also has a blog post where she talks about the pattern book project and another where she lists all the yarn colors she used. Kelly has been spinning like crazy on her mother's Pebble Substitute . The Bourbon Socks got some work over the Stitches West weekend and are close to finished. (Got finished between recording and publishing the podcast!) The stitch pattern is something I made up in order to show off the variegation. See my project notes to get the stitch pattern for your own variegated socks! Progress on the I Love My Husband (#ILMH) scarf is steady but slow. Marsha has not been knitting very much, but did start the Edie T-shirt by Isabell Kraemer. She is using Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy in a light blue called Ionic Blue. Marsha tells about finding at the Goodwill twenty balls (100 yards each) of 100% mercerized cotton fingering weight yarn. Marsha got to wondering what "mercerized" means and tells what she found out on Wikipedia. Here is the article. Kelly and Marsha discussed having a dye-a-thon with the cotton during Marsha's visit in April. At the end of the episode, Kelly podcasts from the trail during her 12-mile training walk the day before she went to Stitches West. She shares distance training strategy and some of the ways she tricks herself into putting in the mileage. Trails in her area are beautiful, the one below included a view of Moss Landing and the Monterey Bay (if you look closely in the photo, you can see the Moss Landing towers). Here is a link to some walking training schedules that she has used.

Feb 27, 2016

Kelly and Marsha talk about Kelly's recent weekend at Stitches West! One of the year's biggest West Coast yarn events was more than a shopping trip, it was a chance to meet listeners, podcasters, and other yarny friends. The conversation ranges from the items on the sales floor to tattoos, from purchases to civil war era yarn, and from starstruck silliness to the appeal of the collaborative business model. No show notes for this special episode. Links and photos will be included in show notes for our next regular episode, due out soon. http://twoewesfiber.com

Feb 15, 2016

Marsha and Kelly catch you up on all the things that have been going on with them over that last month. New projects, new goals, new items in the Ravelry queue, new excuses pets family members, and new realizations about time management! Press play and listen as we talk about our fiber adventures! Kelly has one newly finished project, Toddler hats that she made for Robert's co-worker's daughter. One is plain stockinette with some embroidered flowers and the other has a texture pattern. Neither was made using a pattern, but information about them is on Kelly's Ravelry page. She also has a newly started project. She made Yoda from the Star Wars Crochet kit. The designer is Lucy Collin and between her blog and the Flickr account she has with all the different Star Wars figures (some not in the kit) there are enough ideas for an entire galaxy of figures! Two other projects got significant activity over the last month. The Sheep to sweater project and the Big Sur Bourbon Socks Speaking of Big Sur, Kelly met her two-week goals with respect to walking. She repeated the same goal for the next two weeks and will check in again. The training for the Big Sur 21 Miler is going well. The other two-week goal, finishing three skeins of the yarn for her mom , was not so successful. She has finished one skein. The Two Ewes blog can now be found using the url http://twoewesfiber.com or http://twoewesfiberadventures.com Also, you can now find Two Ewes Fiber Adventures on facebook . The new episodes will be published there in addition to this blog, iTunes, and Stitcher. If you enjoy listening, please join us at our T wo Ewes Fiber Adventures Ravelry Group . Marsha and Kelly discuss spinning the batts of California variegated mutant (CVM) that Kelly has made and is sharing with listeners. The breed is often available at the Monterey County wool auction, but is classified as critical by the Livestock Conservancy. The wool and mohair blend is spinning up easily, but does have some vegetable matter. It makes a nice, lofty, woolen-spun yarn, but has some sheen due to the mohair. Marsha finished her Mystery Wool Cardigan made from coned wool she found at the Goodwill. The pattern is #241 Neck Down V-Neck Shaped Cardigan by Diane Soucy from Knitting Pure & Simple. She loves the fit! Marsha talks about the process of washing the finished cardigan. She continues to work on her Striped Study Shawl by Veera Valimaki. She is worried she won't have enough yarn to finish the pumpkin stripes. Marsha's BIG news is she got a standard poodle puppy named Sovereign's Formula One or "Enzo". He was born December 5, 2015 and joined our family January 29, 2016. Marsha is looking forward to long walks with Enzo. A new puppy is a huge undertaking so Marsha has not met her goal of walking three times a week. Kelly recommended the dog training book by the Monks of New Skete . A terrific book! The Two Ewes are excited to offer CVM and mohair blend batts, as well as the handspun mini-skeins made from them, as premiums for any listeners who would like to support the podcast! Visit our blog at http://twoewesfiber.com and click the donate button to contribute.

Jan 18, 2016

Knitting, some spinning, lots of yarn project planning, and some fiber processing are the highlights of this episode. Kelly and Marsha do some goal setting with two-week goals and discussion of long-term projects. Kelly happily finished two projects that have been on the needles 9 months or more. First, the Hoarfrost sock pattern by Louise Tillbrook was used to make the Frosty Mint Julep socks . Second, Kelly finished the Niebling Doily Herbert Niebling lace patterns have an Arts and Crafts era style that is very distinctive. The Doily Head blog has a great collection of Niebling eye candy for your enjoyment! Kelly started her doily on Christmas day 2014 and finished it just over a year later. It was a fun and challenging project and there will definitely be another Niebling on the needles at some point. Most of Marsha's projects have not seen much progress since she has been working almost exclusively on her Mystery Wool Cardigan (#241 Neck Down V Neck Shaped Cardigan) by Diane Soucy. The body is almost finished. She is also considering three T-shirt patterns for her next project. Edie by Isabell Kraemer, Brandilyn Top by Quenna Lee, and Ricky for All Seasons by Veera Sanon. Marsha made two goals between now and the next Two Ewes episode. She will walk three times a week and add her training schedule to her calendar. Big Sur 21-Miler , here we come! Her long term project goal is to complete the Garter Squish afghan by Stephen West. This means unraveling the sweater she made for her father years ago to use as the main color. She has been collecting various colors of worsted yarn, plus some blank yarn to dye, to use for the second color. Kelly has two new projects on the needles. She is making a stockinette scarf for her husband. It is being made with a LUSCIOUS merino and silk laceweight yarn from Bumblebirch . Good thing the yarn is nice, because the project is on size 3 needles! She also started a sweater using deep stash handspun ! The Funky Grandpa cardigan , by Maison Rililie Designs, will be a perfect pattern for this handspun yarn in both natural gray and overdyed colors. Kelly's two week goal is to walk the correct mileage during the next two weeks. No cheating on the training schedule. She will also finish spinning 3 skeins of the Corriedale yarn that she is making for her Mom as a substitute for Shibui Pebble. Long-term, Kelly will be working on putting together the quilt that she started in high school over 30 years ago! Join our Two Ewes Ravelry Group to become part of the wonderful and supportive Two Ewes community and participate in knit or crochet alongs. Contribute to the continued running of the podcast and get batts or mini skeins by clicking the donate button on the right side bar of the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures blog and making a contribution of $15 or more.

Jan 1, 2016

Marsha and Kelly celebrate New Year's Eve with some finished projects, some newly started projects and by announcing the winners of the Two Ewes Crochet Along! Due to the quick turnaround of this episode, there are few show notes. However, there are two important items: Information and and links for Syllabub can be found at Kelly's old blog . The Johnny Cash song that Marsha was thinking of can be found on YouTube here . And the song that Kelly was talking about was Hurt . Have a Happy 2016 everyone!

Dec 19, 2015

In this episode Kelly takes over the beginning of the podcast to throw Marsha a surprise virtual birthday party! After some fiber adventuring friends send along Birthday wishes, the episode resumes with our knitting, spinning and yarny adventures, including finished objects, current projects, and a fun trip to Portland for Marsha. Additional show notes and pictures will follow soon at our show notes blog

Dec 6, 2015

This week Kelly has two finished projects! She finished her Crochet-Along project, the Happy Hippopotamus by Heidi Bears. This was an excellent pattern and the finished hippo is soooooooo darling! Also finished (but not yet blocked or worn) is the Color Affection , a shawl designed by Veera Valimaki. Kelly had a skein of heavy fingering and 4 skeins of DK and used them all, creating a shawl that is ENORMOUS! It will be a challenge to figure out how to wear it or where to put it once out of the cold :-) The colors are great together and it used some 5+ year old stash, so it is a clear win! Kelly's current projects all require some knitting repair, so let's not talk about those. ;-) Marsha isn't finished with her Lanata Cardigan , but she is close. Once sleeve cuffs are on, it's done. She is very happy with the sweater's design (by Amy Christoffers) and with the fabric she got from the German yarn that she used. She also continues to work on her brother Mark's Crazy Scarf from the Stonehedge Crazy yarn. She is also close to finishing her Stripe Study Shawl , another one of the designs from Veera Valimaki. In the spinning arena, Kelly is carding a lot! She has challenged herself to make significant progress in processing fleeces that are 5 or more years old. Since this is the last month of the challenge, she has put on the speed! No finished weight estimates yet, but her fiber stash was over 50 lbs at the start of this quarter. Marsha has been on a learning curve for spinning Lincoln. As a long wool, it is different from what she has spun before. Also, she is hand processing it and spinning from the lock. She is thinking of using it for a blanket, but will wait until the yarn is finished to determine a use. Lincoln is an excellent fleece for rugs, bags and other high wear uses that don't require "next-to-skin softness," but do require a stable and "unbouncy" yarn. Here are examples of some (pre-Ravelry) projects that Kelly has made with Lincoln and Lincoln crosses over the years. Leftovers from these projects are destined to be used in a punch-needle rug hooking project one day soon. Marsha was a finisher in the frigid Seattle Marathon the weekend after Thanksgiving. Despite the cold and some challenges to her training in the month before the event she finished! Hurray!!! Kelly talks a little about the Locke family eggnog recipe and the revised version that can be made in a kitchen bowl rather than a bathtub!

Nov 22, 2015

Welcome new listeners from the Shorty's Sutures and Libsyn Feed podcasts! Welcome also to our listeners from outside the US (including Brazil, Mexico, Sweden, and Norway)! Marsha and Kelly announce the winners in the Front Range Bags giveaway. Thanks again to Nancy for offering one of her bags for a prize! If you aren't the winner, don't despair. She has generously offered a coupon code for 15% off to Two Ewes listeners! Listen to the podcast or visit our Ravelry Group for details. Then go shop for a Front Range Bag ! Marsha had quite a bit of knitting time while at the hospital with her son. Ben had a bad bicycle accident, but is now doing much better. While at the trauma center she made lots of progress on the Mark's Crazy Scarf out of Stonehedge Crazy (mill ends). She has also been working on the Stripe Study Shawl by Veera Valimaki. She is using the yarn she created at Yarnia in Portland . Despite all the knitting time, she has no finished projects this time. Kelly is still working on her Color Affection (also by Veera Valimaki). She has used most of two skeins of the peacock blue, most of the large skein of spring green, and has just started on the second skein of brown yarn. She made some modifications to the color pattern so that she could see more color interactions and use more yarn. All that is left is a large band of solid brown at the bottom of the shawl, but it has become so large that each row takes soooooo loooooong. During a Veteran's Day camping trip in The Clubhouse, Kelly also made progress on the Hippo (pattern by Heidi Bears). Alas, not enough progress to be able to claim a finished project! She also brought the drum carder so she could continue her fleece processing obsession. The most recent batts are natural colored California Variegated Mutant blended with hand-dyed mohair locks. Both are from very deep stash. The Indie Designer Gift-Along starts on Thursday, November 19. Over 5,000 independent designers have their patterns available for 25% off. Knitters and crocheters who have purchased these patterns can participate in a 6-week Gift-Along between November 19 and December 31. See the Indie Gift Along group on Ravelry to check out the pattern bundles and the GAL threads. A few crochet patterns that Kelly is considering are: Etheria cowl by Julia Trice True Love shawl and Latticework Cardigan by Michele DuNaier Geisha's Finest stole by Tanja Osswald Both our CAL and the GAL end on New Year's Eve so there is definitely some double dipping potential here!

Nov 9, 2015

The Two Ewes continue to shine a spotlight on Front Range Bags by Nancy Totten. Nancy has generously offered a project bag from her shop to a lucky Two Ewes listener. Kelly has one of her bags in SF Giants fabric and it's great! High quality, nice and roomy, and lots of handy features. It was the perfect bag for the Crackerjack Cowl project during baseball season. To enter, take a look in the Front Range Bags shop and report back to the contest thread in the Ravelry group . Tell us which bag you like best (exclusive of the custom orders) and let us know about your favorite features in the project bags you use. A winner will randomly selected during our podcast episode 30. Thank you Nancy! We appreciate the opportunity to spotlight your bags and your shop! This week Marsha and Kelly record separately due to busy schedules. Marsha has finished her Crochet-Along project, the Virus Shawl . Marsha also finished her son's Tricolor Socks made of her handspun from last winter. He turned 18 earlier this month so she finished the socks for his birthday. He bought himself a birthday present that is every mother's nightmare! A motorcycle, which he is using to transport his bicycle! Marsha is currently working on a scarf for her brother from the Stonehedge Fiber Mill Crazy that she bought in Portland. She is also using the yarn that she created at Yarnia in Portland. She is making the Stripe Study Shawl by Vera Valimaki. Kelly has no finished projects and very little knit or crochet progress. The one project that got some time was the crochet hippo that she is making for our Crochet-Along. She has been doing lots of fiber work, though. She is spinning Wensleydale for her Aunt's vest. She is finally able to spin on the Salish Spinner and has been using it to spin a bulky yarn from the CVM fleece. She is also carding a very old, gray fleece of medium weight from a sheep named Charlotte. All of this fiber activity is a result of cleaning up and organizing her large fleece stash. At the end of the episode we talk BOOKS! Marsha reviews three books that she has added to her fiber reference library. The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook and the Field Guide to Fleece , both by Carol Ekarius and Deborah Robson and Hand Dyeing Yarn and Fleece by Gail Callahan. Kelly reviews a book that was generously sent to her by Interweave/F+W. Simple Woven Garments: 20+ Projects to Weave & Wear (Interweave/F+W; $26.99; May 2015). "This book is a pattern and idea book for creating uncomplicated woven shapes and turning them into highly wearable, everyday fashions."

Oct 30, 2015

The Two Ewes want to shine a spotlight on Front Range Bags by Nancy Totten. Nancy has generously offered a project bag from her shop to a lucky Two Ewes listener. Kelly has one of her bags in SF Giants fabric and it's great! High quality, nice and roomy, and lots of handy features. It was the perfect bag for the Crackerjack Cowl project during baseball season. To enter, take a look in the Front Range Bags shop and report back to the contest thread in the Ravelry group. Tell us which bag you like best (exclusive of the custom orders) and let us know about your favorite features in the project bags you use. A winner will randomly selected during our podcast episode 30. Thank you Nancy! We appreciate the opportunity to spotlight your bags and your shop! Marsha finished her Antarktis Shawl by Janina Kallio. The color is brighter than any photo can show! Marsha continues to work on her Lanata Cardigan by Amy Christoffers and her Virus Shawl for the Two Ewes Crochet Along. Kelly is continuing her crochet along project which she is calling Hippopotamine . She is using the Happypotamus pattern by Heidi Bears . She is also obsessed with finishing A Bigger Affection using the Color Affection pattern by Veera Valimaki. A big oops! on the Crazy Vest needs to be repaired with surgery. It's the Mielie pattern by Hilary Smith Callis. Kelly's only finished project is a swatch of 2-ply, handspun Wensleydale for the Knit British Breed Swatch Along. Here is a link to the Knit British podcast episode and blog talking about the Swatch Along. Kelly's swatch is also a sample of yarn she is now making for her Aunt Betty for a vest from the Wensleydale. Marsha had a few "advent-ewes," one of which was Fiber Fusion, where she watched the fleece judging and succumbed to wool fumes and bought two more fleeces! One is a silver Gotland and the other is Romeldale in a variegated color. On the second day of Fiber Fusion, Marsha attended a class on how to select a fleece. The class was taught by Judith McKenzie (a national treasure if ever there was one!). Marsha also visited Yarnia in Portland. At Yarnia customers create yarn by combining strands from multiple cones into one one-of-a-kind yarn. Kelly had an "advent-ewe" of her own at the Pacific International Quilt Fest . This included a giant exhibit of mind-blowing textile art! A photo gallery will be posted in a separate blog post. Meanwhile, here is a link to this year's competition winners!

Oct 21, 2015

In this bonus episode Marsha and Kelly talk about fleece washing. Kelly runs through the steps she uses and does a little myth busting about the delicacy of wool fleece and fabric. Here are some links that you may find useful; Spinderella's Fiber Mill washing instructions U.S. GSA Technical Procedures for Historic Preservation: Types of Cleaning Detergents A method that doesn't use the washing machine

Oct 17, 2015

In this episode Kelly and Marsha have lots to talk about! So much, in fact, that part of it won't be heard here, but will be released as a bonus episode about fiber myth busting later this week. The Two Ewes Crochet-a-Long started October 1st and ends December 31st. To view the rules, check out our Ravelry Group thread . We are thrilled that our listener Wendy of Knitty Kitty Bags has donated a project bag as a prize. Check out her shop to see her beautiful stock. Contact us if you would also like to add to the prize list! Kelly talks about her crochet project , Happypotamus by Heidi Bears. Marsha reports on her beginning crochet class and her project, Virus Shawl . Both Kelly and Marsha finished their Crackerjack Cowls by Stacy Simpson Duke. Kelly has also started a Color Affection that she is calling A Bigger Affection since she is modifying it (of course!) to use DK yarn and be as big as possible to use up some very old stash. The peacock blue and the acid green have been waiting in stash to be used together for about 5 years! Marsha continues to work on her Lanata Cardigan by Amy Christoffers and her Antarktis Shawl by Janina Kallio. Marsha also tells about the fabulous yarn she found at the Goodwill. Kelly will be attending the Pacific International Quilt Show in San Jose on October 17th and 18th. Marsha will be attending the Fiber Fusion in Monroe, Washington on October 17th and 18th.

Sep 27, 2015

Kelly and Marsha are knitters and spinners who are celebrating the first anniversary of the podcast! To celebrate they first talk about all their knitting, spinning, and crochet projects and plans. Then they have a conversation about the podcast and the past year. Kelly finished her Cotton/Linen Featherweight making a few modifications to the beloved pattern by Hannah Fettig . This is her fourth completed sweater from coned yarns from the rescued weaving stash! Last year she made the Acorn Trail cardigan and the Gala Tunic from coned wool yarns. This year she made the Featherweight and Cherry Vanilla cardigans. Work continues on the Mielie Vest , a pattern by Hillary Smith Callis . This one will be finished soon and has some modifications that can be found on the project page. Marsha continues to work on the Lanata cardigan by Amy Christoffers . Since she returned home from California, she caught up on her Mariner Crackerjack Cowl , and has continued working on the bright green Antarktis . During the last year of podcasting, the Two Ewes have both seen their fiber art and their thinking grow and change. The podcast has also grown, and the Two Ewes talk about some of the interesting podcast and blog statistics over the last year. Listeners on iOS are warned that the upgrade to iOS 9 has caused the podcast app to fail on some devices. Users with an especially large library of podcast subscriptions are most susceptible to this problem. Finally, as a way to celebrate International Podcast Day on September 30, the Two Ewes urge all listeners to leave a rating or review for your favorite podcast. It helps the knitting podcasts rise above all those other hobby podcasts. To see photos and the full show notes visit our blog .

Sep 21, 2015

In Episode 25 we discuss the purpose of Marsha's visit to Kelly....The Monterey County Fair Wool Auction! This is a great destination for all knitters, spinners, and wool lovers! Kelly discusses attending the judging that occurred the week prior to the auction. She explains the history of the wool auction, the judging categories and the criteria that the judge used. She also talks about how the wool is classified -the Bradford (or spinning count) system, the American blood system, and micron measurement. Marsha and Kelly discuss what they were looking for in fleeces, how they decided what to bid on, and the stress and strategies of a live auction! If you are interested in an upcoming wool judging, Lambtown in Dixon, California will have their judging at 10:00 on Saturday, October 3, 2015. Mark Eidman is the judge there, too. Don't forget about the Crochet-Along that starts on October 1. Information is in the Ravelry group .

Sep 14, 2015

We don't always record together, but when we do, we prefer giggles. Please listen responsibly. Marsha visited Kelly over the Labor Day Weekend, and the Two Ewes have so much to discuss that this episode comes to you in two parts. This episode is ready for listening and Part 2 (Episode 25) will be uploaded in a few days. In Part 1 we announce our first ever Crochet-A-Long! The CAL starts October 1st and ends December 31st. Projects can be of any size or number. Kelly is planning to make Happypotamus the Happy Hippo by Heidi Bears that she has had in her queue for awhile now. Marsha is planning to make Virus Shawl by Julia Marquardt. Marsha has never crocheted before so is planning to take a class at her LYS to get started. During their visit Marsha completed her Pebble Beach Shawl by Helen Stewart using Stonehedge Fiber Mill Crazy . Thank you to our listener and Ravelry group member "kimbuktu7" for the recommendation. This is the first shawl Marsha has made that is crescent shaped and she loves the way the ends curl. A very wearable shawl, plus the colors look good with so many outfits. Kelly also has a project going with Stonehedge Crazy yarn. She is making a Wild and Crazy version of the Mielie vest by Hillary Smith Callis using two skeins of Crazy, along with a large skein of purple fingering weight that she has dyed. This is a great pattern and is knitting up so quickly that it is addicting! Marsha made good progress on her Lanata Cardigan by Amy Christoffers. This is a bottom up raglan sleeve cardigan. Marsha completed the body up to the armholes while visiting Kelly. It was now time to start the sleeves and in the podcast Marsha and Kelly discuss how she modified the sleeves. Kelly searched her button stash and found buttons for the cardigan. Marsha started a new shawl called Antarktis by Janina Kallio. She is using Dragonfly Fibers Pixie in the color Zombie Apocalypse. Marsha brought some of her washed Merino and Shetland fiber that she purchased at the Black Sheep Gathering. She had some trouble carding and spinning the fiber and in the podcast we discuss how Kelly troubleshooted (troubleshot?) the problem. Marsha discusses her experience using Kelly's drum carder and Kelly gives carding tips. (Perhaps a video would be a better medium for explaining the carding tips! There was lots of handwaving during the recording of this part!) The other project that Kelly worked on while Marsha was visiting was the Playground Shawl by Justyna Lorkowska , using Alexandra's Crafts Merino/Tencel and a lone ball of Frogtree coral-colored alpaca. Besides her two new projects, Kelly has plans for a large three-color shawl.

Aug 21, 2015

Lot's of knitting happening here! Kelly was away in the wilderness camping for two weeks and finished the Dorthelia tank by Corrina Ferguson (from her book Warm Days, Cool Knits). She also made great progress on the endless cotton/linen Featherweight Cardigan and the Niebling lace doily . Marsha finished her Wispy Willow Cardigan by Cheryl Beckerich made with HiKoo CoBaSi . This is Marsha's first project with this yarn and the ewes talk about the differences and challenges in knitting with non-animal yarns. Marsha continues work on her Lanata cardigan by Amy Christoffers and has completed about 10" of the body. Plus progress is being made each game day on Marsha's Crackerjack Cowl . Go Mariners! Marsha is planning her next projects. She has sweater quantities of two yarns and is looking for suggestion of cardigans to make. The first is Imperial Yarn Tracie Too in Autumn Rust. This is a sport weight yarn and Marsha has 1,580 yards. The other yarn is from Thirteen Mile Lamb and Wool Company . It is worsted weight in sage green and Marsha has 1,200. She has two skeins, or 460 yards of Stonehenge Fiber Mill in Crazy . This yarn is made with mill ends, so no two skeins are alike. Marsha would like to make a scarf/shawl and is thinking of making Boneyard Shawl by Stephen West, Be Simple Shawl by Carolyn Glauz-Todrank, or 504 King West by The Knit Cafe Toronto. Kelly and Marsha will be attending the Monterey Fleece Auction at the Monterey County Fair on September 7th. Give us a shout if you will be there! Kelly will also be at the fleece judging on August 22, 9-4.

Jul 28, 2015

Kelly is camping in her newly painted trailer known as "The Clubhouse." It is a 10.5 foot, 1967 trailer that has been decorated in a San Francisco Giants theme. They have camped in The Clubhouse for 3 summers, but this is the first trip after it got the new paint job, had some water damage repaired, and had the interior re-paneled. This episode includes an audio field trip to the Mt. Madonna Campground in the Santa Cruz Mountains between Watsonville and Gilroy. It is a beautiful "on location" recording studio! In the background you may hear Steller's Jays and Acorn Woodpeckers . The Acorn Woodpeckers make holes in trees and store their acorns in them like a winter pantry. They often take one tree and completely cover it with holes. On the visit here last November all the holes in the trees near the restroom were filled with acorns from the Tan Bark Oaks. On this trip all the holes were empty. While on the camping trip, Kelly is knitting on two projects: the Dorthelia tank by Corrina Ferguson from the book that the Two Ewes reviewed last episode and the Featherweight Cardigan pattern by Hannah Fettig. The tank top is knit from red Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy yarn and the Featherweight is being knit with three cones of thread (two linen, one cotton) in blue, cream and mint green. Progress on the tank is fast, progress on the cardigan is slow! The cardigan is a project from Kelly's rescued stash of coned weaving yarn. This project started with swatching during the Yarniacs Q1 Love the Yarn You Own challenge . ( Link to Yarniacs episode 92 .) It was supposed to be finished in Q2, but that didn't happen. A couple of other stash projects that were more portable got in the way. This cardigan will be finished in Q3. Also started during the Q1 challenge are a set of dishtowels with turquoise as the main warp color and a Herbert Niebling doily in the Frosted Ferns pattern . (The name in English is not very accurate since the pattern is actually oak leaves and acorns.) Both of these projects hit the rocks with mistakes, but have been righted and are now in full swing again for Q3. The challenge has been a great way to focus on using the stash of coned yarns that Kelly was itching to find a use for! In our last episode Marsha was blocking her Blue Juno Cardigan by yellowcosmo made with Blue Moon Fiber Arts Silky Victoria . The fit is perfect! Marsha highly recommends the pattern and the yarn. Marsha continues to work on the Wispy Willow Cardigan by Cheryl Beckenrich made with HiKoo CoBaSi . She cast on for a cardigan called Lanata by Amy Christoffers using StahlSche Wolle Limbo Superwash that was a destash yarn from a friend. The cardigan has raglan sleeves and is knit from the bottom up featuring lace panels that look like vines trailing up the front and back of the sweater. Marsha talks about washing some of the Shetland fleece she bought last month at the Black Sheep Gathering. Since recording the episode she bought hand carders and has carded and started spinning the Shetland. Marsha had an "advent-ewe" to Chicago the home of "Cloud Gate," or as the locals call it, "The Bean." She had time to visit a few yarn shops and did a little stash enhancing. She saw: A lovely shop named Loopy Yarns . She bought a skein of HPKY Regina Louise Lace in Shamrock. An unusual shop called We'll Keep You in Stitches A terrific shop named Windy Knitty Marsha bought a skein of Knitwhits Freia Fine Handpaints Ombre Lace and and Fleur de Fibers Acadian fingering in the color way "Puppet Bike" inspired by the Puppet Bike . A super cute shop called Sifu Design Studio . Marsha bought a skein of Dragonfly Fibers Pixie Fingering "Zombie Apocalypse". Her last stop was a crazy shop called Chicago Fabric Yarn and Button . The Chicago Yarn Crawl will take place from August 1-9. If you're in the area be sure to check it out! Marsha loves old houses and had time to visit three. She highly recommends visiting: The Driehaus Museum Henry B. Clarke House John J. Glessner House Museum

Jul 14, 2015

Marsha and Kelly both finished knitting their sweaters and both are big wins! (At recording time we both had a little left to go, but now that the episode is published we are finished). Marsha's Blue Juno sweater fits even better than she thought it would. Kelly's Purple Cherry Vanilla sweater is the perfect sweatshirt alternative and used yarn from her extensive stash of rescued weaving cones. Double win! Marsha is planning to finish her son's tricolor socks before the month of July is over. Inspired by others in the Warmth of Summer KAL, Marsha has started a Wispy Willow Cardigan using a spring green CoBaSi yarn from Hi-Koo. She has also been busy spinning some of the CVM fleece that Kelly gave her to try, and is making plans to wash and card the fleece that she got from The Black Sheep Gathering. Kelly has also been spinning a bit since returning from her trip and has some plans for Tour de Fleece. But mostly she has been finishing up current projects that she brought with her--a Rikke hat, for example. Kelly also explains why her decision to start beekeeping with foundationless frames has made the steep beekeeping learning curve even more steep. The Two Ewes review a wonderful first book by designer Corrina Ferguson. Review copies were kindly provided by the publisher, Interweave/F+W. Interweave also provided this information about the book: Knitting is not just for cold and snowy climates! For anyone who has ever stopped to wonder what knitters in the South are wearing—and knitting—for the changing seasons, Florida designer Corrina Ferguson has set out to show us in her new book, Warm Days, Cool Knits: Lighter Designs for Every Season (Interweave/F+W; $24.99; June 2015). “In the South we love to knit. And we want to knit pretty wearable things, not just accessories and household decorations,” explains Corrina. “That’s why I created this collection of patterns to showcase the knitted seasons of the South, with projects that are fitting for any climate.” Marsha and Kelly had almost an identical list of favorites from the book, including the tank shown on the book's cover. Kelly has started swatching already for one of the other tops in the book. Another big win! This book is full of great knitting patterns for warmer coastal climates like the Salinas and Seattle areas--not just the south. A copy of this wonderful book is awarded as one of the two prizes for the Warmth of Summer Knit Along that just ended. Check the episode to hear the winners.

Jun 25, 2015

In the episode Marsha contributes the B side, or flip side, to Kelly's A side of our podcast. So much has been going on that Marsha feels her brain is a shaken snow globe with all her information, stories, and ideas spinning around. Marsha gives an update on her current projects and reports on her two recent advent-ewes. The first was a weekend in Bellingham, WA where she visited local yarn shops. The second was her fabulous weekend at the annual Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, Oregon. HEAVEN for a new spinner (or any spinner, really)! There is knitting, spinning, fleece, yarn and all kinds of fibery goodness. it's enough to swirl your brain! As with the 20a series this episode is unedited, due to Kelly's Washington, DC travel constraints. We recommend listening to the 20a series first and then this episode 20b. Also, new listeners might want to start with one of our more typical episodes. Happy listening! Don't forget to visit our blog at http://twoewesdyeing.blogspot.com/

Jun 23, 2015

This is the third of three parts detailing Kelly's fiber adventures while she is in DC as an E. Kika de la Garza Fellow with the USDA. She talks about what she is knitting during her travels, and she reviews the the current exhibit at the Textile Museum associated with The George Washington University. She also talks about textiles at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. Due to length restrictions of Garageband for iPad, her portion of the episode is broken into three parts--20a1, 20a2, and 20a3. Marsha was also traveling for fiber adventures this week and the Two Ewes hope to be able to post "the B side" of episode 20 as well! This series is brought to you raw and uneditied because we couldn't wait until we got home to share our adventures with you! So if you are a new listener, first of all, welcome! But also you may want to start with a more typical episode. Also, be sure to listen to these segments in order, starting with 20a1. Don't forget to visit our blog at http://twoewesdyeing.blogspot.com

Jun 23, 2015

This is the second of three parts detailing Kelly's fiber adventures while she is in DC as an E. Kika de la Garza Fellow with the USDA. She talks about what she is knitting during her travels, and she reviews the the current exhibit at the Textile Museum associated with The George Washington University. She also talks about textiles at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. Due to length restrictions of Garageband for iPad, her portion of the episode is broken into three parts--20a1, 20a2, and 20a3. Marsha was also traveling for fiber adventures this week and the Two Ewes hope to be able to post "the B side" of episode 20 as well! This series is brought to you raw and uneditied because we couldn't wait until we got home to share our adventures with you! So if you are a new listener, first of all, welcome! But also you may want to start with a more typical episode. Also, be sure to listen to these segments in order, starting with 20a1. Don't forget to visit our blog at http://twoewesdyeing.blogspot.com

Jun 23, 2015

This is the first of three parts detailing Kelly's fiber adventures while she is in DC as an E. Kika de la Garza Fellow with the USDA. She talks about what she is knitting during her travels, and she reviews the the current exhibit at the Textile Museum associated with The George Washington University. She also talks about textiles at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. Due to length restrictions of Garageband for iPad, her portion of the episode is broken into three parts--20a1, 20a2, and 20a3. Marsha was also traveling for fiber adventures this week and the Two Ewes hope to be able to post "the B side" of episode 20 as well! This series is brought to you raw and uneditied because we couldn't wait until we got home to share our adventures with you! So if you are a new listener, first of all, welcome! But also you may want to start with a more typical episode. Also, be sure to listen to these segments in order, starting with 20a1. Don't forget to visit our blog at http://twoewesdyeing.blogspot.com

Jun 8, 2015

In this episode Kelly and Marsha give updates on finished knitting projects, ongoing knitting projects, and other fiber projects that are in the the planning stages. They also talk about Marsha's spinning class, crochet, Kelly's new beekeeping adventure, and her upcoming fellowship in Washington DC. Kelly has one sleeve done and the other moving along on the purple sweater she is making . The project uses the Cherry Vanilla pattern by Thea Colman. She battled the sleeve slog by starting a new project ! The Ava Tunic by Jade Fletcher is a chevron striped dress or top for a little girl, size 18 mos. to toddler. She is knitting it in Spud and Chloe Sweater in teal and yellow. Marsha finished her Neskowin Shell by Kay Hopkins that she made as part of our Warmth of Summer KAL. She finished the body of her Juno Cardigan by yellowcosmo and started the first sleeve. Marsha is concerned the sweater may not have as much positive ease as she had hoped, but she was limited by the amount of yarn she had. Blocking will probably relax fabric the the sweater may be perfect. The continuing mystery of fit! Marsha is thinking of next knitting the Wispy Willow Cardigan by Cheryl Beckerich using the coned blue yarn she picked up at the NoCKRs Retreat. "middleagepearl" made this darling cardigan for our Warmth of Summer KAL. Or she is thinking of making Lanata , a pretty lace cardigan by Amy Christoffers using Limbo that a friend gave her. Marsha reports on the first half of an introductory spinning classes she is taking. And then we talk about bees! It is swarm season and Kelly talks about the public perception of a swarm vs. the reality of a swarm. Here are a couples websites that provides more information about swarms. Habitat for Honeybees and the Seattle Urban Bee Project . If you want to get even more scientific, check out Honeybee Democracy by Thomas Seeley of the Cornell department of neurobiology and behavior or read this shorter article on the topic (the article has a great picture of a swarm). Fascinating! If everyone had this information, no bee swarms would ever face extermination! The documentary about bees that Marsha mentions is More Than Honey (2012) by Markus Imhoof. Here are some others that Marsha has not watched but sound interesting. Queen of the Sun: What are the bees telling us? (2010) by Tagger Siegel Vanishing of the Bees (2009) by George Langworthy and Maryam Henein Who Killed the Honey Bees? (2009) by James Erskine The Last Beekeeper (2008) by Jeremy Simmons If you are interested in bees and pollinators other than honeybees and some information on "bee-positive" plants and gardening, check out the UC Berkeley Urban Bee Lab . And finally, if you're wondering why Marsha was at Steven's Pass for six hours, click here to see why. For obvious reasons she will only watch his videos when he is home safe. Don't watch if you don't want to hear a teenage boy swear. ;-)

May 24, 2015

Marsha participated in the large Pacific Northwest LYS Tour 2015 . The tour was five days and 26 yarn shops from Bellingham to Kent. Marsha had limited time so picked four shops she had never visited. Her first day she visited Tolt Yarn and Wool in Carnation. This shop specializes in local yarns. Marsha bought Tracie Too in Autumn Rust from Imperial Yarn and a worsted yarn in sage green from Thirteen Mile Lamb and Wool Co. She also went to Quintessential Knits in Duvall. The second day she went to The Knittery in Renton and Maker's Mercantile in Kent. Kelly is continuing her work on her Grape Vanilla sweater (using the Cherry Vanilla pattern by Thea Coleman . There are also a couple of pairs of socks that get an occasional row. Speaking of occasional rows, her SF Giants cowl, I Don't Care if I Never Get Back , is looking great! Two rows get added after each game so this is a fun way to commemorate the season. This project uses the Crackerjack cowl recipe by Stacey Simpson Duke. Kelly's bees have been in the hive for about a month. What an obsession they have become! We had a winner in our giveaway of the book Wanderlust: 46 Modern Knits for Bohemian Style , by Tanis Gray, published by Interweave/F+W. Listen to find out who the winner was! Thanks to all who entered the contest in our Ravelry Group! Some other links that came up in our conversation: KnitSpinFarm Podcast by Joanna Spring who has Clun Forest sheep. These are one of the breeds of sheep that Marsha spoke about. Nuno Felt is the name of the felting that is done with fabric. Here is a tutorial website with lots of photos of projects. For photos visit our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures blog!

May 11, 2015

Subscribe on iTunes here , on Stitcher Radio here . In this episode we give an update on the projects we are working on, or in Kelly's case, projects she is not working on. Keep reading to learn why. We also review the new pattern book Wanderlust: 46 Modern Knits for Bohemian Style by Tanis Gray, published in March 2015 by Interweave Press . The book retails for $18.99 US and $20.99 Canadian. Kelly's Aunt Betty (efisher930 on Ravelry) joins us for the review discussion. Check out the Ravelry group for information about a giveaway! The Two Ewes will be giving away an e-copy of the book thanks to Interweave Press. Kelly has been very busy at work and caring for her new chicks who are now teenagers and have been moved to the garden and into their new home "The Egg Plant." She has also been busy with her latest project--bees! She is "1hundredprojects" after all. :-) Kelly's ongoing projects have been languishing due to grading exams, moving the chicks, and starting the bees. However, there was the urge to start a project that couldn't be denied! First a super-quick cowl with size 50 needles! No pattern, just moss stitch until the yarn ran out. Then one of the patterns from the Wanderlust book, the Brubaker Cowl by Mindy Wilkes. Marsha continues to work on her Neskowin Shell by Kay Hopkins that she is making as part of our Warmth of Summer KAL. She has completed the first half of the shell and has used 3 1/4 balls of her yarn, Debbie Bliss Juliet. She is keeping track because she has replaced the drop stitch pattern with stockinette She thinks she will need one more ball. Marsha finished the yoke of her cardigan Juno by Connie Peng. She is using Blue Moon Fiber Arts Silky Victoria. She joined Kelly in making a Crackerjack Cowl by Stacy Simpson Duke for her team, the Seattle Mariners. This has been a fun project and is making Marsha into a baseball fan despite the fact that previously she has been a mediocre fan at best. :-) Marsha may need to get a Mariner's project bag from Front Range Bags Etsy shop where Kelly got her fabulous, new SF Giants project bag! Marsha also talks about the swatching she has done with with yarn from the Northern California Knitters Retreat "Destash" room. The first is with Pernelle Insouciance in a soft blue. Marsha estimates she has 936 yards. In previous podcast episodes Kelly has talked about knitting two to three different yarns together and she is currently making a Featherweight Cardigan using three yarns. Kelly inspired Marsha so when she saw a cone mystery blue yarn with about 1,400 yards at the retreat she knew it was for her! She swatched with three yarns from Kelly's stash. In the picture, the top is with white cotton, the middle with a beige wool, and the blue with a light blue linen. Kelly also has discussed that plant fibers benefit from being handled roughly and even put int the dryer. Marsha gave the swatches a good thrashing and they are beautifully soft! There is still lots of time to join our Warmth of Summer KAL. Details are on our Ravelry group's discussion boards . We also talked about Shoes of Prey where you can design your own shoes.

Apr 25, 2015

In this episode Marsha and Kelly talk about the the Northern California Knitters Retreat ( #NoCKRs on Instagram for more photos). The FABULOUS and FUN retreat was held at the St. Francis Retreat Center . We had such a great time! Thanks to the organizers and to Duren Dyeworks and Kicks and Giggles for donating the door prizes that we won. Thanks also to Dizzy Blonde Studios , Miss Babs , Alana Dakos of Never Not Knitting , Buffy Ann Designs , and Gnome Acres for all the goodies in our NoCKRs bags. We had fun knitting and meeting new friends. We also found treasures in the destash room and made some stitch markers. The charity for the retreat was Knitted Knockers . Participants donated over 90 of them for women who have had mastectomies. There was a show and tell of knitwear that led us to yet another discussion of fit! We know we said we wouldn't discuss it again for awhile, but we learned some interesting things by looking at all those sweaters. After the retreat we enjoyed fabulous burgers at JJ's in San Juan Bautista . After our conversation about the retreat, I podcast with some feathered co-hosts about some of my upcoming adventures. Subscribe in iTunes. Find us on Stitcher.

Apr 11, 2015

In this episode Marsha and Kelly have a phone conversation about Marsha's finished knitting projects, both of their current knitting projects, Marsha's new interest in baseball, and the ever-perplexing topic of the fit of a knit garment. The Custom Fit patterns are a huge breakthrough and are teaching knitters a lot, but there are other components of how a sweater fits. For example, the texture of the yarn and what the wearer is comfortable with.

Mar 29, 2015

Join Marsha and Kelly as the Two Ewes Ravelry group has its first Knit Along! We will be knitting summery items between April 1 and July 1, 2015. More details can be found in the Ravelry Group, http://www.ravelry.com/groups/two-ewes-fiber-adventures Meanwhile, the two talk together about their recently finished and recently started projects and Kelly provides information about wet finishing for weaving that just might help when you knit with linen or cotton. It also might be helpful for knitters who have just started weaving with a rigid heddle loom.

Mar 14, 2015

Kelly and Marsha met up in Portland, Oregon for the Rose City Yarn Crawl from March 5-8. Can you believe there are fifteen yarn shops in the Portland area? We didn't have time to visit each shop but sure gave it a try. In this episode we discuss our experience of the yarn crawl, talk about Marsha's woolen spinning in the hotel room, and share information about three indie dyers we met during the crawl. We hold off discussing project updates until the next episode. It was so much fun to put this podcast together while we were actually in the same room!

Mar 2, 2015

Marsha and Kelly provide an update on their fiber projects--finished, current, and planned. In addition to knitting, dyeing, and spinning, Marsha has an upcoming sewing adventure. Kelly went to Stitches West and tells all about that adventure. Stitches is the beginning of the Two Ewes' Yarn Season, with the Rose City Yarn Crawl next weekend and the Northern California Knitters Retreat in April. Want to see show notes or find out about our Ravelry Group? http://twoewesdyeing.blogspot.com/

Feb 8, 2015

Listeners have asked us about our distance walking so in this podcast we talk about our walking adventures and, not to worry, we also talk about fiber, including knitting, spinning and some weaving.We are excited that we found a way to record our phone conversation! It's almost like we are in the same room and not separated by a state! Together we discuss how we each came to the sport of distance walking, how we train, and some of the challenges and pleasures we each find in training.

Jan 25, 2015

Marsha and Kelly talk about their Cast On Five challenge and all the knitting and weaving that has and hasn't happened yet! Kelly talks about knitting lace and the progress of her Niebling piece. Marsha talks about her spinning and the handspun and hand-dyed yarn that she has been knitting with. The Two Ewes announce contest winners, and Marsha talks about her adventures outside of the fiber world.

Jan 11, 2015

In this episode Marsha and Kelly start the New Year off right by each starting FIVE NEW PROJECTS! Stepping out of the comfort zone is a good thing for the New Year, right? There is also a bit of spinning and a short segment about weaving. There is a new contest and giveaway going on in the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures Ravelry group. Win a prize!

Dec 28, 2014

In this episode, recorded partly before Christmas and partly after, Kelly and Marsha don't have a theme, but instead just talk about finished sweaters and the projects they are currently working on. It is a good way to wrap up the year!

Dec 7, 2014

Kelly and Marsha both talk about knitted items and gifts that have special memories for them. Marsha talks about her finished custom-fit cardigan, The St. John Cardigan and the skeins of handspun and hand-dyed yarn that she has made since getting her new spinning wheel. The Two Ewes also announce a contest for listeners to post photos of knit or crocheted items with the theme #knittedmemories.

Nov 24, 2014

Marsha and Kelly talk about their current knitting projects, Marsha talks about an EXCITING new addition to her fiber life, and they both share food ideas and thanks in preparation for the upcoming holidays.

Nov 12, 2014

Marsha and Kelly talk about socks and sock knitting. Their approaches to sock knitting reveal a surprising amount about each of their personalities. Then Marsha interviews her friend Gary and her brother Mark about kilt hose.

Oct 25, 2014

In addition to talking about current and recently finished projects, Marsha and Kelly talk about how they started knitting, spinning, weaving, and loving the fiber arts.

Oct 11, 2014

Kelly and Marsha talk at length about their experience knitting the Acorn Trail sweater as a Custom Fit pattern. They gush about how great the Custom Fit process is and they rave about their sweaters and the experience! Marsha also shares a couple of tasty recipes she has recently made. Join us!

Oct 3, 2014

Marsha and Kelly talk about the SLO Yarn Crawl and their trip to San Luis Obispo.It was a great fiber adventure! Kelly talks about what knitting patterns she has on her queue, some of them that are coming soon and some that are "fantasy" knits. No spinning on this episode.

Sep 27, 2014

Who are we and why are we podcasting? We are Kelly and Marsha. We came at yarn and fiber from different directions, but we both love it. Marsha is an accomplished knitter, learning to dye yarn. Kelly is a spinner who knits and weaves. Fiber is one of the many interests we share after over 30 years of friendship. On this episode, hear about us, our recently completed projects, including Marsha's account of a recent dyeing project, and our plans for the podcast.