I thought I'd share a quick on (and off) my needles post with a few additional updates of what is going on here in Ithaca.
On my needles:
Contour Lines by Laura Aylor in Malabrigo Rios ,Cumparsita colorway
This yarn was gifted to me by my good friend Anna, from Buffalo. While her and her husband were in Maine this past summer she was kind enough to think of me when passing a yarn shop!!! I, of course, thought what better way to say thank you than to knit a little gift for her from what she had given me!
I've made a few changes to the pattern, since I am a big fan (now) of button bands. So instead of using the long-tail cast-on I did a provisional cast on so that I can easily add a knitted on band later. I also decreased the stitch count since I don't have the required 300yds, and my gauge was a bit bigger than the given.
Vivid Mitts by Jungmi Ryu, in my homespun 'Spring Highway' colorway
I'm taking a little break from knitting socks (my walking knitting) to knit these mitts using my hand-dyed, carded, spun yarn. I'm really curious to see how these knit up. I noticed when doing the gauge swatch that the yarn, when knit up, has a slight blue hue to it (which I love)! This is due to the blue I carded into the grey, I was afraid it had disappeared but it is nice to see that it is there and plays such a role! Here's hoping it continues through-out the project.
I made a change to the pattern by using a tubular cast on opposed to the long tail cast on. I'm not sure if I like it, but I'll go a bit further before I decide...
The saga of this stole continues... I finally got around to picking up the stitches around the edge and was so excited to see the stole reach completion and then.... I ran out of yarn!!!! ugh. I really want to see this stole finished, not because I'm tired of it but because it is going to be so beautiful and I think it might become part of a Christmas gift. The only catch is finding a good match of the Juniper Moon Findley #28...
Off my needles:
Another pair of socks using Adirondack Yarn Company sock yarn
As you know, or not, I knit while walking and my walking knitting is usually socks (though currently it is a pair of mitts). I love that I do this because about once a month I have a new pair of socks which I end up wearing every day for the week after their finished! These were fun ones since I used a cheating method to do simple cables. It took a minute to get use to but made cabling so much more enjoyable! I've also learnt, in my many socks now that my standard is: toe-up, short row toe, heel flap and gusset, and interlock bind-off! (Note: to take this picture I had to take them off for a few minutes...)
Talmadge Cloche by Romi Hill, in Madeline Toshsock
I love this cloche!!!! I had hoped to have a picture of it on, maybe I'll add one later. It is a fantastic knit with a great finished product! I highly recommend this pattern to everyone!!!
In other news:
This past month I have been hard at work for LocalFiber, a organization I have founded in hopes to find solutions to the fragmented sheep-to-shawl infrastructure specifically in the NE with small flock farms. In doing this I have been meeting and working with a number of local farmers in and around Ithaca! In fact a few weeks ago I had the opportunity to help Karen Stern from Windsong Farm on Shearing Day.
Karen raises Wensleydale and Cotswald sheep, as well as beef and poultry on her 175 acre farm in Burdett, NY. Needless to say it is a picturesque place, but a lot of work. The farm is Karen's full time job, having left her previous career as a small animal veterinarian to attend to the farm full time. I had heard she was going to be shearing that weekend and asked if she could use a hand...
I got there at 1:30pm and left at 7pm. All in all ~50 ewes and rams were sheared. Also on hand was Jackie Harp, a professional wool grader/classer/sorter (these are her photos) and the shearer was Aaron Lux from Aaron's Sheep Shearing out of Western Massachusetts. He travels all over the NE shearing. He is amazing! No second cuts and beautiful care in his work!
Together with the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County, and a number of farmer collaborators, I recently submitted a SARE grant proposal to research and address solutions to the fragmented fiber processing infrastructure her in the Finger Lakes... Fingers are crossed (but we don't find out until March 2018). It is amazing the things I've learnt about the difficulties of raising small flock breed specific sheep (and other fiber producing animals). The people that bring us these beautiful yarns and fiber really do go through quite a bit to get them to us! I hope we can find some solutions and make the process a bit more sustainable along the way.
With that LocalFiber has been given the opportunity to host a pop-up shop at SewGreen Ithaca for the month of December! So exciting (and a lot of work). We have 6 farms committed at the moment. They include: Windsong, Laughing Goat Fiber Farm, Ironwood Hill Farm, Trinity Farm, Shepherd's Creek Alpaca & West Creek Family Farm. I'll give updates as time goes on. If you are interested in find out more send an email to localfiber.ny@gmail.com and ask to get on our listserve!
