Karen: On (and Off) the needles, August 2017

Taking after Dana in this, I wanted to share what I've been working on, and what's been finished!

Off the Needles: Simple Hand-dyed Socks

I started these so long ago, like, before I both started and finished a sweater and a move halfway across the country, long ago. The yarn was KnitPicks superwash, dyed at a dying party with Betsy and Dana (and Nilay and Ella).

I am in love with how the yarn turned out in these, so I decided to stick with a simple stockinette stitch for the body, with a seed stitch stripe accent across the front and back of the socks. Used the heel flap method, should try short rows as per Betsy's suggestion sometime in the near future.

On the Needles: Sweater Sampler

The sweater sampler from The Sweater Workshop by Jacqueline Fee has been on my needles for a little while, since before the move a month ago. I am a huge fan of this book and project, as it teaches so many techniques and options for use in the making of a sweater. From looking at how different ribbings look, to increasing and decreasing in pairs, to colorworking and stripes, this ugly fish-shaped project going to be a reference for sweater options for years to come. I highly recommend the book and the sweater sampler project.

This is super close to the end of it, and I'm eager to start a sweater for my husband at some point in the near future!

On the Needles: Alpaca Infinity Scarf

It's no secret that I love super soft yarn, particularly alpaca. I found this 100% baby alpaca yarn on sale at a local yarn and crafts shop called Fancy Tiger Crafts, and I couldn't do without it. I'm making a thick, textured (a simple knit-slip or slip-knit alternating with knit rows) infinity scarf a la Jessica Jones style. This stuff (I think it's Blue Sky alpaca) is gloriously soft, sport weight, and I'm excited for the resulting winter and fall fluffiness!

Wool Washing (a.k.a. removing the poop)

The Crooked Creek Farm adventure was a couple of weeks ago, at which I got just over 2 pounds of gorgeous, grey, white, and black wool. My fiance is not too fond of the smell of sheep poo (I'll admit it's not my favorite either), so I had to get through the washing "quickly" (if within about 2 weeks counts as quickly, hah).

Dana and I did a test run just a couple of days after the adventure, to get started and figure out the kinks together. Overall, it went really well, and I'm excited to work with the result! We forgot to take pictures then, so I figured I'd show what I've been up to now.

The first step from raw wool to clean, gorgeous garment is to pick any gunk out of the wool (poop, second cuttings, leafy vegetal matter, etc.). Sitting in a tub listening to podcasts, or on Dana's front porch with beer and friends, and it can go by quickly! Also, much of the vegetal matter is removed in the carding and washing process, and the poop dissolves in the wash, so I wasn't too picky about picking out the gunk, just got the largest bits.

Next is the washing. For this, Walmart buckets and dollar store laundry bags are super helpful. I started filling the buckets with the hottest water my bath could run, and adding in a few generous squirts of dish soap for the first couple of washes. The water is added to the bucket each time before the wool is introduced, since agitating the wool increases the risk of felting it. Each rinse was left sitting for 20 minutes, and the rinses weren't done until the rinse water ran clear.

The laundry bags were removed from the rinse water, squeezed to remove water, rolled up in a towel to further dry, and lastly the wool was laid out to dry in a sunny window. Once dry, it's ready for carding, spinning, and knitting!

Crooked Creek Farm and our first fleece...

This is the last week of Betsy being in Ithaca, and since early on in our fiber friendship we have been talking about processing our own fleece, with intentions of doing so together. Watching the days on the calendar approach Betsy's departure, we recognized it was now or never (at least while together). So, last night, Betsy, Karen, myself and our friends Ela and Nilay drove over to Crooked Creek Farm in Brooktondale, NY to get us some fleece and hang with some sheep.

Needless to say, it was a picture perfect evening, couldn't ask for a bluer sky or greener grass (it has been raining all week). The owner, Amy (who works full-time at Cornell veterinary school), together with her husband, have five horses, a mule, a bunch of chickens and ~70 sheep, five of which are rams (cormo, rambouillet, and finn blends). We found out about the farm via the website agrilicious, which gave us a listing of local farms that deal in wool, and we truly believe we couldn't have lucked out any better.

Amy's friend Cassie, from over the hill, also came over to talk wool and spinning with us. Cassie has been spinning wool since she was 12, where as Amy learnt out of necessity 2 years ago (the sheep came first and she had a lot of wool on her hands, classic chicken and egg). It is obvious Amy loves not only her sheep, but also spinning. She brought us inside her home and showed us the huge pile of yarn she had spun from her own wool, and was able to name each sheep and ram that specific yarn originated from. In fact as we are picking out our fleeces to purchase, she would say "Oh, that's Axil, he is so soft and such nice crimp..."

When it was time to pick out our fleece it was overwhelming. Dark, white, grey, more crimp, less crimp, fine, medium. We felt like kids in a candy store, and were overwhelmingly giddy with joy. Running our fingers through the staples, comparing crimp, smelling the lanolin and whatever (wink) else there is trapped in that beautiful wool! I can't wait to spin the 8lbs. I got and go back for more.


Amy has big dreams for when she finally retires (just a few years away), and can spend her time focusing on her herd and her aspirations of building a fiber community collective. A place where fiber lovers can come and use equipment they might not be able to afford on their own to process fleece and produce yarn and other fiber products. If you are in Ithaca or the Finger Lakes and are a fiber/wool/sheep lover Crooked Creek Farm is a must visit!

(Karen gazing over the field at dusk)

(Walking to the back pasture)