Loops or Rings

I hang 2 or 3 potholders by my stove because I have limited drawer space in my kitchen.  My mother places all but one of hers in a drawer by her stove.  My brother hates the loops.  He thinks the plastic ones melt and the other loops get in his way.  What is your preference? 

I like to place loops in the corners of the hot pads/potholders I make. If I knit or crochet them, I usually make a loop with yarn.  If I use fabric to make them, I sew a small plastic hoop on a corner of the fabric.  I have used a leather strip for hanging in the past along with crocheting around the plastic rings.  I find that the rings are what wear will out the fastest on potholders. I found plastic loose-leaf paper rings.  The box I ordered has 5 colors of rings which can be easily installed and removed from a potholder if desired. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08DQTZLKS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

What do you think?  

My grandmother and us 4 kids in the early 60's.

They provided this mobile home for my dad as part of his salary.  I am on the left looking goofy.

My younger brother in the 80's?.  The sweater I knitted for him.

Thanks for viewing!

Dawnie

More varied color and breed, hand spun, energized, single wool yarn

I made a yarn bowl with more varied colors and breeds of energized singles.  I felted the yarn some to make the crocheting stiffer.  I decided to keep a plastic bowl in the yarn bowl for extra support and  if I put something like a pen in it, any leakage of ink would be into the plastic bowl and not ruin the yarn bowl. 

Thanks for viewing!  Dawnie

Using Nylon Buttonhole Thread in Spinning

I have been spinning some lace weight fiber.  I get bored easily and need to try something different.  That is why I vary the size of the wool, the breed of wool, and the color of wool I spin.  I also like to add to the wool some sparkle, silk, recycled sari silk, banana fiber, corn fiber, recycled denim, pineapple fiber, etc.  In the picture above on the bottom right side, the trivet is made from lace weight BFL fiber in mostly fall colors.  The skein of yarn on the top right is the same yarn as the trivet.  On the left side it is the same yarn, but it is auto wrapped with vintage nylon buttonhole thread as I was spinning the yarn.  The thread is allowed to do pretty much as it pleases and mostly dangles by the orifice.  There may be a lot of thread in one area and less in other areas.  It gives the yarn an interesting look. I loved the look of the yarn with the vintage cameo buttons.  I tried to give you a visual of them with the yarn.  The nylon thread will catch the light on occasion.  A brighter colored thread or a thicker thread would give the yarn more interest and zest.  I hope you have a great weekend!  Dawnie

Every Which Way but Loose.

Anyone that has been spinning for some time has accumulated a stash of wool.   On the project I made, it doesn't matter if the wool is processed by a mill or at home.   I made a very interesting yarn and used up some of my wool and made a table runner and mat.  Directions for how I did it are as fallows.

Begin by pulling out 10 or more different fibers to spin.  (more are better)  Just grab a handful of each.  Vary the type of fibers and the colors.  If you have mohair, silk, Angelina (sparkle), curly locks, soft wool, rug wool, or ugly wool, it is fine to use for this yarn.  I start spinning with one of the yarns and I spin from lace-weight to bulky varying the spinning style.  This is a project were you can try different spinning techniques.  Some of the fibers I pull the locks apart with my hands, some I have to card or flick card.  I like to obtain  as many curls as possible in the yarn.  This is a two ply yarn.  Both plies can be done this same way.  The way I prefer is to make one ply varied as described here and the second ply with one solid, bright-colored fiber spun neat and thin.  This ply yarn will tie all of the various types and colors of yarns together.  It can also brighten the yarn or make it duller depending on what you use.  Examples would be:  If you use an orange or yellow, it will brighten it.  If you use a duller wool color such as gray.  It is possible to use a thin crochet thread or other thread for plying.   Little bits of interesting wool placed here and there also add interest to this yarn.  

The above picture shows a skein of yarn made this way, along with other fiber.  In order to make the table runner, I cast on 39 stitches with number 10 knitting needles.  I knit the first 6 rows, after that, I knit the first 4 stitches and the last 4 stitches in every row.  Aside from the beginning and ending 4 stitches, I knit one row and then purled one row---stockinette stitch.   The last 6 rows I knit binding off on the sixth one.  I will probably go through and brush up some of the fibers and allow them to fluff up a bit more.  They do make a mohair brush for this, but I think most any brush would be fine as long as they don't get caught in the fiber.   

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Thank you for viewing!!!  Dawnie

Wordless Weekend

Dawnie

Do you have a surplus of hand spun yarn?

Do you have a surplus of hand spun yarn?  I do, and I hesitate giving it away since it took so long to spin using a spinning wheel.  Some of the yarn is small amounts left over from a project, other amounts are spinning experiments, and some yarn is from the end of the bobbin(s).  To make the rug, I cast on approximately 125 stitches, using 3 strands of yarn, and a 14" size 10 pair of knitting needles.  As I run out of one yarn, I added another yarn from my stash.  There really is not a gauge. 

My finished size is about 21 inches by 29 inches.  Any size of rug will work fine.  I still have more yarn surplus and I am debating if I make a table runner, or maybe a set of place mats.  I think the rug turned out very well and the colors are great! 

Satin Ribbon In Yarn

Some of the BFL wool I recently dyed, I decided to spin onto a core yarn or leader of 1/16 inch wide green satin ribbon.  I have plied yarn with this same type of ribbon,  It works fine but you have to ply it a with extra twist or the ribbon will hang off the yarn.  I purchase the ribbon from a party supply store on line in 100 yard spools.

I had a small piece of felted wool dyed pink.  I thought of doll clothes.  My grand-baby thought it would make a car seat cover.  LOL

I hope you had a great weekend!  Dawnie

Spinning

 All hand-spun items recently made.

in progress

baby hat

trivet

trivet

trivet

trivet

small child hat

Please view my web store at:
 http://www.custercottage.com

And visit my Etsy shop at:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/CusterCottage
 

I hope you had a great weekend!
Dawnie

Black and red reversible tea cozy with alternate toppers

I completed this reversible tea cozy this weekend.  It is knitted with a yarn that is mostly wool.  An iridescent fiber is added to the yarn which gives off the sparkle  The edges are trimmed are in crochet.  I like using wool which keeps the teapot warmer than many fibers.  Making a lining also aids the teapot in keeping warm.  If I am going to line the cozy, why not make the lining reversible? There is a pom pom to tie on the top loops on either side, or a jewel to hang.  My sister made the cameo jewel.  I am not much of a jewelry maker.  I love jewelry, but I can't wear it due to allergies.
This yarn happens to be machine washable, but the toppers need to removed.  I always recommend to hand wash handmade items, even if the yarn is machine washable. Do you like the crazy looking tea cozies or the more traditional looking cozies?

Thank you for viewing my blog post.  Dawnie

Please view my web store at:

http://www.custercottage.com

And visit my Etsy shop at:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/CusterCottage

 

 

 

Lately

The 2 cards next to the yarn are new business cards I am experimenting with.

I have been dying wool and spinning.  I had some Border Leicester X wool to wash and dye.  I used two blues and a pink for dying in a somewhat rainbow method.  The wool turned out to be a lovely shade of blue.  There was some yellowing in the wool and that area became more of a teal once dyed.  All together the varied tones make for a more interesting yarn to me.  I made 2 plies and for the second ply I added 3 colors of Mylar with the wool. (silver, light blue, dark blue)

I also put bakers twine and yarn strings on a few price tags.  It seems that my price tags do not stand out enough for people, so I am trying the larger tags in varied pink colors.

The boys found a possum in the chicken coop.  We lost 2 chickens in this last week.  We live in the city so it is a little unusual to find a possum in our yard.

Please view my web store at: http://www.custercottage.com
And my Etsy shop at https://www.etsy.com/shop/CusterCottage 

What have you been up to lately???

Beads in Yarn

 

 

I have wanted to place beads in hand spun yarn, but I was apprehensive due to the small orifice on my spinning wheel.  I learned how to place beads onto yarn as I knit and I recently purchased a tool to help with this.    It is called the Fleegle Beader and you can purchase one here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/173242202/13mm-fleegle-beader-please-read-the?ref=shop_home_active_3
In order to string beads onto hand spun yarn, I
used pink thread with pink beads and plied it to blue yarn.  To string the beads onto the thread, I used a bead spinner.  I have one that is battery operated, but I am not sure where I put it.  They is what happens when you get older.  You can't find things and you don't know what you are looking for.  LOL  I like the new designs where you just spin them by hand.  I got a junior sized bead spinner.  Mine is like this:  
 

I watched a how to video on You Tube.  I can't string beads as fast as the video, but it is fun to try, unless you have to pick up beads.  LOL

If you purchase one of these, I would suggest to get two needles or hooks because they are small and easy to misplace or loose.  I speak from experience because I misplaced mine in plain sight.

 I hope you have a great weekend!  Dawnie

Please view my web store at: http://www.custercottage.com
And my Etsy shop at https://www.etsy.com/shop/CusterCottage 

Lots To Tell

I have a lot to tell you and catch you up on, but I can only get a little on here for now.  This is a picture of my Great Nephew.  He is adorable and would make a wonderful model.  I made a hat with hand spun yarn this weekend.  The main yarn is kid mohair which is rainbow dyed, but mostly green.  The ply for the main section was also kid mohair, but with blue jean fibers.  Some of the fibers were rather long, but some were shorter and it gave it an interesting look.

This and That and a Little More

I have 4 friends and relatives expecting babies before the first of the year.  Three of the babies are expected to be boys and the fourth is unknown as of this date.  I like to make a little something for babies, especially if they are family or close personal friends.  I made a few hats earlier this year---before I went on the pot holder binge.  I am not on the baby bootie binge.  So far I have only made two pair of booties. What is on your knitting needles or crochet hook?

I ordered a large yarn order and it arrived today!  I like to work with cotton yarn in a lighter weight, but not in the crochet cotton weight.  This is the type of yarn I use for pot holders, some baby clothes, wash cloths or dish cloths.  I like to use bright colors so brands without a bright pretty cotton candy pink are not contenders.  I also do not like yarn to split when knitting or crocheting with it.  If there are several plies twisted together and one strand does not get picked up with the needle or hook, there will be a stray strand poking out of my work.  The yarn is not as strong when it is missing a stray strand.  I have been using Catania Yarn.  They have the best pink, even though they call it orchard.  LOL

Do you remember a few years ago I blogged about a pair of tennis shoes on a stump in the back yard of a house that neighbors my place of employment.  This same pair of tennis shoes is still there on the stump in the back yard.  When the lawn is mowed, they mow around the shoes.  What would be the purpose?  I guess they would work well as bird feeders. 

Crochet thread or is it yarn?

I ordered a free sample of #3 cotton thread from Handy Hands in Paxton, Illinois.  The #3 thread is a trademark of Lizbeth, 100% Egyptian Cotton, and comes in 80 colors which includes solids add multi's.  The sample came in less than a week.  The size 3 is about as small as I want to crochet with.  The colors are bright and the samples came on a cardboard spool.  When I felt the thread for the first time, it felt like there may be a tiny wax coating to keep it stiff enough to work with.  This is unconfirmed and just my opinion.   The stitch definition is very good and the thread is easy to work with.  All of the different colors make it nice to match with.  Handy Hands can be reached at http://www.hhtatting.com or by phone at 217-379-3802.  I will be ordering some of the thread very soon.  

When does thread become yarn?  When I am spinning on my spinning wheel in public, I hear, "Look honey, she is making thread."  I've always heard it called yarn, but the cotton grandma crocheted doilies with was called crochet thread.  What do you think?

Thank you for viewing!  I hope you and yours are well and prosperous during the holiday season and in the year to come.  Happy Holidays!  Dawnie