Save 'Em 2 Save 'Em, Chapter 1: Jacob

A couple of weeks ago I started listening to knitting podcasts for the first time in a while. 

Since 2016 or so I have been mostly a political podcast listener, but something about the state of the world made me want to listen to something a little less fraught. 

I can't remember who it was that mentioned the Shave 'Em 2 Save 'Em initiative, but I was immediately taken with the idea. 

Here's a little info about the program. 

Also, here's the website if you want to know more.

The long and short of it is: they're trying to encourage knitters and spinners to use the wool of rare sheep breeds so they don't die out.
It's a pretty cool project, which started last year in January, and goes until 2021.
There are incentives to work with a certain number of different fleece types, and it's going to be my favorite rabbit hole, I can just tell.

Last week I was cruising around Etsy and found some likely subjects. Along with many other things, our local fiber festival was canceled for safety so I felt no qualms in indulging.

The first package that arrived was 5 ounces of Jacob from Gypsy Mountain Farm.

It was nice and clean, almost no vegetal matter.
I seperated the two colors out to card and spin.

The yarn came out slightly inconsistent, between fingering and sport weight. I would estimate that I got around 300 yards from around 4 ounces of carded wool.
I decided to make a diagonal shawlette, using various charts for lacy stripes between garter stitch sections.

The fleece was about 2/3 light to 1/3 dark. I did my best to evenly distribute the darker yarn throughout.

My skills as a selfieist leave much to be desired, but here's the scale of the finished shawl.

A few takeways:
I LOVED working with the Jacob. It's a very soft and lofty wool.

The colors work well together (go figure) and I almost made a stranded project. Next time I order some Jacob I will definitely make some Norwegian mittens or a hat.

It's super fun to go from a bag of fleece to a garment in a week, even if the chores get seriously neglected, and I look forward to more Shave 'Em 2 Save 'Em projects flying off my needles as this year progresses.

Hiya!

Whew, it's been a minute.

I have been dealing with some major life changes for the past couple of years.
For 13 years or so I stayed home with my kids, while doing part time work on the weekends and evenings teaching music and fiber art stuff.
Once the Youngest was in Kindergarten I realized I didn't quite know what I wanted to be when I grew up. I tried a couple of years as a full time preschool teacher, how much different is it than staying at home with one's own kids? Turns out, pretty different. I wasn't able to find a good fit so I entered the world of temping.
That has been awesome, but with COVID-19 I got let go.

So here I sit, with a drastically reduced number of jobs (from 4-2) and work hours (from 40-8) and a fire in my belly to make stuff.

Last fall and winter I did a lot of leatherwork, spinning, weaving, and knitting, and made up enough stock to try a couple of craft fairs. I just about broke even, so that was fun.

We did a quick visit to the ocean in January,

which feels like more than a lifetime ago, and now we're hanging out at home, like most of you out there.
You gotta fill the time, though, right?

Baking? Check.

Large Scale Woodworking, and Gardening? Check, Check!!

Small Scale Woodworking? Check!

Dalgona Coffee? Check!

Baking? Check, Again!

Puzzles? Check!

Baking? More? Again? Check!

Facebook? You know it!

I don't know if anyone is still out there who remembers the fifthlampdown, but I'm hoping to come back and hang here more often. 

What's your quaratine routine? 

A Lovely Weekend

The third weekend of October is always a long one, set aside for Minnesota Educators to do some professional development, and for families to do some relational development. 

This year we took a couple of quick road trips to some nearby natural wonders, and a couple of unnatural wonders, too.
First there was a visit to Willow River State Park in Wisconsin, only a quick drive from home despite crossing state lines.

I'm constantly on the lookout for their album cover, just in case they ever form a band together...

Then on Sunday we took a drive to Minneopa Falls, just outside Mankato MN.

 I'm a sucker for sandstone graffiti.

 Mama, I'm that statue! I'm thinking, I'm thinking, I'm thinking.

 Family photo

 Album cover, number two.

After all that naturing we decided to try something else, and we visited Minnesota's Largest Candy Store.

 That blur in the bottom is the Youngest trying to step on the Hulk's feet. Such a rebel...

It was a lovely weekend, and I am so happy that I got to share it with my favorite people. 

Hi!

It's been a long while since I had the mental capacity to blog, and I have missed it!
Back in August I started my first full-time job since The Eldest was born, and while it's pretty awesome I am exhausted when I get home.

I haven't had much time or energy for much crafting time either, but I did manage to sneak in a minute or two here and there to start a silly project for The Youngest.
We have a history in our family with the book Annie and the Wild Animals by Jan Brett.
When The Eldest was about 5, I made her a matching sweater to the titular Annie.

When I pulled out the sweater for The Youngest to try, it had been ravaged by time and wasn't really functional anymore. 

So, I asked The Youngest if she'd like a new one, and she asked me if I would make her the entire outfit. 

So far I have finished the Sweater and most of the boots.

 The overalls are cut out, and I think I will have time tomorrow to get those sewn up.
Since The Elder and The Younger are super grown-up now they no longer ask for knitted items from their old mama, but as long as The Youngest still asks I will do my best to comply.

Road Trip Knitting

With the goal of visiting a place where we could see the totality of the eclipse this week, my family took our first road trip. 

We went all in: 5 national parks, 2 national monuments, 5 states, 16 days and 4000 miles traveled.

We began in North Dakota at Theodore Roosevelt Park.

Since we were in the car so much, I had tons of time for knitting. 

I was able to start and finish a vest, inspired by the fluffy clouds in the big sky

The other knitting project I brought along didn't get quite finished, but I made some serious headway on it. 

I had the book Yokes by Kate Davies, and it was hard to choose one pattern. I love everything in the book, and I will probably knit more as the years pass. 

I settled on Cockatoo Brae, which is the cover pattern. (photo from the book)

I dug through my stash and found some colors I liked. 

 As we traveled around, I realized that I was seeing all the colors of my yarn in the gorgeous landscape around us.

The lichen, the fauna, the water, the woods, it was all represented in my palate. 

We had a marvelous time, despite the odd 35 degree night, or swarms of flies in the outhouses. 

I can't wait to finish up this sweater, and be reminded of our travels.

Joining in with Crafting On.

Flurry of Back to School Sewing

So, this little peanut will be starting Kindergarten in about a month, and what's a crafty girl to do, but go into major dress production? 

I was flipping through the top children's fashion sites and saw this adorable dress from Mini Boden 

and thought to myself "Self, you can make that!'

So I grabbed a pattern for a basic jumper and added a face and ears. 

The mouse came out so cute, I let her pick out fabric for a cat.

 I had this knit dress cut out for about a year, so I finished that one up.

The original jumper pattern had a version with this faux Peter Pan collar, so I did one in this amazing Space Baby fabric. When I saw it in the shop I audibly gasped. I had made an outfit for The Elder when she was 6 months old (that particular lady is 13 now!)

Also on the Mini Boden site there were a lot of applique dresses and so I tried that too.

I still have a few more things up my sleeves, we'll see how many I finish up.
The Youngest is also my Last, so I feel a little extra pressure to get these made before she decides that she doesn't want homemade clothes anymore.
Joining Nicole for KCCO this morning