Flagel Knitting Files

Before using the term "mucking about" in the blog I wanted to be sure about its use.  There's no need to use something unsavory and I believe this is a term I picked up in Canada.  So I looked up the meaning of the phrase when used as a verb. do   random,   unplanned   work   or   activities   or   spend   time   idly;   "The   old   lady   is  usually   mucking   about   in   her   little  house"  - Free Online Dictionary Well that was so appropriate and in this case I'm the old lady mucking about in my home. Here are two projects both clearly on the needles I have been fiddling with lately. The variegated hand spun merino and the CEY Ava (twice) First, the merino spun last week was so luscious I simply had to start something with it. There are 100 grams of merino and spun properly it could yield enough yarn to make a small scarf; spun improperly it will crea...

It will come as no surprise that the type of wool one is spinning greatly impacts the characteristics of the yarn create.  In a small way I am testing a few types of wool to see if there are any I like better than others.  During the spinning class last fall I used the following wool. Corriedale - This is a cross between Merino and either Lincoln or Leicester breeds.  It is said to be the second most popular wool in the world, with only Merino topping it.  I found the roving to have a good staple length for a beginner, it has a bit of luster and is affordable. Shetland - The Shetland Islands are the original home for this breed.  And it was singularly responsible for supporting the Shetland lace industry.  The wool has a good 3-6 inch staple, is very strong yet soft.  The yarn I spun with this roving was yummy even with my developing spinning skills.  It is now considered a rare breed. Romney - This breed originated in Kent, England and mig...

This post has been accumulating over time.  As I've bumped into ideas that are making the knitting process easier and yet are so simple, I doinked myself in the head and say "why haven't I thought of this before?"  Here's a brief list of some ah ha moments for me. 1.  Using two strands of yarn from one skein or two balls of yarn to cast on using the long-tail method.   I cannot count how many times I have used the long-tail cast on oh, 100, 200 or 300 stitches only to fall 50 stitches short of the right amount of yarn causing me to frog and start over.  Second time to be sure there is enough yarn I over compensate and end up with a yard too much yarn.  Then I saw this link and wondered why I had to be shown this rather than coming up with it on my own.  It will save so much time on those big number long tail cast ons. Image from cocoknits.com 2.  Listening to pod casts while I knit rather than TV. It has taken me far too long to fin...

A discussion about colour is a pretty daunting topic, one I'm ill prepared to take on.  (But then has that ever stopped me before?)  Of course my focus will be on the colours of yarn one might put together.  I am not the only knitter who has problems combining colours yet others do it with great ease and flare. Look at how great these colours work together.  This photo and the accompanying paint swatches are taken from the website Design Seeds . Jessica Colaluca, the owner and operator of this website, is a professionally trained artist and designer and she lives in Wisconsin too. If you want to be washed over with beautifully inspiring colour combinations, I strongly recommend you take some time and review her site.  It is breath-taking.  Let me warn you, hours can be spent looking at all the lovely pictures and associated colour options they inspire.  You will be dazzled.  Don't blame me too much if you lose a few hours reviewing the Des...

Help in locating blog post topics can come in many different forms.  This one comes from Tena's husband, Ron who sent this out on Facebook: "For you Knit-Night-ers:  Tena, Pam & Jan! " Along with it came this link . Archaeological work is being done near Cambridge, England in an area called Must Farm referred to as Britain's Pompeii.  It is speculated about 3,000 years ago this site had a small settlement on it.  Something happened that caused homes to collapse into the mushy bog they were built on.  In this swishy mud things were preserved.  Many historical items have been located; you can read about those items here . According to the Guardian    They have already found a trove of incredibly preserved objects from the daily lives of these Bronze   Age people–"jewelry, spears, daggers, giant food storage jars and delicate drinking cups, glass     beads, textiles and a copper spindle with thread still wound around it....

Friday was a day for beading with turquoise. First an ornament gown had been started in the Spring but left abandoned.  The plan was to use some turquoise beads to accent the otherwise white and silver colour combination.  The project was stopped when the overlapping tiers in what I thought would be turquoise did not match.  So it wallowed in self pity until I located match turquoise seed beads.   The turquoise accent beads are of different colours.  The top seed beads are more blue than turquoise so it is an unhappy ornament.  A few weeks ago I located some turquoise seed beads that match and the ornament is now happy and shining. And I am really liking the change.  (Just as a post script, I had to walk around the house to get the sun to help me with the closeups for this ornament cover.  Perhaps the neighbors wondered what I was up to as I hung the piece in different areas and checked the lighting.) Everyone is satisfied...

I thought I would be so smart and give the proper name of this cactus I just completed knitting, but then I started looking at all the different images of cacti.  There are so many types with so many botanical nomenclatures I gave up.  Either an image would have the fuzzy-like characteristics of the knitted cactus but the flower was bigger or coming out from a different part of the plant or the flower was right and the cactus was wrong.  It is a cactus, clearly so, and I will leave it at that. The inspiration came about after Jami sent me a host of photos of cacti taken by one of her friends.  They were so wonderfully shot they had me thinking about how much I enjoy cacti.  (I am a well-known black-thumb with house plants.  Paul risks losing them all when he leaves house plants alone with me for more than a week!  Cacti on the other hand are really, really hard to kill.  Over-watering is generally not my problem.) When I was looking ...