Category: knitting

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Spinning and knitting with Gotland Pelt fleece …

The reason we decided to buy sheep was for me to be able to see and do the whole process from sheep to garment.

I have finally managed to do that process and am very pleased with the results; well satisfied that I know and understand the process, pleased… well that is an ongoing feeling but I am getting there. (Is anybody every truely pleased with finishing something? I know I want to improve my finished product, but still am proud to have achieved the process from beginning to end.

Let me explain:

I started knitting many years ago… as a kid actually… and, of course, bought my yarn. When we lived in Diamond Harbour – (Christchurch, NZ – in the harbour basin) we had sheep living next door and I took up spinning with a drop spindle.

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Alpaca knitting and the result …

I have been reminded that I did a project on spinning and knitting up an alpaca fleece and I said that I would post the results of this exercise as it was the first time I’d spun this type of fleece.

The fleece was a joy to spin; flowed freely through my fingers and it was soft and easy to get a nice even size.

Unfortunately I was too eager to knit up the fleece before I found out how much I had in that colour and so I didn’t have enough to complete a jacket (started here).

So I unpicked the entire back, two fronts and one and half sleeves.

After smoothing out the yarn I reknitted it into a hat and booties. These turned out well although the hat took some changes to the pattern as the hat was too wide across the brim and was not going to sit on the head of the baby but fall off, so I knitted a further six rows at the base of the hat instead to increase the size of the hat.

I think if I was to knit this again I’d use a rib on the brim to keep in tighter. Not really sure this pattern is the best for baby heads, but since this was my first project in alpaca I will be interested to see how it wears (when the baby arrives – November soon).

Good knitting folks and I will chat about my beautiful Gotland fleece shortly. Bye for now.

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Knitting Alpaca wool …

So it seems that we are going to have another little girl added to our family (not me haha). I have decided to spin and knit up some alpaca wool that I swapped for some of my Gotland Pelt sheep wool. The alpaca is great for baby garments as it is soft and calming on baby skin.

The fleece I have started is a cream, which I did think might take a dyeing quite well, but at this point I will just knit it up as a jersey and experiment with dyeing on the next spin I do with this fleece.

The fleece (wool) is very soft but it does not have much elasticity so I did think of blending another ‘sheep’ wool in with the Alpaca but in this instance I have decided to do a straight 100% Alpaca and see how the garment turns out. The next spin I do with the fleece may include some other wool, and I would like to see how the Gotland and Alpaca work together as well.

If you do not know these animals, I have included a photo below (not one of my photos).

Photo by LARAINE DAVIS on Pexels.com

Over the next week or so I will post the finished garment…. in the mean time we have our own flock to shear today…so I will also be posting photos on the shear…fleeces…and other interesting events.

Bye for now…

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My last project in level 3 is finished, what will I do now …

The projects I started during the lock-down have been many and varied; the finger-less gloves, the jersey, and the grey cushion for the house.

I have now completed a dark grey cushion cover in a basket weave. This fleece is from one of the foundation ewes, Chocolate. She was the only dark grey sheep at the time and I liked the soft fleece, so had it spun up commercially back in 2018 and recently decided to knit it up into another cushion cover because of its colour and texture. I am very pleased with the results; it compliments the house very well.

My projects continue to grow – no pun intended – as I have many more 2019 fleece to either sell or knit up into items. Soon it will be time (July 2020) to shear the flock again, pre-lambing, so I need to keep going with the fleece I have in storage.

I intend to try my hand at felting and also dyeing soon, but that will have to wait until I can return to the Spinning and Weaving club in Christchurch.

The other fleece I have started to spin is Bob #3, he has the lightest coloured fleece of all the flock, he is also the largest of the sheep, but a real sweetheart to be around.

As the spinning gets underway I will post a photo of the wool, and the results of the knitting project (as yet not sure what I will do with this wool).

Cheers for now and look forward to chatting with you all again soon….

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Project # 3…. well actually not sure what number this is

I was having ‘withdrawal’ symptoms with not having anything to knit since I completed Leigh’s jersey and did a quick pair of fingerless gloves, so, as you do, I jumped onto the internet to see what else I could knit that would be a challenge.

Challenge accepted…. I decided to give this cushion cover a go. I don’t take credit for the idea, this came from Pininterest, but I liked the pattern and so thought I’d try making it myself but without any instructions it was going to be ‘hit and miss’ as to whether it would turn out the same.

On looking at the picture I though that the ribbing started off the sequence, but after knitting it up I have realised that for me the rib could be done last as the edge is very neat and looks like a cast off knit-wise stitch.

Anyway although my finished effort is not quite as big as this one, (wool quantity was an issue) I am happy enough that I will try the pattern again, with more wool this time.

The other issue was that the wool was meant to be triple knit but I only had double knit so I knitted two strands together; next time I would ply both strands before I knitted the item. See how the cable stitches are not close together, I think that the needle size for the wool was wrong.

Bye for now, and any comments on how I could improve this knitted cushion would be welcome.

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What I have been doing in lockdown …

I started knitting a Guernsey jersey for Leigh back in February and this week managed to finish it off (not quite in time for the birthday celebrations).

I’m very pleased with the result, it quite a heavy jersey but will be good for our cold winters. The wool was professionally carded and spun, but the wool was from one of our foundation ewes, Chocolate.

My other project – which was a very quick one – was to knit myself some fingerless gloves from the wool I spun up myself and dyed.

These only took a couple of hours and here is the pattern if anyone wants to use it.

Fingerless gloves :Double knit wool, I used number 4 needles, and the yellow is my own dying and the grey is Suzie’s wool.

Cast on 40 stitches and rib in 2 x 2 (knit 2 and purl 2 – repeat) for 4cms.
Change to knit row/purl row (stocking stitch) and if you wish, change colour at this point. Knit for approximately 8.5 cms
Change back to original colour (if wish) and rib (2×2) again for 4cm.
Cast off in rib.
Turn over into half lengthways and stitch together the top rib and the bottom rib, then stitch half way up the stocking stitch to close the part of the thumb. See picture for completed gloves.

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New knitted project underway …

Yes I know I said that I was knitting another jersey, this time for Leigh, but I have had a thought about the ‘moth cape’ I knitted as a first piece and now I want to try something.

I was happy enough when I first completed this piece as it was my first garment from growing, spinning and knitting from our girl, Salt. But I have not been very happy with the finished edges around this cape, and also the knit plain has an uneven and mottled look about it. (Great for my historical group though).

So I have decided to knit this pattern again, this time I will try using a garter stitch and bigger needles, in order to: 1) fix the ragged edges that knit produces and 2) give the garment a bit more texture and 3) create more ‘air’ in the garment.

This is the first part of the cape.

I am quite happy with how this is starting out and I will keep adding to this post as it is a bit of an adventure into knitting without a pattern and my own version of the cape.

Oh by the way, this is ‘Suzie’s wool which was spun by a commercial company and the wool which made the ‘Guernsey’ jersey I have just completed.

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Knitted Guernsey jersey completed …

This is not the first piece of knitting to be completed but it is the first major piece of work that I have done. The wool was carded and spun by a small commercial spinning company but I am very happy with the results at this point.

It took approximately 7 weeks and about 2 hours per day to complete the garment.

The next piece of knitting will be the same pattern but with a dark grey wool, seen here in the middle of these two hanks.

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January 2020 – my goodness what a start …

While having a lazy few days at the start of the new year, I am thinking about all our friends and family in Australia. The sky here is clouded with smoke from the bush fires of Australia so much that I have stayed inside these last two days.

Today we had rain and so is starting to clear our skies. The photo doesn’t accurately describe what we are seeing, the mountains have faded to a grey/pink sky and the sun is a watery circle. You can smell the smoke in the air and it is hard to see to the bottom of the road.

A little snow still on the Torlesse Range

Comparing the two photos you will understand a little of what we see. Our thoughts are with our neighbours across the ‘ditch’.

The other processes underway are the cutting and drying of the Grosso lavender, making lavender infused oil with the 2018 dried lavender plants, continuing with the knitting of the jersey for next winter, giving the flock tasty new grass to eat, oh and purchasing a bed and toys for the newcomer who will be with us at the end of January.

Happy holidays to you all and we’ll chat again soon.

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Last day of the decade – Happy New Year to everyone

Well another year has almost finished. It is this time of year that I like to look back to see what I have done in the year; the highlights and the challenges.

For me, the highlights were:

  • Learning the complete process of wool, from sheep to finished product
  • Making friends with other Gotland Pelt breeders and being able to talk and discuss ideas and the challenges of shepherding
  • Learning how to spin the wool and creating my first piece of knitted product
  • Having a glorious holiday in winter at Lake Tekapo

The challenges of the year were:

  • Knowing when the sheep were having health issues; they are very good at hiding the fact that they are not well. This will always be my biggest challenge, not just for this year. Luckily I have a great vet who doesn’t mind me ringing up for a chat and who is willing to help a ‘novice’ shepherd.
  • Keeping up the maintenance of the farm is another challenge; getting the jobs done and keeping everything ticking along is a full-time job but also a good job to have.
  • Thinking about the long term aspects of the farm is also a challenge; do I buy a ram for the flock, or do I lease a ram, or buy stems? These questions have been going around in my head and in discussions with Leigh for the best part of the year.
  • How do I promote the fleece from the sheep, where are the outlets for my products? These are all valid questions which I hope to answer in the new year.

The sad parts of the year:

  • We have had a very sad year in terms of our pets; Lacy, our lovely girl died in June at the age of 18. I hope she had a good life.
  • Pippin, our Manx cat, born in 2006 also died this year, this was very sudden.

Looking forward to 2020 we will have a new member of the family join us: We are still thinking of a name. He is a Manx also and is from the same breeder as Pippin. He will be joining us at the end of January 2020.

I hope you all have a great new year and a safe one and I look forward to sharing my story about the birches, the farm and the animals with you all in the coming year.

Best Wishes for 2020