I've been working very diligently through my yarn stash this month trying to knit items with stuff I have. I just wanted to share with you one of the things I'm working on.
I bought this really cute, short sleeved cardigan a few Falls ago at Target, but it's beginning to wear thin. I have yet to find anything that compares to it at a store that didn't cost a fortune. So, I went on Ravelry.com (by the way if you knit, and haven't checked this site out you should) to search for a replacement.
I found the Shalom Cardigan, by Meghan McFarlane and it is adorable! It's simple in it's design, but it is exactly what I was looking for. I have some very Autumnal colored yarn that I will be using, that is perfect for this. I will make some modifications though, I am very large chested, so the cap like sleeves will only make my chest more pronounced. So I'm thinking 3/4 sleeves. Autumn in St. Louis is still warm, even in November you can still get some very mild temperatures, so I figure elbow length will be perfect. Here's the beginnings of my Shalom Cardigan.
As I am looking at this photo, I realize I may have to frog part of this, and try again, it's not matching up to original pattern...sigh.
I hope everyone is staying cool this evening. Now I have to go wake my husband up and see where he wants to go for dinner. I'm starving. Also I hope everyone is enjoying the new look of my blog. It's been an all day project.
I've been on summer vacation this month, and have decided to work on cleaning up some alpaca. Here's how I clean it, and what you will need:
Lingerie bags (2-4 do nicely)
Liquid dish soap (not soap used in a dishwaser) I use plain old Dawn
Fiber
A large container of hot water
Below is some of the fiber I want to clean. I picked through it by hand removing grass, short bits, and other unwanted things. Besides being really dusty it was relatively clean stuff.
I stuffed a few handfuls into a lingerie bag. You don't want it too full, if the bag is stuffed with too much it will be hard to get it clean.
Next fill your sink with the hottest water you can get. Our water heater makes some very hot water so I just use that. Next pour in your liquid soap, I use about 4 liberal squirts of Dawn. Make sure to add this after you've filed your sink, you don't want to make suds. Here's my water ready to go!
Now, the first time I washed some of this fiber I did two bags at once. It came out clean, but it was a lot more work. This time I soaked 1 bag at a time. All you have to do is lay your lingerie bag full of fiber on top of the water and let it just absorb the water on it's own.. Don't go swishing it around, you will felt it (although I have found this particular alpaca fiber I am using can be treated pretty rough without felting)! After a few minutes, I have a dowel rod that I use to gently poke it down into the water.
After it is fully immersed I set my timer for 30 minutes and just let the soap and hot water do it's stuff. Most of the dirt, and dust will simply sink to the bottom. As you can see from the picture below the water gets quite dirty.
After 30 minutes I pull the bag out of the water, I hold it up for a bit letting the excess water run off. I have another hot, soapy bath waiting on the other side of the sink. I just pop it in the next bath for another 30 minutes. Here's what is at the bottom of my sink after the first 30 minutes!
I repeat this process until the water is basically clear and there is very little dirt at the bottom. A,fter all the washing is done, I squeeze the excess water out of the lingerie bag (gently now, don't go ringing the heck out of it) and lay it on a wide screen just for this. Lay it in a sunny spot, and after an hour or two you will have beautifully fluffy, clean fiber.
After that I card it, and it is ready for spinning. Here's some of the yarn I have made using the fiber above. I am really please with it. It is incredibly soft, and slightly silky in texture. I'm working very hard on creating a balanced yarn, so far so good.
This is a video of me using my electric spinning wheel.
