Russet Lodge Custom Knits

I've made some good progress since the last time I shared my projects in progress, and I even took the time to take decent photos this week, or at least better than the phone pics from a couple weeks ago.  You can click on the photos for a larger view if you like! The Targee wool from Crown Mountain Farms is coming along nicely.  This bobbin plus the ball of unspun roving is the first half of the 4 oz I got.  I haven't focused much on spinning since I'm currently on a knitting deadline, but once in a while when my hands/wrists are too sore to knit I get out the wheel for a relaxing spin. The kilt hose have come a long way since the last time I shared them too!  I've included a picture of the chart I made as well.  The pattern is from the much-sought Knitting Scottish Kilt Hose and Hiking Socks by Joanne Gibson Hinmon .  The book is really popular, but honestly I'm not sure why.  There are no charts, the patterns are full of typos, and the hose...

Well, along with WiP Wednesday I thought it would be nice to occasionally share some items I've actually completed.  This doesn't happen nearly as frequently as I'd like, but it is nice to let people see what I'm up to. Today's FO is some hand-painted corriedale roving from Fiber Fancy .  The colorway is called Jungle Fever, and I got it on sale.  Corriedale isn't next-to-the-skin soft, but the fiber was very well prepared and drafted beautifully.  Here's a picture of the fiber from the etsy shop: And here's the finished fiber.  It's about 330 yards of sport-weight yarn, a fractal-plied three ply.  It hasn't told me what it wants to be yet. I like devoting a day to finishing things up, sharing what I've completed, and remembering that every once in a while I am, in fact, productive.  What have you finished this week?

It's that time again, WiP Wednesday, where I show off the things I'm working on.  I've got crummy pictures this week because i used my phone, but I wanted to make sure I had something to share, so just imagine they're as lovely as Franklin Habit's photos . First, I've got a pair of kilt hose on the needles.  They've progressed a bit since this photo, but not by nearly as much as I'd like.  The pattern is mostly from my head, with input from several toe-up sock calculators and books of kilt hose patterns.  I'll try to share these again once they look a little more like socks. I'm also spinning some hand-dyed Targhee pencil roving from Crown Mountain Fibers.  Targhee sheep were developed right here in Idaho (and named for Targhee National Forest) at the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station in eastern Idaho.  The fleece is very soft and a nice length, and they are raised for meat too.  I don't have a lot so far, but it spins quickly since it was...

This summer brings together two very popular events in the fiber/crafting world. The Tour de Fleece runs June 30th through July 22nd. This is an event where spinners spin along with the Tour de France, spinning on cycling days and resting on rest days. Spinners typically set themselves a challenging goal and try to "win" by meeting their goal by the end of the tour.  My goal is a simple one, to spin an hour a day every day of the Tour. Ideally I will have hand-combed all the fleece for the SPAKAL (spin and knit along) sweater that I am doing with the Knitmore Girls Podcast and I will spin that for the Tour, but in case I don't have it all done I will spin whatever I can for an hour a day. I have lots of stashed fiber to choose from. The second big event comes not long after the Tour, it's the Ravelympics! During this event knitters cast on a project during the opening ceremonies of the Olympics (July 27th) and try to finish it by the closing ceremonies (Aug...