A Few Sheep Shy of a Farm

UPDATE! NEW PICTURES ADDED!

Lots of things to report since Monday. I’m finally starting to get the hang of doing this, especially being able to add pictures and things. That said, I’ve been working on adding additional pages to my photo album (at right) so there are now pictures of the “Two socks on two circulars” project and of the silkworms.

Speaking of silkworms, Indigirl has asked how you get silk from silk worms so I’ll do my best to give you an answer. Basically, silkworms are moths, so they spend their very sort life eating a lot (and I mean lot) of food, then once they are big enough (at about a month) they spin a cocoon like other moths and butterflies do. The difference is that there is something very special about the silk they spin with. It is very strong and holds up much more than that of any other moth or butterfly. So, once they spin their cocoon, their normal life cycle would be to spend a few weeks in there going through metamorphasis and then coming out a moth. However, in order to obtain the best silk, the cocoon needs to be unwound before they chew their way out. Now there is a school of thought that says you should let them hatch and just deal with lesser quality silk, but the traditional method of obtaining the silk is to place the cocoons (worm and all) into boiling water. The water both kills the worm and loosens the “glue” that holds the cocoon together. In the traditional method only a small number of moths are allowed to hatch and breed to produce eggs for the next crop. I’m still on the fence about which method I’ll use. While I would really prefer the better silk, I’m just not sure I can kill all those worms (maybe I can get my husband to do it?)

I’ve made a little progress on the socks, but not much. I’m also not quite sure how this is going to work with the type of heel I prefer to do. I may have to switch to dpns again for that part but I’m hoping not to if I can figure it out.

Rabbit update: Turns out that Dusty (the grey one) is really a boy! Spoke to Debbie at Iron Horse farm last night and she is going to take him back. She even has another, she’s sure this is a doe, that she was planning to keep but will give to me if I like her. I have to say if anyone is looking for angora bunnies, Debbie is the woman to see! She has been great about answering all my foolish questions and provides great customer service in general. Her link is to the left if you are interested.

I’m hoping tonight to start spinning the Jacob fleece I got at NH. I’ve sorted it into three piles, the very light colors, medium and dark. I’m planning to start with the medium, in part because its the smallest pile. I’ll be attempting to spin “in the grease” for the first time so this should be interesting. I’ll take some photos to add once I get it started.

Okay, I think that is all the updates for now! Have a great “hump day”

Happy Monday morning!

Okay, so some things came up over the weekend and I didn’t get to work on this site or on the sock pattern. We had surprise visitors; my Aunt and 3 cousins were at my Mom’s this weekend so I spent most of the weekend with them. We had a blast! I brought our dog, Arrow (photo in album page) and he played with the kids until he literally couldn’t stand up anymore! And they are coming back next weekend! Turns out they are planning to move here and are apartment hunting . . . so they are coming to stay with me for the whole weekend! Okay so what this really means (at least for my blog) is that I won’t have a lot of time this next week for any of the knitting or spinning projects since I’ll be doing some major housecleaning and reorganizing! I do hope to go to my spinning group on Thursday and will likely work on the spinning project I’ve been suppose to do to send to a friend.

One really neat thing that happened this weekend was that I had my current project out while I was hanging out with the kids and they were very interested in what I was doing. This is the 2 socks at the same time on two circulars thing that I’m trying out. So far I’ve only done a little but I’m starting to get the hang of it and think it may really work out! Well, the kids (especially the two girls) were fascinated that I was making socks and both now want to learn to knit!!!!! So when the are around next weekend we are going to start with a simple scarf project and take it from there. And once they do move we’ll be able to do lots of projects together if they decide they like it..

Fiber Farm report: The rabbits are doing well; they received a new feeder over the weekend that hooks to the side of the cage and holds about 3 days worth of food. I also picked up another hundred pounds of bunny food and some “sweet feed” for them as a treat and for the squirrels that Dom loves to feed. Both rabbits are growing fast and their coats are really starting to get long. They still seem to be getting along well, though someone warned me that they may start chewing each others’ fur, but I haven’t seen any sign of that so far.

The silk worms seem to be doing well also. The survived the first 24 hours which I’m told is when they are most likely to die on you. The are eating a lot and I can see that they have grown bigger already. We’re feeding them “Silkworm Chow” at the moment but will switch them to leaves as soon as the tree fills out a bit more.

Oh, and I’m going yarn shopping today at lunch time with my friend from work. I’ve been teaching her to knit for a couple of months now and someone she knows came by recently we a great scarf on that a friend of hers had made. We got the pattern, Trendsetter Eyelash and Charm Scarf, and we are off the find the yarns to give this a try!

Well, have a great week everyone, I’ll post when I can and add more links and the sock pattern as time allows!

Happy Friday everyone!

I’ve added some more links to knitting and fiber related sites. I have a lot more so I’ll keep adding as time allows.

I’m also working on writing up that sock pattern (which is much harder to do than I realized!) but I hope to have it finished by Monday so stayed tuned for that!

Have a great weekend!

Surprise! My silk worms have hatched!

(photo has been moved to the album)

One of my latest projects is that I want to try raising my own silk. I recently ordered silkworm eggs and they arrived about a week ago. We’ve had them in the aquarium (the goldfish have returned to their summer home in the rain water barrels) with a reptile heater to warm them and I’ve been waiting and wondering if they would actually hatch. Well this morning when I checked on them before leaving for work they had just about all hatched! I quickly went to the yard to get them a supply of mulberry leaves which they are happily munching through right now.

I spent some time today and seem to have gotten the hang of adding pictures. I’ve added a link to the right which is the start of a photo album. I’ll be adding to it often so please do check it out! The problem I’m having with photos is that my computer at home takes too long to load them and something disconnects me when I try and my computer at work won’t talk to my camera . . . so I have to move the photos from the camera to a cd, then take them to work and add them here! So they are being added, just more slowly than I’d like.

I’ve also started my next sock project. I’m trying to learn how to do both socks at once on two circular needles. Since I like to do toe up socks, I’m having a little trouble getting them started. The circulars seem rather tight for the small number of stitches at the beginning so I’m starting on DPs and once I’ve done the last increase I’ll change them over to the circulars and try it from there.

I’m hoping over the weekend, if not sooner, to have the pattern for Dom’s socks witten up and I’ll have it posted here just in case anyone out there wants to try it. And if you ever see pics of anything I’ve made and would like the pattern please do contact me, I’ll send it to you if I can.

Thanks for stopping by!

I finally finished my husband’s sock!!!!

Photo moved to album (link at right)

I’ve been working on a pair of socks for him since some time in November and last night I finally finished them! He tried them on today and they fit so they are offically done. I was really beginning to think I would never complete them. They are a cotton/wool/nylon blend with extra “wooly nylon” in the heel and toe for reinforcement. I did the cuffs in a 2×2 ribbing with a small cable and the whole thing was done a size 0 set of double points. My arms are sore from them! I hope to get the pattern written up in the next few days and I’ll post it along with the picture once its done.

Now on to the next sock project. I want to learn to knit 2 socks at the same time on two circular needles. I think I’ve figured out doing one, but I’m still confused about how to do the second one.

My new approach to knitting project management: I can have one project of a kind started at any time. So one sock or pair of socks (which kept me from starting something else before finishing my husband’s), I have a lace shawl I started a while back which counts as my lace project. A baby blanket that I designed and haven’t worked on in months that has to be finished before I start another . . . A bulky shawl that is 1/2 done that I have to finish before I can start the one I want to make from my handspun . . . etc. Otherwise I’d run the risk of having about 30 projects started at once!

Of course, spinning projects count on a whole seperate list!!! I have a new Jacob fleece from last weekend that I hope to start this week and I’m still working at learning to spin linen (on and off) though so far I’ve only made twine. . . .

Actually, the biggest thing (other than that sock) that I’ve worked on the past few days is this site! I’m learning how to use Dreamweaver and got a book to help. I’ve changed from a preformatted template to one of my own design and I’m working on adding my favorite links now and hopefully soon I’ll find the time to get the pictures out of my camera and on to this site.

Okay, thats all for today. Happy knitting everyone!