Official

That's it.  It's official.  I am a Master Spinner.  I can now proudly wear that hat.  It's kind of amazing actually.

Receiving my certificate from Zach Webster.

Jan, Vanessa and I proudly showing off our fancy new certificates!
(You'll see that Jan's is way fancier, but that's because she's a keener-thats a good thing!- and had her book in before the official Olds College graduation cut off.  Mine and Vanessa's books were in by the Master Spinner program cut off that doesn't line up with the Colleges. We get the fancy diplomas during the next round of graduations) 

Legit! Too legit to quit!

Because the Olds College campus is gorgeous, and these poppies were so lovely that day in the sun.

 The beauty of being official is I now get to teach the course, and I was introduced to that step this year, by co-assisting Mary Lessman.  Mary is a wonderful woman, a font of spinning knowledge, and she has the biggest heart.  I felt blessed to be under her wing.

Level 4 class!  it was a delight assisting Mary Lessman in teaching this class. 

An evening of relaxing after a full day of assisting in Level 4

 As I may or may not have mentioned over the years of heading to Olds, I always stop in at The Fat Ewe Farm.  Eileen Wosnak has many beautiful sheep, a llama, duck and chicken and geese, and bunnies!  I picked up a gorgeous black Romney fleece and brought a friend a bunny!

I promised myself no more fleeces... but this one called to me... I actually dreamt about it... I had to go back.

Not my bunny. But he sure is cute! 

If you haven't started to follow me on Facebook, I encourage you to go over there and do that.  I've been posting live videos, and intend on continuing that practice.  The next one is going to be quite a bit longer than the first ones, as it will go over how to spin if you're broke.  No need for fancy wheels, just a stick and some wool!

Happily Spinning,
~Kara

Adventures in Lace

I took a little time last week to cast on a swatch of a rather nice rectangular shawl for my Wedding Ring Shawl project.  I was really quite frustrated after 3 attempts to cast on 12 stitches over 4 8 inch long knitting needles.  Fourth attempt I gave them up and went with a small circular set I had on hand.  

Obviously that fourth attempt was the ticket, and I managed to get through the basic increase in the centre of the shawl. However, I kind of want to see what comes of the rest of the pattern so I'm thinking of doing the math to figure out if I can do all the patterns in the shawl in this one small swatch.  I suppose it depends on just how adventurous I get... 

Happily Spinning,

~Kara

Decisions, decisions

 Isn't that always the life of a knitter? This yarn or that yarn? This colour or that colour? What about fibre? which needle size is best for the project, do I want a tighter knit or a looser one? Which pattern should I choose?
 These questions are compounded by the way Leethal does her Adventure Knits. Not only do you not know what exactly it is you're making, but you also can't really be sure you're choosing *just* the right yarn for the mystery project.  Does this in anyway stop me from really really really wanting needing to knit these patterns? Not.one.bit.  If anything it makes me more excited. Truly, there have been 4 PDF's already in this summers KaL. We have shapes, you see, that we can choose from.  Some of them were obvious, and others were not so obvious at all.  The last one outlined what the choices could turn into, and the multitude of end possibilities is rather staggering.  How do I choose the right one?!  What about the crazy construction and patterns that will undoubtedly show up in these finished shapes?  It's rather exciting and daunting all at once.  But, to narrow it all down, I've gone and pulled 2 yarns from my stash.

First (top) is from my trip to Vancouver Island last May.  It's 100% wool, aran weight. But I've only got 2 balls. And the second (bottom) is some Knitpicks Brava in Bulky.  So it's acrylic, and very yellow, but bulky.  I'm very tempted to start with the yellow, and see what comes of the pattern I choose.

No doubt, I'll love the process of this type of KaL as much as I'll love the finished project.  Leethals patterns are really unique, and so very fun to knit.

Don't forget to sign up before the 14th!  The price does go up then!

~Kara

Adventure knits!

Last summer I did Leethals first adventure knit along, and she's running a new one this year!  I'm totally hoping on board, even though I really don't have time to do it! I had so much fun, and I always learn so much from knitting her patterns.  It's on sale right now, and the price goes up as the sections are release, so hope on the bandwagon while the going is good!!  Come play with us!


~Kara