Baby Hat and Handspun

 I wanted to try out the fleece I have been dyeing, so I carded up a bunch of merino, bfl, silk, and sparkle in various colours of blue, purple, turqoise, with bits of even pink and yellow. I spun it and plyed it and only ended up with 42 yards. So what do you do with 42 yards of One of a Kind yarn. It was really soft and the colour variations were quite beautiful. So I knit a hat, my husband looked at and said, 'another hat'. I guess I am a little hat crazy. It is adorable and though the picture doesn't truly show it, there are so many nuances of colour in the yarn. My cannon point and shoot doesn't seem to like blues and purples.
It was a quick spin and knit and fun to make.

Abstraction and Soap

I think its fun to make the fleece covered soap. Everytime I make one it ends up more elaborate. I am not really one for needle felting images onto the soap as you often seen on Etsy. The first ones I made were mostly different colours, but now they are colour and texture and fibre and things hanging off of them. I am not surprised that they resemble my paintings. As I was making the last ones, I felt as if I was using different textures and mediums just like I did in my paintings. I want them to be interesting. I want one to be able to discover all the different nuances of colour and texture in this small surface.I went to the health food store and bought a natural soap from Mountain Sky was in crafted here in British Columbia in the Kootenay's.They even have my favourite flavour Fennel.
http://www.mountainskysoap.com/

New Hat Patterns on Ravelry

 I added another two patterns to my ravelry store. The top one is a free pattern. Really easy, made for beginners or a super quick easy knit. It's great because you can turn up the ribbing and make a cap out of it.       

http://www.ravelry.com/designers/judith-mueller

Pink is For Girls Slouchy Beret

I added a new pattern to my Ravelry Store

http://www.ravelry.com/designers/judith-mueller

the hat looked great on me, Kensi, Melissa and Amy. It is knit with Noro Shirakaba a wonderful blend of cotton and silk and was purchased at The Art of Yarn.
www.artofyarn.com

Dye Pots are On

 Well, finally got organized and am ready to do my dyeing. I have been waiting all this past school year to add to my colour collection. I got a new fleece of BFL from Ranfurly Farm and what beautiful soft and curly wool it is. I will use it to both felt and spin.There is silk noil and spun silk and icicle and mohair in the dye pot. I don't do alot at a time as my goal is to get a colour stash. Whatever I don't use, I will share, but once I get it in my stash, its hard to let it go.
Today there is Gun Metal and Gold Ochre.... yummy

Washing Wool

Well, I am back from visiting family in Toronto and am ready to finally settle down and do my spring work. I have begun working on my garden and washing the wools I purchased in anticipation of spring. My favourite wool comes from Ranfurly Farm in Chase BC. Read their Blog at:  http://ranfurlyfarmbfls.blogspot.com/p/ram-photos.htmlThe blue-faced Leicester sheep that are kept there have a beautiful fleece. The fleeces are clean and easy to wash and dye and felt wonderfully. I guess you don't always know how well kept things are till you experience something else. I bought a lambs fleece in the fall, from a not to be mentioned farm, and the wool was so dirty, with both vegetable and fecal matter that it took forever to wash.

This is a picture of Bokiddick with her two lambs. The fleece is great and I can't wait to begin dyeing it. I will, definitely, buy a bigger fleece next year. I was trying to be conservative and use up some of my stash. I guess I also thought I would dye the lamb's wool, but the quality of that has been degraded to the quality of stuffing and not worthy of dyeing.