True North, Strong and Free Cowl

Feeling the need to share a little Canadiana inspired pattern. The True North, Strong and Free Cowl was written for anyone to knit who might need just a little bolstering of their of spirit in these wild and crazy times.

While not 100% geographically accurate, the cowl features a map of Canada on one side and a partial phrase from our National anthem on the other side. I’ve done my best to make the motif of Canada as representative as possible but it is difficult with the stitch parameters I was working with. I took a little artistic license here and there.

The pattern is UNTESTED but I’ve knit so many cowls in the past few years that I feel comfortable releasing this free for people to enjoy.

I have included direction for knitting it in either fingering weight yarn or a light worsted/DK weight. The yardage is just an approximate but I have increased the amount so that no one should run out of yarn in progress of knitting their project. If you are shorter on yarn than the pattern suggests, you could always reduce the top and bottom ribbing to 1” in height for each.

The yarns that I would suggest are Fleece and Harmony Wildwinds 2 Ply or Selkirk worsted but please feel free to sub in what works for you.

I hope that you enjoy making this project and that you wear it proudly!

And, if you’re looking for an amazing hat to match your cowl, I highly recommend Live by the Leaf Toque by Good Fibrations!

Slow and Purposeful January

I have some beautiful locally grown Shetland X that I’ve started processing. I’ve skirted, washed, and carded the fleece and now I’m on to the spinning.

With approximately 1100 grams of soft and fluffy wool clouds to work with, I have lots of options for fun projects. For now though, I just enjoying the spinning process.

Sitting down and letting this soft wool slip through my fingers and onto the wheel is such a calming and grounding activity. I love the slow, purposeful process of working from sheep’s back to finished project …. The continuation of Slow December into Slow and Purposeful January.

You’ll most likely see a bit of this fleece over the next white as I spin it up and decide what it wants to be.

Anyone else really sinking in to slow and purposeful making this year? What are you working on? I’d love to hear. 💗

Slow Making

2024 was a very full year for me and when December rolled around, I was ready to slow things down a bit. I said no to many things, I declined requests for last-minute holiday knitting projects, and I actually spent some time in rest. True rest. I didn’t feel pressure to be in production mode. I spent time with my family and friends. I took naps. I walked slowly and savoured that time. I ran with intention and enjoyed the scenery. I did weight training that brought me joy. I enjoyed some quiet time. I really soaked in that quiet time. Slow December was a real blessing.

Now that we’re in the New Year, the temptation is there to jump in to all sorts of challenges, to schedule more, pack more things into my to-do list, and to fill my days. I’m not a resolution setter but I am definitely one who enjoys setting and working toward goals and deadlines for myself throughout the year.

This year I’m approaching things a little differently. I’m carrying over the energy of my Slow December into January. I’ve scrapped a couple of projects that just weren’t bringing me joy and immediately felt a huge sense of relief and lightness. There was nothing wrong with the projects …. They were beautiful … but I realized as I was pushing through them that I actually didn’t want the finished project. I want to craft with intention and allowing myself to abandon those projects freed up time for what I actually wanted to work on.

I used that lightness as fuel to spend a little time at my wheel and finished spinning the yarn for a long-term project.

Last year, I started spinning for a Traveler Shawl by Andrea Mowry. I had several braids from Inglenook Fibres, of beautiful merino, Tussah silk, and flax that I had chosen to spin as fractals for this project. They were good sized braids too! They were between 5.7 and 6oz so there was lots of spinning fun to be had.

Last week I finished spinning and plying the last braid which meant I got to cast on! I’m not too terribly far into the knitting but I’m really enjoying the slow rhythm of knitting it and watching as the colours fade from one to the next. If you’ve not knit with fractals, you are missing out! They’re always an adventure and you never really know for sure what they’ll look like until you knit them.

So for now, I’m just going to pick away at the knitting …. A couple of rows here and there … and savour the process of knitting in my own handspun. After all, one of the chief treasures of being a spinner is getting to enjoy the beautiful yarn you made with your own two hands.

Until next time, I wish you peace and joy-filled crafting. 💗

Sunday Spinning

Well! Please forgive my absence. It has been a hot minute since I’ve shared anything here on the blog. I have been crafting lots and I could come up with many reasons for not sharing but the honest truth is that I’ve just fallen out of the habit! Habits are like muscles we need to use them to keep them strong and I’ve let my blogging muscles get quite weak 🥴 Time to get back into the habit!

Today, I’ve decided to share a few quick shots of my spinning projects. I’ve become much more proficient at support spindling since I last shared and always have a project on my spindles on the go. This photo is of a delightful batt I picked up from the Paisley Defender at the PEI Fibre Festival. It is a blend of fibres and textures and it is such a pleasurable spin. Sue’s colours are always on point too!

The next two photos are finished yarns in a delicious merino, tussah silk, and flax blend from Inglenook Fibers. I am busily spinning away for a Traveler Shawl by Andrea Mowry. I have one more braid to spin and I will be time to get knitting!

I’ll spare you the long parade of projects since last posting but will make a better effort to write more often. I actually really enjoy blogging but with day-to-day to do lists and time demands it is usually the first thing to get shuffled to the back burner.

Do you have habits that you’ve let go a little? Are you an infrequent blogger like myself or a person who suffers from cast-on-itis? Please tell me I’m big the only one to let habits wane sometimes 😆

The Weekly Wool – Fibre Prep

Lately, my Fridays have been spent in a scramble of errands, food prep, and driving the kiddos around but today, I actually have a free day! So …. I’m spending my time prepping some really beautiful wool for spinning.

For a bit of background, I had the pleasure of helping out at Fleece and Harmony on shearing day. The major perk of working at the skirting table means you get to preview ALL the lovely fleece 😆 and I fell in love with some of the silvery grey that passed along the table. Kim and Ken sent a big bag full of this precious wool home with me and I promptly washed and dried it for later processing.

Having previously been a hand carder here at home and stepping up to a drum carder, there is a bit of a learning curve to creating lovely and smooth spinning batts but I have to say, I feel I’m getting the knack of it!

I started out by flicking the tips open and moved on to picking. Each generous handful of wool went through the box picker twice. After picking, I put the wool through the drum carder twice as well. I made sure to add the wool slowly and to spread it out. The resulting batt is EXACTLY what I was going for …. Smooth, airy, light, and soft. I can’t wait to spin it!

What kind of fun crafty things are you working on? Are you working on expanding any of your skill sets? I’d love to hear!

The Weekly Wool

I know it may be early in the week but I’ve been enjoying some woolly escapades already.

I’ve recently received some beautiful Shetland X fleeces and a Romanov fleece from a neighbor and I’ve been processing away. Below is a quick little snippet of sorting and skirting out in my yard.

I’m getting much better a skirting and sorting efficiently and effectively (it helps that I get to do this at my day job as well!) but my home processing is a work-in-progress. I’m quite fussy about my fibre prep (IMAGINE!) because I’ve been so dang lucky to enjoy batts from epic creators like Melly Knits, so I feel my fibre processing needs some fine tuning and tweaking to be up to my quality preference.

Regardless, practice makes progress, so I’ve been getting very friendly with my wool box picker and my drum carder. I’m pretty pleased with the two batts of Shetland X that I’ve picked and carded today. They pretty smooth (they do have a few neps) and I’m just cracking to sample them. I might just have to spin a little bit on my Kiwi tonight. 😉

The Weekly Wool

I’ve decided to start a new little blog series about my adventures in wool during the week. No specific parameters, just what I’m doing, learning, enjoying, and without pressure to produce a specific finished result. As much as I enjoy structure and routine, I sometimes need the space for whimsy. The Weekly Wool is essentially a diary of my playtime with wool.

This week I received a new spindle in the mail from The Spindle Shop in Queensland, Australia and let me tell you, it is a beauty! It is made from a variety of beautiful woods and is smooth as silk. It also spins like a top!

Of course, I need to create a fun fibre batt to get acquainted with the new spindle so I went through my fibre stash and settled on a blend of locally grown Icelandic, a bit of Corriedale, some lovely dyed Shetland from Good Fibrations, some Cheviot, a smattering of sari silk, and just a little sprinkling of angelina. I’m pretty happy with the finished batt and it is spinning up with a wonderful texture. I’ve set aside half of the batt as I feel this really wants to be a two ply handspun.

Another bit of fun I’ve been having is skirting and washing some local fleece. Usually, I just skirt and wash enough to serve my immediate needs but this time I decided to complete a whole fleece. Part of the decision to prep more is the fact that I am now the proud owner of both a box wool picker and a hand crank drum carder. This should make processing a bit easier for me. Also, the weather was fabulous and I was able to skirt outside and, once the wool was washed, lay it out to dry in the sun. Truth be told, I’ll probably skirt and wash another fleece this afternoon 😉

And lastly, not related to wool at all, my chamomile is in full on bloom. I love these happy little flowers and very much enjoy making tea from them.

I hope today that you find a little time savour and enjoy the things that bring you happiness and joy as well.

Sunday Snapshots

I recently acquired a drum carder so I’ve been quietly working away at using up some scraps and leftover bits of fibre.

Today, I made a very beachy looking batt with blues, greens, and the odd little pops of colour and have started spinning it on my Woodland Handcraft cauldron spindle.

The more I work with spindles, the more I seem to fall even more in love with them. I find them very peaceful and almost meditative to spin on and I particularly enjoy the fact that I get to really savour spinning the fibre.

So this is my Sunday treat …. A little spinning in the garden. What are you doing?

Spring in the Makkin

As some of you may know, thanks to some encouragement from Liz at Good Fibrations, I’ve been experimenting away and learning to use a makkin belt.

While the process is still rather slow going, I’m definitely getting the hang of it and have created a pattern to encourage me along with the process.

Spring in the Makkin is a colorwork hat knit in worsted weight yarn for a speedy, almost instant gratification type project. I chose Selkirk Worsted from Fleece and Harmony because it is one of my favourite worsted weight yarns to knit with and there is such a large variety of colorways to pick from. Plus, while it may technically be Spring here in PEI, we’re still getting snow can the wind can be quite bracing, so cozy knits are still required!

The project can be knit on either a makkin belt (if you’re up for the challenge) or with your usual needles.

If you are interested in creating your own Spring in the Makkin, you can find the pattern in my Ravelry store or on Etsy.

Happy Spring (or Autumn to any pals in the Southern Hemisphere) and happy crafting!