Fiber Arts Friday: Re-versioning a Wrap

This started out as a Surfinia Wrap.

I cast this piece on before I started the Rocky Mountain Raptor piece in early 2017.

The color of the yarn reminded me of the Great Horned Owls that we have in our area.  So I thought I would make this piece for myself... some day.

It spent most of the last two years resting, but I've been working on it more over the last month or two.  I was feeling like it might be ready to start the lace portion soon.... then I saw this Copperbranch pattern on Ravelry.

This pattern is much more in the direction of things I like.... more structural and not overly feminine.

I briefly thought that I would make the Copperbranch pattern with my second skein of this same cashmere+merino yarn... then I realized that I could just change the end of the shawl I'm currently working on.

So the first step was to move the markers from every 12 stitches to every 16.

I did that by adding safety pin type markers at 16 stitches then removed the hoop type markers as I knit the next row.  Then I counted every stitch on the following row to I hadn't made a mistake.

Now that the markers have been moved successfully, I'm in the process of knitting to the appropriate amount of stitches for the lace pattern.... repeats of 16 + 3 stitches on each end.

My current plan is to finish the small ball prior to starting the lace portion, which should finish out at 22 repeats.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Raptor Program Piece

It was the end of April 2017.  I was reminiscing on FB about having learned to cable 7 years earlier when a dog show friend asked about sales of my knitted items.  I said I don't sell my handmade goods, but I do gift occasionally.  Which got me thinking about making something for a dog show prize.  But she was thinking about the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program Art Auction.  Which I thought was a great idea!

I spent some time with my stash, thinking about the Raptor Program and considering different projects... I eventually settled on Surfinia using a homegrown, hand-spun, Huacaya Alpaca.

I like the story this yarn tells.... our Huacaya Alpaca are protected by our Tibetan Mastiffs.  This friend is one of the Conformation Coaches, where we take our dogs to practice.

This yarn won a Blue Ribbon at our County Fair in 2015.

This shawl won a Reserve Best in Show at our County Fair in 2017.

This piece was donated to the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program Art Auction and "contributed to their record breaking event in February earlier this year.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Results

I finished my shawl on Monday.  Dropped it off at the fair on Tuesday.  Judging was Wednesday.  The fair opened on Friday evening.  We went on Saturday evening.  :-)

There are two options for entering knitted items in our county fair.... Spinning and Weaving and Needlework.  I opted for Spinning and Weaving for two reasons:

1. I wasn't certain how big my finished shawl would be at the time of entry, so I wasn't sure which class to enter.
2. I was using hand-spun yarn.

The competition in the Spinning and Weaving department was exceptional and I am humbled to have been awarded Reserve in the Non-Woven class.

Now to prepare this piece for it's ultimate destination, The Rocky Mountain Raptor Program, and to start thinking about next year's entries.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!