So after months of trying to figure out the best thing to do with all of this glorious fleece that our boys gave us I finally ordered a set of hand carders and started to play. "Play" being the operative word as I have never had any formal training on how to use them...well other than an elementary school trip to Black Creek Pioneer Village. So thanks to the encouragement from Andy and a new friend from Kentucky and the internet's endless supply of "How To" sites, I finally stopped turning Vincent's fleece into knots and started making some of my first rolags.
Of course, looking at all those soft rolags led me to sign up for a spindle class and I can not wait to see what I can create after that! For now though, a dear friend, who saw the photos of our fleece, reminded me of thrummed mittens. Thrummed mittens are very well known in Newfoundland...cause let's face it, they know cold! So back to the internet I went. After checking many, many knitting sites and refreshing very old and unused knitting skills, I was experimenting once again. Thrumms are small portions of fleece, pulled from the rolags or rovings and knit into the mitten, sock, slipper or hat so that the ends of the fleece are loose on the inside of the garment and left to act like insulation. The garment itself is made with regular worsted yarn.
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| Warmth is this fleece wrapped around you! |
I have been bringing those old knitting skills back to life again for two weeks now. Of course, to add a little glich to my creativity, there had to be a couple of steps missing from my pattern. That's right, back to the internet and those "How To" videos again! But now, two weeks later I am on a roll...I think. My first slippers may not be perfect and I have found a few areas where I would actually adjust the pattern but hey, who says a girl can only have one pair of slippers? All I can tell you is they are the coziest, softest pair of slippers I have ever had!
The kids have all put in their orders for what colour yarn they want and who's fleece they want...so by the time all of our slippers are completed I should be an old pro. Who knew that spending endless hours curled up in that old comfy chair carding fleece and knitting would be so relaxing!
