Have I Mentioned My New Fiber Source?

Those of you who visit my homestead blog probably already know about Charlie.

He's a "woolly" llama and is the newest addition to our homestead.

He's just a little guy, 6 months old, who is to serve as guard llama for the goats (and chickens apparently), and a fiber source for me.  He's already been sheared this year, which is just as well, because we have our hands full just getting him used to us.

For a few more photos, click here. :)

Have I Mentioned My New Fiber Source? 

© August 2010 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Old Fabric Finds

When we bought our place, the house was cleared out but the outbuildings weren't. Dan wanted to use one as a workshop, but it had to be cleared out first. It was loaded with the previous owner's junk, plus a little of our own. As he toted stuff out, he found an old suitcase. In it, was a pile of old cotton flour and sugar sacks. We were pretty busy at the time so the suitcase was set aside and forgotten. Somehow we got to talking about that the other day, and he pulled it out so I could take a look.

Most of the sacks were worn, torn, and stained. Many had been cut open to use for other things. All were cotton. A few still had their original stamped labels, faded, but legible nonetheless.

Many of them were sugar sacks, like this ten pound Dixie Crystals sack.

Front

Back

According to an article on Wikipedia, the original Dixie Crystals sugar refinery was built in 1916-1917 in Port Wentworth, Georgia. The refinery was sold in 1997 to Imperial Sugar, which continues to sell the Dixie Crystals brand today.

This ten pound sack once contained Hershey's granulated sugar. Hershey's of course, is the famous chocolate maker located in Hershey, Pennsylvania, though they no longer sell sugar.

There were several of these larger 100 pound sugar sacks. Notice where it was made, Central Hershey, Cuba. This gives a clue as to how old the sacks might be. According to this website, the Hershey Company built Central Hershey, a sugar mill and mill town, in Cuba in 1916.

This was at the time of World War I, when sugar was being rationed. Milton Hershey wanted to ensure a supply of sugar for his chocolate manufacturing, and what better way than to produce it himself. He sold the sugar mill in 1946, to the Cuban Atlantic Sugar Company.

Also in the suitcase was at least one flour sack.

I couldn't find much information about Sunkist Flour on the internet, other than two tidbits. First, an excerpt from "Reports of cases determined in the Appellate Courts of Illinois, Volume 186", which referred to a legal case in 1910. Sunkist flour was evidently milled by the Maney Milling Company in Omaha, Nebraska. The plaintiff had an order for 4,000 barrels of flour (at $5 per barrel), of which only 155 were delivered before the mill burnt down.

The other tidbit was on the website of the Douglas County Historical Society of Omaha as a list of miscellany. It mentions a Sunkist Flour ink blotter, circa 1940.

Notice that it is self-rising flour. I didn't know this, but self-rising flour was invented in 1845 in Bristol, England.

This one is partially too faded to read, but as you can see, it is hen feed. Of course, we already knew that previous occupants of our house had chickens. I reckon today we would call this layer ration.

It appears to be stamped "Green (something or other) Hen Feed." I can't make out that "something or other" so I have no way to research it. Still, it was an interesting find.

Most of the other sacks have been washed so many times that the inks are completely faded. Though worn and stained, the cotton fabric is usable, for sacks or for something else. Maybe a quilt? Nothing is anywhere near "mint" condition, so not of much value. Still, these are little glimpses into the history of our old house.

Old Fabric Finds © June 2010 

by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Stash Reduction Afghan Progress & More Socks

Progress on my stash reduction afghan for Project Linus is coming along slow but steady. I never did get that orange yarn, though I would have loved to add orange to this. I just got too far along and gave up on it.

It's at the point though, where it is too big and bulky (and hot) to take with me when I go places. For that, I wanted my usually "go" knitting, socks!

I told DH I'd make this next pair for him. I handed him Knit Socks! 15 Cool Patterns For Toasty Feet , told him to pick a pattern, and to pick a color. Well, he ended up liking the exact pattern I had just finished for myself (pic of my finished socks here), the "Classy Slip-Up" socks.

And what color did he want? Blue and red. Oh dear. For one thing I had just finished knitting a pair of these and wasn't terribly interested in knitting the same pattern so soon. The other thing is that the pattern doesn't exactly lend itself to two color knitting. What to do.

When I pointed the color problem out, Dan said, well, he liked the stripy effect of another pattern in the book, the "Checkered Textures" sock.

Not an accurate scan of the colors, but you get the idea. You can see the full, original photo on page 97 of Betsy Lee McCarthy's book.

The challenge then was how to combine the two sock patterns. I really had to think about this for awhile. My solution is nowhere near the stripy effect of the "Checkered Textures" socks, but he's happy with it, and that's what counts.

The cuffs, heels, and toes will be knitted in blue, the rest of it alternates the blue and red yarns. The blue row is always the slipped stitch row. Since it is the red yarn in the previous row that is slipped, the result is red stripes. The yarns are from KnitPicks.

As with my other projects, these will probably take awhile. But as long as Dan can see some progress on them from time to time, he's happy.

Stash Reduction Afghan Progress & More Socks 

© 16 April 2010 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related Posts:
Fireside Sock Knitting
Stash Reduction Fail

Stash Reduction Fail

My intentions are good. After all, I have bags and boxes of acrylic yarns that I really need to get rid of. True, I could give them away, but on the other hand, I find acrylic yarns come in handy for my Guild's community service project, Project Linus. Volunteers donate handmade blankets for children in crisis. The stories of the lives these blankets touch are wonderful. And since one of the requirements is that the blankets must be machine wash and dryable, acrylic yarns fit the bill.

In the past I've woven these. In fact the first project off my Glimakra, was a blanket for Project Linus. (Details here.) Last year I dug around in my boxes of finished objects and donated not one, but two more. Currently, because my loom is still unavailable, I thought I would take all the leftover acrylic yarns and knit a blanket.

The stash reduction stripe idea came from Janet (Janet's Thread), who routinely uses this technique to reduce her yarn stash. My problem was, that as I chose colorful yarns (a sure kid pleaser) and started knitting, I kept thinking, "It needs turquoise" and "It needs orange." Rather than just using what I already have, I had to run to the store to look for more yarn. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), there wasn't any orange, but I did find turquoise.

The result is that I'm having fun with more colors, but I've failed at reducing my stash by much. At this rate, I'll never be finished with my acrylic yarns.

Stash Reduction Fail photo and text are 

© 13 March 2010 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal.

Fireside Socks Done!

These won't win an award for speed knitting, but they're done! White is pretty plain and unexciting, plus it doesn't photograph all that well, but I've wanted some handknit white socks, so here they are.

"Fireside" isn't the name of the pattern, just the name I gave to the project, since these were started while enjoying the fire of our woodstove. They are actually the "Classy Slip Up Socks" from Knit Socks! 15 Cool Patterns For Toasty Feet by Betsy Lee McCarthy. You can read about that here.

What's next? Well, I still can't get to my loom, but if I can find my circular knitting needles, I may start on a blanket. I may be slow, but it's nice to have something creative to do.

Fireside Socks Done! photo and text are © 13 March 2010 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal.

Related Posts:
Fireside Sock Knitting