Two Ewes Fiber Adventures

We talk about our projects, including fleece preparation and spinning. Kelly questions Marsha's plans for a sweater from longwool. What do you all think? What should Marsha do with the not quite 700 yards of yarn that didn't come out the way she planned?
Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page.
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android.
It's July, but there is still time to participate in our  June Survey on sourcing yarn, fiber, and supplies.
Marsha's Projects
Compass Moon Creations: Finished! About 500 yards of about DK or worsted from 10 ounces of merino in a blue/green. Realized that when pulling from inside and outside, one single ends up with more twist. Harder to spin.
Sheridan Flats Spinning: Finished! Purchased 24 oz of 80/15/6 wool/mohair/silk roving in the colorway Kaleidoscope. The owner said to spin at a worsted weight for best results. Mill is Olympic Yarn & Fiber located in Cosmopolis, WA. I was really surprised that I ended up with only about 650 yards of worsted weight yarn. I overplied the first skein but ran it through my wheel and took out a lot of the twist. Looks and feels so much better.
Trillium Lake by Kay Hopkins: Using Queensland Collection Coastal Cotton Fine. I'm getting close to finishing. Putting in the purl rounds of hen and then will bind off. The sleeves should go quick as there are just a few rounds of stockinette and then ribbing
Mellow Mood Top: by Julia Piro. Using Queensland Collection Eco Twist in the colorway Crimson Canyon.
Socks: Using Madeline Tosh sock in the colorway Plum Tree.
Silver Bags: Sewing bags with pacific cloth to protect silver. Sounds posh. 😉Experimenting with the embroidery feature on Bernina to make a label to identify contents.
Patio Furniture Pads: I have finished four round cushions for metal chairs and the cover for the chaise lounge pad. I removed the fabric from the wood folding chairs and washed them with TSP. Next is to sand, prime and final paint color. I save the fabric from one chair to use as a pattern. 
Weaving Studio: It's a work in progress. 
Garden Redesign: I've created a project page. More plants and "finalize' design fence on deck and railing
Kelly's Projects
Still working on Boxy with spirit yarn (Shibui Pebble). 
Still working on the merino silk batts that we carded right before NoCKRs. 
I've been picking the washed East Friesian fleece portion that I washed.
Events
Summer Spin-In now through September 7th (Labor Day)
Tour de Fleece July 4th- July 26th
Newbury School of Weaving: July 18-31, 2026

Our Summer Spin In is in full swing and we have project updates. Plus garden talk including tomatoes! Take our  June Survey on sourcing yarn, fiber, and supplies.
Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page.
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android.
Marsha's Projects
Wabi Sabi Tee by Katia: Finished! Used Concept by Katia Wabi Sabi. I purchased the yarn in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Trillium Lake by Kay Hopkins: Using Queensland Collection Coastal Cotton Fine. Knit about 8" of the body and completed the increases.
Socks: Using Madeline Tosh sock in the colorway Plum Tree.
Oaxaca Journey Bag: by Araceli Gonzalez. Using Prado de Lana.
Compass Moon Creations: Spinning 10 ounces of merino in a blue/green. Finished first can and have 200 yards of sport to DK weight. Finished spinning the singles and now need to ply.
Sheridan Flats Spinning: Purchased 24 oz of 80/15/6 wool/mohair/silk roving in the colorway Kaleidoscope. The owner said to spin at a worsted weight for best results. Mill is Olympic Yarn & Fiber located in Cosmopolis, WA. Plied three singles but somehow I over plied it. 
Silver Bags: Sewing bags with pacific cloth to protect silver. Sounds posh. 😉Experimenting with the embroidery feature on Bernina to make a label to identify contents.
Patio Furniture Pads: I have finished four round cushions for metal chairs and the cover for the chaise lounge pad. I removed the fabric from the wood folding chairs and washed them with TSP. Next is to sand, prime and final paint color. I save the fabric from one chair to use as a pattern. 
Weaving Studio: It's a work in progress. 
Garden Redesign: I've created a project page. More plants and "finalize' design fence on deck and railing
Kelly's Projects
Still working on Boxy with spirit yarn (Shibui Pebble). 
Finished the Tablet (card) weaving for Pride Month: Made a dog collar and two key chains for my sisters-in-law. 
Finished spinning the naturally dyed wool from last fall. Robert thought I might get green with tomato leaves and wanted me to try. I used alum mordant on some of my white Shetland that I've been natural dyeing. Got a very dirty looking light grey beige .
Merino, silk, and flax palate cleanser skein. Hipstrings fiber, Alpine Spring colorway. About worsted to aran weight.
Spun the box of merino silk batts that we carded right before NoCKRs. I didn't quite get three bobbins so I picked and carded more merino and I'm making more merino silk batts. 
Fleece washing continues. Did a hot wash of about half the Corriedale that came out of the suint bath. 
Events
Summer Spin-In now through September 7th (Labor Day)
Tour de Fleece July 4th- July 26th
Newbury School of Weaving: July 18-31, 2026

Our Summer Spin-In is underway so get out your wheels and join us for our annual summer event. We also announce the winners of our Colorwork-A-Long and give more information about our May pattern survey. Take the June Survey about sourcing yarn, fiber, and tools. 
Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page.
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android.
Here's a summary of the survey comments on how knitters use patterns and track their progress:
People have a preference for paper but lots use digital tools. A recurring theme was the desire to keep knitting as an analog, screen-free hobby. There are lots of creative tools for counting rows. People use highlighter tape, rulers, sticky notes, hand-drawn grid boxes, safety pin chains, a 10-sided die, and even moving a stitch marker along keyboard number keys.
We also seem to realize that our systems are imperfect. We don't keep enough or the right kind of notes. We have unsorted stacks of printed patterns, notes we struggle to decode later, or no real system at all. Ravelry is a partial solution to this but doesn't work for everyone. 
Color Work Along Prizes
Listen to the episode to see if you are a winner!
Marsha's Projects
Trillium Lake by Kay Hopkins: Using Queensland Collection Coastal Cotton Fine. Knit about 8" of the body and completed the increases.
Wabi Sabi Tee by Katia: Using Concept by Katia Wabi Sabi. Knit about 12" of the body. Another ½ inch and I'll start ribbing.
Patio Furniture Pads: I have finished four round cushions for metal chairs. I think the mis-matched fabric looks good. Next is to sew the cover for the chaise lounge. I have two wooden folding chairs that belonged to my parents. I plan to paint in the same dark green as the table and chairs and recover in the large yellow and white striped fabric. Also have materials to make cushions for chairs.
Sewing Class: Attended part two.
Garden Redesign: I've created a project page.
Kelly's Projects
Continuing on my second Boxy with spirit yarn (Shibui Pebble). I have the fronts redone and connected. I'm just knitting stockinette for several inches before I join the front and back under the arms. 
Tablet (card) weaving for Pride Month: This band will become a dog collar and two key chains for my sisters-in-law. 
Continuing with spinning the naturally dyed wool from last fall: Dyed the last batches of the CA Red fleece with fig leaves and with ceanothus leaves trying to get a green. The fig gave a slightly green tinted yellow. I had used this before on a skein of polwarth but even quadrupling the grams of fig leaves didn't make the color more saturated. The ceanothus ended up giving another tan color. Natural dyeing can be disappointing. 
Fleece washing: About 2 lbs of Corriedale came out of the suint bath and is ready for a hot wash. About 3.5 lbs of light silver Romney went into the suint bath and has been there for about a week. I also spent a day washing about 3 lbs of Jazzman that had come out of the suint bath. There was a white section, a light gray section, and a darker gray section. The darker gray is still a little greasy so I may end up soaking it one more time to get more of the lanolin out. 
Events
Summer Spin In: now through September 7th (Labor Day)
Tour de Fleece: July 4th- July 26th
Newbury School of Weaving: July 18-31, 2026

In this episode we have a sneak peak at our May Survey on keeping pattern notes. Dont forget to participate in the survey linked below. Also, we both have been busy with travel, projects, fixing mistakes, and we have lots to catch up on. 
May Survey
Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page.
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android.
Marsha's Projects
Trillium Lake by Kay Hopkins: Using Queensland Collection Coastal Cotton Fine. Knit to about 3" under armholes
Wabi Sabi Tee by Katia: Using Concept by Katia Wabi Sabi. Knit to about 8" on the body.
Socks: Using Madeline Tosh sock in the colorway Plum Tree.
Oaxaca Journey Bag: by Araceli Gonzalez. Using Prado de Lana.
Compass Moon Creations: Spinning 10 ounces of merino in a blue/green. Brought the project to the beach and plied the first skein. About 200 yards of sport to DK weight.
Sheridan Flats Spinning: Purchased 24 oz of 80/15/6 wool/mohair/silk roving in the colorway Kaleidoscope. The owner said to spin at a worsted weight for best results. Mill is Olympic Yarn & Fiber located in Cosmopolis, WA. Plied three singles but somehow I over plied it. 
Silver Bags: Sewing bags with pacific cloth to protect silver. Sounds posh. 😉Experimenting with the embroidery feature on Bernina to make a label to identify contents.
Patio Furniture Pads: Purchased foam cushions and indoor/outdoor fabric to make cushions.
Sewing class: I took the first of a two part class on learning about your machine and Quality Sewing and Vacuum. Very good class and it is free!
Weaving Studio: It's a work in progress. 
Garden Redesign: I've created a project page.
Kelly's Projects
Finished spinning Ernest, a dark brown merino fleece with silk carded in. I have 12 ounces of 3-ply yarn that still needs to be washed. I'm guessing sport to DK weight once it is washed.
I worked on my second Boxy with spirit yarn (Shibui Pebble). I have the fronts redone and connected. I'm just knitting stockinette for several inches before I join the front and back under the arms. 
Finished three more hats from destash. That puts me at five hats from NoCKRs destash room yarn plus the one I did with the leftover red from my shawl in February. 
Tablet (card) weaving: Before the class I watched John Mullarkey's video on warping the inkle loom for card weaving. I wanted to make sure that I was familiar with the inkle loom that I borrowed so I used his video instructions to warp up a band using the Oseberg pattern from Weave Along with Elewys. In class we made two additional bands–one with a threaded-in technique and one using a warp. I immediately threaded another warp on the day that I came home. 
Continuing with the natural dyeing from last fall: I needed to clean up. The dyed fleeces were spread out over the lab tables in the garage. So I started carding. I finished about 100 g of the CA Red fleece dyed with short-steeped toyon (yellow) and then I spun the fleece dyed with tan oak and spun it up (45 g, 2-ply, pinkish beige). I'm now carding the Shetland dyed with long-steeped toyon leaves (pale orange). The rest of the dyed fleece is stored in bags with labels awaiting carding and spinning later this week. 
Events
Summer Spin In
Now through Monday, September 7th (Labor Day)
Colorwork Knit Along
March - June 1st.
Newbury School of Weaving: July 18-31, 2026

How do you keep track of where you are in your pattern? Let us know by taking our quick survey here. Lots to talk about in this episode. We have our usual project updates, plus we recap our fun week together attending the annual NoCKRs retreat.
Full notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of our shop website: TwoEwesFiberAdventures.com Join the community on Ravelry or become a patron and support the show on our Patreon Page.
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Subscribe on Android.
How do you keep track of where you are in the pattern? Do you write notes on a paper pattern, use knit companion, separate notes, etc.? Let us know by taking our quick survey here.
Our listener Val (Valkelley) reached out to us regarding Episode 262: Game of Wool Reviewed, to say that knitting through the backloop is also called Eastern Uncrossed Knitting. Here is a video explaining one technique. Looks like there are many others to explore.
Marsha's Projects
Trillium Lake by Kay Hopkins: Using Queensland Collection Coastal Cotton Fine in the colorway Chili. About to separate sleeves from the body.
Wabi Sabi Tee by Katia: Using Concept by Katia Wabi Sabi. Used Google translate to translate from Spanish to English. I did't get gauge so I am using Kelly's technique of making the larger size and reducing stitch count by 10%.
Socks: Using Madeline Tosh sock in the colorway Plum Tree.
Oaxaca Journey Bag: by Araceli Gonzalez. Using Prado de Lana.
Compass Moon Creations: Spinning 10 ounces of merino in a blue/green.
Sheridan Flats Spinning: Purchased 24 oz of 80/15/6 wool/mohair/silk roving in the colorway Kaleidoscope. The owner said to spin at a worsted weight for best results. Mill is Olympic Yarn & Fiber located in Cosmopolis, WA. Plied three singles but somehow I over plied it. 
Silver Bags: Sewing bags with pacific cloth to protect silver. Sounds posh. 😉Experimenting with the embroidery feature on Bernina to make a label to identify contents.
Patio Chair Cushions: Purchased foam cushions and indoor/outdoor fabric to make cushions.
Weaving Studio: It's a work in progress. 
Garden Redesign: I've created a project page.
Kelly's Projects
Still working on the Seatoller Socks by Louise Tillbrook. I'm on the gusset of the first sock. One cable stops at the heel and the other carries down the outer side of the top of the foot. 
Still working on the German Shepherd Hat by Teresa Cremers. I need to add some paws or dog bones for the crown motifs but haven't done anything yet.
Marsha and I carded more of Ernest, a dark brown merino fleece with silk carded in. 
Started another Boxy with spirit yarn (Shibui Pebble)
Finished a hat from destash room spirit yarn and needles and started a second one and I'm at the crown decreases already. 
Events
Colorwork Knit Along: March - June 1st.
Conference of Northern California Handweavers: May 14-17, 2026
Newbury School of Weaving: July 18-31, 2026