BMM Yarn cranked to Socks!

Here is the Belfast Mini Mills yarn cranked into two pairs of socks for me!  I am anxious to wash and dry them and see how they wear as compared to the other yarn we have used.  These are both solid colours and they take some getting used to looking at them compared to the bright and funky ones we are accustomed to making, but I do like them!  I think I choose two good shades that go well together.  Here they are Grey with purple stripes and Purple with Grey stripes!  I call them my BMM socks!

back from PEI

Hello we are back from Prince Edward Island!  We went for pleasure but also went to check out the two mills there too.  The first Mill we visited was MacAusland's Woolen Mills Ltd.  They make an assortment of lovely blankets and have yarn also.

We talked to the Mill wondering what yarn would best suit Brigadier 88?

This is the sample skeins that MrB choose to give a whirl! 

Hoping this yarn will make up a nice pair of cranked- out  wool socks!  But if it is cranky we may have to pass it along to a hand-knitter!

The second Mill that we visited was Belfast Mini Mills!  We had a really good time here talking to Hazel, Linda and Mom ( not sure of her name, but a lovely lady)  We had a tour of the mill and stopped and shopped for some yarn of course, and had an awesome little lunch at their Tea House!

Belfast Mini Mills has a Mill Store, Tea Room and Textile Processing Mill.  What a wonderful family operation!!

I bought 4 skeins of yarn to have MrB make me one or two special pairs of socks!

I bought 2 grey skeins and 2 purple skeins.  This is Belfast Mini Mills  Speciality Sock Yarn, 80% superwash wool/20% Nylon.

 

Spun at BMM I am hoping to have a grey pair of socks with couple purple stripes and maybe a purple pair with grey stripes!  Socks for msb....can't wait to see how they turn out....the yarn is so very soft , bet they will feel great on MY feet!

 

Blog in for my latest update

Hello Folks!
Not much to report, but yesterday and today we have been working to add some soap sacks to our inventory so that the 3 events we have booked in September there will be choices if needed.  

Also I have given my Christmas order to MrB so he can work on them in case he gets busier once our fall schedule of events just starts taking place.

Here are the latest soap sacks!  I like them as they are a good colour for men plus they will go with pretty much every colour decor of bathroom and in general suit everyones' need.

msb from Socks Made On 88

S'more exciting news!

We just got some more exciting news this evening!
And anyone who knows me it does not take much to get me all excited!
MrB is more calm, cool and collected.  So Pat if you are still a reader of my blog, me, msb is very excited you called and we are both very much looking forward to being part of your special event/award winning ceremonies!  Although, no one reading will even have a clue what I am talking about, you will and I send you great CONGRATS your way today and for Saturday, September 29th! We will see you then!

Now to my readers:  We have been invited to be part of an event for an award celebration for a friend who works in a completely different sort of hobby/retirement venture.He has chosen to invite our sock venture to be an attraction at his event!  How lucky are we?  It is exciting for me to out on a farm operation and take in the farm event on fall day.  I look forward in meeting rural people who may attend.  I am a down home country gal from away back.  I grew up on a farm in rural Saskatchewan, many moons ago.  I say I am a country girl now gone city!  But that does not mean that I still do not enjoy the country environment when I get the opportunity.

MrB is getting read for a day of knitting tomorrow!  The rumour has it, it is suppose to be a rainy day and what better way for him to do, than to crank out some soap sacks and some more socks for our 3 upcoming September events!  Count them 1-2-3 !!!   He may feel like the pressure is upon a bit, as we do plan to get away camping for a few days still coming up so its work time then again some play time before our busier season is set upon us.  We are still in break mode enjoying the summer and it's flexibility.  Let's see what we can get accomplished in both worlds in the next couple of weeks, WORK and Play!  It is always a pleasure to share our exciting news especially when it come clear out of the BLUE! I will check in again tomorrow or the day after with our update of progress of MrB's knitting tasks completed.  Have a great evening for what is rest of it this evening, and an awesome day tomorrow.

msb from Socks Made On 88

One of a Kind Pair, newest to our collection!

Here is the newest One of a Kind Pair of Socks that MrB created.
They show off Opal Van Gogh leftovers along with some Opal Continents (Africa)
This particular pair is very unique, if you notice the body of the feet have a little variance.  This is a perfect pair for someone really looking for character in a pair of socks, no one will ever have another pair like these!  Size 7, is that your size?
Unfortunately it is not my size...hum...bet MrB planned that so that msb would not snarf them up!  He is very clever you know!

msb from Socks Made On 88

We have been approved!

We just received great news today that we have been accepted to the Historic Farmers Market!  This will be an excellent opportunity for MrB to show off his art of sock-making.  We will be making our first appearance in September!  When our selection of dates has been approved I will announce them here as well as on the:
Socks Made On 88 facebook page and our website:

http://sockson88.wix.com/socks-made-on-88

msb from Socks Made On 88 

Starry Night and The Bridge

Starry Night

The Bridge

New Poll up

New Poll Up!



I am anxious to see the results upon closing.  ~ msb from Socks Made On 88

Top left to right:
The Sunflowers, Gauguins Chair, Bedroom in Arles and The Restaurant
Bottom left to right:
Cafe Terrace, Red Vineyard in Arles, Starry Night and The Bridge

Photo added to update this post, Aug 7th, 2012 by msb from Socks Made On 88


 

Van Gogh #6 for us ~ Red Vineyard in Arles

Red Vineyard in Arles!
I like so many of this series, it would be hard pressed to say which is my all time favourite.  I will be posting "Starry Night" tomorrow after I get them kitchenered.  And then there is no more pair of the series of 8 to do.  The last pair is called, "The Bridge"

Of the ones done which is now 7 out of 8, if I had to pick 4 out of the 7 already completed that I would say I like the best they would be: The Sunflowers, Gauguins Chair, The Restaurant and now, Red Vineyard in Arles!

Ok this has given me an idea!!!  I will be back.

msb from Socks Made On 88

  

Funky One of A KInd, Picking Blackberries!

Picking Blackberries as I call them....my hand dyed made into socks.
All th yarn I dyed yesterday.
They are pretty funky and definintely One of a Kind for me!  I added a splash of green in at the last and I guess I shouldn't have done that as one sock is more green that other one, it doesn't bother me but it probably would not suit someone else.  I still have lots to learn when dyeing but I did learn lots yesterday that is for sure!  I don't have someone to teach me so I still have to learn.  I learn from doing things and sometimes by doing things wrong also.  I will choose to wear this pair cuff up showing off my nice bright blue stripes or cuff down orange!  And can always say the Blackberries were riper for one sock than the other!  Hahaha  I will have happy wearing no matter what!  I would like to wear to a market to see if anyone actually comments on them.  I can tell them that I was practicing my hand dyeing and this is what I came up with ....total yarn for these socks I hand painted with koolaid except the blue was food colouring!  What a creation they are!  Thanks MrB for cranking them up for me, and after supper I will have to get them kitchenered, washed, hung to dry and put away in my drawer to wear sometime soon!

msb from Socks Made on 88

There they be .."Picking Blackberries" A Funky One Of A Kind Pair of Socks for msb :-)

My odd ball socks....I just know that I will learn to love them!  Not sure why the photo didn't come up last but that is ok!

Roll down cuff , shades of Orange for another totally funky look for same pair !The funkier the better for ME!!!

MrB's Leftover Project

Wear Cuff down or wear cuff up!

One of Kind pair of Socks

Van Gogh Cafe Terrace

Van Gogh Cafe Terrace

Projects for Me, msb and projects for MrB!

I got all my dyeing done and the yarn is drying!  MrB got his project done also and created a new pair of Socks!  They are truly another pair of One Of A Kind!  I have to kitchener them as well as another pair that I am STILL working on as they were the last thing to do on my to-do list for Socks Made On 88 today.  When I meant that today would be spent in the business venture, I surely did mean it.  Supper is soon upon us and I still a few more little jobs to complete before my day is done.  It will spread into the evening but that is Ok and then I will come back and post pictures of the two pairs when they are all done fini!  A darn good day for Socks Made on 88 if I must say!  What a great way to spend some time and enjoy it too!

msb from Socks Made On 88

More dyeing of leftovers~ Rustic Shades

I had some leftover wheat coloured yarn and I dyed it all shades of Rustic Colours to experiment.  I cooked this one first after been immersed in the rest of the orange KoolAid mixture that I had from before .

After it was cooked I decided to blotch some  mixture of 2ml of Cherry and 2ml of H2O and then dotted the remainder of the Cherry crystals straight from the package to give it a different effect.  It is one of the creations that is hanging on the line to dry with others.

Here are some other rustic shades that I came up with by using the rest of my KoolAids mixing colours of cherry, strawberry, orange and a little bit of raspberry lemonade ( Blue Ice) too to see how many shades I could get.  I even tried putting a ball of leftovers submersed in coloured dye in the crook pot adding different pieces at different times and one piece I left more undyed surfaces showing and at the very end I added a bit of the blue I had left just here and there very minimal.  This will be a lot of work for MrB to piece all these pieces together wind them and create socks, but I told him he could use them for a pair of socks for me as I would like them even if no one else would.  I am pretty proud of all the dyeing projects I did today as they are creative and unique and that's my cup of tea!  So let's call all of these Rustic Harvest Teas! And if I get a pair of socks from all these leftovers I will call them my Rustic Harvest Tea SOCKS!

Drying!

Drying!

And still drying!

Dyeing Leftovers Orange and Blue

Here are my 3 small hanks of leftovers just itchi' to get handpainted by msb!

Orange Kool Aid and some water wiating for some yarn to become Orange!

Here I am going to use my new-to-me crock pot insert to put in the microwave to cook the coloured yarn.  I am dyeing two small hanks with BLUE food colouring that I had mixed with water and vinegar a previous day to get ready, as I am always game for Blue!

Here are the two small hanks in the crook pot ready waiting to be cooked.

Can you see this magnificent Orange, it is also going to cooked in the microwave but I think if I recall correctly I put this hank in a freezer bag.  This one was not done in the crook pot.  I wanted to experiment and use some variety of methods to see what I liked doing the most and what turned out satisfactory for me now and gauging things also for future dyeing projects also.  I took notes too!

Orange and Blue leftovers all painted and ready to dry shown with their dyeing counter partners!

DYEING ~ PICKING BLACKBERRIES!

some left over yarn soaking to be used next after this little project

my table all set up with some supplies and the 50 grams of yarn that I intend to dye/handpaimt

My first intention was to dye the whole hank purple but then me being the rebel I am could not control myself from using a bunch of colours, in fact all of the colours I had from the packets of KoolAid, how could I resist those smilin' faces looking at me saying, "Pick Me"

So I picked them all! :-) 2  Grape, Strawberry, Lemon-Lime and Ice Blue (Raspberry Lemonade)

 Oh oh I did not use all the colours, I lied!  I didn't use orange or cherry!

Heres my prize possesion "Hung out to Dry"

It's twisted, yes it is twisted alright hahaha!

Twisted around another way trying to show off the colours in different spots!

My twisted prize does have a name as I gave it one.... it is called PICKING BLACKBERRIES!

 Have you ever picked blackberries you get scratched, bleed and bruised and stained, and all the colours are protrayed here in this hank!

I think it will be a SOCKS MADE ON 88 Day today!

MrB has already made a pair of socks!  #5 of the Van Gogh series, this colourway is from the inspiration of the "Cafe Terrace" painting.  I will kitchener them today sometime soon.  I also have some tagging to do, and I am in the midst of soaking some yarn getting ready to dye/handpaint it with koolaid.  I am only using 50 grams as I am practising and want to create a solid to variegated shade to go with some of left over yarns for a One of a Kind pair of socks to be cranked-out to have for our Harvest Festival show in September.  This is where my head is today!  The project will be started a bit.  I am sure that MrB will have his hand in cranking out another pair of socks today also.  And most likely it will be the 6th pair in the Van Gogh Series.  Not sure which of the colourways he will pick but they are all turning out Beautiful!  So I must be off now and go do my tagging and then check in on my yarn soaking, and kitchenering to be done also!  Oh My which should I do first?  I think the order will be check on soaking, tagging, kitchenering and then dyeing.  How does that sound?  I will be back, Jack!  Hopefully with some pictures of something that has be completed today to share.

msb from Socks Made On 88

Our 3rd and 4th creations of the Van Gogh series

Here they are:
The Restaurant and

Bedroom at Arles

Two more of the Van Gogh series. They are all very impressive colourways so far...I love them all... and there are still 4 more to come. They will be cranked-out soon!

msb from Socks Made On 88