Stockings

[MSW]

nice looking work!

what breed of sheep do you have? (I used to keep alpacas, but the market collapsed and my wife sold them all.)

I am given to understand that the diet has a good deal of effect on the qualities of the fiber.

hmmm
...

I raise Merino's. Very soft, but durable fiber. Soft enough to wear against skin with no itchies.

Many things affect their fiber quality. Diet, stress, heat, cold, pregnancy, worms. My critters are mainly on pasture, with supplemental salt, and a bit of grain. Plus they all love oatmeal cookies.

Their life is pretty stress free, unless the horses decide to chase them. Fiber growth is very slow right now, due to the heat, but will kick into overdrive as soon as it starts cooling down. My flock is also covered year round to keep the tips from sunburning, and to keep as much VM out of the fiber.

The fiber can get a "break" in it, basically a weak spot, due to stress or pregnancy with lack of good nutrition. So far I've been lucky and have not had that problem with my flock. We breed in late fall for spring babies, and that seems to also help deter the fiber break problem also.

Sorry to hear about the loss of your alpacas, they also grow beautiful fiber!

ff (well, sorta)

the break is the same in alpaca fiber ... saw it a lot in show animals ... especially moms who had had winter cria ... our fiber did well at shows - the critters were very well guarded ...

this is a plug for Great Pyr guard dogs ... we never lost so much as a chicken to predators, and there are plenty around here.

 

[Tallswife]

nice looking work!

what breed of sheep do you have? (I used to keep alpacas, but the market collapsed and my wife sold them all.)

I am given to understand that the diet has a good deal of effect on the qualities of the fiber.

hmmm
...

I raise Merino's. Very soft, but durable fiber. Soft enough to wear against skin with no itchies.

Many things affect their fiber quality. Diet, stress, heat, cold, pregnancy, worms. My critters are mainly on pasture, with supplemental salt, and a bit of grain. Plus they all love oatmeal cookies.

Their life is pretty stress free, unless the horses decide to chase them. Fiber growth is very slow right now, due to the heat, but will kick into overdrive as soon as it starts cooling down. My flock is also covered year round to keep the tips from sunburning, and to keep as much VM out of the fiber.

The fiber can get a "break" in it, basically a weak spot, due to stress or pregnancy with lack of good nutrition. So far I've been lucky and have not had that problem with my flock. We breed in late fall for spring babies, and that seems to also help deter the fiber break problem also.

Sorry to hear about the loss of your alpacas, they also grow beautiful fiber!

ff (well, sorta)

the break is the same in alpaca fiber ... saw it a lot in show animals ... especially moms who had had winter cria ... our fiber did well at shows - the critters were very well guarded ...

this is a plug for Great Pyr guard dogs ... we never lost so much as a chicken to predators, and there are plenty around here.

ff

Wish I could afford one, my flock is growing and I want a dog out there with them.

 

[Tallswife]

Finished the first one. Didn't come out like I thought it would. Not long enough, the foot/arch area is too loose, and I don't like the toe.

Back to the spinning wheel!

 

[Artificer]

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. I for one would be interested in reading the problem/s you ran into?


Gus

 

[Tallswife]

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. I for one would be interested in reading the problem/s you ran into?


Gus

Well, lets see LOL!

When I put it on, it stretched wider around the calf and pulled away some of the length of the stocking. The ribbing ended up below my knee a few inches. I have fairly "round" calves, shall we say? LOL. I think i'll go up one needle size for the knee/calf portion and drop to the smaller ones for the ankle/heel/foot area.

The fit around the ankle and heel is good, but I need to decrease more stitches in the gusset to tighten up the arch/foot area. It is too floppy and loose to fit into a shoe or moccasin easily. The foot length is good overall.

I did a round toe on it, and with the extra bulk of the foot, it just looks and feels bad. I'll change it to a more fitted, sleek toe instead.

I can post a pic if your interested in seeing a visual of the problems.

I'll make one to match it after I get my outfit stockings done. I can wear them around the house in the winter, so its not a total loss.

 

[Artificer]

I would very much enjoy seeing pics of what you are talking about. Thank you. We often learn more from out mistakes than we do by our successes.

My ONLY experience at making any kind of period "Stockings" was when I made the Bag Hose for my Black Watch impression. However, those are made by using heavy Diced Wool material and sewn up with a seam. However, I modified the original method of sewing them up for more comfort.

I did not want to stand with my feet on a regular seam under my foot, so I made a sort of flat seam for that part of the Hose. I DARN sure was not going to have seam in front of my toes the way the originals were made. So I used a more toe friendly seam. The problem is I am not a tailor or seamstress, so I can't say exactly what kind of seams I used. However, the bottom of my feet and especially my toes thanked me for the way I sewed these seams. :haha:

Gus

 

[Tallswife]

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Not long enough in the body, stretched wider and shrunk the length.

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Loose across the foot/arch.

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Loose around the foot/arch and a round toe that doesn't work!

 

[Artificer]

Thanks for the pics. Still looks better than what I could do. :redface:

I don't even have a clue on how to fix that by changing something with your knitting.

Gus

 

[Tallswife]

LOL! I'm hoping that I do too! :rotf:

I have a pretty good idea of the changes I need to make to have it work.

 

[coloradoclyde]

I'm still going to give you style points.... :thumbsup: :haha:

 

[Tallswife]

Thanks Clyde!! :grin:

 

[Tallswife]

updated stocking! I finished the redone pattern, and i'm much happier with it!! Its longer, tighter and overall much better! I wont have time to knit the second one before the encampment. Another winter project for me LOL!

 

[Artificer]

Voilà, Dear Lady. Seems the second time was the charm, if not perfection.

Gus

 

[Tallswife]

Thank you kind Sir!

 

[Cruzatte]

I have to say I'm really impressed. Keep up the good work. :hatsoff: :thumbsup:

 

[Tallswife]

Thank you!

 

[colmoultrie]

Looks very nice indeed!

 

[Tallswife]

Thank you!

 

[Tallswife]

Finally!!! They are done!!!

 

[Artificer]

Dear Lady,

WOW, those are truly impressive!! :thumbsup: :hatsoff:

OK, so please inform us of the corrections you made from the first set of stockings to come up with these.

BTW, I really appreciate you and anyone else adding information on period wearing apparel in this forum. FWIW, I would very much like to see more of it.

Gus