K McFarlane

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since Oct 20, 2021
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Recent posts by K McFarlane

The fleece I'm preparing came from my friends' sheep which sadly has died so I am planning to make some gifts from the wool for them!

I began by lightly skirting and then scouring the fleece (I use boiling water and some eco-friendly detergent (label shown in my dishes BB) for this) a few times and then a vinegar soak. I then dried the wool before carding it with two dog combs because I can't afford proper carding tools :D I don't usually card fibre so this took me so much longer than I expected!

Edit: additional picture where you can see the fibre on the scale, I couldn't get it to stay on the scale loose and don't have anything see through to put it in so hopefully seeing the bag open is enough? :)
1 year ago
I knitted the upper/inner for these from 100% handspun wool (the undyed is my first plied yarn :D and the dyed from my local LYS owner!), the soles are from leather offcuts I got from a furniture maker. I used scrap cotton yarn leftover from a blanket project to sew the soles on.

I deliberately knitted there with a wide toebox as I have pizza slice feet (skinny ankles, very broad foot) and they have been affectionately dubbed as my hobbit slippers :)
1 year ago
Button tore off my wedding dress so I reinforced the area where it was with a patch and then sewed the button back on! :)
1 year ago
I use a citrus infused vinegar for most of my cleaning, made from scraps of whatever citrus I've been using.

I'm marinating some chicken thighs today so this batch is made with orange and lime scraps. I've also included a picture of a finished batch I decanted into a reused spray bottle for ease of use.
1 year ago
As I was gathering up the dishes for the dishes BB I managed to knock a side plate and shatter it all over the floor. I took a deep breath and decided to turn it into another BB!
1 year ago
I used mostly water and some of my homemade natural cleaner (citrus infused vinegar) to clean my bathroom today.

I normally use baking soda in the toilet bowl but I've ran out of it so it was just elbow grease today!
Sink and counter was just water and scrubbing with a cloth, then drying with another cloth.
Floor I beat out the bathmats to loosen any hair/debris before hoovering (I also went into a domestic frenzy and hoovered the whole house!)
Bathtub I sprayed with citrus cleaner and let sit while doing the other tasks, then scrubbed and rinsed.
Mirror I just used water and scrubbed, then dried with a dry cloth to reduce streaks.
1 year ago
I've never had a dishwasher so I always wash dishes by hand. I used Ecover washing up liquid which says it is ok for septic tanks. I used two lots of water in the basin so I have only added the dirty water photo from one round here, but in total used less than 4.5L which is just over 1 US gallon according to google.

1 year ago
You may recognise this sock from an earlier BB! This pair of socks are well loved and one developed a couple of holes in the soles (do socks have soles?).

I used what little of the original yarn I had left and some other 100% wool yarn for the other hole. I used duplicate stitch for the smaller hole and a messier approach for the larger hole! Ready to be worn again just as we go into colder weather :)

1 year ago
My nearest yarn shop sells only British wools, not sure which are undyed - https://www.caledonianwool.com/

Further betraying how Scottish I am, New Lanark Mill produces yarns including undyed in darker shades. I enjoy knitting with their other yarns and find them to be good quality - https://www.newlanarkspinning.com/collections/yarn

Looking forward to seeing what you make! :)
1 year ago
I opted for the soak in vinegar method, unfortunately the only plastic bag I had was a compostable one from a farmers' market which turned out to have a pinhole in it!

I ended up soaking our shower head in a planter in the bathroom sink and it worked well enough. :)
2 years ago