The Great Frame-Up

I've already mentioned my addiction to art by Liz of Primoriginals. Many of her original paintings are also available as 4x6 or 6x6 prints in her Etsy shop. When I moved, I bought a handful of them to liven up my walls. I wanted to frame them in funky frames, but I couldn't find 4x6 frames I liked. I also liked the idea of using a larger frame to give them more punch. I could only find pre-cut 4x6 mattes for 8x10 frames in white. I bought the only two Michael's had in stock and framed one of the prints.

I like how it turned out, especially since the print is very colorful and the white helps draw focus. (Click any of the pictures to view them larger).



I also had two 6x6 prints that were difficult to frame. I wanted square frames, but all of the ones I found were for different sized photos and custom mattes are expensive. While I was strolling through the framing department at Michael's looking for the mattes above, I saw 12x12 scrapbook frames on sale for $5 each. They're designed to hold a single scrapbook page. I grabbed two of them and went to the scrapbooking section to look at paper. I found two 12x12 sheets of textured colored paper for a mere 50 cents each. I added some removable adhesive dots to my basket and off I went.

I didn't need to cut the paper to fit the frame, so I simply measured my borders. I applied a sticky dot to each corner of the print and stuck it down. Removable dots are great because I could reposition as needed and it means I could theoretically change the background if the mood strikes. I LOVE the results! This one is now in my bedroom, hanging on my yellow wall.



This was so easy and personalized that I wanted to do more. I returned the other 8x10 white matte and went to the scrapbooking section again. I took all of the remaining prints with me and spent some time finding just the right paper to match both my decor and each print.

I used a razor knife to cut each sheet of paper down to 8x10 to fit the frames. I bought six of the same style frame so they're consistent through my apartment. I measured each page to leave a 2-inch border on all sides and used the sticky dots again. I found it's easiest to press the dot against the print while it's still on the roll, and then lightly roll it on, instead of trying to pry it off with my fingernails. These removable ones are like rubber cement and they wad up really easily if you mess around with them.





I now have five new prints with customized mattes and they turned out great!



I loved the print of the girl with cats the first time I saw it. I crack up at the expressions on everyones' faces and I like the whimsical paper. It's going in my kitchen, where the walls are pale green and I have other purple accents. The other print is a copy of one I sent to my sister in Iraq. There are three girls in my family, so it's a "sisters" print to remind her of home. It's going in my living room, next to the red couch seen in the background.



This print was a gift from a friend who knows how much I love Liz's art. I think it's going to be hung in my office. The colors will work in several different rooms, so I haven't completely decided yet.



This one is going to be hung in either the office or my kitchen. I love the swooping purple and green in the paper and I think it ties in well with the print. I just knew I had a match when I pulled this paper out of the bin.



This last one is going in my office. The print is called "Bye Love" and the pale blue background makes me think of rain.



There is so much variety available in scrapbook pages and they gave much more impact and personality than a plain matte. It was so easy and affordable to do too! I am thrilled with the new art for my apartment.

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

Life around here has not been all about the spinning and knitting. Two summers ago, I bought a whole bunch of old mirrors at a flea market. My idea was to hang them on the side of the garage so they would mirror the garden. I looked at them after I got them home and decided some of them wouldn't weather very well and others were too nice to leave out. Now that I'm in my new apartment, I dragged them out and looked at them again.

First victim - large oval mirror

I found this one for $5. It has a fiberboard backing and the frame is actually molded plastic. It wouldn't have stood up to the elements outside. I love the shape and size of it, so I really wanted to do something fun to make it fit in my decor.





First I painted the entire frame with white latex paint. I had sampled a little acrylic first, but it wouldn't bind to the plastic very well. Hence, the pink smudge. Even with the smudge, it was already looking a lot better.



I followed up with two coats of "Dark Violet" Liquitex Basics acrylic paint. It was interesting to see how the paint settled into the nooks and crannies on the frame. I wasn't sure originally about the color, but straight from the tube turned out to be exactly what I needed. I have purple accents in my living room, and this dried so deep that it doesn't stand out as shockingly purple. It matches some place mats I'm using to cover an end table and there are dark purple stripes in my sofa pillows. Up against my pale yellow walls, it's perfect. It's on the wall facing the windows so it reflects back sunlight and images of trees, shrubs and my birdfeeders. I LOVE how this turned out and it was such an inexpensive solution. I already had all of the paint, so the only expense was the mirror itself.

Can't talk..

I just started swatching with Malabrigo Lace. I've read plenty of reviews of Malabrigo and I know everyone says it's delicious. They say that about alpaca too and alpaca feels itchy to me. It's all hype! Yummy is in the eye of the beholder or something..

I feel guilty stopping knitting long enough to type this because Malabrigo Lace is so delicious I want to eat it, smooch it and roll around on it, all at the same time. My swatches are so soft and light, they feel weightless. I can't imagine what a sweater knitted out of this will feel like, but I plan to find out.

Honestly, this stuff is magic. I love all of my yarn, but I'm completely smitten with my five tiny little hanks. And it's dark green! Yum!

I am not a prodigy

Spinning looks so easy when other people do it. I watched a woman at the Door County Shepherd's Market spinning on a drop spindle while she walked around and chatted. Her spindle was like a little dog on a leash and the yarn magically wound itself from a loop of roving over her shoulder into neat singles without any apparent effort.

I was shown how to use a drop spindle last Thursday and all I could do was drop it, make a mess and wish I had about four more arms. My singles were puffy and under-spun, alternating with wiry, kinked and desperately over-spun. I couldn't keep it spinning, so it kept reversing direction and untwisting my yarn. As my teacher said, "they call it a drop spindle for a reason".

Once I had the general gist of drafting, my patient teacher moved me to my wheel. It turns out I have two gimpy bobbins that won't spin freely on the flyer. However, I did have a good bobbin with me, so I was able to get going on that one. My singles weren't much better, but I stopped wishing for extra arms. I wasn't too worried about treadling and drafting at the same time. My drafting was still dismal and I had a tendency to get excited and start spinning nearly invisible little threads that would snap while I held my breath and begged them to hold long enough to wind onto the bobbin. I did become pretty comfortable with adding new wool to the breaks, so it worked out for me.

Despite all of my frustration, I finally had a light bulb moment where I could feel I was doing something right. I found I can't hold the wool in my left hand because my hands get confused and keep trying to do the other ones' job. Once I moved the wool to my right, everything started to come together. I still can't control my drafting to save my life, but I keep telling myself people pay a lot for thick and thin yarns and Malabrigo is a popular single.

Say what you will, but I'm still stupidly proud of my first attempts.



I spun some more last night and I seem to create bulky weight singles with the occasional stretch of fingering/sport weight. My singles break if I try to make them thinner and it's just going to take a lot of practice to get strength and consistency at a finer gauge. I'm not even thinking about plying yet because these singles would ply up into a rope you could tie a boat with. I'll knit my singles into a little wool blanket for Lucy. She won't mind if it's a little nubby looking and it will be a nice reward since she's so good about cuddling but staying off my knitting (usually).

You spin me right round

I was out shopping with my Mom on Saturday and we stopped in to a furniture consignment store. I was on a quest for an end table. When we were at another shop, she borrowed their phone book to make a couple calls. She called a consignment store neither of us had heard of before, but the woman on the phone said they only dealt with furniture and they had several tables that might work.

When we got there, I started poking around. I walked into a section of knick-knacks and saw a spinning wheel lurking in the corner. I thought it might be like my aunt's old decorative one so I didn't get too excited. When I got closer, I saw it was a working wheel with extra bobbins on the floor next to it. Okay, so then I got excited. I checked the tag and it said "Ashford Spinning Wheel". I know the name Ashford. They make very nice wheels. I also know they are about $500 and up new. I didn't know exactly which model this was, but it looked to be in good shape, other than a little dirt and missing the drive and brake bands. It had originally been marked at $298, but the price was dropped to $144. At this point, I was having heart palpitations. I couldn't resist this deal. Forget that I don't know how to spin. I've checked into it in the past but the cost of wheels was too prohibitive for me to think about it. I actually almost put a wheel on my Christmas list but knew it would cost too much.

I told my mom this was my Christmas present, either to myself or if she wanted to chip in and I almost ran to the counter. I told the woman I was still looking for a coffee table but that I was taking the wheel. I was looking askance at anyone near that corner, and was well prepared to tackle any little old lady that might have designs on the wheel. Once I had staked my claim, I was free to browse further, although my heart rate was still through the roof. I couldn't believe my luck!

After I got home I started doing some research on Ravelry and elsewhere. It's an Ashford Traditional, which is a popular wheel and is good for beginners. It also has readily available spare parts, which is a bonus. I drove out to Susan's Fiber Shop this afternoon and bought the Ashford maintenance kit. It has all of the bands, springs, hooks and wheel oil I need. I also bought delicious fiber so I can try playing with it. I have several books on reserve at the library that will be ready tomorrow. I'm also going to try to get back to Susan's on Thursday for her open spinning night. I can take my wheel so she can help me tension it and get started.

So, without further ado, here's my wheel as of Sunday night:



And here it is just a few minutes ago:



The lighting is the same. The second photo is after about two and a half hours of solid elbow-grease, scrubbing off dirty old wax and exposing the gorgeous New Zealand White Beech underneath.

This is a close-up photo after I took the flyer off:



This is after scrubbing half of it and you can see how dark the rest of the wheel is in comparison:



This is the bobbin that was on the flyer, after I unwound the old wool that was in the middle:



The wheel still needs to be waxed but I'm letting it dry. My fingers turned black and sticky and even dishsoap hasn't taken it all off. It was worth it because I now know every inch of my wheel. I took the rusty hooks off the flyer so I can replace them with new ones. I found the conrod joint is leather, which dates the wheel back to the mid 1980's. The flyer is also a two-speed instead of the newer three-speeds. It looks like all of the joints are solid and there are no cracks or splits. The wheel doesn't wobble and looks to be true, but I won't really know for sure until I hook up the drive band and see how it treadles.

Look how pretty!



I bought myself some luscious roving to practice with.

First is some Frabjous Fibers Hand Dyed Blue Faced Leicester ("Biffel") Top in color "Jewel". BFL is supposed to be fairly easy to spin and I love the colors in this one.



And although it's beyond beginning abilities, I had to get this second one as my inspiration to learn quickly. It's so beautiful I couldn't help it. I was actually hugging it in the shop because it's SO soft, silky and smooshy. It's Frabjous Fibers Hand Dyed Superwash Sock Merino (50% superwash merino, 50% tencel) in color "Deep Space".



My plan now is to read up between tomorrow and Thursday so I can go to spinning night with an idea of what I am in for. I'll also prep my BFL so I can start working with it when I get there. I'll wax the wheel tomorrow and have it buffed and ready to take out in public. I'm REALLY excited about this! Spinning sounds like a lot of fun, and although I have tons of knitting in the queue, it's going to be interesting to learn more about yarn from another angle. It can only help my knitting.