Ambrosia and Bliss

Wah! Tour de Fleece crash and burn!

2011-07-16T03:11:00.002-05:00

For crying out loud. Who decided that spinning in July was a good idea? I haven't spun a speck of fiber since Sunday. I spun in air conditioning, came home, put my wheel down and it's still sitting there with a partial bobbin of alpaca on it. We're going into 90+ temps for the next week and I don't have air conditioning. If I try to spin in this weather, I'm going to end up with more fiber on me than on the bobbin.

That's it! I'm throwing in the towel for another year.

I'm still being somewhat fibery by seeing alpacas at least several days a week. That has to count for something. Right?

Tour de Fleece - Day 5

2011-07-06T23:11:00.002-05:00

It's a good thing I'm not actually riding in the Tour de France, because my recent progress would basically involve taking a two day picnic with my bike thrown behind the bushes. Today, I knit a few rows on my never-ending blue cardigan and moved my washed alpaca fiber on the drying rack. That's it. I think I moved my wheel over once so I could pick up my cat.

I solemnly swear I will spin at least one alpaca batt tomorrow.

Tour de Fleece - Day 4

2011-07-06T01:13:00.003-05:00

I washed more fleece for the super secret project. I didn't get any spinning or carding done, but I had to work late this evening. I'll do more tomorrow!

Tour de Fleece - Day 3

2011-07-05T01:18:00.006-05:00

I celebrated Independence Day by sleeping in, working on fiber stuff and watching movies. It was wonderful! I made a lot of progress today, even while being lazy.

* Finished carding the huge pile of blue roving that's been on the carder for ages. I dyed several pounds of various blues to test a recipe for a custom yarn order. I've been slowly carding it together into batts. I'll eventually add other stuff to the batts and perhaps use them for a larger project. Maybe I'll put them up for sale. Either way, the roving is finally out of the way and I can work on other things.

* Finished washing the sheep fleece! It was a 6.5 pound fleece, so it took a few batches. It's drying now and I'll eventually dye some of it. The rest will be combed and spun in the natural colors.

* Washed a small bit of alpaca fiber for my super secret project.

* Carded several bits of alpaca fiber for my super secret project, plus another batt from a fleece I'm processing.

* Spun two mini-skeins of alpaca for my super secret project. This is the first actual spinning I've done during the tour. Most of my goal is processing the fleeces in my stash, so we'll see how much finished yarn I end up with.

Washed fleece!

Carded alpaca fiber!

I actually spun yarn for the Tour de Fleece!

Tour de Fleece - Day 2

2011-07-04T01:19:00.002-05:00

Washed more fleece. SO exciting, I can hardly stand it.

I also helped do chores on one alpaca farm and assisted on another while they gave shots, so my day was rather fibery. My own stash doesn't look much different, but fluff is my life, no matter how I am involved.

Tour de Fleece 2011

2011-07-02T23:41:00.007-05:00

Tour de Fleece has begun! My goal this year is to finish processing the fleeces I have in the stash. Not spin. Process.

Day one is dedicated to washing the one fleece I bought this spring. It's a lovely Border Leicester x Wensleydale ewe fleece. I have a dark fleece from her lamb last year already in the stash. Her fleece is soaking in the tub right now and it's coming out a variety of grays from pale silver to pewter.

Prior to the Tour, I also did some weaving.

I knitted a baby blanket and a monkey.

I spun some yarn.

And played with a new alpaca cria at my friend's farm.

All in all, I've been a bit busy since my last post!

A new start

2011-01-28T16:28:00.008-06:00

I can't believe it's 2011 already and that I have been SO lax in updating my blog. I've had a lot going on in my fibery world. I needed to recharge my batteries, so I got back to knitting. For Christmas I made a little shrug for my niece, two hats and three cowls. I also finished my very first sweater for myself. I knit it with handspun and the resulting fabric is wonderful.

I'm currently working on a cardigan called Aidez. It's a free pattern from Berroco and it's a fun knit. There are lots of cables and twisted stitches to keep it interesting. I'm knitting mine with thick, chewy Cascade Eco in a brown that reminds me of tree bark.

There are extensions of the fronts that wrap around and meet in the back of the neck. I used my Google-fu and discovered TechKnitter wrote an article in the Spring 2010 Interweave Knits that explains Kitchener stitch in pattern. I used it to graft together the two pieces and the result is almost invisible. I'm so pleased with it! I'm going to remember this technique because it's so much more elegant than a clunky seam, especially in bulky yarn like this.

Alas, all is not well. I'm blocking my first sleeve but at first look, it's sized to fit a gorilla and assumes I will be wearing football shoulder pads to make it fit properly. I may end up frogging back to the underarm and reknitting, but I really hope it doesn't come to that. I suppose it's not a real knitting project unless I make at least one bone-headed mistake.

On the other side of the coin is my Saori weaving. In Saori, mistakes are human and meant to be embraced. I scored a deal and found a LOCAL used Saori loom that really wanted to be mine. I bought it the same day my long awaited Saori weaving book arrived in the mail. I was getting ready to try the techniques on a rigid heddle because I've been full of ideas. I brought my precious loom home in a snowstorm, warped it after watching YouTube videos (with a few mistakes) and spent several days weaving fabric for a blanket. It's warped with Kauni leftover from a felted bag project and the weft is various Beaverslide yarns, Patons Rumor, some sock yarn scraps and pieces of fabric. I really love how it turned out. There are errors in the warping, but I appreciated the texture they added and I kept on weaving. Next step will be learning how to hem and seam on the sewing machine so I can form this long strip into a blanket shape. I am looking forward to lots of experimentation with this loom!

I need a time machine!

2010-09-25T12:41:00.003-05:00

I don't know where the summer went. I've been super busy dyeing and spinning and gearing up for the Fall Fiber Jubilee but I keep thinking of more things I need to do. Since this is my first show, I am flying by the seat of my pants. It's anyone's guess how much I'll need to bring or what will even be popular. My Etsy shop has already taught me that my favorites are not the same as everyone else's. I've been cranking out batts as fast as I can and today is a big yarn dyeing day.

For anyone who isn't dyeing, this is National Alpaca Days weekend. Find a farm near you and go check them out! I was going to do a spinning demo today, but a friend's alpaca finally had her cria yesterday and I was up too late last night. Between that and needing to get ready for next weekend, I had to make the executive (hah!) decision to stay home and behave myself. I even declined seeing the cria again today! I'm so dedicated to my art.

Look at what I'm missing!

Lots of catching up to do

2010-09-02T22:40:00.010-05:00

Tucked in with my mail yesterday was a flyer for the Tall Grass Farm Fall Fiber Jubilee. I've been a shopper there before, but this time is going to be special for me. Ambrosia and Bliss is listed for the first time ever as a vendor. I'm working on my stock and trying to figure out how I'll set up a table with my yarn and fiber. It's exciting and a bit nerve-wracking. This has been such a hot summer and I don't have air conditioning, so I haven't dyed much lately. When I'm already a melted puddle, cooking a big pan of steaming water at 185 degrees for hours is counter-intuitive.

I spent most of my summer looking like this:

Now that the weather is cooling off a bit, I've been dyeing again and slowly making progress. I have a few things I'm excited about. I'll be bringing batts, dyed locks, lots of roving and some hand-dyed yarn. One of my yarns has real silver in it and sparkles - hopefully it'll be a hit at the Jubilee.

I won't have any to sell, but I've been weaving more blankets with my Hazel Rose looms. This one was made with a variety of "pink" Phat Fiber samples spun together and then plied back to make a two-ply. The skein gradually changed colors, which was perfect for the weaving. Although all of the diamonds came from the same skein, each one looks distinct. I wove the pale pink areas with Cascade 220 so the handspun could stand out. These are so easy to make and a nice change from knitting.

Another reason I haven't been dyeing much this summer is I've been busy with other non-fiber things. Hard to believe, but it's true!

Since I moved, I haven't had a yard that I can fill with gardens. I've been very lucky to have a few small gardens to play in at the EAA Seaplane Base. I started planting them several years ago and they are finally coming into maturity. The EAA Fly-in happens every year at the end of July. The rest of the year, the Seaplane Base is private land. I designed gardens that would hopefully peak for that week and need very little maintenance or watering. Because of these restrictions, I chose mainly prairie plants with deep root systems. I was thrilled to see this hot weather was good for them and they were full of flowers this year. Even better, the swamp milkweed was covered with Monarch caterpillars. Each plant had 20-30 caterpillars in a range of sizes and I saw an adult laying more eggs during the week. Little things like that make me happy.

A friend of mine keeps alpacas and had two crias born earlier this summer. I actually had my hands on one of them during delivery (very warm and slimy) and got there right after the other one was born. Due to some post-natal excitement, one of them had to go to the veterinary hospital, so I also got to play chauffer. There are few things in life funnier than driving an alpaca around in a mini-van. I've been spending a lot of time hanging out with my friend and her alpacas. I need to live vicariously through her because I definitely can't hide an alpaca in my back yard. The two babies are growing so fast and they are fun to watch when they play together.

I also made a much-anticipated trip to Portland, OR last month. I used to live there and hadn't been back in about seven years. I planned a trip with my two sisters and we had an action-packed six days to see as many sights as possible. High points were Voodoo Donut (where I had a bacon maple bar - yes, a donut with bacon on it), driving up the Columbia River Gorge and visiting the coast near Newport. I had forgotten how beautiful it is out there. I really need to go back. All those mountains are good for my soul.

Addicted to weaving

2010-06-11T23:40:00.006-05:00

I've added a few new Hazel Rose looms to the herd, plus I borrowed one to make a blanket. I bought some natural Corriedale from Whitefish Bay Farm and some dark Wensleydale/Coopworth from Homestead Sheep and Fiber Products at the Door County Shepherd's Market last month. I used a quilt pattern to piece it out and arranged the colors as I saw fit. It only took eight days and 11.4 ounces of yarn! I still can't get over how fast it goes and how little yarn it uses.

I also added a new wheel to my happy little household. I've been stalking Ravelry and Craigslist for a used Majacraft Little Gem for nearly a year. I tried one at Wisconsin Sheep and Wool last September and fell in love immediately. Unfortunately, everyone who owns them seems to love them too, so they very rarely come up for sale. Last week, I stumbled upon a great deal and couldn't let it pass me by. It came with the new green padded carry bag, three bobbins and a two-bobbin collapsible lazy kate. It's so lightweight and tiny compared to my Ashford Traditional. I've named her "Ruby" after my grandmother. Plus, it's a Gem!

I spun up some fine Icelandic singles from the lock to break her in and found I had to use the largest whorl. The smallest whorl apparently spins the flyer at light speed. Add in my crazy treadling as I acclimate to double-treadles and it was a recipe for either disaster or rope-burned fingers. This is SUCH a different wheel from the Ashford. There's no resistance whatsoever, the treadles "roll" more than go up and down and I can start and stop with my feet. I need to learn how to choose the direction with my feet, because I would slow down and suddenly start spinning in the other direction. By comparison, my Ashford is heavier, particularly thanks to the Jumbo flyer I added. Everything is bigger and heavier. I never figured out how to stop and start with my feet, so I always reach over and give the wheel a push in the direction I want to go. When I stop treadling, the wheel keeps going.

It's interesting because it's easy to think a wheel is a wheel. They're not! They are all such individuals. I never tried another wheel before getting the Ashford because I just happened upon it when I wasn't looking. Last year, I test drove every wheel I could find in hopes of finding a travel wheel. My Ashford barely fits through the back door of my car and it's not easy to carry. I've taken it out a bit and I'm always afraid it's going to get banged up. I sat down and played with every wheel I saw and didn't find any that felt right. The flyer was in an awkward position or the treadles felt shallow or they were too heavy or too light. Nothing jumped out as a good fit, although they're all nice wheels. Then I passed a booth that had a Gem sitting near the back. It didn't have a for sale sign on it, but I asked about it. The woman let me sit down and treadle on it and it was like that scene in "The Sword in the Stone" where Wart pulls the sword out and angels start singing and sparkles fall upon him in a moonbeam. Seriously. Since then, I've test driven Gems a couple more times and it's always been true love all over again.

I've become a firm believer that there is a wheel out there for everyone. All of the modern wheels are well-made, but they have their own quirks and uses. I can see now that my Ashford is ideal for spinning thicker yarns and plying. If I want low-twist singles, I'll go to the Ashford. My huge bobbins will hold 8-10 ounces of yarn. It's great for that. It's not great at very thin yarns. That's where Ruby comes in. I'll have to try out beaded yarns on both of them and see which I prefer. The flyers are made differently, so getting lumps and beads onto the bobbin may be easier on one over the other. I won't worry about upgrading Ruby with a jumbo flyer because I already have a wheel I can use for plying. It's win-win all around and I am so thrilled to finally have a wheel I can easily transport!

Warped!

2010-04-30T16:48:00.003-05:00

I volunteered at the Great Midwest Alpaca Festival last weekend. I was in the fiber demo area spinning all weekend, and there were all sorts of other fiber arts demos. One of my friends taught needle felting, another friend taught drum carding and a woman from the local spinning guild was demonstrating weaving. I stopped by to see how to weave on square and triangle looms, but missed seeing how to start the process. It was a busy weekend with a lot going on, so we made tentative plans to meet and do some weaving. I also managed to win a volunteer raffle gift certificate, so I used it to buy two weaving books. The stage was set..

Last night I went over to my new friend's house to learn to weave. Her studio is a dream come true. It's like a weaving and spinning art gallery married to a yarn shop. She showed me how to weave on a Hazel Rose diamond loom and I took one home with me. I also got a brief overview of floor looms and general weaving tips. It was very inspiring and a lot of fun. I came home and wove a few diamonds last night and made some more this afternoon. It's very easy once you get the hang of it and it only takes 15-20 minutes to make a small diamond.

For me, weaving is faster than knitting and the color effects are different. I'm using my Phat Fiber yarn samples from past boxes. I can weave sport, dk or worsted as is, or I can double up a fingering-weight yarn to make my little diamonds. I'm going to save them up and sew them into a small blanket or perhaps a bag. I'll see what I think when I lay them all out. It's a very portable hobby if you're working with the small looms and there's no binding off. It's kind of like spinning and works great when I don't want to follow a complicated pattern. The yarn colors do their own thing, so each diamond comes out a little different.

Five of my fleeces came back from the mill on Saturday too. I have a few more to pick up in a couple of weeks, but these were enough to handle. They fluff up so much after carding and I had to work hard to find space to stash them. I've already started spinning the Romney fleece and it's a joy to work with. I spun about eight ounces in two days and it practically drafts itself. The colors are more evenly blended than they were when I flicked locks and drum carded, but it's a nice shade of grey and should be very pretty when it's plied.

Last but not least, I've also sort of learned to tat! My Great-Aunt showed me, my mother and one of my aunts how to tat two weeks ago. It's harder than it looks. I think magic is involved, because she would move her hands in a blur and out would come perfect little knots and picots. There's a right way and a wrong way to wave your hands around and they look nearly identical. One little move (that I have yet to master) is the difference between gorgeous lace and a mess of knots. For most of my lesson, I couldn't even SEE that little move. I thought I was mimicking her exactly, but I missed "flipping the knot". I've ordered a book and will be sitting down to make a determined effort to learn the different techniques. We didn't have enough time to go over everything and she lives out of town, so I'll have to sort out some of my mistakes on my own. I'm excited about it. Tatted lace doesn't look that exciting in photos, but when you handle it, it's wonderful. I had no idea it was so pretty until I saw some up close.

April Phat Fiber Videos!

2010-04-15T19:09:00.004-05:00

The April Phat Fiber teaser videos are posted! This month looks like the best yet. My "Luna Moth" sample is at the 2:56 mark in the second video. I can't wait to get my box and see which goodies Jessie sends me.

The Joy of Fiber Mills

2010-04-01T20:07:00.007-05:00

There was a comment on my previous post about using mills, so I thought I would explain a little further. (Click any photos to see them larger.)

Last year I bought eight fleeces from my favorite shepherd. She raises Romney x Wensleydale x Cotswold sheep and their fleeces come in all colors. They hang in long ringlets and have a wonderful sheen to them. I hand washed all of the fleece and then balked at hand-combing it all. I also had some alpaca cria fleeces in a wide range of colors - fawn, beige, grey, rose grey and a deep cinnamon. These fibers are gorgeous because of their color and I wanted each fleece processed into roving separately. Who would want to mix such unique colors?

When I buy a fleece, the first thing to do is wash it to get the lanolin, suint (sheep sweat) and dust out. I pick through by hand to pull out the obvious second cuts, big pieces of hay and matted locks. The detailed procedure is fodder for a later post, but suffice to say it's time consuming. Each batch goes through two or three soapy washes and two or three rinses until the water runs clear. This photo shows part of two sheep fleeces and one of those lovely alpaca fleeces from last year (blanket only) drying in my studio. It's taken me several evenings to wash all of this and now it's setting on racks with a fan blowing to dry. Part of the time limitation is how much shelf space I have to allow the fiber to spread out for fast drying. You can see the wet fiber on the lower shelves, and how much it fluffs up when dry.

I have equipment here to hand-process smaller amounts of fiber. I can use my mini-combs, which are great for longer fiber and which may come into use when I work on the really long Polypay fleeces. I've also used these on an alpaca fleece that was full of hay and straw. If that were run through a big machine, all the bits of hay would get smashed into the fiber and it would be unpleasant to spin. Combs are great because they comb through the fibers, straighten them out, and allow me to separate the good fiber from the chaff, so to speak. Short pieces of fiber, second cuts, tangles and vegetable matter all stay behind. There is more waste, but nothing beats the soft, clean fiber that results from combing. It's VERY labor intensive though because I can only comb a few locks at a time - maybe 1/4 to 1/2 ounce per batch.

I also have a drum carder. This is a mini-version of what a mill would use to card fiber into roving. I run the fiber through and the little teeth on the drum catch the fibers, sort of straighten them out and let me blend in other fibers like silk, bamboo, sparkle and other colors of wool. I can fit about an ounce and a half at a time on the drum. It makes lovely batts and I can pull those batts into roving if I want to. If I'm working with fleece, I need to fluff the locks up first, before running them through. Otherwise the tips catch on the teeth and too much fiber feeds in at once. This will jam the whole thing up. I love making batts with add-ins, but this would also be a lot of work to card through many pounds of wool.

For example, this is about 25 batts adding up to about two pounds total. You can see a soda can for scale. This took me several evenings to do and would maybe be one fleece worth of fiber.

I searched around and found a lot of mills have minimum orders for a batch. They need to clean the drums on their industrial size carders between each batch and it's a lot of work. Most of the local mills required two pounds or more of clean fiber per run. That's a problem when an alpaca cria blanket weighs less than that washed. Most of my colored sheep fleeces were also under two pounds each. I was going to have to cave in and blend them, when I found a mill that will process any size batch. I drove up there a month or two ago and dropped off all of my washed colored fleeces, several alpaca fleeces and a few other odds and ends where I had one fleece of each breed, like one Corriedale, one Rambouillet, one Shetland x Merino and one Romney. All of these breeds have different characteristics and the staple length of the fibers varied. I wanted to keep them separate so I could take advantage of their unique qualities, even if they were white.

When I found a source for Polypay fleeces, I ended up buying 20 pounds, which is about seven skirted fleeces. They were all thrown together in a bag because each sheep was similar to the next. The fiber had the same characteristics and it was all about the same length. There's no reason to keep all of this separate, so I found a mill closer to home that had affordable prices for both washing and carding fleece. I dropped off the big bag of greasy locks and walked away knowing that I'll end up with clean roving. I'm going to do the same with three Texel x Targhee fleeces (about 12 pounds total) I bought last weekend. They look like this right now:

When I get them back, they'll look like this:

In this case, it's very worth it to me to have someone else with better equipment do all of the work. I'd rather spend my time dyeing and spinning, especially since the shop is taking more of my time. I'll hopefully have the individual fleeces back by the end of the month so I'll have new photos to share. It also means I may be able to offer locally-raised wool roving in my shop. I can sell locks, but many spinners without this specialized equipment would rather buy roving.

No matter how much work it is or what the added expense may be, I really love working with fresh fleece. The smell of lanolin makes me happy and it's a chance to work with local shepherds. They have a market for their fleeces since I'm connected with the handspinning world, and I have a source for fiber that hasn't been treated with chemicals or over-processed to remove the bits of hay. It also means I have the chance to work with breeds of sheep that aren't often commercially available. Merino, Corriedale, Shetland and Blue Face Leicester are common, but unique breeds or cross-breeds are very difficult to find. Every breed of sheep has a purpose and their wool varies wildly. It's so much fun exploring all the different types.

Another productive weekend

2010-03-28T18:26:00.005-05:00

How does a fiber artist spend their weekend? This one wasn't typical for me, but it was a lot of fun.

Yesterday I got up early and drove to a local fiber mill to drop off some fleeces to be washed and made into roving. I found a local source for Polypay wool and bought thirty pounds. My goal is to dye more local fiber whenever possible. It helps the farmers and it really interests me. I like having that connection to local sources. The opportunity to buy fleeces other than merinos is worth the extra effort. Polypays are bred to be good all-around sheep. They have lots of lambs, good weight gain for market and their fleeces are good quality. They aren't as super fine as some breeds and they can really vary, but I picked through and found the softest and crimpiest ones possible.

Three ewes missed their original shearing date and were done later, so their fleeces were longer. Although the mill equipment couldn't handle the length, I couldn't pass them up. The fiber is really soft and it's 6-8 inches long! I'm going to hand wash and comb these fleeces and see what happens.

After visiting the mill and meeting the very nice owner, I came home to warm up the dye pots. I focused on merino/silk yarns, firestar and the fiber for my April Phat Fiber samples. I stopped when my shower was filled and I needed to get to bed. I tried a new technique for the yarns, including an overdyeing step for some of them. I really like some of the colorways that resulted. One of them is gross and I need to re-do it, but I'll have to think about what colors I'd like to overdye with. Not every color blend is a success. In the photo, it's the weird pinkish-salmon and brown one. The red dye I was using didn't bond to the silk very well and it made this bizarre pastel color.

This morning I got up and headed to a local farm to demonstrate spinning. They open their farm for visitors to come see the new lambs and it's quite the event! Hundreds of people came through to watch me spin and ask questions. I like sharing my experiences with learning to spin and it gave me about six hours of spinning time. I took two bags of past Phat Fiber samples in blues and pinks and spun them one after the other to make a variegated yarn in each color group. I already did one in natural tones and I love how it turned out so I want to make more. These still need to be plied, but I think they'll be beautiful.

The best part of the farm visit is seeing the lambs. I still hope to have a farm someday and being around sheep makes me happy. The lambs were napping in a huge pile in the creep feeder pen this morning. Watching lambs dozing in the sunshine was a good way to start the day.

These are Targhee x Texel sheep and I brought home three fleeces from this farm as well. They're softer and springier, but will make very nice roving. I bought a sample of the roving from last year and really liked it. These will be going to the mill the next time I have a minute.

Tonight's plan is to wash some of the long Polypay fleece and then sit back with a glass of wine. I'm tired!

Spring is here!

2010-03-25T19:38:00.005-05:00

It's been a busy winter, mostly occupied with dyeing yarn and fiber and working my way through the big pile of fleeces. I still have a few to wash, but I've decided that carding is best done by a mill. I'm working on a few sources for local fleeces, so I can offer roving in my shop from shepherds I know personally. It's an interesting work in progress, so we'll see how it goes.

Last weekend I made the rounds to three farms and saw fiber animals galore. I am aching for a farm of my own, but for now I'll have to live vicariously through my friends.

One has alpacas:

One has angora goats (from which we get mohair):

And one has lots of sheep and new lambs:

I've been getting out and spinning in public more. Now that spring is here, the fiber festivals are starting up and I have more opportunities to volunteer. It's good because it gives me a chance to spin a few things for myself. When I'm home, I'm focused more on business things and not so much on random whimsical projects. These are two skeins I just finished and I love them both. The brown one is definitely for me and I may or may not sell the other one. They both sparkle!

Big News!

2010-01-11T23:18:00.002-06:00

I've been horrible at keeping this thing updated lately. I blame the holidays and my job, but I think things will start calming down soon.

I'll post pretty pictures of fiber and stuff here eventually, but the news of the day is that I finally completely my biggest 2010 goal and applied for a business license. Ambrosia and Bliss is going to be a legit sole proprietorship! I still have to figure out a lot of things like income tax, how to report sales tax and what to do about credit cards if I ever get a table at a craft show, but this is a huge first step. It's exciting!

Turquoise toes

2009-12-13T00:37:00.005-06:00

I've had several really good days with my dye pot lately. I try to save energy by heating it in the morning and rotating batches of roving in and out all day. It makes more sense than hauling everything out to dye one or two braids. During this last big day, I tried my first kettle-dyed yarn. I love how it all turned out and I am itching to re-skein it and see the final project. It takes forever to dry, so I'm having a hard time being patient.

This is my first batch of dyed roving. Several of these have sold already and I had a lot of fun experimenting with color.

I chained all of the roving into nice little "braids" and used the ragged and excess bits from the ends to spin samples. I wanted to test the Merino and Falkland fiber and see how my dye-jobs behave in action. The singles marl and self stripe a little, but the really interesting part came when I plied the yarns. They come out more heathered and the shockingly bright colors are tamed by the darker patches, even if there aren't many. It's really wild and I love the finished yarn. I'm not a huge fan of barber pole striping in yarn, and this kettle-dyeing technique seems to help prevent it.

This is my latest batch. The first four on the left, hanging on clothes hangers, are my first hanks of yarn. I love all of them and I'm going to have a hard time letting them go. The brown is based on the same colorway as the brown roving above. It's really interesting to see how the colors behave differently on yarn versus roving. The yarn I spun from the fiber is a really complex mix of browns and came out a sort of warm toasted sugar color overall. I'm going to knit swatches of those four yarns to see how much they actually stripe or if they come out dyed more to the stitch.

The reason for the name of this post is that I managed to spill a little turquoise dye on my kitchen floor. I didn't notice until I stepped in it and smeared it across the floor. It wiped up easily and will likely wash out of my (blush) acrylic sock, but it dyed my "protein-fiber" middle toe a nice shade of turquoise blue. I feel fancy.

Live and Let Dye

2009-11-04T21:12:00.005-06:00

I finally saved up enough to set up my dye "studio" and I'm loving it. I've been sampling Greener Shades dyes and keeping copious notes as I try different ways to prep, heat and add acid to the fiber. My love of lists and spreadsheets is definitely coming in to play here. I have a special dyeing notebook for each batch and then I'm keeping fiber samples from each one in a photo album. I figure if I am going to ever be able to sell repeatable colorways, I need to know what I am doing. I keep telling myself it's a business decision and not my nerdiness shining through.

This is my third batch of dyed fiber, when I mixed three colors in the pot to see what would happen. I love how it turned out. I've now dyed samples of all the basic colors except black for reference purposes. There is a rainbow in my studio! (Click any photos to see them larger)

I also rearranged my kitchen to move some of my fiber blending supplies into my work area. I had a small bookcase doing nothing but collecting clutter in my bedroom, so I moved it and filled the shelves with blending fibers. I always do my carding on my kitchen table, and now everything will be close by. I can also keep my scale there, since I use it for both carding and dyeing. All of my dyeing is done right next to my kitchen sink so there is no risk of spillage. Fortunately, I have the type of faucet that pulls out into a sprayer and it reaches the dye pot. I couldn't have planned it better.

Now my combs are clamped to one chair, I have the carder and scale on the table, mixing fiber on the shelves, dye supplies in the bin, and more mixing fiber in the white box. Since this was taken, I bought a box picker for opening up locks of fiber. I used it to pick some of the red dyed fleece and it's a huge time saver. Wool locks, still in tight formation, are almost impossible to run through the drum carder. The picker loosens everything up and helps the bits of hay and debris fall out before they get mixed in to my batts. I got a great deal on a used one and it's the perfect size for my work area. I like that I can latch the cover so my cat can't get into trouble. The inside of it is full of spiky heavy nails. Honestly, most spinning equipment is bloodthirsty! My combs are a serious harzard and I have a bandaid on my finger after carding part of my knuckle last night on the drum carder.

I think this will all pay off eventually. I just sent out several more batt orders and I have an ever growing list of reserve orders for the Sarah and Jareth batts. I also carded some "Hoggle" batts, mostly out of alpaca, and I love them so much. I hope others will like them too.

October Phat Fiber and an Abundance of Sparkles

2009-10-16T19:30:00.006-05:00

So I previously mentioned I am now the happy owner of a drum carder. I bought a used Fancy Kitty "Kitten" in July. It hasn't made much of an appearance here because carding alpaca in summer heat and humidity is a misery, and I've been gradually building up enough of a fiber stash to really be able to make batts. Perhaps it seems odd that a closet full of fiber isn't enough to get started, but I have a lot of washed natural fleeces and hand-dyed roving and batts, and nothing in between. I want to spin the pretty roving I buy off Etsy and at festivals, not mash it through the carder.

The October Phat Fiber theme is "Masquerade". I was stumped for a minute and then thought of one of my favorite movies - "Labyrinth". Near the end, there's a scene where Jennifer Connelly and David Bowie are at a Masqerade ball. She's wearing a shimmering white gown that flashes green and blue when the light hits it and she's draped with silver and gold jewelry. He moves through the crowd in a stunning deep blue jacket crusted with gold and silver jewels. They were my inspiration for two different sets of batts.

The "Sarah" batts are white wool and grey Wensleydale X locks carded together with about six different dyed silk, bamboo and milk fibers and three colors of angelina. The result is a delicate, pale, ethereal batt that shimmers no matter how you look at it. I love these but I only had enough fiber to make 14oz. I ripped up some to make the samples and the rest already sold in a single order. I'm hoping to get more fiber and angelina to be able to make similar batts again soon because I would like to spin these myself! (click any photos to see them larger)

The "Jareth" batts are made with hand-dyed organic merino from ExtremeSpinning. I asked her for a custom order and she knew exactly what I was talking about since she loves the movie too. Before long, a box of goodies arrived on my doorstep and I was able to get to work. I blended the merino with a little bit of hand-dyed tussah silk, black carbonized bamboo and five colors of angelina. These shimmer so much, but it's more subtle. It's tough to call something that glitters really masculine, but I do feel these have a manly sparkle.

I ran them through the carder once. It's hard to believe such well-behaved rovings turned into this huge pile of batts.

(Note the soda can for scale. These were almost touching the cupboards above my kitchen counter - two whole pounds of bliss!)

I carded them one more time and the colors blended a little more and turned into these soft, squishable, gorgeous puffs of fiber. I have more of these since I ordered plenty of fiber, but it's still so difficult to put them up for sale. I keep reminding myself that my fiber addiction has to learn to pay for itself or else!

The Phat Fiber box videos are up and Ambrosia and Bliss is at 7:45 in the first one. Jessie made me blush with her description of my batts. I always thought I was alone in liking Labyrinth, but apparently there are a lot of us out there! I was giddy with delight and anticipation watching these videos. There is so much angelina in this month's box so my sparkle-loving heart is going to be happy with whatever surprises she sends. I think this is my favorite month yet based on the videos!

Long Overdue Update

2009-09-24T17:28:00.008-05:00

This has been a busy month, and not all of it fiber related.

The biggest news is my handspun Mango Pomegranate Smoothie yarn took first place in the beginner class (spinning less than a year) at Wisconsin Sheep and Wool a couple weeks ago! I entered it on a whim so I could get feedback on my spinning. I knew I was going to lose points for some variation between thick and thin, but I felt like it was a pretty good skein otherwise. The judge agreed! When they put the ribbon on my skein, I was shaking so much I almost fell over. My friend asked me if I had to sit down. I've never entered anything in a fair and definitely never won first place before. If I enter next year, I think I have to enter the Advanced category because of the blue ribbon. It really made me feel better about my spinning and my decision to try to sell handspun. It was judged on presentation, skill, technique, use of wool and suitability for intended use. Because of the long color runs and short yardage, I said I wanted to use it for a self-striping scarf. It would have scored differently if I said I wanted to use it for something like socks because it wasn't spun tightly enough to stand up to that kind of abuse. (Click any photos to see them larger)

I also came home with a really good haul of fiber and yarn. I tried to behave and follow a budget, but the wool fumes got to me. I studiously avoided the fleece barn and kept to the regular vendors since I am still washing alpaca fleeces and I'm getting a few more breed samples for my fleece study soon. I can argue I need more wool to use with my drum carder, but I do need to behave. (Also, I had already planned to get at least one more Wensleydale cross fleece this fall!)

The judging for the Unity Bead Challenge in my last entry was on the 17th. I asked my mom to go check it out since I live a couple hours away. She's the one who picked out the beads for me and I mailed her my finished necklace to turn in. They scheduled a night of trolley tours to different galleries around town with refreshments and a silent auction. It sounds like she had a lot of fun with her friend. She called me, all excited, because my knitted handspun silk necklace took first place in the Necklace category. Again, I couldn't believe it! This was less than a week after WI Sheep and Wool and I had been looking at pictures of the other entries online. My mom said one of the judges was really enthusiastic about it because she knew about the extra work it took to spin and knit the silk. I admit, it was a lot more work than stringing beads on a cord, but some of the other entries were extensively wire wrapped and really gorgeous.

The September Phat Fiber box just came out. I made it in to this one, since I was so excited about the "Legends and Myths" theme. My two yarns look very similar, although one is mostly alpaca and the other is wool and mohair. They are both very sparkly, but subtle. I spun them from Dragonhair batts, which seems oddly appropriate. I called these two "Knight in Shining Armor" and "the Goblin King". It's really hard to show the sparkle in these photos, but the yard is loaded with angelina.

My box arrived in the mail yesterday and I love everything in it! I haven't had time to go through and make a list, but it's a gorgeous mix. It makes my little grey yarn seem so plain in comparison! I'm already beginning to think of options for the "Masquerade" theme for October.

Summer Slump

2009-08-17T23:44:00.002-05:00

July was a terribly busy month and August has been hot. It's been in the 80's and muggy here, which means I have no interest in wool or alpaca. I'm being green (and cheap) and living without air conditioning. The cooler nights are making me think a little about knitting, so I ordered some Hempathy and Soft Linen yarn for some quick baby items. It's been a while since I spoiled my niece.

I sat out the August Phat Fiber box. It feels weird to miss one, but I couldn't find the time or enthusiasm to put together samples. I didn't have anything here that spoke to me and I didn't have the time to spin a good yarn. I'll try again for September and hope the fall weather brings back my spinning mojo.

I participated in the Better Footprint Unity Bead Challenge earlier this month. I bought a kit containing four packets of fair trade beads from Africa. The challenge is to design a jewelry item (necklace, earrings, bracelet, etc) using primarily the beads in the kit and your own wire, string and findings. I spun some hand-dyed tussah silk into a thin single, threaded on the beads and then knitted a free-form lariat-style necklace. I called it "Mermaid of the Nile". It's a pretty color and comfortable to wear, but definitely not your typical jewelry item. I liked the idea that it could be recreated using natural fibers and a spindle since it doesn't require any metal findings like clasps. The judging is September 17, so we'll see if anything comes of this. If nothing else, it was a fun challenge.

July Phat Fiber Box Videos!

2009-07-18T22:53:00.005-05:00

Ambrosia and Bliss is at the 7:25 mark in the first video. I can't wait to see my box. There are so many gorgeous fibers, yarns and extras this month!

Tour de Fleece Update

2009-07-16T00:28:00.006-05:00

July 10 - I spun some Wensleydale roving from Natural Obsessions on July 9, finished the rest of the 8 oz on the 10th and also plied it. It's gorgeous. I haven't set the twist yet, but I love it. It's so shiny! I think I might knit Bloom with this yarn instead of selling it. (Click the photo to see it up close in all its glory)

July 11 - I started spinning some lovely superwash roving hand-dyed by Zero. It's really pretty and I love her fiber. Her dyeing technique is sort of irregular and really saturated. I wanted to spin low-twist singles, but the fiber is happy being thin and I think I'll end up plying it back on itself to make a sport-weight or so 2-ply. I can already tell this might be one I want to keep for myself.

July 12 - I washed some Rambouillet fleece from Lowder Colours. She raises coated sheep and her fleeces come highly recommended on Ravelry. I bought part of Alfred, a badger (grey and white spotted) and Lilo, a white. Alfred's whole fleece was nine whopping pounds, so I limited myself to three pounds. There were only 2.5 pounds of Lilo left so I took her fleece too. Rambouillets are related to Merinos, so the fleece is fine, crimpy and high in lanolin. It's been washing out into very soft fluffy fiber with little to no felting, but it takes three soap washes and two rinses to come clean. It's slow going.

July 13 - Washed some more of Alfred.

July 14 - Washed some more of Alfred.

July 15 - Finished washing Alfred and started on Lilo. I've finally learned to put these fleeces in a single layer in the lingerie bag as they came off the sheep. I'm not separating locks, so it's staying in a sheet formation. I also found if I soak it with the tips down, the sand and debris falls out. These are really sandy fleeces, but I don't mind because sand washes out easily. I think two of my alpaca fleeces were raised on clay because I got deep brown silt when I washed those. It's part of the fun of washing fleeces. I love seeing all the dirt and grease coming out and feeling the fluffy clean fiber when it's all finished.

It will probably be a while before I get to it, but I'm thinking of combing Alfred's fleece into a naturally variegated top and then spinning it into a two or three-ply yarn. I'd like to kettle dye the yarn after it's spun so I can get subtle variegation due to the whites and greys taking the dye differently. I have a sample of fiber dyed on a grey wool base from my June box and it's really pretty and muted.

My sister is visiting from out of town so my spinning time has been very limited. It's okay. She's worth it.

Art Fair on the Square

2009-07-12T23:04:00.009-05:00

I went to our annual Art Fair today and it was absolutely wonderful. The weather was perfect and it wasn't too terribly crowded. I could have spent two days wandering around since there was so much I didn't really get to see. I focused on jewelry and ceramics, but also stopped in one of the weaving booths to talk about local weaving classes. I may end up joining the guild, but that's a hobby for the future.

I was very well behaved and only bought four things. They all jumped out and had to come home with me.

Silver textured earrings by Paula Sparks. She's a local artist and her enamel work drew me in. I love texture and this botanical print is really me.

Silver rain cloud pendant with dark blue leather background by Molly Bitters. This just jumped out and I didn't even have to think about it. I LOVE it so much and the leather makes it comfortable to wear. It's whimsical, but not really obviously so. My mom didn't even realize it was a cloud at first. Molly also has an Etsy shop.

Little Bee Vase by Karen Kraemer of Duluth Pottery. I saw a large mug with this pattern behind another potter's tent and knew it wasn't that artist's work. I was happily browsing along when I saw bees peeking out from a shelf in another tent. I rushed in to find a mug of my own. They were out of big mugs, but this pot was so perfect and happy, I had to have it. I may order a mug at some point too. The bees are big and bright and the pot is only about four inches tall.

Last, but definitely not least is this "Waterfall" necklace from Rebecca Bashara -Metalsmith. This booth was crowded with people looking at the earrings. I liked the earrings but they weren't really talking to me. Then I saw this necklace resting on the counter and I reached over someone to grab it. I tried it on and it's so comfortable and beautiful. The stones give it a nice weight and the chain is short enough that the stones drop just below collarbone level. It's so simple, earthy and rough around the edges, yet it's still feminine. Visually, I love groups of three more than any other. Of all the pieces today, I think this one is the most ME.

This has been such an inspiring day. I really enjoyed myself and I'm already looking forward to next year.

Tour de Fleece

2009-07-09T19:35:00.004-05:00

So there's this chaotic event on Ravelry that coincides with the Tour de France. All of the spinners get together, join teams, set personal goals and start spinning every day the race is going (July 4-26). I had big plans to spin every day. Then I changed my goal to work on one fleece study breed each day (at least until I ran out). Then I had plans to spin something every day. Now my plan is basically down to handling something fibery a little each day and hoping for the best. Honestly, it's sometimes tough to think of spinning when it's July and I don't have air conditioning. Since I have nothing but wool and alpaca, it's prickly, sweaty torture to lay a batt across my lap. Why can't they race in January when I have nothing going on and spinning keeps me warm?

Here's my daily progress so far:

July 4 - Finished spinning the last of the 7.5oz of Dragonhair "Obsidian" roving I got as part of a Ravelry destash. It's very pretty and sparkly, but I think it has a lot of mohair in it and it was really scratchy to spin. I had to keep taking breaks to spin other soft and colorful things.

July 5 - No spinning, but I washed some of Catalina's alpaca fleece and packaged my July Phat Fiber samples. In the evening, I went to a friend's house because she was having two of her female alpacas bred. Two handsome males showed up in a van, the magic happened and they went home. Alpaca romance is nothing short of hilarious and extremely noisy.

July 6 - Spun a 2oz "Perfect Storm" batt from Extreme Spinning and plied the Dragonhair into two appx 4oz skeins of 2-ply. It's MUCH nicer when plied and I think I like it now. I also mailed my July Phat Fiber samples.

July 7 - I washed some of Catalina's alpaca fleece, no spinning

July 8 - I washed the last of Catalina's alpaca fleece, went to a farm, petted a camel, a goat and two lambs, bought a Shetland x Merino fleece and then washed a couple bags of that before bed. No spinning

July 9 (today) - I washed a bunch of the Shetland x Merino fleece. It's quite delicious since it has a lot of merino characteristics like very fine fiber and crimp, but has a 4" staple and less lanolin! It's very sheepy, so it moved to the beginning of the washing queue. No spinning yet, but this could change if the evening cools off.

Photos:

The Dragonhair in the midst of plying, just to prove I've been making yarn:

Catalina's Rose Grey fleece. It has a bit of vm, but it's a cria fleece and is washing up so soft. It's such a delightful color that I think I'll keep it for my own use.

July's samples (yes they're fiber!):

At this point, I may modify my goal yet again to try to have all of my existing fleeces washed before the end of the race. New blanket bags arrived in the mail today, so I have storage to spare. I forgot to mention, but I also have a new (to me) drum carder and it's demanding some attention too. That's a topic for another blog post

Primoriginals!

2009-07-02T23:50:00.005-05:00

My favorite artist Liz is having a giveaway on her blog for $20 to spend in her shop. She actually has two shops now and the second is just for her paintings and sculpture.

I literally have some of her art in every room in my home, plus a print hanging on my front door to green visitors, but my two favorite pieces are this little polymer clay sculpture of two birds:

And this gorgeous mixed media painting called "Redhead with Birdcage" (click either picture to view larger):

I really admire her work and I'm happy I've been lucky enough to meet her in person. She's inspired my own forays into painting and she shared her knowledge whenever I had questions. Check out her blog, especially the videos showing how she makes some of her paintings. Amazing!

June Phat Fiber Videos!

2009-06-13T23:47:00.002-05:00

The June Phat Fiber box goes on sale tomorrow and the preview videos are up! The theme for June is Oceanic and I swear I want one of everything. I can't wait to see what goodies end up in my box. The box is getting bigger and better every month and it's really becoming well known. The latest issue of Spin Off has a blurb on the box on the "Get This!" page. Between that and the write-up on Knitty.com, interest in the box has skyrocketed. I am so happy to be a part of this group.

Ambrosia and Bliss is at about the 6:25 mark on the second video. Jessie said such nice things about my yarn.

Am I getting enough fiber?

2009-06-04T18:47:00.006-05:00

You tell me.

This is the last of the Romney fleece spread out on my office floor for skirting. All of the bags contain four different alpaca fleeces. Each fleece came sorted into either two or three bags depending on the farm they came from. Since I took that photo, the Romney is totally scoured and I've finished washing the seconds from two of the alpacas. With the alpaca, I'm starting with the "worst" fiber first so I can fine tune my washing regime. All four fleeces are cria fleeces, so even the neck fiber is baby soft in many places. I'm discarding more for short staple length than because of coarseness. There are two schools of thought regarding washing alpaca, but all I know is I hate getting dirty black fingertips when I spin it raw. That dusty feeling gives me goosebumps and takes away from the sheer bliss that is spinning alpaca. Thus, I wash.

My June samples for Phat Fiber were sent out yesterday. The theme is "Oceanic". I spun up a merino/tencel roving from Frabjous Fibers into a yarn I called "Clearwater" after the beach in Florida. Then I spun a 4oz wool/mohair roving and plied it with a 4oz hand-dyed Finn roving, both from the Door County Shepherd's Market (see bottom of the previous post for a photo). I ended up with a huge skein I named "Mavericks" after a really wild surfing spot off the California coast. It's surrounded by cliffs and an underwater shelf creates huge waves. It's rocky and dangerous and somehow the dark ripples in that yarn made me think of it. (Click any of the pictures to see them larger)

Unfortunately, I had to cut them up into mini-skeins so they could go into the box. I love getting samples of my work out into the world, but it's always a little wrenching to cut up something I worked so hard on. That Mavericks skein was almost eight ounces of bliss and the Clearwater singles were so silky soft, I wanted to knit something with them right away. I plan to track down some more of that fiber since it was so wonderful to spin.

I did also manage to spin a couple things for the shop. It keeps getting harder to let these go, since I am learning to spin what I love. This is "Mango Pomegranate Smoothie" - merino 2-ply with long color runs. The colors are shockingly bright in person, but somehow, it's wonderful. If it doesn't sell, I'm going to knit a lace scarf with it.

Crabapples

2009-05-25T21:49:00.006-05:00

May has been a busy month, between gardening, spinning for PhatFiber/my shop and the aftermath of several fiber festivals.

The May boxes have been sold and gone out and so far, I'm hearing good reviews of my handspun. I was really worried I would see a bunch of people on Ravelry trying to dump off my yarn for other samples they liked, but the only time mine has popped up in a trade situation was as "I want more of this". It really made my day to see that. Jessie was also kind enough to do a write-up of my shop on the Phat Fiber blog. It was enlightening to see what people really liked since it didn't match my favorites. The good news is, the top picks were all the colorways I sent in for the May box.

In my haste to send my samples in on time, I forgot to take photos of the finished mini-skeins. I had a mix of my "Sprinkles" yarn, some of the "Pastel Garden" from ArtemisArtemis, and then two of the three versions of "Crabapple" that Extreme Spinning hand-dyed and blended for me.

Before:

After:

My May box has arrived, but I've barely had time to go through it yet. Instead, I've been cleaning fleeces. The Door County Shepherd's Market was a big success this year. My mom and I got there before it opened on Saturday and split up to hunt for fleeces. She found them first and sent me upstairs to stake my claim. I found three amazing gems. They are all from Homestead Sheep and Fiber Products (no website). I bought the yarn for the Purple Bliss Baby Surprise Jacket from them last year. This year, I went wild for the fleeces.

Two are from Romney/Wensleydale/Cotswold crosses and the third is Romney. All are shades of grey, although two of them are closer to white than the third. The smallest is a darker grey that looks like blued steel. I've scoured the two cross fleeces already and will be working on the Romney for a while tonight. They require no skirting since they all have almost no VM or second cuts. Honestly, on the larger of the two cross fleeces, I found enough VM to fit in a teaspoon. I think these sheep live inside the house.

From the same booth, I also picked up about six ounces of Wensleydale locks. I've been looking for Wensleydale fiber since I'd like to work with the lustrous longwools and those locks are what drew me in. The fact that I now have three longwool fleeces makes me really happy. I also bought some gorgeous batts, some "Ocean" Finn roving, a wool/mohair mix roving and a beautiful lilac wood nostepinne. It was a great day, full of fiber-related goodies. We followed up with beer and brats at Shipwrecked in Egg Harbor, dishes of ice cream and browsing through gift shops and a few antique stores. I don't think a spring road-trip can get any better than that.

April Phat Fiber!

2009-05-04T18:10:00.006-05:00

I'm a little late posting this, but I've been busy spinning up my May samples. My April Phat Fiber box arrived about two weeks ago and it was a little different than the previous ones. A few of the contributors got boxes with all fiber and no yarn, probably because of the ratio of samples that were sent in. I don't mind, since I've been on a fiber bender and haven't bought yarn in ages. Those yarn samples belong in homes that will love and cherish them.

Here's the entire box (click to see larger):

From left to right, top to bottom:

* "Spinning Fixins" from Farmgirl Chic - This is a little handful of various fiber and fabric scraps in blue and white to add to make an art yarn. I was really excited to get this sample!
* Gift tags with wildflower seeds embedded in the paper from Winemaker's Sister - These came in a cute little box too. She's a special contributor after nominating me for a Sneak Attack.
* Very deep teal yearling mohair roving from WC Mercantile - this is silky soft and such a pretty color!
* Hand-sewn notions bag from Phat Fiber - Jessie commissioned a local artist who is legally blind to sew these for the box. Everyone got different colors and styles and they are all lovely!
* Stamped knitting stationary from Becky's Paper Creations
* Very richly colored hand-dyed merino roving in color "Autumn" from Abstract Fiber.
* A luscious silky purple and green batt in a muslin bag from Zebisis Designs - this is bamboo, merino, silk, cashmere and glitz and it was packaged like a little gift inside the bag. I wasn't the lucky recipient of one of her spindles, but I'm sure they went to great homes.
* Cream de Mint Biscotti from Matilda's Italian Cookies - Her online cookie menu is to die for!
* Hand-dyed green and yellow Border Leicester locks from Altered Visions - There's a great thread on Ravelry showing spinning ideas for locks that has really inspired me.
* A "Greener Pastures" bumpy spinning batt from Moonwood Farm - This has a really nice rustic texture and should be fun to spin.
* Handpainted merino roving "Calypso" from Greenwood Fiber Works - The color progression in this is really pretty from browns, to blues, to purples.
* Gorgeous amber bamboo roving from Polyartgirl - I thought this was silk when I first pulled it out. It's heavy, dense and has a beautiful shimmer to it.
* "Earth Day" dark blue, green and natural Jacob wool and firestar batt from Desert Garden Farms - This also came with a very yummy smelling sample of "Oh My Aching Salve".
* "Daffodils" wool, mohair, alpaca, and bamboo batt from Silver Sun Alpacas - I seriously coveted this batt when I saw it on the April YouTube video and I was so happy to see one in my box.
* Bright yellow hand-dyed silk hankies from Serendipity Fiber Arts - silk hankies are one of those fibers I've been wanting to try but haven't bought yet. I'm looking forward to giving these a try, but my hands are a bit rough from gardening.
* "Ofelia" merino from Maude & Me - This wins the prize for the biggest sample at over an ounce! I absolutely love this colorway too (and all the other ones in the shop!). I keep petting this one and I'm trying to decide how I'd like to spin it.
* Natural Icelandic wool from Cedarland Farm - I haven't spun Icelandic yet and the natural colors in this sample are lovely.

Like Lucy (shown snorgling the new samples), I've discovered there really isn't a fiber I don't like. I'll happily go from a glittery dyed batt to natural, raw, unwashed wool. I am looking forward to spinning all of these samples, just as soon as I finish spinning my May samples. They need to be shipped out this week so I'm on a deadline. Right now I have fuzzies and pink sparkling angelina all over my apartment and my clothes. It looks like spring!

Sneak Attack!

2009-05-01T01:11:00.004-05:00

My Monday was actually a little bit more manic than I wrote previously. I was checking my email that evening, as I am wont to do, when I saw a fellow Phat Fiber contributor's name pop up on an Etsy email. I thought it was odd since I haven't ordered anything lately. Suddenly I noticed a whole slew of Etsy emails. They were orders! Payments! Convos! I was quite honestly shocked and couldn't understand why I had so many orders in such a short time. I hadn't recently listed the crown jewels or anything. In fact, my shop had never had a sale.

When I read one of the Etsy conversations, I learned that Winemaker's Sister was in charge of that night's Sneak Attack from the Handmade Movement. I hadn't heard of Sneak Attacks before, so I went to check it out. Basically, it's a group of completely angelic people who decided to get together and surprise Etsy shops who have very few or no sales by pouncing and ordering all at once. Someone is in charge of picking out one or two shops and then they post the link for everyone to see at a designated time. In a way, it reminds me of the Phat Fiber box drops because the anticipation is high. As soon as the link is up, everyone runs over to that shop, looks around and buys if something strikes their fancy. Then they post about it on the Etsy forums. I was able to read what they were saying and it really made me happy to see the kind comments.

In about ten minutes, I sold the skein of Hellebore yarn, a pair of lapis lazuli earrings, a pendant and all of my Serenity Sax. I was actually quite overwhelmed by the generosity of everyone who bought from me and I had to take a moment to hug Lucy and collect my wits. I know they were buying my things, but it felt like a gift. A really big surprise gift for no reason other than someone out there likes me. I've been struggling at work and that really brightened my day when I needed it most.

I'm going to be joining in on future Sneak Attacks because it's such a great idea. Even with my participation in Phat Fiber, I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever sell anything. I'm not doing it for the money, other than to help subsidize my art supply and fiber habits. I know there are so many shops out there that it's easy to get lost without frequent updates and return customers, and I also know that things like handspun yarn and jewelry are the first to go in our bad economy. Even though this isn't my living, there was a special thrill when I made that first sale. It was quickly followed by seven more, but that first one (the Hellebore skein) is always going to be an extra-special memory.

I figured out PayPal shipping labels, tracked down enough envelopes to package everything and then spent the evening gift-wrapping all of the items before mailing them out. For a minute I thought I wasn't going to be able to get everything out without a shopping trip for more supplies, but I was able to find some other envelopes. I like thinking of my little things heading out to new homes.

My little economic boost is already spoken for and will go towards paying it forward in future Sneak Attacks and in part to buy an alpaca fleece. I fell in love with a female alpaca at the Midwest Alpaca Festival this past weekend and asked her owners if they would sell her fleece. I definitely couldn't afford the actual alpaca and I doubt my landlord would believe she's just a big cat. She's a rose grey huacaya and it's her cria (first) fleece so it's exceptionally soft. I found out today that I can buy it and I'll hopefully be able to pick it up in a couple of weeks. The farm is about an hour and a half from here, so I'll swing by on one of my visits to my parents in May. There's something extra special about spinning fiber from a specific animal instead of anonymous roving. This will be the first time I've had fiber from an animal I've actually touched. When I stuck my hand into her fleece and petted her on Saturday, it was heavenly.

Manic Monday

2009-04-27T20:03:00.005-05:00

I've been able to do a little spinning tonight. I'm still a ways away from filling a bobbin and I love this "Crabapple" sock fiber more and more every minute I spin. Look at these lovely singles!

I'm planning to spin a two ply yarn. It came in two huge (like basketball-sized) balls of roving, so I'm spinning each roving on a separate bobbin. If there is any difference in the colorway, it'll all blend together. I'm hoping to get areas of all pink, all green, and mixed. The brown is in spots here and there and I think there's just the right amount.

My filigree class is over, but I still have access to the craft shop. I finished two of my orifice hooks - one flower and one martini glass. I really love how the flower turned out. It has a few blobs here and there, but it's so pretty and delicate. I'm on the fence about the martini glass. I like it, but the silver has a melting point close to the solder and one edge of the glass has a little extra character, thanks to the flame beginning to melt the frame. I had hoped to sell this one, but I think I'll keep it since it's not up to snuff. Filigree is a lot of fun and I hope I have the time to keep playing with it. I have another orifice hook in the shape of a wine glass, but I haven't figured out how I'd like to fill it in. I'm going back to the craft shop on Wednesday and hopefully I'll have the perfect idea by then.

What happened to April?

2009-04-26T22:41:00.006-05:00

I swear I had no idea I went so long without an update. I did have a vacation somewhere in there, but it's been a busy month.

My April PhatFiber box arrived last week! I still have to do a write-up of all the goodies, but here's a preview. This month I got all fiber and no yarn. A few of the contributors got boxes like this instead of the usual mixed yarn/fiber style. I suppose it all depends on how many of each kind of sample show up. I don't mind since I've been a spinning maniac lately and haven't been knitting at all. I'd rather see the pretty yarn samples end up with people that may actually go on to purchase more from those talented sellers.

I haven't touched my box since opening it because I've been busy working on my May samples. I worked again with CJ at Extreme Spinning to develop a custom colorway for the "Flowers and Showers" theme. It's called "Crabapple" and is a lovely blend of pinks, green and brown inspired by spring-blooming crabapple trees. I'm getting it in several fibers, but the Suffolk/Hampshire sock roving arrived first. I've written before about how much I love this fiber. It's a dream to spin, especially with my new Jumbo Sliding Hook Flyer. I can get a LOT of yarn on a jumbo bobbin. They'll handle 4oz no problem and I'm working on filling one bobbin with as much as it will hold.

This fiber looks very bright in the roving, but it's more subtle when spun. I can't wait to see how it looks once it's plied. Green and pink is one of my favorite combinations.

I also had a wild, fiber-filled weekend. I went to the Great Midwest Alpaca Festival and volunteered to demonstrate drop spindle spinning. My cousin's wife and my new fiber co-addict came along to demonstrate needle felting. I met a bunch of women from the local spinning group and recruited several vendors to hopefully become future Phat Fiber contributors. I also fell in love with an alpaca and am keeping my fingers crossed that I can buy her fleece. After she's shorn in a couple of weeks, I should get notification on the weight and price of her fiber. It's lovely stuff and I hope I'll have some swoon-worthy pictures to share by late May. I LOVED being around alpacas again. I used to work with them as a vet tech and the first time I heard one hum yesterday, it brought it all back. I've also volunteered to help with a shearing day in May. I'm not sure yet if I'll be needed, but if I am, I'll get to see first hand how shearing works and I'll be able to refresh my alpaca handling skills.

Beginning Filigree

2009-04-09T16:59:00.005-05:00

I've been having a lot of fun lately exploring my creativity. Last week I began a silver filigree class and last night I soldered my first piece. It was a little terrifying to learn to use the acetylene torch. I heard "soldering" and imagined we'd be using little soldering irons like I did with stained glass. Instead, we use much higher heat and flame little bits of soldering wire onto our pieces. I've become more comfortable using the torch to anneal (soften) my wire and I've learned to twist it. Last night I shaped the frame for a filigree orifice hook (for my spinning wheel) and soldered the joint. It was really exciting to watch the flux melting away and to see the solder liquify and leap into the joint.

The next step is to shape all of my filigree and solder it into the frame. I can do most of the shaping and layout work at home and save my time at the workshop for the parts that need the torch. If I'm not allowed to have a gas grill at my apartment, I think my landlords would really frown upon an acetylene torch in the second bedroom. This is a blessing in disguise, because it will keep my love of filigree work at least slightly under control. I can get a pass to the workshop that lets me use it whenever it's not in use for a class. Even better, the workshop pass gives me access to the pottery studio. I learned how to do wheel pottery once upon a time and I may look into a refresher class in the fall.

For now though, I'm going to see how this orifice hook turns out and then try to make either more hooks or a couple of pendants. The teacher has agreed to expand the class and we'll also learn how to make bezel settings and bails for custom pendants. I've always wanted to know how and I'm excited to get the chance to try.

It doesn't look like much yet, but it's a start! (Click to see bigger)

Spring Fiber Jubilee

2009-04-06T18:18:00.008-05:00

This past weekend, I went to my first fiber festival of the year with my cousin's wife aka my new fiber co-addict. She's a felter and learning how to spin, so we were both giddy about the chance to get out and breathe wool fumes. It was fun going shopping for fiber this time. I went to one last year when I was only a knitter but there's so much more to see when fiber is on my radar.

My first purchase of the day was 4oz of llama roving. I had a hard time picking a color, but this creamy roving is softer than alpaca. It's softer than almost anything else I've ever touched. Seriously, it's amazing. Silky, fine, shiny.. it's wonderful and I keep petting it instead of spinning. (click pictures to view larger)

We browsed some more booths, one of which had gorgeous baskets. I also squeezed some mohair, but resisted since I already have several bags of 100% kid mohair in the stash. We saw Angora goats being shorn. One of the outbuildings had raw corriedale fleeces and lovely roving. I bought 4 oz each of two colors because I'm on a natural fiber kick lately. It's nice to alternate gorgeous batts and natural roving and locks since it keeps me on my toes. All of these different fibers and preps keep my fingers from getting in the habit of any one technique.

They're seen posing here with the llama roving.

And what was that burst of bright orange in the photo? I found a booth selling lovely dyed and combed wool by the pound plus these gorgeous hand-dyed Cotswold locks. After the orange batts, I am madly in love with this shade of clear yellow-orange. I have no idea what I'll do with these, but the color was practically screaming to come home with me. It's just a little 2 oz baggie, so maybe I'll mix them in with something else as an accent.

In the middle of all of this, I saw a familiar face. It took me a moment and realized it was someone I knew from her blog, Feather and Fan. We've emailed back and forth a few times, but never managed to meet until we just happened to be at the same fiber festival. We'll also be spinning together at the Great Midwest Alpaca Festival in a couple of weeks. It's such a small world!

Speaking of alternating fibers, I finished the rustic, plant-dyed, lanolin-rich Shetland locks and moved on to one of the sparkling merino/alpaca "Fairy Dust" batts. I am spinning thicker singles and loving the soft colors and copious twinkles. There is clear pink and blue angelina all over everything in my apartment. I seem to leave a trail of it wherever I go. It may have something to do with wearing a fleece pullover while I spin, but it's still cold here and I can't help it. I don't mind. It makes my place look extra fancy.

Spinning Before and After - "Hellebore"

2009-04-05T11:21:00.009-05:00

I think I've really reached a turning point with my spinning. I am much more comfortable with raw fibers, locks, fiber prep and color blending after this latest project. I went into this with a clear idea of what I wanted, and I was able to spin to get that result.

I started with two colors of plant-dyed Shetland locks from Natchwoolie. I had about twice as much of the darker cranberry purple "Lambrusco" than the lighter pinkish "mauve". I recently bought a scale and I don't know how I lived without it before this. I split the two colors into two equal piles each. Each one was destined to become a skein.

Next, I started on the first skein. I split the piles again into two equal halves so I could spin a two-ply yarn. I have more purple than mauve, so I wanted to be sure I was able to blend it effectively. For the first ply, I flicked open the locks with a cat brush and left the two colors in separate piles. Flicking the locks really opened them up and made them easier to draft.

When I spun the first ply, I alternated grabbing from each pile and spun from the cloud. I ended up with a rustic, textured single with occasional slubs and thick and thin spots. I didn't want to card all of the personality out of this fiber, and I like how the singles turned out.

Then I started on the second pile of fiber. I flicked the locks open again. I added an extra step and roughly carded the two colors together by grabbing random combinations of locks and flicking them together. They all went into one big pile.

I spun this pile from the cloud, pretty much as it looked there and didn't pay attention to what was happening with the colors. The singles still varied a bit, but the changes between purple and pink were much less dramatic.

The final step was plying the two back together. I ended up with 2.5 oz, 110 yards and a bit of variation between sport and worsted weight. There are sections that are all purple or all mauve, but the rest is varying blends of the two colors. It's heathered with a bit of added excitement and I love it.

I swatched it on US5's and I love how this fabric shows the texture and variation in color. It's not stark stripes, but it's more interesting than a well-blended heather.

Spinning Before and After - Orange You Excited

2009-03-31T23:42:00.005-05:00

I ordered these gorgeous cheerful batts from Extreme Spinning last month. I originally saw them and commented on them when PhatFiber did a special post about her shop. I coveted them for a while and finally caved in. I'm so glad I did! Each was 2.5 oz of superwash wool and angelina in shockingly happy orange and yellow.

This past week, I pulled them out of the fiber stash and got to spinning on the wheel. I split each one in half, spun two bobbins of singles and then made 2-ply yarn. I made a conscious effort to "overply" this time since my 2-plies tend to be a little loose. It worked! After washing, the yarn was balanced and the twist didn't unwind itself. I've been squooshing the skeins ever since. I got 255 yards total out of both batts.

My favorite part, other than the orange, is the subtle gold twinkle peeking out here and there. It's wonderful! (Click images to see them larger, especially the finished yarn).

Spinning before and after - "Sprinkles"

2009-03-23T16:20:00.007-05:00

Back in January, I got a sample of rainbow dyed wool top from the Painted Tiger. Not long ago, was reading through "Intertwined" by Lexi Boeger. I had a brainstorm and decided to try nubs with the top. I pulled some white corriedale roving out of my fiber stash and got down to it.

This was really time consuming and messy while it was in progress. I ripped the top into tiny little shreds based on color and lined them up next to me. Then I had to spin, stopping every so often to wind another nub into the single. I kept going until I ran out of rainbow top. The singles were thick and thin and really fun. If I had been planning to knit this right up into something to felt, I might have spun a little thicker and kept it as singles.

Next I spun about the same amount of white corriedale, but without the nubs. The singles were a little thinner and consistent. When that was done, I plied both together on the drop spindle. Plying on the spindle worked really well since I had more control over the twist with these two dissimilar singles. Parts of it came out looking like regular two-ply fingering to sport-weight yarn. Other parts are bulky and look thread-plied because of the big difference in diameter between the two singles. It makes a sort of bubbly effect.

End result is 67 yards, 1.9oz, thick and thin, 2-ply that I've named "Sprinkles".

Spinning before and after - ArtemisArtemis

2009-03-23T00:06:00.008-05:00

I hauled out my wheel today and spun up the 2.5oz batt from ArtemisArtemis. It's called "Pastel Garden" and it's a mix of angora, silk, merino and a sprinkling of angelina. Does it sound decadent? It totally was. Spinning this was so much fun, I finished the entire batt this afternoon. I didn't use the mohair locks for this project. (Click photos to enlarge)

As the colors mixed, the singles were much more muted than the batt, but there were big chunks of robin's egg blue, yellow and a shot of orange. I pulled the batt into lengthwise strips and spun them like roving. The strips drafted very easily and I was able to control the colors to a certain degree.

I was so smitten with the singles that I had to ply right away. I found another empty bobbin and Navajo plied on the wheel. I don't know how many yards I got, but it's the thinnest yarn I've spun yet. It's maybe sport weight and pretty darn consistent. I soaked it and it's hanging to dry now, but I was too excited to wait for finished yarn photos. I'll add the last picture tomorrow when the yarn is dry.

I love the way the colors blended in this. The yellow and orange pop here and there, and there's a hint of twinkle, but the colors generally complement each other. It's one of those that gets prettier and prettier as you look closer.

I swatched this up on US7's and it is gorgeous! As I knit, the angora bloomed across the surface and created a cohesive looking fabric. This is before blocking. I love the way the colors blend together.

Please Mister Postman, look and see if there's some fiber in your bag for me

2009-03-20T18:50:00.014-05:00

This was a really good day for mail. First, I ordered some fiber from Extreme Spinning. (Click pictures to see them bigger)

On the left are two "Fairy Dust" batts totaling 5 oz. They're merino, alpaca and angelina in pale pink and lavender. The angelina is the same color as the fiber, so the whole thing twinkles like a princess dress. Each one is about as big as my head and I can't wait to spin them. They're begging to be made into something for a lucky little girl.

On the right are two custom batts also totaling 5 oz. I sent a convo explaining that I wanted fiber that looked like the bishop's robes in the Princess Bride. I've bought some of her other fibers in the Princess Bride theme already and they gave me the idea. The "wuv.. twooo wuv" (love, true love) line is my favorite in the whole movie. His robes are pale brocade with deeper burgundy scrollwork patterns sewn in. She came up with this amazing blend of plum custom-dyed organic wool, creme brulee BFL, yellow top, ivory merino/seacell and pink alpaca. There's also pale angelina and big streaks of gold angelina to accent the purple and bring to mind metallic threadwork. It's exactly what I asked for and she gave it to me on the first attempt. I'm so impressed and it was a lot of fun working together to find the colors I was envisioning. I want to use these somehow in the Phat Fiber Spring Competition, but right now I keep petting them and admiring the sparkles.

As a fun bonus, there's a generous sample of icelandic/angora roving in a green that makes me think of spring grass. I love getting surprise fibers when I place orders. This one is so soft and green is my favorite color.

My March Phat Fiber box also came today! This month's theme was "Celtic", so there's a lot of green.

My fiber samples were a fun mix this month. Clockwise from left:

* Romney locks from Marajane Creations - a very nice pastel mix of loose locks. I pulled one out to feel it and it just kept coming. I looked it up in In Sheep's Clothing and the staple length is 5-7 inches! These should be fun to add some texture while spinning another yarn. I haven't tried spinning with locks yet, but it's on my list
* Merino roving from Nerdclub 2000 - "Elinor Dashwood" colorway is a really pretty mix of pinks and purples with a little olive green at one end. It makes me think of tulips.
* Border Leicester locks from Altered Visions - a nice half ounce sample about the size of a double-handful and the locks are space dyed within each individual lock. For example, one is bright pink with pale blue tips. These are really cool.
* 25% merino and 75% alpaca from NorthStarAlpacas - This is a really big 0.4oz sample and it's a gorgeous chocolate color. It's called "Sonata", because the alpaca portion came from a beautiful brown female alpaca named Sonata. The fiber listings from this shop show the animal the fiber came from and there's even a picture on the tag. It feels like adopting an alpaca. The fiber is so soft and the color is really rich. I got a blended alpaca batt I had last month, so it'll be interesting to spin this one and see how the two preps differ.
* (center) 100% silk with noil "Peacock" roving from Mad Angel Creations - This is really scrumptious teal kettle-dyed silk with a dry, papery feel and an amazing shine. The photo is taken without a flash and it's reflecting ambient light. The color is very saturated.

The yarn samples from left to right:

* (top row) 100% undyed black Shetland handspun from Haley Studio - This is a really nice sample and gives me an idea of how the Shetland fiber I recently ordered might spin up. It's not a super soft wool, but it reminds me of the sock roving in that it feels durable and elastic. We live in the same city and I never would have known without the box.
* "Eire" Fireweed Worsted Merino wool from Aurora Fiber Arts - I got a January sample from Aurora and loved it. This is a great colorway with the little pops of orange among the green.
* "Horned God" merino yarn from the Yarn Side - This is a 75% SW merino, 25% nylon fine sock yarn in a nice mix of greens and browns.
* "Cordelia" merino yarn from Knit It Up - This is hand-dyed yarn in their "curvy" collection and it's a nice bulky, bumpy fun yarn in my favorite colors. It's really pretty and one of the ones I keep coming back to squish.
* (bottom row) three yarn samples from Sheeps of Egyptian Cotton - There's "Isis" (lighter green) cotton 2 ply fingering weight, "Nile" (wrapped around the card) 3 ply mercerized cotton and "Ankh" (brighter green) 4 ply merino. She also included an Irish Breakfast Tea packet and a lesson on celtic knitting terminology.
* Hand-dyed merino laceweight from Jen Hintz - This is a lovely mix of various shades of pale green that has a lot of depth and interest. It's subtle, but on closer look, this is one of my favorites because of the blend of colors.
* "Ireland" Hand-spun yarn from Cool Climates - This is a bulky singles yarn of mixed wool, mohair, angora and merino. It's a very pretty deep rich color.
* (not pictured) "Fjord" worsted singles yarn from Katsara Luxury Yarns - This is a really pretty pale pink, purple and green singles yarn that missed the photo op because I carried it around with me before I started taking pictures and accidentally left it in another room. I have a weakness for singles yarns.

The various other loot in my box includes:

* "Stargyle" by Michelle Miller the Fickleknitter - This is a pattern for a stockinette scarf with argyle details. This could actually be really fun with handspun.
* Purple beaded stitch marker from Vickie's Knitted Things
* Silver shamrock stitch markers from Princess Emma's
* Green bubble magnet and a cute pompom from Bananamigraine Designs - I love this shop name! Since my kitchen is painted green, this magnet is going right on my fridge.
* Two green and gold stitch markers from Winemakers Sister - This shop also makes rubber stamps!
* A KIP bag from Ruddawg - I got one of these in February too and they're such a nice size for trucking smaller projects around. I don't know how she does it, but both have colors that are perfect for me.
* A needlefelted Alpaca from My Fair Bag Lady! She made Knickolas the Knitting Gnome for Phat Fiber. He rides around and ends up in a lucky box every month. Whoever finds him gets a free box the next month, as long as they have an adventure with him and send him back. Now I have some of her handiwork of my own. It's tiny (like the size of my thumb) and I can't even imagine having the patience to do this.

I realized I never posted this, but my samples for the March box were hand-painted and stamped lavender sachets. I'll have these up in my shop eventually but I ran out of bags and had to order more. I really love the smell of lavender and I have similar sachets hidden all over my house. I've been seeing photos of them today as people blog about their boxes and it's really surreal seeing them out in the wild.

Now, I have some spinning to do. I'm going to my first ever Spinning Guild meeting tomorrow morning and I have some singles to get off of my spindle. Don't ask me how spinning more will help. This isn't a rational hobby.

Getting ready for Etsy

2009-03-14T00:34:00.005-05:00

I put together my light box tonight. It's far from professional, but a water softener box, a piece of poster board, some computer paper, two lamps with daylight bulbs and a little editing in iPhoto helped me get closer white balances. I need something more reflective on the top because I'm still getting shadows, but it's better than throwing everything on my white duvet and hoping for the best.

I'm going to be working on Etsy listings this weekend for my new "Serenity Sax". They're little hand-knitted sacks (or "sax") filled with lavender and adorned with beaded dangles. They're inspired by the stress balls I used to use in my old cubicle. Instead of being full of gel, the lavender is squishable and has anti-stress aromatherapy benefits. The more you squish them, the more the scent is released. They also have a larger "worry" bead and a multi-bead dangle for fidgeting. I think the combination of color, texture (especially the ones knit with handspun), fragrance and the beads could be a fun thing for relieving stress. If nothing else, they're pretty little sachets and they give me a chance to knit all the little mini-skeins of hand-spun and hand-painted yarn I have around here.

I'm also getting ready to list two of my paintings.

The first is "And the Cow Jumped Over the Moon", 12"x12" mixed media on birch plywood. I used acrylics, oil pencils, glitter, paper, stamping tools and metallic stars and then finished it all with beeswax. It has a really fun texture and is quite sparkly. I wrote about this one before, but everything about the cow cracks me up.

The other is "Tiptoe Thru the Tulips", 8"x8" acrylic and watercolor pencil on canvas board. I really like how clear and simple this one finished. I had big ideas when I started, but it went off in a totally different direction than the other one. I really get a kick out of the facial expression in both of these, but the sheep really looks like how I feel whenever I'm in a garden.

Phat Fiber March Box Videos

2009-03-12T18:23:00.005-05:00

Every month, Phat Fiber posts a video of the goodies that were sent in for the boxes. Each box gets 20 or so samples, and there are many more contributors, so it's such a tease. In fact, there are so many contributors now that she had to split it into two videos to show all the loot. I'm craving one of everything and I have my fingers crossed that I get a few extra desirable (to me) samples.

Ambrosia and Bliss is featured partway through the first video. I sent in pendants and lavender sachets, and she shows one of my pendants in a little organza bag. Suddenly it all feels real, or perhaps surreal. I sent in samples over a month ago, but they won't be coming out until April. Now, my little efforts are going to be in those boxes full of gorgeous yarn and fiber that go on sale SUNDAY and I'm feeling a bit nervous. I hope the recipients like what they get. Personally, I'm thrilled to be included in such a wonderful group of artists. I've enjoyed every bit of yarn, fiber and other goodies from my boxes, which is why I include links to all of their shops. They're small, independent artisans doing what they love through the demands of work, school, parenting and/or farming, and the quality and variety of their work is exceptional.

Busy evening

2009-03-11T21:20:00.003-05:00

I've been working on a couple projects today. I have some new little items called Serenity Sax to finish beading for my Etsy shop. I'll write about them when they're finished, but I'm pretty happy with how they are turning out. I had an odd whim and decided to give it a try.

I'm also priming two more cigar boxes. One is tall and rectangular with a flip top lid and it's deep enough to store shorter double-pointed needles and crochet hooks. The box came with a cardboard grid divider and I think it's a sign that it's meant to be a knitter's box.

I'm also spinning tonight. All of my fiber has been calling to me. It was hard to choose, but I finally pulled out some Organic Sock Roving from Extreme Spinning. From the sale listing:

Buttercup: You mock my pain.
Westley: Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.

In this scene, Buttercup is wearing this gorgeous reddish dress. I sought to bring some of that color into this roving so you can create a wonderful FO with these tones

It's a very lovely blend of dusty rose tones and it's spinning up very quickly. As I wrote before, Suffolk/Hampshire is not soft and buttery, but it's been surprisingly easy to draft once I got the hang of it. I keep my hands pretty far apart and it twists just the right amount of fiber as I pull back. I got four ounces, which is a huge pile. My spindle is 10.5" long from hook to tip for some indication of scale. I'm having a lot of fun with this and it's an interesting tactile experience.

Memory Box

2009-03-11T00:50:00.007-05:00

I've found a new outlet for my mixed media whims. My wonderful brother has hooked me up with a small collection of empty wooden cigar boxes. I just up-cycled the first one and I really like how it turned out. The top has so much texture. I gessoed it and then painted with many layers of acrylics, glitter and silver stars. I finished the top in beeswax and lined the inside with some starry textured paper. It's about 7 inches square, more or less and the bottom is a mere half inch deep. However, it's a nice size for photos or special little mementos. I've always been attracted to the idea of creating usable art.

This one has gone up in my Etsy shop and I plan to work on more later this week or next week. Every one is a different size and shape, so I'm looking forward to making each one unique. (Click photos to enlarge)

New Zealand has beautiful sheep

2009-03-09T17:13:00.007-05:00

Have I mentioned I love Etsy? It's such a fantastic place to find handmade items from all over the world. I've found so many indie fiber and yarn dyers in the last couple months. It's been such bliss shopping, since my local yarn stores don't carry much in the way of fiber.

For a while, I had been eyeing these batts from ArtemisArtemis. I'd periodically go back to check on them, swoon, sigh wistfully and carry on with my life. Last month, it became too much for me and I figured if they were making me that crazy, I had to have one. The package arrived today and it seriously rocks my world.

First, I have the Paua batts. There are two, totaling four ounces. They're blended with Merino, Otago Romney, Corriedale and bamboo. There is also some angelina mixed in, as if the colors weren't enough. They are so soft, chewy and scrumptious and I'm scared to spin them because they are so pretty. (Click photos to enlarge)

Another little batt came along for the ride. It's a mystery, but the fiber content feels similar. The streaks of yellow are lively and should be fun in the spun yarn. The bag also contained some dyed mohair locks. I've never spun with locks before, so this will be an adventure. I may try a textured art yarn, but I haven't decided yet. I keep petting it and waiting to find out what it wants to be.

The last little gem in the package was a little 10g or so baggie of hand-dyed silk noils. Again, it's a fiber I've never spun before. The colors are saturated and gorgeous. The silk feels soft, dry and papery and I'm interested to see what sort of texture it gives a finished yarn.

I haven't been spinning the past few days. I've been knitting and painting because I have several mixed media projects in the works. Nothing is ready for photos, but I'm hoping they'll be finished later this week. I might actually spin some yarn especially for one of them, but it hasn't all come together yet. I really fly by the seat of my pants as an artist. Even my best intentions change dramatically by the time I'm finished with a piece. I generally wander along with a vague idea and I'm continually surprised by what I come up with. I keep a notebook with little sketches and ideas since lately I have so many ideas for new pieces, I can't remember them all. I think being artistic is like getting in shape. The more you do it, the easier it becomes.

Spinning down wool

2009-03-07T14:42:00.002-06:00

This is a sample of organic sock roving from Extreme Spinning. I ordered a larger supply of this wool in a different color and this little fluff came along as an extra. The color is "Strawberries and Cream" and it's a really pretty red with shots of pale pink. I spun it up so I could get a feel for the fiber before I tackled the 4 oz roving.

This was really different wool to work with. It's from Suffolk/Hampshire cross sheep, which are actually meat breeds. The wool is a down wool and it's quite different from fine wool breeds like Merino, Rambouillet, or Corriedale or longwool breeds like Blue-faced Leicester. Instead of having fibers that align in a tight wavy crimp or long loose waves, each fiber has a tight spiral crimp that doesn't align with neighboring fibers. The staples are short and the roving looks and feels like a soft, spongy brillo pad, but in a nice way. Even looking at the photo, it's easy to see the fibers are all over the place and not smooth and silky. Spinning was interesting because it didn't draft in a smooth triangle. Even while spinning worsted, the fibers felt crinkly and were aligned in all different directions. It didn't twist tightly because the spiral crimp keeps the singles open. I Navajo plied the singles and made about 10 yards of tight, springy yarn. It feels softer after a soak in Eucalan, but it's still not soft and silky. It's squishy and spongy and should make good, hard-wearing socks because it's not a readily feltable wool. Fine wools felt if you look at them sideways, so this is definitely a plus.

My plan is to spin the big 4oz (in a lovely Princess Bride inspired colorway) with the same Navajo ply method so I can knit socks. My feet get cold and I usually wear a pair of regular socks with heavier wool over the top. Although my Malabrigo socks are heavenly, they are felting, even on my hardwood floors. I walk delicately with them on and would never put them in a shoe. I've been reading In Sheep's Clothing as I shop for fiber online and whenever I plan to spin something new. Although Suffolk/Hampshire wool isn't going to make a nice hat, it's perfect for socks that will be pretty and won't worry me whenever I put them on. There's a reason there is more than one breed of sheep and I think spinning the different wools is part of what makes spinning so exciting. I also have a soft spot in my heart for Suffolks since they are such pretty sheep.

German - English Dictionary of Knitting Terminology

2009-03-07T12:43:00.001-06:00

Last year, I was knitting Nieblings and other German patterns and I put together a list of translated terms. I couldn't get Blogger to post an Excel table so I did one better and saved the entire file as a pdf and uploaded it to Scribd. For anyone interested in about 400 German knitting terms and phrases, the pdf can be found here. It was compiled from multiple sources online and in print. I can't vouch for the complete accuracy since I don't speak German, but I welcome any corrections in the comments.

German - English Dictionary of Knitting Terminology

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Crafts & Hobbies How-To Guides & DIY dictionary german

Spinning before and after - II

2009-03-06T21:11:00.013-06:00

I've been spinning everything I can get my hands on and now have a bowl full of handspun mini-skeins to play with. (Click any photo to enlarge)

This lovely purple and blue fiber is mixed wool, mohair, firestar and angelina from Sweet Pea Fibers. I spun thin singles and then Navajo plied them into a heavy worsted 3-ply, all on the spindle. The little half ounce puff of fiber yielded 7 yards of lovely sparkling yarn.

Another Sweet Pea Fibers batt was about a half ounce of mixed wool, cultivated silk, sari silk threads, angelina and firestar. This was the first time I'd spun anything with threads mixed in and it wasn't as difficult as I had expected. They give a nice texture to the yarn, and personally I think plying really helped keep them in line. Like the first one, this was spun and then Navajo plied on the spindle to give 9 yards of rustic worsted. I think the mix of colors is actually better in the spun yarn than in the batt.

Another fiber in the Sweet Pea Fibers sampler was a pink, brown and green hand-dyed merino top. I split it into thirds and spun it on the spindle. I loaded each third onto a bobbin and then plied a 3-ply yarn off the bobbins, back onto the spindle. I was aiming for a yarn that gradually changed colors and had sections that were mostly pink, brown or green. It was fairly successful and I got 23 yards of squishy round worsted with regions that are more strongly one color than another. I really like the effect in the skein and it will be interesting to see it knitted up. I ran out on one bobbin first and had enough left on the other two to try another mix. I still had some of the solid green merino/tussah singles on another bobbin, so I substituted it in as the third ply. I ended up with 5 1/2 yards of spring green yarn with pops of pink and brown. Again, it's fascinating to see how changing one ply can have such an impact on the final yarn.

The solid green single also came into play when I spun up my hand-dyed merino wool sample from Hedgehog Fibres. It's a colorway called "Stranger" and I love the chartreuse, moss green and eggplant mix. I didn't want to muddy all of the colors together, and it was fortuitous that the green merino/silk was such a close match to the base green. I spun each one up on the spindle and then plied them together to make 18 yards of worsted 2-ply. The greens gracefully intertwine through most of the yarn, and the eggplant and dark moss green and brown pop out here and there. I really love how this finished and I think it's more interesting than it would have been if I had attempted to spin a singles yarn. It's one of my absolute favorites so far and I keep taking it out to pet it. I may even love it too much to knit with it.

After my two experiments with the Silver Sun Alpacas "Wine and Chocolate" batt, I still had some singles left. I Navajo plied them on the spindle to finish with six yards of very lovely 3 ply. In this case, the white mohair streaked out and took the limelight from the brown and wine. I really like how the Navajo plying maintained the color progressions in the singles.

Sweet Pea Fibers sent a bonus batt with my order made of hand-dyed wool, tussah silk, nylon sparkle and angelina. It was a fun mix of pinks with little shots of teal and gold. I spun and Navajo plied this on the spindle. It's bulkier than the others and gave nine yards of cheerful 3-ply. The sparkle is subtle and the same color as the yarn, but it's enough to make it glitter in the light. I had contemplating plying this with a lot of different singles, but in the end I thought it needed to stand on its own.

It's really hard to believe I got my spindle a week ago today. I've been having so much fun trying different techniques and experimenting with different fibers. I have a whole pile of mini-skeins to admire and each one is so unique.

Spinning before and after

2009-03-02T22:28:00.016-06:00

Spinning the Phat Fiber samples and the little half ounce balls of fiber from Sweet Pea Fiber is like digging into a box of Valentine's chocolates. There are so many different flavors and only enough for a bite of each one. I spent the evening spinning and plying a variety of different samples and I'm having so much fun playing with color. I honestly didn't think I'd like spinning this much, but there's something about the feel of all the different fibers - wool, silk, mohair - and the interplay of colors. The batts and rovings change when they are spun, and change again when they are plied and it's always a surprise to see what happens.

(Click any photos to see them larger)

The February Phat Fiber box included a bunch of pink and brown fiber samples based on the "Romance and Chocolate" Theme.

I spun up the 0.2oz Corriedale Pencil Roving Duet in “Raspberry Truffle” from Aurora Fiber Arts. The duet is made of two complementary strands of roving that can be plied together to make a fun yarn. I spun one continuous strand from both halves of the duet.

Then I spun up a special batt that came in my order from Sweet Pea Fibers. It’s hand-dyed wool, tussah silk, sparkle and angelina.

Then I plied the two together on my wheel. The end result is 10 yards of worsted-to-bulky bright pink yarn with bursts of brown.

Silver Sun Alpacas sent a batt of alpaca, merino and mohair in a lovely blend of chocolate brown, wine red and white aptly named "Wine and Chocolate".

I spun it up on the drop spindle.

Then I spun a January box sample of white 70% mohair and 30% wool from Natchwoolie. It spun like butter into fuzzy, white singles.

Then I plied the two together on my spindle (first time) to get 16 yards of worsted-to-bulky two-ply with a nice halo.

I still had some of the Wine and Chocolate singles left, so I spun a little Mini Bon Bon in color "Cherry Chakka Latte" from Natchwoolie. It was chocolate merino lamb wool with pale pink plant-dyed mohair.

I plied it with the Wine and Chocolate on the drop spindle. It made 6 yds of worsted two-ply. The difference in appearance between this and when it was plied with the white is really interesting.

I also spun up two samples from the January box. I put together Moonlight and Laughter’s BFL in “Deep Lake” with Enchanted’s hand-dyed merino. They were in the same blue/teal color family, except Enchanted’s was lighter. I ended with a good 18 yds of worsted-to-bulky two-ply and only had 12 inches of leftover Deep Lake singles. They were a perfect match!

This is a batt from Extreme Spinning. It's 1 oz of purple and pale yellow superwash wool, layered with silver angelina. This was soft and silky and spun easily. The angelina is nearly invisible in the fiber, but the yarn glitters in the light like newly fallen snow. The colorway is "Prince Humperdink", based on the movie The Princess Bride. He's dressed in royal purple, with a yellow belly.

I spun this on my drop spindle and then wound it into a center pull ball. I plied it into a bulky two-ply from the inside and outside of the ball again on my drop spindle. It made 11 yards of very fun, soft yarn.

New yarn

2009-03-01T18:05:00.005-06:00

Today was my first time finishing yarn. I wound the Frabjous Fibers Blue Faced Leicester (BFL) singles onto my swift and tied them off into two hanks. Since I don't have a niddy noddy, I opened the swift until it was 36" around so I'd be able to easily count how many yards each hank was. Then I soaked the hanks in a hot Eucalan bath for about half an hour. When they were done, I lifted them out, thwacked them hard against the side of the tub and hung them up to dry. Before soaking and thwacking, they were very curly and unruly.

I also took the Corriedale fiber from Copperpot Woolies and plied my singles. In both cases, I wound the singles into a center-pull ball and then made a two ply on the wheel using the inside and outside of the ball together. It meant no leftovers and worked pretty well. I was really happy since the plied yarn came out mostly balanced and looked like real yarn.

First I plied the singles I spun on the wheel.

Next I plied the singles I spun on the drop spindle.

I really love how the colors turned out in both of them and it's interesting to me that I had pretty similar results with both methods. Honestly, except for the fact that the spindle hank is smaller, I have a hard time telling them apart. Both hanks were also soaked and thwacked and are now hanging up to dry.

I took advantage of my emptied drop spindle to haul out some more fiber. This is 1 oz of BFL in color "Scarletta" from Infinity. The very generous braid was part of my February Phat Fiber box.

I spun up singles on my drop spindle. I was aiming for as thin as possible and it was fingering or less for most of it. It's getting easier for me to ply and the fiber was wonderful to work with.

Then I made my first attempt with Navajo Plying. The singles were thin enough that I wouldn't end up with a super bulky 3-ply at the end of it. It was a rough start but by the end, I was getting the hang of it. I've watched a couple You Tube videos and putting the loop over my wrist really helped. The ounce of fiber yielded not quite 5 yards of worsted to bulky thick and thin 3 ply yarn. The colors are very pretty and this will probably look even prettier once it's finished.

Hedgehog Fibres

2009-02-28T22:48:00.009-06:00

I got a 16 yard sample of 100% worsted silk in color "Sunbaked" from Hedgehog Fibres in one of my Phat Fiber boxes. This was my first experience with silk. It's beautiful yarn and much softer than I expected silk to be. I'm contemplating knitting a worsted version of my Music and Lyrics shrug when I'm done with the lace version, so I swatched the yarn in the Ostrich Plumes pattern. I think the drape of silk might keep the shape from being too chunky and the lace pattern would keep the silk from being too heavy.

It's simply decadent yarn. Perhaps because it's a worsted single, I didn't really feel that it was overly inelastic. It was definitely nicer to knit than cotton and it's SO soft. I keep picking up the swatch and petting it. The color changes were just subtle enough to entertain me without detracting from the lace stitch. I can see why people love silk and the sheen has to be seen in person to truly appreciate it. I felt like I was knitting with spun gold.

(Click on photos to enlarge, especially the close-up)

It's called a drop spindle for a reason..

2009-02-27T22:12:00.003-06:00

My new drop spindle arrived today from Butterfly Girl Designs. It's a 2.2" Murano foil glass whorl with a 10" hardwood shaft and weighs 1.4oz. It's my first spindle and I picked it because the flower shape has notches, it has a smooth shaft to make it easier to slide the cop off if I want to and it's wide and heavy enough to spin something more than laceweight. I could probably use a heavier one too, but laceweight spindles seem to be the rage lately.

I pulled out the Copperpot Woolies Corriedale again tonight and got right down to it. I owe this fiber everything, because it is so easy to draft and I had an ah-hah moment when it all started coming together. I have to be careful to draft a fairly thin triangle because the spindle is too light to handle thicker fiber. If I let too much through, it would backspin and unravel. I only dropped it a couple times, but my heart stopped each time. The whorl is glass and I have hardwood floors. I put a fleece blanket under my feet to cushion the blow in case it happened again. I'm still working on the rhythm of spinning, drafting, letting the twist up the strand and then winding on. I can't quite figure out what to do with the fiber since I do better with a longer piece of roving than a little stub. It'll come to me, but the Corriedale is really helping make this easier.

So without further ado, my very first drop spindle-spun yarn. It's about fingering weight through most of the cop with a few heavy worsted areas. I'm quite proud of it for a newbie attempt and I can see what all of the fuss is about.

Copperpot Woolies

2009-02-26T20:40:00.007-06:00

More fiber came in the mail today! I ordered 4oz of Corriedale combed top in color "Big Sky" from Copperpot Woolies. It is soft, sleek, lofty and an absolute dream to spin. It drafts almost without any help, which is good because the colors kept me entertained and it was hard to pay attention. My wheel was misbehaving tonight, which makes me want a new flyer more than ever. The bobbins are old and don't spin freely on the flyer, but I want to wait and get a jumbo flyer if I'm going to shell out for bobbins. However, I was able to mostly fill a bobbin with fairly even fingering to worsted weight singles. I had hoped to try Navajo plying with this, but my singles aren't fine enough. I saved the second half of the fiber for practice with my drop spindle when it gets here.

I will definitely be ordering again from Copperpot Woolies. I still can't get over the colors and the softness and the sheer joy of working with this wool.

It's yarn!

2009-02-25T21:41:00.005-06:00

I hauled out my wheel, oiled it up and had another go tonight. I don't know where my sudden mojo came from, but I spun two bobbins of fingering to worsted singles from this delicious braid of BFL.

I really liked the colors but I didn't want to muddy them up by plying. It inspired me enough to attempt singles. I had pulled the roving lengthwise into pencil-diameter strips that only needed light tugging to loosen the fibers. If I try to draft from thicker strands, it's anyone's guess what will happen. It worked great and I was able to concentrate on letting the twist into the fiber evenly. I smoothed the yarn as I went and the BFL was lovely to work with.

Right now the singles are cooling their jets on my ball winder. I emptied my bobbins and I want to let the twist relax before I finish the yarn. It's on the winder so the center won't collapse. I'm treating it like another bobbin, just one that's easier to deal with, especially when I wind the hanks.

I gave the Targhee fiber a whirl but the short staple length was beyond my abilities. I'm going to sit on the merino and other short staple fibers until I get a little more experience and I may try them on a drop spindle instead of the wheel. My spindle isn't here yet, so I have a little time to wait and get some knitting finished. My "Music and Lyrics" shrug has been hibernating for a while, so I pulled it out tonight and rekindled the romance. I forgot how much I love Malabrigo lace.

Sweet Pea Fibers

2009-02-25T16:08:00.011-06:00

After getting my Phat Fiber box, I wanted to support some of the artists, so I placed a couple of orders. My first one arrived today from Sweet Pea Fibers. I ordered a "What Would You Make" fiber sampler. It's six bundles of fiber, each about 1/2 oz or so.

What would I make? Good question. Some of this is so pretty, I'd rather roll around on it than spin it. They're nice sized bundles and should give me a decent feel for how the different fibers and preps behave. I'm really glad I ordered this.

Hand-dyed Blue-faced Leicester, Merino and cultivated silk in soft blues and greens, with a touch of yellow. This is one of my favorites because the colors are so clear.

Hand-dyed 80% merino, 20% tussah silk in a pretty chartreuse/lettuce semi-solid. The photo really doesn't capture the color accurately. It's very soft and smooshy.

Hand-dyed merino top in brown, purple-pink and mixed greens.

Hand-dyed Targhee combed top in deep blues, brown and orange.

Mixed wool, cultivated silk, sari silk, angelina and firestar. This is a puff of pinks, salmon, orange, yellow and white that is difficult to photograph accurately. It's full of little sari silk threads and should make an interesting textured yarn once spun up.

Mixed wool, mohair, firestar and angelina in a scrumptious blend of pinks, pale blues, purple, teal and red. It has shiny gold and burgundy firestar mixed through it and it's my favorite of the bunch.

There was also a little bonus batt of hand-dyed wool, tussah silk, nylon sparkle and angelina in very bright pinks and golds with a tiny shot of teal.

I'm oiling up my wheel tonight and hopefully will be able to get some spinning done. Now that I have a plethora of fiber to play with, I plan to enjoy myself and get some good practice in.

February Phat Fiber is here!

2009-02-20T20:16:00.008-06:00

Alas, my samples didn't make it in time for the box, but I was still able to get in on the February box sale. The boxes were mailed on Tuesday and mine arrived yesterday (Thursday). I didn't expect it until today or tomorrow. It was so great to come home and see that white box sitting on my doorstep. I've been rummaging through it and it's all so lovely. The samples are generous and I love all of the pink. I'm a new spinner and still learning about fiber. It's so educational to have all of these fibers in the form of yarn and unspun fibers in one place. The big BFL roving feels like a cloud compared to the slightly coarser corriedale and this will be my first experience with alpaca. The yarns let me feel how different plying methods (or singles) feel and I'll get to experiment with how they knit up. The Targhee wool yarn is new to me too.

The fiber, clockwise from left includes:

100% BFL roving in color "Scarletta" from Infinity
1 oz 50% merino/50% tencel roving in color "Black Nightie" from Natural Obsessions
0.2 oz Corriedale Roving in color "Raspberry Truffle" from Aurora Fiber Arts
Merino roving in color "Stranger" from hedgehog fibres
A Mini Bon Bon of merino roving with a dollop of mohair in color "Cherry Chakka Latte" from Natchwoolie
Black wool roving with deep red nylon firestar and Tibetan rayon sari thrums in color "Embers" from Wild Hare
Alpaca, merino and mohair batt in color "Wine and Chocolate" from Silver Sun Alpacas

The yarn clockwise from upper left includes:

40 yds 100% merino sock yarn in color "This is Not About Love (Fiona Apple)" and a Dove chocolate heart from Dyed by Danido
Handspun BFL singles in color "Kissy Face" from Vines (which is exactly what I want to learn how to spin)
100% handspun wool in color "Key Lime" from Cool Climates
30 yds Merino sock yarn in color "Flutterby" from Wild Child Yarn , which is a part of Serenity Tree, a conglomerate of work-at-home-moms.
Superwash Merino sock yarn in color "Blush" from Sweet Pea Fibers
Worsted Merino in color "Purple Batik" and Superwash Merino sock yarn in color "Peony" from Liberty Fibers
20 yds worsted Targhee wool in color "Snork" from Northern Lights Fiber Co.

Extras include:

Pattern - "Under the Rose" fingerless mitts by Wendy Ganong
Pattern - "February Flower" knit flower by Katherine Vaughn Designs
Pattern - "Flashdance Leg Warmers" by Diane Kostecki
Small KIP bag from Ruddawg
Valentine heart stitch marker from Designs by Tami (a genius with polymer clay)
Green and black beaded shawl pin from Yarn Candy by Melissa
Fudge from J.D. Melaine

I can't say enough good things about Phat Fiber. It's a unique collective and I really think the benefits to the contributors far outweigh the cost of sending in samples. Because of the blog and the samples I got, I've favorited so many artisans on Etsy that I really need to win the lottery.

Phat Fiber February Box Samples

2009-02-13T23:27:00.002-06:00

I mailed out my samples to Phat Fiber yesterday and hopefully they'll make it in time for the February Box. I designed them for the theme of "Romance and Chocolate". I had a ton of fun making them and they were inspired by my mom. She loves Valentine's Day and sparkling things.

These are paper ornaments adorned with glitter, rhinestones, pearls, stickers and oil pencil. I made beaded hangers for them and each one is sealed with Mod Podge for a glossy finish. I raided my sister-in-laws scrapbook paper supply, so each sheep is different. I feel like they have different personalities depending on the paper, the bead and the finish. I may be biased, but I think they're really cute. I hope the box recipients like them.

To anyone who thinks artists lead a glamorous life, here's a shot of my workspace.

That's my kitchen table. I haven't eaten on it in weeks. One chair holds my box of acrylic paints and I usually have stuff on the countertop too. I finally stocked up on a big variety of art supplies, which meant that I had everything I needed to make these except the paper, beads and stickers. I tried to go beyond simple paper and glue so I could have fun with different techniques. The sheep took longer than I expected to make, because they had to be cut out, glued, dried, adorned, sealed, dried again and then pressed. I also had to make each beaded hanger to match the paper. I'm very high tech. My drying rack is a back scratcher propped up by two cereal boxes. My press is a folded sheet of parchment paper under two phone books. It's fun though. I get a kick out of solving problems and finding ways to do what I imagine.

My old blog is finally moved here to Blogger. I couldn't get the German terminology posts to format correctly, so I still have to play with those. I'm excited to have an easy link to Etsy from here and it's so much easier to work with. I still can't find the perfect template, but this one will do for now.

Illustration Friday

2009-02-11T18:20:00.002-06:00

Thanks to a link to Ursula's Art blog by Liz at Primoriginals, I found a site called Illustration Friday. There's a weekly theme and anyone can join to illustrate it with any media they choose. It's really cool, since sometimes it helps to have a kernel of an idea to jumpstart a new project. This week's topic is "Time". I have a couple ideas and we'll see if I have the actual time to complete one before Friday. Even if I have to wait a couple weeks to really get started, I'm looking forward to participating in the group.

I am very busily finishing a bunch of goodies for the February Phat Fiber box and I need to mail them out tomorrow. The box goes on sale on the 16th, so I am really down to the wire. Because of the theme, I don't want to hold them for the March box if I can help it.

If the sun decides to shine tomorrow, I should get some decent pictures before I send them off to their new homes. Fun!

I'm Phat!

2009-01-28T21:04:00.007-06:00

Earlier this month, I was one of the few (70 or so) lucky recipients of a Phat Fiber box. Phat Fiber is a collective group of independent fiber and other artists who submit samples to the box based on monthly themes. The boxes go up for sale on Etsy once a month and each one is different. It was like Christmas when mine arrived, because really all I knew was it would have yarn and fiber in it. Previews of potential goodies are posted on the blog almost daily and they're enough to make your mouth water.

The boxes contain spinning fiber:

Left to right, top to bottom:

1/4 oz merino, tussah silk noil and angelina Whirlag in color "Snow Day" from Whirligig Yarns
Sky blue wool in color "Jack Frost" from A Sleeping Spindle
100% wool fiber knot in color "Great Melons" from (Rule Out): Fiber Addiction, nos
Handpainted merino roving from Enchanted Yarn
15g Rambouillet wool roving in color "Ice Queen" from Vines
Wool top in lovely rainbow colors from the Painted Tiger
Blue Faced Leicester (BFL) fiber in color "Deep Lake" from Moonlight and Laughter
(not shown) 70% mohair, 30% wool in Natural Winter White from Natchwoolie

Yarn samples:

Clockwise from left:

46 yds 75% SW wool, 25% nylon Turtle Feet sock yarn in color "Ice Flower" from Turtle Cove Farm
65% merino, 20% bamboo and 15% silk sock yarn in color "Water Edge" from hedgehog fibres
12 yds supersock yarn in color "Frost" from Dome Hill Yarns
24 yds worsted hand-spun undyed Jacob Wool in color "Sleet and Snow" from Artemesia Ink Studio Arts
Little hank of blue and green yarn from Dyed by Danido
15yds superwash merino sock yarn in blues and greys from Sneaky Pig Yarns
100 yds sock yarn in color "Queen Anne's Revenge" from Actual Size Creations/Valutree
100% white bamboo yarn from the Fuzzy Bunny
(not shown) Bulky 100% wool in color "Leaves of Grass" and 75% merino/25% nylon sock yarn in color "The Golden Road" from Moonlight and Laughter plus a mother of pearl stitch marker

And other goodies!

Clockwise from top left:

Pattern - Bartlett Bunny from Joey's House
Pattern - Braided Cable Socks from Lynne Wardrop at Avalon Fiber Arts
Matchbox notepad from Designs by Tami
Size 13 wooden knitting needles from Baa Hurrah
Knitting needle gauge from 7 Yaks Design
Get a Grip lanolin hand balm in "Citrus" scent from Knit
Lampwork bead stitch markers from Dragon Lady Designs
Handmade Soap from the Lote Tree
Leaf stitch marker from In Stitches

I submitted an offer and I've been accepted to have my work IN the February box! I've been very busy working on samples to mail in by Valentine's Day. The theme is "Romance and Chocolate" and I'm having a lot of fun with it. Once my little creations are finished, I'll have photos to post. In the meantime, check out the Phat Fiber blog for write-ups and teasers from the January box.

New Leaf!

2009-01-27T17:36:00.002-06:00

I'm moving my old blog over here so I can take advantage of some new journal features. We'll see if I'm able to import my old entries, but in the meantime, my old blog is found at http://minou14.livejournal.com.

Another pair of socks!

2009-01-19T12:33:00.002-06:00

Seriously, my feet get cold. I finished the Cascade 220 Superwash pair and I've been wearing them unblocked, straight off the needles. They do help keep my feet warm, yet they're thin enough I can still wear them in my tennis shoes if I need to go outside.

I wanted something a little more decadent, and it doesn't get more decadent than Malabrigo Worsted. I had a skein of "Bobby Blue" in the stash and decided to use it up.

This was my first time knitting with Malabrigo and boy did it make me happy. The stitches are puffy and delicious on US4's and the color changes just enough to be fun, but without giving me striped socks or pooling. I don't like striped socks. This color is sort of a cross between the Caribbean Sea and a clear sky in springtime and it's a lot of fun in the dead of winter. I changed the already modified Thuja sock pattern to use a straight 3x1 rib instead of a 3x1 seed stitch rib. It pulls in a lot more and helps the sock cling to my foot. It's still not a tight clingy sock, but it's meant to be worn over a basic cotton sock as an extra layer of insulation. The Malabrigo will probably pill and felt with wear, so these are meant to be worn in the house only.

I'm still not fond of knitting socks, but they're not bad for almost instant gratification. One sock takes me a couple of hours with worsted yarn, mostly because of the damn ribbing. I can now do short row heels like a champ and I think Kitchener stitching is fun. I'd Kitchener (is that a verb?) every seam I came across if such a thing were possible.

I should have plenty of yarn left for the second sock to make this a one skein project. If all goes well, this pair will be finished tomorrow night. Then I can get back to my sweater!

Its a sock!

2009-01-16T21:04:00.000-06:00

One down, one to go. This one is a bit slouchy and loose, which will hopefully be remedied by a good wash and blocking. Depending on how they fare after blocking and wear, future pairs may need to go down a needle size. My stitches are looser than usual. I blame my clumsiness with dpn's. I do most of my work on circs, but I don't like Magic Loop for something this small around.

Pardon the less than stellar photography. It's surprisingly difficult to take a picture of your own foot at an attractive angle.

This is the first truly fitted thing I've made. The whole time, I had fears of either a monster sock or one that strangulated my ankle due to a tight cast-on. I gauged the length by holding up a dpn to the bottom of my foot and starting the toe decreases when I had a dpn-length of foot knitted. It all worked and the thing is nearly the shape of my foot.

That said, I am really not in love with socks. I put it on and didn't feel anything magical. It's a sock. It's a little nubbly inside. It's just.. utilitarian. The process knitter in me had fun. I'm thrilled I learned one way to do short rows and I finally had a reason to learn the Kitchener stitch. I've become a better knitter because of this sock.

I'm going to give my sweater a big smooch when I finally get to work on it again. You can love your socks, but my heart belongs to lace.

Bunnies!

2009-01-16T17:03:00.000-06:00

I'm working on another painting, but since it's layered, it takes a while. It's good for my spastic attention span because I dab on some paint or glitter and wander off to let it dry. My next project is going to be making a light box so I can photograph my work with some semblance of professionalism.

I've paused my work on the sweater for a couple of days while I knit a pair of socks. I finally caved and decided to knit a pair because my feet are cold. When our high temperature for the day is still below zero, I can either set myself on fire or knit socks. I'm not smitten with them, so I don't think this will become an addiction. They can be useful little items, but when I see socks knit with fancy sock yarn, I don't swoon. These are going quickly because I'm knitting them with worsted Cascade 220 Superwash "Cordovan" from my stash on US4's. I made it past the heel on my first one last night and that was while talking on the phone and ordering a Phat Fiber box. (http://www.phatfiber.blogspot.com/) My big plans for tonight are to work on finishing the one and possibly starting the second. Cold toes are powerful motivation. I'll pop in a movie, huddle under a blanket and knit like the wind. The pattern is "Thuja" from Knitty Winter 2005. These are meant to be men's socks but they have nice 3x1 ribbing to make them clingy. I sized them down and it's working just fine. Lucy is the only one who will see them, so the lack of girliness is not a big deal.

And on the topic of knitting, the subject of today's post is bunnies! I found a link to PalominoMorgan's Etsy shop and I'm going into sugar shock because these bunnies are so cute. The description of their personalities is even better. They're all made from upcycled sweaters, which is very cool and means each one is unique. Look at this one called "Creamsicle"!

The Cow Jumped Over the Moon

2009-01-14T16:39:00.000-06:00

I've said before what an inspiration Liz from primoriginals has been to me. I love the idea of painting on wood so framing isn't needed. Layering gives such depth and interest to her paintings. After chatting with her, I ordered some wood and took a stab at my first mixed media painting.

I had this idea rolling around in my head and the finished painting actually closely resembles what I imagined. It's a big change for me, since I'm usually so literal in my paintings. This includes paper, acrylic paints, oil pencils, glitter, metal stars, and stamping and is finished with beeswax. The beeswax was definitely a learning experience, but thanks to Liz, I had a small quilting iron handy to smooth the finish. It goes GREAT over acrylic paint, but it's not so great over the paper. I may have to do something a little different on future paintings because it made the cow look slightly transparent. It gave it a little more visual texture, so it's not bad per se, just not what I anticipated.

I love the cow's expression and I'm really happy with how the moon turned out. I also really love the background with multiple layers of stars and the rich colors. Once I put a hanger on it and get good photos in the sunlight, this one will be up in my Etsy shop. It's going to be difficult to sell because I keep picking it up and admiring it. Even though I painted the silly thing, I keep finding new things as I look.

I had SO much fun with this and would have finished it earlier except that my work area is my kitchen table. I had to put everything away so I could have company for Christmas. One of my New Years resolutions is to be more artsy in 2009, and a sub-resolution is to set up a dedicated work table in my office/studio so I can go create whenever the mood strikes.

Look at someone else's pretty things!

2008-12-10T17:43:00.000-06:00

I still don't have interesting knitting photos. Since the weather got colder, my hands have been terribly chapped and cracking. Knitting with Malabrigo Lace is difficult because it snags on my fingers and dries them out more. I've had to cut back on how long I knit each night and right now the finger my yarn passes over is a mess. Who knew knitting was a hazardous hobby?

I've been contemplating other artistic pursuits lately. I'm not stopping knitting, just adding other hobbies to my evenings and weekends. Liz has been a great inspiration and I have several mixed media paintings in my head, waiting to come out. I have some art supplies on order and they will hopefully be here by the weekend.

Other inspiring sites as of late:

The HeArt of Papercuts

It is absolutely amazing what this artist can do with paper and a blade. I am in awe and it's inspiring me to try some papercutting of my own. This is a papercut called "the Secret Anatomy of a Young Girl". The detail is astonishing and I see something new every time I look at it.

The Long Thread

There are so many arts and crafts here and she does a great montage of little finds from Etsy every week. I've added a large number of Etsy sellers to my favorites list, which is probably dangerous. She has good tutorials for crafts and lots of beautiful photos. Again, I'm inspired to create some projects of my own.

I'd like a sewing machine at some point. I'm glad I have some room to spread out and experiment with different kinds of art. It's all so interesting! I wish I had taken more art classes in the past, but there are options here. I've signed up for two classes this spring - one is art metal and jewelry and the other is metal filigree. I'll learn some new skills to use with beading and jewelry, and possibly other forms. The real temptation is the glass studio two blocks from my house. I could go nuts if I only had the funds!

Yes, I'm still knitting

2008-12-02T10:20:00.001-06:00

I'm working on the sweater that will never end. It's my first adult sweater and I'm designing it myself. It's obvious it's my own design because I'm being a crazy person and knitting with Malabrigo Lace on US2 needles. Hence the reason it will never end. I'm about done with one sleeve right now. It doesn't look like much yet, but the swatching process was interesting.

I originally wanted to use a lace pattern called "Frost Flowers". When I started swatching it, I realized there are no resting rows. It has pattern stitches on the knit and purl side, although that's a bit of a misnomer. Both sides incorporate knits and purls and also some fun things like purl 2 together through the back loops. It's a pretty pattern, but since I knit Continental, changing rapidly from knit to purl is really frustrating. If you want to do me in, tie me to a chair and make me knit seed stitch or 1x1 rib. I'll spontaneously combust out of sheer frustration in no time. It's much more relaxing for me to knit a lace pattern with a lot of ssk's, k2tog's, yarnovers, etc than to knit a ribbed scarf.

So here's Frost Flowers on US5 needles.

Aside from the pattern stitches on every row, one repeat was huge and didn't really appeal to me. I wanted a finer textured lace and I wasn't willing to knit this specific pattern on smaller needles to get the effect I wanted.

Next I tried another lace stitch. It was nice, but not really speaking to me. I originally thought this could be a winner because I'm knitting my sweater sideways and this lace pattern looks good from all directions. This was also on US4's, which may be part of the problem.

I finally found what I was looking for. This is an old lace pattern called "Ostrich Plumes". It's similar to Feather and Fan, except the repeats are staggered so it swoops in and out instead of forming the deep waves of F&F. I knit it on US2's to get a nice fabric. When I knit lace, I like the stockinette portions to be solid and the yarnover portions to be open. Open lace knit on large needles doesn't appeal to me as much. Also, since this is a sweater, I'd like it to have some substance, even in laceweight yarn.

All of these swatches were knit with Malabrigo Lace in color "Olive". I love this yarn. It's so soft and delicious to work with and the subtle color changes keep my interest. They're not too obnoxious with the Ostrich Plumes lace pattern and I like the effect. I did have to frog back a big chunk when I realized this sweater was going to end up hanging to my knees. It was then that I discovered that Malabrigo Lace really binds to itself quickly. The last few rows were very difficult to frog because the fibers of neighboring stitches had begun to felt together, just from handling while I knitted. It's somewhat of a good thing since lace can snag easily and I don't want this sweater to fall apart. It may fuzz and lose some stitch definition, but I don't anticipate that it will be a big problem for me. This self-love on the part of the yarn also means I get more "yarn barf" than usual from my center pull balls. The yarn is felting inside the ball and I sometimes get a big clump as I pull out more yarn. It's easy enough to pull apart if I'm gentle, but it's something I haven't really seen with other wool yarns I've used. It's the nature of the beast since this is a spun single. If I had a yarn with multiple plies, a tighter twist or a different fiber, it wouldn't be this soft and it would behave totally differently.

All of the swatches were wet blocked and gently pinned to dry. The wet blocking really made the yarn tighten up and show its sheen. I can't wait to finish this sweater and give it a good soak to see what happens.

The Great Frame-Up

2008-11-21T15:09:00.000-06:00

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

2008-11-16T23:18:00.000-06:00

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..

2008-11-16T00:19:00.000-06:00

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

2008-11-13T17:57:00.000-06:00

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

2008-11-03T21:38:00.001-06:00

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.

Stars in my eyes

2008-10-30T15:14:00.000-05:00

I wish I could paint. I really do. I dabble occasionally, but I'm more of a realist. I can look at something and paint it, but I can't paint something in my head. However, if I could paint the sort of thing that makes me happy, it would look like this (double-click to enlarge):

This was painted by Liz of Primoriginals. I am completely addicted to her work and had the pleasure of meeting her on several occasions at her booth at On Broadway. I have to keep myself from checking her Etsy shop too often because every time I do, another irresistable little gem has been posted. This painting was exactly what I needed to jazz up the wall behind my chair in the living room. It's not too big and the red in the bird is the color of my loveseat. It has little metallic stars embedded in the surface and they twinkle, especially after the sun has gone down and the lamp is shining on it. I'm calling it my housewarming present to myself.

With the pretty little redhead and her birds to inspire me, I've been working on a new scarf design. I think I've worked out the bugs and my test swatch is beginning to look like what I had hoped. I'm now busily knitting away and will post photos when I've finished. It's modular, so each piece doesn't take too long. I knit a module, seam it to the scarf, and then carry on with the next. I'm going to post it as my first pattern for sale and I hope the seaming doesn't scare people off. The seams are only about 12 stitches each and not terrible at all. I know there are knitters out there who hate anything with seams and others who hate purling. Alas, this has both. But it's a scalloped lace scarf with odd construction and there's just no way to do it in one piece. It's going to be called "Scallopini" and I will hopefully have it posted within the next couple weeks.

Now that the weather is getting colder, I'm ramping up my knitting and will have more things to share soon!

Purple Bliss is done!

2008-10-16T00:46:00.000-05:00

I finally blocked and finished the Purple Bliss Baby Surprise Jacket and it was gifted to the mom-to-be this past weekend. It went over well and I can't wait to see it in action!

This was knit on US5's using sport weight 100% hand-dyed wool for the body and Sublime Yarns Cashmere Merino Silk DK for the button bands. I had 360 yards of the purple at the start and still have a bunch left over.

Blocked dimensions - should fit 12-18 months:
20” chest circumference
5.5” sleeve length
11” center back

I finished it off with little purple hippopotamus buttons. I couldn't resist adding something totally goofy to one of these jackets. This one somehow looked more serious and I like the touch of whimsy.

I am continually tweaking the pattern as I knit more of these. Keeping the stitches on hold on the circular really helped keep the corners tight. I broke the yarn and started knitting the held stitches at the collar so I could pick up both sides on a right side row, same as previous. It helps keep the ridge from picking up the stitches on the inside of the jacket on both sides. I added a step this time and knit two rows in the purple before I started with the pink. It prevented the jog of color at the corners where the stitches are picked up. Since they're not quite in line with the stitches that were being held, it has been a problem in my past ones. This time.. it's lovely!

I also seamed the sleeves using the seam from my Knitting Answer Book to join a top edge to a side edge. It's pretty easy looping back and forth and makes a nice flat seam that isn't too obvious. I don't have a photo, but it was a significant improvement over a crochet seam because it's more flexible. Yarn Harlot has a post showing how it turns out. http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2007/07/11/surprise.html

I have a couple more of these in the queue. Everyone seems to be having babies all of a sudden, so I'll be handing them out left and right.

Kitty Breath

2008-10-03T00:21:00.000-05:00

I've spent the past year without a cat for the first time in 17 years. It was a lonely year without purrs and kitty breath.

On Tuesday, I had the sudden urge to the Humane Society. I checked out the cats online and decided to go to one of the satellite adoption centers because they had a cat named Emma that looked sweet. The cats are all let out of their cages to roam together in the room, so I sat there talking to the adoption woman and meeting various cats. She pointed out all of the females, including Emma, and I met most of them except for a little red tabby who was hiding in a cat igloo in the corner on top of the cages. Emma was nippy and naughty and I didn't like her. I looked at some of the others and then started getting introduced to the males. None of the cats really interested me. They were nice.. but no spark.

After an hour, I was getting ready to leave my application and either check back another time or else go to one of the other locations when the little red cat came out of hiding. She walked across the top of the cages, hopped down, walked right up to me and started rubbing on my leg and arching her back while I petted her. The adoption lady was amazed because she usually hides and is very shy. She started playing with me and was so soft and sweet and not really scared at all.

She came home yesterday and I named her Lucy, after B.B. King's famous blues guitar Lucille. She was dropped off as a two year old in April because she didn't get along with the other animals in the house (I suspect they all picked on her). She wasn't happy with her previous owners and she's spent six long months waiting for someone to take her home, so I figure she's been singing the blues most of her life.

She has settled in so well since then. She's been purring, kneading when I talk to her and has started talking in little chirps and meows. I even trimmed all of her nails with no fuss because she was clicking all over my hardwood floors. She checked everything out and has been very curious and outgoing. The only thing that scared her so far was my hair dryer. Unlike any of my previous cats, she is a lap cat. If I sit still long enough, she jumps up and makes herself at home. Earlier today, she was curled up on my lap almost entirely upside down on her head.

Not a lot of knitting has been happening since this happened, but please note she's curled up in the Popsicle Kitty Pi. She has all three kitty pi's to choose from and hopped right in as soon as she saw them - even the gimpy purple and pink one that didn't felt properly. I knitted them after my last cat died and it's nice that they are finally keeping a kitty tuckus warm.

So, without further ado, here's Lucy:

It's easy being green!

2008-09-13T14:21:00.000-05:00

I am becoming more aware of my shopping and I try to buy local when I can. Now that I've moved back to my hometown, I went to the farmer's market to see if some of my favorite booths were still there. I am happy to report they were!

First on my list was a booth that sells all heirloom apple varieties. My grandfather had an old tree in his yard that gave a bumper crop of apples that were small, crunchy, tart, and green with red streaks. I loved those apples and am happy when I can find something similar. The huge, sweet mushy apples in the store don't come close. I bought a mix and match selection of about seven different tart varieties. The booth has gotten bigger, and is still very busy. My only disappointment was they weren't offering samples. They used to have little cubes of each variety so you could sample before you picked them out. Each variety does have a description card and they are sorted in order of sweetness, so I could skip one half of the booth entirely. That crazy brown one is described as very tart and zesty. I can't wait to try it!

Second was an Amish bakery. I found the booth, but either the bakery has sold or they have gotten so big that they have non-Amish workers manning the booth. Either way, the almond scones are exactly as I remembered. I have to restrain myself, but man are they delicious.

I also wanted to pick up a few veggies and so I scoured the market for good deals. I came back with a bunch of carrots, some patty pan squash (which I MUST learn how to cook), cherry tomatoes, a quart of raspberries, three cucumbers, and a huge club of brussels sprouts. People were commenting on my sprouts as I wandered around in the rain. As an adult, I've learned they are really delicious with a little salt and butter, but they have to be fresh. Frozen are not good and canned are unspeakably foul.

On the way there, I also drove past a yarn shop that is literally minutes from my house. I dropped in on the way home and checked it out. It had a nice selection of yarn and knitted samples and friendly staff, so I'm sure I'll be back. There are a few others in the area that I will get to eventually. I'm trying to behave since moving was a big expense and I have so much work to do in the apartment. Knitting will be my reward when I finish painting, especially since the second bedroom is going to be my office (boring) and studio (exciting!).

Now, strengthened by an almond scone, some carrots and a few cherry tomatoes, I feel ready to face the rest of the taping in the kitchen. Painting shall ensue!

Daydreamer

2008-09-12T10:01:00.000-05:00

I've moved and everything is still in disarray. I've been concentrating on painting the walls so my living space is fresh and welcoming. I'd rather do that first and then unpack, so everything else has been on hold. I did take a few days off to visit with my family and in that time, I churned out four dishcloths. Two were gifts, and two were for my new kitchen.

Next on my list is some gardening. I brought my gardening tools to my new place and I have some neglected beds waiting for me. I'm excited to jump in and make some improvements and my new landlords are happy to let me. Mostly I need to do some pruning and weeding to see what structure I have to work with. There's a large shrub outside my bedroom window that the landlord wants to cut down, but I think I'll convince them to keep it. It gives me privacy and so far I've seen a warbler, a woodpecker and a female cardinal in it while looking out my window. The cover it provides for the birds is worth salvaging. It does need a little pruning, so I'll tidy it up and give it some shape.

Last but not least, my newest additions are three orchids and a goldfish plant. I visited a local grower at the Farmer's Market last week and bought the plants on sale. I have a Brassidium "Dragon Wings", Paphiopedilum Maudiae alba (Lady's Slipper) and Phalaenopsis "Paper Moon". They're all beautiful plants and suited to different windows in my apartment. I love having the flowers inside since I left my flowering garden behind. Nothing is blooming outside here yet except some neglected black-eyed susans.

Interesting quiz. I agree with parts of it.

Your result for The Perception Personality Image Test...

NBPC - The Daydreamer

Nature, Background, Big Picture, and Color

You perceive the world with particular attention to nature. You focus on the hidden treasures of life (the background) and how that fits into the larger picture. You are also particularly drawn towards the colors around you. Because of the value you place on nature, you tend to find comfort in more subdued settings and find energy in solitude. You like to ponder ideas and imagine the many possibilities of your life without worrying about the details or specifics. You are in tune with all that is around you and understand your life as part of a larger whole. You are a down-to-earth person who enjoys going with the flow.

The Perception Personality Types:

Take The Perception Personality Image Test at HelloQuizzy

Free Patterns!

2008-08-19T20:52:00.000-05:00

I now have official patterns offered on Ravelry! They're both free and in pdf format with color pictures. I'm currently working on a new one that I think I'll offer for sale. It's taking some time to work out the design I see in my head, but once I do, I think it'll be nice. I'm pretty excited about it!

The Rotini Hat is here.

The Flame Chevron Scarf is here.

Red Scarf Project

2008-08-18T17:46:00.000-05:00

I just found my next project! Thanks to a tip on Scout's Swag (http://scoutj.com/), I am going to knit a red scarf (or maybe two!) for the Red Scarf Project. The Orphan Foundation of America takes in hand-knitted scarves and gives them to foster children who are going to college. Since this is a cause close to my own heart, I'd like to knit something.

For more information, check out http://orphan.org/index.php?id=40!

Gah!

2008-08-17T22:19:00.000-05:00

I have been TRYING to knit. I swear I have. I am six rows from the end of another blanket and I ran out of yarn! Now I'm waiting for a single, lonely skein to arrive so I can finish. I'm also in the midst of packing since I move in three weeks. It's going to be a sparse month for knitting. I'm not packing my knitting until the last minute, so I may still have a chance to make some progress in the next couple weeks. Right now, the chaos of moving is making me too edgy to sit still for long.

Photos eventually!

Scallop Blanket

2008-08-17T12:28:00.000-05:00

I finished my Scallop Blanket. This was another shining example of my inability to plan yarn requirements. I ran out three rounds from the end and had to order a single skein to finish. The kicker? I extended the pattern because I didn't think it would be big enough. Well, thanks to my extensions, it ended at 62"! I added 12 rounds, so it would have been about 55" if I had left it alone and four skeins would have been plenty.

I knitted most of this blanket while I was waiting for the yarn to finish Kometenstern. Then I finished Kometenstern while I was waiting for the yarn for this. Both were knit with Beaverslide Dry Goods McTaggart Tweeds, so I'm now on quite friendly terms with the owner, Leann. I think I've mentioned once or twice how much I love her yarn, so I'm happy to contribute to the care and feeding of her sheep.

The color is "Snowberry", which looks like old fashioned strawberry ice cream. It's pale pink, with darker strawberry flecks and it looks good enough to eat. I used 4.25 skeins (900 yards) for 98 rounds on US 9 needles. The pattern is from Burda lace special #554, which is almost impossible to find due to the fact that it's chock full of Niebling designs. This isn't one of his, but it's listed as nice beginner lace. It's simple and repetitive, but I love the finished effect as a blanket. It's warm where it needs to be, looks dainty and is perfect for this yarn.

As usual, I'm so excited to be done, that my photos are all taken during blocking. It's still damp on my bed, so I'll have to wait for action shots. Maybe I'll get it out with Kometenstern one of these days and play Glamour Shots with both of them.

As always, click the pictures, and then click them again to see them larger.

Kometenstern blanket

2008-08-13T20:10:00.000-05:00

I finished Kometenstern, which is my first Herbert Niebling pattern. It was quite challenging to interpret the German instructions and to learn a new charting system. I had to stop in the middle because I ran out of yarn. Fortunately, I ordered two more skeins. I used both of them, even though I stopped a few rounds early. The original has a very pointy border that I didn't like for a blanket. It's still sort of pointy, but it works.

Kometenstern translates to "comet star". When I first saw the pattern, I saw a swirling pattern of ferns. The other name for it, "Schleuderblatt" means "centrifuge doily". No matter what you call it, it's a fascinating spiral embedded in mesh. The mesh seems to flow around the central motif and is surprisingly thick due to the stitches that are passed over to make it. It has a nice raised texture.

I knit this with about 1000 yards of Beaverslide McTaggart Tweeds "Wild Myrtle" on US10's. It's a delicious deep blue-purple with lighter flecks. After my usual blocking bath in Eucalan, it's very soft and fluffy. Once it dries, it will be a lightweight but very warm lap blanket.

I'm really loving this and can't wait to see how it looks unpinned. For now though, here's a preview (click the pictures, and then click them again in the preview window to see them larger):

WIP's galore

2008-07-17T11:38:00.000-05:00

I have so many things on the needles or waiting for needles and I'm not working on any of them! I have two doily blankets with 20 rounds or so to finish, a BSJ on row 12 (of 114), a bootie to be seamed and a garter stitch blanket to be started. I look around and see yarn and projects all over and I haven't knit in several days. I had to fly for work, so I took the Araucania Pomaire with me. It's splitty but oh so soft, so I don't hate it. That's the barely-begun BSJ. I ended up buying a book in the Louisville airport instead of knitting and that's the last time I touched any of my projects.

I'm heading out in a couple of days to play with airplanes. It's my annual vacation and a chance to see friends from far off places. In the meantime, I'm working like a crazy lady to finish some projects for work. This explains my self-imposed knitting embargo. I'm also studiously avoiding gardening, which bodes not well for the several cubic yards of mulch in my driveway, but I just don't have the time right now.

I did take pictures! July is such a fantastic time to be a gardener.

Rotini Hat Pattern

2008-07-12T18:07:00.000-05:00

This cute little hat was very easy to make. I had seen other hats based on a rectangle and I sat down to design something fun and different. I wasn't in the mood for pompoms or tassels, and these crocheted pigtails were a perfect solution. They remind me of rotini pasta, hence the name. The pattern is listed below and is available for free. This is not for commercial distribution or profit.

Ravelry link: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/rotini-hat

The example below was knit with Dream in Color Classy "Happy Forest" and Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted "Rainbow" (both Aran weight superwash wool) on US6's. Finished dimensions are 16" circumference and 6.5" height. Using the calculations below, this hat can be sized for anyone from newborn to adult.

Materials:

Worsted, sport or baby weight yarn in main and contrasting colors - this is easily adaptable to any yarn
Appropriate knitting needle for yarn weight
Crochet hook one to two sizes smaller than needles

Knit a stockinette gauge swatch. When you know your stitches per inch, multiply that by the number next to the desired size to determine how many stitches to cast on.

Example: for a newborn, if your gauge is 5 stitches per inch, 5*6 = 30 stitches to cast on

1/2 of hat circumference (inches):
Newborn: 6
3-6 months: 7
6-12 months: 8
12 months - 3 years: 9
3-10 years: 9.5
Young adult: 10
Adult woman: 10
Adult man: 11

Using main color, cast on the required number of stitches using long tail cast on.

Knit in stockinette:
All odd rows: knit
All even rows: purl

Continue knitting until the rectangle is the appropriate length in inches. (Fig 1)

Newborn: 11-12
3-6 months: 13-14
6-12 months: 15
12 months - 3 years: 16
3-10 years: 17
Young adult: 18-20
Adult woman: 22
Adult man: 22-23

Fold the hat in half to locate the midpoint of each side. Use a crochet hook and the contrasting color in the selvedge edge at the midpoint. Each side gets two pigtails. (see Fig 2)

Step 1: 3 single crochet (sc) in one stitch to create the foundation for the pigtails
Step 2: chain 12
Step 3: 5 double crochet (dc) in each chain stitch, beginning with second chain from end (50 stitches)
Step 5: sc in next stitch from step 1
Step 6: repeat steps 2 to 5 to make the second pigtail
Step 7: Bind off and cut yarn

Repeat on other side. (see Fig 3)

Note: If you don't know how to crochet, you can knit the pigtails, but crochet is MUCH easier and gives a better result.

To knit pigtails:

Cast on 50 using long tail cast on.
Row 1: Purl all stitches
Row 2: Knit all stitches
Row 3: Purl 5 together (purl 4 together at minimum)
Row 4: bind off knitwise, break yarn leaving a long piece for sewing to hat.

Repeat three times to make two pigtails per side.

Fold the hat in half and sew the side seams together. To seam, I used the main color yarn and a crochet hook. I seamed using crochet slip stitch with wrong sides together to create a decorative seam down each side. (see Fig 4)

Note: If you would prefer to knit in the round, cast on double the stitches and only knit half the length. The seam will be along the top of the hat and will require a three-needle bind off.

The stockinette creates a cute little rolled brim and is simple enough to let the pigtails stand out.

Fig 1:

Fig 2:

Fig 3:

Fig 4:

Copyright 2008

Purple Bliss Baby Surprise Jacket in Progress

2008-06-25T16:20:00.000-05:00

I'm cruising along on the Purple Bliss BSJ and I only have five or so knit rows to go before I have to pause. I have a contrasting color for the buttonband, but I don't want to add it until I know if the baby is a boy or a girl. The body is fairly unisex - primarily purple - but the pink yarn for the button band is very feminine. If I'm told it's a boy, I'll have to find a different yarn.

I did something different this time around. Previously, I happily did my decreases and increases until the point where the pattern says put the stitches for the front button bands on holders while you knit more length. On both of the previous BSJ's, my metal holders weighed down the knitting and stretched the stitches between the held stitches and the active stitches.

This time, I got to the point where I had to put stitches on holders, 34 stitches from the end. I simply turned my work and knitted back the other way, leaving those stitches on my cable needle, but ignoring them. I did the same thing on the other side and worked my way back. I've been adding the length and the point where the stitches diverged is crisp and tidy. I'm really loving this! I got the idea after reading about short-row heels in socks and thought it might work here. My mom is knitting a BSJ at the same time and we're near the same point. I only have three stitch holders, so something was going to have to be done. Now neither of us need them!

Look at how pretty this fabric is!

Now, doesn't this look good with it, albeit very girlie?

399 knitting terms on the wall..

2008-06-24T01:45:00.001-05:00

I'm glad I finally got the terminology online. After all the work I did putting it together, I would have wept bitterly if something happened to the spreadsheet. I don't have a lot of formatting options for a chart and it would have been nice to have gridlines, but at least it's saved somewhere besides just my hard drive. Now I can translate German patterns to my little heart's content. I have three books and a lovely pamphlet waiting for me and they're full of stitches I haven't done before.

It's funny, because I first taught myself to knit way back in high school. I mucked around with it for a little while and never really made anything. I blame the ancient needlework book I was using - there weren't any inspiring patterns listed so I never saw the potential. Now I've learned to knit again and it bears no resemblance to my high school attempt. It's full of math and repeated motifs and texture and fibers and my nerdy little heart has so much to keep it entertained. Gardening is the same way for me. I love balancing different textures, blending colors and plotting how to arrange plants so they bloom evenly all over the garden and all season long. I'm so fond of lists and journals and I have notebooks full of plants I've bought, garden maps and photos to prove it.

Now I'm torn between lace and Baby Surprise Jackets. I just don't get it. Lace is painting pictures with yarn and it's so much fun to see how a new combination of stitches gives surprising results. How do I knit a diamond? How is mesh made? How can I make the central motif swirl instead of expanding like the spokes of a wheel? It's mathematical and magic and every new pattern is a challenge that I want to knit once and never repeat.

Baby Surprise Jackets are lowly garter stitch. Nothing but knit stitches for days, with the periodic increase or decrease thrown in to create the shape. I'm working on my third and already have the yarn for a fourth. I don't even know that many babies, but these rotten things are like potato chips. I'm using variegated yarn right now and each stitch is a different color. I'm endlessly entertained by the different colors slipping over my needles. My brain keeps up a running commentary as I knit. "Ooh, here's some orange! It's lining up over deep purple on the previous row. Look at the contrast! Oops, here's a little patch of pink on two consecutive rows. Wow the dye is so dark here it's almost black." Ever see the episode of Seinfeld where Elaine is clapping as the tires go around? That's me with this yarn. I am so easily amused..

I think I'm addicted to BSJ's

2008-06-17T19:33:00.000-05:00

I just bought two skeins of Araucania Pomaire for another Baby Surprise Jacket. It's 100% pima cotton and so soft, it's hard to believe it's cotton. This is definitely not the old dishcloth cotton I am used to. I think these BSJ's are my way of enjoying variegated yarns without having to knit socks. I can't use these colorways in a lace blanket because it would be too much. In garter stitch, they're perfect.

Can you imagine these colors on a little girl? I love it!

Baby Surprise Jacket #2!

2008-06-11T17:10:00.000-05:00

This is my second Baby Surprise Jacket. I knit it with Plymouth Encore Worsted in color #7333. The buttonbands are done with leftover yellow Cascade 220 Superwash from the first BSJ. It's the same yellow that's in the Plymouth, but since it's not marled with white, it looks darker. I like the solid accent and it really shows off the flower buttons I found.

Because the buttons are larger, I made my buttonholes with a ssk, 2yo, k2tog instead of k2tog, yo. With six stitches between them, they're spaced nicely in the upper half of the sweater. I like that it has room to flare over diapers without binding and it's a fun look. I used embroidery floss to stabilize the edges of my buttonholes because the petals on the buttons tended to snag any loose loops.

Knitted on US5's at 18sts/4", it has a chest circumference of 22". This should fit an 18-24 month old child. I'm knitting another one in sport-weight yarn so I can compare it to the size I get with worsted. I think sock yarn will be too small. I would rather make it large and let them grow into it than be too small from the beginning.

A few finished projects

2008-06-10T17:50:00.000-05:00

Finally, the Araucania scarf is finished. The colors are even more beautiful in person. Although this took two months to finish, I think this was my favorite yarn to work with because every stitch is a new and interesting color. This was knitted on US2's and it's really long. Draped around my neck, it comes almost to my knees! I had a wad of yarn the size of a peach pit left over when I finished.

The Alita blanket outdoors in the sunshine. It's really a lovely solid blanket and the texture is fascinating. I'm really happy with how this one turned out.

My first Baby Surprise Jacket, complete with buttons. The pale green was a perfect match, especially against the cobalt blue button band.

Coming soon, the second Baby Surprise Jacket!

I love spring

2008-06-10T17:43:00.000-05:00

Gardening is one of my favorite things and this time of year is wonderful. Something new is blooming almost every day. I wish I had this camera while I was studying Botany, but I'm making up for lost time with the macro function. I try to take pictures once per week or so, so I can keep track of what blooms when. We're a couple weeks behind this year, but I don't mind and the plants don't seem to either.

(Click each photo to see a larger version)

Korean Dwarf Lilac:

This is so fragrant right now, it's almost overpowering. One waist-high bush is enough to scent the entire front yard.

Soapwort:

I love the bright blue anthers. You have to be really close to notice, but it's such a fun surprise. The leaves and roots can actually be used as a soap when crushed.

Spirea "Walburna":

This is a stunner in the front garden. It's up against plants with burgundy foliage and the chartreuse leaves with red tipping stand out like a beacon. I have one on each side and the pink flowers are just getting ready to open.

My only peony bud:

The ants are very excited about this peony. They've been all over the bud since it was smaller than a pea. I moved this from a shadier spot last fall and it's rewarding me with a flower this spring. It never flowered before now so the color is going to be a surprise.

Meadowrue:

It has foliage like a columbine, but it has these wonderful pink puffs for flowers. Looking closely, the pink isn't petals - it's a large cluster of stamens with little anthers at the tips. The flowers only have simple green sepals and no petals. Right now it's hiding my white irises that are much the worse for wear after our storms. It's an underrated plant, but one of my favorites.

Prairie Smoke seedheads:

They're similar to Pasque flower seedheads, but more delicate. Pasque flowers look more like troll dolls when they go to seed. This is a delicate wisp that is so light, you almost miss it if you're not paying attention. The flowers are nothing much - little dusty rose bells - but these bits of "smoke" make it all worth it.

Interim Photo Op!

2008-05-29T21:35:00.000-05:00

First, the Baby Surprise Jacket. It's still waiting for buttons, but it's been seamed. This was knit all in one piece of flat knitting on a long circular needle. It was knit with four colors of Cascade 220 Superwash, alternating on every row. The dark blue band is the bind off edge.

Start folding. The start of the dark blue band comes up to form the top edge of the button band. The actual corner on the flat knitting is the lower corner of the button band. The cast on edge is actually the cuffs, the back half of the tops of the sleeves and the back of the neck.

Fold the other side and it looks like a jacket! The only seams in this little miracle are along the tops of the sleeves.

I did my seams in crochet, using the green. I also did a slip stitch crochet edge around the neckline to neaten the edge, but I used the blue to tie in with the button band.

And voila!

My other big completed project was an Alita blanket. (http://www.yarnover.net/patterns/doilies/kunststrik/alita.html) I knit it on US10's in Cascade 220 held double and it used about six skeins to make a 48" blanket. I stopped on row 99, added three rows of plain knit and then used the crochet bind off. I was out of yarn and couldn't knit the entire 130 rows of the pattern. I think it would have covered a king-sized bed if I tried! This has a lot of stockinette in it so it didn't stretch very far with blocking. I really love this texture with the dark green heathered yarn. This was a very methodical pattern to knit and went quickly.

I have yarn for another two Baby Surprise Jackets and I'm starting another blanket. I just can't get enough of both of these projects!

Falling Leaves are still falling..

2008-05-22T01:56:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I last wrote about the Falling Leaves scarf a month ago. The yarn is STILL looped over the corner of my recliner and it hasn't suffered a catastrophe. It almost did the other day when my German Shepherd somehow got her head under the strand going from the chair to the scarf and walked away with an ever-lengthening loop around her neck. She's obedient and came right back when I screamed in terror. I have never been so happy to own point protectors!

There's not much to say about the scarf itself. It's barely long enough to hang around my neck. I added another pattern repeat tonight and promise to faithfully work on it. When I'm not knitting dishcloths, that is. Seriously, I have an addiction to those little squares. Maybe it's because I feel like I'm getting somewhere other than miles of lacy little leaves that look like a wrinkled mess until they're blocked. Actually, they may still look like heck when they're blocked but I won't know until I finish.

Dishcloths on the other hand are nice, well-behaved cotton and they only take a few hours. Squidge-cloths take a little longer because of the knit 4-purl 4 pattern. I made one with a garter stitch border, but the second was a basic pattern repeat. For the first row knit 4, purl 4 all the way across. On the second row, knit the knits and purl the purls. On the third row, switch the pattern for two rows. Repeat until you have a square. I think I used 40 stitches, but it's totally flexible if you want a bigger or smaller cloth. The end result is like basketweave, but only two rows high. I've found it's better with a smaller needle than you'd use for straight garter stitch and works well with solid colored yarn.

My other favorite is an anonymous pattern that seems to be everywhere online. It's so simple! Cast on 4. Knit 4 for the first row. Then, simply knit 2, yarn over and knit to the end of the row on every row until the sides are long enough. It's knit on the bias so you'll be making a triangle with a nice eyelet border all the way around the edges. Once you decide you've made half a dishcloth (45-55-ish stitches on the needle), then you start decreasing. Knit 1, knit 2 together, yarn over, knit two together and then keep knitting to the end of the row. Do this on every row until only four stitches are left on the needle. Bind off and go do some dishes. These things have amazing scrubbing abilities! The garter stitch is smooshy, yet abrasive because of the ridges. It looks beautiful with variegated yarns because the colors change on the diagonal.

Tonight I discovered that I can crochet dish-poufs in about an hour. Talk about instant gratification! I barely have to watch what I'm doing since they're made of chain stitch, single crochet and double crochet and nothing else. One ball of cotton and I have this magical little pouf. I sort of used the pattern from http://hometown.aol.com/lffunt/bath.htm but I didn't have the patience to count stitches in the first ring and I left off the third round entirely. Once I got the gist of it, I started crocheting and stopped when my yarn almost ran out. On a 4mm hook, this is a dense but perfect diameter little wad of cotton.

Sprechen Sie Deutsches?

2008-05-18T22:14:00.001-05:00

I have a bunch of things in progress, but no good finished photos yet. My Egeblad blanket has been keeping me warm, but I need to get some good photos in sunlight to really show it off. It's very lightweight and full of lacy holes, but it's SO warm. I can feel it heating up on my legs like something alive.

I have nearly finished my first Baby Surprise Jacket (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baby-surprise-jacket on Ravelry) from Elizabeth Zimmerman's "Knitting Workshop". It's a crazy garter stitch jacket that has two seams, one on the top of each arm. It's only missing buttons because I am still hunting for the perfect set.

I'm busily knitting Alita http://www.yarnover.net/patterns/doilies/kunststrik/alita.html in dark green heather Cascade 220.

I am the happy owner of all three volumes of Christine Duchrow's Knitted Lace Patterns. Volume III contains the pattern for Egeblad, although it isn't called that in the book. I originally found the pattern I used on Ravelry and it linked to a free download online. That was a happy accident because her books are all in German. I just spent part of the evening printing German-English knitting vocabulary lists and using Babelfish to translate the pattern from her book. Let's just say Babelfish isn't really designed to translate knitting terminology. The term for scalloped border came out as "the serrated conclusion."

Once I could figure out her instructions, I converted her early 20th century charts into modern symbols. Then I compared my translated chart to the chart for my Egeblad blanket and noted only one error and one change. The modern version had single yarn overs instead of doubles, which is good for a blanket because the holes are smaller.

It was a great learning exercise and it helped to do a translation where I was able to check my work. I'm not used to working from charts and her books are reprints of pamphlets. The pamphlets show a handful of similar doilies that can be knitted from a single chart, or by mixing, matching or omitting parts of charts to make them smaller or larger. Each whole "pamphlet" is maybe five pages with minimal notes and no line-by-line instructions at all. It's good practice for when I try knitting a Niebling pattern, because those are all German and charted too.

Last but not least, I have new yarn! Mom and I went to my first Shepherd's Market yesterday. I was well behaved and managed to get out with one hank of hand-dyed sport weight and some soap. We watched a very educational felting demonstration and I plan to try that sometime soon. I need to be frugal for a little while, but I think I found a good source of colored merino roving samplers for future use.

So this yarn.. it's destined to be another Baby Surprise Jacket. I wanted something unisex and slightly lighter than worsted, with enough colors to be interesting, but not overwhelming. Look how beautiful!