Phat Fiber February Box Samples

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

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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

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!

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

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

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

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



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

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



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

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





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



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



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



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



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



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

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

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

First victim - large oval mirror

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





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



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

Can't talk..

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

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

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

I am not a prodigy

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

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

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

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

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



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

You spin me right round

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

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

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

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

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



And here it is just a few minutes ago:



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

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



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



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



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

Look how pretty!



I bought myself some luscious roving to practice with.

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



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



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

Stars in my eyes

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!

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

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: