And what does she buy? Vogue Knitting Stitchionary volumes 1 and 2, The Friday Night Knitting Club, and Knitting without Tears, AND she orders Knitting Lace Triangles by Evelyn Clark. I guess I could take these things off my wishlist then. I’m writing this off as a Mother’s day gift to myself. Yes my boys would have gotten this for me, but in truth it’s more fun if you buy it for yourself!
As you could probably tell, I’m getting stuff to help me design stuff, which is something I’d like to start doing. Since I’ve been in this whole “I want to make these items completely mine” mindset, I figured why not go all the way?! Why NOT get raw fiber, dye it my own colors, spin my own yarn AND design my own patterns? It seems logical to me, that is until I actually get into it and wonder, “what the hell was I thinking?!” like I did last night.
Let me explain.
I finally spun up the fiber from last months Spunky Club. This yarn was fighting me the.whole.way.through. What do I mean by this? Well, this yarn would break at every instance, would not cooperate while being plyed, did not want to be turned into a center pull ball, and tangled to the point that I spent about 2 hours last night untangling simply so I could finish plying the stupid thing. But even through all of this, I overcame it! I conquered it and I finished the yarn! Just in time too because my new shipment came in. In truth, with all the fighting I did, I learned a lot along the way. I learned how to continue plying even when one of the singles breaks, I learned how to find the end when I’m turning a single into a ball from a swift and it breaks, but then you can’t find the end and ditto for when it breaks on the bobbin. I learned that it’s better not to mess with a single, to just ply it off two bobbins because it just makes life *that* much simpler. This one misbehaving yarn gave me a tremendous headache the past two days but in the end I’m more experienced when it comes to handling fiber.
This is one of my latest creations! I learned to use my crockpot to kettle dye fiber and I’m having a blast with it! This fiber came out so absolutely beautiful with the mild variations of greens and yellows, and it’s so soft and fluffy. There’s another fiber that I dyed that I have been unable to photograph. This one I’m calling Glades Gator and will be part of the Miami Collection on
Deco Handspun. Why Glades Gator? Well take a look…
This is an image I took while in the Everglades, and I think it’s very fitting name for this fiber. Be on the lookout for the next fiber in the collection, and I’m thinking I may be dyeing some tonight as well.
In other news, UPS left me a really nice package on my doorstep yesterday and inside was this
I’ve been wanting this Lazy Kate for a while, because plying and winding things onto balls with the Lazy Kate my wheel came with is nearly impossible! The thing just spins out of control and drives me nuts, so I dished out some cash for this. Of course, this wasn’t the only thing in the box. There was also this…
I’m already having fun with this. That will be another fiber that will pop up soon on Deco and it’s looking beautiful so far. I’m thinking of calling it “Bayside Twighlight”. You’ll see why soon. I’m also in the process of spinning up some great yarn in Superwash called Key Lime Pie. Wait til you see it! I’ll try to get pictures of it from the bobbin tonight.
On a more personal note, since I’m in between semesters right now I have all this time for playing with fiber that I’m taking advantage of it and I’m learning as much as I can. My best resources thus far have been the internet and trial and error, and I’m looking into some books as well. I’m excited because this is something I’m really enjoying. Playing with fibers, dyeing them pretty colors, spinning them into luscious yarns, and then turning them into something wearable is so incredible to me. I like being a part of this creation process. I like knowing that I can take something like raw fleece and turn it into clothing that will keep me and my family warm or comfortable, and I hope that I’ll be able to share that with you guys through my blogging.
As promised, I cleaned up the booger and had him put on THE sweater. It’s a bit bumpy, it’s in it’s unblocked state, but here you go. Comments, as usual, are appreciated, and if you see anything I could do to fix the bumpiness or whatever, let me know. Don’t be shy, I can take constructive criticism.
I have a good reason to not be blogging lately. I finally finished the Stepson Sweater from hell, but I haven’t taken pictures of it yet. I know, I need to, but I haven’t. I’ll try and see if I can get him cleaned up enough tonight to put it on and snap a picture. I’m gonna warn you though, it hasn’t been properly blocked yet. I attempted to steam block it, but I haven’t been able to wet block it yet. Hopefully this weekend I’ll get the chance.
Since I finished that project, I started the Drawstring Chemise from the latest Interweave and let me tell you, the lace at the bottom is already giving me all kinds of issues. I got so frustrated yesterday with it after I had ripped back for the fourth time that I threw the stupid thing across the living cursing at it as it flew through the air. My boyfriend laughed at me, and the cat thought she had a new toy. It’s pretty comical now that I think of it. The best part is that the problem I was having was my own stupid fault. I should have read the pattern notes and I didn’t, so when I kept getting to the end of the third chart row I kept coming up two stitches short and that’s just the way the lace is. I could have smacked myself when I read that.
Right before this project I had terrible startitis, and it has since been quenched by this frustrating lace.
I did find something super cool while I was blog surfing today. I ended up over at Boogie Knits and found this post for a crocheted swiffer thingy for the Wet Jet. O.M.G. this thing just seems as if it’s too cool for words! I have plenty of kitchen cotton laying around the house after the Absorba I knit, so I’m thinking I’m going to use some of it to make this. The best thing is you can just take it off when you’re done and toss it in the wash and voila! It’s as if you have a new swiffer pad without spending big bucks and contributing to the downfall of this planet.
I haven’t been spinning as much as I would like lately. I just haven’t had time with the camping and the finals I just took and all. It’s been pretty hectic around the house lately, but I’m thinking I’m going to start spinning again real soon, especially since I should be getting a shipment of fiber from Spunky Eclectic real soon.
Oh, and I made a purchase today of some really good stuff. Let’s just say that I want to work on my craft room more then ever now. More on that later.
Yesterday I attended the Hollywood Diva’s knit night. I had the greatest time. There were some girls there I had already met, some I didn’t know, two that were really new to knitting, and a couple that I had met at the Stitch n’ Pitch. I had a great time. There’s nothing like spending the evening with good company and being productive too. I’m 3/4 of the way done seaming the second side of the Stepson Sweater from Hell. It’s so close to being done that he was able to try it on this morning before school and I was actually able to see it finished. I need to finish seaming about 4 inches on the sleeve, sew in the zipper and sew down the collar and it’s done. Honestly, it’s something I could probably finish tonight so he could wear it tomorrow, but I have an evening full of stuff to do, so I’m not sure it that’ll happen. I’d like to to though. We’ll see.
I also finished reading “Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair”. What a great book! Truly inspirational, and I hope that the friendships she acquired from attending her knitting group will be friendships that I acquire as well. I know I still haven’t completely come out of my shell after all the drama I’ve been through, but I feel it slowly cracking open. I would recommend this book to anyone, knitter or not, divorce or not. It’s a good read for anyone.
Recent Comments