Leaf and Lace Set

I always like to have two baby sets on hand for gift giving, one suitable for a girl and one for a boy. Over the past several months two nieces have had babies, and with both babies being girls I have twice given away the girl set. The sweater intended for a boy sits and impatiently waits its turn while I knit yet another lacey set for a girl. (Lacey sets are more fun to knit anyway.) This set has no intended recipient in utero. I just like to be prepared.



This is the yoke section of a pattern called "Leaf and Lace Set for 3 Months" from an ancient old Beehive booklet, "Nursery Styles for 3 to 12 Months". I've had it since I was in my early teens. I see the pattern booklet has gone up to $3.25 USD. When I purchased it it was 65 cents Canadian.

This pattern has defeated me several times. I tried knitting it when I was around 14 years old, just for something to do, then later when I was having my own children I believe I tried to knit it each time I was expecting. Every time it ended in failure. I always got as far as the leaf design, and then one way or another lost the whole darn thing when I started on the lower, lacey part. I was a less experienced knitter back then though and seem to be doing fine this time. Never-the-less, THIS time I have run a "life-line" after the leaf yoke.

Each row in the lower lace part takes a LONG time to knit. There are 315 stitches in each row! Look how closely they are packed together on that needle.

Reluctant Tencel

I bought approximately 8 ounces of laceweight tencel at Fiberfest a few months ago and it is resisting all efforts to make it into something useful. The idea at the time was to knit a shawl. I tried a few different designs and a variety of needles sizes but it all came out looking like multi-colored string. It was just too much effort for the lack luster results I was achieving.

I then tried a crocheted pattern with a little more success, at least it looks less like string, but I am still not entirely happy with it. It may yet be frogged.

Boring Tank Top

Boring pretty much sums this one up. It was boring to knit, and it is not too terribly exciting to wear either. This is the Shapely Tank Top done in plain, boring, white mercerized cotton. I made a few changes to the basic pattern. I lowered the front neckline, starting the cast off at the same level as the armholes.



I made the back neckline lower too, starting it at the height the pattern suggested for the front.



There is nothing really wrong with plain, boring clothing. In fact, I tend to wear plain, solid colored t-shirts and tank tops all the time and will likely get a lot of wear out of this one. It's just that plain, white tank tops are easy to come by and I could have bought something similar and saved myself some time and money.

Free Cushion Pattern

HAND SPUN CUSHION

MATERIALS:

I knit the original in my own handspun wool (250g at approx. 9 WPI), but the pattern could also be made with commercial knitting worsted as long as you can achieve a GAUGE of 15-16sts over 4 inches of stockinette stitch. You will also need a 14 inch square pillow form, 4 large buttons and a tapestry needle for sewing up. *note* Knitted piece is designed to be slightly smaller than the pillow form to achieve a slight stretch and “full” appearance to the finished pillow.

CAST ON 50 sts with 4.5 mm needles (or whatever size you need to achieve the gauge).

Rows 1-3: Knit across.

PATTERN STITCH:

Row 1: K1, * K8, P2. Repeat from * across to last 9 sts. K9.
Row 2: Purl across.

Work in Pattern Stitch until piece measures 32 inches from beginning, ending with a wrong side row.

BUTTONHOLE BAND
Purl 7 rows.
On wrong side: P8, * K2 tog, yarn over twice, K2 tog, P6. Repeat from * across to last 2 sts. P2.
Next row: P9, * purl and knit into the double yarn over, P8. Repeat from * across, to last stitch, P1.
Purl 6 rows.
Cast off knitwise on wrong side.

Block finished piece 14 inches x 34 inches. Try knitted piece on pillow form, overlapping ends and pinning sides together. Sew seams, including sides of overlap. Sew buttons under button holes (centered on purled stripes).

This pattern is provided free for your personal use. If you would like to share it with friends please send them around to my blog to say hello.

http://wovenflame.blogspot.com/2005/06/free-cushion-pattern.html

Suspiciously Similar

Doesn't THIS look an awful lot like my Handspun Cushion? Heck, they even used a yarn called "Homespun". I must say, when I saw it my jaw dropped.

Did they copy me or is it just one of those "reinventing the wheel" situations? It is a rather simple pattern, and I guess it would be rather arrogant of me to think that no one else could have thought of something similar. Still, it gets me to wondering how often the "big" designers (those who make a living at it) peruse the internet looking at the blogs of "no names" to come up with fresh ideas. I guess that's understandable though. I mean how many times have I seen a simple pattern, liked the idea, but then went home without purchasing it only to adapt the idea to my own needs and supplies at hand?

I am currently making the mate to my Handspun Cushion and double checking my notes as I go. The pattern will be available here on my blog tomorrow or the next day.

A Gathering of Lace

A new addition to my knitting library.



I am SO spoiled. And thrilled.

I have been looking around the internet and in local yarn stores for quite some time now. What I have been searching for is a good shawl pattern. Most of the ones out there really don't appeal to me. I have a large skein of hand dyed, lace-weight tencel I would like to knit into something lacey. I don't know if tencel works for that kind of thing or not. I would imagine it would behave something like crochet cotton, you know, lacking the "fuzz" and softness of an alpaca or kid mohair but perhaps having a shimmering, smooth beauty similar to pearl cotton? Anyway, there is no harm in giving it a try. I'm also in the midst of spinning up a huge bag of wool/mohair rovings. It is relatively soft and fuzzy and is plying up to about a fingering weight. I think both of these yarns will find themselves knit into something from the new book. It is cram packed with fantastic lace patterns. The only problem now will be to decide which one to make immediately (as "immediate" as current WIPs will allow of course) and which ones to put on a never ending "must do" list.

Of course that is saying that my first foray into intricate lace doesn't have me tearing out my hair and blubbering inconsolably. I've knit lace before, many times in fact, but nothing that approaches the complexity of the patterns from this book.

Flowering Plants

There is an event taking place in the world right now that is so significant that perhaps you might want to mark the date down for posterity. Moments like this one come along rarely and should be noted.

Ta Da!



Yes, TWO plants blooming at once in MY care and neither of them a recent addition to our home. I mean, I've had blooming plants before, in fact, the deep purple African violet in the picture was featured here way back in December of last year, but they usually come home from the store blooming and within a week or so they are bloomless and barely hanging onto life itself. These two beauties have been brought back from the brink of death to their former bloom-a-licious selves. They are not only flowering, but they have grown large and healthy looking. Amazing.

I think my problem with plants is a tendency to put them where I think they look nice instead of where they actually get enough light. The deep purple violet refuses to bloom on the kitchen table despite it's lovely BLUE glazed clay pot bought specifically to coordinate with the kitchen. No, this violet figures it deserves to be in front of the big living room window. Now I understand why I pass by the homes of successful plant lovers and the windows are crowded floor to ceiling with plants. It's not for the effect, although it can look quite impressive, it is done because that is the only place the darn things will grow.

Maybe it's time to install a bevy of bay windows?

Anyway, I celebrated my newfound green-thumb-ness by purchasing this:



I then placed it in my peach colored bathroom where there is very little light. You know, peach colored bathroom, peach colored miniature potted rose? Do you think it will thrive or will it soon be joining its comrades in the front window?

Quivet Hat

Another project off the needles and into the FO files. This is an handspun quivet toque destined to don the head of my spinning teacher's brother's head. She spun the quivet, most of it many years ago, and I knitted the hat to replace a similar one that he had literally worn out.



Both my husband and my son tried that hat on and loved it. Neither of them would allow themselves to be photographed for my blog. Darn camera shy models!

Handspun Cushion

I spun and plied the yarn, designed the pattern, and knit the cushion. Obviously this labour of love will take a place of honor on my living room couch. I'm working on a companion one now. It will be similar, but with a different stitch pattern.

Cotton Sheep Pullover

It's finished. The sheep-like cotton blend pullover is off the needles, sewn together and washed.



I designed it to be worn over summer tops when the night air turns chilly. It is so comfy and soft I am sure it will become one of my favorites.

Three New Items

While I was up in Prince George I had a chance to shop a bit and I came home with an enamel canner (aka dye-pot) picked up at a "Value Village".



I haven't done much dyeing yet. I shoved a small amount of commercial yarn in with another guild member's dyeing wool a while back, but it was just an experimental thing. I also tried a little bit of Kool-Aid dyeing with reasonably successful results. Because the Kool-Aid was a food safe project I was able to do it in casserole dishes in the microwave.



I'm working on spinning up enough fingering weight wool/mohair to make a shawl. I am doing that with undyed fiber with the intent on dyeing the shawl after it is knit. I figure that way I can use any leftover wool on another project without being locked into the color of the shawl.

While up North I also found this wine gift box (aka spindle case) at a "Winner's" outlet.



I drove a member of the Chilliwack Spinners and Weavers Guild home from a meeting and she gave me an Inkle Loom. It needs some repair to the tensioning device but otherwise seems sound. I did a little inkle weaving way back in grade six (over 30 years ago). I also have an instruction book and set of cards for card weaving. Some day, when I have a little more time, I'll figure out how to use the Inkle Loom for tensioning a Card Weaving warp.

Baby Pictures

We just returned from a trip to Prince George to visit relatives and fawn over the newest arrivals, two beautiful baby girls shown here with their proud mommies (our nieces).



Have you ever seen such a relaxed newborn?! (16 days)



Here she is, a little less relaxed,expressing her distaste at being dressed (on a hideously HOT day) in a hot sweater and hat just so the paparazzo great aunt can get a picture for her blog. Oh the things a celebrity has to endure!

You might remember the lavender baby set from a post back in March.

Refinished Chair

Two completed projects in one photo:



I've finally completed the refinishing of the new (to me) spinning chair. I bought the solid oak chair for $14.99 Canadian at a second hand store. It was well worn and needed refinishing. I did all the work myself. After I had all the stripping and sanding done my husband offered to do the staining/lacquering for me, but I was having none of it! After putting all that work into getting the old finish OFF, I was going to plow right through and do the whole bit myself. (Pride in accomplishment and all that.) The chair turned out a little darker, but I got as close as I could to the color of the spinning wheel.

The yarn stacked on the chair is the completed spinning and plying of a huge bag of wool roving that was kindly given to me by Marilyn, a member of the Chilliwack Spinners and Weavers Guild. It spun up to a finished weight of 515 grams and has an average of 9 WPI, although my spinning improved as I went and the WPI ranges from 8 to 11.

Now to decide what to do with the finished yarn. I am considering making a vest from it, but don't know if there will be enough. I'll be able to judge a little better when I have knit a couple of gauge swatches and played with the design a bit.

Before I can work with the home spun I have the Cotton Sheep Pullover to complete. That project is going well. I have both sleeves and about 6" of the body (in the round) done. It'll be complete in a few days as we are traveling to Prince George and I get a lot of knitting done while my husband drives.

Plying

Two bobbins of singles......



....became two skeins of yarn....



....which will at some time in the future become socks...or somethin'.

Refinishing

Woodworking CAN be fiber related.

First there was the Niddy Noddy that I showed a few days ago, then these hat stands.



I have a handmade felt hat that tends to get squashed when I leave it on a shelf. I went searching for a foam wig head, but all the goodwill type stores I checked use them to display their hats and won't part with them. In one of the stores I saw that someone had used old chair legs and a couple of disks of plywood to make a few make-shift hat stands and I figured I was capable of doing the same. The next store I went to had a good selection of turned wooden table chair legs and quite a number of cast off wooden bowls. I loaded up with 6 bowls and three legs for just $2.25 and went home to start refinishing them. Not knowing about chemical strippers it was a Big Job! Thank goodness my husband took pity on me and helped out. I think the bowls make great hat stands. Much better than the plywood disk ones that inspired the idea.

The next project came about because my new wheel came without an orfice hook, the local dealer did not have one in stock, and I was too impatient to wait. I took an old wooden handled fork, and a meat skewer and had it refinished and refashioned (again by hubbie) into a wonderful new orfice hook complete with an eye hook on the end to tie onto the wheel.



When I came home with this.....



......my husband ran in the other direction. No amount of pouting and looking pathetic on my part is making him change his mind. (Damn, just when I thought I was on a roll!) Looks like I'm on my own with this one. It is destined to be my spinning chair, thereby freeing my kitchen chairs to do their kitchenly duty. THIS time though I am armed with chemical warfare, not just sandpaper.

Computer Scare

We had computer problems yesterday. We kept getting error messages that would not go away. For a while there it looked like we might have to go the ol' Wipe And Reinstall route. Ugh. I really hate doing that. It takes me days to get everything reloaded and we lose our bookmarked "favorites".

We won't discuss who was a fault. (I really hate it when people rudely point fingers at me.) Many thanks go out to Jordon who worked diligently for hours to correct the problem.

This computer glitch has really made me realize what a valuable crafting tool the internet is for me. I belong to several fiber arts related forums and learn so much from the other members. I am also inspired by the blogs I read which showcase the works of others and through which I learn of new patterns and resources. I wouldn't want to miss out on some of the online stores that provide products that I can't get locally either. Personal email contact with members of the local guild and also international fiber enthusiasts I correspond with regularly would be missed too.

Breathing a tentative sigh of relief here. Things are not running perfectly yet, but at least I can access the internet again. If I disappear for a while, you'll know that "technical difficulties" cropped up again and I am in the middle of a major computer overhaul. :-Z

Niddy Noddy

This Niddy Noddy was a Mother's Day gift from my husband. It came unfinished, but over the past few days he's been busy staining and lacquering it. It looks lovely now and is a very close match to the color of my spinning wheel.



He's also working on a threading hook for me. *Grin*

Cotton Sheep

With all the spinning I have been doing lately my blog has been sorely lacking in knitting content. I've been knitting, but on several different projects at once which means I haven't made much photograph worthy progress on any of them. This project is a possible exception.



I think of it as the "Cotton Sheep Sweater" because it has that natural wool color and is wooly-sheep looking but it is made of two cotton blends. The ribbings will all be Skacel "Sirenetta" (60% Cotton, 40% Acrylic) and the main portion will be Skacel "Vacation" 75% Cotton, 25% Nylon. I purchased both from a clearance sale at Elann.

This will be a simple, pullover with set in sleeves and a very deep front V-neck. It is my own design. The intent is to throw it on over sleeveless summer tops when the evening air turns chilly.

Balanced!

Woo, hoo, perfectly balanced! And I know how I did it too, so there is hope for achieving balance again with the next skein.



For the readers who don't know why I'm doing the Goody, Goody Dance about this I'll explain. For the experienced spinners already in the know....you can skip the rest of this post. ;-)

When hand spinning yarn, you aim for a balanced skein. This means the twist in the "singles" matches the twist in the plying (two or more singles twisted together to form yarn) and the end result is a skein that hangs without twisting around itself......like the skein in the picture. It can be hard to achieve because the slightest variation either way (too much spin in the single or in the plying) causes imbalance.

Yesterday I carefully checked the twist in the plying frequently while I was doing it. It seemed perfect, but when I took it off the wheel and made a skein it was very UNDER twisted in the ply....making the finished skein twist "S". It was pretty obvious to me that winding it off the wheel and onto the niddy noddy was untwisting it.

Today, while making a new skein, I compensated for that untwisting effect by slightly overspinning during the plying. So during the few "tests" I did while spinning, the 'test-loop' twisted back on itself slightly "Z". When I made the skein it hung in absolute perfection.

I know that I'm blathering on here, preaching the obvious to the experienced spinners and not explaining enough of the lingo to the non-spinners. Maybe the NEW spinners can at least relate?

Well off to spin a bit in celebration. I've set a goal for myself of spinning and plying one skein per day. My "goal" is also my limit as I don't want to overdo the spinning and neglect all my other hobbies. Speaking of which......I'll have some knitterly pictures soon. I promise.

Wool Pig

What does it take to go from "enthusiast" to "WOOL PIG".



Have I crossed the line?

Three days ago I was nearly out of fiber to spin and had begun staring speculatively at fluffy, long haired dogs walking by. Then in stepped a couple of enablers (I'll stop short of calling them "wool pushers"), who found it in their hearts to take pity on this new spinning addict. First Marilyn showed up with lovely, clean, ready to spin, roving....one a bag of sheep's wool and the other a bag of a wool/mohair blend. (The two dark plastic bags at the front right of the picture.) I thought FANTASTIC, no need to go "cold turkey".

I then went to Louise's for a lesson on cleaning and preparing raw fleece for spinning. We (I used the term "we" loosely as she did 99.9% of the work) sorted and washed a fleece, spun it in her extractor and then while it was air drying we drove to Sea Bird Island. What's at Sea Bird Island? Lots and lots of sheep (thousands), and the facilities for sorting, picking, and cleaning the fleece. The huge flock is all white, but the caretakers have done an exchange with another producer and now have colored fleece available as well.

I couldn't go home with just ONE color as visions of fairisle were dancing in my head. I had to get dark brown (2 pounds, 14 oz.), light grey/beige (1 pound, 3 oz.), and a creamy white (3 1/2 pounds), the 4 clear bags on the left.

As I was leaving Louise handed me a another bag of wool that just needs to be carded (the bag at the far right/back, and loaned me the carders to do it.

I think I'm all set for a while now. Must. Go. Spin.

Replicator

I dusted off my handy, dandy replicator, shoved in the guild's rental wheel, pressed the button and whaddaya know, out popped a second Ashford Traditional spinning wheel! The one on the left is mine. :-D



Well okay, maybe it wasn't quite THAT easy. Louise hunted down a secondhand wheel for me and I paid the previous owner $250 for it. I did a bit of minor tweaking, replacing the flyer brake and the drive band and giving her a good oiling (lemon oil on the wood and sewing machine oil on the moving parts). She's a beautiful wheel and she spins like a charm. She says her name is "Mary". ;-)

Mending

As close to "exquisite" as mending can come. This is a quivet toque I am mending for a friend.



Most mending is hardly worth doing. Mending takes time, a resource that many people don't have an abundance of, then the mended item never looks quite as lovely as the original did anyways. Now-a-days most items are easily and cheaply replaced. This however is handspun quivet ($$!), knit by hand into a toque for a loved one. The toque was then loved so much that it was worn and worn and worn......until it was finally worn out. An item that loved deserves a second chance at a useful life.

I had wanted to use a Swiss darning technique that would be virtually undetectable, but ran into difficulties because of the thick/thin nature of the homespun, and because time and wear had blurred many of the stitches together. In the end I had to use a more traditional woven type of mending. Still, I think it turned out quite well. The bumpy yarn does a pretty good job of disguising the exact nature of the mend anyway. In this "after" photo, the mended parts appear a bit darker. The yarn I used to do the mending was spun at the same time as the original hat, but then spent decades tucked away not subject to the abuse that the actual hat experienced and therefore was protected from fading.

Spin-In

What a great spinners and weavers guild we have here in Chilliwack. Friendly and GENEROUS people. I can't believe the way the guild members are going out of their way to help me! They are SO willing to give of their time, talent and resources to help a beginner out.

I was given TWO lovely big chunks of wool to spin today at the guild's annual spinning/dyeing day. I loved the way this stuff spun. I am seeing a real difference in the variety of wools I have had a chance to spin over the past few days. Some wools, despite being good quality, I have quite a difficult time with, other wools spin so nicely that they make this novice look good.

Handspun Scarf

Yesterday I showed a hat I made with my first hand-(SPINDLE)-spun yarn. Today I finished a coordinating scarf made from my first hand-(WHEEL)-spun yarn. I used up every last scrap of this particular handspun in the making of this scarf. The picture doesn't show the length....it falls to my hips. I spun all the yarn from hand dyed Perendale Roving purchased from Sun Bench Fibres.

Spindle Spun Gnomy Hat

I couldn't let those first spindling efforts go to waste so I made this:



It's the "Gnomy Hat" from "Knitter's Almanac" by Elizabeth Zimmerman. She is a genius! This is the first toque I have ever tried on, let alone knit, that doesn't slide up off the ears in the wearing. It is specially designed with simple shaping that makes it a little longer over the ears. I think it looks great. It was easy to knit too.

What makes this hat EXTRA special (to me anyway) is that it is my very first spinning efforts. All of the singles, and most of the plying, were done on a drop spindle. There is quite a bit of variation in the thickness of the yarn. The very first bit, where I was an absolute beginner, is quite thick. As I learned it got thinner and more evenly spun. In the knitting of the hat, I had to double the strands of my later efforts to make them match the gauge of the earlier stuff.

The scarf in the picture is a WIP I'll be discussing later.

A Wheel!

Look what followed me home! A spinning wheel. Okay, maybe she didn't exactly follow me home without coercion, I had to rent her. Still, with a tune up provided by Louise she is spinning beautifully and without complaint. Yipee!

First Lesson

I had my first spinning lesson today and it was a blast. To my great relief I had no significant problems, unlike my FIRST small attempt to spin in high school 28 years ago. (Good grief has it been that long!) At that time I had taken a Fiber Arts class and spinning was the one thing that I had extreme difficulty with. So glad that this time around it is going much better.

I spun on my teacher's Ashford Traditional and other than a bit of trouble with the treadling I think I did pretty well. Louise was kind enough to let me try several different fibers in various forms. My favorite was some beautiful chocolate brown "stuff". I'm ashamed to admit I can't remember what she said it was. Lamb maybe? Anyway it was gorgeous and I found it quite easy to spin. I reached my limit when she handed me a bit of Merino. I'm not ready for that lovely wool! It kept slipping away from me. I WILL conquer it some day. Merino is just too lovely to wear to give up that easily.

My Elann subscription came today while I was out. There is a beautiful shawl pattern advertised there as well as a yarn I would like to knit a sweater from....but I still have yarn in my studio that is waiting to become a sweater too. Aargh! So many hobbies, so little time!

Celtic Cross Purse

It's done. The project that has been taking up much of my knitting time lately and has been frustrating me to no end.



The knitting was relatively easy once I got past the "how to-s" of knitting it in one piece (the box corners were tricky). I think it turned out very well.



The sewing of the lining is what nearly did me in.



I bought fabric and a zipper THREE times and spent three days sewing and ripping, sewing and ripping before I got it right. In the end though it was worth it as I love my new little purse. Just DON'T ask me to do it again!

I designed this purse using the graph from the Celtic Knot Pullover. I made the purse rigid by creating an internal structure of plastic needlepoint canvas. It doesn't show because of the lining. Between the plastic canvas and the outside knitted panel I placed a small layer of quilt batting to give the purse a softly rounded look.

Herd That Roving

Shelby looks to be part Border Collie. We can't be sure, she was a "mixed breed" puppy (Shelby doesn't care for the word "mongrel"). We bought her from the SPCA who had rescued her from a backyard full of miscellaneous interbreeding canines. If her tendency to herd roving is any indication, I would think that somewhere in the line her forefathers did include some breed of herding dog. When I put this wool roving down to take a picture she circled and sniffed, circled and sniffed. Having tasted wool in the past she resisted the urge to nip at its flanks.



I have now completely spun up and plyed the Coopworth Top that I started with. I haven't yet decided what to do with it. This new stuff, a hand dyed roving, is proving much more difficult to work with. The fibers don't slide apart as easily and my resulting yarn is thicker and uneven. Kind of discouraging when I was doing so well with the top.

Guild Meeting

I went to a drop-in, casual gathering of a few of the members of the local Spinners and Weavers Guild yesterday morning. The ladies were very helpful and answered a lot of my newby questions. I showed them my spindling efforts and they seemed impressed that I was able to do as well as I did with only a few days practice and using an homemade spindle.

I returned in the evening for their formal meeting and have decided to join the guild. I was hoping I could rent one of their spinning wheels right away, but there is a waiting period of several months before a new member is allowed to rent equipment. *sigh* I really don't blame them though. They wouldn't want to lose their expense spinning wheels.

One of the members overheard me saying how disappointed I was about not being allowed access to the spinning wheels right away, and she stepped forward and offered to teach me how to spin and to let me use one of her spare wheels. I wish I could just rush right out and buy one, but every spinner I have talked to has cautioned me to try spinning on many different styles and makes of wheels before making a purchase.

I originally thought I would want one of those fairy tale type spinning wheels, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that a smaller travel wheel would probably be better. I likely would want to take it to lessons and guild meetings. A smaller size would actually be more practical in the house too. A local woman sells many different wheels and is willing to let people try them. I'll have to learn to spin a bit and then go talk to her. She also happens to be the closest source of spinning fiber.

The guild also has many looms all warped with "group projects" and for a small fee that covers the cost of supplies you can sign up and weave off one of whatever they are making. At the moment there is a tea towel, a Christmas table runner, and a chenille rug/wallhanging that can be done. As the warping of the loom is what I DON'T like to do, this situation is ideal for me. Maybe once I have gotten back into weaving a bit I will be able to face the task of warping my own little 8-shaft table loom.

Spinning, Knitting and *gag* Sewing

The drop spindle spinning continues. I love it and even though I have been busy with other pursuits I have still managed to find snippets of time to spin for a bit. My resulting singles are improving with each spindle full. My addiction deepens!

In other fiber arts arenas, I have been working away on the knitted purse I started and posted a picture of a while back. It is taking quite some time but it is almost done and it is turning out lovely. Unfortunately lining it requires that I do some sewing. I used to love sewing but avoid it as much as possible now. I find it aggravating and also hard on my back. Last night's attempts proved that aggravation and back pain are still very much a part of sewing for me. Hopefully today after hunting down some more lining (I trashed the first lot!), I will get this sewing over with and will have a finished purse to show you tomorrow.

Fledgling Spinner

I've spun enough wool to knit you a sweater......if you are a hamster and don't mind lumpy, bumpy, uneven sweaters.



I went to FibreFest 2005 in Abbotsford BC. When I first walked in the door I thought perhaps there was not enough there to entertain me for an hour let alone the entire afternoon/evening that I had set aside. It seemed smaller than last year's, and I figured wandering the booths and looking thoroughly at all the wares would take me an hour, tops. I had forgotten about all the free demonstrations I had marked down as "must attend". From 2:00 until 5:30 I was watching one interesting demonstration after another, all free.

I saw a woman making socks on an antique sock making machine. That was fascinating, but not knowledge I could make use of.

There was an "Australian Locker Hooking" demonstration. A craft so easy that I am sure I could pick it up without further instruction. It is a method of taking unspun, wool roving and making a berber type rug from it. I was given a square of rug hooking canvas to take home and try out the technique.

I briefly watched a demonstration on Scandinavian horse hair spinning. "Briefly" because it was only a few minutes before my severe allergy to horses started acting up and I had to move off.

There was a demonstration of how to spin multi colored roving(?) in various manners to produce wildly different effects. This was too advanced for me, having at that time, not spun at all, but I did find it interesting and tried to glean what I could for future reference.

Then there was the demo that may have launched a whole new obsession for me. A woman and her young daughter (11) showed how to spindle spin. They made it look easy. It's not. Well, not at first anyway. I bought a book on spindle spinning and have since learned that it is often used as a first step to learning to spin on a wheel. An experienced wheel spinner apparently has far less trouble learning to spindle spin.

Anyway, I bought 100g of "Coopworth Top" and the spindling book, and went home and made myself a few spindles out of wooden toy wheels, dowelling, and cup hooks. I made a "top whorl" and a "bottom whorl". So far, for me, I find the bottom whorl easier to use.

In the above picture, the ball of wool is the first spindle full. I have plied it and wound it into a ball. There is about one ounce and it is very uneven. My second spindle full is looking much better. I am getting a more consistent and thinner result.

Spinning is mesmerizing and addictive. Even if I was not ever able to feed my other passion (knitting) with the end result, I think I would STILL want to buy a spinning wheel and pursue this further.

Raw Chicken Hats

My daughter and I have finished our Raw Chicken Hats.



I altered the pattern a little and made the drumsticks larger. It looks more chickeny, but less like a Viking hat now so I don't know if it was an improvement or not. I kinda like it both ways.

In other news:

Clementine Cadiddlehopper goes "On the Road".

I took Clementine to the local knitters' meeting last night and Debbie, of Auntie Debbie's Knit and Stitch, asked if she could take Clementine along to "Fibrefest International" being held this weekend in Abbotsford, BC at the Tradex Centre. Clementine gets in free. I'll have to pay.

Sleepless Night

A few weeks ago I was in Fabricland looking for buttons and in passing saw a great set of purse handles. I was thinking at the time that they would look nice on a felted purse. I'm not too much into felting, mainly because I have a front load washer which makes felting more difficult to do. Still, the handles played on the back of my mind.

Gradually an idea developed. I went back for the handles and put them aside percolating an idea for a knitted, but not felted purse. While I was in Michaels looking for the eyes for Clementine I found some natural colored cotton and the idea became a little clearer.



I still wasn't sure exactly what pattern I would put on the bag. Something aran style for sure, but what? Ever since I knit The Celtic Knot Pullover I have been thinking that the graphed design would make a nice cushion or bag, so that became the main idea. I'll expand the motif so that it is larger. I wanted it to be more than just a central motif though.

The idea of making a side panel, like that on a box style pillow, began formulating. My search for the perfect stitch pattern for the panel was aided by the chance finding of "The Harmony Guide to Aran Knitting" at a second hand book store. (Awesome book if you are into designing your own Arans).

I got a start on the bag, but puzzling over details like how to turn the box corners, how big to make it, how many stitches to cast on, seams finishes and the like kept me awake all night. I WENT to bed, I just didn't sleep much. Here is the beginning:

Clementine Cadiddlehopper

Meet Clementine Cadiddlehopper, made for no other reason than her exceptional cuteness.



note: Although they look different in the picture, the ears ARE the same length.

I started with the knitting pattern for "Fluffy" from Bernat's "Animal Farm" Booklet. You can see it at the Mary Maxim site by typing "Fluffy" into their search bar.

As you can see, Mary Maxim's "Fluffy" and my "Clementine" are not identical. I bought my supplies locally and could not find an animal nose in the proper size. I had to embroider mine. From there on out, Clementine took on a life of her own. While I was in the process of making her she looked first like a harp seal, then a beaver, and until I lengthened the ears, a fluffy white puppy. It wasn't until I started soft sculpturing the face (an innovation of my own) that she finally started looking like the bunny she was meant to be. It was the overbite than finally made the difference.

A Little Scattered.

I'm actively working on a number of knitting projects at once right now. That really isn't my normal style. I usually work on one thing exclusively, if not until finished, at least until all interest in it dies and I toss it aside to work exclusively on something else.

I'm participating in the "Raw Chicken Viking Hat Knit-along", so have been working on that sporadically. Here is how it looks so far, drumsticks and Earflaps yet to be added.



I also have the "Shapely Tank" on the go and pick that up whenever I have time. No progress pictures with that one, just imagine miles and miles of stockinette in plain white. *yawn*

Road trips have me working on another pair of socks, this pair in a more sedate colorway than those last, bright yellow ones. I expect this project to take quite some time. I usually only knit socks while traveling or while watching TV (which I don't do a lot of).

In between all this I jumped into yet another project. I was looking through the Mary Maxim catalogue and saw something I found quite useless but totally irresistible. I was able to find the pattern at the LYS and the necessary yarns at Zellers and I was off and knitting. Two days later the project is finished and looking great. Check in tomorrow for the official unveiling when I have a picture or two to show. Until then it's exact nature shall remain a secret.

Summer Knitty

Have you seen the Summer issue of "Knitty"? Lately I haven't found much that interests me in the way of patterns in printed magazines, but this issue of "Knitty" has a few that I would actually like to knit some day. I have an annoying tendency to forget where I came across free internet patterns by the time I am ready to knit them, so this time I have printed them off to stash in my pattern binder.

I really liked the "Branching Out" scarf. I even have a yarn or two in my stash that would work for this.

"Soleil" is also a possible future project, although not likely this year. Does the lace edging look to matronly to you?

"W" really caught my eye. This is one top that hand painted or variegated yarn might really work well with. The short row shaping really gives the color variegation an artsy look instead of the usual "grandma's acrylic nightmare" effect.

I'm not sure if I would ever knit or wear "Cleaves", but I have to admit that the idea does make sense. I often wear tank tops in the heat of the summer, but then as the evening turns chilly I wish that I had a set of sleeves I could pull on.

I'm also printing off "Hot Tamale" even though I don't ever wear skirts anymore. It's the graphed flames that I am interested in. I think they would look great on the bottom edge of a sweater. Knitted up they might be interesting as a backdrop to my "Wovenflame" header too.

Drinking Too Much

Normally I'm up by 5:30 in the morning and while I pack my husband's lunch and chat with him, I drink one of these.



It's what my husband calls my "flower pot" of coffee. It holds a full 16 oz of coffee. I love that mug. It "feels right" in my hand. The handle is just right, the weight is perfect, and it has a sturdy-not-going-to-knock-it-over feel to it.

I used to justify the size of my mug by saying that he was having two cups from his "regular" size mug while I only had one of my "flower pots". Except over the past year I have gradually been going back for a little more, and yet some more, until now I am wanting to have TWO of my monster mugs full of coffee before I face my day. If he drinks a little more than I expected, (meaning I get less than I expected), I feel annoyed. This is not good.

It is my philosophy that it is dangerous to feel you NEED something. (Other than your basic food/shelter). To "need" something is to wander onto the slippery slope of addiction. Addiction controls its victim. Addiction can warp judgment and sometimes cause a compromise of values that are held dear.

Think of the drug addict that steals to support his addiction; The mother whose infant sits unattended while she lies in a drunken stupor; The parents who can't afford to clothe their children decently but somehow find the money for a two-pack-a-day habit; The smoker with lung disease so severe that he carries oxygen with him, but after picking up his inhaler prescription, stops on the way out of the store to lean on the counter and wheeze out his request for yet another carton of cigarettes.

In those situations, who is in control, who is making the decisions, the person or their addiction?

I slept in this morning which meant that my body didn't get its usual ingestion of early morning caffeine. I awoke to muscle cramps, lethargy and a bad mood. An addiction to coffee won't make me neglect my children or break into your home to find the money for my next "fix", but taken to excess it can damage my health. Good health is a wonderful thing to have. It's worth protecting.

Doin' the Chicken

Not the bird, the recipe or the dance, I'm doin' the HAT. I've joined the Raw Chicken Viking Hat Knit-a-long.

Getting exactly the right shade for raw chicken skin is a challenge. After much searching in my local area I came up with these "ingredients", and at bargain bin prices too! (What, no one wanted to knit a wool sweater the color of chicken skin?!)



Why would someone want to knit a hat that looks like a raw chicken? Well, I don't know. Maybe because there is far too much seriousness in this world and we all need a good belly laugh. I'm not the only one in my family to be nutty enough to join this knit-a-long. My daughter purchased all the necessary ingredients too.

Deja vu

Shelby says she has the strangest feeling that she has seen these newly finished socks before!



Well, not quite Shelby. You have seen their mismatched cousins here a few months ago. After knitting four socks, I now have one matching pair.....and a spare.

This is what the first "pair" looked like:



Of the four socks I knit, 3 are identical or, at least very similar. The fourth is like a distantly related cousin.

Many thanks to Elann.com for their excellent customer service in quickly sending replacement yarn.