moonfrog

Way back in July, I promised to report on the Farmer’s Market demo that our guild was hosting. Well, it has been over a month, but here it is.
It was a lovely sunny day, which has been in short supply around here lately. We set up our canopy and wove and spun to music, surrounded by the fruits of the season. You can see my rigid heddle loom in the bottom right corner.
I remembered to take some photos for the guild archives, and this one was my favorite. This is guild member Berniece showing someone how to use an Inkle loom. She loves teaching people about weaving and it is sweet to watch.

And here’s my finished cloth from the day’s work. The night before the market, I decided there were enough people coming to demonstrate spinning, so I warped my rigid heddle with the yarn from my shadow weave blanket. I was thrilled that I’d thought of it. Now I have enough fabric to  make a couple pillows to go with the blanket. I just have to get myself to sew it up!

Right now I’m working on an angora hat and a scribble scarf — two small take-along projects that sit in between jaunts or get spurts of work and then are ignored for a couple days. Soon I will push to get the hat done and sent off to its intended home. I also did some spinning for the county fair in our guild’s demonstration room. And yesterday was the Sheep to Shawl at the fair (we called it Fleece to Piece this year.) I picked wool for the carders as my part. So there are plenty of fiber activities going on, just not much talking about them afterwards!

I’ll try to catch up with the rest of my activities in my next post. I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to as the summer fades away . . . .

Nelson Mandala once said, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” That’s a little how I feel about the reconstruction on our house, but it is getting done. The hardest part to handle is making things a bigger mess than they were  in order to reach the end.

But before I show you current pics of the work-in-progress, I want to show off something that did get done. I believe this is my first ever baby sweater. Why is it I don’t make baby things? This cute little hoody took me longer than it should have, but it has been done for a couple weeks, just waiting for a good blocking.

This is Diane Soucy’s pattern, Easy Baby Cardigan. It was indeed an easy, top-down, raglan sleeve hoody. The yarn is Adriafil Knitcol, which is a self-striping sock yarn.

I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. It will be good for either a girl or boy, although a girl is expected. I like that it is something other than pink.  I made the six-months size so it wouldn’t be outgrown before the cooler weather comes along.

Today is the Parents-to-be’s due date and they are waiting patiently at home for their little bundle to arrive. I hope she comes soon!

The house is coming along with what seems like a hundred things going at once. The outside is being painted and will be done within a week.  I’m painting the inside, so that is quite indeterminate. I’ve finished painting a closet. Le sigh.

The deck extension, which was needed to provide an entry to a door is almost complete. We will have to stain it since the previous owner did not and the deck has weathered to gray. Such a shame. It is a beautiful, reddish Ipe wood from Brazil. It is also hard as rock and a pain to work with. It makes a lovely deck.

The master bathroom has been gutted due to some rot in the flooring. Well . . . it used to be a bathroom.  We’ve picked out the tile and ordered a new bathtub and toilet.  Some support beams have to be installed, etc, etc.  A dear old friend of the husband’s is a sales rep and gave us all the faucets and such that we need for the house. What a sweet deal!

The kitchen cabinets are also underway, being made by another dear friend who is a master woodworker. It’s actually quite fun to see them take shape in the garage. I’m really excited to see the rolly-polly units that slide right out and make it easy to get things out of the cupboards. That will be amazing!

In the crafting world, I have been working on a few small things, but find myself with very little on the needles. In fact, I’m going to frog the Baktus triangle scarf — it had one last chance to follow a straight line and failed. Moving on . . . .

All I have working is my old Nodic Sock Sweater. I use the term “working” to mean that it is sitting in the basket waiting to be picked up again. I have some hat-making planned, but there’s little time for indulging in my crafts.

I will be moving my yarn and fiber and supplies soon, so that will have to count as part of crafting. I haven’t shown my craft space on the blog, yet, have I?  Oh!  I will get on that right away. It is too fun.  I’m off to paint today and I’ll make sure and take pictures of my crafting room for next time.

My knitting schedule has been fairly well planned lately. I have goals and challenges to meet! Yes, I slip in an occasional hat or small project, but my main works are carefully considered. So, what a surprise for me when I received some yarn and knit it up before it even reached my stash.

Here’s how it all started: Over Memorial Day weekend The Dizzy Sheep had a spin-off, where a yarn bargain is put up hourly, or when something sells out. This is a special version of their daily deal. As a fun part of the spin-off, there’s a grab bag called a Bag of Knit. These sell out in a matter of a couple of minutes, so I was pleased when the opportunity to purchase one came up late at night and I snagged not one, but three of them. It was also my birthday weekend, so I was quite in the mood to treat myself. Happy birthday to me!!

Well, mine were full of goodies when they arrived. One had a single ball of Gedifra Byzanz that went straight to the stash, another one had a gorgeous Lantern Moon project bag, plus a ball of Milli Colori that I’ve been wanting to try.  The last one had five balls of Lana Grossa Cento bulky yarn.

I was so excited to receive a quantity that would make a substantial project that I hit the pattern archives immediately. I wanted something that I could donate to a fundraiser — so one size fits all. I found just the right shawl pattern, with enough yarn to make a shortened version. The package arrived Saturday afternoon and I cast on  La La’s Simple Shawl that evening. By Sunday night the yarn ran out and Monday morning found it on the blocking board. It’s lovely soft and cozy!

Several things made this knit happen. First off was the fun of the spin-off and receiving surprises in the mail. Second was maybe just a bit of middle-of-a-big-project boredom, brought on by inch upon inch of stockinette in the round. Third was probably a bit of nervousness about being in never-ending escrow on our house, so I really must keep my hands and mind busy. (“Our” house?  Almost!  Hope has turned to expectation in spite of all the waiting.)

And contrary to my fear of leaving one knit like a lover scorned — never to return to it –  I did indeed go right back to working on my Kudo V-neck pullover. It now has an entire body and the sleeves are on the way. A little neckline ribbing and it will be done.

I’m getting lots of practice at new things, especially at sticking to larger projects! I know that we all go through phases when we are not real enthused about our knitting or other crafts, and then there are the all-out, totally committed times that come along. I’m riding this wave to the end!  Happy knitting, indeed.

I’ve always known that knitting relaxes me; this weekend reaffirmed that for me. For the past three months, we have been trying to buy a house. I’ve tried to keep it in the maybe category so I won’t be disappointed if it doesn’t happen, but for three weeks we’ve been told not to leave town, we’ll be signing the papers any day.

Last Wednesday a major glitch came up and it didn’t look good. I went straight to my chair and started knitting. Another phone call on Thursday sent me to my chair to knit. For some reason, I saw myself very clearly, as if standing outside my body.  I picked up my knitting and the tension melted away. It made me smile to see this effect knitting has on my frayed nerves. It happened again Friday, then I settled down and let it go. (We still are waiting for the glitch to be resolved.)

I’m glad my knitting calms me, even when my project isn’t working out as well as I’d like. The knitting I was working on was a rip and re-knit. I had finished the entire back of the Scoop Neck Cardigan and realized that the pattern will not work without rewriting which is beyond me right now. The sizing does not go large enough for me, so I was adding extra rows. It was not going to work with the side-to-side construction.

So I chose another design, this time a simple v-neck raglan. This means the stripes will go horizontally, but I’m all right with that. I’m ripping out the previously knit back and knitting directly to the new raglan shoulders. There’s only an inch of back left to undo now. I’m happy with how this new incarnation is moving right along and like how it looks.

Today I am setting aside my knitting to clean my house. An unfortunate side effect of the renewed knitting enthusiasm is that other things are being sorely neglected.

Another thing that holds my interest these days is my porch garden. All my plants are growing great, in spite of our cool, wet weather.

I have Mexican Sage Bush, Johnny Jump Ups, dahlias and lots of over-crowded snapdragons that aren’t blooming yet. A friend gave me poppies, herbs, and foxgloves. My rosemary plant is bushy and smells great. I’m even growing tomatoes just for fun — our climate is not good for tomatoes. I love having my plants all on the porch, and the other yardwork has been diverted into the neglected category with the housecleaning.

Some of this diversion is the waiting . . .  waiting to put plants in the ground at the new house, waiting to clean house until the packing commences. So many things seem to be on hold, although in reality, they shouldn’t be.  My knitting helps with the waiting, though, so that is what I turn to lately. And that’s not a bad thing.

It’s been a busy, rainy day here. And we are all tuckered out.  Cali is 8 months old now and starting to mellow, but today she was just a great big puppy.

She has a boyfriend a couple houses down and goes crazy at the chance to play with him. He’s a 3-year-old chocolate lab named Ryan. They race around the front yard and wrestle whenever they get the chance. Today, they were playing in the rain while Ryan’s mom and I chatted.

As they ran around Cali splashed through a mud puddle in our driveway. She decided that was the best fun of all and lured Ryan into the puddle. Not satisfied with just splashing, she lay down and rolled in the puddle — over and over again — as she continued to play with Ryan. She was covered in mud. It was a hoot!

Next came a bath. Usually this is accomplished at the do-it-yourself doggy bath place, but it was too late for that. So we took off the shower doors and shoved her into the tub. It took her dad and I both to keep her in and give her a good wash. Whew!  Now she’s a clean and tired pup. I put her SpongeBob blanky over her and she fell fast asleep. Doesn’t she look sweet?

And while she sleeps, I’m knitting a new project. This is the beginning of the back of the Scoop Neck Cardigan which was designed for Noro Silk Garden yarn. I’m using Plymouth Kudo in a brown/gray/tan/black. The gray turns bluish and the brown has a reddish portion.

This cardigan is knit side-to-side so the stripes run vertically. I already added a couple inches to the pattern length. I’m anxious about the fit, but that will be clear with time. To prevent rowing-out (uneven tension) I am purling English style (throwing) and knitting Continental style (picking.)  I think I will start a practice project to  work on tension soon.

I’ve regained my enthusiasm for knitting and there are so many projects I’d like to cast on immediately. I’m holding it to three active projects at any time, though, and it feels good and manageable that way. I really just knit on a single pattern at one time, but like to have one for travel and one to switch off with in case I get tired of the current one.

It’s really hard to decide which project to begin next, every time it is a struggle.  I consider the season, the yarn at hand, and the degree of difficulty compared to my mood and available time. Sometimes I want to knit something for a special occasion for someone else, but I have to confess I’ve become a pretty selfish knitter. Besides my hats for chemo patients and some small knits, most of what I make now is all mine.

My current project is a cotton/rayon/silk yarn for summer, which I recently bought, but not for this specific pattern. The pattern is not really  difficult, but the shaping and sleeves are things I need to practice, as well as the button bands and edge finishes.  I was really fortunate to find the pattern book for sale cheap and it arrived just in time to cast on. The design has been in my queue for two years.

How do you make decisions about what to make next?  Or is it just whatever strikes your fancy in the moment?

Where do you like to indulge in your craft? Is your favourite arm chair your little knitting cubby area, or do you prefer to ‘knit in public’? Do you like to crochet in the great outdoors, perhaps, or knit in the bath, or at the pub?

While I most often knit in my rocker/recliner while the old man watches TV, I’ve been known to knit in lots of other places. Tonight I finally made it to my LYS’s  Sip-n-Knit night after a long absence. It was a pleasant time with several talented knitters. I need to make it a priority to go every week; I’ve missed it. The two in the photo are Harry, former president of our weaving guild and soon to be manager of the LYS, and Connie, my dear travel companion who is talented in all areas of fiber arts.

I used to  knit in bars while the man’s band played, but the lighting really makes mistakes inevitable. A favorite place to knit is in the car while traveling. I even have a headlamp so I can keep knitting when it gets dark. I knit on the porch some in the summer. I knit while camping and working music festivals. I enjoy knitting with my mom either at her house or mine.

The only time I knit in bed is when I’m staying in a hotel. There are few places I won’t knit, although I try to be polite when socializing is expected. Some people find it rude, so I keep that in mind. I don’t knit and walk — that would just be too hard.

So there you have it.  I wonder where I’ll find myself knitting this summer?

To learn more about this event, visit Eskimimi Knits. knitcroblo5

I love the excitement that surrounds learning new things. That was my favorite part of teaching school, the thrill of someone else experiencing something new. And I love variety. That doesn’t mean I don’t like the tried-and-true, but sometimes I can find myself flitting from one new thing to another. So what does this have to do with today’s topic?

Is there a skill related to your hobby that you hope to learn one day? maybe you’re a crocheter who’d also like to knit? Maybe you’d like to learn to knit continental, knit backwards, try cables or attempt stranded colourwork.

Well, over the past few years, I’ve tried a lot of techniques. I’ve taken classes, watched internet videos, read books — lots of books! — and soaked up as much knitting knowledge as I could hold. What this comes down to is that I “know” a lot or can teach myself what I lack, but I really need practice to become proficient. I’m using “proficient” here very loosely. We have a saying in my family: Good enough for who it’s for!

My learning of techniques almost always includes at least a swatch, sometimes a small project, occasionally a larger project. Once I learn something, though, I’m off to find something new.  What I need now is to choose some projects that challenge my barely-learned skills, that give me the practice I need.

One thing that should help me is being a participant in the  intswemodo2010 (International Sweater-a-Month Dodecathon group on Ravelry.  I don’t have any hope of making 12 sweaters this year, but a few would give me a lot of practice. So far, I have one almost finished, one started and one frogged. It’s not looking good, but I’ll keep truckin’ along. One of my choices needs to be a stranded colorwork project. The one I’m starting has a big cable. I also need to make one that is in pieces, maybe with a zipper!  I made Hey, Teach last year and know for sure that I need practice putting in sleeves.

So this is my goal — more practice with just about everything. That’s in between all my spinning and weaving goals, of course!

To learn more about this event, visit Eskimimi Knits. knitcroblo4

It has been a rough time in my family, but things are returning to almost normal. Sadly, we are missing the head of the family, my father, who passed away Christmas night. Needless to say, it was a sad holiday season for the lot of us. Things are looking up, though.  My mom is doing fairly well, keeping busy. I am returning to my normal-ish schedule. Life goes on.

We will miss the joy of life my father showed in his dancing and fishing and socializing. I hope that joy of life is what I will carry forward in his memory.

The “new” puppy is now four months old, which doesn’t seem so old, but look how she has grown. She’s still a handful of puppy energy, but she is being trained and learning to fit into her people-world, but just barely.

This weekend she will go to doggie daycare for a couple hours to get her used to being around the dogs and people there. She’s a shy thing, so it takes some practice.

Our cat has started spending time with us again, sleeping in the house (or the linen closet, actually) and letting us pet her. She only comes around when the pup is sleeping and it is uncanny how she knows right when that is. There have only been a couple close encounters so far.  I doubt that she will ever tolerate the dog’s presence.

Ah, and the knitting and weaving and spinning. How I’ve missed them!  I went a full month without even knitting, but I’m glad to be back at it again.  I pulled out the Nordic Sock Sweater, which was started a year and a half ago.  I’ve worked on it some in that time, stopping when it came time to do the increases for the sleeves. A couple weeks ago I sat myself down and wrote out the progression of the pattern and commenced increasing. Now I’m back to even rows for a while. I suppose the decreasing happens next. I’m actually still liking this project, in spite of the tedious nature of lots of straight garter stitch.

After things settled down, I did my Christmas knitting — a very tiny amount this year. I made another Dolphin dishcloth for my aunt and two Flings  which are skinny mohair boas/scarves. Both used Paton’s Lacette in black as the main color.  The one pictured used Lacette in lavender for the other stripe.  The one that I gave away before I remembered to photograph it (sheesh!) used Filatura Di Crosa College in a bright blue. I like that one best and might make one for myself someday.

This scarf is knit lengthwise, so there aren’t too many rows, but they are long. The stripes break it up a bit, and I like the slanted ends, too. The back is pretty, but not striped. The mohair halo makes this a very pretty accent piece.

I also have a triangle scarf called Lacey Baktus  going, which is my travel knit. Not much travel, so not much progress, especially after a frogging and restart after several inches. It’s going well now.  I’ll have to take some new pictures of it and post it up. Maybe next time. ; )

What’s been filling my days? Well, this is the newest adventure. She came to live with us yesterday, at 8 weeks old. She’s already 19 pounds!  She’s half mastiff and half  “whatever jumped over the fence.”  As with any baby, she keeps us really busy.

Before that, we had a good trip to Kansas to see my grandson, visiting Moon Marble Company again, seeing a movie, attending his birthday party, and toy shopping, of course.  He’s seven years old and getting so big. It was a joy to see him, as always.

When we returned home, we found my dad in poor health and spent the next week with doctors and then in the hospital for a few days. All is back to normal after that scare. Home health service workers are helping out and we are getting my parents’ house safety-fitted and more comfortable.

My knitting has consisted of a couple of dish scrubbies for my mom and a pair of pirate mittens. The mittens were a great hit with my grandson. And wouldn’t you know it, I forgot to take pictures of them!  I do have a fuzzy picture of one mitten that turned out a bit wonky and was replaced with a better one. They were sure quick!  Well, except for the re-do.  The pattern was a generic children’s mitten pattern done on two needles with a seam up the side. The skull pattern is from a hat pattern that I’ve misplaced.  I’m happy with how they turned out.

I don’t think the knitting — or weaving or spinning — will pick up much until next year, but I’ll keep checking in anyway when I can.  This next week is for getting ready for my husband’s family coming to visit. They’ve never been here before and I’m looking forward to their visit. I can’t believe the holidays are here again already!  Take a deep breath . . . and here we go!

I finally have something to show for the Tour de Fleece.  It feels like a lot considering all my days start with painting and packing my parents for their imminent move. On Wednesday the big truck comes to move them closer so I can help them out more. Whew! 

Anyway, this is from two four-ounce braids of Fleece Artist Blue-faced Leicester. It is my first 3-ply, a worsted weight. I had to send it back through a second time to ply it a little tighter. I’m pretty happy with it now.

I’ve done a few other yarns recently, too, using up things that I have in my stash. Tonight I will probably do some more plying. Tomorrow I’ll start on one of my larger amounts of fleece.

I can definitely spin a finer yarn now, but still am working on keeping it even. Plying is still in the practice stages, too.  I’m happy that my handspun is usable at this point!

Some of my handspun even went to the natural dye workshop last weekend.  The two big purple skeins are some of my first handspun Corriedale.   Check out these colors!  Now, I was expecting to have more muted colors from natual dyes, but these colors are stunning. Compare them to some of my recent acid-dyed yarns in the bottom of the picture and they are just as saturated.

The purple is from logwood, the orange is from madder, the yellow is from marigold, the magenta in the back is from cochineal. The red in front is from a first dip in mungeet (Turkey red) and a second dip in cochineal.  I was really surprised to get such a nice red from natural dyes!

Behind the marigold yellow is a lovely olive green that was first a soft yellow from fresh fennel, then a dip in some iron. We got to watch as the iron oxidized and turned the yarn green. It was super entertainment.

The workshop was  sponsored by The Northcoast Knittery at the home of one of the owners. The setting was awesome. Linda Hartshorn, my weaving intructor, taught the class and made it interesting, informative and lots of fun.

You can see pictures of the dye workshop with Linda and the magic green yarn on Ravelry at this post. Thanks, Laura and Linda! It was a blast.

Tomorrow is another fun event: a guild gathering at Aunt Janet’s Fiber Mill for spinning and such.  I’ll be taking my wheel for some more spinning.  I’m between knitting projects right now, with nothing easy-going on the needles. I just finished the hat that was my travel knitting. Really need to start something . . . .  Off to get ready to go early in the morning!