Needlework ADD

Another Early Morning

2009-03-31T05:51:00.000-07:00

Yup, up too early again. I wish I knew why I have these mornings where I just can't sleep. I've been awake since before four this time. Well, since I'm up anyway, it's definitely time for coffee. 'Scuze me.

Like my mug? I picked it up at Starbucks recently. Okay, this isn't really what I'm drinking right now. It's not nearly that light out yet.

My perfectionist tendencies have gotten the better of my blogging again. I keep waiting until I have *all* the pictures I want, and I keep waiting on the pictures until the light is good, until I wash and iron the stitchery, etc, etc, etc. So, I'm posting this morning with what I've got.

Last December I fell in love with the November Sock of the Month offering from Robyn Gallimore of Red Bird Knits. So, I joined the sock club on a quarterly basis, waited impatiently for the kit, and knitted it up in about two weeks. Maybe less.

Picture? Um, yeah. That's one of the pictures I don't have at the moment. I'll post one soon, I promise.

After finishing that, I had to have more of her designs! I got the pattern for Winter Dreams from Patternfish, and knitted it up, also rather quickly. (My obsession with stranded socks probably comes in part from our particularly snowy winter and a desire for warm feet!) This I do have pictures of!

I love these socks! I made one small change to the pattern. Robyn apparently really likes to do a purl ridge at the top of her stranded designs, as all the ones I've looked at have it, but the one I did for my first pair of her socks won't stay up properly on my ankles, so I did about four rounds of ribbing, instead.

The green yarn is Colinette Jitterbug, and the white is Cascade Heritage. I like both these yarns, but next time I won't mix them. The Heritage is just a touch thinner than the Jitterbug, which made keeping my tension even a little difficult.

I'm now working on another of her stranded designs, and I got the kit for the February Sock of the Month in the mail. Pictures to come. :)

Pippin says if I really loved him, I'd stop messing with the computer and come rub his belly ...

What Brown Did for Me...

2009-03-23T17:31:00.000-07:00

Look what the UPS man brought me!

I can't find this magazine anywhere locally, so I ordered them from Stonehouse Publications in Canada. These three issues have the pattern for Bronwyn Hayes' "Wish Quilt."

Not the best picture, I know, but what do you expect from taking a photo of a magazine page?

There's lots of other great stuff in these mags. I'm seriously considering a subscription.

Can't talk. Reading.

Oy ... Bad Sinuses. Bad. No Biscuit.

2009-03-21T12:39:00.001-07:00

Well, after spending the last three weeks fighting a sinus infection, I'm sadly behind here. I have some knitting to show off, and lots more stitchery. New posts coming soon, I hope!

2009-02-28T17:03:00.000-08:00

It seems the seasonal bugs aren't done with us yet. I've spent the week struggling with a cold thingie that mutated into a sinus infection. Ugh. I'm on antibiotics now, so should be feeling more human soon.

I've spent a lot of time doing close to nothing, but when I am doing something, it's embroidery. I've finished the stitchery on Gail Pan's A Christmas Wish.

Here's blocks one and two against the fabric I'll be bordering them with. After struggling with the hoop/no hoop issue on these small blocks, I'll be putting the borders on the rest of the blocks before stitching them (so they'll be big enough to hoop easily).

I'm also working on block one of Veranda Views, Under the Willow, which I'm really enjoying as well.

(Please excuse the hoop marks.) Have you seen block three yet? It's called "Bed and Breakfast," and it's so stinkin' cute!

I still haven't prepped the next A Tisket, A Tasket block. No energy for it this week. I had hoped to have it done before the March block was released, but that seems unlikely now. I might still whip it up once the antibiotics really take hold, but I wouldn't count on it!!

So, three block of the month (BOM) projects for me. Will this keep me on task, or drive me nuts? Stay tuned...

What I've Been Doing, Applique Edition

2009-02-22T09:15:00.000-08:00

Before I stumbled over the stitchery obsession, I was working on my applique quite a bit. I've been working for quite a while on Baltimore's Country Cousins by Susan McKelvey (link goes to Amazon -- I tried to find a picture of a finished quilt, but couldn't), and am making very slow progress. I've been saying I want this on my bed by my 15th anniversary, but at this rate, I'll be luck to have the top finished by then.

Here is my most recent finished block:

This makes eight finished blocks. I still have four to go, plus the appliqued border. I'm also adding a plain border to that, to make the quit big enough for my queen-sized bed. And then I'm planning to hand-quilt it. Much work still to go, I'm afraid.

Normally I wouldn't bother showing a picture of the new block at its current infant state, but this amuses me.

Doesn't that look like bug antennae? It's actually two stems for leaves and flowers. There'll be a third stem going straight up the middle, and a basket underneath.

Oh, and I promised a picture of my A Tisket, A Tasket block with the embroidery added:

I love this little block. I'll be getting the January block with the snowman started soon.

Embroidery

2009-02-19T21:05:00.000-08:00

Well, this post is coming a little later than intended. A nasty stomach bug hit la casa de ADD. I managed to avoid it this round (had it about three weeks ago), but it seems to be running rampant in the area, and my brother's family got it and then shared with DH. So, it's been either busy or exhausted or both here for the last several days.

I had planned to show off my latest applique projects (and I still will), but the weirdest thing happened. I was working on my February block for Bunny Hill Designs' A Tisket A Tasket BOM, and I finished the applique. It looked like this:

It was missing the embroidery of the birds' eyes and beaks, and the stems between the hearts and the top bird.

Ooooh, embroidery. I hadn't done any embroidery since I made a smiley-face patch for the seat of my jeans when I was about 19. Before that, I think I'd been about 12. I've been dubious for a while about doing any projects that required embroidery, as I don't remember being any good at it when I was a kid, and I didn't expect my skills to have improved with disuse. But, stitchery projects keep popping up all over, especially on blogs from Australia and Europe (gotta love this internet!), and some of them were really sweet.

So, I figured this project, with its small amounts of embroidery, would be a good way to dip my toe in the water. If I didn't like it, it wasn't a big part of the work.

Silly me. It's hand stitching! What made me think I wouldn't like it???

I can't show you a picture of the finished block (it's hiding), but I'll dig it up and post it with my other applique projects. I was rather pleased with my work, considering I haven't done any in so long, but I still thought I'd like it to be a bit more even before I do the next block. I want this to be a nice finished quilt. So, since I've seen Gail Pan's A Christmas Wish BOM on several blogs, I figured I'd do the Love block as a practice piece.

Whee! That was fun! (Please excuse its rumpled state.) I hadn't gotten very far before I decided I had to do this whole quilt, too. Problem is, since this block was only supposed to be practice, I didn't worry about making it as big as the instructions call for. So, I'll have to stitch this block again. I'm planning to turn this one into the center of a pillow for my bed.

After doing that block, I couldn't stop! So look what happened:

I found myself prowling around the 'net, looking for more embroidery patterns, more tips, more, more MORE!

And then this followed me home from the store:

I might have a problem here...

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T14:36:00.001-08:00

This is Robin, one of my foster kitties from last summer. She and I wanted to remind you to love on someone today!

Quiet Morning

2009-02-12T13:59:00.000-08:00

I wish I was a morning person. I'm not. I'm a night owl trapped in a morning person's culture that believes in "early to bed, early to rise."

Yesterday morning, I woke up at 4:30. Yes, a.m. This is a time of day I prefer to think of as "The middle of the night." Or maybe, "Oh-dark-thirty." But yesterday, I was completely wide awake. At about 5:15, I gave up and got out of bed. The dog was happy to take my warm spot in the bed, and the cats followed me out to the living room.

It had snowed lightly Tuesday, and there was still a dusting on the ground. As it gradually grew light outside, I could see the snow still there. I like snow that sticks to the trees and grass and leaves the pavement alone. Snow in western Washington is usually disruptive because we don't have the equipment to handle it properly, but if the roads are dry and safe, I can just enjoy how the powder makes the trees look like lace.

I caught up on my blogs, read the paper as soon as it arrived, ate breakfast, and did some applique. I cuddled a cat. I was showered, dressed and ready for the day at a time when I'm usually still in bed.

I wish I could be like this all the time. Early morning is so peaceful (note: I am not responsible for getting anyone else out of the house on time!). But, no. Most days I'm still fighting for consciousness and clear thinking by my second cup of coffee.

Life has been a bit rough for the last nine months or so. I've been dealing with several issues, physical and emotional, but I think everything's on the upswing now. I'll try to get back to actual posts and talking about crafts again.

So this isn't totally craft free, here's a picture of the bags my quilting group made for a challenge project last fall. Mine is the second from the left. It's become a sock-knitting tote, perfect for carrying a pattern and a couple of balls of yarn for the stranded socks I've been knitting.

More soon, I promise!

Not Dead Yet... Take Two

2008-06-06T07:58:00.000-07:00

I keep thinking I want to be more regular in posting here. I compose posts in my head all the time. They just never make it into the computer. The last few months have been a bit rough. I've left the yarn shop--just not the right place for me to be right now.

So, today I'm up extra early (can't sleep), and while I don't have a crafty post ready, I thought I'd do that meme that's currently racing around blogland.

1. What was I doing ten years ago? I was enjoying my last summer before developing fibromyalgia--too bad I didn't realize it then. I was starting my last career-track job, a communications director at a small (very small) non-profit, before discovering I was too ill for stressful work. I was preparing to be a bridesmaid in a wedding. It was one of those new-fangled internet meetings, and I was very concerned for the bride, one of my best friends. They are still together--the groom is my friend in the Darth Vader costume from a while back. DH and I were househunting for our first house, where I have now lived longer than anywhere else. Come to think of it, that was a pretty important year!

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order)? Well, today's actually a weekend day for me (DH works Sunday-Thursday, and I've taken on his schedule). My to-do lists on weekends are either crazy or non-existent. Today it's non-existent. DH and I are planning to go see the new Narnia movie. Ummm.... I think that's it. Neener.

3. Snacks I enjoy. Anything with frosting. Seriously, you could just about put frosting on a dead bug and I'd eat it. Okay, maybe not. Maybe I'd just pick the bug out. Other than that? Chocolate, especially dark chocolate. Popcorn. Cashews. Chex snack mix.

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire. Have a dream house built, one with a sewing studio for me and a big office/den space for DH. I'm not working, but DH would retire early. Put a bunch of money aside for my nephew's college fund. My parents have got to be about to retire, but I haven't heard a peep out of them, so provide them whatever funding they'd need to retire now. Travel, taking family with me. Send my parents on a trip of their own, just the two of them. Donate a lot of money to fibromyalgia research. Fund a no-kill animal shelter.

5. Places I have lived. Milwaukee, The Dalles, Eugene, Coos Bay and Newport, all in Oregon; and Tacoma and Lakewood, both in Washington (state). I also spent 3 1/2 months in London in college, does that count?

6. Jobs I've had. Oh, boy. Summer camp counselor. McDonald's worker. Barrista at my college cafeteria. Yarn/needlework store clerk. Other retail. Office temp. Office assistant. Communications director. File clerk.

Not Dead Yet...

2008-02-05T13:46:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm still here. Really.

The biggest news, crafting-wise (and life-wise, too, I guess), is that I left my office job at the end of July, and then in October, starting working one day a week at my LYS, Yorkshire Yarns. I was even Needleworker of the Month for November.

A few shots of what I've been doing:

This is DH's foot in one of his birthday socks. These are his first handknit socks, despite me offering to knit him a pair several years ago. At the time he said no, very politely. "I just don't think I'd wear them," he said.

Well, okay, then.

So, about early November, I spotted some yarn that was vaguely the same colors as Denver Bronco uniforms. And, the key to DH's heart is not his stomach, but the Broncos. So, I asked again. "If I knit you socks in Bronco colors, would you wear them?"

"If you knit me any socks, of course I'd wear them!"

Perhaps this new opinion is because he gets cold easier now? I asked him about what he said before, and he doesn't remember the conversation (which I sometimes think is Guy Code for "I don't want to get in trouble for something I said/did years ago...."). Instead, he says, "I must have been nuts."

So, I got the yarn and started knitting. And knitting. Boy, his feet are bigger than mine!

They were finished at 10:30 the night before his birthday (which is right after Christmas, so it gave me a few extra days).

This sock is on its way to being DH's second pair of handknit socks. This sock is finished now, after knitting the toe four times to get it in the right place. It seems so much more difficult to get a custom fit for someone else's foot!

And this sock has now entered its modeling career at Yorkie Yarns. It's a shop model, happily single (only one sock to knit--no Second Sock Syndrome!), showing off just a bit of the huge sock yarn selection at the shop.

This is Hadrian helping me decide on the final arrangement of blocks in my quilt. It's made out of a jelly roll (pre-cut 2 1/2" strips of fabric, for my non-quilting readers out there) from one of my LQS, The Shibori Dragon. I hadn't planned on making this quilt, I wasn't looking for a quilt project ... but the jelly roll and the pattern just jumped into my arms when I was in the store to pick up my Block of the Month block last month. I couldn't resist the teal. The blocks are sewn together now, and I'm working on hand quilting it. This will be a nice size for a throw for the recliners.

These next two pictures are a touch embarrassing, but since so many people have posted their messy workspaces, I thought I'd share mine. Someday I'll clean it, really I will...

Black Sheep Gathering

2007-06-21T13:19:00.000-07:00

"Baa baa black sheep
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir
Three bags full."

Yup, I’m headed to Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene this weekend! Tomorrow afternoon I go down to my parents’ home in the Portland area, and then Saturday morning my mom and I will drive to Eugene, and stay there that night.

I keep telling myself I don’t want to spend a lot of money, as I have *plenty* of fiber stash—I’ve easily acquired SABLE (Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy)—but who am I kidding? Maybe this year I’ll invest in tools: a new spindle, a niddy noddy, a set of cards? Or maybe this is the year to blow it all on a small bundle of something expensive…

Stash Enhancement

2007-05-21T22:12:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a lot of fun. I got up much too early, met up with two of my friends, and drove north. We hit five yarn shops and five quilt shops, dropping one from my original list (the one in Anacortes, off to the west of the rest of the shops), but adding another that was only a couple blocks from one of the quilt shops. I came home with a lot of fabric, two quilt patterns, free knitting patterns from the yarn shops (part of the official shop hop festivities), a panel for an advent calendar, and yarn for two pairs of socks and a sweater. We're talking serious stash enhancement.

Some of the sock yarn is a skein of that TOFUtsies yarn people are talking about. I can't wait to try it, but I'm forcing myself to finish at least one other pair of socks before casting on for these.

The sweater yarn is ggh Soft Kid, for a sweater out of Rebecca magazine, the same wrap cardigan that Wendy knit a while back. I've had the pattern since then, but stumbled across the yarn by accident this weekend. I was not nearly as successful at telling myself not to start this project--I'm halfway through the back of it already! (This is why I'm not known for my patience...)

All in all, it was a particularly fun birthday trip. One of the quilt stores we visited was having a party, celebrating becoming a Janome dealer, so I got to have cake (without all those leftovers sitting around my house...), and I even had "Happy Birthday" sung to me by a high school choir. Well, okay, not exactly to me--they were doing a fundraiser in front of a shop where we stopped to get coffee, and a couple of people walked out with a balloon bouquet with birthday balloons just as we were walking in. The timing was perfect!

So, anyway, happy birthday to me!

And Now for Something Completely Different...

2007-05-20T23:06:00.001-07:00

What do you say when you meet the Dark Lord of the Sith?

Neat Online Toy

2007-05-16T17:18:00.000-07:00

A friend posted recently about Google Maps about the new My Maps function. So, I thought I’d give it a try.

With yarn and quilt shops, of course.

This Saturday, there’s a yarn shop hop happening here in NW Washington, and a couple of friends and I are going to a few of the shops. (Seemed like an appropriate way to celebrate my birthday.) Rather than trying to get to all the yarn shops, we’re taking the opportunity to go to some quilt shops in the area, since we don’t normally get up there.

So, I plugged several shops into the map, and can now use it to get directions for each shop. Pretty slick!

2007-04-11T10:33:00.000-07:00

I’m so excited to have won Susan’s contest! I’ve been eyeing her Spring Things shawl pattern since she posted it, but Paypal and I don’t get along. Winning the pattern is just great.

I’ll be going stash diving this afternoon, as I think I have some yarn that will work for the shawl, and I’m going to give in to startitis, and just go for it with this pattern. Assuming the yarn works, that is… And that I can find it, for that matter. I packed a lot of my stash away into big plastic tubs and stored them in the garage, and now actually finding things again can be a bit of a crap shoot. Sometimes I can locate them, sometimes they seem to have ended up in Douglas Adams’ alternate universe with the ballpoint pens and spare socks.

The timing of this contest is wonderful, actually. Firstly, I was in the LA area for my own quick trip (a college friend was getting married) a week and a half ago. I didn’t get to an Angels game like Susan did, but I did go to the Getty Center. I think I must have stood against the same railing she did when she took her picture, just a week before she was there.

The other good part of the timing is that DH and I are going on a long weekend trip this weekend. We’re going to stay at a B&B just outside of Leavenworth, WA, and plan on doing as close to absolutely nothing as possible. Which, of course, is the perfect time to start a new knitting project! Especially something like lace, which needs a measure of concentration. I can sit in our lovely suite, stretch out in front of the fireplace (Leavenworth is in the mountains—when we were there at this time last year, there was snow on the ground), and knit. Ahhhh…

Pictures!

2007-03-15T19:44:00.000-07:00

New stuff in the mail:

New socks:

New quilt blocks:

While we're at it, older quilt blocks:

New haircut:

I'm not sure about this one...

2007-02-08T16:47:00.000-08:00

You Are Olive Green

You are the most real of all the green shades. You're always true to yourself.
For you, authenticity and honesty are very important... both in others and yourself.
You are grounded and secure. It takes a lot to shake you.
People see you as dependable, probably the most dependable person they know.

What Color Green Are You?

Across the Rainbow Bridge

2007-01-21T16:11:00.000-08:00

Shiva
1995-2007

For Blue Moon Fiber Arts

2007-01-12T08:12:00.000-08:00

The moral of my ode is this:
beauty is twice beauty
and what is good is doubly good
when it is a matter of two socks
made of wool in winter.

--Pablo Neruda

Orts

2006-12-21T13:58:00.000-08:00

The other day, I mentioned to a non-knitting co-worker that I was thinking of knitting myself a hat from some leftover yarn I had in my stash. My co-worker gave me a funny look and said that if my stash was really as big as I claim, couldn't I find something to make the hat without having to use leftovers? I explained that not using the leftovers for small projects would be wasting yarn, and left it at that.

Thinking about it, though, crafters are big on using scraps. Knitters make hats or scarves or stripes in sweaters with bits of yarn too small to make something big. Quilters are famous for using cut up clothing or scraps left from making clothing. Though the modern quilter gets most if not all of her/his fabric from the LQS, scrap quilts are still very popular. Some quilters even make charm quilts, where no two pieces of fabric are the same.

When we finish a project, the remaining supplies go back into stash to marinate a while longer. We'd never dream of throwing it away! I know, I know, the idea made me feel faint, too. Go get a drink. I'll wait. (This, btw, is exactly what my SIL is trying to get my DB to do, throw out the yarn he has left from finished knitting.)

We wouldn't throw our yarn, or fabric, or unspun fiber away because that's exactly the opposite of the point! We love the stuff. We touch it, pet it, fondle it, sniff it, even threaten to roll around in it. We have our stashes because we want to surround ourselves with it. Some of us only do the crafting to justify having the stash in the first place.

It's more than that, though. We like to use the leftovers because they remind us of the previous project. If I enjoy making a sweater and then later put that yarn into another sweater, I'll think of the two projects together. If I use a great green fabric in a second or third quilt, that project will be linked to the previous quilts in my mind. (Again, this is something people often think of with quilts made from clothes--there's Grandma's apron, Mom's first dress, etc.)

Do you think my hat will be warmer with the echos of old projects knit into it?

It's the Process, Stupid!*

2006-12-14T10:33:00.000-08:00

I am a list-maker. I have a to-do list at work, a to-pack list when I'm getting ready for vacation, and a running shopping list on my fridge. And, often, a to-craft list.

Not a good idea.

A couple of years ago, I got fed up with how many WIPs I have. (To me a WIP is a project I have started and not finished, but also not given up on. I hop from project to project much too frequently to say it's a UFO if I haven't worked on it in a month--I might pick it up again tomorrow.) So, I crawled through my closet, pulling out project after project, any craft. And came up with a staggering total:

65.

Ouch.

So, I decided I had to do something about that. I only removed things off the list after I actually got it out of the closet, one way or another. I pulled out a couple of things. I "finished" a few things, even if they weren't exactly according to original plan. And, I gave a couple of things away.

I also ... ahem ... started a few new things. Because I was finishing things, right?

So, at the end of this year-long process I had:

61.

Because this was soo successful (not!), tried it again for a couple more years. What did I get?

63.

I don't think this is working...

So, at the beginning of this year, I tried a different approach. I listed a few things I wanted to finish by the end of the year. With, er, less than stellar results. Rehash, with pictures to come.

So, no more lists. Now I just need to figure out what to do with numbered notepads...

*Apologies to Margene for abusing her motto!

Perfect?

2006-11-30T09:39:00.000-08:00

Did you ever put something off until you could do a really good job? Until you could get it perfect?

This is why I haven't blogged since August. I kept thinking of things to write, but never actually did it. I'd think, "Well, if I mention this project, I should mention that one, and this one, and... and..." The 'ands' would paralyze me.

So now, if I want to write, I'm going to write. Hopefully you'll get a coherent picture of what I'm doing.

Jinxed

I swear, my Trekking socks are jinxed.

A few weeks ago, DH and I babysat our nephew. I took the sock along. I figured it would be simple enough to do while a bit distracted, but not so simple it would be boring when not distracted.

It worked, at first. Then I went to pick it up, and one of my needles had disappeared! I had put it on the back of the couch for just a few minutes, and C. hadn't been anywhere near it. I started fishing around under the cushions. No needle. I got up and looked on the floor all around, and under, the couch. I started pulling cushions off the couch and tossing them on the floor, to the delight of C. (he's two). No joy. Finally, I had to admit that the couch had eaten my needle.

See? Jinxed!

(The happy postscript is that this weekend I got a voice mail from my brother, saying that C. had somehow found my needle, so I have it back now. I guess the couch spit it out. Maybe bamboo isn't very tasty.)

Bad Trekker

2006-08-21T16:42:00.000-07:00

Did you ever have a project that you didn't want to work on because you mentally associate it with something else?

This is what happened to my sock for Margene's Trek Along. I had a ball of Trekking that had been sitting in my closet for a year, and it's cries for attention were getting louder. So, I joined the Trek Along. I cast on for my sock on June 1, and was rolling along fairly quickly. I loved the yarn. I loved the feather and fan patterns I was using. Happy, happy, happy.

Then, I went on a camping trip with my family. I took my Trekking sock along to get the first of my 'trail pictures.' The picture above was taken June 12.

I spent the entire camping trip hudded in front of the campfire, not knowing why I seemed to have absolutely no energy whatsover. It turned out that I was coming down with the shingles. Again.

I've thought about picking up the sock. I've tried telling myself how pretty it is, how comfortable it will be, how much fun it is to watch the random color changes. But, I just have no desire to go back to those socks.

Sorry, Margene.

Conundrum

2006-07-25T21:42:00.000-07:00

It’s hot here.(Note: I admit right upfront, that I am a wuss. When I say hot, I’m talking about temperatures that many people around the country would think are “nice.”) Like most of the rest of the country, we’re having a heat wave. Temperatures have hit the mid to high nineties, and I feel like I’m about to melt into a little puddle of Judy-goo.

So, what’s the problem? This:

I am about halfway through sewing down the binding on my first quilt. It’s a little quilt, the sides aren’t very long, and I’d really like to finish it. It’s exciting to finish a project (especially since I don’t seem to do it very often), but it’s HOT. I don’t want the quilt on my lap, not even a little bit. I’m having a hard time reconciling the desire to finish with the lack of interest in getting anywhere near a quilt.

So, I’ve been chipping away at it, a little at a time. Right now I’m hoping to finish by Friday, as that’s when my new recliner arrives. It’s a pretty blue, and should look nice with the quilt folded across the back.

And, the recliners (one for DH, too) will be for our basement family room. Where it’s cool.

Socks

2006-07-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

I love my handknit socks. I wear them 10 months of the year (living in the PNW means we have cooler summers than a lot of areas). July, though, isn’t one of those months. I’m reduced to my lightweight store-bought socks, as I’m a dedicated sock-wearer, and I don’t do nylons unless absolutely necessary.

Margene mentioned that I spin sock yarn on my spindle. That’s one of my most satisfying projects, from beginning to end. I actually take natural colored superwash wool roving, dye it in my crockpot, then spin the yarn and knit it. I’ve done a few pairs this way now, and they are just to die (dye?) for! They are my favorite socks, hands down, but they also wear out much more quickly than my commercial-yarn socks.

I have two pairs of these socks right now. Well, three if you count the pair I did with non-superwash as an experiment. (These socks went through the wash a few times before noticeable felting, but they are so dense and warm that I only wear them on the chilliest days of the year.) The pair in blues and greens (pictures to come this evening, I promise!) are done in merino, and the pinks and purples are out of corridale. I think the corridale will wear better than the merino, but this is my first pair, so I don’t really know yet.

I have another batch of roving on the spindle, but this is intended as a birthday gift for my mother. She’s a sock knitter too, so she’ll get it as yarn. Yellow is her favorite color. I intended the yarn to be a little lighter than it is, but I had a bit of an accident at the dye pot, with more yellow dye joining the party than was invited.

The best part of this project, to my mind, is watching the colors change over and over again as I go through the different stages. Once I start the fiber “cooking” in the crockpot, I usually peek once or twice at the color on the top layer. I’m always impatient to see the fiber, so it’s hard to wait the 2-3 hours I let it cook. I hang the roving over the shower curtain rack to dry (usually overnight), and again, I keep looking at the colors, as they usually lighten up as the wool dries.

The colors do fascinating things on the spindle, where they start blending as I draft. As some strands get pulled forward, the fiber on the second end of the strand gets blended with the strands that stays in my hand longer. (I hope that makes sense.) And then again, they blend further when I ply them together.

Finally, they make a random self-striping yarn that looks a lot one type of the Trekking yarn, though I prefer to think that the Trekking yarn looks like my handspun, natch!

I’m not wearing my wool socks right now, but I’m still knitting them. I have too many on the needles—I’ll have to round them up for a group picture. No handspun at the moment, not until I finish Mom’s yarn and spin up another batch for myself. I’ve got about a month. I’d better get spinning, or I’ll be finishing it the night before, as I usually do.

I’m not a warm weather creature. No, let me change that. I’m not a hot weather creature, but my definition of ‘hot’ starts at a lower temperature than many people’s. I miss my handknits during the warm weather, and can’t wait to get back to wearing them.

Like my socks.

Getting My Groove Back

2006-05-12T11:28:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling "Much Better Now." (Does anyone else remember how John Astin's character on Night Court kept showing up, saying something completely bizarre, and then saying he was "much better now"? Or is it just me?) The sun is shining, spring has come, and life in general has emerged from the 'winter blahs.' A lot of my crafting blahs went along with them.

I've also realized that my enormous, can't-fit-completely-in-the-closet-anymore, big-@ss stash is distracting me too much.

Now, I have a short attention span. Not the type that needs new input every ten minutes, but the type that doesn't want to finish one sweater before starting another. So, I literally have over 60 projects that I have started and not yet finished. That does count all my crafts, though, not just knitting, and a handful of those are in my mostly-abandoned cross stitch stash. It doesn't count the many projects I bought the supplies for but managed to restrain myself from starting.

That's a lot of distraction.

So, I've started evaluating my stash, and packing a lot of it away to be stored indefinitely in the garage. So far I have four 70-gallon tubs filled with yarn, and I need another one or two. I also have four tubs filled with fiber stash, and a foot locker already in the garage. I'm still leaving a lot of yarn on the shelves, probably 2-3 years worth of projects. All of my sock yarn is staying in the house (except for leftovers). My Dale ski sweaters are packed away, but my lighter Dales are still inside. My Alice Starmore fair isle projects are inside.

I was discussing this scheme with a semi-crafty coworker, and she asked, "What if you don't get to the stuff in the garage?" I said, "Then I can get rid of them with a clear conscience."

Even though I'm not done with the Great Yarn Migration, I feel much calmer now. Less pressured.

And now I have room on those shelves for quilting fabric!

And Now for Something Completely Different

You know you're a spinner when, upon hearing that TomKat named their child Suri, not only do you think they've named the girl after an alpaca, you see nothing strange with that.

The Find

Last Saturday, my mother and I visited a yarn shop near her house that I'd never been to. As we walked in, the woman behind the counter told us they were having a "garage sale," and we should be sure to check it out. Apparently several of their customers had cleaned out their stashes and were offering them for sale. There was a huge pile of bags of yarn, mostly leftovers from finished projects. A bag of assorted sock yarn tempted me briefly. Mom scored a large back of pretty blue stuff. (I don't remember what it was, sorry.) Some of the labels looked older than me--we all know how things can 'age' in our stash.

I didn't find anything compelling in the yarn, but noticed a pile of books, and started to leaf through them. There were a couple of new ones, but most were older and a little worn.

And there it was.

I think I managed to hide my reaction, after my initial jaw drop. Mom says I looked very calm. I showed her the book, and she said, "Oh, Alice Starmore..."

I shushed her quickly, and asked the clerk about the price. The yarn was all marked, but the books weren't. She consulted a list and said, "That one isn't marked, so how about five dollars?"

O-kay!

So, that's how The Scottish Collection by Alice Starmore came to live with me. For five dollars.

Quandary

2006-03-01T20:15:00.000-08:00

I'm in a bit of a quandary right now. I've been playing solitaire on my computer rather than pull out any of my needlework projects. Now, solitaire is addictive, but it's not so addictive that I shouldn't put it down and go on to other stuff.

And I realized--I'm not having fun with my needlework right now. I'm frustrated. And I really don't know what to do.

With my knitting, I've got two projects nearly, nearly done. And I can't stand to look at either of them. The cure for that is simply time. I'll pick them up again in a few days.

My one really tempting knitting project is out of handspun, but I'm at a standstill there, too: I'm out of yarn, and can't spin more until this sore tailbone (slid down half a flight of stairs holding a cat, thus unable to put my hands out to stop myself) heals and I can sit in the right position. That should be just a few more days. I hope.

My current applique block (I'm working on an album quilt with twelve different blocks) has a difficult shape, repeated four times. I'm still a beginner, so this is sort of like eating my vegetables--I want to get it done, so I can go on to other stuff, but at the same time, I don't really want to do it.

As much as I'm a process crafter, I can't get myself to simply enjoy each stitch for its own sake--I find I have to be into the larger process. On the other hand, I'm such a process crafter that I'm struggling with my recent push to finish things. I have many, many too many projects started but not finished, and this bothers me, but so does trying to steer myself into something just to finish it.

So, I'm stumped. (I have some non-crafting things on my mind, too, that are probably feeding this feeling.) I really, really want to chuck it all out the window and start something new, but I know that's not going to help for very long, and then the new thing just turns into another UFO.

Harrumph.

Chicken

2006-02-28T12:45:00.000-08:00

For a couple of months, I’ve had a Lopi cardigan almost finished. All it needed was the steek sewn and cut, the buttonbands and collar knitted, and the ends woven in. I know a lot of people hang up here. The steek.

I’m chicken. I admit it.

I’m afraid of my sewing machine.

Most people who tremble at steeks are afraid to cut all that gorgeous knitting. It does give me pause, but I’d rather reknit my whole sweater than fire up the sewing machine and run my knitting through it.

(Yes, I am a quilter. This is why I do everything by hand. When I found out that I was expected to sew my bias strips into a tube by machine, I thought I’d been tricked. Anyway…)

My machine’s favorite trick in the past has been to make enormous knots in the bobbin thread on the inside of my sweater. I mean, I have dust bunnies smaller than these knots, and that’s saying somethin’.

So, I pulled the bobbin out, and poked and prodded and grumbled until I realized I’d been putting it in wrong! I blame the manual.

After some further discussion with the machine about feed dogs, electricity (oh, you want to be plugged in?) and other issues, I managed a pair of seams. They’re fairly shaky, but there’s two of them, and they’re both in the steek stitches rather than the body of the sweater.

And after that, I took Elizabeth Zimmermann’s advice, and went into a dark room to lie down.

Do-Over

2006-01-12T09:47:00.000-08:00

I'm ignoring that last post. It didn't happen. For that matter, December didn't happen. Well, except for the stocking I knitted for my dad. That happened, finished on the 24th. Of course.

On St. Distaff Day last Saturday I went to a huge spin-in sponsored by Northwest Regional Spinners Association. As usual, I came home with more stuff than I took. I'm not quite sure how it happens--the fiber just jumps in my arms, and then I have to take the sweet, affectionate stuff home. It's not my fault. Really.

I've been on a spinning kick ever since. Quilting? Nah. Applique? Nope. Knitting? Well, maybe, if done with handspun. Spinning? Yes! Especially spinning this purple-y stuff, which I started knitting a sweater out of. I didn't *intend* to start a new project. But I really wanted to see what the yarn would look like knitted up, and the yarn told me right away what sweater it wanted to be, so I had to cast on, right? (Are you noticing a theme here? Not my fault. I didn't do it.)

Words You *Don't* Want to Hear

From DH: "Ewww! Someone [one of our cats] puked on your quilt table!" Luckily, there was no permanent damage done. A manila folder caught the mess. And my heart started right back up again.

Finally...

2005-11-30T12:20:00.000-08:00

Okay, I wrote this post about a week ago, and have been waiting to post until I had pictures. I even wrote notes on what the pictures would be. And a week later, I still don't have pictures. So, I'm going to post this now, without pictures, and will do my best to get pictures added soon. Maybe the knowledge that my incomplete post is sitting out in cyberspace will get me to take the pictures and move on. Sheesh.

Look at this! {insert picture of koigu socks}

I finally finished them almost a month ago, after they had languished three-quarters done in my closet for 2 1/2 years. What held me up? The fear of washing them! The yarn is Koigu, and people have debated endlessly on the various lists on whether the yarn is superwash or not. Now, I am not into socks I have to wash by hand. I know myself, and I know that handwashing just ain't gonna happen. So, I stuffed the poor unfinished socks away and (tried to) forgot about them.

Eventually I decided that they weren't doing any good in my closet. Many people swore up and down that they'd sucessfully machine-washed Koigu, so I pulled out my socks, and finished them up. Wove in the ends, wore them, and put them in my laundry bin. Guess what? They survived! And they're noticeably softer on my feet, too. I think I need more Koigu.

The pattern is Purl Lace socks, from Socks Socks Socks. I changed the heels to short row heels (just for the heck of it), and extended the pattern down the top of the foot.

After careful inspection ... {insert pic of Hadrian on sweater pieces}

I also finished this! {insert pic of Banff}

I knitted the rest of the sleeve right after posting last, and started seaming. Then, life got hectic, and I didn't do any needlework *at all* for several days. I'm surprised I survived without going into withdrawls or DTs.

It's not the most flattering shape in the world, but it's extremely comfortable, and very warm. I think this is going to end up as one of my favorite sweaters.

Pattern: Banff
Yarn: Merino Frappe

Stuck on the Island

2005-11-14T17:14:00.000-08:00

According to Wendy, that endless period of working on the sleeves of a sweater is Sleeve Island, because you feel like you're stranded there for-ev-er.

Well, I'm working on Banff, and hoo-boy, have I been stuck! Banff is a super-mega-oversized pullover, and the sleeves look like the size of a normal sweater's back and front. It is knit on size 10 needles, so it's not quite as bad as it could be, but it's still bad.

And I tell you, this sweater is out to get me. It really is.

I knitted the first sleeve, giganto thing that it is, and I stopped at the end, and looked at it. And looked at the amount of yarn I had left. Did a little bit of frenzied math, and came to a scary conclusion. I didn't have enough yarn.

The pattern called for 770 yards, and I had 840. This means, to me, that I have enough. It's been a long time since high school math, but I'm certain they told me that 840 is bigger than 770. But, I have been doing this long enough to know that yarn amounts are approximate, often on both the pattern and the ball band. And typos happen. And Individual Mileage May Vary. So I shrugged, and re-wrote the sleeve pattern to be eight stitches narrower (which is, like, three inches).

And, took a deep breath, and ripped.

And then cast on, and started again. At the end of the sleeve this time, I had used a satisfyingly smaller amount of yarn. But then, last night, I got to here:

That is a second sleeve, and a yarn end. Out of yarn. Again.

I whined. I yelled. DH said, "Yeah, that's bad." (He knows his job here is sympathize and stay out of the way.)

So, today I took myself off to the LYS where I had bought the yarn back in January. I almost didn't bother to take a ball band, because I seriously doubted they'd have the same dyelot.

But boy, did I luck out! I found a ball in the same lot, and eagerly snatched it up to bring it home with me. Hopefully, this evening I will finish my third mega-sleeve, and will be able to sew this thing up.

Things I learned from shingles

2005-11-01T11:22:00.000-08:00

1. It is nearly impossible to get a good look at your own back. No matter how much you twist and turn in the mirror, or how many extra mirrors you try to use, it is still not going to work. All I've managed to see is a big, angry, red spot. Which, fortunately, is turning into a smaller, mildly annoyed, red spot. (Lesson 1.1. While taking a picture of your back with a digital camera and then looking at the picture sounds like a great use of modern technology, it won't actually work unless you can figure out how to turn off the flash.)

2. Males do not look at such things the same way females do. At least, this is true of the males in my house. DH says, "It looks like a rash." The pets, of course, do not care about a red spot on Mommy's back. My back is not the part of me that feeds them, pets them, or throws the ball.

3. It is actually possible to get sick of wearing pajamas. My rash is right at my waistline, so the only way to keep my pants from hurting it was to walk around in my pj bottoms, whose elastic waist kept them from riding up.

4. It is silly to think that just because the only visible sign is a small rash, you won't actually be sick. After all, the chickenpox is a bunch of little sores, and that makes you sick. You should not try to do sudoku puzzles or applique while in this state, unless you want to undo it all again.

5. My new camera has way, way too many buttons and symbols. They are not self-evident. I am certain that one of those tells me how to set the camera to auto-flash, but the one that looked like it might did not. My inability to figure it out might be related to lesson # 4 above, but it might just mean that I really need to find the manual that came with the danged thing.

I seem to be on the mend. If my camera and I can make peace, I will show you pictures of the socks I finished. And of the new socks I started. Or not.

I TOLD you I was a Knitting Geek...

2005-10-30T16:38:00.000-08:00

No one understands a word you're saying, but you don't care. Bespectacled geek by day, fearsome D&D warrior by night! Geek power! ;)

Which flock do you follow?

this quiz was made by alanna

Not just for the roof

2005-10-27T18:43:00.000-07:00

What do you find on roofs except for when they're on your back? That's right, shingles. Let me tell you, I like them much better on the roof. Ow, ow, ow. As David Letterman said, "There's nothing good about the BEEP shingles. The BEEP are so BEEP painful, every minute you pray some giant son-of-a-BEEP will shove a red hot poker up your ass." (No, I don't know why the last word didn't beep, too.)

Mine aren't as bad as David's--for one thing, he had his around his eye, which can be very dangerous--but it's bad enough. They're this maddening combination of itching and pain. I can't scratch because it hurts to much to scratch, but I can't just block out the pain because it itches. Letterman didn't mention being about two inches from the loony bin, but I bet he was, 'cuz I know I sure am!

Tomorrow: a return to your regularly scheduled needlework blog, complete with FO!

The Harlot is coming!

2005-10-24T22:21:00.000-07:00

I just got email from the Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat (aka the Gig Harbor retreat, though it's moving this year)--the Yarn Harlot is coming to Tacoma!

I'm really stoked about this, as I missed Stephanie when she was in Seattle a couple of months ago. I had been planning on going, but my work schedule was changed at the last minute. I possibly could have begged out of it, but I'm still a newbie there, and how do you explain to your new boss that you can't come in to work because you have to go see a Harlot? (Well, maybe if your boss is a knitter...)

The site doesn't say (yet) what Stephanie will be doing, but she's not the keynote speaker on Saturday, and I'm doubting she's going to teach a class--not that she'd have any trouble filling it if she did.

Oh, and there's also a few other people coming, like Sally Melville, Nancy Bush, Vivian Hoxbro (I have no idea how to make the funky 'o' symbol for her name), Cat Bordhi, yada, yada... No, really, I'm looking forward to seeing many people besides Stephanie, but I've been kicking myself so much for missing her before that I'm wearing out the toes of my shoes, so this is Big News. I haven't picked up bookbookbook2 yet (trying to hold out 'til Christmas), so maybe it's time to re-read bbb1. And see if maybe this time I can restrain from reading half of it out loud to my husband. Yeah, right.

Jammie Sweater

2005-10-20T11:28:00.000-07:00

Today I'm wearing my jammie sweater. I got the term from an old co-worker who had what she called her "jammie dress," for those days when she really just didn't want to come to work.

My jammie sweater is just a basic, raglan-sleeved top-down sweater. It's the first time I took a pattern and rewrote it to fit a new gauge, and I was so proud that it turned out.

It's also my first sweater knit from handspun. Not my handspun--I bought it at the fair a few years before I started spinning. It's a lovely grey with just a hint of brown, loose without really being baggy, and very, very comfy.

The amazing thing about this sweater is that it is rarely ever too warm or not warm enough. Wool is very versatile, but this thing is amazing! It's one of the first sweaters I pull out in the fall, and the last I put away in the spring. I wish I knew what kind of wool it is, but the tag didn't specify.

I love sweater weather.

Wishing...

2005-10-18T21:31:00.000-07:00

That's where I was a year ago this week. Maui. This beach was half a block from our hotel. Sigh...

Knitting Geek

2005-10-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, I reconnected with a friend I hadn't seen in a decade. Now, this guy is a major, major computer geek. (And, no, that's not a bad thing in my mind. I married me a computer geek. Geeks make great husbands.)

Despite the fact that we seem to have few interests in common, he's one of those people that I can just talk to, easily. So, one day I started babbling to him about the yarn I'd just bought. It was Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift and a few skeins of Campion for the cover sweater of Alice St*rmore's Tudor Roses. I was telling him I'd had to substitute a darker color for one that didn't exist anymore, that I'd pulled the foreground colors but not liked the green in them and substituted more golden tones, that this was my dream sweater, and ... and ... and ...

And his eyes started to glaze over.

Now, normally, I'm not too perceptive when I'm blathering on about yarn. (Okay, normally I'm not too perceptive when I'm blathering on about anything, but especially not when I'm talking about yarn.) But this time I noticed. I was just working out a way to segue into Macs or hard drives when his gaze cleared and he grinned widely. He'd obviously had a paradigm shift so big I could practically hear the gearshift grind. "You're a knitting geek!"

I blinked at him.

"You geek on knitting the way I geek on computers. You're a knitting geek!"

From that point on, he got it. He completely understood (understands?) my knitting obsession. Maybe we're not so different after all.

This is me last fall, with my dream sweater. Which won my dream ribbon, the Grand Champion, at the Puyallup Fair.

Patience...

2005-10-16T15:15:00.000-07:00

... is not something that anyone who knows me would ever accuse me of having. I am not a patient person. As a kid, I got so worked up waiting for Christmas or my birthday that I would be physically ill on the actual date. So why am I doing so much needlework, when each new project I start will spend my next several birthdays in an unfinished state?

We all hear it, don't we? "Oh, I just don't have the patience to knit (cross-stitch, quilt, spin--take your pick)." "I couldn't do that--I'm not very patient."

My answer is always the same. If the finished project was the point for me, I wouldn't have the patience, either. In fact, my lack of patience has gotten me into a bit of a mess, as I have over sixty active needlework projects, and I can never wait to finish one before starting another. I just want to see what my project will look like, how the yarn or fabric will feel, whether the colors I've chosen will really look good together or not. Does this sound like patience to you?

I don't knit to have the sweater, or the socks, though I certainly do enjoy wearing them once I do manage to finish something. I don't cross-stitch for the pictures, or applique for the quilts. The finished project, whenever I get to it, is just a nice little bonus at the end.

I do my needlework because I enjoy the process. I like choosing the fabrics for a quilt and then challenging myself to make the neatest, straightest stitches I can. I like feeling the yarn run through my fingers, and seeing the shape of a sweater forming under my hands. (And, yes, I like seeing people's faces when they say, "You made this?")

I keep hoping my needlework will teach me patience. But I'm not holding my breath.

I don't know about this...

2005-10-16T14:54:00.000-07:00

Lately, several people I know have been urging others to start blogs. I've frequently thought about having my own blog, but I'm nervous about the commitment it requires. I know that if I find a blog that isn't updated regularly, I lose interest quickly. But, I'm not good at being obligated to do things. Housework? Not my specialty. Making handcrafted gifts? I'm great at picking them out and starting them, but I hate making them.

So, a blog? Dunno if it's a good idea. But, if it gets me writing regularly, and maybe even helps me keep on task with some of my projects, bring it on!

(Oh, and please bear with me as I figure out all the program options...)

Testing...

2005-10-14T16:08:00.000-07:00

This life is a test. It is only a test. If it had been an actual life, you would have been given further instructions on where to go and what to do.