boogaj

Felting Entrelac

Yesterday, while Theresa was weaving in all those ends, I was finishing up the handle so I could felt the entrelac bag.  And I have to tell you, the most amazing thing about entrelac felting is how incredibly flat it gets!  It's like blocking lace, for goddnes sakes!  You throw this lumpy, textured thing into the washer and this super flat, stained glass looking bag magically comes out.  So much fun!

As I feared, I ran out of yarn before I could finish the handle -- that was 5 skeins of Noro Kureyon and it wasn't enough! -- so the pattern needs a bit of tweaking before it's ready for publication.  That means I will be knitting another bag to test the changes.  And fortunately yarn arrived yesterday:

Ooooh!  Noro Kureyon 164!  I've been wanting to knit with this colorway for a while.  Green and brown are my colors and there is just a hint of orange and blue thrown in for good measure -- should make for a nice bag.  I'm thinking this will be my MS&W project.  I got the yarn from Linda who also sells my patterns and will be selling the new entrelac pattern when it's available!

And while Theresa was weaving in even more ends on Liberty, I decided to get started on my cross-stich project.  Here's what I'm working on:

It's called Paradigm Lost by Long Dog Sampler.  I talked about this on my podcast (Episode 3 -- Embroidery) so I won't go on about it here.

So thank goodness Theresa came over, or I may not have done any crafting this week! 

Antiquing whilst sick

On Sunday we went to the Sandwich Antiques Market and had a really lovely day.  It was sunny and pretty warm, although a bit windy.  The only complaint I have is that I woke up with a sore throat (no surprise since I went to bed with a sore throat).  I *really* wanted to get out and go to Sandwich though, so I pretended that I wasn't really sick.  (I was.)

Sandwich runs monthly starting in April and ending in October and it's our favorite show in the area.  We have a favorite furniture guy who is always there ( Mike's Antique's) and there are always quality things -- mostly at reasonable prices.  The dealers will almost always come down a little on price, so you feel like you've gotten a deal.  And there is a pita vendor, so you don't have to eat greasy carnival fare.  (Maddie also loves the "mother/daughter potty" -- yes, a stall with a regular and mini potty.)

So anyway, armed with a packet of tissues and a real hand squeezed lemonade we searched the booths.  I found the lovely Frankoma leaf dish (pictured above) in my favorite glaze.  This is my second piece of Frankoma, so I almost feel like I'm becoming a bit of a collector at this point.   (Here's the first Frankoma piece I bought.)

I also had the great luck to find some cute plastic buttons -- the one thing I actually set out to look for.  I wish I had a better picture, but it's cloudy here and to tell you the truth, I'm sick, so I really can't be bothered to make the effort to get out the tripod and find decent lighting and all that at the present time. 

I saw so many quilts at the show Sunday!  Quilts in all states of disrepair and quilt tops, gorgeous, well-preserved quilts and quilt squares that were never assembled.  It was a gold mine!  I behaved myself though.  There was one quilt I would have loved to photograph, but I was camera-less.  It was an  "Eagle Quilt" from the late 1900's -- something that I had never heard of.  Apparently they are quite rare.  This dealer was friendly and willing to chat a bit about the quilt.  She said that this was the first one she had ever acquired in her many years of quilt dealing.  I couldn't really find much info on the web about the Eagle Quilts.  There is a picture of one at the top of this site that will give you an idea.  The dealer held the quilt up to the light so I could see the cotton inside the quilt which was not run through a cotton gin!  You could still see the seeds and bits of VM -- cool!  (This quilt, btw, was priced at over $1,200.  Quite rare indeed!)

So, I had a good day despite the cold, but once I stopped moving I collapsed and I've been feeling pretty crummy since.  The hot tea has been doing wonders though.  And better to get sick now then a few days before MS&W, right? 

Must go lie down.  Writing this post wore me out. . .

Pincushion Challenge Starts Today!

Thanks for all the great comments about the Pincushion Challenge! I'm so excited that so many of you were interested in this project and I hope you like the first theme.

Stop by the new Pincushion Challenge website and let me know what you think. I can't wait to see pictures of your creations!

New Stitch-Cast Episode!

I just uploaded Episode 3 of Stitch-Cast!

J. Knits -- Hand-Dyed Yarns

Look at this cute Sophie Bag made by Julie at J. Knits.  She has been knitting up some of my bags using her gorgeous kettle dyed yarn.  Check out her lovely colorways! 

In other news, Freecia wanted me to let you all know that Vickie Howell (who was a guest blogger here a while back) will be signing at the Knit and Crochet Show in Oakland (Oakland Conference center attached to the Marriott), Saturday April 22nd, 2 pm at the Full Thread Ahead booth.  And Freecia says that the Maker Faire is only about 30 minutes away, so make a day of it! 

Me?  I'll probably be going to the Sandwich Antique Show this weekend as long as the weather holds!

Button of the Month Club!

Another club!  Laural has started a Button of the Month Club.  How fun is that?

Colorswap Questionaire

Round 2 of Colorswap is about to start and Maddie and I had so much fun searching for orange and yellow stuff to send to Elizabeth, that I decided to participate again.  This time my swap partner is Abigail. 

So here is my colorswap questionaire for Abigail:

Are you crafty?  I sure am!  Here's a list of crafts I've tried.

Would you enjoy things like:  Buttons, ribbons and embellishments?  Sure!

Do you dye your own wool?  Yep!  I just did an episode about dyeing wool on my podcast

Do you like to scrapbook or make homemade cards?  I like to, but I almost never have time.  (I actually own a rubber stamp store -- Stamping Online!)

What are your favorite scents?  I'm allergic to a lot of artifical scents.  I like lemon and ginger though.

Do you like stationary and cards?  Yes!

Do you like to sew or embroider items?  Yes -- I'm very much into this right now.  Especially crewel and monochromatic cross-stitch.

Do you like beads?  Yes. And my daughter likes beads too.

What kind of candy do you like?  Dark chocolate!

Do you like hand lotions or soaps?  Yes, but I am allergic to artifical scents (especially floral).

Do you like to wear costume jewelry? Necklace, earrings, bracelets etc.  Not really.  I usually only wear rings.

Do you like to make/or use stitch markers?  Yes -- I use and make stitch markers!

Do you collect anything?  Hmmm. . . Fiber? Fabric? Yarn?  Maybe craft supplies in general  :) 

Do you have any allergies?: Smoke, food, fiber, pets,etc.  Yes -- Smoke and artifical scents.

Do you have any hobbies?  Crafts of all kinds!

Do you like scented or unscented candles?  Not so much.

Are you a fiber snob?  Yeah, I guess I probably am.

Do you like to play cards or board games?  Love to!  I play Scrabble online sometimes and Boggle is also one of my favorite games.

Do you like neon colors, pastel, light or medium ranges in the color of the month?  Probably anything but neon. 

Do you like kitchen magnets or key rings?  I have a tiny purse, so no room for keyrings.  My kitchen cabinets are metal though and Maddie loves magnets! 

Do you like picture frames?  I actually have frames that I haven't put pictures in yet.  I'm kind of bad at that type of thing  :)

Hope this helps you out a bit colorswap pal!

Entrelac Bag Sneak Peek

I've been knitting nearly every night for the last two weeks and this is what I've been working on.  It's a new Black Sheep Bags design and I talked about it a little bit in my first episode of Stitch-Cast.  It's an entrelac bag and I'm knitting it with Kureyon in colorway 170 which I am *loving*!!

The first bag is almost ready for felting, so there may be a picture as soon as Friday.  I'm enjoying the entrelac and I'm already thinking of knitting up a second size of this bag.  Even though it looks complicated, it really is mindless TV knitting.  I'm having fun with this design  :)

Project Colorswap Package

I want to say thank you to Elizabeth -- my swap partner for project colorswap who sent me this great package!  I also want to thank Lynne for organizing it all!

Oh, and Nyokki isn't bald any more!

Pocket Journal

I bought this pocket journal from seedpod's etsy shop and it is so cute in real life!  It arrived quickly and safely and I highly recommend her for all your journal purchasing needs. 

Just thought you should know!

Crochet FO!

Last night I finished up this cute scarf from Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet -- yeah!  I can crochet now!  Thanks Deb Stoller!  I talked about this book a while back and I just want to say that I am still a fan upon completion of this project.  I'm already trying to figure out what crochet project I'll take on next.

Grilled Nutella & Banana Sandwich

I've been obsessed with the idea of a grilled Nutella & banana sandwich since I saw a picture on the Nutella website. So I picked up a bunch of bananas at the grocery this week and I have to say that I was not disappointed -- yum!

In other news, the rest of my fabrics arrived today. This means that quiltmaking will definitely commence next week.

I've also gotten a great response on the Pincushion Challenge, so I'll be working on getting together the website for that next week. I can't wait to get that underway so I can see what you all come up with!

Okay, back to work. . .

Music I (We) Like

A while back I had a poll on this here blog and 12% of you were interest in hearing more about the music I was currently into.  Well, I never wrote that post, but Pete is having a Tournament of Tunes which I am finding incredibly enjoyable.  He likes music even more than I do and writes about it much better than I ever could.  Here is the commentary and here is the bracket.  You can even leave comments here to cheer on your favorite bands or songs.

Check it out!

Fabric Mail!

Not much time for posting today.  The new Spring stamps arrived over at my rubber stamps store, which means lots of website updates and orders being packaged up and shipped out.

When I returned from the post office I was rewarded with an inconspicuous package sitting on the doorstep.  When I opened up the plain white plastic parcel, this was inside!  A few of the Kona Cotton colors I wanted were backordered, but there is enough here to start playing.  Looks like the quilt might get started next week -- I'm very excited!

Whiplash Contest -- Win cool stuff while crafting!

The competition starts today over at whip up.  It's called whiplash and you can win cool prizes for submitting pictures of your crafty-goodness!  This week's theme: everyday creativity. 

And the prize this week is 4 copies of 52 Projects by Jeffrey Yamaguchi which I reviewed back here!

Homeschooling update

I finally posted over at Homeschooling Maddie.

Back-tack 3 sign-ups open!

Back-tack 3 sign-ups are now open!  They are only taking 100 participants, so get over there quickly if you are interested in participating!

Waiting by Ha Jin

I finished Waiting by Ha Jin last week and I've been waiting to review it because I wanted to collect my thoughts first.  I'm not sure I'll really be able to do it justice though. 

This book is set in communist China and tells the story of a man who waits most of his adult life to divorice his wife and marry the woman who is waiting for him.  The story is quite usual.  I can't say that there was anything really extraordinary about the events that go on throughout, other than the fact that is is set in China and due to constraints and rules set forth by the strict government the characters are forced into lives that may be more complicated than usual.

It's the ending that really got me.  I can't stop thinking about it!  In fact, I urge you to read this book and I would venture to guess that it may even change the lives of some of you.  No, there isn't some huge twist like you find in Yann Martel's Life of Pi, it's much more subtle than that -- but much more powerful at the same time.

Really I can't say more for fear of ruining the book for you.  All I can do is urge you to read this magnificant book.  It certainly is thought provoking and if I am right, it will cause you to step back and take a good look at your own life after reading it.

The book I am reading now is mediocre at best.  I've almost put it back down and picked up something different a couple times, but it seems to keep holding my interest.  It's another library book sale find.  What is it?  It's Anna Quindlen's Black and Blue.  I'm kind of surprised that it was an Oprah's book club selection -- not that all of the books she selected were incredible or anything, but the writing in this one just isn't very good in my opinion.

I'm also reading Liberated Quiltmaking by Gwen Marston which is *excellent*!  I'll have to do a full review of this book.  Sadly it is out of print, but I was able to get it on loan from a library in our network.  I must find a copy of this book!  I'll make some practice pieces using Marston's techniques and post pictures soon!

Episode 2 up at Stitch-Cast!

I just uploaded Episode 2 over at Stitch-Cast! It's mostly about dyes and dyeing. Let me know what you think!

Working on Episode 2!

I recorded episode two yesterday afternoon and I've been working on editing it and adding some music samples in little bits of free time today.  I'm going to let Pete take a listen to make sure I didn't miss anything and then I'll put it out there.  I also tried to make the Stitch-Cast site a little prettier this week. 

Today was a big day for Maddie.  The annual Easter Egg Hunt!

Every year they have a nice egg hunt in my Mom's neighborhood for the kids and grandkids.  All very friendly and fair.  It was a little chilly, but bright and sunny!

We also went out to the "country" to see my Mom's new cottage on the river and visited an old farm town.  Look at these cool Lustron fronted shops:

At least I think they're Lustron.  (Don't know what Lustron is?  There's info here and here of course.)

So that was our day.  Hopefully the second episode of Stitch-Cast will be up tomorrow!

Indigo Results

Check another item off the list!  I rinsed out the indigo dyed yarn and roving, re-hanked the yarn and pre-drafted the roving.  There was mininal color loss, I'm happy to report.

The yarn and roving both seem to have taken on a somewhat coarser texture.  The roving was only dipped twice, so it remains the softest.  I'll have to report on it's characteristics post-spinning. 

Speaking of natural dyes. . . Remember the CVM fiasco?  Could it be the natural dyes?  Or the chemicals needed to get the natural dyes to stay put?  This could be a possible drawback of this type off dye.

So, I also dyed up the hank of laceweight and I'm planning on podcasting all about it!  I have been delayed by the construction two doors down.  They have been jack-hammering all week and now they are doing some other noisy things.  Soon though!

There also seems to be a good bit of interest in my pincushion idea, so look for more info on that in the coming weeks!

Monthly Pincushion Challenge?

Okay, I've had this idea in my head all week and I can't get it out.  I know I already have a lot on my plate, but I'm thinking this might not be too much work once it's set up.  Here's my idea. . .

I want to set up a pincushion challenge something like tie one on.  Basically there would be a website and a flickr set.  Each month there would be a new theme and you would make a pincushion and upload your picture.

I was also thinking that I could incorporate a pincushion swap a few times a year.  (I know this part would be more work.)  But wouldn't that be fun?  It could be a pincushion & pin swap or something!

Okay, tell me what you really think about this idea.

Bloglines Data Analyzed

Well, it looks like the average is 175 sites.  I'm afraid that my Bloglines increased from 235 to 240 as the result of that little post.  No hope for me ever getting back below 200  :) 

It looks like many of you concentrate solely on knitting blogs, but I was very interested to find out what other categories you had in your Bloglines too.  Everything from firefighting to infertility, sports to science.  I see there are even a few of you who follow some food blogs like me! 

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and took the time to leave a comment!  It's been pretty quiet around here with it being springtime and all and it was good hear from you all!

Quick Meme -- Bloglines #

Quick!  How many sites are in your Bloglines?  I subscribe to 235 as of this morning.  Leave me a comment & post it on your blog!

(I'll do some math and report back the average and maybe even the standard deviation -- if I can remember how to calaculate such things.)

**Update**

There's been some comments listing what kind of blogs are in everyone's Bloglines, so I thought I'd report my breakdown:

Family – 6

Cooking Blogs – 10

Crafting (non-knitting) – 99

Knitting Blogs -- 106

Other – 14

Indigo Pictures (since it is blue Tuesday and all)

In an effort to check another item off the list, I thought I'd rinse out the yarn and roving from the indigo dyeing class. . . finally.  Besides -- it's blue Tuesday so I guess it was meant to be. 

This stuff was really difficult to photograph.  I think the photo above is a pretty good representation, but I had to mess around with the saturation a bit.  Look at the attempts:

Flash, no flash, by the sunny window, away from window -- it went on and on until my batteries died.  Sheesh.

At any rate, these are pictures of three different dyed fibers: light wool, greyish wool and light BFL roving.  I took this picture  (these many pictures) before I rinsed them out for the first time ever after having died them 2 1/2 weeks ago.  I was hoping to document any color change. 

Upon rinsing, the light yarn and roving gave up pretty much no dye.  The super dark yarn gave up a bit though.  As I type they are soaking in a warm, lovely scented bath:

Tomorrow the batteries should be fully charged and the yarn and roving should be relatively dry.  Can the nice dark blue skein retain it's lovely color?  Only time will tell.

Progress on the To Do list (and then some!)

Well, I got all the photos cut and adhered to cardstock and then adhered to the patterns.  I also got many of the (hundreds of) patterns folded.  I packed up 5 wholesale orders for Black Sheep Bags as well as some retails orders for both of my businesses.  I printed out a few pattern photo sheets -- I'll calculate the exact numbers I need and print more tomorrow.

In addition, I got caught up on listening to a few podcasts while I worked (Chub Creek, Quirky Nomads, Knitting News Cast, Irie Knits & CrochetCast.)  I also wrote a little post for whip up (which is very good because with the whole podcasting thing I felt like I wasn't pulling my weight over there recently.  Kathreen has gotten a bunch of new contributors though, so go check it out!)  And I actually just took the last 20 minutes to have some coffee and look through my red envelope.  I love the mailorder club!  I found the secret word and got my funny money and I decoded the secret messages too.  What a fun little break!

So I think the list really focused me today.  Tonight I plan to do some serious knitting on the entrelac bag.  Maybe I'll even have pictures for you tomorrow!

Goals for the week

Okay.  It's springtime and I'm feeling goal oriented.  Over the weekend we did a mini makeover on Maddie's room.  We went to IKEA on Saturday and got a new duvet cover, curtains and gauzy princess-y thing for over the bed.  Sunday we re-arranged all the furniture, vacuumed up all the dust bunnies and installed everything.  (There were new curtain rods, so it did involve the use of a drill and such.)

Today I'm thinking about what I want to accomplish this week.  Here's my plan:

Work:

• Cut out the photos that I have printed.
• Then assemble patterns with resulting photos.
• Fold patterns.  (The patterns are run through a "booklet" folder at the printer, but this is a very rough fold.  I always go over it on every pattern with a bone folder.  )
• Print up photos for orders that came in last week.
• Test out entrelac with slip stitch edge to see if it really makes much difference.
• Complete first draft of pattern for entrelac bag.
• Get a good start on, if not complete, first entrelac bag sample.
• Tidy office.

Crafting:

• Finish sewing binding on quilt.
• Make tag for quilt and sew it on.
• Order Kona cotton 1/2 yrd cuts so I can start on new quilt next week.
• Organize new projects in some way.  (Goes hand in hand with tidy office above since several new projects are piled in office.)
• Entrelac bag kind of falls under this heading too since I'll be knitting it most of the week.
• Dye the big hank of laceweight with the dye I got at The Fold.
• Rinse out the indigo dyed yarn and roving that has been hanging in the back entryway for over two weeks.

Okay, I'm looking at this and thinking it's pretty ambitious, but I also want to do another podcast.  In addition, the Migraine Pain has been back with a vengeance the last several days.  I'm really beginning to think this has to do with the weather.  Stormy weather seems to be the absolute worst for me! 

Quilt Study - Denyse Schmidt Fabrics

I've been having some serious fun with some new software.  I bought Electric Quilt 5 (which you may have heard me mention on my podcast) and I'm addicted!  I spent a little bit of time importing all the Denyse Schmidt fabrics and all the Kona Cotton Fabrics and I've been making all kinds of electric quilts. 

Now I'm still hand sewing the binding onto my first quilt, so I didn't want to pictk anything too tricky for quilt number two.  I figured it was risky enough that I was designing it myslef.  So I found the most simple blocks I could and started messing around.  So far this is my favorite design.  Each block is just a square of a solid color with four pieces of the DS print in a block around it like so:

I'm thinking that I should definitely be able to do this.  The only daunting thing is the finished size -- 104 in. X 104 in. 

So, that's my idea for my next quilt.  What do you think?