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WIP Confessional

It's time to lay it all out.  Well not all. . . I know I have more wip's than I'm showing here, but these are the ones I'll probably finish.  (Well mostly. . .)

Keepsake Shawl knit in many colors of Koigu.  I started this in 2004, I believe and I came up with a great system for knitting it so that I could just pick it up and remember exactly which yarn to use and which row I was on.  So why does is sit?  Who knows.  I really want to finish this one up, so I think I will make it my #1 knitting priority.

Ingeborg, oh Ingeborg.  I started you back when the knit-along began.  Was that 2004 also?  And every winter I pick you up and get re-invigorated . . . for about 15-20 rows.  Maybe this will be they year that you get finished!

Trekking socks started for the "Trek along with Me" knit-along.  I never did take a picture of me trekking along.  Is it still going on?  I'm *awful* with knit-alongs (see Ingeborg above) and should never, ever join them.  These socks will get finished though.  I love Trekking yarn!  It just takes me several months to finish a pair.

New felted bag design I'm playing around with.  It's a smallish bag and I'll finish it up in the next week or two.

What is this thing????  Why am I making it?  Okay, this is the Amineko and I decided to make it with Encore from the stash.  I should have gotten a different yarn.  I didn't really want a red cat and I don't really care for this yarn, so I never work on this project and the featureless head is all that has been made.  Time to rip this one out and start over with a new yarn, I think.  This was my only crochet project in the works and it's a failure.  Ugh!

Oh!  My quilt!  I love these fabrics and want to get back to work on this soon.  The last month has been so busy and I really need time when I want to quilt, so this has been neglected.  I know that cooler, quieter weekends are on the way though, so it will progress!

Mountain Colors woven scarf.  I love how the weaver's wool from Mt. Colors is sort of striping, sort of not in this scarf.  A free hour or two and some good podcasts to listen to and this will be finished!

I'm still making good progress on that lovely pink fiber from Blue Moon Fiber Arts.  The third bobbin is well on it's way to getting filled up and then it's on to plying.  I have no doubt that this will be finished up very soon.

Paradigm Lost cross-stitch sampler.  I often want to work on this but there are several impediments to my progress -- First, I don't have good lighting pretty much anywhere in the house and I really need it to work with this dark thread on linen.  Second, it's in a small basket, so I have to keep it stored off it's stretcher bars.  So I can't just pick it up and stitch a bit -- it requires set up time.  Third, my eyes get tired at night and that's usually when I find time to craft.  Hmmm. . .

Elsa Williams Jacobean Crewel Embroidery.  Not sure why this has stalled, other than the fact that I have so much going on. 

I realized that I haven't listed the Kumihimo braid I'm working on either.  And I'm sure there are other things.  Maybe posting photos of my wip's on a regular basis will get me excited about them again.  It seems to have worked.  I'm already looking forward to getting in some rows on the Keepsake Shawl!

In other news, guess what tomorrow is.  It's not my birthday, or wedding anniversary, but it is *an* anniversary for me. . .

Stitch-Cast on Introductory Weaving

Stitch-Cast Episode 8 -- Weaving is up.  I talk a bit about how to get started weaving without spending much money and I also talk about how a funeral inspired me to weave (weird, but true!)

So, go give it a listen and please let me know what you think!  I also want to know what shows you've liked in the past and what you want to hear more about in the future.

Of Books and Potholders

I haven't been feeling all that well, so I haven't done a lot of crafting lately. I did start Maddie's second sock during some traveling to and from My Mother-in-law's this past weekend, but that's not very exciting, is it? So if you want to see something interesting, pop on over to Homeschooling Maddie and check out Maddie's adventures with dyeing and weaving on a potholder loom.

And if it's books that you are interested in, pop on over to Booga Talk to hear Pete and I talk about the books we are reading (me ~ The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Pete ~ Sister Carrie), have read and want to read. We also have a book give away in the works. Check it out!

Mug mat & a little sock!

I finished up my first weaving "project" -- a wildly colorful mug mat.  Two of them actually.  I gave one to Maddie (because I thought Pete wouldn't want one since they are rather psychedelic -- but when I did he looked at me and said, "I could use a mug mat."  Looks like I have my next project lined up!)  The mohair weft made for some super fuzzy edges that hides any edge problems I may have had.  I suppose beautiful edges will come with practice.

In the past few days I also finished up the first of Maddie's socks, so I feel like there's enough progress to warrant a photo:

Maddie picked out the yarn from my stash and she chose Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the color Uptown.  I only had one skein, so she helped me weigh and wind the hank into two smaller center pull balls of the same weight.  (See Maddie, you do need to use math in the real world -- I call these opportunities "school" -- ha ha)  I was a little nervous about having enough yarn now that her feet are really starting to grow (2 sizes in the last year!)  But I had plenty left after the first sock.

Other than that, I've been busy at work getting out orders for the Dorothy Bag Pattern and putting up the new winter Hero Arts stamps at my rubber stamp store.

If you are knitting the Dorothy Bag, please leave me a comment or send me an email!  I can't wait to see everyone's bags!

Ashford Knitter's Loom

Yesterday Theresa & I went out to The Fold to check out the spinning guild meeting and enjoyed a lovely day of spinning (more on that later.)  While I was there I spotted the Ashford Knitter's Loom!

Now, I'm planning to do a podcast about weaving so I'll talk a lot more about this fun toy, but I had to show it off a bit here.  First let me tell you that I had been lusting after one of these ever since I saw that Ashford had come out with them, but it was Syne Mitchell's endorsement on her last podcast (Weavecast -- check it out!) that put me over the edge.

At any rate. . . the first picture up top shows how I created the warp using the warping peg.  Then I warped up the loom:

And after that I was good to go and started weaving!  Just look what I did in one night after a long day of traveling out to Marengo, spinning all day and getting home rather tired.  I thought I might be too worn out to give it a try, but Pete encouraged me to go for it and in under an hour I had it all set up, warped up and was weaving!

I didn't use any special kind of "weaving" yarn -- just some stuff I had in the stash.  The warp is Sirdar Salsa DK (50% Merino / 50% Acrylic) and the weft if Plymouth Outback Mohair (70% Mohair, 26% Wool, 4% Nylon).  Here's a semi-close-up:

The first project that they have you start with is supposed to be a scarf, but I think I want to make this into a little bag and maybe a couple mug mats.  We'll see.  It's a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to lots more projects on my little rigid heddle loom!

Okay. . . now for the spinning part!  Yesterday I finally finished spinning up some very pretty 70% Chocolate Alpaca/30% Tussah Silk that I bought from Shadeyside Farm while at MS&W.  I'm hoping a good soak will take out the kinks, because I want to knit it up as a single.  Take a look at it on the niddy:

It's so shiny because of the silk, that it's a bit difficult to photograph.  I'll try to take a better picture once it's soaked.

Now I'm off to play with my loom some more!  Stitch-Cast is on hiatus this weekend I'm afraid. 

Toy #1 -- the Weavette!

I was very happy to find a Weavette at MS&W this year.  Several years ago I had somehow stumbled upon the website for the company that had revived these little looms and fell in love, but for some reason never purchased one.  Then recently they popped up in MSL and then Spin off -- the desire grew.  Next Amy got one and I almost caved.  (She bought hers from here and got free shipping!.)  So, it was fate when I saw them stacked up in the Haltwhistle Fibres booth.  (She makes great dolls and super cool fish.  Theresa has had the good fortune to take a class from her, as she is up from where Theresa's Mom lives.)

So, it's no surprise that this is the first of my Maryland finds that I wanted to mess around with.  I had to work all night Monday, but Tuesday I closed up shop at 7pm and after dinner I started weaving.  I had some leftover sock yarn (thicker sock yarn -- more like a heavy sport weight) in the drawer of partial skeins and I decided to see how it would work.  Here's my first Weavette 6 in. sqaure:

I just used the little booklet that came with the loom.  It was easy to follow and had enough diagrams to get you through any tricky bits.  I also bought the book too, but haven't had a chance to play around with texture yet.

Want to see what it looks like up close?  Here, ya go. . .

I declare this purchase a total success!  It was fun, easy to use and I love my first little square.  Why did I wait so long to try it out?  I'm not sure, but maybe the timing was how it was supposed to be.  This little bit of weaving may be all it takes to get me into the spare bedroom, make me pull the Dorothy down off the dresser and get it warped up.  (I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. . . )