19 June 2006

Moving Day..

Today's the day... moving to

Our New Home

I've been here at Blogger for a few years now and the offerings (and reliability) of other blog services has lured me to greener pastures.

See you there!

15 June 2006

World Cup Knitting

Better late than never...

I have decided to join in the fun!



I will be making my felted messenger bag with my new totally hippy handpainted BFL. I am stoked! Originally I thought I would enter a pair of socks that I was working on while watching the England match on World Wide Knit In Public Day but decided that my late entry needed more motivation than a silly pair of socks. As lovely as they may be, I am much more enthused by the idea of having my new bag.

England plays again tonight. Not sure if I will be making it out to the pub for another KIP as I been feeling a bit sketchy in the tummy today. (and I only had ONE lousy pint last night during the Germany/Poland match, I swear!) But I will definately be casting on tonight even if it is just in my comfy bed watching downloads of Jon Stewart's Daily Show.

Totally Hippy

My recent acquistion of a kilo of Blue Faced Leicester and a bunch of acid dyes has me playing around with making my own colorways. I think a new addiction has been born.

My first go at handpainted yarn. Calling the colorway "totally hippy" in honor of my lovely hubby who declared it was 'total hippy colors' when he first saw it. Thanks for the inspiration my dear!

Just a few pics...who me excited???



Hanging to dry. I was a bit skeptical at this point as the colors seemed to be a bit off from how I envisioned the. Keeping faith I hung them to dry on the patio and crossed my fingers, secretly wondering what I was going to do with 100gms of yarn I couldn't stand...

Lesson #1: Never judge a color before its dry. I was pleased to find that the colors gained quite a bit of depth and richness as they dried. This is actually more or less what I had in mind when I started. Not too bad considering I mixed the colors without any sort of recipe. Just a dash of this and that and a quick prayer.



Time for test a swatch...




Then felted the swatch...



Success! My plan is to make this into my felted messenger bag, which I promise I will be writing up a pattern for this time!

YEah!

08 June 2006

Indian Sunset

My ode to Anhata, who led me to the beauty of the Indian Sunset. Can you feel its radiant glow?

Continuing to go through and weed out whats left of my yarn stash. (Making room for the kilo of Blue Faced Leicester that arrived today. :::drool:::) My own pattern that I made up as I went along. I had originally planned to try some shibori felting on the flap, but changed my mind half way through the felting when a couple of the resist sections came undone and my design got screwed up. I'll have to give that little experiment another go some other day. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. A little tweeking of the pattern and it will be perfect.



Before felting...yes, it was truly neon. Thankfully a good amount of the dye came out during the felting. Front,back, and flap are in stockinette and sides in garter. The idea was to make the sides a bit thicker, but it didn't really work out that way. Next time I am gonna give seed stitch a try for the sides. Maybe. I need to think it through a bit.








And because I am such a dork - I have to show off my new 49p supa-cool gloves from Ikea. I do all my felting by hand (my front loader washer is no good for felting)and being the delicate flower that I am, I need proper protection lest my skin turn into prunes and split open.

Stylish and functional.

Go Figure

No big news. Just wanted to say...

I love bluegrass music. It makes me feel....well, it just makes me feel. It lifts my mood and the right song can give me the little push I need to release a good cry thats been building up in me.

Thats all.

26 May 2006

Fancy Rags



My first cables (ish)! A diamond pattern cotton dishcloth. Definately qualifies me for the 'fancy rags' award.

I want to make the Cleo Clutch or some variation of it, so that meant biting the bullet and attempting a cable. As with most things it wasn't as hard as I anticipated. Though I am a spacy knitter and am forever losing track of where I am. I need to work on that.

Yesterday I started working on a test piece for a shibori felting experiment. I will post results as I progress with it. Should be interesting...

All this is in preparation for the arrival of a kilo of Blue Faced Leicester and a load of acid dyes I am eagerly anticpating. counting the days...

25 May 2006

Warm Feet and Warm Heart

Proof positive that I spend way too much time online. Last week my internet connection went down for 48 hours and to fill the time, I finished a pair of socks and made a felt painting.

Perfect English spring/summer socks. Cotton, Wool blend. The pattern is SpunMags Basic Rib Socks Super comfy - I love 'em!


Buddha Mama felt painting. In all her sacred wisdom, holding her belly. The base is blues and greens wet felted, and the picture is needle felted. A piece long time in my head, finally made real with the carthartic with the whacking and smacking to shock the fibers of the mat and the poke-poke-poking of the needles.

Many a tear realeasing love and sadness are fixed firmly within the fibers of this piece. It is destined for a special place in my collection.


18 May 2006

Pinwheel Sunburst

Made this for a knit along at Sewing Mama's - Mother's of Purl forum. (c'mon over and play with us!) The pattern is from
here.

Made from leftovers and odd balls from my bag. And lordy lou is it bright! Not my usual style, but I like it.

The edge is just a stockinette decrease to shape a triangle. I knit off the circulars onto straights at each section. It was a PITA to join the yarn again for each section, but I couldn't figure out how to get the stockinette going the same way as the body of the blanket in that shape any other way. If some enlightened reader knows a trick for this, please share. I like the effect but hated the work. I am a lazy knitter for sure. For extra body and texture I did a quick double crochet around the edge.

I love my work

I love my work. Just love it. It is hard to get going on days when I feel really crappy, but I manage. And I am always happy that I did. I have never once come back from a class or a birth thinking that the time and energy spent would have been better served by me lying in bed at home. I come back from my work having gotten back in touch with what I am learning so deep in my soul. The place of peace and strength I so often lose sight of.

I am so grateful to have my work.

15 May 2006

Labyrinth For A Dear Friend

Getting back to my poor neglected machines this weekend. I re-recylced an old thrift store bargain skirt, (I have lost so much weight since the first recycle, thus requiring another go.) and made a quilt square for a group quilt to give to a dear friend who has recently discovered that she has cervical cancer. This friend is one of the absolute most generous, compassionate, and loving people I know. A group of friends (many of whom only know her online, including myself) are making quilt sqaures to make a quilt for her to wrap around her during her care and recovery. We can't be there in person, so this quilt is a big hug from us to her.

Labyrinth to symbolize the journey into the unknown world of life threatening illness. I know that she will find the grace needed to meet whatever challenges and lessons this brings. And praying that upon her return she is healed and whole.

I love you, KR!

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