Bit of a Note

So I've been stumbling around the blogosphere after my foray into podcasts, and I'm finding some fun people to read. I'm a little self-conscious about commenting on their posts and asking if I can link to them from my humble little blog, but maybe the more people I read and comment on, the more comfortable I'll be and more integrated I'll become. Or somethin'. I dunno. I'm new to this craft-blog thing. Any advice for a noob? Anybody?

Moving on, I've got a new project. It's been driving me nuts that I can't find or figure out a pattern for a spring scarf that I want. I need to do this though because at Cloverhill I got some glorious wool and sari silk blended yarn that really needs to be a frothy, semi-froufrou spring scarf. I've decided to screw the idea of patterns and just start crocheting freeform and see where it goes. I have a general idea of what I want, and beyond that... I'm just gonna scrumble my way through. So there. I've gotta do it while I have the desire, because I'm wildly and ADD-ishly eclectic right now.

Seems to me I promised pictures. So here we go, the yarn I spun for Mom even though I'd bought the roving for myself ;P







"Lavender Fields" by C*eye*ber Fibers. Navajo plied to keep the colors distinct. I'm tempted to keep it for myself anyway :P What do you all think? I crave feedback!

Well I'm off to start my scarf. Or maybe spin a while. I've started the "Ocean Mist" and it's a dream. So many projects, so little time!

Podcasts Are Happy Things

No pics to post at the moment, because I don't have them downloaded yet, but I finished Mom's "Lavender Fields" merino. Well, finished spinning it. Still needs to be washed and hung. But it's off the wheel! So now I have moved on to the "Ocean Mist" merino/tencel. It's like spinning a little bit of Heaven. Okay so I've never spun Heaven, but it's what I imagine Heaven would spin up like. I seem to be getting better at being consistent, too. Which is not to say that the yarn is completely consistent, but it's consistent enough that I think only I will be able to tell. The only problem is that I'm getting better at spinning a consistent, thin yarn, which means I'm having a hard time finishing the mohair blend I've got on my Golding spindle, because that started out relatively thick, and it's just getting thinner no matter what I do. Gahh!

So that's the update on what I'm working on. On with the rest of the post.

Thanks to Spin-Off magazine, I have discovered The Fibercast (link to your left). It's a fiber-arts podcast done by a very nice woman named Caroline, who owns a plethora of animals including alpacas. In the podcasts, she gives an update on what's going on in the fiber world, what she's working on, and she often interviews somebody in the fiber business. My favorite interview so far has been the one with Ted Myatt, the Knitterguy, whose blog I now must read. Caroline also discusses her animals and has done one podcast entirely about raising alpacas; that's my other favorite. So, my few and loyal readers, you really ought to listen to the cast. It's fantastic, and now that I've listened to all of them at work, I have to set my laptop next to my wheel and listen to them all again while playing (in case I missed anything, which I'm sure I have, being at work). Enjoy!

I haven't abandoned you, blog!

Before I start my craft post, I can't post without acknowledging what happened today at Virginia Tech. I don't even know anybody there except for one guy who I've already heard is okay. But all I can think of is what it would be like if it had happened at my own school instead. It's so disturbing, and all I can do is pray for the survivors and the families of those who died.

So putting aside my horror and disgust and trying not to dwell on it, on with the normal post...

What have I been doing since I posted last? Well...

I've been spinning this lusciousness :

Into this: Using the highest ratio and being very careful. It's for Mom. It's "Lavender Fields" superwash merino from C*eye*ber Fiber (the blueish color is actually a lovely lavender, I just can't tweak photos well). My next spinning project is this:

But that's been on hold quite a bit because I've been working on costumes for the local community college's Twelfth Night (ya know, Shakespeare, with cross-dressing and cross-gartering?), set in Regency England (ya know, Jane Austen?). The best though probably most labor intensive piece was altering this relic from the costume closet:
Which got lace added (cos it was too straight) thus:
And then eyelet to extend the hem (cos it was too short) like such: And such:
Voila! I'm rather pleased with it. Though through tech week and the first weekend of the show, the sheer fabric that overlaid the satin of the bodice managed to rip into shreds. Why? Because the damn thing is so old it was dry rotting! Ew. I had to take the sheer overlay off. I simply tore it off, as one tears off the bill from the bottom of one's insurance statement. Oooh check me out with the metaphors. Okay so that was a simile. Sue me. (No don't really, I'm not that rich.)

Found out today about a couple nifty yarn shops in Frederick. So those need to go on the destinations list for Yarn Safaris. We need to get this Yarn Safari thing going. Though with Sheep & Wool coming up, I think that Yarn Safari season must be postponed. Can't be spending our cash before S&W! Especially since I think a charkha (sp?) has been added to my shopping list... darn you Matt! ;)

Yarn Safari!

So unbeknownst to Pam or my mom, I've already decided where our next yarn safari shall be. I also think we should expand the expeditionary force. And I'm going to ritualize this practice a bit, at least for my part. I'm talking missions. I'm talking trophy counts. I'm talking photographic documentation.

This has been inspired by several things, in no particular order:

1. Pam's post of Stitch DC's Twinkle Party, complete with photos. Now, I know that's because her hubby is into photography, but still. It got me to thinking about documenting our yarn shopping excursions. Taking pictures of the yarn in its natural habitat, as it were. And of the, er, hunters. This would, I'm sure, require the permission of the proprieters of whatever establishments we go into...

2. Our little trip to Cloverhill. It was a lot of fun, and we all found some unexpected yumminess. The one downside, though, was the yarn I didn't bag. They had no Rowan Summer Tweed. The trophies I brought home made up for it, though, and provided inspiration for things to look for. Future challenges, as it were.

3. The destination for our next excursion needs to be The Celtic Knot. A friend at work emailed me in desperation, asking for help finding the end of and winding into a ball a skein of sock yarn she got from said establishment. It. Sounds. Fantastic. And we have to go.

So... yarn safari, anyone? I know I'm being a huge dork about all this, but I like having goofy little things like this to get into. I hope somebody will be interested in joining me in my insanity...