Pics or it didn't happen!

I almost hate to make my next post so soon, because I don't want to draw focus away from Mr. Pocket, but the post is still there, below this one, so please do scroll down if  you haven't seen his awesome work yet.  I just had to show you this -- proof that I am finally makin' stuff again.

You see, Mr. Pocket and I are enjoying a quiet night in.  Dinner, WWE, wool, and my sweetie.  Ahh.

(Pesto pasta w/ shrimp, and some fresh tomato)

Look!  See!  I promised I would do more crafting, and I am!

(Also, I love our new couch.  It's the perfect height for my spinning wheel.)

It was Mr. Pocket's idea to post pictures of these things, because as he and his friends often declare, "pics or it didn't happen!"  Maybe I'll use them to start an entry for Michelle's new Crusade.  We'll see.

Back to School

Well, my two month break is over, but I've been keeping busy with the craftiness. And I've already got an entry for Michelle's latest Crusade! A couple of things for it, actually.

Took a class with Tim Holtz this summer... Oh. My. GAWD. He's a total rockstar. I had so much fun! The class was on bookbinding and creating covers with embossed metal and of course Tim's own findings. In one afternoon, we learned a simple bookbinding stitch, metal embossing, the use of alcohol inks, and what the faun to do with all his little findings and details. This is what I took home, along with a head full of ideas:





Since coming home, I've been doing a lot more stamping and paper art. Don't have much to show yet, but I'll give you a glimpse soon... :)

I've finished Ishbel, too, finally. I had to put it down for a little while sometimes, but I got it done!



Extreme closeup!


And I've had the chance to start the much-awaited Raven Shawl!


That's just the first three colors, accomplished while I watched the Ravens vs. Jets pre-season game. Oooooh I'm so excited for football season!

And, it being Monday, it seems like a good time to show off my most recently spun yarn. Yep, I've been getting back to spinning! This is what I've done with Mountain Colors targhee in Copper Mountain:


Spun on my Traveller, chain-plied for a good stripe effect.



I've decided that targhee goes on my list of favorite fibers to spin. It might actually spin easier than merino. Definitely a good fiber to learn :)

So, more on the learning front, I'm finally taking a rare books librarianship class. It promises to be super hard, but I'm really looking forward to what I'm going to be learning this semester. It's going to cut down on my crafting time, that's for sure, but given certain financial restrictions I'll have to make a lot more Christmas presents this year, so I'll definitely be finding or making time to get some crafting in. Nevertheless, crafting must needs take a backseat to academia sometimes. We'll see how the trip goes...

Earthy

That's how I feel with my current handspun vibe. Observe:

Remember that singles I spun from that gorgeous batt I got from Gryphon? Well, I plied it. With beads.




It was a little bit of a pain to ply with the beads in, but that's really cos I did it stupidly. Next time I ply something with beads, I'm going to spin it onto two separate bobbins rather than trying to string beads onto and then ply from a center-pull ball. Cos that was dumb.




Next up, I'm spinning from a gift. My friend Geri won some roving in a drawing after she donated to Lupus research. She doesn't spin, so she gave it to me, because she's incredibly sweet. This stuff is gorgeous. 100% merino, and the colorway is called "Earth & Sky."


I must check out what else Poppy Flower Fibers has to offer.


Because the color is so springy and natural, and because I am longing for spring and wanting to be outside without freezing to the bone, I started spinning this yesterday. Got about this far:

It definitely needs to be split and split and pre-drafted, but once I prep it, it's spinning beautifully. I'm trying to make the yarn more even this time, with varying degrees of success. My excuse is going to be that I was rather sleepy when I sat down to spin last night. Yes, sleepy. I did not, however, fall asleep at the wheel. *rimshot*

Soon, ever so soon, I will post my latest project/obsession. Michelle Ward is such a good bad influence! I rushed to work on this new thing right away on Friday, got two done, and haven't had the chance to play with it since. This week, though. Definitely.

Also, perhaps I should show off some of my recent Etsy finds. I've found so many sellers that deserve the love, and there are only gazillions more! Though I'm a little miffed at my mail service at the moment. Did you see Pam's shirt? I ordered one a day earlier and it hasn't come in. I'm very grumpy that I don't have my shirt. Stupid mail. Oh well, it's worth the wait ;)

OMG! Spinxx0rz!

Wait, what? I spin? No way! Cool!

It's been far too long since I've had a post for Handspun Monday. But lookie! It's

Now, I know I mentioned the FABULOUS roving I got from Kid Hollow Farm at Stitches. It's called "Fall Harvest." Looks something like this (and thanks to Pam you can now click on the pictures to get them full size):



Closer look? Okay, here ya go:


Yum. It's like pumpkins and grapes and vines and Autumn all in one pack of fluffy goodness.

Well, it was such fluffy goodness that on Sunday, yes last Sunday, the Sunday of Stitches weekend, less than 24 hours after I bought said roving, I sat down at Merriweather and didn't leave her until I had this:

(Shown here in my lap, with my Halloween pyjama pants on :))

I didn't worry about which direction the twist was going, or how much fiber I was letting through, or how thick or thin it was, or consistency, or any of that stuffy stuff. I just let the roving spin as it wanted to, and let Merriweather start in whichever direction she wanted to spin in. It was a very organic process, and so refreshing. It actually made doing the work I had to do last weekend much easier. And I can't wait until I have time to do the same thing over again. I refuse to spin this stuff when I only have a few minutes. It's a whole bobbin spun, plied, and skeined or nothing. Cos I mean, really, just look at it.



It's a meditation.

*falls over*

Stitches is evil. In a good way.

I am exhausted, broke, and overwhelmed, but happy. Stitches East has done this to me.

It's not my fault.

Well, maybe a little.

See, all year I've been looking forward to Stitches. All. Year. And it was finally here! Mom and I signed up for a Thursday class so we could be up there for the Market Preview for students. And I signed up for a class all day on Saturday with (oh my GAWD) Maggie Jackson. *swoon* I want to be just like her when I grow up...

So Thursday was a blast. I had to take a half day off from work, but it was worth it. Pattern Writing 101 became three hours of why Carrie may never write a sweater pattern ever. But it was informative and helpful, and Edie Eckman is a wonderful teacher and a really nice person. Dinner made me feel better, though, because the SoTS got together, along with a couple of honorary members, and had a fabulous dinner at which the bartender did not charge us for our beer. Free stuff is always a good thing. Especially when you are about to break the bank. Heh heh. Heh. Oh boy.

Blue Moon Fiber Arts was my first stop. I probably should've just gone home after that. The mad crowds there were, well, mad. As in insane. But I managed to find what I wanted, and a bit more... heh heh... For the record, the element with the atomic number 6 is carbon. It also happens to be a beautiful yarn color. (I should mention that pictures will be forthcoming.)

Beyond that, everything is a blur. I know I got to The Mannings' booth. Because that's where I found the Zitron roving that I've been dying for, and the stars and stripes self-patterning sock yarn. And I know I spent more on one ball of yarn than any single ball of yarn should cost, except for that particular ball of yarn, which is more expensive normally but was discounted for the show. That very special ball of yarn happens to be quiviut. Musk ox down. Oh so fluffy, oh so soft. And oh so mine.

And I know that I met Doris Chan. *cue fangirl* SQUEEEE!!! She's my new hero. I love her books. In fact, I bought Everyday Crochet without even looking through it. And she is the sweetest person EVER. She was excited to hear that I had made the pineapple skirt and love it, and even more excited to hear that I want to make one out of hemp, because she's made a skirt out of hemp, and she promised to wear said hemp skirt on Saturday so I could see it. The pattern's not available yet, but it will be soon I think.

I even bought a present for my spinning wheel. Merriweather now has a new orifice hook, and it's appropriately blue. Sheila and Michael Ernst do such beautiful work.

Let me tell you, going to work on Friday was tough. I definitely had a yarn-over. But I made it through because I had to go offsite with a couple of my officemates, and I have fun with them. And at Murph's place I finished my newest project, of which I will post pictures when I'm ready for the big reveal.

So Saturday I had to get up at the crack of DOOOOOM to get to class on time. I mean I got up earlier than I do for work. That ain't right. But I did it. And I got there on time, in my pineapple skirt and my new project, strangely bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (I do have a bushy tail, being a squirrel and all). In line at Starbucks I ran into -- guess who -- Doris Chan! And she was wearing her hemp skirt, and it is beautiful. And she did like my pineapple skirt in BRIGHT pink Microspun. *glee* It was a good way to start the morning.

My day with Maggie Jackson was amazing. She's so clever, it amazes me the way she thinks to put things together. Her designs are so offbeat, and while there are a lot of them that I wouldn't necessarily wear, I love the way she combines techniques and puts things together in different and unexpected ways. She's just so inspiring. And I'm an even bigger fan now that I've taken her class. In fact, I'm going to do a Halloween scarf a la Maggie Jackson, because it's FUN. If I have the time between now and Halloween, that is. *crosses fingers* And as soon as I become rich and have about $5000 to spare, I'm totally going on one of her Knitting Retreats in Spain. Definitely. I'd say it's a life goal.

Now, because I needed more stuff like I need a hole in my head, where did I go at lunch and after class? Oh, back to the market, with Mom, who had come along on Saturday just to shop. Yes, I got the hemp for my skirt. And some Habu stainless steel and wool. And maybe (just maybe) some roving from Kid Hollow Farm. Which this morning I couldn't resist playing with, and I might (just maybe) have sat down at my spinning wheel and stood back up with a full skein of two-ply bulky yarn. Might have. I couldn't help it! It's not my fault! The roving was calling to me! It was like the Amityville Horror in reverse.

And now it's all over. And I had to spend the day (except for the brief spinning break) doing alterations for the show. Gonna be a hellishly busy week. But nowhere near as fun. *sigh*

Is it next year yet?

I know, I know...

...over a week. Again. I'm sorry. I haven't had much to post. No spinning progress as of last Monday, no discernable progress on the Razor Cami (it all looks the same, I mean really), and okay I didn't post Friday because I didn't have much time. Also, I was out knitting two nights, and cooking one. And Friday I decided to sit down at my wheel for once and pretend that I actually spin sometimes. It worked. Here's what I did:

I took this:


And made it this:



In case you're wondering, it's merino in the "Thistle" colorway from my friends at The Drafting Zone. I'm trying to spin it as fine as I can without losing my mind.

Also, this weekend my parents and I went to the National Museum of the American Indian (so is that the politically correct term now, not Native American? I'm so confused) to see the exhibit on American Indian dresses. WOW. The amount of work and the amazing skill that these women put into these dresses is remarkable. They are absolutely beautiful. And there are women who still make dresses with the same techniques today. It's an amazingly wonderful tradition. If anybody has the chance to go to the exhibit, you really should.

Of course, I needed something to do on the Metro, so I had my little spindle with me, with the Denim merino I'm working on, and I spun on that. On the way into the city there was a little girl that seemed to be peeking over her seat at me a couple of times, but on the way back out a gentleman came up and asked me if I'm a weaver, and if what I was using was a spindle whorl. He said he'd seen them in archaeology but never known how they were used. I explained that I knit and crochet, and showed him how I spin. He asked if it's less expensive to make your own yarn... heh, I had to tell him it's not particularly so anymore. There are so many gorgeous fibers out there, and so many of them are so expensive! But worth every penny :D

Stars and Stripes Forever

Happy Fourth of July! I love this holiday, because it's the perfect reason to enjoy summer. Celebrate our freedom by having parties and barbecues and fireworks? Of course! Because we can! That's the point! It's awesome. (To be fair, I do also try to keep in mind why we can. Also the point of the holiday.) After all, freedom is the right of all sentient beings. (Points if you get that reference...)

But today is also WiP Wednesday, and since I missed Handspun Monday, I'm gonna get this one. Late, I know, but hey. I've been busy. We've had people here. Including small ones. Adorable small ones. Even my man found them adorable. But now that all our friends have gone home, I've taken pictures of my slow progress on the blanket for the newest small one. No stars, just stripes...



And by the way, we brought the important small one upstairs with her mommy to see the awesome painting job that her daddy did in our yarn room, and of course she was fascinated with Merriweather. I'll make a spinner of that little girl, just you wait... muahahahahahaha!!!

And now, if my neighbors ever stop setting off fireworks, I'm going to sleep. G'night!

New Arrivals

I have a perfectly good excuse for getting this up with only two hours left in Handspun Monday. A new baby in the family decided Father's Day would be a perfect choice for her birthday, which it was, except that now she's been born before I could finish her blanket that I'm making. *sigh* But anyway she took precedence over blogging, so now I am finally getting some quality time with my camera, my laptop, and my blog after getting sufficient quality time with the new arrival. Onward!

So you've seen Zaphod's new paint job. Now you get to check out Ford :D

\





I apologize for the crappiness of the photos, especially that last one. Oh and I should mention that some of the stars are glow in the dark. Oh yes. I'm so excited, and pleased with how he turned out. He damn well better have turned out the way I wanted, he took long enough to paint. Geesh. So what do you think? Teahee...

And the actual handspun... Currently on Merriweather I'm spinning Happy Hippie soy silk in California Dreamin'. It looks like this:



Yeah. Trippy.


Ahem. Anyway. Once spun, this gloriously soft, brilliantly firey, and somewhat static-y roving looks like this:



I honestly can't spin it any thicker than that. It's so much fun. I think I need more of this stuff, in every color. Eeee!

By the way, I've started listening to a podcast called Stash and Burn. It's entertaining, great stuff about patterns and yarns and various ways to use up your stash. If I keep enjoying it, I'll link to it... (also I'm too lazy to go looking for the link right now)

Well, I hope the pics made up for me being late. Next week I'll post in a more timely fashion, I promise...

Day of Awesomeness

Today was a day full of awesomeness. First, behold:



Following a conversation with a coworker, I went investigating into the possible return of that greatest of all sodas, Vanilla Coke. Sure enough, they've brought back this nectar of the gods, much to the pleasure of those like me, who once was dubbed "the Vanilla Coke Goddess." Seriously, when I found out, I was bouncing around. No joke.

Secondly, and probably more awesomely, when my dad got home from work, he commented that there was a large box on the doorstep. Could that be...?

Say hello, Ford!





"Hello, Ford!"

Nice.



Isn't he cute? I know, he looks just like Zaphod. But hey, they're semi-half brothers, after all. They share three of the same mothers.



So consequently, this has been a thoroughly awesome day. Well, thoroughly awesome afternoon, at least. One or two more things though. First, this is ganked from Pam:

PocketSize -- [noun]: A real life muppet 'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Totally true.

Also, she tagged me. I forgot (conveniently). But I'll be a good sport and tell you 7 random things about me, but I don't know 7 other people to tag, so the chain gets broken here. Deal?

1. I dated Jesus. (Okay okay, so he was playing Jesus in my high school's production of Jesus Christ Superstar, but hey. Close enough.)

2. I harmonize with dead people. (Okay, also related to a show I was in...)

3. I'm good at math. I just hate it, so it's easier to say that I'm bad at doing math so that I don't have to do it.

4. I still have one baby tooth. There's no adult tooth to replace it, and it's a canine, so it's right smack in the front and it makes biting into things kinda tricky.

5. I hate peas.

6. Those who have met me may have noticed that I buckle my belts to the side. I picked this style up from Peter Tork on The Monkees. And now I can't bring myself to buckle a belt in the center.

7. I have a really hard time coming up with things to say about myself. Ask me specific questions, get me on a particular topic, no problem. Say "Tell me about yourself" and I can't think of a damn thing to say. Thus, this meme was really difficult.

I might start Friday Yarn Pr0n tomorrow. I might not get the chance. Yay! Awesomeness!

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! ;)

Piccies!!!

Okay, I promised pictures, and now you shall have them. It's late and I should be in bed, so all you get is the pics, though. No news. Even if I had some.

So, where to start? Shall I start with...

...my first finished skein of yarn from my new wheel? It's a heathered grey and purple wool I got from Mangham Manor Farm. Not particularly great quality, but it ends up pretty. Note the ball of roving still left to spin. Here's a closeup of the skein:

But since I really think I'm ADD, instead of finishing that massive ball of roving, I moved on already to...


My natural brown carded merino. This is wheel-spun and navajo plied also on the wheel. I'm a big fan of navajo plying now. It's like crochet on a larger scale!



My medieval-spindle spun merino. 2 ply. Not so great, but now I'm working on spinning very fine on that spindle and it seems to be working a lot better. Wait till I show you the results of that... I'm thinking socks.

So my pics are not as good as Pam's but I hope you've enjoyed them. A little bit of mid-week yarn pr0n. And I can't wait to make more...

Uh, yum.

So yesterday I needed to play for a bit, so I pulled out the small bag of alpaca top that I got from The Woolery and started it on my spinning wheel. I know alpaca is reputed to be not the easiest fiber to spin, but oh my GOD it was a dream. Long draw, inchworm, straight from the whole length of top... btw have I mentioned that I break spinning rules? A lot? Yeah, I do. And I'm not at all ashamed. Who wants to spend time pre-drafting when there's spinning to be done and awesome experimental results to be had?

Also, in the car on the way to our site visit for work today, I started swatching my skein of Euroflax. I got it at Stitch DC with grand plans for a small capelet. Well, I've decided to sacrifice the whole skein to, as Amy Singer calls them, "Geeky things." Swatches of all different gauges, stitch patterns, and stages of washing/blocking. I decided I needed to do this in order to properly design the perfect linen capelet for my beautiful vintage clasp that Mom got me for Christmas. Anyway, that linen is wonderful to work with, if a bit thin for the comfort of my hands (I tend to be tense, so my hands end up cramping), and I would've finished a couple of swatches if my eyes hadn't decided to hurt. Like a mofo. Either I need new glasses (well ok yes I need new glasses) or I'm getting a sinus infection. Stupid sinuses. Keeping me from crocheting. Evil.

Pics of resulting projects to come. Film at 11!

Squee!

Guess what came in on Thursday???

My birthday present!!! A brand new, shiny Ashford Traveller. Single drive, scotch tension, double treadle. GLORIOUS. Everyone, meet Merriweather (you know, like from Sleeping Beauty? Yeah, I name things. Deal.)


Tearing me away from it has been tough. I even started putting it together right away. Dad has pictures of me drinking wine and assembling the thing. The wine definitely helped... I've gotta get the pictures from him, but then I'll post them if anybody's interested.

Anyway, I've already got two full skeins of yarn, and I've only had it for three days. Can we say addicted? I went to spinning guild today and had to talk myself into bringing my spindles instead of my wheel. Cos I know it's a Traveller, but let's face it, nothing's more portable than a drop spindle. But as soon as I got home I sat down at my wheel and finished a test skein of that short brown merino I got with my medieval spindle. Yeah, addicted.

Meanwhile I have costume stuff to work on. Not as fun as spinning. And I'm afraid I'll never crochet again. Or knit. I hope the novelty of spinning will wear off just a bit, just enough that I'll get back to my crochet. At the moment, though, I'd much rather make yarn than use it!

Handspun yarn pr0n to come...