Saturday, August 19, 2006

{Insert your own post title here}

Yup, I'm too lazy right now to think of a cooky post title. Who cares anyway cause all I really care about are the pictures right? Well here's what I've been up to.

In knitting news:

One of my oldest WIP's is finally a FO. I guess dragging it out from it's hiding place motivated me to actually finish it. I don't even know why I put it off for so long. I still have to block it but hopefully it won't take me as long to do so.

I revisited my roots by crocheting this hobo bag. As you can see, I still have to seam it up. I'm going to donate it to my Purls of Hope charity project at work. The yarn was gifted to me by Yarn Hippie and it's the new simply soft shadow stripes yarn by caron. Of course I fudged the pattern all up. Somehow I failed to notice the last word of every line (turn). I didn't realize this until I was about 80 percent done so there's a big ugly seam up the back but I'm OK with it. I don't rip my work until all other options have been exhausted.

My Baudelairs are coming along beautifully. I was a little apprehensive about the reverse heel flap but it wasn't that bad. I think I like it better than the top down heel flap. So I just have to do the leg and I'm done.

In spinning news:

I've joined a spinning roving swap. You can either swap roving or if your new to spinning or want to learn, swap spinning kits. See details here.

Here's what I have sitting on the spindles right now.

From left to right, on the bottom whorl is some dark grey roving that I tried to over dye. I'm not too pleased with the results but I just wanted to see how it spins up. In the middle is some grey roving that reflects a smallportion of my pound that I got from the Sheep Shed Studio. I've been working on it for over a week now and I'm tryingto spin up enough to break the 100 yard mark once plyed. The last spindle holds some corriedale that I dyed a while ago. I'm just trying to spin it up so I can make some room to justify dyeing some more roving.

Speaking of dying roving, I just dyed some roving last night. There was an interesting thread on crafster for last weeks Fiber Friday that spoke of the Wilton dye method. Pixiefarts posted the most vibrant yarn that was dyed using Wilton dyes and it was pretty hard to fathom because most of us have never gotten those results. Well of course I had to try it myself and here are my results.

I used royal blue, kelly green and burgundy. It came out a little more blue than I wanted it too but I like how psychadelic the colors are.

Here is a skein of two ply wool that I spun up last night. I am so proud of this skein that I may keep it as a momento for sentimental reasons. What's so special about it you may ask. Beleive it or not but that yarn originally looked like this:

I was at the farmers market down in Union Square last weekend and a vendor was selling handspun merino yarn. Since spinning I haven't purchased any yarn but I just wanted to take a look and see what he had. I was about to leave when something caught my eye. There was a bucket full of raw wool labeled "Grease Wool" down near the bottom of the tent. I quickly purchased a half of a pound before I could talk myself out of it. During this past week, I washed a small portion of it, and carded it while I spun it up. I'm on a tight budget so I didn't want to spend fifty plus bucks on some hand carders so I got a couple of dog brushed from pet land for under fifteen bucks. Yes it takes longer but I'm cheap (enough said). I also added in some firestar while I was carding although you can't really see it in the picture. It was a long process but I am so proud of my little handspun skein!

In sewing news:

Bags, bags and more bags. Yup, I love sewing bags. I think all the bags you see below were made using fat quartes that I purchased from my new favorite shop the City Quilter. They're like 4 blocks from my job and I love their selection. Of course I had to join Necia's Fat Quarter Swap. Check out her blog under "more ish" for details.

Here's my new everyday tote (green of course). I think I may try to make a messenger bag this weekend.

Following are some pictures of some wrist bags that I made. I used a pattern from this book. The green one is currently beeing used to hold my Baudelairs. It's wonderful for on the train because you don't have to worry about pulling anything out of your purse and your yarn is out of the way.

And look, A zipper Woo Hoo!

I made this bag as a gift for my friends neice in CT. I like the lining but it was a mutha to cut and sew. It kept on slippin and slidin all over the place.

This is the most recent bag I made. I gave this to my boss for her birthday. Don't you just love the ribbon strap and the button. I freestyled the pattern also.

Well that's all folks. I was just notified of some relatives and friends who have buns in the oven so expect to see some baby knitting in the future. Also, I think it's about time I get started on the winter knitting, you know hats, scarves, gloves. I also plan on trying to sew my own coat this winter but I'm not 100 percent sure if I'm going to be able to do it.

Happy craftin yall!

Oh, by the way, sorry I didn't have any pictures from our Barbecue but like a dodo I left my camera home. I want to give the biggest props to Sahara and thank everyone who attended. Thanks for making it an event to remember.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, this post was worth the wait. Wow. Everything looks good, and I love seeing your productivity. The bag you gave your boss is my favorite, and very similar to the shape of bag I described to you yesterday, just I want mine way smaller. Think resting under the armpit type small. Uh Huh. I got a lot of baby knitting to do too, and I can't wait until I do the fall/winter knitting. Sew your own coat? This i gotta see.

necia

Anonymous said...

You have been busy! As always, I love everything!

Anonymous said...

The bags are so cute!! I'm glad you finished those UFO's--they came out great. Love the socks, too. It's so great that you're spinning now!

Anonymous said...

This post shows how she talked me into crocheting!! I'm not as ambitious as her, but I hope I get to make some nice things. :)
I have good teachers around me, so I'm sure I'll get there in time. :) Every day it's something new. Keeps me inspired.

Nancy Wetmore-Mathews said...

You are quite the crafty one! It was great meeting you last night and I absolutely love those socks. I'm casting on for them as soon as I finish my hat!

theShizzKnit said...

oooh beautiful bags!!

Maribel said...

Hello.

It was great meeting you at my knitting group at the bookstore on Tuesday. Hopefully you will come back again, sorry we didn't get a chance to chat that night. I love seeing new faces at the table. I love your site, you have some amazing things.

Anonymous said...

You do magic with fabric for bags!! I just recently lined a felted bag for the first time and it was easier than I thought it would be. Sewing an entire bag though, would be a challenge as I'm out of a sewing machine. You get props for 'going there' with the grease wool. I've been thinking about getting the dog combs and carding some fiber myself. I'm cheap, but also impatient. I'll have to learn to fix that, now won't I? :)

Lyrically speaking said...

I love the purple socks and the bag you gave to your boss, you're getting good at this.....keep it up!!

Annie said...

DANG! You are crafty! That is some great stuff, and I really like your scarf! I love that it has 3 different colors, what a great idea. I have to get better at spinning....where do find the time???

Anonymous said...

That's all? That's enough! Girl, have your hands been busy! The bags look good, I especially like the prints. And your socks are coming out good too, since the last time I saw them.
Wow! You'll be ready for the Knit Out!

Anonymous said...

That dyed looks awesome!!!!