I Just Can't Keep My Hands Still

Whew, what a crafty coupla weeks this has been. I’ve been really busy. So let’s get right into it, shall we?

On the Knitting Front

I’ve been stitching and I’ve been bitchin…really. One of my New Years resolutions was to start using some of the patterns out of the many knitting books that I own. Last week I actually used two patterns and they both came from Stitch & Bitch books.

One of my co-workers got transferred to Cali so I whipped up this purse the night before her going away party (Did I ever tell you how much of a procrastiknitter I am?) She’s in love with the color pink so I used the hand dyed yarn from my last post. The pattern was really easy and I kinda freestyled the flower on the front. I lined it with a playful cotton fabric but you’ll have to take my word for it. I would show you a picture but when I showed it to Judy at my last meetup, she said it looked like something I can’t mention here because my little cousin may be reading this (Hi Jamilla!). By the way this pattern is out of the Happy Hooker book and it’s the In Bloom clutch.

The next pattern I kinda remixed. I realized a couple of days before the Yarn Harlots Representin book signing at FIT that I didn’t have anything knitted to wear. So the night before the event (see? Procrastiknitter!) I whipped up this headband. It’s basically the Belt de Jour pattern from Stitch and Bitch Nation. I ended up crocheting around it and added ties. It looks kinda shabby because I’ve been wearing the mess out of it.

Speaking of representing, here are some pictures from the event. I spent most of the day hanging out with Tawana then afterwards went to eat with the watchamacallits (Rosi, Necia, Jeanine, Sherrin, and Marva). I also got to meet Nikki and I saw my peeps Nancy, Maribel and Claudia.

Here are some of my favorite pics from the event.

Guido and I representin’

The watchamacallits representin in BBQ’s.

Oh shoot, I almost forgot. There is cause to do the happy dance… I finally finished my Fuego Socks (and the crowd roars ). I am in complete love with them. As soon as I weaved in all the ends, I put them on my feet and I swear I heard harps and a choir.

I knit them one at a time and I think I might start doing my socks this way from now on. The reason is that by the time I finished the first one, I had the pattern memorized so the second one went rather quickly. I could just knit & knit with out stopping to look at the chart. And it also seems to go so much faster. I did take a little break in between socks but the SSS bug didn’t get me. I really enjoyed knitting these but I think next time I won’t use a size 0 needle. Thanks Rosi!

Sew, What’s New?

Yup, I’ve been sewing a little. Another one of my coworkers had a birthday before she went on vacation so I told her that I would have something handmade for her when she got back. Of course she was out for two weeks and I started her project the Sunday before she returned to work. I decided to try my hand at a wallet because I had some fat quarters that I wanted to use up. I scoured Crackster…er, um sorry, I meant Craftster to find a wallet tutorial that looked pretty easy and I found this one. So here’s how mine turned out.

Please don’t laugh, I know it’s kinda lopsided but at least the fabrics pretty. When I gave it to her she really liked it and I guess that’s all that matters.

I plan on sewing a couple of sock project bags soon with this fabric I picked up at The City Quilter during the Representin’ day. I love that place and their fat quarters are addictive. I can never leave that store with just one.

Look What I Can Do

So I was walking downtown and I passed by a beading store. Of course I had to go in. Somehow I left the store with all these beads and I have no recollection of buying anything. I have no idea how that happened. Here’s me attempting to make some stitch markers. I’m not planning on selling them or anything but I think it’d be cool to keep them as a collection or give them as gifts. I really like making them but I’m still trying to get that bending and shaping the metal part thing down. I have yet to get the perfect loop but it gives me something to look forward to.

My World Is Spinning

I saved the best for last. I have a new best friend and her name is Vicky.

I got a new wheel (yay). Quick question for all you multiple wheel owners, is it just me or do people expect you to get rid of your old wheel just because you have a new one? What’s wrong with having more than one wheel? I love them both for different reasons. My Victoria will never replace my Traditional and my Traditional will never replace my Victoria kowhatimsayin?

Anyhoo, she spins like a dream. It took me a while to figure out how to put the wheel cap thingie on and to adjust the tension just right but once I got it going I was in spin city. Right now on the bobbin is some Cheviot fleece that I washed and am now carding as I go. I plan on filling this whole bobbin then the other and plying them together. I’m spinning this fleece woolen using long the long draw method (can you tell I just learned that from my new spinning book). It is coming out so soft and this was my first time trying out cheviot wool.

Remember that purple/red/green roving that I dyed from my last post? Well here it is all spun up.

2.5 ounces of Merino Roving dyed with Wiltons

Navajo plied

175 yards, 16 to 24 wpi, approx fingering weight

This was the first thing I spun on Vicky Irsabo. All the singles fit on one bobbin and so did the yarn after I plied it. Based on Tamara’s suggestion, I navajo plied it. I have no idea what I’ll make with it but we’ll see what happens when inspiration hits.

So that’s all for now. I’ve got some crafty stuff to get in to. I’ll leave you with a pic of some of my recent library additions. See ya on the knit side.