Been away too long

What happened to April? It’s May already? Whoa!

I guess the older you get (not that I’m that old) the faster time seems to go. I have been very busy but for some reason there hasn’t been a whole lotta knitting going on. I’m still hooked on Jewelry making and swaps but other then that I’ve been in Spin city. As usual, I’ll try to tell my story in pictures.

Whatcha Knittin’?

Like I said before, I really haven’t knitted anything. I finished knitting my secret feet socks then I was at a loss. I couldn’t find anything that my fingers wanted to groove to. Until recently that is. A certain somebody stated that I need to start knitting with my handspun so I set out to use some up. I first tried to knit socks but this yarn is a three ply in which I spun with a heavy twist so it was no good for socks. I finally settled on making an Argosy scarf due to the low yardage. Here’s what I have so far.

Here’s a picture of my secret feet wearing the socks that I made for her. I was worried that they wouldn’t fit or that she wouldn’t like them but rest assured, she gave them two toes up. The yarn is Socks that Rock medium weight in the Chanticleer colorway. I used the Baby Fern Pattern from this book. As far as the socks I received, Judes made the greatest pair of Socks that “Freakin” Rock. The pattern is called Knitslexia and it’s a Judy original. I heart them so much. Especially since I’m a big fan of pooling and these socks pool like a billiards club in Vegas.

Here's a group shot of all the socks. I can't wait for the next sock swap.

They be spinnin and spinnin and spinnin

I’ve been spinning like crazy. My poor Vickybo has been getting a workout. First is this yarn that I spun from roving I purchased from the Yarn Tree. I swear, I was only going in there to get a niddy noddy but the owner just happened to mention that she had some roving for sale that she hand dyed herself. I fell in love with the colors as soon as I saw them. I thought I put the wool back but somehow it ended up in my bag. Weird I tell ya.

So I ripped open the bag open as soon as I got home and was a little disappointed to find that the roving had felted a bit during the dyeing process. Not one to be discouraged, I was determined to get my moneys worth, so I spun that sucka up right then and there. This picture still doesn’t do the colors justice.

Specs:

Fiber – Corriedale
Method – Forward Short Draw
Ply – 2
Weight/Length – 1.9 ounces / 58 yards
WPI – 11

I finally joined the Spunky Fiber club. I don’t know why it took me this long to join. I received the wool on a Monday and I had it all spun up by Wednesday. I love the way she dyed it and it spun like butta. I’m planning on knitting some socks with it very soon. As a matter of fact, I’ll be knitting the Falling in Love socks along with Nancy.

Specs:

Theme – Strawberry Fields
Fiber – Correidale
Method – Forward short draw
Ply - 2
Weight/Length – 3.7 ounces / 148 yards
WPI - 16

My most recent spinning project was also a goodie. Like I said before, I don’t know what took me so long to try this fiber. Spinners all over blogland have been raving about their roving and I don’t know why I thought I would be immune to their wooly fumes. I am in love with Crown Mountain Farms roving. Necia swapped me some roving for stitch markers and I am in love. This wool spun so smoothly and poofed up so much once I set the twist. You don’t want to know how much more of this stuff I ordered.

Specs:

Colorway – Wild Thing
Fiber – Superwash Merino
Method – Forward short draw
Ply – 2
Weight/Length – 2.15 ounces / 100 yards
WPI – 20

Sew whatcha doin’

I actually sewed something other than a bag. I fell in love with this pattern once I saw it on Necias blog so I ordered one. This was my first ever garment and I don’t think it came out too shabby. I believe the fabric is cotton although I could be mistaken. The only thing I would have done differently would have been to read the pattern correctly. No matter what I’m doing, I never read the pattern thoroughly. I usually just skim it or think that I’ve read over things and skip over whole paragraphs. In knitting I can usually fudge around those parts and Tim Gunn it (yanno, make it work). For some reason, in this pattern I missed the part that says one inch seam allowance and sewd it as if I was doing a bag which is a quarter inch seam allowance. Oh well, Wabi Sabi. I’ll try to get it right on the next one.

Jewelrific!

I’m still addicted to beading. I’ve been making stitch markers but I give them away before I get a chance to take a picture of them. I’ll try and be more diligent about that. I have meddled around with making earrings and bracelets. I really like making bracelets but there’s so much to learn. I have a few books that have helped me a bunch. Here are some of my experimentations.

Is that the end?

It may seem like I’ve done a lot but I really haven’t. This is like 3 weeks worth of stuff packed all into one. So for this month, I’m going to try and blog once a month so it won’t seem like so much. I’ve been really busy getting my Etsy shop together and I finally got it up. There’s not much in there because I’m still getting settled but I’ll let you guys know when I update. I’m planning on offering hand carded batts, Hand dyed roving, maybe some hand dyed yarn, stitch markers, maybe some jewelry and hand knit head bands. We’ll see how it goes. I also started another swap for all you spinners so go check it out.

Thanks for checking in on me and I‘m sure my next post will be much smaller.

Happy craftin!

It Was Inevitable...

Well, it certainly was inevitable. Following along the natural progression of things, it’s only right that I was tricked in easily persuaded to try another craft. I may have to open an Etsy shop just to support my crafting habit (I’m not kidding). Sheesh. Before I tell you what the new craft is, although I’m sure you can guess based on my last post, let me give you a little background.

In my last post, I posted some stitch markers that I whipped up out of the blue. I have a bead shop near my job on Broadway (Mecca of all things Bootleg) that I go in some times and buy little sparkly things when the mood hits but I never spend much. So my enabler buddy Shameka offers to show me how to bend T pin wire to get the perfect loop for my stitch markers. Kewl Beans! We have a little get together at my place because we couldn’t think of any place in the city where we could convene and not have people looking at us like we had two heads or something. After we finished catching up we went right to the knitty gritty of beading. OMG, my eyes have seen the light. She bought with her some of the loveliest beads I had ever seen. She even had the nerve to have on a pair of earrings that she made herself. Of course I forgot to take a picture of them but they were gawjus (Hint: Shameka please post pics of your jewelry on your blog, thankyouverymuch). Being the enabler friend that she is, she even showed me this place online. Time must have been running in hyper speed or something but before we both knew it, she had to get going. After she left, I had to practice my new skill so I stayed up past midnight making stitch markers. I can say right then and there is when I became obsessed.

By the end of the week, I had ran through Beads World and Toho Shoji. I’m in bling bling heaven. Of course I had to try my hand at a pair of earrings but I need bigger beads and a lot more practice (Hint: Shameka, there are still things you need to teach me so whens the next get together?). I need another job, that’s what I need. I have no idea what I’ll do with all these stitch markers but all I know is that making these sparkly little rays of sunshine makes me smile inside.

Oh, and I got a new toy which I will talk about next post but here’s a preview.
I really need to get that Etsy shop going.

Happy Craftin

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.

Hello, It's me again (pic heavy)

Well, well, well, so we meet again. Um, where did February go? I think I slept through it or something because I can’t believe it’s time to “spring forward” already. Sheesh. Anyhoo, I’ve been doing some knitting and spinning and joined a couple of swaps so let’s just jump right into the fiber escapade, K.

On The Knitting Front.

Here’s how far I’ve gotten on my Dream sweater.

I’m right up to the armhole decreases on the back(again). Quick story. When I got to the armhole the first time, I figured that since I didn’t have gauge, that I couldn’t use the decreases that were written for the pattern. Keep in mind, that not once did I refer to my little notebook that has all my notes about this project. So I thought it a good idea to refer to my Knitters Handy Book of Patterns book and just use the decreases they had for my stitch count and gauge. So I went merrily along doing all the armhole decreases written in the knitter handy pattern book. So after I finish doing all the decreases and about an inch more of the armhole something tells me to look at the pattern and see how the two compare. So my pattern says for the back to CO 108 stitches. I look at my little notebook to see how many I casted on……108 stitches. Noooooooooo. I had gauge all along. I just frogged the armholes yesterday so I can follow the decreases in the pattern. Once I’m done with the back I may start a sleeve just to break up the monotony a little.

I finally finished a project for the Twisted Knitters KAL.I wanted to make socks but things almost always never go as planned so I made mittens. Peekaboo mittens actually.

Remember this yarn. I didn’t think I had enough yarn for a pair of socks so I planned on making fingerless gloves. I used my trusty two at a time, magic loop, pulling from both ends of the ball method to knit these up. Once I got to my knuckles, I realized that I may have enough for mittens so I inserted a provisional row on one side so I could open it up later to make peekaboo mittens like the ones on Magknits. Once I’d finished the mittens and the thumb, I only had enough yarn to crochet around the finger opening. That’s why it looks so craptastic. That’s the story, morning glory.

The other day, Mr DJ tells me that my little ones (J) hat is too bulky for him and that he needs a skully. Of course I chime right in with “I’ll make him one, what color do you want?” J tells me he wants red, so Mama makes it red and everyone’s happy!

And finally, I started my other Fuego sock but that may have to be put on hold because I have another pair of sock to make for one of my swaps.

We Be Spinning

And dyeing! First some fiber pron. I just ordered this roving from Franquemont Fibers after reading about it on Theresa's blog. All I can say is “Mmmmmmmm, yummy” Here’s a picture but of course it doesn’t do it any justice. I spun a little up and it is so dreamy. Thanks, Abby.

Specs: Luxury Batts dyed in the Easter colorway: Merino/Silk/Mohair/Nylon blend.

I’ve playing around with different dyeing techniques. I’m not crazy about the results but I don’t hate it either. They’re just…different.

Here is some Patons Wool that I dyed using Wiltons. I think I used burgundy and Orange. I may use this yarn to replace some socks that Mr DJ felted in the wash.

I haphazardly threw these colors together to dye this Correidale roving. I was trying out the steam dyeing process in the oven so I didn’t really care about what colors I was putting together. I may spin this up all barberpoley, if I ever decide to spin it up that is.

Here’s my current spinning project which I am absolutely in love with. I dyed the roving using Jacquard Acid dyes. The roving is mill ends from the Sheep Shed Studio in dark grays. I didn’t weigh it before I dyed it but I’ll definitely make sure to do so after its spun. The singles right now are at about 32 WPI and I’m planning on Navajo plying it for socks. I’m determined to knit some socks with my handspun if you can’t already tell.

Just for kicks, I spun this small skein of yarn from some roving Necia gave me. I think it’s Wenslydale from Lisa Souza. I don’t’ know, you’ll have to ask her but I really just wanted to practice my Navajo Plying.

Swap-O-Rama

Well, as I said I joined two swaps. Well actually one of them I started just because.

I joined the sock swap for my Meetup group, Sit n Knit. Believe it or not, but of all the 6 miles of sock yarn I have in my stash (seen here) I didn’t have anything that qualified for what my partner wanted so I took a quick trip to Seaport Yarns to pick up some Louet Gems. This project will have to be kept hush-hush because I’m not sure if she reads my blog. I’ll post a pic once they’ve been swaped.

The second swap I created on swap-bot. I don’t know about other knitters/spinners out there but I keep little sample skeins of yarn in my purse sometimes. K, I’m lying, all the time. I’m not afraid to admit it, I like to pet yarn. There I said it. I thought it’d be a good idea to start collecting those little keychain yarn thingies like the ones that Blue Moon included as part of their sock club (no, I didn’t join and I’m hella jealous of all of you who have). The details of the swap can be seen here.

I think I’ve said all that I need to say. Till next time kiddies.

Craft on!