over the holidays

For me the holiday madness is over! Yay!! And I am over it! No more mad dash to knit gifts. I am still working on the same weaving project, that could take me a bit of time to finish. But that was not on the 'it must be done before Christmas' agenda.

So for the first Christmas in the mountains it was great!! My son and I went to my elderly cousins home on Christmas Eve. It was good to spend time with family. Christmas day was low key. I dvr all episodes of Doctor Who and thankfully they (BBCA) had a week long Doctor Who marathon to add to my dvr! I got to stay in my jammies, eat junk food all day and watch about 20 hours of Doctor Who!!

What could be better? Playing with fiber and 20 hours of Doctor Who!

I did start on another Rikke hat, for myself, which is almost done as of today. This one I made a bit smaller.

This is the first one.

I also painted with fiber, making rolags has become a favorite pastime. I find the process very soothing and exciting at the same time.  I like the creative process and the seeming randomness of design. Very appealing to the nonconformist in me. These happen to be rolags for art yarn.
If you have never seen one before, this is a blending board. It is my artists color pallet. And like paint, the fibers cannot be un-blended once they have been blended.
I'll share that story with you sometime.

I started out with a few lashings of a merino blend roving (the aqua). Then added some SoftSilk which is some shredded up sari silk. Some purple stuff ( stuff because I don't remember what animal it came from) that I dyed myself, and them some random hand dyed green and yellow curly locks for some added texture and contrast.

Then I take my two dowel rods, and starting at the bottom I place the fiber layer between the rods, gently draft and roll until I have rolled half of the fiber off of the giant doggy brush as my son calls it.  Then I repeat the process for the next half. Two for one :)

I have been participating in the Journey to the Golden Fleece  since February, if you are not familiar it is a fiber spinning creativity course, and really a journey of self discovery.  (More information can be found at Fiberygoodness). I have learned a lot of different techniques, fiber preparations, and in general have reached out more to my creative side.

These I made for my Module Six yarn. I am afraid with the moving of across several states, I got a little bit behind ( Suzy and Arlene just sent out Module Eight-yikes!).  I have some journaling for 6 to do ( and frankly that is not my strong suit) And of course I would rather have spun them on my Aura wheel...but sadly I am still waiting. :-/

Now that the Christmas knitting madness is over I can get caught up on my modules. I so don't want to miss my graduation.  

Oh and I thought I would share with you this, only one out of four of my mother's Christmas Catus' bloomed. It happens to be the one next to the salt lamp. Who knew.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, or what ever holiday you celebrate.

happy fibering xxoo

Merry Christmas Bag

Now that the recipient has her gift, I can post the pictures of the completed bag. This was a fun project, I find most felting projects fun, I guess because they knit up so fast, and take shape fast. Then the end piece is so much different than what you started out with, even in color.

Here is what it looks like per the pattern. Now, having made one, this is how I would change it. To start with, I have to have inside pocket, so I would have to add one on inside as well. The bag is roomy enough on the inside to accommodate an extra pocket. The felting instructions called for the bag and pocket to be felted first then sewn on. What a pain in the patutey! I have to use a tapestry needle with a point to get it through both fabrics, thing 2 to change, sew pocket first, then felt. I think given the size it came out, it would have been fine to do it this way.

Here is a shot of the inside and snap closures.

The striped part is actually a pocket.

There was an error in the pattern when it came to the trim, no biggie, I just had to add 10 more inches to the icord for the trim. I like my bags to hang off my shoulder so I would have made the straps much longer for my self and perhaps even thicker.

When I put the snaps on I went to the fabric store to get the kit since I did not have a tool to put them on with. Well I never dreamed it would be so damn difficult to get them on right. I think I ruined 3 snaps in my attempt to put them on.

Plus I smashed my finger and broke a nail. There must be an easier way to do them than having a stupid little "anvil" and hitting it with the hammer. Obviously JoAnne Fabrics did not have the easier answer.

To felt the bag in the front loader I did something a little different this time. My previous felts took for-ever to become felted. I zip everything up inside a pillow case cover to protect my machine (yes I know, that is a given) then I zipped myself over to Walgreen's and bought a pair of those spikey blue dryer balls for softening. Threw the bag, balls and a heavy towel for balance in the machine, used the Express Wash setting on hot/cold and went to work. I had to run it a second cycle, but it was mostly finished the first time around. I dry flat on my shoe rack in the dyer and that is that. Could not have been easier this time. If I had not been so pressed for time I would have turned the machine off mid-cycle the second time round.

All in all, I am pretty pleased with how it turned out, as was the recipient.

Just In The Nick of Time

Nephew Socks Complete!! Phew!! I was starting to think that I wouldn't make it! Right down to the wire I was.
Now, you may look at this picture and say...hmmmm are those two different colors? It is hard to tell in this picture but, ah, yah... weeellll.... It would seem that once they were knitted up., these two skeins of yarn (same dye lot I might add) have two distinct flavors. The second sock came out much darker. There is more of a color variation in the first one ( on the left).



You can see it a little better in this picture. Now, while I was not entirely happy over that, since they are a Christmas gift, they are for my nephew who happens to be somewhat bohemian (like his Auntie ) so I am sure he will not mind, if he even notices.

The bohemian streak in me doesn't care either, but the Virgo in me is disappointed. This is the first time I have had a Lorna's Laces be so different in the same dye lot. I am thinking it was just my luck grab the one out of the four that didn't quite match.
No chance of being able to whip out another pair before Monday.


Yesterday I spent a maniacal day wrapping gifts. What was I thinking... leaving them all for the end. And as per usual, once I had them wrapped, I realized just how overboard I went...again! I do this every year, and every year I say I will cut back. Raine is so spoiled by her Mimi!
My whole dining room was full to the brim. I kinda looked like a war zone.
Finally by mid afternoon I was finished, gifts sorted out according to their respective homes, bagged up and rready to go. Then the man of the house comes home with a $100 in doggie treats that need to be wrapped for the family pets. Bingo, gives treats and stuffies to his little cuz-er doggies and cats every year. I was so exhausted by the time it was all said and done all I wanted to do was take a hot bath and go to bed.
At the last minute today I decide, because of my schedule this week and lack of time, I packed up my truck with all the gifts, minus the ones for my home of course and take them to work with me. I had to laugh on my way in, because with all those packages piled up in the back seat, All I could think of was that my little red truck looked more like Santa's Sleigh!

Luckily my daughter took pity on me and she and the fam drove to my work to pick up all the gifts. Usually I make a midnight trip to her house and haul them up 3 flights of stairs. She did make mention of the fact there were so many packages ear marked for her house, and that she only had a two bedroom apartment...whatever.

I am now officially done! Signed sealed and delivered! Since I work on both Christmas and Eve, I won't get to join in the festivities but, I feel quite relaxed right now with only something to make for myself.


Now to finish that poor little stocking I started oh-so long ago.

I notice that Blogger-ville has been pretty quiet lately, and small wonder why, since I am sure we have all been on the same self impossed deadline with our knitting.
My Christmas wish to you all..... May all your projects turn out right, and may they all be complete by Christmas Eve night!


P.s. My thanks to all of you who posted on my little poll.

Good Grief Charlie Brown!

Well could I feel any more stupid than I do right now... Sock's for Pete's sake... I can do them in my sleep... well I thought, and well, apparently not. I was happily ripping out my stocking when I noticed, oh horrors of horrors...I forgot to turn the heel... and did I not notice that it looked kinda funny?? Worse, I took a damn picture of it and put it on the Internet, so that nice person in Istanbul that read my blog could see what an idiot I am.

All I can say is Good Grief Charlie Brown! I wonder where my head is sometimes!

Well, I always say that a little public humiliation is also good for the soul...like I don't get enough of that on my job...LOL

Anyway my little stocking is ripped back to the do over part, and sadly, I did not get to work on it. I had planned on running to Hobby Lobby on Monday to look for a green, but I spent the day fighting with Sears to get my washer fixed instead. Fun times!



I think maybe I have Adult ADD! I just flit from project to project, willy nilly. Instead of going to the store in the evening and finishing up one project, I decided to work on the mystery bag...ok the cat is out. It is a bag. Can you tell? I am up to the little snappy parts and then the pocket. The pattern is called Blue Sky Bag from Pursenality Plus. I planned on it to be a Christmas present but if I don't stop spreading my self out I will never be done in time.
Flit again...

I decided I needed to make two pairs of socks for a last minute, overdo Christmas gifts, so I ordered4 skeins of Lorna's Laces charcoal from my favorite Ebay store.
Of course I don't wait for the yarn to get here, but dig around in that ridiculously over stuffed sock yarn bag an pull out a ball of Bamboo yarn from Southwest Trading Co. that I bought at Stitches Midwest this summer.
I have to say, bamboo is absolutely amazing! It feels so incredibly silky on the needles, I can't wait to have it on my foot.Sorry, just another pair of plain ole' boring socks. No exciting pattern for me. I knit for comfort now, since I need to be careful of what I put on my feet. My days of toe socks and cutesy patterns seem to be over.

Here is where I am at with the hats. I currently have 11 finished and 5 scarves. As soon as Sears decides to show up and repair my washer (which better be in the morning) I will get them all washed and packed up to go to the P.A.D.S. shelter. I plan on delivering them along with some donated baby clothes on my next day off, which is Tuesday.

I wanted to have more of them made by now, but I will have to pause on the hat making till I get my other Christmas gifts finished. The little bit of shopping I have done made me realize I am running out of time.

Time to Flit again.

Oops! Got a little carried away!

My Christmas stocking was swimming right along, I am past the heel gusset and onto the foot portion when I realized that I have to, eeerrrk! Slam on the brakes. I am just shy of enough yarn to finish the foot. It was looking ever so purty too!

Do over! I will have to rip back to the leg and make it a little shorter. This is what I get for not planning things out and just sitting there blithely knitting away at 2 am. I have only 1 skein of this red yarn and chances of being able to match the dye lots are slim to none since I bought the yarn over a year ago (or it could have been two). The variance in colors would be just enough for the non-knitter to notice, (tried that trick once before) and of course Spanky would definitely notice!

Hmmm ...maybe if I do the heel and toe in .... No big deal, frogging is good for the soul, and certainly keeps our egos in check, it is a quickie project and I should be able to finish it in a couple of evenings of good TV. That is the nice thing about working with bulky yarns, they knit up fast.

I know, I know, the suspense is killing me too, I can't wait to hang it from the mantel. But I have the next two days off, sorta, so I should be able to finish.

Dawn said: "Do your pom poms ever come a bit loose on top after washing? I've tried fastening as tight as I could and they still wobble about loosely after washing! "

Ok- here is my pom pom trick- I usually do not have a problem with them coming loose. When I make the pom, I leave two long tails from where I tie it off. Then I thread each tail separately through the top of the hat through different stitches. Then, on the inside I take both tails and tie a knot (like your tying your shoes) and pull it as tight as I can, double check the tightness on the public side, the give it one more tug before I secure the knot, (double knotted). I weave the tails into the hat in opposite directions and Viola! I am pretty sure my momma taught me to do it that way.

And or my Bad.... I was on Knit Picks today (damn those emails), and I shopped.

Well it was justified!! I needed a pair of size 1 double points and I can't seem to find those around here. Then there was that cute Girl's Best Friend Anklet pattern calling out to me. Now I know I only do socks in 2x2 rib's for a reason, but I really think that anklet will be tight enough to stay up without feeling like it is cutting into my leg. And if not, well then Sarah gets another pair of socks. I had to get that pretty color they did showed the socks in, and well, black, I need black for work. So see??? Justified Shopping! And besides, sock yarn doesn't really count, right?

About Vickie's Podcast, well I have all of them downloading to my Itunes but sadly, I am not only behind on reading my fav blogs, but I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet. I am hoping to have a chance to walk in the forest preserve with my ipod while I am off so I can get caught up. I am sure I will love it as much as I love Knitty Gritty.