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Latest FO: Confetti the Zombie Cat Stuffie

Confetti the Zombie Cat

 

Finished him several days ago and I’m working on a second. This one is going to a charity but the next is going to Littlest Beanlet.  I had quite a bit left over of this yarn so I’m using up that plus other stash yarn. I have this ginormous bag of poly fill that never seems to empty and that’s being put to good use.

 

This is simple Craft Smart yarn from Michaels, I think their ‘house’ brand. Not a lot of colors as far as I know but I liked this variegated colorway and I figured it didn’t matter who got it, as they’d probably be happy just to have it.

 

Not a whole lot more on the needles right now other than some long-standing WIPs I don’t want to touch.  That cabled hat from the last post was part of a monthly project I’m doing with my Vchat ladies. January was a hat. February will be colorwork but I have NO idea what pattern I will do. I got wind of a crocheted colorwork hat pattern that I just might try. We will see.

 

Also, I’d like to get more blue into my crafting this year. Spring-y, Summer-y blues. And greens too. I grew up obsessed with the color red so I figure it’s time for a change. Only time will tell..

 

TTFN!!

 

Whoa! Happy New Year 2013!

Time sure has flown, hasn’t it. Last I blogged it was the end of November. I’d petered out that last week or so of NaBloPoMo. I was holding my own for a bit there, but yeah. I’d probably have better luck with a sweater. ;)

But the holiday time has come and gone and there was crafting and the emergence of a new, obsession, to use a better word. Nails!

Christmas nails--Project52 week 52

I’d gone to a holiday swap dinner and learned about a monthly nail subscription from Julep. I really like the polishes I got from it; nice and thick, smooth texture and nearly opaque on the first coat! Not sure I’ll purchase every month but I’ll definitely be participating again. I like nail polish because it’s a way to pretty myself up without makeup. I don’t work outside the home, so I have very little need to keep up foundation and lipstick and all that jazz, so nails are the next best thing!

Between polish changes I’ve been crafting.

Cowl-Hat--Project52 week 51

Oh So Cozy Cowl

Handspun Falkland from ShadyFibers

Size 5.0mm  Tunisian crochet hook(H)

Remember when I picked up tunisian crochet back in 2012? Well, it resurfaces every so often and this time it was in the form of a cowl. Strangely enough, it was too narrow to be comfortable so I cinched off the top and now it’s a hat! Perfect! It has a nice, easily memorized stitch pattern, and I’ll probably try it again and get it right the next time!

And here’s my first two FO’s of the new year:

Quick Cable Slouch Hat

Quick Cable Slouch Hat

ArtYarns “Reality”, which I received in the holiday swap

Size 4.5mm and 6.5mm needles

Seed Stitch Mittens (for me)

Seed Stitch Mittens for Men

Misti Alpaca “Qolla”, also received in the holiday swap

Size 4.0mm needles

I’m currently working on a tunisian crochet shawl called Venus. I’m almost done, but here’s a sneak peek:

venus_beginnings_medium

It’s turning out fairly large unblocked because I’m using a sport weight yarn instead of lace, but it won’t grow that much more because it’s a microfiber yarn.

That’s it for this post, TTFN!

And There It Goes…(NaBloPoMo Days 24-30)

I knew I couldn’t do it. I start out all gung-ho and lose steam. Never fails. I can live with it. I’m just not that deep. If I don’t have anything to say, I don’t say anything. And so it goes with blogging. Oh sure, I probably could pop something out regularly if I were being compensated for it, and yes, I know, blogging shouldn’t always be about money. But hell, not a whole lot happened in those 7 days, so I moved on quietly.

 

OK that’s not entirely true. In those 7 days, I finished the Loop Batt, and the Lavendar No-name fiber. At least 200 yds on each of those, weight to be determined. Now I’ve got the Little Bart Coopworth on the bobbin.  I started it out on the spindle and it just didn’t draft well. Once I switched to the wheel it was easy breezy. But I then realized I can’t long-draw for shit and gave up on ever doing that. I’m an inch worm/short-draw spinner, and I’m OK with that.

I cast on and finished a brown hat to match my Harlequin. And queded a crap-ton of projects I shouldn’t have when I have a bunch of untouched WIPs and stacks of other things already in the queue. No wonder I can’t finish anything; I can’t finish anything! ;)

 

I also realized I’m going to have to get it together concerning DIY projects I’ve been wanting to do. Like making my own PVC niddy-noddy and skein winder. I’d like to take another shot at making my own door-table but this time, I’ll use a solid door and sturdier legs. I still would like a folding option, which will complicate things, as I hadn’t been able to locate a sturdy pair of folding legs anywhere the last time I tried a door-table. I’ll have to look harder next year.

 

So much to do, so little time. Bit off more than I could chew, but, unlike with food, I can spit some out, set it aside and take it slow. Yeah, who am I kidding. Full speed ahead! I must craft All. The. Things!

 

TTFN!

 

 

It Was Good. (NaBloPoMo Day 23)

 

Table set and ready to go

 

Despite some important guests not showing up, Thanksgiving dinner at the in-laws proved to be a good time. The kids got to bump around and make all kinds of noise and mess up stairs, and the adults chatted  about everything under the sun(including the missing guests) until food was served.  After a delicious dinner and dessert(cheesecake!), we gathered in the living room and vegged out. Turkey coma  FTW.

 

I brought my spindle and some of the Coopworth from Little Barn and spun for a while. A couple of people seemed genuinely interested in it and asked me about what I was doing. I had to stop myself from jumping up and giving a lecture on why spinning is such a great thing, and just stayed within the realm of, “It’s fun!”  Sadly I created no converts, even with a lady among us who said she knits! Oh well.

 

To each, their own. (read: More fiber for the rest of us! :) )

 

TTFN!

Give Thanks… (NaBloPoMo Day 22)

 

Obligatory Pie close up shot-- Project52 week 47

 

PIE! Pumpkin pie, to be exact. Nothing fancy, just something to take to the family or dessert this evening. Assuming we don’t eat it all first. ;)

No controversy, no animosity, no standing on lines half the day and all night waiting for crap you don’t need. Just relax with the family and enjoy each other’s love and company. Eat some good cookin, blast some music/football game, laugh at your drunk uncle knocked out in the recliner without his dentures(been there, done that), play with the kids, put your brother’s apron out when he never fails to set it on fire… whatever

 

Just. Be. Thankful. Today, tomorrow, always.

 

TTFN

 

It Didn’t Happen… (NaBloPoMo Day 21)

Of course it didn’t. I wimped out. I got the shoulders seamed on the boy sweater and that’s about it. I really don’t like seaming. Of course, there’s a mess of work to handle if you knit in the round and it has its own issues. Ah well. I think he’ll be warm enough with a regular sweat jacket and his coat.

 

What did happen was I solved the mystery of the clunking footman. After last night’s fiasco concerning getting the hex screw out, it started clunking again. To make a long story short, something had to be removed. Granted, the item in question was supposed to be on the wheel but not where I’d put it. It wouldn’t FIT where it’s supposed to go, which is why I put it where it wound up. But it’s gone now and things are moving much smoother without it. Now to solve the bobbin rattle…

 

So, I got to put some more work into the lavendar Little Barn stuff. It’s a fairly easy spin, if a bit rough. This won’t be socks that’s for sure. It was suggested I make felted slippers. Perhaps, but I was thinking more along the lines of some sort of bag, or pouch for a tablet. I could really use the slippers though. But my bad luck with felting garments to fit scares me away.  Sigh, decisions..

 

Time for relaxation and mental prep for Thanksgiving with the (out)laws. ;)

 

TTFN

Countdown to Turkey Day, and Wheel Madness (NaBloPoMo Day 20)

It has begun, the countdown to Thanksgiving family gatherings. This year it’s the husband’s cousin’s house. We’re not going to do anything super fancy but I’d like the kids to look half decent. It is a holiday, after all.

Sweater Blocking

Boy Beanlet’s sweater is on the blocking board. I figured I could get it blocked tonight, seamed tomorrow and ready to go Thursday. Totally workable. That is, if I can put the Harlequin down and stop spinning fiber. ;)

 

You know it. I have yet to ply the Loop batt(that should be next), and I’ve already started spinning the lavender roving I got from the Little Barn tent at Rhinebeck. And then I heard it: clunk, clunk, clunk…

 

I have a Fricke Double-treadle spinning wheel. Have had it since Feb. 2007. It’s still working well but from time to time, the hex screw holding the footman assembly to the drive wheel gets loose(it’s in a shallow ditch rather than a proper hole, WTF?) and there’s this jerking clunk as I treadle. If I don’t fix that, the damn thing just falls off on me. So, I set out to reseat the screw and…

 

I couldn’t get the damn thing OUT! Try as I might it would not budge. Now, I have two sets of allen keys.  One has several more keys than the other and I couldn’t find the bigger one. I wasn’t sure if the bigger one had a proper sized key so I assumed the key I was trying was correct but that somehow either the screw was stripped or the key was worn. Panic set in as I figured I’d lost my wheel and I’m in no position to get another any time soon.  I like to spindle, don’t get me wrong, I just don’t usually do more than a few ounces on them.

I tried everything. I tried sticking cloth into the hole to make the key thicker to get a grip on the inside of the screw. Nope. I tried gripping the sides of the screw with a pliers.. Nope. Then, the Mr. found the bigger set of allen keys and YAY! It had the right size key.

 

I was able to get the screw out, reseat it, clean up a bunch of gunk on the drive shaft and was good to go. Of course now, it’s late and I’m pooped and ready to relax with a new book. I told you I’d finish “White Heat” last night and I did. Now onto something new!

 

TTFN!

 

Random Thoughts (NaBloPoMo Day 19)

Ha. I did yesterday’s post so early in the day, by the time I’m doing this, it feels like I missed a day. Go figure.

 

Just random thoughts for today:

 

Gee, working with an OpenOffice database can be crazy-making. Eventually I got it working.  It was time to catalog all the fiber I have and I figured a database would keep me honest(yeah, right…). Truth be told I don’t need anymore fiber. Well, at least until this stuff is all spun up! ;)

 

I miss going out and shooting at the gardens and zoos. I had hoped once school started up after Sandy I could get back into it, but blah. I did a little photo walk last Sunday and that’s been about it. I do plan to see the Holiday Train show at the NY Botanical Garden this year. I learned from last year NOT to go when everybody and their mom was rushing in. As members of the garden I didn’t expect a huge crowd for the member’s preview. Boy was I wrong. So, one of these days I’ll mosey in on a weekday first thing and have the run of the place. Heh.

 

Oh man, it just hit me why I’ve been thinking, “Gee it’s so warm in here…”. I had on too many layers. I usually wear t-shirts all year round, with the occasional turtleneck and of course a knit sweater. Somehow in my absentminded-ness, I put on a shirt AND a turtleneck. Sigh. Oh well, it’s done.

 

I am beat. Gonna curl up and hopefully finish “White Heat”. It’s been a longer book than I expected. I guess not all free Kindle e-books are short wrecks. ;)

 

TTFN

Relearning Crochet (NaBloPoMo Day 18)

hoodie 2-2

I learned to crochet as a child, but apparently I wasn’t doing it right. I let that go until my young adult years when I was expecting my first child. I crocheted most of a layette set(I wasn’t interested in the booties), and it turned out I could use only the hat and blanket. The ‘jumpsuit’ wouldn’t fit most preemies. So much for gauge, I didn’t even know what that was. Didn’t do a swatch!

Fast foward to the impending birth of my last child and I was at it again. This time I was gonna get it right! I’d re-learned crochet. I had “Crochet in Plain English”, by Maggie Righetti and a host of hooks and yarn at the ready.  I was, however still too chicken to go the whole layette route and opted for blankets and hats and sweaters.. Easy, boxy, things.  Hell, before a year was out, I was making hair scrunchies(I miss those!), bags, hats, scarves, blankets. I’d even gotten into Tunisian crochet.

But I fell into knitting almost a year later when I got frustrated that all the ‘nicer’ stuff turned out to be knitted. I went through phases of preferring one over the other and today, I can comfortably say I don’t have a favorite of the two. They are equal in my heart. They *do* have differences that I like about them(for instance, ripping  regular crochet is less stressful because you only have one live stitch at a time; no need to have a bunch of stitches secure on a needle  when you’re done ripping, like with knitting or tunisian; knitting is slower but uses less yarn, etc.), but I’ve long given up thinking one was *superior* to the other, ya know?

Well, I had to re-discover a neat crochet tip yesterday while v-chatting. Apparently I could avoid all the many ends of multi-yarn crochet projects by stitching over the loose ends on the next row of crochet. Duh! Why didn’t I think of that? I have been trying to keep the errant ends on the inside/wrong side of the work and so far, so good. But I’d only done it the last couple color changes so I still have a bunch of ends to deal with. Oh well, Live and learn.

hoodie 2

TTFN!

A Good Day (NaBloPoMo Day 17)

I had a good day. You know, the kind of day where you look forward to bed, not because you’re tired but because everyone else is asleep and you can lay back and relive the day and smile.

 

OK, to be honest, I’m not sure if my enjoyment of the day is smile-worthy but it was still a good day.  I made progress on my Harlequin Hoodie and am ready for the next step. Pictures tomorrow. I’d have taken them today, but between working on that and v-chatting with my knitgirls, I finished spinning the red Merino. Woohoo! All done. I think it’s about 4 oz. Wish I had my trusty scale to be sure.

 

Now that I’ve cleaned off the craft table a bit I can see stuff. Like the ounce of Suri Alpaca/Sparkle I picked up at Rhinebeck last month. I tend to prefer plying my spindle-spun singles on the wheel to get it done faster and more evenly, so my spindle is now free to try the Alpaca. I’m so nervous about it, because I really want to get this spun as fine as possible without over-spinning or getting too many thicker spots/blobs. I am considering spinning from the fold, very. slowly. We’ll see.

 

Dinner is long gone and even the cat’s asleep. I’m gonna cut this short and hit the sack and work on “White Heat”.

 

TTFN!