New Year’s Day!

What are you doing this New Year’s Day?  Me, I’m spending it with a group of fiber people!

You know, I never gave that description any thought when I started hanging out with spinners and knitters because of the company I was in when I said it, but outside of that community I’ve had lots of funny looks from people and then I realized they thought I meant “fiber” as in dietary fiber!

Today I’m taking not only my spinning wheel and new jumbo flyer so I can finish up the roving I’ve been working on, but I also made the bodies of 3 hats on my Singer HK-100 bulky knitting machine yesterday so now they just need to be sewn up to finish them.  That's the part I dislike the most, but I'll be able to finish them up in no time because I’m going to concentrate on them today, and someone there might even have an easier way to sew them up than I've been able to figure out so far, too.

I'm also going to take those over sized Fuzzy Feet slippers I made with me so I can finish the toes and then get them into the wash to felt them.  I have to say, I’m quite pleased with how they’ve turned out and I’ll be taking a toe-up sock pattern with me today so I can start learning how to do those, too.

I’m also taking a Coca Cola Chocolate Cake.  I’ve never tried it, or made it, before but I’ve never made socks before, either.

So, today it sounds like a lot of "finishing" going on!  That sounds fabulous to me, because they say that whatever you do on New Years Day is what you'll do the rest of the year.   And by "they" I mean the gals I'm getting together with, and who knows who they got it from! :-) 

I’ve really been  looking forward to our get together, I seem to come back calm and centered after spending a day with them.  There’s food, laughter, conversation and lots of creativity and support..

Next weekend, I’ll quilt.

Happy New Year!

Last quilt of the year…coming soon!

I’m well on my way to the toe on my second Fuzzy Feet felted slipper, then on to learning how to Kitchener stitch.   But more importantly, I’m almost done with my last customer quilt of the year…and it’s GORGEOUS!

Yes, I like the quilting design I’m putting on it, and yes, I picked something that took way longer than it probably needed to,  but when I first saw this quilt…well, I fell in love.  It’s just so peaceful.

I love bright colors.  I’m animated. I’m always on the go.  This quilt is none of that.  I’ll be finishing up the border tonight, while my husband is at work.  As much as I’m dying to, I’m not going to post a sneak peak of the quilting, but you’ll know what I mean when you see it.

Once this quilt is finished, then I can focus on my own projects:

Finishing the Fuzzy Feet felted slippers

Finishing a surprise quilt for a friend

Finishing the last round of my Pass-the-Bag project

Replacing the sponge in the HK-100 knitting machine

Making at least 6 hats on the knitting machine

Replacing the electrical plug on the Passap

Cleaning up the Passap

More knitting projects…check out my Ravelry queue!

Spending time at my LYS

New Year’s Day spinning

Today, though, we need to go car shopping.  Last week my husband’s 20 year old van broke down, the one he uses for his side jobs doing drywall.  It’s been very enlightening having only one vehicle, and truly emphasizes the lack of bus service in Boise!

I’ve drawn a line in the sand on spending anymore money for repairs; there’s over 194,000 miles on it!  We’ve already put in more money than we should have, trying to get it to last until Spring.  For the most part it’s been a good vehicle, but it’s time to replace it.  Terrible timing, though.

Oh, and my mom is coming to visit at the end of the week, after Christmas, so we’ll have our own celebration then.

For those of you don’t celebrate Christmas, I hope you enjoy the festive atmosphere of this holiday season.  For those of you who do, Merry Christmas!

Sock Knitting!

This is my first "sock"!

About 3 years ago, someone suggested that I use the Fuzzy Feet felted slipper pattern from Knitty.com to learn how to make socks and I finally got up the courage to start it!

I'm using a double strand of Fisherman's wool where I took the ends from the middle pull and paired it with the end of the ball, and because I'd wound the skein into two, somewhat similar sized balls, when I got to the toe of this first sock and was running out of yarn from the first ball, I figured I should make a design decision and finish it up with another color.  What's showing as green in the photo is actually brown in person.

Yes, it's gigantic, but it's supposed to be so that it will shrink to the appropriate size when felted.  It's a top down sock and now I need to learn how to do the Kitchener stitch to close up the toe.

I've even cast on the second sock (no second sock syndrome for me)!  Last night I got the 2nd cuff done and I'm ready to start the heel flap.  I'm really getting excited to learn how to make some everyday socks now!  After learning the Kitchener stitch, I'll learn how to make toe up socks.

More Knitting Obsession!

Yesterday I finished a very warm, beautiful cowl made out of  Plymouth Yarn Baby Alpaca Grand Hand Dye 002. The pattern is called Kato Cowl, by Rae Ann Vandeputte.  Her pattern is shown with some beautiful buttons, but I think I’ll be getting some shawl pins, or using some of my scarf pins, to add to the cowl.  I got the yarn during a visit to Seattle for a family funeral this summer and found Main Street Yarns in Everett, WA.  Unfortunately for them, it was the first day of their going out of business sale.  However, I took advantage of the sale and got 4 great skeins of yarn and a set of Kollage knitting needles.

This alpaca yarn is quite squishy and soft, but once I got it worked up and sewn into the cowl so I could try it on, I found it a little bit itchy.  I'm going to get some wool wash and see if that makes an improvement.  Otherwise, I’ll be wearing it with a turtleneck!

I can't believe I actually used something out of my stash in the same year I purchased it!  This knitted up so quickly, I think it's the fastest I've ever done a project!  I might have to make these for Christmas gifts!

I started a top down felted slipper pattern yesterday to keep me busy on the bus.  I’m having trouble with it, though, I’ve ripped it out about 5 times now; the right side is supposed to be on the OUTSIDE!

Sigh.  I’ll get it, though.

I Finished!

Since I've been riding the bus, I've been taking my knitting with me. I started a hat for my husband and I finally finished it!

I'm really a pretty basic knitter, I haven't done too much fancy stuff, although I absolutely adore yarn and and am quite fascinated by all things fiber.  I've even started up a yarn stash again, much to my chagrin. I certainly don't need more collections!

I found this pattern on Ravelry called the Big Man hat.  For once I actually checked my gauge, and I decided to go with a size 8 instead of the size 6 this pattern called for. Now that it's finished, I really think I should have used the size 6 ...its huge!

Rather than ripping it out again, yes again,  (I started this last year with a different pattern, and it was way too big) I decided that a little roomie is ok and I finished it up just in time for the cold weather.

I'm considering making him another hat with a different pattern, or redo this one using smaller needles, as I really would like it to fit a little more snugly. But I may have to put that off for now, I have lots of other projects in the queue; I hope I can find the right size needle.

My First Knitting Machine Hat

I’ve been trying to learn how to use the knitting machine that my cousin gave me.  Of course, I don’t want to learn on my “good” yarn!…does anyone else do that?  “Save” your “good” stuff for later?

Some of the problem has been that I just haven’t really known what to make, and I don’t know what stitches to try to make said unknown project.  It’s really a bit of a switch, changing my mindset from hand knitting, and even then I pretty much only make washcloths and scarves anyway!  I am a quilter, after all.

I’ve hand knit several long skinny scarves with the hairy novelty yarn, so I’ve been trying to use some of those in the knitting machine, too, and have had a hard time with them.  One of my internet group suggestions was to run some “regular” yarn through the machine to make sure it is working properly.

So, I went rummaging around my stash of yarn and found some Lion Brand Fun 100% acrylic yarn that I’d bought at a ridiculously cheap price a couple of years ago, when I thought I’d make a Bronco scarf or something and never got around to it.  This hat is the result, and I’m thrilled with it!

The light doesn’t do it justice, it’s really darling!  I had no idea how big it would actually turn out to be, because I was experimenting, and it’s much too small for my small adult sized head, so I’ll give it to the church charity hat drive when I finish sewing up the side seam.

One thing about making round objects on a flat knitting machine is that you have to seam most of them to complete them, and I’ve found that is my least favorite part.  But I learned a lot on this project and had a blast doing it.

A Finish!

I just finished my first long skinny scarf  using one skein of novelty yarn out of my stash.  I used my Bond Ultimate Sweater Machine, which I've had  forever, and took me just under an hour!  That is, after the learning curve where I figured out how many needles to use and after I ripped it out the first time.   The trick was using every other needle and going very slowly. I was afraid I'd run out of yarn before I got it cast off so I actually could have made a few more rows before ending, but that’s also part of the learning curve.

I used 9 needles total, although I thought I had cast on more, but that was before I started over.  I think I may sew this into an infinity scarf as it will wrap around my neck 3 times, which looks like a faux fur collar.  I thought the weighted hem was really too heavy so I only used one weight bar on each side, and once it got long enough, I used my knees to support the weight.  Again, I can’t stress “go slowly” enough!  When it got really long I started using the claw weights.  I had to rip back a few rows a couple times, which was the reminder to slow down.

I have several more skeins of this, and some eyelash, yarn that I want to get out of my stash.  They make really great, fast, inexpensive gifts and add a pop of color to an outfit.  And yes, they are surprisingly warm, although you do have to get used to the fibers against your bare neck. :-)

New Year’s Day Goodness

I was invited to spend New Year’s Day with a group of die hard fiber enthusiasts….knitters, spinners and weavers…who quickly became new friends.

We were hosted by Mitzi Meyer, at her home in Sweet, Idaho.  I am ashamed to say, in the 8 years I’ve lived in Idaho, I’ve rarely been outside of Boise; I didn’t even know there was a town named Sweet! I truly enjoyed the drive, it reminded me of my native Montana surroundings, and the next time my mom visits I’ll definitely take her out that way.  Their home was absolutely beautiful and perfect for this get together.

Of course, I took more projects than I was able to work on, but my motivation was to take advantage of all of the expertise in the room to get advice for completing several UFOs including:

1. A 27 year old sweater that has been in “time out” (more on that later)
2. A spinning project that stalled last year
3. Instruction on how to ply my newly spun yarn

I showed off the hat that I started a couple of months ago for my DH, which is almost finished but didn’t make my Christmas deadline…and got a good laugh from everyone because it’s absolutely gigantic!

My knitting machine sample got some attention as well, and I spent quite a bit of time talking with Angie, who is also trying to learn more about how to work her own knitting machine.

It was obvious that this is a close group of friends, but I felt welcome and included and look forward to spending more time with this unique and talented group.

Mitzi also runs an online store, Mitzi's Yarns for Weavers and Knitters, where she sells mill ends and closeout inventory, and of course, we were able to peruse her wares. Mitzi had earlier showed off a scarf/shoulder cape she’d made, and written the pattern for, with a combination of two strands of yarn that I thought would work perfectly to keep me warm this winter.

I’ve been looking for this sort of pattern and I was able to get enough yarn for the pattern to make 3 different color options using a mohair /wool /acrylic blend. I’ll pair one of theses colors with the black wool blend yarn and see how it turns out before I decide on what I want to pair the next one with. If it goes like I think it will, I might already be ahead of next Christmas’ gift season!

This might be one of those projects that is the knitting equivalent of a PSQ though, since this is a lace weight yarn (I think) and I’ve never worked with something so small!  However, I had an idea that I might be able to ply these two yarns together using my spinning wheel and treat the resulting yarn as one strand.

I’m back to my quilting this weekend.  I hope you all had a great holiday and got time to spend with all of your wonderful creative toys.

I have an excuse….

I knew time was flying by and that I had been neglecting my blog; it’s been an entire month since I last posted…and it’s been because I just have been so busy that I haven’t had time to write it all down!

I finally finished my 10 Minute Block quilt…the one I call my “practice” quilt because I practiced 6 different quilting techniques on each of the blocks.  I really love how the colors worked so well together, especially since all but the border and backing fabric were from my stash.  I convinced a friend of mine to make more of these blocks, to practice the technique, and I will practice quilting on that one, too.  She’s skittish about making the decision about the borders, so I’ll have to add those when I get it back from her.

This quilt was a challenge for me to quilt, because I practiced all free motion or used rulers I’d purchased but haven’t used.  I really want to get out of the rut of thinking I can only do pantographs;  I really like the consistency of a panto, it’s just that I want to develop more confidence in my custom quilting, and the only way to do that is to practice!

I’m working on making enough, and varied, projects that I can have a table at one of the local Saturday markets.  I picked up a roll of strips I’d started stringing together last year when I’d put together several to make  a lasagna quilt.  Being in a hurry, and relying on my newly formed habit of using straight of grain borders, I thought *maybe* I could get away with just sewing the borders on as I went, then cutting them off at the bottom.  Nope.  See these wavy things??  I recently saw something describing them as “friendly”!…and they sure are!  So, no quick and easy quilt to make available here.

In fact, this is so obvious that I decided I really need to write a tutorial to post for future reference, when someone asks “why shouldn’t I just sew on the border and cut it off at the end?”  Needless to say, it’s still on the design wall!

I even got my garden in two weeks ago!  It was a beautiful day and I took a chance in planting my tomatoes, zucchini and cantaloupe, but they are all doing well.  I added a couple of extra feet on either end of the garden and I still have room to plant at least 2 more mounds of….something!  I haven’t quite decided what it should be yet…maybe cucumbers?…but I need to get it finished before it’s too late!

Earlier in the year I thought I was going to teach a class in the upcoming Boise Basin Quilt Show in June.  I started putting together a project for the class, but we won’t have access to actual sewing machines, and I’m not a hand sewist, so the project stalled.  Well, in an attempt to actually clean up the pile of blocks from my cutting counter and the longarm table, I finally started putting some of the blocks together, and collected the rest of my experiments into a bag for later use.  I found a really great border and I can’t wait to get that on (properly this time) so I can get a photo posted.  It’s really quite feminine and very easy!

I finished working on this customer quilt this weekend.  It’s got a purple flannel back and I used a variegated purple and teal thread on it, which really perked it up.  The panto really was able to pull in some of the fullness and it came out beautiful!

I started another customer quilt on Sunday, which is going quite well, and I’m almost finished with it.  I’m loving how the Anne Bright design is coming out and  I can’t wait for my customer to see this one!  Two more in the queue, so there hasn’t been any time to work on my personal projects or Bronco Quilts, of which I have several ideas!

All that, and I still want to sit down at the spinning wheel again and try drafting fibers again, now that I borrowed a couple of books from the library and got some great ideas.

I need more hours in the day!

I’ve Had an Amazing Day!

Wow…I learned a new skill today!  Spinning!

I am so proud to announce that I bought a 40 year old Ashford spinning wheel on Thursday night!

I’ve oiled it and tightened up the screws, then buffed it out this morning.  It still makes a bit of noise when spinning, even though I oiled every place I can see or think of!  All I can say is ..more oil is needed…somewhere!!

I spent the morning with my friend Diane, of Russet Lodge Knits, who has given selflessly of her skill and passion for knitting and spinning, learning the basics of spinning yarn from a raw fleece! 

Seriously, the woman should write a book! 

She even worked a bit of my raw fleece for me on the carding combs her husband makes, so I could practice spinning!

Of course, being true to my nature, I gave her an opinion on what she should have in the to-be-determined book!  Hee hee!  I would totally pay full price for such a book!

I haven’t gotten the hang of spinning just yet, but getting close…I *might* be a left handed spinner, even though I am right handed….and I seem to want to spin counter-clockwise, to form an S-curve, rather than the Z-angle clock-wise angle.  Maybe that is the machine, maybe that is me….I do seem to do everything backwards!

Now, I am going to ship the fleeces I bought on Craigslist.com to a professional processor, Spinderellas.com,  for cleaning and carding.  I’ve heard that they provide a good service and the product that comes back is very nice.  I spoke with them on Friday; being a newbie, they answered all of my questions and even gave me some idea for blending one of the fleeces I purchased to enhance it, something I hadn’t thought of previously.  They have a lot of great information on their website, so I would highly recommend looking at it if you are interested in processing fleece.

Diane writes knitting patterns, and even has a sock Knit-Along going, using a pattern she wrote herself (she has several for sale on Ravelry)!

I SO want to learn to knit socks…but then, knitting cuts into my quilting time!  Oh, that, and the fact that I keep reversing the sides of my sock, so that I have reversed sides in the outside of the sock …sigh!  I blame the sock affliction all on my friend Christine…

Yes, I could process the wool myself…but as I keep reinforcing to Diane, I am a Quilter who knits, not a Knitter like she is, (yes, with capitals!), and I can have it back in 2-4 weeks and keep quilting!  So, I plan to have my fleece boxed up and in the mail on Monday!

I have been considering bringing my Bronco quilts to several of the summer markets, as well as the spinning wheel, to work on some of the yarn production there, if I don’t have a quilt related project I can bring.  Bown Crossing is a possibility, which is a part of the Indie Works project, or  maybe the Eagle Market, but I haven’t contacted them yet (I’ll post the links later in the week)

Sewing Morning

I have really gotten into working on the knitted helmet liner caps, so have sort of taken a break from working on my quilts…gasp!

I completed one on Friday and started casting on stitches for the next one.     Last night I got the ribbing done and have started the main body.  I had intended to sew this morning, as we had company coming in the afternoon, but I decided that I should work on cleaning up some of the mini piles that have popped up instead.  I’m glad I did, but it sure wore me out!  I had to lay down and take a nap!  We haven’t seen them in several years, and it was sure a nice visit.  I did, however, completely fall off the diet wagon, and I am going to pay the piper in the morning!

As for my current quilting project, I need to “tighten up” some of the half square triangles on the quilt top I am currently working on, that I haven’t named yet, that I took the borders off of early last week.  That way I can put the black inner border back on, and I need to cut the replacement border fabric so I can finish it up.  I’d like to enter this one in the quilt show in Oregon in September.  As a featured guild, the Boise Basin Quilters can enter quilts for no fee, and I plan to take advantage of that!

4th of July

I wanted to share a new project that I started yesterday, that I thought was quite appropriate for the 4th of July celebrations.  What?  A new project without finishing the other one first?  That never happens! ;-)

You’ve seen me post about the organization called American Hero Quilts, who donate homemade quilts to wounded soldiers who come to Madigan Army Hospital in Tacoma, WA.

Well, if quilting isn’t your thing, then I want to let you know about another opportunity to help.  The Yarn Shoppe, a local business here in the Boise area,  is working to make knitted “helmet liners” for The Idaho National Guard’s deployment early this fall.  According to their website:

We are continuing our call for knitters to help make helmet liners for the Idaho National Guard's deployment early this fall.  The 116th Brigade from Idaho , Montana , and Oregon is shipping out to Iraq in September.  There are about 1500 Idaho soldiers and 1200 from Montana and Oregon involved.   We are helping this effort by distributing patterns, discounting the wool yarn needed, and providing a drop off point for the helmets.

These caps are used to help keep the soldiers warm in the winter and can also be soaked with water to keep heads cooler in the summer under the military helmets.

These caps MUST be knitted from 100% wool for safety (acrylic yarns can melt in a fire or explosion) and MUST be in medium to dark earth tone colors (black, grey, browns, tans or greens).

I stopped by their store yesterday afternoon and got a new pair of circular knitting needles and two hanks of the approved wool blend yarn.  I started on the pattern last night after dinner and I completed the ribbing before the dogs started going crazy over the fireworks noise.   I’ve never knitted in the round before, which is what this pattern calls for, so I’m learning a new skill, too.

Fast knitters can probably complete a cap in 4 hours, and, depending on your gauge, one hank of yarn will make 2 caps.

Please consider making a helmet liner, or recruiting someone to do so.  Visit The Yarn Shoppe’s website to find out more information.

This is one small way to let those who give so much for our great country know we care and think about them daily.