Wow its been a while since I last posted. I’ve noticed that some of the blogs I visit slow down considerably this time of year. So after a lengthy move, our family moved from a big spacious house to living with my in-laws. Its been quite an adjustment. Our new bedroom is tiny but I was expecting that. Our old room was the size of the living room, kitchen and garage put together in our new home! We moved in so I could concentrate on going back to school and getting a degree of some sorts. It hasn’t been easy though but I keep reminding myself its for a better future!

My weaving has taken a big back seat as well. My loom doesn’t fold up for storage, I didn’t want to save up more money so I could get a foldable one. Too impatient! So it sits out like a sore thumb and Lily has done a good job coloring on it. Plus there isn’t any room for me to direct warp it. So I’m a little sad about that, I don’t have room or time to weave but no space to store it away.

This was the last thing I was able to weave before the move. I used two hanks of Yarn Pirate BFL in Neptune. Very lovely stuff to work with! It is a tad bit itchy on the neck but nothing a good soak would fix. There is one flub: the braided fringe is longer on one end than the other! Still I’m so proud of it.

Variegated yarns make such beautiful fringe!

Pattern: Morning Surf Scarf
Yarn: 3 Koigu KPPPM P114
Tools: Knit Picks Harmony size 6
Modifications: 2 rows of garter stitch between drop stitch pattern

Can’t get enough of braided fringe. I still haven’t blocked this so its a little shorter than I like. The Morning Surf pattern works great for crazy colored yarn and its super easy to memorize. The only other thing I can say is I wish the lighting was better! My room doesn’t get much sunlight, in fact even during the day the living room looks like its late evening. I do miss that, the old place had large windows so everything was bathed in sunlight.

I still have several more finished projects to post but I’ll save it as fodder for another time!

Wow, I was supposed to blog at least once a month. When did it become September? Still been busy packing and cleaning up my Mom’s house. Since she works so much I’ve been left to go through all her and my little brother’s belongings. Been throwing away TONS of stuff. Having a hard time of it, but I’m trying to get rid of how much stuff I have as well. Its ridiculous how people can accumulate junk!

I learned to weave and I absolutely love it.

(My new current project, making a larger and longer Yarn Pirate Killer bees scarf that is for me)

This is a Ashford Rigid Heddle Loom 16″ with the loom stand. I purchased it from Winderwood Farms which I highly recommend. Free shipping is always nice as well! I’ve had it for about a month now and this thing can belt out scarves.

I learned how to warp, weave and finish a scarf all in one day! This one has a ton of mistakes as I didn’t put enough tension on the warp. I used some leftover Fleece Artist Baby Alpaca (from the Handmaiden throw) as weft (as in left and right) and Knit Picks Bare Merino DK as the Warp (up and down). My first woven scarf was finished in one day, soft and uglier than Grandma’s couch. So I put a large pot on the stovetop, added some Kool Aid and overdyed it.

For my second scarf I used one skein of Yarn Pirate Merino Sock in Killer Bees as the warp and weft. Even though I used fingering yarn this was done in under two days. Its a little on the short side, but thats how my friends likes her scarves. My selvages weren’t the best either. Its a lot easier to keep the selvages even when your working with a thicker weight yarn. Still, it made for a very light and soft scarf.

This one is my favorite by far. I used Handmaiden Ottawa in dark Hercules as the warp and weft. Its a lot more bigger than the scarves I usually make but since weaving makes a light fabric its not cumbersome to wear. It was kind of itchy off the loom so I soaked it in hair conditinoer. I see myself wearing this often come winter.

My selvages are much better here. As pretty as the yarn was, I don’t reccomend single ply yarns for weaving. It tends to ’stick’ more to the other threads, not to mention the breakage that can occur!

I LOVE the color of this scarf. I used 2 skeins of Handpaintedyarn.com Merino Bulky in Odds’n Ends 10. Very lovely project from beginning to end, although the dye did rub off on the heddle. It also took forever to rinse clean! This one is destined for my mother in law and I hope she likes it.

Still working on my Koigu scarf, it seems like all my other hobbies has taken a back seat to weaving. My spinning has reached a complete standstill because I think I want a wheel. Not just any wheel, a Bosworth Journey wheel. Since my loom isn’t very space-conscious I need a wheel that is and the Journey fits the bill. I’ll have to wait quite a while though, there is a waiting line for them and it will probably take until next year! I think weaving has ruined me, my patience for spinning just flew out the door.

Pattern: Baby Pinwheel Blanket
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece 2 Alpine Lilac, 3 Prosperous Plum, 2 Pink Diamond
Tools: Knit Picks Options size 7
Modifications: I-Cord beginning

I can’t believe this thing took 6 months to knit. Its such a pleasure to have it all done now and I’m starting to like it more and more. There was supposed to be a complete row of light purple at the end but I had to unknit 10 rows! I had totally fudged a yarn over. So I declared it done and crocheted a picot edging. Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece is a nice yarn to work with, especially for a girl (like me) that doesn’t like working with cotton in the first place. The dark purple did run into the pink a little bit but that could of easily been prevented with some vinegar and a couple more rinses. I think I was just sick of this that I was lazy at the end.

Pattern: Bobble Afghan from Bernat

Yarn: Bernat Baby Coordinates 5 Soft Mauve, 1 Pink

Tools: Size H hook

I was 7 months pregnant when I started this project and I was done by the next month! I worked on this like a madwoman all day, every day until it was done. This was also one of the first times I followed a pattern. Lily loves this blanket and as a baby she would swing her arms across the bobbles. Still, it was a pain in the ass to complete, what with the swollen hands and bouts of I’m-Fucking-Dying heartburn. Seriously, to this day one of the worst pains I have ever felt was the heartburn I got before and after birth. To the point where I could only writhe in pain. Pregnancy was fun but I’m certainly not nostalgic about it!

With one blanket off the needles another must go on. I have a couple Rules of the Craft for myself, one of them being at all times I must have one knit blanket WIP and one crochet blanket WIP. So with the Pinwheel off I casted on for Joseph’s Blankie of Many Colors from Mason-Dixon Knitting. I’m using limited edition Fleece Artist 3/6 in some very man-tastic colors. Pure love is all I feel for this. This one is going to be for Lily and I.

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Hello everyone! This is my blog’s new home. If you’ve come over from my old blog thanks for following me here!

So, I’ve learned to spin! I recently became a big fan of Crazy Monkey Creation’s sock yarns. She also happens to dye roving and this is what pushed me to learn.

Superwash Merino in Cavern Shadows

Purple Beginnings

I absolutely love spinning. When I first learned to crochet and knit, I never once thought “Why didn’t I learn this sooner?” With spinning its more like, “All the wasted years!” Anyway, I used a Cascade Little Si top whorl, which is good for beginners. It can be a little cumbersome to shove a whole 4 oz of fiber onto but I make do. In the future I’d like to get a bigger top whorl, one that can easily handle gobs of fiber. A small little one too for laceweight. I forsee many spindles in my future.

This is my second offical FO, I wanted to make a boucle type of yarn. I’ve learned all I know about drop spindle spinning via Youtube, but the one thing I don’t see much of is plying techniques. So I had to ‘guess’ and this is what I came up with. I call it Catchum, which is something a weird character called Catch says in Super Bust-a-Move. Most of you will just think I’m batty, wondering why I name my handspun Cat Chum.

Catchum

As for the other hobbies, I’ve done little crocheting and knitting. The Baby Pinwheel blanket is finally finished! I have yet to wash it but I will post it soon. Had to frog a good 10 rows at the last part, quickly grew to despise it and cast-off immediately. I refuse to knit hate.

I did start another project (that I am loving), the Morning Surf scarf. The yarn is Koigu KPPPM P114, its a very muted rainbow yet all the more lovely. Its definitely not as bright as the other P114s swimming around.

Denim Rainbow Scarf in Koigu KPPPM P114

Denim Rainbow Close-up