2D5D

make your own spinning wheel?

2008-01-21T08:01:00.000-08:00

My stepfather retired, and since he likes woodworking and similar, I'm going to see if I can get him to make me something like a bulky spinning wheel. He could use a bicycle wheel. This would be great - we'll see. I can't afford an Ashford Country Spinner, but desperately want something like that.

Ravelry lures me in

2008-01-01T19:56:00.000-08:00

I just got on Ravelry.com, and I'm addicted. This will probably be the thing to get me back netted into the web.

Knitting:

This year, I did some stuff:
1. Lace: got a start on lace knitting
2. Socks: toe up short row heel: the best way
3. Entrelac: not hard, and fun to do

Next year, some goals:
1. More lace, smaller yarn. Try not to make a mess of it.
2. Socks:
a. Short row toe
b. Magic loop!
c. If b isn't a disaster, then 2 at a time on a loop!
3. Entrelac socks
4. Fairisle!:
a. Learn how
b. if a isn't a complete disaster, maybe (gasp) steeks...? EEK STEEKS

go see the winner

2007-09-30T09:41:00.001-07:00

here!

Clearly, it is not me (though I think I got a couple of votes). I think the right creature took the prize. The whole thing was lots of fun, maybe I'll try the next one as well.

done

2007-09-27T17:06:00.001-07:00

Go vote!

2007-09-26T12:06:00.000-07:00

I didn't think it was going to be enough yarn, but then it actually turned out to be a little bigger than I thought in height. It was particularly difficult to knit the bead cord/wool yarn (especially with short rows)! The lace pattern didn't exactly come out, but I think the wings worked pretty well considering (unfortunately, the beads don't show well in the pictures). The head and body are not in the proportion that I had expected, and the eyes ended up on the side of his head (as if perpetually looking over his shoulder), but I still like the final result.

If anyone's around, you can see all the entries here!

handspun bug tales

2007-09-25T13:01:00.000-07:00

So, I spun the yarn on a spindle.

I didn't think it would be enough

I started the crochet body, then began to knit the first wing. It was particularly difficult to knit the bead cord/wool yarn (especially with short rows)!

More soon!

Contest progression

2007-09-18T14:00:00.001-07:00

Picture:

Plan:
I plan to crochet the body, but to knit the wings so that they can be lacy. The tail will be black wool, a red/purple merino/ingeo stripe, the main body a combination of greenish-grey merino, grey wool, and purple-silver sparklies. The wings will be blue merino spun with clear bead cord (for rigidity) with a few little purple beads (for beadiness). The head will be a mix of various pinks and purples in merino, ingeo, and nylon. The eyes will be some red beads, and the antennae will be black wool. About 7 inches in length for the body, and around 7 wingspan as well.

Fiber:

Now to spin!!

Short spinning venture

2007-09-13T17:12:00.000-07:00

I've decided to attempt the Pluckyfluff spin challenge #2.

Since I've been gone so long that nobody could possibly still be checking this blog, I'll hold off on explaining why I've been gone until I'm sure I'm actually coming back.

thinking

2007-08-29T15:18:00.001-07:00

maybe I'll start posting again. or maybe not

random knits for a loony girl

2006-09-11T16:05:00.000-07:00

I have accumulated quite a few small skeins of handspun yarn - worsted to bulky, done on the handspindle (so no more than 50 yards each), all different, made of lots of different components. So just recently I have been trying to knit a sweater out of it all. I don't really have a pattern, since I don't know where my knitting books went, and it has been sort of a haphazard challenge. Who knows how this will turn out.

where the hell is all my stuff?

2006-09-04T18:07:00.000-07:00

knitting at a standstill. stuff all lost. brain gone bleh

moving hell

2006-08-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

I am moving and everything is in disarray, so I will continue to be absent for an unknown amount of time.

frown

Done!!!

2006-08-12T10:03:00.000-07:00

I have finished two things!

This is the wrist-thing based on Severina's Anticraft Asphyxiation pattern

I made it with 2 motifs, and the rose started with smaller circle and 3-chain petals. I also sewed it up on both sides so that it slips over the wrist.

Zephyr was going to model this one, but she won't sit still. She tried to slip her head through it - maybe she wants a new collar.

The second thing is this simple triangle shawl made with Farmhouse Yarn. I started it long ago at Circles then knit most of it in the hospital waiting room.

I really like the subtle varigation of the yarn. The whole thing is done in twisted garter stitch.

And a button, for upload

2006-08-08T20:22:00.000-07:00

New plan

2006-08-08T17:42:00.000-07:00

I've decided to really make an effort to finish some unfinished things before I start on anything else. UFOs:

1. Asphyxiation wrist thing!

Progress: Blocking! I realize I don't really have any sewing pins, so I'm using safety pins

2. Aforementioned crochet sleeveless sweater/vest

Just needs sewing up, attaching of buttons, and collar

3. Triangle shawl

I actually finished this technically, but then I decided that instead of adding a fringe, I would use the rest of the yarn to make it bigger. So I'm actually pretty close to being done with this.

4. A ribbon-yarn drop-stitch scarf

that I started long ago (well, that would be a few months ago when I first started learning to knit, actually). It was too hard for me at the time, but I should be able to do it by now.

5. Knucks:

I made one (all except the finishing and the very last bit of the cuff). Of course, since there are 2 total to be made, I'm not all that close to done-ness on this one.

6. Hat for my husband.

I actually had made him a hat, and he wore it a few times, but then I decided that I didn't like it and unraveled it. So now I really have to re-make it.

I think that's all.

pictures!

2006-08-08T07:09:00.000-07:00

2 motifs is a good size for a wrist:

I made the rose smaller than in the pattern, just for better scale to a wrist-thing. I still haven't decided if I'm adding another row of petals or not:

blocking progress on wrist asphyxiator

2006-08-07T19:51:00.000-07:00

One of my many downfalls is that I have a strange adversion to blocking and sewing up knit and crochet items. Why? I don't know. I actually have an entire sleeveless sweater all done except for the sewing - and I can't bring myself to get to the sewing part. I do truly love seamless stuff.

I was going to put up some pictures, but blogger won't let me. So it'll have to wait until tomorrow.

link worth a look

2006-08-05T08:37:00.000-07:00

Not yarn-related, but generally fascinating:
Jan Svankmajer "Alchemist of the Surreal"

asphyxiate me softly

2006-08-02T14:16:00.000-07:00

So, seeing that severina has a crochet choker pattern in the new AntiCraft, I decided to make one.

An assessment of the yarn and hook situation reveals the following:
The biggest tiny hook I have is 1.75mm. I think I have a bigger tiny one somewhere, but I will never find it since we're moving. I'm surprised I found this one.

Fingering weight yarn: I have some Cherry Tree Hill glitter alpaca, which is really pretty stuff, but it's way thicker than the crochet cotton.

I have some crochet cotton in a burgundy color, so that may work even with the too-small hook

I have a small amount of mohair stuff that I stole from my stepbrother's closet. some is peach and some is white. It is about the right size

I have some really thin nylon eyelash-y stuff, which is smaller than the crochet cotton, and probably more appropriate for the too-small hook. It's grey - a lovely London fog effect (in the smog sense, which suits the asphyxiation theme at least) Unfortunately, it would also be almost impossible to see, causing the frustration factor to outweigh the benefit.

So:
I decided to use the crochet cotton, but to make a wrist-thing with 2 motifs. Here's the first one, alone and as modeled by Zeus, slightly disgruntled

Sock Wars

2006-07-31T18:35:00.000-07:00

Sock Wars seems like it would be a lot of fun for a fast knitter.

Button & Badbusinesswomanness

2006-07-27T14:12:00.000-07:00

I made a button:

And as if anyone needed further proof that I would make a bad businesswoman, I think I'm going to unlist the curry yarn after only a few days so that I can make something out of it. Like a hat.

Scarf

2006-07-27T11:00:00.000-07:00

If blogger will let me do so, I shall now upload some pictures of the loop-d-loop leaf scarf

Skulls

2006-07-27T09:51:00.000-07:00

There's an interesting article in the NYTimes styles section about the skull as iconography (here registration req)

curried yarn

2006-07-25T15:55:00.000-07:00

Here are some yarns spun with tumeric-dyed wool (and a mix of other fibers). I like how they turned out, though they're both small skeins (as is a limitation of the drop spindle, of course). Once I get a description written up, I'll likely list them together as a pair on etsy

Gallery of freeform things that serve no practical purpose! pt. 1

2006-07-23T12:28:00.000-07:00

I have no idea what this is, but I like it. It has a kind of seashore feel to it. Made with a combination of freeform spinning and crochet, it has some recycled wool, sari silk, thread of some sort, llama (I think), random blobs of other wool, and whatever else I didn't remember.