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.

poor purl

2006-07-22T16:39:00.000-07:00

I don't understand why so many knitters dislike the purl. I have no problem with it.

things to write about

2006-07-21T12:34:00.000-07:00

When I have the energy

1. I took a spinning class and *bought a spinning wheel*! Yes I did. This was silly, of course, because we're moving soon, so it's staying in the box for a little while longer.

2. Knitting this lace leaf scarf from loop-d-loop for a gift. It is for an administrator at work who has pretty much saved my life lately - helping with neverending paperwork while I was in NM. I'm using a yarn I got on ebay that is spun in Nepal of 60% wine-colored wool and 40% multicolored recycled sari silk. I like it, and I hope it'll make a good gift even though it is one of the most weather inappropriate choices possible. It will need some serious blocking to avoid looking like a double-ended penis, though. Pictures later.

3. I didn't bring any yarn stuff on the apartment hunt trip to NY/NJ, and then I had withdrawl and ended up getting the Twisted Sister's Sock book (which is GREAT) and some cheap yarn stuff from Michaels. I got a set of #3 double point needles and some Patons Grace cotton in colors that I like, but a set of this brand of needles is 4, not 5, and metal (I really like the bamboo better). And so I was trying to make a sock in the car on the way back, and this didn't work at all. First, the metal needles kept slipping out of the stitches and onto the floor and once under the carseat. Second, all the bumps and turns made me wonder if a metal sharp needle would fly into my eye. Third, it was coming out too loose, and I really needed #2s or #1s, but I didn't have any, so I gave up and pulled it out. So now I may try to use the yarn to make those knucks from this summer's Knitty since I like the colors, but the 100% cotton isn't so great for socks anyway (it's just what they had).

4. I do, indeed, know how to put up buttons and join webrings and change the template and comment and stuff! My problem is not technical ineptitude but rather some sort of laziness mixed with general malaise. So I hope to do those things sometime.

5. too many various projects I'd like to make, or am in the middle of making, to list. Why can't I just finish stuff that I start. sigh.

Sufficient for now!

it's a million degrees in here, but I still like my wrists EXTRA warm

2006-07-20T15:12:00.000-07:00

wristwarmer progress

2006-07-12T09:59:00.000-07:00

I have finished one and am about 2/3 done with the other. I think it fits quite well - with the exception of the thumb hole, which is a bit too snug. I hope that some blocking/stretching will take care of that.

I also plan to crochet a little black border around the thumb.

Now, just to wait for it to stop being sweltering-hot so I can wear these.

fingerless gloves with handspun

2006-07-10T16:33:00.000-07:00

So, I decided to actually make something with some hand-dyed, handspun yarn. It's based on the "voodoo wrist warmer" pattern on knitty, made with a version of my "rhododendron" colorway, in this case made into something like a self-striping DK yarn.

Fiber

Dyed hands = side effect

Spinning it

The first time I've ever tried double-pointed needle knitting. I started it off at Circles yesterday

Still in progress

podcast sampling

2006-07-09T11:41:00.000-07:00

I am going to listen to the podcast at It's a Purl, Man. This was at least indirectly suggested to me by the guy who casts it; he was sitting next to me today at Circles.

If my camera batteries will stop dying after every 10 pictures and/or 1 week of disuse, I'll put up some pictures soon.

Back to Boston

2006-07-08T19:05:00.000-07:00

1. Back!

My father's brain surgery went well - more can be learned at my (neglected) "real" blog boring sara

So I managed to knit and crochet a hell of a lot because of the long, long waits in hospital waiting rooms and in my dad's room once he was in the ICU. I'll need to put some pictures up when I de-lazify a bit (if that ever happens).

2. Not a morning person

I'm hoping to wake up adequately early to go to the Sunday AM social knitting group at Circles in JP tomorrow. I want to knit a pair of these with some handspun yarn. Or perhaps something "vintage"...

3. "Vintage"

My stepmother keeps EVERYTHING. She has a ball of salvaged rubber-bands seriously the size of a softball. Plus, she has a myriad of multi-colored twist ties from, I think, EVERY loaf of bread she has ever owned. She also has lots of old knitting and crochet patterns from the 1960's and 70's. So they are technically "vintage" (as am I if that date range meets the criteria)

I photocopied a bunch of random stuff that I liked. The photocopier was overheating, so I didn't necessarily get what came from where, etc. Anyway, Maybe I'll bring one of them and pick out some yarn tomorrow.

Maybe I'll join the Vintage Knit-Along too. Of course my 1970's vintage seems a little unripe in comparison. Oh well.

4. project jumper

Still thinking about the heart tank. Needs some more thought!

5. New Mexico wool acquisition

I bought a pound of Navajo Churro wool at Village Wools in Albuquerque. Luckily, it compresses well as stuffed into a suitcase. Will be spun at some point.

6. knitting podcasts

If anyone reads this, can you suggest a good one?

Gothic altar lace heart recharted for intarsia

2006-06-25T14:39:00.000-07:00

Here is my version of the gothic altar lace heart bit from Severina re-charted onto rectangle-style intarsia computer graph paper so it won't end up looking like a gothic altar squished beet (delicate ensconcing in barbed wire notwithstanding):

I added some rows and more or less just changed things around here and there until it seemed to look right. I chose the 1.4 ratio graph paper for the hell of it since I don't know what yarn (nor therefore gauge) it'll be anyway. Seems like a reasonable guess.

No knitting of this will occur for at least 2 weeks, after I get back from NM.

Then we will, of course, deal with the problem that I just started knitting a few months ago and haven't actually ever made anything with intarsia.

hair yarn

2006-06-25T12:43:00.000-07:00

So I got my hair cut, and when the haircutting person wasn't looking, I grabbed some long locks and stuck them in my pocket. Then later I spun them into yarn along with some wool. It worked pretty well.

Yes, I am nuts.

more yarns!

2006-06-16T16:27:00.000-07:00

spinning yarn

2006-06-15T13:36:00.000-07:00

I have been spinning yarn on a drop spindle! I find it very relaxing.

The first batch of yarn was dyed with tea. It's drying on the wineglass holder.

Then I plied it with a yarn died in coffee, making a combination of brown and slightly darker brown.

It's very very thick - probably because each ply is bulky. It wasn't enough to make anything, so I made a yarn necklace.

The next batch is similarly thick and plied, but dyed with food dyes

Two balls

why?... why not? (well, there are quite a few reasons, actually, but let's not get into that here)

2006-06-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

since I'm abnormal and my life is dull, I shall start a blog about stuff I make