Monday Morning

One of the things I do on my personal blog is write on Monday about what is going on what I am thinking and intending for the week. I thought that might be fun here. Over there I use a framework and I think I will use something like it here, but not the same one.

Right now I am...
In my kitchen drinking coffee, from the mug my Mother-in-law gave me. I have a fresh lemon and rosemary infusion scenting the air.

In Video Production...
I have one more section - the results - to work on for the green skein video I mentioned in the chatty podcast and then some minor edits. I am hoping to have it live on Wednesday. Shooting will begin on the New Mystery Spin video this week! I am really curious to see what is in the box!

On the Wheel...
Actually, right at this moment nothing but I am working on some test skeins of Corriedale Wool for a friend who will be knitting an Aran sweater. We are working together on this as a gift for (not telling) and I have spun an oiled 2-ply Spun Z-S, next is an oiled three ply Spun Z-S, then both again but Spun S-Z, then one (whichever she is leaning towards liking best) un-oiled. I am making her one oz samples to swatch and compare. This project will be fit in around other things.

On the Loom...
Will be a blanket, I have decided to weave and waulk a wool blanket, partially as a get to know the ins and outs of this loom, partially as a demo piece for The Rare Breeds Show at Garfield Farm Museum.

In the Dyepot...
More self striping yarn!

Papers and Bolts...
This week I need to send in the application for another show and get in contact with the guy who runs my farmer's market.  I also really need to update the Etsy and Square Stores!

Who I am watching... 
Mina at Knitting Expat. Grace at Spin Weekly. Rachel at Wool N' Spinning. And Kate at Milk Thistle.

Podcast Episode four

Is ready! The link is here.

Show notes:

Podcast Four

Knitting:

                In Progress:

                                Milk sweater-    Knit picks size 9 us or 5.5 mm

                                                                Gyre Cardigan in interweave knits spring 2014

                                                                Vicki Howell Craft in Carol colorway        

65-35 Organic cotton-Milk Fiber

I love how this is looking but dislike the way it is written, if you are working this pattern, just keep swimming. It works but it doesn’t seem like it will.

Next socks-        I cast on Mina Philpp’s Pattern Grand Central from her NY collection.  The Collection is available on Ravelry for purchase and she is running it as a knit along.

                                I will be using Addi Sock rockets in US size 1 (2.25mm) with a 40inch cable, which is my go to for socks!

                                The yarn is Red Heart, Heart & Sole with Aloe. I finally remember how this got into my stash – this is a stash busting year for me – I bought a grab bag a few years ago and this was one of the yarns inside. This is not to my tastes but several of the other yarns in the bag, luckily, were. This is 70-30 Superwash wool-Nylon, The colorway is called Watercolor Stripe.

Cabin Afghan:    I have two new squares for the cabin blanket, and starting a third. While working on it during one of the camping trips we took this month I ran into a problem and have come up with a change in the project to deal with it. Each of the centers of the Log cabin blocks are six stitches wide, one for each member of the family. I want to use only my own yarn and many breeds and dye tests. I have a lot of bits that are big enough to do the center but not enough to do even the next course. Wanting to move forward with the project I decided staggering the blocks with a different block.

                Finished Objects:

Stash busting socks. Patons Kroy Cascade Knit Picks interchangeable size 2.5 us or 3mm. Reflections, I adjusted the Vanilla Sock Recipe to match the needles I had. I had received a pair of pretty socks that were tight and I was working against it. So these socks are bigger than they should be. I am otherwise happy with them.

Lime stripes. I dyed this yarn as a sock blank and spinning guild program. I love the stripes. I used Addi Sock rockets that I bought specifically for the new sock obsession I am working under.  I did not modify the pattern.

Pikachu Sweater. This turned out very well and loved. Mouse – I have long used these nicknames for my children, both in public media and in our day to day lives. Beaver he is 18, Mouse he is 12, Bunny she is 10, and Badger she is 8 – loves it. I have had to wrestle it back to wash it.

Spinning:

In Progress:                        I am working on a green yarn that will be covered in detail in the next video.

                                                I also decided to join the Completely Twisted and Arbitrary Spinning Group on Ravelry and their Spin the Bin Challenge. You collect –often from long ignored stash though that is not a requirement – fiber to spin, 12 lots of at least 2oz each but can be more, and photograph them together in a bin. You have the year to spin them, if you remove a fiber from the bin you have to replace it with two new fibers.  They have a few other rules and a chat group, it is a lot of fun and beautiful yarns are being made, check it out. So this is my bin, I am going to show off the bags now, but talk about them later. You can check out more info now at my Ravelry yarn page.

                                                Also ready and waiting is the next mystery spin!  

Finished Objects:             I sold the red wolle skein this Friday at Spinning Guild, but if you want to see it you can check out that video! I am hoping to get a picture of the finished object the guild member makes with it to show off to you.

The first mystery spin is done! I love the feel and am looking forward to knitting or weaving it up. I am debating yet, but leaning towards knitting it the Super Eyelet Shawl by Fiona Wright. I would love to hear your thoughts. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/super-eyelet-shawl

Crochet:

In Progress:                        I have two long in progress crochet projects. A weather blanket, the idea is to crochet a row each days – I am about a month behind – with the color representing the day’s high temperature. 

                                                The other is a stash busting project in which I made a hundred flowers and am linking them for a cheerful summer garden throw.

                Finished Objects:             I have nothing finished to show you.

Weaving:

In progress:                        The new loom! This month I sold my Sievert’s loom, and bought a Kessenich Loom. The Sievert’s loom was purchased several years ago, the owner before me had converted it from a table top loom to a floor loom. I bought it kind of spontaneously, it did not fit in my car, and then it starts to rain. A random nice lady attending the rendezvous stopped and helped me. We loaded into her van and drove to a nearby friend’s house. She wasn’t home! Luckily she has a lovely big covered porched. I called another friend, who soon arrives with her husband and some tools. It was a good loom, but its usable weaving area was small – about 14 inches.  A lady in the weaving guild I belong to was selling her loom! So after thinking about it for a while and finding that a dear friend was interested in buying my loom, the decision was made. I am now the proud owner of a Kessenich Loom with a weaving area of about 36 inches.  The only difficultly was that I had just warped the loom for three scarves before making this decision. I ended up weaving like a mad fiend and getting them done in time to deliver the loom mostly on time.

As to first projects I am debating between making matching throws for an upcoming wedding or making a project for my house to get to know the loom with.

Finished Objects:             These three scarves are a project for the weaving guild. They supplied the yarn and we are all making scarves for the area homeless shelter. A chance to practice weaving and to do good at the same time.

Sewing:

In Progress:                        In sewing I have mostly doing mending, but I am toying with some design ideas for yarn project holders, after the tangle fest that was the intarsia of the Pikachu sweater. More on these later.

I am also starting a 1840’s era dress, for Garfield Farm Museum’s Rare Breed Show.

                Finished Objects:

Since Last We Chatted:                  I have been sick! All of March was illness! And April has been recovery and returning to normal – or at least as normal as it gets here – life. I have mostly being trying to keep up and to organize things, in the hopes of making the necessary life chores taking less time. I have had a chance to visit with a couple of old friends and plan to not let so much time go in between now and the next time we get together. Beaver has selected his college, here in the state, so there is a future of him shopping in our cupboards and bring home laundry to look forward too.

Show:                                                   I did a nice Crafts show in February and met some interesting people. The weather was very good, which is bad for an indoor show in winter. We did okay, and the people running the event were great. Here is a short video of our booth. My father and his woodwork are featured along with my Mother-in-law’s Lovely pottery and all my fiber-y awesomeness. The booth on one side was Harmony Specialty Foods, selling yummy and some unusual cheeses. One the other side was Opal Stone of Wild and Precious Prints, selling really pretty lettered signs. www.wildpreciousorint.etsy.com

Camping:                                             The husband and kids camped in the snow at our land up north while I was at that show. They had fun and were full of adventure tales when I got home. Since then we have gone up twice, once for a few days with the kids and once just the two of us. I love being there! Enjoy these pictures from our trips.

In the studio, in the market

This is in process, I got this really, really dirty Cotswold fleece and after washing, picking, and carding it I started to spin it. It still had too much lanolin for me to be comfortable with so I stopped at a single and washed it again. It came out great. I am considering dying it now and plying it as a boucle or spinning the rest of the fleece and deciding then.

I have been working on a blind breed study with the ladies of my spinning guild. This one was fun to spin and knit. I am still not sure what breed it is but, it will make a great sweater.

This is another breed in the study and is soft and full.

This is a fun picture. The yarn is from the breed study, I am making it into a nice welcome mat. The sleeping cat is Racer, he is good company and well mannered enough to know that the yarn and roving is NOT a cat toy.

My both at the Westosha Market showcasing my new woven scarves. Also hats, hand-dyed roving in natural and acid Dye and some jewelry! That's Melanie in the back, she runs things at the market and is absolutely great with help and ideas.

Here is some of mine and some of Dad's amazing woodwork, he really knows how to let the wood speak for itself, shining the story of the life of tree into a functional bit of artwork. The crochet hooks are a dream to work with!

Very one needs a friend, someone to keep you company, talk you through the troubles in life, be there for the great things, convince you to let good of that which causes you no end of stress, inspire you to craft more and be the you you're meant to be, and watch your booth while you grab a lemonade or run to the bathroom. This is one is mine. Thank you Resee for always being there when I need you.

Notice the lemonade!

Pleasant surprises

I pulled this off the loom on Sunday night. A loose weave scarf I have been working on. I was excited to both get it done and to see what it looked like after washing. You may not know this but the weaving process is not done - really - until after the item is washed. The washing set the weave structure and reveals any lace patterns you may have played with. This is done in plain weave, so no lace to reveal, but because it is a loose weave the strands shrink and move in that first washing to it's final location. What you see while weaving is not exactly what you get. 

So this is the Scarf after washing, it lost about an inch and a half in width and is in general a tighter structure that it seemed on the loom. The process is interesting - to me anyway. This fabric that I have been calling a scarf is however not destined to be a scarf. I will be making three (hopefully) day purses from it. So on the the surprise purse line here at MoonBound ArtisanShip. They will be lined with a cross-body strap and maybe some leather detailing.

I have spent a lot of time - at least it seems so to my inner artisan who wants to be making something at all times and sometimes thinks eating is overrated - on paperwork issues this month. Typesetting a stamp for labeling and billing at shows, show applications, and web stuff. All of this is a necessary part of running a crafts business, some parts of which  are more fun than others. A dear friend helped me out with some photos for my storefront and I hope to soon be able to boost her signal for her Photography and other craftiness.