Knitwhim Diaries Episode 17 :STITCHES SOUTH

WIPS

Passione Amorosa By O Rose

Seedling dreams by Amy Beth

Scylla Fiona Bennett

People

TexasJeans

Subterranean

ESK

Mandobug Crafts

Penguin Soup

Jeanne

MUSIC BY 

Nick

Knitwhim Episode 14 : Knitting and Sewing and Dying - Oh My!

FOs

None  :(

WIPs

Ictis by Boo Knits

Something Pretty  By Millie Makes

Cotton Spinning

Sample spin - Spanish Peacock Russian Spindle

Enabling

Inglenook Fibers

People

Spindle Candy

Pack It On Challenge

Hipstrings

Mandobug Crafts

Inglenook Fibers

Spanish Peacock 

Destress with spinning

Hello all,

So I missed a week of posting.  I've always known that knitting and spinning are really helpful ways to manage stress, but I think I sort of took it for granted. I took a few weeks off of spinning, because I got a bit of a spinning injury doing that lace. I felt so frazzled and stressed without my spinning! Knitting can be useful for destresing, but only if it's simple. I've been making mistake after mistake in my knitting lately so I've just been taking it easy with some granny squares.  I started missing spinning so much that I pulled out my little supported spindle from Hipstrings and worked on my cotton spinning a bit.

But today I started spinning a braid from galesart on my wheel. ooooooh, Wheel how I missed you!

Galesart is the highlighted artest for this cycles SAL in the Completely Twisted and Arbitrary group on raverlry. SALs are so useful and helpful for learning and for inspiration! I know my spinning has improved exponentially with the two SALs that I've already done, and look forward to learning more from the spinning community :)

Also round 1 of Nerd Wars ended! I successfully Dwarfed The Nebula, which is just a fancy way of saying I completed all five challenges. It is not a requirement, but you get a fancy badge and bragging rights if you do.

 

 

I also got an honorary badge from Team one more page because I mentioned a book (The Belgaraid by David Eddings ) in one of my challenge posts!

 



SHOP HOP ATLANTA

SHOP HOP ATLANTA

SEP 28- OCT 6

Hello Blog,

Recently a friend and I participated in Shop Hop Atlanta, A Yarn Crawl of nine shops in the Atlanta Georgia Area.  Over the next week or so I will be sharing with you some photos from the hop.

In addition to the fun of spending a whole day buying yarn, the shop hop was a great opportunity to get out there and see what variety the yarn stores in Atlanta had to offer. Since we lived a good 2 ½ hours away, we probably never would have felt the need to visit any of these lovely stores without the shop hop incentive. Now that we’ve seen all of the nice stuff  they have in stock, we wont be able to resist going back.

As if that wasn’t enough, there is a competitive side to the shop hop too. Prizes! Each shop gave away a free knitting pattern, and spending $10 earned you  a stamp on the Shop Hop Passport and an entry in a prize drawing – each shop has 3 prizes up for drawing.  In addition, people who get all nine stamps will be entered to win the grand prize : $900 in gift certificates, $100 from each store!

Here’s what our trunk looked like after one shop, tune in next time to find out what happened!

Because Cat

Hey Blog,

Just stopped in to say hi, hope something wonderful happens today :)

Ready, set, KAL!

Hello Blog!  How are you?

September 1st marked the beginning of my Join-all-the-things month of craziness!
I'm participating in Fat Squirrel's SAL/KAL, Malia's Spin-along, AND I'm doing a Mystery Knit Along!  (honestly, thats not even the end of it, but you'll hear about the rest later... )

Spoiler photo at the end!

This is my first time doing a MKAL, and I'm enjoying it! It's a little scary for me because I tend to be a bit of a control freak, and I'm also used to just ignoring designers' instructions. For instance, normally, I would have ignored the cast-on instructions because I generally resist learning new cast-on methods; However since there was no way for me to look at the pattern and determine how important the cast-on method would be to the finished project, I had to do it just to be safe. I finished the 1st clue in one day (Seems like loads of people did! ). Clue 2 comes out on the 5th and I can't wait :)

As always, check out more WIPs at Tami's!

Death by Kool-Aid

Hello Blog!


Today is going to be pretty photo heavy, ok? ^_^

Took my hand-spun



And this set up  (these are just the swatches, I used glass mixing bowls to dye the actual yarn )



To end up with this!



It's my first pound of fiber spun on the wheel. I got several skeins in different weights. Three (the blues and greens ) are worsted/bulky, the other two (red/purple) are fingering-ish

My friend Amanda also came over and did hers. She used  This tutorial to do three long color stripes.



Pretty, right?




Some notes : I got two packets of each color, and it wasn't really enough. We used everything up and there were definitely some parts of the yarn that ended up lighter than the rest due to lack of dye. Everything was dyed with the Kool-Aid except the green color, which was Hawaiian punch, works the same way!
 Also, this stuff will seriously dye your hands :)

BOMBED

Hey guys. This is a test of the scheduled blogging feature. If this has been posted on Tuseday August 27th the test was successful.

We managed to yarn bomb my mail box!!!!

It's super cute and I love it!!!!! 

Prep work

Hello blog!

Lots to say this week, so I guess I'll just jump right in. Even though the weather outside hasn't really started to change yet, I'm definitely starting to feel the pull of fall. My whole attitude towards knitting/crafting starts to change the closer we get to autumn, most notably the need to organize and prepare everything.

Wanted to buy this so badly. Please someone help me justify going back and getting this 0.0

First off I finished spinning my first pound on my wheel! After the first 4 ounces of 'practice' fiber which ended up being 68 yards of thick and thin bulky, I spun 8 ounces of singles and then two-plied them. Plying them regularly was waaay easier than my bumpy attempt at chain plying on the wheel (even managed to break my drive band with the second attempt yesterday, but that is a whole other story). This yielded two skeins at about 260 yards each. They are still drying but early WIP suggests a range of about 16-20. That makes it a heavy lace/fingering weight!  We'll see if the fiber gains any significant width after washing. I have to say I was pretty proud of myself for accidently spinning so thin - 3 ply fingering weight is my ultimate goal and this seems like a pretty hopeful omen. However realizing that I don't have the skill/talent yet to spin the weight I want on purpose takes some of that away.

Decided to spin my last 4 ounces in an attempts to get a 3-ply bulky to match my first bit. Its a little thinner over all than my first sample, and more consistent, coming in to a heavy worsted/bulky weight. At about 100 yards, hoping to combine the two to get a hat!

Anyway, stay tuned to this channel, once the yarn dries I plan to dye everything with kool-aid!

Yarn Bombing WIP

Hello Blog!

Today's WIP is a bit random. My friend Mandobug, got the great idea that we should yarn bomb my mailbox, ( I think, hard to remember who started it really. ) We've been making a bunch of granny squares using scrap acrylic (mostly hers ), and today we joined them all up. It was insanely fun, even the weaving-in ends part, if you can believe that.

We almost finished in time to put it on the mail box, but I had to go pick up my husband from work, so we didn't get that far. Next time for sure though!

In other news, first handspun from my wheel. Squee!

Wheel-come to the Blog!

Hello Blog!

Sorry in advance if I come off as a little hyper today. But I have a new member of the family that I would like to introduce. Long time readers may know about my long-held desire for a spinning wheel, and after years of waiting and obsessing, I finally have one!

I ordered a Kromski Minstrel from Winderwoodfarm on Etsy. And I'm sooooo pleased with it! The wheel came in pieces, and while technically assembling it was "simple" and "easy", it was not as easy as I thought it would be. I couldn't get the legs in by myself and had to get my husband to hold it for me so I could pound them in.

Of course I've been spinning as much as possible since. I bought the wheel in a package that came with extra bobbins, a niddy noddy, and plenty of fiber to get started!  I've heard a lot of people on the internets say that you should expect to spin a pound of wool as a 'getting to know you' period, so that's what I'm doing! I've decided to take a no-stress experiment-without-goals approach to my first pound. Its white domestic, and I plan I dying it with kool-aid after :)

I've already filled one bobbin with almost 4oz, and have a little over an ounce loaded on bobbin number 2.  Be sure to check back for more spinning updates in the future!

Also, if you are more of a visual person, I'll be talking about  gushing over my new wheel on episode 2 of my video blog, which will hopefully go live later today. Is now Live.
Until next, cheers!

WIP - That's life

Hey everyone!

I'm back again with an almost-but-not-really new WIP!

First off, still working on the Demask shawl and Renegade mitts, but not enough progress to make for interesting photography. I'm ready to start the increases for the thumb gusset, but I'm not using an actual pattern and I don't have the confidence to just wing it so I've been stalling....

Totally restarted the interim mitts. Crochet or Die! Still having problems crocheting in the round without adding/subtracting stitches. MandoBug is helping me problem shoot and while I don't want to jinx myself.... I think I've got the hang of it now!

The rest of my life is sort of taking up my crafting time. I'm taking a kind of important test today,  and have mostly been studying for that this weekend, so fingers crossed. Also, my husband and I bought our house in march, but only have purchased a lawn mower this past weekend. Its been raining a lot and while the grass is not growing, the weeds are RIDICULOUS. They are thicker than my big toe and tall, and I cant just yank them up because they have thorns/serrated leaves. So now I have to go buy gardening gloves to rip them up before we mow, because our tiny electric mower can not handle them. Sure would be nice to have a yard that doesn't look like a miniature rainforest, just saying!

PS. so I wrote this on Tuesday with the intention to post on Wednesday......

WIP Something

Hello everyone!
Hope you are doing well. It's pretty hot here, and I really didn't get a whole lot of knitting done... my WIPs look pretty much the same as last week. And thats even though I had a glorious day of crafting with a friend on Tuesday. I got three whole rows done on my shawl since last week :)

My Copy of Ply Magazine came in the mail on friday and I've been reading through that. If you are interested in spinning I highly recommend it! I've been reading it cover-to-cover and I'm about halfway through. I've really enjoyed some of the articles about the history of spinning, and there is an article about the first cloned sheep, and all sorts of other cutes things ^^;;

Also, I've done a second post of my video blog. It's still a major work in progress. It's about 20 minutes long so if you have time please check it out. I'd like to hear from you!
But if WIPs are the only thing you care about, no hard feelings if you just hang out at Tami's  :)

WIP - New Things

Hello!

So, I'm finally back from my honeymoon (yay!) and have got my work schedule ironed out. Hopefully for good. For a brief second there I thought I was going to be working a night shift, and that would have been a nightmare for me right now. Dodged that one.
there are LOTS of works in progress today, so we'll just sample a few, shall we?

First up. I bought  a spinning wheel! - But it's back ordered, so it's a shipping WIP :P

Next, I am experimenting with doing a knitting vlog! If you are interested please check it out here.  Its about 30 minutes long and I'm not going to lie, it's a bit rough. I'm having some tech issues so there is one section where every other word I say seems to get skipped, but I'm pushing through! I know if I can endure *that* humiliation I might have skin thick enough to keep it up :)

Ok. Now for the knitting.  Home Made Glove pattern :

(there will also be a blue stripe added as I continue ^^;; )


New Lace Shawl in Berroco Vintage DK, The pattern is Damask

That's all for now, Hopefully there will be some FO's later this week :)
If you want to see more WIPS, check out Tami's!

Enthusiasm WIPS

Hello everyone,  Have I got some WIPS today!
I'm happy to say that an awful lot got done in the knitting department this past week!

First, I got this awesome package in the mail.

All I needed was one tiny little crochet hook to do beads with, so it makes perfect sense that I had to buy other things in order to make the $4 shipping worthwhile, right?  In addition to the .75mm crochet hook I got a 40" pair of US00 ADDI Lace circulars, and a little gauge pendant  that is for SOCKS AND LACE.

This means that the smallest size it measures is a 6-0   (that's SIX zeros. ) and the biggest size is a US6. Perfect for me because the smallest size my regular Susan Bates gauge can measure is a US0 and I need at LEAST US00 for most socks!

Speaking of which, great progress has been made on my jeweled cowl with the adaptation of the crochet hook. Up until now I've just been using one of those wire beading needles and they are such a pain to use. Not only are they tiny and practically invisible if you drop them on the floor, they are super bendy and break easily! Not only that, as someone with a slight oral fixation, I have had the bad luck - on more than one occasion - to have stuck it in my mouth only to get it stuck on my tongue! (literally, I lost a piece of my tongue pulling it out. Am I over-sharing right now?)
Anyway, the crochet hook is a huge help, it makes the whole thing super quick and easy, and honestly I don't know why regular craft stores don't carry them.  I had to order it on-line because the big name craft stores near my house persist in only carrying the larger more standard sized needles and hooks. But it's totally worth it and I don't know why I waited so long to do so!
All that said though, the jeweled cowl is almost done but I'm not expecting to be very thrilled with it as a finished project. It was fun learning to do beaded lace, but I made too many mistakes on it, didn't pick appropriate yarn for the project, and in general don't see myself ever wearing it. Oh well, I'm still going to finish it, too close to stop now!

Not to end on a down note, my friend and enabler got me started on doing two-at-a-time socks yesterday.  This technique is something I'd heard of but never tried, and I am loving it!  Seriously, I was like a kid with a new toy when I cast on yesterday. Knitting relaxing fun patterns is great and all, but nothing gets my blood rushing more than working on something new and challenging!  I decided to play it safe and am doing the "practice" sock in two different colors of worsted weight yarn, so while it is really really challenging, I wouldn't say it was "hard" just yet (granted I haven't done the gusset yet...)
However, I'm thinking about what it would be like to knit this way with sock yarn, with both socks being the same color.... and it frightens me a little. That my friends, is the holy grail of weeping-in-the-dark difficult knitting. I can't wait to try it.

What extremely complicated knitting technique is your favorite? What would you like to learn?

PS.

Sock knitting is getting so main stream! I had no idea they sold these things in craft stores now. Found this in a hobby lobby. What do you think? Cool, or lame? Should I try it?

As always, check out Tami's for more WIPS!

Bloggable Bags

Hello and welcome to another WIPW post!  If you've come to me from Tami's, hi! Welcome :)  I'm recovering from a bit of a bloggers dry spell and since I've already shown you the Bramble shawl a bajillion times, and since it still isn't done looks the same, I guess I will distract you with random photos!

I've been catching up on the Fat Squirrel Speaks podcast, and by catching up you should understand I mean watching them all from the first episode in order. Hello. I'm crazy. But anyway, I started getting a little jealous because she has all of these cute project bags, and each project has it's own bag so they don't get all tangled up and the pattern for the project you want is easy to find. Now, I'm too cheap to buy these things I and I don't have a sewing machine. So, bags pictured above?  They are the pull string cloth bags that   bed-sheet sets come in. You know, the cheap ones sold at Wallmart and Target?  They make perfect project bags.

The red one contains my beaded lace cowl and the plaid one has my spinning WIP. I might have mentioned this before but there is an Alpaca farm 11 minutes from my house. I know right????  It's my first time spinning Alpaca (I have 2 ounces of it ). Not sure what to think. On the one had it's SUPER soft, like a bunny, BUT the fiber is on the hairy wiry side, so it feels like I'm holding a cloud of super soft dog hair. which is both pleasant and icky at the same time for me (not a dog person. ) 

Anyway, I'm about halfway done, and I think I want to do it as a two ply, but I'm not anticipating having enough yardage to actually knit anything. Just kinda want to get a feel for what Alpaca is like to spin! 

Bliss in Bramble

Hello everyone, I know it's been about a month  since my last post and I'd just like to say, my bad people.  I haven't been making much progress knitting wise lately, I've been knitting exclusively on the Bramble Shawl ever since I started it as part of the Fat Squirrel's Gratitude KAL. That KAL ended what, April 28th?  But I'm still working on it.

I really don't have much to say at all, except hi and I hope to be coming back to regularly spaced posts soon. Here is a photo of some gorgeous yarn. I'm so Lucky not only to have wicked awesome friends, but I'm also lucky that those friends have wicked taste and like shopping for luxury yarn. Wow. Thanks Girl ;)







Oh, and I'm a fairly bad looser, so normally I'd be pissed off about missing the KAL deadline, but in the spirit of it being a GRATITUDE KAL, I'm actually pretty happy that I got to knit it on Sunday :

Also cool is having a crafty sister who learns how to cross-stitch. She made this for the ring bearer. How awesome is that? 

That's all for now. Just realized I totally missed the fact that Dr. Who is back on, so I have 7 whole episodes to catch up on 0.0

Wisteria WIPS

Hello everyone,

How are you?  I'm still working on the Gratitude KAL. Not sure if I'll finish in time, but I'm really enjoying it. It's so easy to say that you are grateful for the big stuff, like "Family" "Health" "A Job" and not really mean it. I think people take gratefulness forgranted sometimes. They say, "of course I'm grateful!" for those things, but they don't stop to really feel what they are saying. That's why I've been focusing more on the smaller, every day things in my life. I thought it would be hard but it's been ridiculously easy!

Aaron's Grandparents have been visiting all week, and they are just such delightful people! I feel lucky to be joining their family :)  It's not the first time I've met them, but I have managed to get to know them a lot better this time around. Grandma is just as serious about cross stitch as I am about knitting, and we both love everything purple, so it hasn't been hard to find things to talk about!

I found out that she is interested in learning how to crochet flowers, so I looked up patterns and did this :




She also likes photography, so I got to see what I look like to other people when I take photos of my yarn

And knit in public 

Went shopping for wedding shoes! I ended up getting the flats... Wish they came in a Wide! How come there aren't more dress shoes for people with wide feet? 

This candle smells like heaven!  Lilac and Wisteria!  Wisteria grows like a weed here in Augusta. We kept seeing it on the side of the road everywhere we went, and eventually we just couldn't take it anymore and we pulled over and picked some ^__^ 

I feel like I should have gotten a *little* bit more knitting done, but it was a pretty fun-filled week!

Check out Tami's for more WIPs!