What Have I Been Doing?

What have I been doing? It seems I've been spending most of my time outside, digging up part of my front lawn and then, doing that over again and again and again, as the grass keeps trying to come back.

This was taken in the spring, when I was almost done and was getting a little slap happy. 

We planted some vegies before we left on our summer trip and returned to a giant zucchini.

Some years ago, I saw a pattern for leftover sock yarn, the Beekeeper's Quilt. I had a grocery bag full of yarn to use up. For years now, a few at a time, I've knit and stuffed these small "hexi-puffs". The completed ones were taking up space and frankly, I was over it. I gave away what remained of the leftover yarn and, instead of a throw, I now have a pad for my office chair.

During our summer road trip, I did quite a bit of spinning with my Pocket Wheel.

And in packing for the trip, I brought plenty of yarn and knitting needles. The wrong size knitting needles. Before things could get desperate, we found this store up the street from our hotel in Twin Falls, Idaho. Unfortunately, it was closed. Online, they said to contact them. So, I did. The owner sent her husband to open the shop just for me!!! Brian was Very Grateful. 

And I was able to knit my Moby Sweater using Rowan felted tweed yarn. It is by PetiteKnit, the same designer of my new tank tops. 

This is the second of the two tanks, June Top Light. For this one, I used the recommended Knitting for Olive, Pure Silk yarn. I also made some subtle changes to the pattern to make it fit me better than the first one did.

Then, I went back to the first one and took it apart from the underarms up. I decided since I liked the new fit better, and I like knitting...why not! 

The Cumulus Tee is another by PetiteKnit that I made with the Pure Silk.

With my loom, Sophie, I finished the cotton, waffle weave towels. 

Most were given away as gifts.

A new warp on Sophie starts with wrapping the yarn onto the warping mill. 

My apprentice helped me to tie cords around the ends so that they won't get tangled.

And to make a warp chain. This is like crocheting without a hook. It's another way to keep all the ends aligned so that they can be moved to and onto the loom without turning into yarn spaghetti.

I picked up Remix Light (recycled) yarn from the Little Knittery to make Wintersong, designed by Mona C. NicLeoid. Following the pattern, I knit the sleeve from shoulder towards cuff, but then I made a change. The original design had a straight hem on the cuffs. By knitting the cuff from wrist towards arm, I was able to make the cuff edge wavy, like the body's hem. Then, I grafted the sleeve and cuff together using kitchener stitch. 

After Mom wore the sweater once, we decided that the sleeves were too short. I picked them apart, knit the sleeves another 1 1/2 inches and sewed them together, again.

Mom is Very Pleased with her finished, bespoke sweater.

A Little of Everything

I didn't think I'd been doing much fiber work until I started pulling up the pictures. I've been doing a little of everything.

Those bags of cotton I'd been picking at are now cleaned and carded. When they're prepared like this, they're called rolags.

I knit two hoodies, but only have a picture of this one. To make it, I blended two patterns.

Before Julia moved on to live and play with another weaver, we finished this gamp. 

I sewed a second pair of pajama bottoms. Some braiding that was left from the last couple of kumihimo projects worked perfectly for the drawstring.

How cool is this?! I knit a tank top! The pattern is June Top Light from Petiteknit.com. The yarn is Summerlite 4 ply from Rowan.  

And this Moby Sweater is from the same designer. I'm having a blast with it! Most of the sweater knitting I've done has been knit bottom up, this is top down.

I wove these kitchen towels maybe twenty some years ago. After hemming the edges, they almost look like new.

The dry creek bed I've been working on...wasn't. Our rain gauge only measures up to five inches and it was full! Within a couple of days, all this water had soaked in. (In the background, you can see the California Lilac and Mahonia in bloom. Soon, all the bright green in this picture will be poppies!

This is a waffle weave pattern I've used before from Simple Weaves, Sophie and I are making some kitchen towels

...with the assistance of my littlest apprentice. 

It followed me home...

 We've been talking about this since before the earthquake. Finally, it was time to re-do our kitchen!! So, drum roll, please...

As best as I could, I tried to take the Before and After pictures at the same angles.

All I needed was tile for the backsplash, but the flower mosaic was so pretty, it followed me home.

Check out the handwoven towel and rug. (And you can see Julia and Sophie in the background.)

Just like my butcher block, I had this one counter made lower than standard. It's just the right height for me to knead and work at.

Ta da!!!

My nephew took a liking to the sheep I just finished knitting, so it followed him home. This is the third time I've used this pattern. I wanted to use up more of my old handspun.

A friend of a friend offered me the opportunity to pick some cotton. I'm not sure what I'll do with it, but it followed me home.

This full 13-gallon bag reminds me of a pot of gold. In my right hand (your left) is cleaned cotton. On my left hand, are the seeds and plant matter that came out of it, along with the next bit to work on.

Do and Re-do

How many socks do you see? There are three.

 

The thing is, I always find some reason to rip out the first sock in a pair. Three socks here, too.

By the time I was done trying different patterns, I didn't have enough left of the braid to use for its original purpose. Back to the drawing board...the braiding loom.

I noticed something like black ash all over myself every time I wore this hat. After 14 years, the hat was still fine, but the band was eroding. Now, I have a one of a kind hatband that I made!

I showed this fiber in my last post.

As I started spinning it, I realized that if I wasn't careful, the bits of color got buried in the core of the yarn. Once I got the hang of it, it was an interesting and quick spin. 

There's no before picture, but how pretty is the after? It's a silk/yak blend I picked up at Weff this year.

I've never spun with this kind of preparation (how it was handled between cocoon and my getting it).

Now that it's spun, my standard question applies, what will it be? I guess it'll go into the drawer for now.

I had planned on turning the hems under for these rugs, but I didn't like the way they looked. So, I picked out all the machine sewing before I could tie knots with all the warp ends.

Finished rug of three.

Leftover yarn from another project became this knit, child's sweater. There was no specific pattern, so I started with a diagram of standard measurements. My design process is to knit up and rip out until I like what I see. It's lucky I enjoy knitting. The back took three tries, the collar about six.

Currently on my Suzie wheel. Usually, I spin just like you would braid, from one end of the fiber to the next. This time, I've been practicing spinning "from the fold". Just like it sounds, bend a piece in half and start twisting from the fold. It's supposed to make a shiny fiber shinier. And even though it's a fine yarn, instead of being dense, like thread, it should be a little squishier.

This and That

With our old placemats getting worn out, I needed new ones and thought I might learn something by using someone else's pattern.

I ordered a "warp to go" kit from Vavstuga. The colors and yarns come already chosen and there's minimal math left to do. The result is seven placemats and a runner.

I've been wanting to knit a summer, lace sweater for myself with this cotton/linen yarn, Juniper Moon Farm, Zooey, for quite a while.

 Even though it turned out well, it's not what I had in mind.

So, for my next sweater, when I knitted up a small sample of the stitch called for in the Rowan pattern, Landscape by Martin Storey, with a a pretty, gray, tweedy yarn in my stash (Classic silky wool, a wool/silk/nylon blend), and didn't like the resultant cloth, I decided to go off-road. A pattern is not a rule, I can use it as a suggestion. There are no "yarn police".  

 A few trials later, and I found this stitch. To me, it looks tailored, like a herringbone.

And the stitch works perfectly with this boxy bodice and fitted sleeves!

I didn't expect to like the style on my body type. I don't. I love it!

How long has it been since I've used my marudai? Years! I brought it out to do some kumihimo (think fancy, Japanese lanyards).

I sewed myself a pair of pajama bottoms with a color coordinated, Karen-made drawstring. 

This is Sari silk. I don't know how it's made. My guess, based on no facts whatsoever, is that the old saris are used as curtains, couches and wallpaper. Then, a bunch of cats are sent into the room and allowed to have at it. Do you have a better idea?

And here's a pretty picture of Gingie showing off among the poppies.

On Suzie, I've spun up this RedFish 50/50 Silk/Superfine Merino.

And made it into 556.5 yds of two ply yarn.

Next up is this soft fiber I just picked up at WeFF.

I've dressed Julia with this gamp kit from Halcyon, but I've barely gotten started. I tend to be a monogamous weaver. Right now, I'm focused on the rugs on Sophie.

The original plan was to use up some stash warp and weft. Drab, I know. 

Then, I happened on this bag of Pendleton selvedges at WeFF. The colors didn't wow me, but I thought they might be okay with my blah warp. 

Just okay? It's great!