I wondered...

 What if I spin raw cotton from the garden?

After about four years of on and off again spinning, I've finished the cotton gifted to me by a friend of a friend from the tree in her garden.

Hemp and cotton yarn. Why not knit with it? Maybe it would make a good washcloth.

I've already done horizontal and diagonal stripes. Now what? This is called Illusion knitting. From head on, stripey,

from the side, ooh! It's magic!

I wondered how to use up more of my weaving yarns. All of these napkins are from the same warp.

I've been knitting a lot of colorwork lately. I wondered if all of this experience would make knitting these socks easier. I knit the first one five times. But I finished the second one in one go. I guess I needed more practice.

I'd heard about steeking, but I'd managed to avoid it until now. I wondered if I could do it. So, I knit this sweater in a spiral, bottom to top. Then, I crocheted two lines up the middle.

On either side of the crocheted lines, I picked up stitches to knit a button band and collar. Next, the sweater I'd spent weeks knitting, I steeked. I cut it apart! 

And it worked! No raw edges! Wool is amazing! The cut edge just needed to be tacked down to become a facing. Nothing fell apart or frayed!

And voila!
Keep questioning. Stay curious!

The Gifts of my Hands

Looking through pictures on my cell phone, I realized it's been long and long since I've posted. That thought along with my rule about gifts (they don't get used...or put away...until they've been acknowledged) got me to sit down and start organizing my thoughts. So, here we are again. For the first time in almost a year, this is most of what I've completed. And know that when I blog, it becomes a thank you note. Posting lets me be grateful to family and friends who share in the gifts of my hands. 

As dark as this wool is, you can see the beautiful cabling on the sweater if you zoom in and squint.

I made this, because I needed something to knit and it's pink. And, the buttons. It's always the buttons. 

This sweater is doubly unusual for me. First, I made the same sweater for Mom a couple of years ago with a different yarn. I rarely repeat a pattern. Second, this is a Henley. I don't think I've ever made a sweater that's not for wearing over a top but to be worn as one.

I'm very much enjoying the challenge and learning involved with doing colorwork. Besides, look at this sweater. Isn't it adorable?! It's for my niece's firstborn. (Note, I wrote firstborn and not newborn. If it is used this year, it'll be with the sleeves rolled wayyy up...and maybe a belt. Hopefully, next winter it'll fit perfectly.)

The baby can wear this, too. But it's for Daddy, a Bulldogs fan.

Socks are like bunnies. They multiply. 

They're always a quick carry with project, so I keep them in my purse.

This pair is for one of my grands.

Salmon have a very special meaning to our friend and her family. The pattern was an "it takes a village" moment. Three of my artist friends helped me design, draw and edit it. I did the weaving using my drawloom.

After almost four years, the huge bag of raw cotton I was gifted is down to what you see here. Call me Dory. 🎶"Just keep spinning. Just keep spinning."

I've also been spinning this fiber in between phone calls at work. I think I started it last year. I finally completed it during our recent road trip. Once we got home, I plied it. Boy does it ever feel good to put the stamp of completion on a project!

THE END (he he!)

Taking some time

 Some projects take some time.

Last year in April, the arch was barely covered. What a difference that year has made!

I'm still spinning my huge supply of home grown cotton. It's taking some time, but I'm enjoying it.

I've taken this knitting project out of time-out. Following a chart, each square in the grid has a bead threaded onto the silk. I'd gotten frustrated with some errors that were showing up and set it aside. With enough time apart, years, I made some repairs. Now, I'm back at it. Each and every stitch on the needle, when knitted, has a glass bead slipped through.   

I've been weaving some baby blankets. Weaving projects don't always go smoothly either. Do you see the error in the pattern? It's at the bottom of the last flower repeat. It was too obvious to me. At the top of the picture, you can see where I started cutting out the weft.

  By the time I'd stopped, about four inches and two hours later, it was error free and I had this pile of yarn to toss. 

I found a pattern on Pinterest (no designer named, I searched). On the original, the lower left quadrant of the picture didn't feel balanced to me.  The redesign took me three days.

Look what happens when I take my time! Here are four new baby blankets woven with my drawloom.

A flower in the flower garden.

This design was drawn by the dog's owner, who's also the baby daddy. 

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. 

Clean House

This is how I clean my house. If I finish something, a project or a puzzle or a magazine, I can get rid of it. Then, there's one less thing in the "to do" pile!

Years ago, I bought 2 oz of this Friesan Lamb wool in Oregon. I spun it up in just a few hours. I'll probably use it for a dryer ball.

Just last year, I did a spinning and weaving demo for my friend's school. She gifted me with a bag of cotton that they'd grown there. I spent several days picking out all of the plant matter. Doesn't it look squeeze-ably soft?

A five years ago, I cut a warp for a rug, but my math was off. I had twice as many ends as I needed. That warp has been sitting in the "to do" pile. Now, not only have I used up that warp, but two bins of cloth have now been consolidated into one! This pattern is from Handwoven, Summer 1985.

Because I was using up, and actually running out of fabric, you can see where I added some green strips to the blue and light blue to the dark blue. Shocking, I know! By allowing it not to be perfect, I actually learned something! And I'm happy with the results!

With the last of the warp, here's the last of the fabric strips...except the red. There's always more red.

Learning

There's been a lot of learning happening.

Last month, I went to WEFF. One of the vendors taught me how to use this tool for Andean plying. It allows one to ply from both ends of a piece of yarn at the same time, without a tangled mess. 

Maybe I should learn some self control. Here is only some of the fiber I bought there.

I'm getting better at making diaper covers.

I don't know if this counts as fiber art for Spinzen, but here's my grandbaby using my inkle loom to learn to walk.

My friend works at an elementary school that has a massive garden. They grew the cotton you see here in the basket. She invited me to their school fair to demo the processing of it.

I spun this small bit from their homegrown cotton.

My nephew came for a visit and sat down to learn to spin.

 And my sister-in-law couldn't put the Inkle loom down.