so, back right after Christmas, i was feeling like i needed to do something to force myself to spin more so that i would get more consistent. i decided to join a roving of the month club. while waiting for my first package of roving to arrive, i picked up some locally…. i’m *still* working my way through that 5 oz. i picked up. it doesn’t help i decided to spin it fairly fine. so far, i’ve got 5 months worth of roving sitting here making me feel seriously guilty! (i have played with a little bit of it… but i want to finish the current spinning before moving on.) add to that the pound of natural roving i picked up to play around with dyeing…
so i’ve been looking for fun things to do with some of it. the first thing i tried was felted soaps:
I’ve made several of these now. some have been gifted away. one bar in being “product tested” in our shower. i love it. Paul loved it at first, but decided it doesn’t allow enough lather, so he prefers naked soap.
next up, playing with felting beads:
i’m thinking i’m going to use a bunch of green and purple beads sewn to brown felted icords as bunches of grapes in a bowl full of felted fruit for our table.
and i picked up a needle felting starter kit at Article Pract… but i haven’t had time to sit down and explore that yet.
my Secret Pal surprised me this time. i hadn’t even started to think about stalking the mail man yet! oh, but lookie….
Package came today! YEA!!
Contents:
a little bamboo compact
some bath fizzies (ahhh!)
a flower pen (very fun!)
a handmade card
One Skein book
2 skeins Patons Washed Haze (aran weight cotton/acrylic blend) colorway: Hyacinth Spray
Lorna’s Laces Shepard Worsted colorway: Purple Club
I can’t seem to put the One Skein book down. I keep picking it up and looking through it. I’ve already got at least 3 projects that i need to add to my upcoming project queue. one that will be added *very* soon is one of those petal bibs for a baby shower I just found out about today!
i took my walk to the PO today, and stopped on the way back in Starbucks for some liquid temptation and some spinning in public time. i did a fair bit of spinning while waiting in line at the PO. one woman came up to me and asked about it… then gave me the “you have too much time on your hands…” line. i told her that no, i don’t have enough time. that for things like this you have to make time. she harumphed and wandered to the back of the line. i wouldn’t let it get to me, except she stood in that same line as i did and just stood there staring into space. i got yards and yards of spinning done in the 10 min wait. she stared into space. don’t people realize how insulting things like “you have too much time on your hands…” are???
in Starbucks, it was a completely different story. i picked out one of the comfy chairs in the front, put my MP3 player headphones on for some better tunes, and started up. in general, when i’m spinning in public, i glance around frequently to check to see if anyone is shy but curious. even with headphones on, i caught the jist of the whispered conversation between the 3 teenage girls that came in a little while after i did. i knew they were seriously curious when they cautiously approached me and asked what i was doing. when i started to explain, one of the girls got so excited she choked on her frappachino and sprayed coffee all over me. i was actually really funny how embarrassed they got. the one who did it ran for napkins and was furiously apologizing and trying to clean it up. she even gave me a hug to apologize. another just kept say “oh my god!” and the third retreated to the complete other side of the shop and wouldn’t come back near until i asked her if she was afraid now (she said yes, lol). i gave them a quick demo and they rushed off (to sit outside and avoid me, lol). on my way out i gave them my email address and told them i’d be happy to teach them. they seemed very glad of the offer, and very genuinely interested in spinning) and took my email address down… but we’ll see if i get an email.
i just finished making up these great needle cases to store my double pointed needles.
the pattern/tutorial came from kathrynivy.com
i added the muslin strips so i could add needle sizes with a sharpie. i know, embroidering them on would have been so much cooler… but sometimes quick is better. i can always make more later. i still need to make a couple more. i thought all my DPNs were 7″ untill i got them out to put them into the cases. turns out i have a few 5″ ones.
next up is a needle roll to store my circular needles in. i found one i like, but it’s vinyl. i’ve worked out how i think i can replicate it in fabric. if i manage to make something decent, i’ll post my pattern design.
progress is being made on the Wild Tide Jaywalkers…
the colors were just WAY to beautiful in stockinette to let the lace pattern lose them… i’m really glad i decided to switch patterns.
i’ve just started the gusset increases. i converted the pattern to toe up with some help from the Natalia Knits version. i used the toe from the Knee High to a Grasshopper pattern. i had wanted to use that heel too, but this is my first time converting a pattern and it wasn’t working for me… so i used the heel from the You’re Putting Me On socks. i’m also planning on giving them a picot edging.
new skills learned with this sock:
- first time reinterpreting a pattern in any significant way
- second toe up sock
- new toe pattern
- toe up heel with gusset, and heel flap/turn
- magic loop 2 socks at once
when the hard drive crashed, the biggest loss for me was the 5 years worth of digital pictures i had taken for collage. all the family photos (except for the last 6 moths) etc were safely backed up. my collage image collection was not because i had been planning to sort and categorize it to save it orderly… so, when it became apparent that there was no hope of recovery, i consoled myself with a new camera. this one is light enough and small enough to carry with me everywhere. it is a better camera than our old one too. now i can collect images to use at a much faster rate to replace my lost collection.but, i needed something to protect this precious new camera while it rolled around my my purse or bag….
this is the pouch pre-felting… along with the one for Paul’s palm pilot. i still need to sew the snaps on Paul’s, so no finished photos of that one yet..
it has a button closure for the little handle so that it can fasten around the strap of my purse or bag for easy access… or on a button loop when it is all i’m carrying. the flap is a snap closure for quick access. and there is a little pocket inside for the extra battery.
the only sad part is that i have to give it all away now for 2 weeks. i’m lending the camera to my MIL for her trip to england. (of course, i’m hoping to score some pics to use for collage, lol). but this little bag should make it easy to carry and protected for her trip!
Saturday was a busy day. first up was a very spontaneous early mother’s day picnic. my MIL is on her way to visit england and won’t be here for actual mother’s day.
the weather was lovely. the food was good. a good time was had by all. even though i mostly hung out in the shade, i found out later that i have a nice rectangle burned into my chest where my favorite soldered slide necklace sits, lol!
then it was off straight to the gallery for the Art for Autism show. i had been expecting to head home and freshen up first, but we ran long… the guys headed over to Peter & Helen’s house to feed the Damon… Helen and I helped out at the show.
this is the only pic i managed to snap of my stuff up at the show. i wish i had gotten a chance to take some more pictures of the gallery. we left before the final call on the silent auction… but i did hear that over $2500 was raised for the program. that includes door donations and sales of the chapbook for the show. when i last peeked, most of my pieces had bids. a couple had a fair bit of interest.
at one point, i ended up in a conversation with a someone who i later found out was the gallery owner. we got into a discussion about Art Vs. Craft… and how things like the Pysanky are precieved in the current art scene. he loved the eggs. he was very insistent that i needed to come in with some digital images of my work. he is planning a show sometime in the coming year that will explore pushing the boundaries of what is traditionally thought of as craft.
