Saturday, October 22, 2005
Friday, October 21, 2005
knitted and unknitted
Have you seen some of these knitted and un knit sock posts?
Well check them out. Woven Thoughts, Yarn Go Go early in Oct she talks about it.
Now this makes great sense to me.
Concepts take a knitted piece dye it to specks ... Stripes... Then unknit and make something stripy ..Like socks.
I have two thoughts. One is that recycled sweaters would work really great and you don't have to own a knitting machine. Just take the pieces apart so that you know where the yarns have been surged and where they are free flowing....aka unseam the beast. The pieces are not identical but they are pretty close and if you were going to make a sweater from a sweater they should line up well enough once dyed.
As the new owner of 2 cashmere sweaters that are no longer wearable this sounds good. One is Navy and the other is mint. Navy I can deal with but mint is a no no in my world of colors I can wear. I actually did find 5 cashmere sweaters or cashmere silk sweaters but I don't take apart the ones that are still wearable. Portland peeps check out the Goodwill on 122nd and Halsey they have lots of great sweaters right now.
and thought two...Somehow I am now the proud owner of a 1970 knitting machine. OOPS. Well not really it was in Becky's and Donna's garage sale, where when looking though it I may have told them that I wanted to try it. So this Monday I sat down and figured out how it worked.... I need some practice. But it might be fun to experiment with.
It sounds much easier than spreading 400-600 yards of sock yarn around my house in hopes of getting a big enough circle to get stripes.
Bets on when we see the first book about this?
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Mr. Yucky
About Mr. Yucky one post down.
He is a friendly spider who lives out side. The picture may have been taken with some tricky camera skills in order for him to appear larger than life.
In real life Mr. Yucky is a bit bigger than a quarter including all his legs. So from my desk he is about the size of well a smudge on the window. I do know which smudge he is because he is a slightly different color than all the other smudges. Yeah I don't know when they clean those windows.
How long has he lived at the office....A couple weeks I think. Like I said he lives out of doors and keeps yucky bugs from moving into the office so I have no problems with his little home. But if he crosses the line he might get the boot. But it is pretty cool to see him so close without actually having to get with in web distance. IE through the glass.
HE has pretty colors to. Nature study.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Cat nip Sparkle
The Chat is on cat nip... He crazy normally but he is extra special when the cat nip is around.
So special I have had to chase him away from my spinning three times tonight. ... We have this discussion any time I spin but it noramlly only take one time to convince him...tonight I ran out of thread before he was about to forgo.
What have I been spinning while pink sparlkly stuff. Well I was until the sparkly thread I was using ran out on me....Nasty bit of shiz that is. So I have to go back and get more sparkle. How much sparkle is there in this pink stuff. LOTS and LOTS I used some Angline, some pink merino and some white BFL and a little nylon...Um because I had it and matched. I cardded it all into rollags and poof pink sparkly yarn.
Becky get five points if she knows where this picture was taken. That little puff is what already has the sparkly thead and whats left on the bobbin is what needs its thead. I don't know how much is here but I used all 250 yards of the sparkly sewing thead on the first half of the bobbin.
I must say this is the evenist yarn I have ever spun. It is very consistant for me. I don't know what I will use it for but I now have an armload of books to look through and find something good to use it on...
By the by have you seen the new Vouge knitting...Shocking but I like it.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Funny that...Knitting
The current sock is booming along... but I need the person whose sock this is going to become to try it on. I don't know there foot size in relation to my own. But I am getting to like the opal better. It does not make a bulky heel seam and the stockinette with the zeroes is quite nice.
I do really like the pooling flashing of this sock. I know that lots of people don't like these effects but with two colors in the spiral fashion I do.
With pretty lace sides. I also got a fun Idea on what design of socks I want to make next. Fun ones. Taller ones but I have to find some good solid colored sock yarn.
Next I have been working on a scarf. Not just any scarf but a scarf made out of the fruit loops I spun up. Its a little wonky because...um I did not set the twist before I started knitting.
Kae pointed out to me that my mistakes in dyeing my fiber could be a good learning experience. Which I very much agree with. There are several spots that spun up in variations that I really really enjoy. Meaning at some point in time I would like to do it on purpose. This is the one I loves the most. It however is not the best picture. The colors are lavender, robins blue, a brownish green and a pink. But its just lovely. The other one is this orange yellow peachy colored flower.
As a whole the scarf looks a little funky because of the drastic color changes. I really want to knock this one out and block it because it will look so much better blocked.
If you haven't figured it out I really enjoy color gradation. But I have taken it to my Drawing class and the ladies really liked it. The pattern is super easy and free... FREE!!!! She has several other really cool patterns I Recommended checking them all out.
I still have two giant sections of unspun fruit loops. I am thinking this time I will divide the colors into sections and spin them that way. A little more control.
Happy Sunday.
Friday, October 14, 2005
Book Crazy
I have been on a book binge....O the books.
Housekeeping out of the way first.
The pattern is from Knit Socks! By Betsy Lee McCarthy and it is the Peaks 'n' Valleys sock. With a different heel. I have picked up the gusset stitches and about to start the pattern on the instep. I must say that I am not as impressed with the Opal yarn as I thought I was going to be. Its seems a little scratchy compared to the Knit picks and Socks that Rock yarn I have been using. But it may get better once I wash them.
So what books have a bought you ask...Let me tell you.
I don't know..It maybe the shape of the book. It matches the other sock shaped book I have. The coffee shop I knit at between classes also has a couple Christmas stockings knitted up and they just seem happy to me. I am hoping for at least a jumping off point. This book is from Book Close Outs .
These three are from crafters choice.
This has whimsy and spunk. Several things that look wonderful to me.
This one goes with the Christmas stockings don't you think. It seems to me they should flow well.
The felted, fulled thing is so cool. This one I have heard good and bad about. The bad mostly to do with the sewing but I can sew ... sew well enough that is.
Did I just buy Craft books no. But the "normal" books I bought are to many to mention here but they are fun to.
Happy knitting weekend.
Sunday, October 09, 2005
Socks
Wow! You would have been a pair of socks as long
as it's possible for socks to be before they're
tights - and all multi-coloured with pretty
patterns and detail all over the place - then
you could stand and admire your sock-self all
day!