Lenina FO

Pattern:  Lenina by Wooly Wormhead, from the book , Brave New Knits: 26 Projects and Personalities from the Knitting Blogosphere
Yarn:  Plymouth Linen Isle
Needles: size 7
I found out after the fact the the book has an error for this pattern.  However I cannot blame the book for my first attempt. I was totally distracted and couldn't for the life of me count the w&ts.  I missed some vital instructions when piecing and finally gave up.    
On my second try I decided to go with a seamless modification. Instead of knitting each wedge from a provisional CO, I CO with a loop method, knit the first wedge, and bound off the stitches until I had one stitch on the needle.  Along the way I picked up the wraps, knit, then passed the previous stitch over.  I then turned and counted the stitch left as the first stitch of the next row.  There were purl bumps made by the CO row, and I just picked these up and either knit or purled them according to the pattern.  The very last bump was small  and the first few were double bumps from the wrapped stitches.  When the last wedge was done, I did a 3 needle bind-off, wrong sides facing each other and picking up the loop from the CO row.  I think it came out similar to the original:).  The yarn does not have a lot of stretch but the a single row of single crochet, a swim, and a tumble in the dry helped some.  

I started spinning my Purple Majesty.  I'm enjoying my maple/cherry Baines spinning chair from Halcyon.   It has a nice okole shape to fit my bottom.  The roving is all blue on one end, and pretty much red on the other, with purple, blue and red in the midde.  I'm going for a 3 ply and hope it all blends.  

I spent a couple hours on the azalea revitalization project.  I read that lichens mean the plant is not happy and I'm not surprised after years of neglect on my part.  First step was weeding.  Ugh.  I hate weeding.  I spread some dirt/compost around today, and gave them a spinkle.  I spoke to them nicely, trying hard not to show them the worry part.  I'm hoping it will rain some tonight.  Keep your fingers crossed!

There were enough lichen to try out another experiment.  My friend commented today, "Why bother?"  She is so practical.  

I have no idea what variety of lichen they are.  There were two types, a fructiose green one and and orange one that looked like coral.  I boiled them up, poured the liquid in a spaghetti jar, added some ammonia and plan to shake it everyday for a while.  It started off brown and is this reddish-brown color now.   It doesn't look very concentrated.  I wonder if heat is really needed in the dye process.  

It's definitely summer here.  The jacaranda trees are nearly done leaving a lavender dust along the roads.  The popcorn orchids popped. The litchi are turning red. The PV system is producing enough electricity to pay my electric bill.  I have no sock mojo.  I'm still contemplating whether to keep working or tender my resignation. Not sure why I keep hanging on!

Happy creating! 

 

Who ain't busy living is dyeing

Well I guess that's not really what Bob Dylan was singing about, but at little ear worm popped into my head.  Then of course there was the banana song.



These minion are the creation of Illumination Entertainment and stole the show in Despicable Me.  My weld-dyed yarn screamed Minion to me. 

Pattern:  Minion
Needles:  size 8
Yarn:  yellow, hand spun merino/seacell.  Weld natural dye.  Overalls, hand spun Romney and hand dyed and grown by Sheep and Threads on Etsy.  Many bits and bobs-mystery black wool, baby alpaca eyes.  Number two son said google eyes.
Comments:  The goggles are the challenge.  I may still put wire in them and add some eyelids to help hold them in place.  I crochet the rims, just winging them as I went along.  He still needs a pocket and emblem.  I'm still trying to imagine how I will make them. 

My other dyeing project involved a braid of Rambouillet from Certified Cute on Etsy.  A friend who dyes scarves with acid dyes gave me some her premixed dyes to use.  I had no idea what I was doing.  My thought was that the oxblood and alpine blue would mix to form purple and I threw in some purple in the middle just in case.  I soaked and spun dry the braid which puffed up quite a bit in the process.  The dye was quite thick and didn't flow, but I was afraid to felt if by massaging too much.  I steamed it for 45 minutes, but the water never ran clear.  After rinsing it was quite dark. So here it is, Purple Majesty.

I will try to spin this up to blend the colors perhaps a 3-ply for socks. 

Have a Happy Mother's Day weekend all!

A Little Stashbusting, A Lot of Shop Therapy

Number 2 son frequently comments on the additions to my various stashes and reminds me to get rid of something for every new purchase.  I just realized that he is also stashing things, and I've just had a lot longer to collect things!  So there!

Bead stash damage from the trade show.  Pink coral (suspect dyed), green moonstone, and some other green stone I've already forgotten the name of.  I have a thing going on with round beads.


After Green Dreams came along, I acquired a couple more spindles, a diz and a puller.

1.  Green Dreams by Rooster Rick
2.  Bosworth Maxi, Cherry and Maple
3.  Gregory V Pencheff, Maple and Shedua
4.  Gregory V Pencheff, Maple Diz and puller

I'm spinning some wool from Karen's churro named Pippi on the Navajo spindle and having much more luck with this supported spindle then the others I've tried.  The Bosworth is lovely and spins wonderfully!  The Pencheff is very pretty, quite heavy and large.  When I get enough cotton spun I'll try it for plying.

I finished two shawls using the Summer Flies pattern (for sale on Ravelry), by Donna Griffin, Summer Chocolate and Summer Ice.

Needles:  Size 10.5.  Yarn:  Brown Queensland Collection Pima Fresca, Blue STASH Plymouth Linen Isle.  The Linen Isle was gifted to me and had a hard time deciding what it wanted to be.  The pattern is well written and a fast knit up to the mercifully short ruffle.  I used a crochet hook to make the picot bind off.  The Pima Fresca did not need any blocking, but I may block the Linen Isle one since the yarn had been frogged a number of times and was sitting around in the elements for a while.  The label says "machine washable"!

Another stash buster is Stash Market bag.

Pattern:  Shifting Shells Shopping Bagby Claudia Schwan.  A free pattern on Ravelry.
Yarn:  Mystery stuff, looks like cotton linen for the bottom and handles and Reynolds Garden Tween.
Hook size:  I
Mods:  the mystery yarn was a smaller gauge, so I added a couple rows on top before starting the handles.  It is also machine washable.  After washing the tweed portion had a funny smell, so I washed it again.  It is less, but still there.  As my crochet skills are just so so, one handle is little longer.  Oh well.

So far the work a the other clinic has been going okay.  The drive home sucks big time and I know now why Honolulu ranks #2 in the country as worst commute home.  The people I'm working with are all very nice and that counts for a lot! And,  there is a lovely head of red hair I'm trying not to stalk.  Wonder why sheep don't come in that color?

I have one more dye class to go. 

The T-shirt is weld with indigo, the yarn (hand spun SW merino with seacell from Pat at Dyeing for Color  on Etsy. The green is weld on crepe de chine, with a quick indigo dip.  The lac behind the green scarf a little disappointing.  Turns out cotton and vegetable fibers are more challenging to dye.  I don't like to sew silk, so I'm going to dye mostly cotton anyway.  I wish I had more SW wool to dye.  I have some Romney locks, but since I'm sharing dye pots and I don't have any good way to contain the wool or prevent felting I'll save that for another time. 

Blogless Megan is going to knit with Ysolda Teague in Iceland.  Jealous!!!

Stuff is Happening!

I found this fun, fast way to use up beads and can't stop making these. At one time I avoided memory wire like the plague, but now...

I used chalcedony, ruby zosite, Swarovski crystals, labadorite and red coral.  These fit all sizes, are relatively inexpensive to make and fast fast fast!  Thank you Bella Beads for the idea!



 I watched Sarah Anderson's video over and over to learn Navajo Plying. She looks so relaxed doing it! The final result after a bit of practice wasn't too bad. I found out that the singles need to rest for over a week so I don't get little curly "art" yarn sections.


The final project was a pair of socks.
Verdant Socks
Fiber: Rambouillet fiber. Split in half the long way, from Widdershin Wookworks
Pattern: Amy Swenson's toe-Up sock generator
Needles: size 2 DPN Mods: I knit to 1.5 inches of my foot length before doing the heel turn.                Comments: My fabric was pretty tight so it was a strenuous knit. I must have reversed one the balls when I wound them, thus the "fraternal twins".

I've tried a few other ideas found on the web.
 Hemming a tablecloth

 I found this fabric that is 60 inches wide for $3.99/yd but really dreaded the hemming part (actually the ironing of the hem).Here's a link to the idead, but basically you sew a 1/2 inch from the edge all around, then fold on the sewn line and over one more time. Then from the right side, sew 3/8 inch from the folded edge all around. No measuring, very little pinning and no ironing! I like it!

Spindle storage
or spindle noodle Not sure of the link for this one, so will come back later and post it.
Blogless Sandy seems to have an endless supply of this cookie cans. Wood and tin, don't sound safe together, so the foam noodle was the perfect solution. I made a little hat for the spindle so the top is also buffered.

Now this idea, the Ohitsu Yarn Bowl, I thought of. Okay well, I was inspired by many of the beautiful wood yarn bowls out there. My Ohitsu is not an old wooden one, but one of the newer plastic ones. Since I have a rice cooker that also has a warmer, I rarely use it for serving rice. It a nice yarn bowl. (update, Knitting Paradise had a discussion about using the ohitsu for a yarn bowl)

 

The Lauhala class went out to gather Lauhala, to experience the beginning step. It involves gathering, cleaning, thorn removal, rolling and flattening, and storage. This part was hard work! I bought a kit, lol.

My second hat is on hold while I take the Natural Vat Dyeing Class.



My first attempt at reds with cochineal and madder were a bust. I just got shades of pink. They are pleasant enough. I did a little indigo shibori on top for fun. Next week will be yellows.

On the work scene, in a moment of weakness in which I forgot to say "let me think about it. I'll get back to you", I agreed to work at a different location for 6 weeks. My same two day a week schedule. Last time I worked there it was horrible. I'm happy to say things have improved greatly so I survived the first week, no problem except for the usual computer glitch. In this case my auto correct macros went berserk and started making up words. I had to turn that sucker off and now I have to type long phrases that I used to be able to type short cuts for. I hope by Monday the darn thing fixes itself.

Get ready for eye candy:) Green Dreams. Navajo Spindle by Rooster" Rick Jackofsky on Etsy. I have some churro batts in the mail to try and teach myself this. 

 
And here's Edward, my Bosworth Midi, spinning cotton grown in Ewa Beach, Hawaii!

And the Winner is....

kbrow! Thanks to everyone who left a comment and stopping by the ole blog

I started blogging 4/01/2005.  It was movies, rants and whines.  After I retired and got divorced I had much less to rant and whine about, so now it crafts, musings and food.  I find myself spending more time on Ravelry, Facebook and Flickr these days, and many of the blogs I followed in the past have gone quiet. I post most of my fibery stuff to Ravelry, my food to FB and travels to Flickr. 

It's sure a phenomenal place, this World Wide Web! 

Here's my first post ever:

"I admire the knitting blogs I have visited and decided to try my hand at it. I also feel the need to see my thoughts on the Internet just to see how it feels.

I just realized it's April Fool's Day."

Chatty as every, lol.  As a tool for self-therapy, the blog has be great for me.  It is cheaper then seeing a therapist.  The answers lie within, it seems...master of my fate and captain of my soul.

March Already

The Thing Hats have officially been renamed the Thinking Hats by the recipients and their folks! These boys have shirts that say Thing 1 and Thing 1. No number 2 in this family! It warms this knitter's heart to see these hats go to a good home. I love knitting with wool, but have to face up to the fact that Hawaii just isn't the frigid north. I CO on 100 stitches for the larger hat and 95 for the smaller one.

I spun up the Jacob from kbrow. She got this at SAFF from the Perfect Spot Farm . I split the colors out and spun a two ply. The result is Jake the Cat!
 

Pattern: Lion Brand Purrfect Kitty Sock Critter Needles: size 4 Mods: none. More of this pattern could be knit in the round. This cat was so clearly male:) My R2D2 bag is finally out of hibernation and finished. This was one of my Fair Isle practice pieces. I learned that it is important to have matching yarns. The white yars is much finer, softer and fuzzier and it made R2D2 pull in. I really loved the Koigu for the Star Wars letters! The lining was a pain but there are Jayhawks inside. Rock chalk Jayhawk!
 

 Free charts by Sarah Bradberry The cmeknit1's hat has been in my queue forever.

I had a great week off from work President's Day week. Now I'm back and my "assistant" is not a good match. It seems the things that are in his job description are below him. They still need to be done so I either have to micromanage constantly or do it myself. I'm asking myself everyday if it's time to resign and really be retired. I'll go to his supervisor one more time. It's just exhausting and aggravating. The paycheck is nice since it has been a year of big expenses and the timing belt is next. My contract is up in September.

Here is my Lauhala hat. This was a challenge for me. I missed some weavers at the beginning of the brim, but it was too close to the finish and too beat up to take out so my most patient teacher, Mike Nahoopii, helped me finesse the closing of the brim. Don't look to closely, lol. It is nice from a distance and made much nicer looking with the peacock feather headband that my mom loaned me. It deserves a much better hat. I have joined the club and do plan to try one more.

Weaving lauhala is much like knitting. I learned that checking my work as I go along and correcting errors early saves a lot of grief later. Not unlike Tilly here (from A Fine Fleece). I got a big head about memorizing the cables and did two repeats crossing the middle cables over instead of under. I decided to knit on as the error is in the middle of the scarf and the color is so dark it's not noticeable. .
But of course I will point it out to everyone, heh.  I'm enjoying the Rowanspun DK that I've had in my stash a long long time.

 

The Landcaster had been acquiring power tools and rebuilt the firewood box. We became quite concerned about the 3 carpenter bees who kept returning looking for their old home. He built them a home and now two have moved back in. I guess they are pollinators of flowers just like honey bees. I hope they stay in the woodpile and don't drill holes in my eaves.

I almost forgot about my shopping sprees!  I purchased some findings and one of Calvin Orr's jellyfish kits.  I stopped by the Bead Gallery booth (sparkly leather and crystals) and Bella Beads (cool leather with magnetic clasp) for make and takes. 

I also added some spinning books to my library.  A couple more are on the way.  I can't decide what to spin next.

Hats and Cats

Whew!  January has gone by in a flash.  It was a crazy month.  Mom and dad need more of my attention but seem to back at baseline now.  My sister, the Sky Goddess, made a couple of trips home and that really perks them up as she has much energy to shop daily, and cook up some really special treats.  Like the steamed clams.  I wish we could get the live black mussels here, but they are only available frozen and a strange texture.  So, manila clams it is...wine, scallions, garlic and a bit of butter, yum!  She always picks up the family favorites...oxtail soup, haupia, Liliha bakery treats, and this time of year, jai.

On top of that, my garage became a snack for some nasty ground termites so I had to have the ground treated.  The house, being much older then the garage is surrounded by those chemicals that have been banned, so I think they don't like it much.  In addition, I had signed up for a PV system last year, but due to the end of the year rush I had to wait for this year.  So I decided to have the house tented as well.  All that bagging and cleaning is not fun at all, but it did encourage me to throw away a lot of outdated stuff.

The PV system took 3 instead of 2 days to install.  The first gang got rained out the second day and the next crew had a whole different idea of out to get the wiring from the electric box to the panels.  The attic is old and unfinished, and proved quite a challenge.  They did a terrific job and I can't wait to see my electric bill!  I was warned though, that this is the cloudy time of year so not to be disappointed.

I tried some colorwork out for Valentine's Day using the hand dyed maui yarn.  It's a sock weight so I held it double to go with my hand spun.  The roving was hand dyed by Christina Potter on Etsy.  
I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out.  The pattern is mine is except for the top which I found on Ravelry, Gramma K's Fair Isle Tam, by Kathleen Taylor.
 

I signed up to take a Lauhala hat weaving class.  It is every Saturday for 5 hours and I will need every bit!  We started with "pico" or top of the hat.  The project is now on a hat block and I hope to reach the start of the brim soon.

I finished Lady Edith.
Pattern: 

The Lady Edith

by Karrie Steinmetz

The pattern was a RAK from FranceA on Ravelry in memory of Karrie Steinmetz who passed away unexpectedly.  

Yarn:  Handmaiden, Mini Maiden.  A real pleasure to work with. 

Downtown Abbey has been a great series this year, again!  So much drama, and great characters.  Lady Edith herself, can be quite a b*tch.

I named the strange cat Jayne Cobb, the Cunning Cat.
Pattern: The Parlor Cat, by Sara Elizabeth Kellner from Rabbit Hole Knits
Yarn.  Mostly handspun, Candy Corn hand dyed by the Moonlight Baker.
The face is always a challenge.  I tried out the crochet cat eyes from Heart in Flight, using sock yarn.  They are a little bulge y.  I may redo them one of these days. My son says, "That is a very odd cat."

Owen the Owl.
Pattern Big Snowy Owl, by Purl Soho from Purl Bee
Yarn:  My own handspun
This was in my queue for quite a while.  He is much smaller then the pattern due to the smaller needles and yarn gauge.

Thing Hat
Pattern:  Scott Pilgrim Hat (The Original Costume Pattern), by Lulu Bee, from lugirl Ravelry downloads
Yarn:  some very scrumptious Ravelry Red Malabrigo Rios and white Cascade 220 Superwash.
I hope the red does not bleed!

I took my car in for a bargain service, noise and recall and boy what a surprise.  I also found out my care was way overdue for a new timing belt!  I don't know much about timing belts, but after consulting various people, I need a new one!  Dragon Year is not so good for this metal rabbit, but things will look up in the summer.  I'll try to keep a low profile until then. I waxed and oiled Serenity, my Majacraft Rose, and will try to finished up the odds and ends I have before diving in to the new stuff.

I got a great surprise package from the Knitted Brow!   This really made my day.  That is some lovely Jacob in shades of brown to play with as well as some very special gifts for Totoro!  I can't decide how to spin it...try my supported spindel?  On the wheel?  Do I separate the colors?  Fun, fun, fun!

Don't forget the drawing April 1 for knitting related giveaway.  Just leave a comment on January's post. 

Have a great February!