Friday This and That

I took a class at the Quilt Hut called Quilted Post Cards. It seemed the perfect thing to try and use up fabric odds and ends and other bits of embellishments. I only got one card done using a pattern given to me in the class.
It had been awhile since I did any free motion quilting so it was a fun way to practice. I see I am in need of a lot more practice! I am now obsessing on the pinking rolling cutter blade. I'd seen those but didn't think I would ever use one. It was used on the edge to make the border and sandwich the card stock and interfaced mini-quilt. There was debate as to how much postage to put on these.

Another small FO is the Silky Juvenile Nettle.
Pattern: Hansigurumi Juvenile Nettle, free!
Yarn: some truly antique Crystal Palace Country silk
Needles: size 2
Mods: The pattern uses worsted weight yarn, but I used DK weight
This critter was very difficult to photograph. My two color knitting really pulled in so the "head" came out smaller then desired. Perhaps I'll make another with a larger needle. Hansigurumi has some very cute critter patterns.


The amazing Ms. Lolly's Project Spectrum 2009, Cardinal Directions is starting up.
NORTH (March/April)
Color: Green
Material: Stones/Gems/Rocks
Season: Winter
Element: Earth
My stash of greens is heavy in the bead department and a bit light in the yarn department. There is the frogged Lu, Scotian Silk by Fleece Artist, the green end of the STR medium weight Watermelon Tourmaline and a bit of handspun. Today's lunch of bitter melon and chicken in black bean sauce from The Green Papaya rounds out the mosaic.


(Bitter melon is one of those vegies people either love or hate)
Go GREEN!

The baby sister has flown in from Denver so we are catching up. We got the nice part of the day walking Magic Island and looking for driftwood. It rained just as we left and the winds are picking up again.

Number two son and I stopped by the Security store to pick a battery for the alarm system. We all agreed a battery with a hole that had bubbling fluid coming out of it was a bad thing. Apparently he has been advising me to change this battery for months! Now it's done:)

I may be coming to the end of the reams of paperwork required to be hired for work. I still have the physical to pass, so of course I'm obsessing on that and trying hard to get back on the diet. No cookies for me:(

Have a great weekend! You may have my cookies.

CD Drop Spindle

Pattern: CD spindles
Mods: I used two mini cds instead of regular CDs and cut the dowl 9 inches. My first cup hook broke off in the end of the dowel so I had to sand it down until it was gone, so it ended up a little shorter. My sawing is really bad, too so I ended up rounding the splintered off ends.

It wobbles some, but as I'm pretty much of a stop and spin sort of gal, it actually worked out for me. I practiced on the never ending ball of green roving and some silky blue mixture gifted to my by Opal.

I tried the nostepinne to make a ball, but I can see this will take practice.

Adamas Shawl, FO

I am so happy to present Adamas Shawl. It's LACE! (okay, well not laceweight, but close enough for me:) Here is she is posing at Namea's Aloha Yarns.


Pattern: Adamas Shawl, free pattern!
Designer: Miriam L. Felton
Yarn: Cascade Heritage. I used almost all of two skeins. 2 skeins = 874.0 yards (799.2m) of colorway 9931.
Needles: size 6. I started off with bamboo but finished up with Knit Picks Options when I needed a longer cable.



I love the way the pattern made little hearts and I'm thinking they would make a nice cardigan.



(Namea knit the cool red skirt)


I tried out blogless Sandy's blocking system using the interlocking foam mats on my dining room table and her homemade blocking wires. They are made of Radnor Welding Products aluminum welding wires. Apparently they are sold in 3 ft. lengths. The locking mats are great as the pins are easy to stick in. I covered the mats with a sheet. Even with the 25% nylon, the shawl blocked well and became huge!. I'm pretty darned thrilled with this project!!

The yarn is very soft against the skin and a joy to knit with.



I took a class to learn to drill holes in beach glass. It uses a Dremel, drill stand and special flat tipped, diamond dusted drill bits. I took my bigger, not so wonderful pieces of glass to drill, as I was worried about cracking and the pieces are held with fingers while drilled. Now, what to do with the glass? The very green piece of glass is "man-made". I'd like to try making some in my rock tumbler one of these day.

Friday

Yesterday I arrived home just in time to see the postlady driving up my street. She usually goes down past my house and then up so I knew she had already delivered mine. There was a "package at PO" note. Darn, that meant she was taking my packages back to PO for me to pick up later. The immediate gratification hog in me felt instant let down, but low and behold she swerved to my side of the street and gave me my packages! Thank you thank you thank you, nice post lady! You made my day.

I won a contest weebug had on her blog and I received a wonderful Emergency Knitting kit with two skeins a very soft alpaca Frog Tree yarn, and some great little tools and stitch markers. I really loved the post card of her knitting guild! Thanks Marti. Have fun at Madrona this weekend! And thank you so much for the fun prize!



I obsessed on the Ottolenghi Cookbook after looking at all of chotda's great flicker pictures. The pictures and recipes are very exotic and inspiring! I'll have to figure out the measurements as they are in grams, just like the book size and shape is...well not American, heh. I have it on a standard printer paper and it is narrower and taller. (now how did I get stuck on that thought?) Somehow the Lion Hat book just got added on to that order. I have been obsessing on the Urban Trekker hat ever since I saw an ad of a New York women wearing a similar hat in green.

Ella has gone to the frog pile in honor of Finish or Frog it Friday.



I'm excited about Lolly's up and coming Seeking Direction with 2009 Project Spectrum. I petered out last year, but look forward to the first color for NORTH (March/April)
Color: Green
Material: Stones/Gems/Rocks
Season: Winter
Element: Earth

Have a great weekend!

Friday passed with nothing Finished or Frogged

I'm studying. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. The bad news is that the Advance Life Support guidelines have all changed since the last time I studied for it. The good news is that the algorithms are easier to remember.

I'm taking time off for show and tell.

I got this really adorable AND useful key chain from the talented Opal. She spun up the yarn, which I may have blogged about before. Thanks, Opal!


I suspect the real reason, beside the crappy economy, I decided to look for a part time job, is the shop therapy for January was out of control, heh. My half cotton cards came and I tried them out. I'm new to carding and I think it will take some practice. The cotton staple is very short, like 3/4 inch, and it is all stuck in the card. I managed 3 little rolags. It's a start.


My beautiful acorn nostepinne from the Etsy seller, Brandywine arrived. It's got an acorn, so I couldn't resist. Here it is posing on the the pineapple "bloom". It was a pretty rainy season and only two plants have flowers. I'm hoping the others will pick up, but I suspect they won't fruit until next year.


Adamas Shawl is picking up stitches and I've forgotten all my geometry and can't seem to calculate how far I've gone. I'm finally looking at the end of the first ball of Cascade Hertitage (437 yards). I have 9 repeats for the second chart done, which means 5 more to do.

Back to the study guide.

Look at me, ma! I'm knitting Lace!!!

I love the idea of feathery, fine lace, but my brain is opposed to the actual knitting of it. Feather and Fan I can do, especially in worsted weight yarn I love like Noro. After scouring Ravelry and blogs, it boiled down to two projects for remedial lace knitting. Forest Canopy or Adamas.


I decided to go with sock yarn and a size 6 needle. So far so good. I may be a fool, but I have no life line. I love the way the pattern makes hearts! I was looking for a tone on tone Noro sock yarn to try, but settled on the Cascade Heritage. It is a ball that never ends!

My time has been taken up with big sistah visiting from Tacoma for her annual 2 month visit. She returns to Tacoma Saturday. I like to keep lunch open, heh, cuz it's all about food!

I've applied for a call-in job with the Navy (no I didn't join up). I am wading through books of paper and documentation for credentialing and security clearance. And, oh joy oh joy, I have to re certify my Advanced Life Support. This is one of those things I have a mental block against. I have certified twice, but always let it expire and have to take it again. So now I have to study:(. I get to use my fax machine. Once of those modern marvels and pieces of technology that somehow just makes me happy!

Speaking of technology, I've traded my WII for a PS3. Basically I wanted a BluRay player, but this one plays games as well. According to the Lancaster (son and expert tech support) though, I need HDMI cables and a smarter surge protector, one that shuts down at low energy levels. I now have 4 remotes so a Master Remote is on the list. It never ends.

But then, I digress.

The latest class I took was Basic Stamping at Bead It in Kaimuki. I had taken this before, but my stamping was never to my liking. The bottom line is that it takes practice. So, I've practiced on some cell phone charms.




I've managed a few more stitch markers. I just love the colorful beads!





I have been given an award by Fiberitis. Thanks!


Here are the rules for the nominees: 1. Copy the award to your site. 2. Link to the person from whom you received the award. 3. Nominate 7 other bloggers. 4. Link to those on your blog. 5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominated.

My nominations are:
1. YarnOver
2. Smariek Knits
3. Opal
4. Feral Knitter
5. Knitpastis
6. Zeneedle
7. novamade

Thanks for all the inspiration!