Fiber Friday 3/30/07

Hi everybody! I'm thrilled to be here on another Friday with some homespun yarn to show off... yeah!

I've only got two to share but pretty soon I'll be able to show a LOT more. I have a few under wraps at the mo.

This first one will look familiar to anyone who has been here on a Friday before. I am exploring a theme called "crayons" and this one is the latest edition. 3.4 oz. 144 yards.

The other yarn here was inspired by a previous yarn I spun called "mangowood." This one is "mangotree." It's earthy and rich, which is something I tend to go for. 3.2 oz, 136 yards.

The weekend is upon us, and I need to start a new knitting project. What shall it be?

a painting!

Okay I think it's about time I revealed another hobby I have. A sane person would be content to dye, spin, knit and crochet. And draw and write and rock.

But I also have a soft spot for paint-by numbers.

Perhaps something else in this photo suggests this is not my first one?

I finally finished a "landscape" of the golden gate bridge meets fantastical dreamscape fantasy. It was fun to do and awesome to finish.

I have started in on another one. Can you tell what it will be?

Top story: New Coasters Bring Smiles

I love these freaking coasters! The wonderful groschveux made these for me in another swap and they couldn't be more perfect.

I keep thinking a cup of pinkberry would go nicely on one of them. Yes, I am also addicted now. If you're not familiar, read the article.

"Crack-berry" is almost cute but "frozen heroin juice" just goes too far. And is sort of gross.

Back to the coasters, I sent off roving and felt bead kits indirectly for them.

I don't know which would be harder to quit, the pinkberry or the swapping!

My day in pictures

The story: Woke up early and walked to the farmer's market. Along the way I saw...



... and then I got to the market...

... and had breakfast...

...on my walk home, I saw the strangest tree...

... almost home...

I made it back! And here is proof this small journey existed.

But wait, you ask, no knitting or spinning? Well I've been pretty quiet about a year-long project I finally finished. Here is a tease.

Have a quiet Sunday, if you can. And while I should be saving for a new wheel or a bicycle, really, for the love will someone please talk me out of buying a Blythe doll?!

Blog upgrade - a total failure!

After a few hours trying to improve the look of my blog I managed to:

1. Delete the heading - you know, the NAME of the blog.

2. While the heading was gone, an unwanted thin brown stripe remained in it's place. It was rounded at the bottom, but cut abruptly about 2mm above that point.

2. I lost all the extras in the sidebar - guest map, counter, flickr badge, etsy banner, google ads, links, etc. Gone completely.

3. I uploaded a poorly sized banner to replace the deleted heading. All attempts to fix the banner size were met with blurring, skewing perspective, and general ugly. The thin brown stripe under this banner remained to mock me.

4. I said a lot of bad words as the attempts to improve this blog were met with a slow, clunky decline of the overall look.

I am so thankful that I finally found the "restore" button. And now things are as they were! I am relieved all is not lost, though saddened that I was unable to do a simple thing like replace the boring template heading with a banner.

This is a good example of what drives me crazy. I have a million ideas for yarn, knitting, crochet, spinning, writing, drawing, etc. But I have no brain for the technical part, the business part, the math. I'm currently in the middle of proofing a pattern and the math is hurting my head like a dunce cap.

That said, I'm glad I still have a lot of ideas. For the math, I can always use a calculator!

Upgrading blog!

Hang tight - it may look funny for a while!

Fiber Friday 3/23/07

Here we are, another Friday, and I've got some more homespun, hand-dyed yarn to show off!

These first two are part of a series I am exploring called "crayons." I want the yarn to look like a fresh box, full of potential.

The first one weighs 3.5 oz and measures 142 yards. The second one weighs 3.4 oz and measures 135 yards. Together, I hope they have some bright future.

The third yarn is definitely a left turn for me. I tend to go for rich earthy colors and well, this one is delicate and girly. It's for a swap and I do try to work with the colors I think people will like.

The last one is a return to Tiffany's. This yarn is based on a similar yarn I spun a while back. I dyed up some Tiffany blue roving and spun it up. Then I plied with a holographic thread strung with nearly 100 pearls. Real pearls, of course.

I'm happy with the way it came out, nice and bouncy and energetic. 3.7 oz, 104 yards.

This one is going out in a swap as well, but it's not meant to be a surprise, so I think it's okay to share it. I was obviously hypnotised by the yarn as I photographed it, because out of the many many pearls you can only see about five. Trust me, they're in there!

Have a good one, people! That's not an order or anything, but a strong suggestion. Yeah!

Mom strikes again

Please allow me to show off my latest wonderfully beautiful knitting needles!

Aren't they cute? 100% mom-made!

The small needles are a size 2 and appear to be bamboo with intricate cinnabar-like beads on top. I use small needles a lot and I don't have any size 2 straights. The larger set are size 9, made of wood with glass beads on top. Nice, right?

Also, now that I know I'm allergic to nickel, it's great to start building non-metal needles into my stash.

Speaking of nickel allergies, here is an example of my brain power: For about ten years I actually believed that earrings were supposed to hurt the way high-heeled shoes hurt, and most women were tougher than I in their ability to suffer for beauty. Also, knitting with metal needles for extended periods of time made one's hands rashy because of the knitting.

I won't bore you with the a-ha moments and all that. But now that I know better, I easily can avoid cheap metal. But before I go too far down this left turn - Thanks Mom. As usual, you rock!

Happy Hour Knits

OK, remember how I was a guest on DIY's Knitty Gritty last year? Well the show is finally going to air! And about 7 months sooner than they originally told me. Crazy!

A big thank you to Jeremiah for pointing out to me the airdate has been announced! Be sure to see Jeremiah on the couch of this episode as he is one of the fabulous knitsters.

We were told the show would air in the late fall but it looks more like APRIL 2nd, 2007! That's really soon! Okay here is the page with the project I demonstrate on the show. I think they relese the pattern when the show airs.

My project is the first episode (EP 801) of the infamous 800-series that includes Stephanie Pearl-McPhee among other rock star knitters.

Now that the show is upon us, I am nervous all over again. Why did I go around telling everybody?

Fiber Friday 3/16/07

What? A Fiber Friday without pictures? What is this crap?

WELL... all the spinning I did this week was for swaps and I don't want to have any spoilers out here. But I do have a few links you simply must explore:

My new pal Kari's blog is worth visiting because she is talented, takes good pictures, and she wrote a whole post about me! She also is asking for links to more blogs to spotlight so perhaps you all should stop by and leave her a comment.

While you're there, note the irony that "each Friday she has something new!" - and today is actually the Fiber Friday where I do not. Ouch!

If you are looking for a dose of yarnahol go to the Fiber Friday post on Craftster. It never disappoints.

Happy FF everyone. I promise to have yarn to show off this time next week!

Things I love

I felt like sharing some of my favorite art that hangs in my house - which is saying something because I have a lot and I love it all... but here's the problem...

I don't know who the artist is!

I bought them on a trip to NY, at Union Square in the summer of 2006. The woman who made the prints was hanging out with a card table and a stack of great pictures.

Because I am a knitting fan as well as a cycling fan, I couldn't decide so I bought these two. I ran across the street to buy a mailing tube and framed them soon after I got home.

I intended to frame them properly but haven't gotten around to it yet. Please know that they do look better in person.

If anyone recognizes the artist - let me know, please.

Did I mention that I like to pretend they are pictures of me? If you squinted, they almost could be. Is that something I should keep to myself? Probably.

Speaking of things I love... I'm currently having an affair with this chocolate bar. Seriously people, salt and chocolate GO together.

Keep on selling in the free world

I discovered the EtsyMini today, which excited me because of my car. But no, it's the banner on the right there with clickable photos that link to your shop.

So I finally got my act together and had some cards printed up for my etsy shop. I'll have two sets available, one of yarn pictures and one of New York photos. I'll be listing them this week.

I've also been on a batt kick! Sometimes you don't want to work with roving. Sometimes you want to play with a light fluffy cloud...

And I've previously mentioned my recent unicorn-rainbow revival, right? Okay then.