Fiber Friday 5/25/07

Yes well it is Friday so I'm sharing some fiber!

Granted these are batts and not homespun, but this is all I have to share this week.

Today is a special Friday, as it is my last day of work. This means that despite possible jury duty next week I will be dying and spinning like crazy.

Until then, lookie the batts. Six of them, all cranked out on my Strauch Petite drum carder.

They contain mixed wool, mill ends, mohair, recycled sari silk, silk noil, bamboo, and angelina sparkle fiber. I like making them. I also like playing with them. And petting them.

This is post #261

...And I thought I was a lazy blogger!

Seriously though, I'm looking forward to a few things over the next month:

1. My current job ending

2. Maybe going to the Black Sheep Gathering. Hello?

3. Celebrating a blog-i-versary. (okay, what is the real word for this?)

4. Preparing for the second annual Tour de Fleece in July (details soon)

5. A return to compulsive spinning and dying and batt making (see #1 above)

6. Getting a bicycle already.

7. Getting caught up on all things dental, etc. health-wise. Not exactly looking forward to it, but doing it anyway.

8. Photographing more finished objects and bragging about them here. Jeez, I never hardly mentioned the TWO blankets I made last year.

9. Writing a new pattern for using up small amounts of handspun... curious?

10. Why do lists have to run in tens? The first nine came easily. Let's just be happy then. Wait! That's number ten. Being happier. I can just do that, right?

Fiber Friday 5/18/07

Happy Fiber Friday everyone!

Despite my recent self-imposed title of "worst blogger ever" I do have something to share for Fiber Friday.
It's another Tiffany yarn and it now belongs to Crafty Ginger!

To make yarn like this you dye mixed wools and mill ends a Tiffany blue. Then you overspin a single and set aside. Then string sturdy holographic thread with real pearls.

Next, ply the single with the thread and there you have it!

I probably should have coaxed more pearls to the top of the skein for the photos the way a yarn stylist would. Lesson learned.

It's Friday today... Fiber Friday! The very best day of the week!

Worst Blogger Ever!

Breaking News:

Local fiber enthusiast named "worst blogger ever" by herself today after a record low number of posts during the last month. Even though she claims to be busy with a new job, she still manages to find time to:

eat (salads and hob nobs)
drink (water and decaf)
read (Possible Side Effects, Augusten Burroughs)
surf the web (craftster and craiglist bike ads)

and

watch TV (too many to list)

... Just not so much blogging. When asked if she understood the concept that being a blogger means actually posting to a blog regularly, the fiber nut declined to comment.

Is she knitting? OH Yes. The same ridiculous dishcloth she started two weeks ago.

Is she spinning? Not much.

We are happy to report that after weighing the evidence (an apartment full of fiber and yarn but no action in either regard) the title of "worst blogger ever" has been awarded. The self-imposed shame should lift when regular posting resumes, though self-loathing is one of the specialties of the house.

Stay tuned for another edition of Fiber Friday, which will hit your "series of tubes" in about twelve hours.

Fiber Friday 5/11/07

Another seashell yarn. What can I say?

For those not in the know, I spin this sort of yarn often.

I take hand dyed roving in beachy colors and spin in the order of sand, water, sky.

There are real Hawaiian shells strung onto sturdy holographic thread and plied in.

When knit, you get a sort of landscape. 89 yards, 2.7 oz.

Happy fiber friday from the girl who was allergic to the very air this week.

Another day in pictures

Take a deep breath. This is real air.

An amazing meal.

Another amazing meal. But in a different way. A pea soup way.

An amazing sign.

I hope you like this mini-vacation. I sure enjoyed living it.

I'm still knit-blocked... But I'm knitting dishcloths until I shake it.

Fiber Friday 5/04/07

Happy Fiber Friday - May the fourth be with you!

I bring you one yarn: atsuko

I spun two hand-dyed singles in the order of a rainbow and plied them together. 4.8 oz, 114 yards.

There is only one yarn here, but it is loud enough to count as many.

This posting brought to you by Friday: the day of the week meant for fiber.

Friday.

Alpaca News

Thanks to mom for this great link: Alpacas on Yahoo! News Photos. Question: is this considered "cute?" Mom is not sure. What do you think?

Story:
Truffle, a recently shorn Alpaca eats her dinner as she sits in her pen with others during the Mid-Atlantic Alpaca show in Harrisburg, Pa., Friday, April 27, 2007.

Changing the subject

Since I am completely blocked on what to knit and/or spin right now, but I am also afraid this blog will slip away from me if I don't write about something, I'm going to share with you another story about being an "extra." You know, the people who walk around in the background of the action in TV and film? I write about this from time to time but never explained how to land such a job. I'll tell you how I did it. It's simple, and here it is:

Signing Up

Make a note: Central Casting accepts new sign ups for non-union extras on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in between 10:30 and 11:30 am. This is where you need to be if you are going to make it big time. The office is on a small street in an industrial part of Burbank. That is, for those of you not in the know, Hollywood adjacent.

First comes the paperwork. You have to apply for this position after all. They need to know your age, size, weight, height, eye color and what sort of costumes you own. For example, if you have your own police uniform, you can work on a show with such a crap budget they can’t afford to put you in a cop outfit. I lie in regard to my weight and dress size. I tell the truth in my bra size, because I am proud of this.

After I fill out the paperwork I wait in line with all the future movie stars. I see the man behind me is struggling with his paperwork. The guys need to know their neck size, their hat size, and other numbers that are irrelevant to the youth of America. He is wearing jeans and a t-shirt. A woman (who in addition to acting also works at the gap) helps him guess his numbers. The numbers don’t really matter anyway. There is no reason a casting agent would be searching the data base for actors with a particular hat size.

When I get to the front the woman takes my papers and looks them over. She looks back at me to see if I am full of s**t. Then she hands me the papers back and I get to stand in the photo line. That’s where a guy says to me that Brad Pitt got his start there, at Central Casting. You hear this a lot in this sort of work.

After I pay the photographer $25 and hand over the papers, she has me pose for a photo. This is exactly like what you do at the DMV. I am certain the picture is unflattering. I tell her I am vain. I want a better picture. Too late. She says. It’s no longer on the screen. This is not a good explanation of why she won’t take another one but I accept it anyway. I leave with the packet of info on what to do next... And if you follow this Very Important Guide, you can be like me!

When I get my knitting mojo back I'll resume more familiar territory. Besides, these stories do usually contain knitting. Like the time I knit socks while on the set of Alias. Or armwarmers on the set of ER. So there.

Fiber Friday 4/27/07

Happy Fiber Friday everyone! Whatta week. I think it's funny how the yarn I spin reflects my mood in really unexpected ways.

First up, two more skeins in the "crayons" series. This is what I spin when I don't know what to spin, if that makes sense. This is a classic for me, and I fall back on it when I get stuck.

They always come out a little different, but they do all suggest a box of crayons, tons of colors with no repeats.

The next yarn here is a variation on a rainbow. Bright hits of color alternating with black. This yarn will self-stripe, every other row is a bright color, every other is black. It reminds me of the old game "breakout"

The last yarn here is subdued. My friend Chuy wanted something muted with blue and grey for a scarf. And that's what this one is. Boy yarn. Generalizations not intended.

So what does today's yarn say about my week? How should I know? That's what I pay you people for. Just kidding. I think I'm still searching for inspiration, even though it's probably all around me. Anyway, let's all make a deal to have a GREAT Friday.

knitter's block, take two

In an attempt to rid myself of the recent shameful knitter's block, I've taken action. Oh yes, I've been busy:

1. Organized knitting patterns I've downloaded. (see exhibit A)

2. Knitted a swatch of Debbie Bliss cashmerino aran to check gauge. Man, that is some nice yarn. I bought enough for a sweater (re: aforementioned knit happens sale) but it has to be striped. I couldn't get enough in any one color. A top down raglan comes to mind.

3. Hunted down raglan sweater pattern, this recipe.

4. Wound some of the tempting noro yarn I bought in that same sale. I've got a mix of Transitions, Kochoran, Iro, and Silver Thaw, by the way. (I know what you're thinking, by the way)

5. Checked gauge of Transitions yarn. Just to remind everyone, this yarn not only changes colors in that subtle, pleasing noro way, it also changes fiber. What fibers? Wool, silk, cashmere, camel, kid mohair, alpaca and angora. Can I marry this yarn?

6. Got the crazy idea to make a raglan sweater out of Transitions. I know it will be ridiculously warm and the striping will be weird because I have to change colorways throughout AND the body will have narrow stripes while the arms would have wide stripes... I didn't care.

7. Cast on. (see reference #3 for pattern) When I got to the part where you cast on all the front center stitches at once, I already hated the way it looked. You're meant to work the collar back and forth a while before casting on front stitches and working in the round. Well, this makes a funny round collar with a weird straight line across the front center. I frogged it. It was doomed.

8. Had a mini-crisis. I'm surrounded by yarn and I can't freaking knit anything!!! What's wrong with me?

9. Had an idea... when I'm not sure what book to read next and I get really really stuck, I reach for a classic. I should make some simple socks, washcloths, market bags, something I've knit before and had success with... like a favorite book you re-read.

or perhaps a classic I haven't yet tried...

Here it comes, a confession: I've never read Moby Dick and I've never made the clapotis. Okay, I feel better. I'm DYING to hear what very important book you've never read and what piece of knitting you've never tried. Trust me, it feels good to get it off your chest.

No, I still don't know what I'm going to knit next.

Knitter's block?

I'm stuck.

I have yarn. I have needles. I have the desire.

However, I have no idea what to knit.

I need inspiration. What's on your needles?