Woolly Booger

Obama stencil shirt

2008-09-20T08:21:00.001-07:00

Many thanks to thankyoulocust for sharing the freezer paper stencil technique (and for the image I swiped to make my stencil). It was a lot of fun and I have a feeling I'll be making a lot of shirts this way.

The Running of the Biden

2008-08-24T18:23:00.001-07:00

Obama/Biden '08

2008-08-24T17:58:00.000-07:00

It's good to take a moment before you go in front of the crowds

2008-05-04T15:23:00.000-07:00

Daisy likes to take a moment to compose herself before a big rally.

Darla and Daisy on the campaign trail

2008-05-04T15:07:00.001-07:00

Four years ago, Daisy hit the campaign trail with Kerry and Edwards, and stopped for many photo ops along the way. Now, Daisy's dog Darla has joined her. Since this is Darla's first campaign, she gets the first photo op of the year with her favorite candidate, in honor of Tuesday's NC primary.

Microscope hat - the chart

2008-02-16T17:27:00.001-08:00

I've had a couple of requests for this chart on Ravelry, but I could never figure out how to post it. I still don't know how to do a downloadable file, but I was finally able to make it into a jpg (the original was an Excel file). So, here you go!

Here is the finished hat....

And here is the chart (you might have to tweak it a little bit...I think I tweaked it some myself when I knit my hat):

Obligatory legal stuff: this pattern is copyrighted by me. Please do not sell this pattern or sell anything made from this pattern. Enjoy!

bellydance scarf

2007-10-14T16:15:00.001-07:00

One thing I love about bellydancing is the costumes and costume-making opportunities! I haven't crocheted anything since I was a kid, but I re-learned how to do it in order to make this hip scarf. It's crocheted out of a thin ribbon yarn and the fringe is stitched on. It might become more ornate over time (I have these perfect beads....) but for now, it's wearable. Shimmy shimmy!

Next up in the bellydance department...jewelry. This week I acquired some old middle eastern coins that are destined to become a necklace and coin belt. We'll see when I get around to that.

Lady Eleanor is eyeing me dolefully, for she has been horribly neglected lately. She's making me feel guilty.

Lady Eleanor, pt. 2 - work in progress

2007-09-19T16:53:00.001-07:00

This would be going a lot faster if I weren't working on three projects. Damn you, never-ending sheep puppet!

Those chairs need a facelift.

2007-09-19T11:19:00.000-07:00

In my last post, you may have noticed the ugly ass cushions on our dining room chairs. We got our table and chairs about a year ago, and I intended to reupholster them immediately. I'm not sure where the past year went, but we have lived with this lovely fabric for too long.

Yeah, it looks like a Vera Bradley knockoff threw up on my chairs. So, since I'm on vacation this week, there is no more excuse for procrastination. I went to my new favorite discount fabric store, Fabric World, and got some upholstery fabric, and now we have new chairs! It's amazing what you can do with a yard and a half of fabric and a staple gun.

Lady Eleanor, pt. 1

2007-09-19T09:21:00.001-07:00

Now that we're all moved into our new house - and yes, we did just move a year ago - I finally have time for knitting! After acquiring Scarf Style at Interweave's Hurt Book Sale, I have decided to make the Lady Eleanor shawl. Lady Eleanor requires a lot of yarn, and after looking high and low for economical choices in nice colorways and fibers, I gave up and decided to dye my own. I'm using a Henry's Attic 50/50 alpaca/wool blend. But, in order to get the color variations I wanted, I needed to make a long skein and dye three hanks together. This turned into a bit of a PITA.

First, the winding of the skeins. I connected three (big) skeins together, thinking that if I dyed them as one big skein this would make for more successful color transitions when I actually knit the shawl. However, I did not plan to spend 4 hours just winding the damn thing. But once you start, there's no turning back.

That was when I wished I had bought that automatic ball winder when Joann Fabrics had it for 50% off. I'm sure that winder would have just laughed at my skein though. And then it would have thrown itself out a top floor window. So, I was on my own. Many hours later, I had myself this completely ridiculous, non-portable ball of yarn.

If only my swift were this flattering

2007-01-28T16:59:00.000-08:00

I found this in an old Vogue magazine from 1951.

A new obsession

2007-01-14T17:19:00.000-08:00

Terrariums can really help with the winter blues.

Serendipity scarf

2006-09-09T13:56:00.000-07:00

Finished!

finally, back in the saddle

2006-08-27T11:43:00.000-07:00

This summer we moved into a new house in a new town, so I haven't gotten much done except home improvements for the past couple of months. But, now that things have calmed down again, I've had some time for projects.

Here's a skein of yarn:

I've also been working on this scarf. The pattern is actually an accidental product of my inexperience with using charts. It was supposed to be a Barbara Walker pattern from Charted Knitting Designs, but I screwed up the wrong side stitches, and basically just purled across the back instead of knitting every pattern row the way it was supposed to have been knitted. Once I got through the first repeat I realized that 1) I was doing something wrong, as it didn't look anything like the picture, and 2) that I liked it. So, I guess I'll call it my serendipity scarf. It's knitted with Knitpicks Decadence.

Nautie

2006-04-28T22:11:00.000-07:00

I finished knitting a Nautie, an adorable little nautiloid designed by Beth Skwarecki in this summer's Knitty. Even my husband likes it, and he is normally not attracted to plush. He also appreciates Ms. Skwarecki's sea anemone and clown fish, which I hope to attempt in the future. The nautiloid gets lonely, you know.

Other than that, knitting has been a bit boring lately due to lots and lots of pregnant people. Why so many baby blankets all at once, girls? Couldn't y'all stagger it a bit?

more spinning

2006-02-23T10:47:00.000-08:00

I am spinning the last of my South African Top. It makes me a little sad to use it up, because I really do like it. It's so soft:

Microscope hat

2006-01-13T21:19:00.000-08:00

This hat is for my husband, who is a microbiologist. He sent me a picture of a microscope and asked me to make it into a pattern. So...there you go.

2005-12-29T12:37:00.000-08:00

I must be getting back in touch with my inner unicorn-loving child. Or something.

a bulky flyer is wonderous thing

2005-12-27T08:06:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, my husband gave me the best birthday present ever - a gift certificate to Hello Yarn. Adrian is the best source for Louet supplies on the internet, wonderful to buy from and so helpful! So, I got myself a bulky flyer and bobbin to use with my spinning wheel and hoo boy, do they make life easier! I'm having so much fun making super-gigantic skeins. I'm not going to post photos of the undyed stuff because that's boring, but here's a big fat skein of merino/silk that I finally got up the nerve to spin:

The silk is so glossy and soft!

a dog named Julius

2005-12-27T07:41:00.000-08:00

This hat is my first attempt at colorwork. There are clearly problems - first of all, I didn't get the tension quite right with all the floats, so it's not flat and smooth like it should be. Second, when I blocked it I didn't do a good job getting the hem straight.

Originally, I was going to try to make this absolutely awesome hat, but then I had a moment of insecurity about whether I could pull off wearing it. Fact is, I'm not a cool bike messenger. I'm a vanilla 30-something who drives a Corolla. And since I would have had to cry if I made that hat but couldn't wear it, I decided to try designing my own instead.

Originally, I based this design on Blue Dog , but now that it's finished I really think it looks more like my cousin's dog Julius. Therefore, I am calling this the Julius hat.

See the resemblance?

New yarn

2005-10-31T07:05:00.000-08:00

Spun from Blue Faced Leicester.

My very first pair of socks

2005-10-22T09:41:00.000-07:00

Socks!

2005-10-17T09:59:00.000-07:00

Last week we went on vacation to the NC mountains, and spent several days in the knitters' paradise also known as Asheville, NC. There is a wonderful, thriving crafts community there, and I don't mean cheesy crafts, either (not that there's anything wrong with that). I'm talking about spinning, weaving, knitting, woodworking, basket making, silversmithing, blacksmithing, just wonderful traditional crafts. I hit several fabulous yarn stores, and discovered that my husband has a talent that I had not previously discovered...the ability to patiently find something to read absolutely anywhere. By the time we finished with the third yarn store, he had learned all about properly wielding an axe, raising sheep and chickens, and all sorts of local events. He's a saint.

My favorite store was Earthguild - a little piece of heaven inside the greater heaven that is Asheville. The pictures on their website give you an idea of what the place is like - they have just about anything you could possibly need for knitting, spinning, weaving, woodworking, dyeing, you name it. I bought some yarn and a book there, and the Mr. learned all about homesteading.

Of course, there was a lot more to the trip than yarn shopping, we also did a lot of driving and sightseeing and eating. The driving portion enabled me to finish the drop stitch scarf. I really like the way it turned out...you can see both the front and back in the second photo, I love it that they are both presentable. I also started my first pair of socks! I think I am almost to the heel now; we'll see how that goes.

By the time we got home I felt so energized...Asheville is such a creative place. I would so love to move there.

In progress

2005-09-26T19:26:00.000-07:00

This is a scarf I'm working on, using a pattern from one of the Barbara Walker books. It's a nice, relaxing, repetitive pattern, but it's taking forever. That's what I get for using fingering weight yarn for something like this.

One thing I like about this pattern is that it looks great on both sides - each side is different but it's hard to say which is the front and which is the back. I'll take pictures of both once I finish it...which at this rate should be sometime around Thanksgiving.

Plied yarn!

2005-09-25T22:51:00.000-07:00

I realize that I'm over-reacting, but I learned something new today and I'm excited about it. I plied some yarn with thread! Woo hoo!

I like the way this yarn looks...I don't know how it will actually knit up, but I like it hanging there like that, all fanciful and corkscrewy, like fusilli pasta. If fusilli pasta were pink and woolly.

And with that in mind, I hereby name this yarn Fusilli Cherry. Fortunately, I do not think this Fusilli will ever necessitate a visit to the ASSMAN.

first. post. ever.

2005-08-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

So. I've been meaning to start a blog for a while now, more as a diary of my various projects than anything else. I mean, I could just go the old school route, and make a scrapbook or something. But that would be just one more thing to store in our already over-stuffed apartment, and one more thing to move, and frankly I think I reached the clutter threshold in this place a long time ago. And that was before I learned to knit and discovered the meaning of the word "stash."

Right now I'm working on three different knitting projects - one baby afghan that has been in production forever, and a couple of scarves. I make way too many scarves. I either need some sort of special scarf storage and display system, or a few more cold-natured friends. But anyway, yes, two scarves, and a baby afghan, that is intended for a baby that had the misfortune of being due at the end of the hottest summer anybody here can remember. I tried to finish it in time. I really had the best intentions. But about a third of the way through I could no longer take the heat of that chenille blanket lying across my sweaty lap, and I guess I decided that the baby would like an afghan for its first Christmas about as much as it will when it is born. Don't you think?

Anyway, besides all the knitting, I've been learning to spin too. I've only just started the spinning, so my yarn is infantile. But even so, I feel a sense of accomplishment when I wind it into a skein.