I’ve been meaning to make these bags for awhile. First up is a knitting notions bag. My old one was too small.
It’s made out of upholstery samples. Years ago I got a company to give me all their fabric samples from the previous season. I’ve made so many bags from them. The inside is lined with linen and I used velcro instead of a zipper.
Next I made a grocery bag out of some upholstery fabric. This will be the last bag out of the samples because I’ve now used them all up.
Prana inspects my work.
Shortly after I made my Che Purse I realized Che’s face was starting to distort from stretching. I handfelted the purse and it turned out great. It’s a bit smaller of course but Che’s face and the dude holding the gun no longer stretch so my work is preserved.
Before felting the purse I knit some swatches to practice handfelting. I put them in my fabric stash planning to make a coin purse one day. The outside:
I lined it with linen and went with a velcro closing. It seemed too small to put in a zipper. It now lives in my Che purse since it matches.
August 10th, 2008
I originally bought this yarn at the Taos Wool Festival last year. The color and texture captivated me. And the smell! This is the best smelling yarn I’ve ever bought.
This skirt is made for winter. It’s made out of 100% wool and lined with fleece fabric. I got pretty warm taking these photos.
Feather and fan has become my favorite lace pattern. It’s easy to memorize and looks so pretty.
I didn’t make a fitted waist, choosing to go with elastic and a drawstring instead. Since it’s for the cold months this will be the outer layer over tights or long underwear or pants (or all three).
I’m really happy with this skirt! It turned out just how I wanted. The embroidery was a pain but completely worth the effort.
Pattern: Freedom Skirt V2.0
Source: my Freedom Skirt Pattern
Size: Custom
Yarn: Lonesome Stone’s Shades of Plum, 100% wool, 5 skeins, 200 yards each
Needles: 4.5 mm
Started: October 2007
Finished: July 2008
Modifications: I made skirt in wool, lined it in fleece fabric and did embroidery.
July 30th, 2008
Abbey and I took a road trip up to Los Ojos to visit Tierra Wools. We had a blast.
When you enter the store the handwoven rugs grab your attention right away.
Though the colorful stripes are pretty, my favorite piece was this rug:
Behind the retail store there is a room of looms, many with works in progress on them:
Abbey and I explored more and found the dyeing area. These yarns were hanging to dry:
Back in the dye room we talked to a dyer that was a wealth of information. She told us so much about dyeing yarn that I felt like I had read a book after talking to her. Abbey and I were both inspired by this chat and already have another yarn dye day planned.
Pots for dyeing yarn:
When I said we explored the place I meant it.
After exploring the back we went up front and found another showroom. There was a pile of sheepskin that we fell in love with. Why put these lovely pieces on the floor when you can wear them as fur? Here’s me striking a Miss Piggy debonair pose:
Naturally Abbey struck a pose as well:
I couldn’t resist doing this:
Oh to have a bed of sheepskin!
After the giggling had subsided we decided to get down to some serious yarn buying. The colors were magnificent. All the yarn were single ply unfortunately. But still there’s a ton of stuff that can be made out of single ply.
A Rio Grande spinning wheel on display:
We couldn’t resist trying on the gorgeous wraps and felt hats.
Our stash enhancements:
We both bought yarn for felting projects.
July 21st, 2008
The sight of my knitting in my sewing machine still makes me nervous:
Since this is a winter skirt I did no waist shaping. Instead I went with elastic and a drawstring so it will wear well over several layers.
The feather and fan part was my favorite part to knit. I love how it turned out.
As much as I dislike embroidery I do like the end results:
Finished skirt pictures to come soon.
July 15th, 2008
Last month Abbey and I dyed a bunch of yarn for the first time. We used dyes from Knit Picks and Kool-Aid.
We pre-soaked and rinsed the yarn in buckets.
Most of the yarn was dyed in pots on the stove.
But we handpainted a skein of sock yarn each. Here’s Abbey painting hers:
And here’s my skein pre-steaming:
The colors turned out wonderful! The yarns below are kettle dyed. The little pink skein on the right is my handspun.
The handpainted yarn turned out stunning. Here’s my skein:
Abbey and I are going to do a sock knitalong with our skeins.
I spun up my pink handspun with the red skein. The little bit of pink leftover yarn I just plied onto itself. I gave these two skeins to Abbey as a gift.
We had such a fun time dyeing yarn and will definitely be doing this again.
July 11th, 2008
I made these Knucks as a thank you gift for a friend. It was a surprise so I wasn’t sure they’d fit. I made the size for men with the same yarn I used for mine. I gave them to him today and they fit. And he liked them. Yay!
July 1st, 2008
I’ve moved into the embroidery part of the freedom skirt. Though I don’t like to embroider I do like the results. I’m combining crochet with embroidery so I’ll enjoy it more.
That’s the stem with little leaves. I’m still not sure how I’m doing the flowers but will worry about that when I get there.
Thebes’s sweater is coming along. With all these cables it feels like one row takes so long. Every purl row is a joy because it just flies across the needles. The cables are gorgeous:
Thebes and I took Sieben on a walk in the forest the other day. We got him a doggy backpack and he looks so cute in it:
He’s getting so big!
June 27th, 2008
Abbey got me a set of bamboo knitting needles for my birthday back in January. Recently I sewed a needle case for them. Ever the fuzzy helper, Prana helped out by putting his kitty goodness into the project.
The needle case closed:
I went with three rows and everything fits:
With the last needle case I used lengths of ribbon for ties. This time around I didn’t buy enough ribbon. After lining the edges I only had a bit left. There was just enough to wrap it around once so I sewed some velcro on at the ends.
The case rolled up:
Now all my needles are in a tidy place. I’m really happy how it turned out and really like the paisley fabric.
June 15th, 2008
I found my first balls of handspun yarn. I’m not sure what to knit with it. Perhaps I’ll make a little bag and felt it?
I also found the first balls of yarn made from roving. The roving came from Ebay.
I love the colors! Hopefully there’s enough to make something though I’m not sure what.
The latest roving is off the wheel and is in ball form.
Not bad after taking a four year break.
My friend Meredith gave me some fleece along with my new wheel. I carded up some white fleece and made a little skein:
This skein is being put in the to-dye stash. Abbey and I are planning a dye day where we dedicate the whole day to dyeing yarn. I’m looking forward to it!
After this skein I felt like experimenting. While carding I started mixing the white and brown fleece. I was curious to see what would happen when I spun it up. It turned out super groovy!
After spinning up two bobbins worth I plied them together. I like plying alot. It takes the overtwist out and goes fast. I’m going to card up the rest of the fleece the same way.
June 10th, 2008
In April Abbey and I were by chance both in Santa Fe. Needing a yarn fix we decided to visit the Needle’s Eye.
It may have been a small store but it was packed with yarn. Abbey and I managed to stay there an hour ogling all the yarn and books. There was so much yarn goodness:
Despite all the gorgeous yarn I couldn’t figure out what to buy. And then I saw the sock yarn.
I’ve been wanting to try this shrimp and crab shell yarn ever since I first heard of it. The chitin fiber only makes up 2.5% of the yarn make-up. I can’t wait to start knitting with it.
But another yarn seduced itself onto the needles. I didn’t even know it existed until I saw it:
Noro sock yarn! I had to get get a skein. I’ve cast on for a new car project. This is the Purl Lace pattern from the Socks Socks Socks book.
I love this yarn! It’s such a delight seeing what mixture of color is coming next. The pattern is easily memorized so this is a great car project. A downside to the Noro is that the yarn clings to the bamboo needles a bit so I probably will get metal needles to use instead.
June 3rd, 2008
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