I loved the element yarn I spun for my Beyond The Fringe artwork. Recently I went through my stash to see if I had leftover material to make some more. I had more yarn and fiber to make the water yarn. My goal was to recreate this:
And I succeeded! The wound up ball is the older skein:
This was a good challenge for me. I learned more about control while spinning. Typically I rush myself when plying, probably because I’m so excited to finish. I am learning to slow down and take my time to ensure the finished yarn is what I want.
I now have about 140 yards of this yarn. There’s some other blue yarn in my stash and I plan to knit up a swatch to see if they compliment each other.
April 30th, 2009
Last month was Abbey’s birthday. I bought her the two DVD edition of Twilight . Like my birthday present we both laughed when she opened it.
Since the movie shares my name I had to see it. But I’m not a fan of the book series. I don’t like the thinly veiled abstinence until marriage message and other morality lessons weaved into the storyline.
The movie is another matter entirely. It was a hot mess and I loved it! I haven’t laughed that hard at a non-intentional comedy in years. During the dramatic climax I was laughing so hard I was crying. I wholeheartedly recommend it-just not for the reasons the producers had in mind.
When the DVD version came out featuring deleted scenes I knew I had to get it for Abbey. We made a girls day out of watching the movie and plan to do the same for the bonus material.
To wrap the present I used an old sewing pattern. The pattern was so old it started tearing as I was wrapping so it was perfect to recycle.
Then I cut some of the paper into strips and made a fun bow.
April 28th, 2009
Progress on the Fisherman shrug is really coming along. It’s so amazing to see my handspun actually becoming a garment. I love it!
Abbey loaned me some needles for the ribbing. I should have knit the whole thing on metal needles because th yarn just slid across them like butter. I’m binding off here:
Next up is weaving in the loose ends and blocking it.
The only thing left on the needles is my Noro Tubey. I am so in love with Noro yarn. This picture reflects the colors better:
April 27th, 2009
Merce introduced me to the idea of treasure trove yarn. Other spinners call it crazy yarn. To make it, save all your yarn and fleece scraps. When you have a good amount spin it into yarn. Recently I made some myself. I call it Chaos Yarn:
I spun the scraps into a single on to two bobbins. I didn’t want to ply them together because I wanted to stretch the yardage as much as I could. Instead I plied them with some skinny Peruvian yarn some friends brought me back from vacation.
This was an interesting challenge. It was difficult to get a rhythm on the wheel because there were so many different types of fibers in the batts. The plying was easier but was still somewhat challenging.
I have roughly 80 yards. I’m thinking of making a pillow with it.
A close up:
To help with consistency I carded the odds and ends first and made mini batts. I was worried the tiny bits might mess up my drum carder so I hand carded it all.
Having random fleece mixed in with yarn bits really helped me make the yarn.
April 21st, 2009
The opening reception for Beyond The Fringe was amazing. We had a good sized crowd and the feedback was great. I don’t know everybody in the crowd pics so I’ll just post them with a few comments.
The artists share a toast before the reception:
Part of the reception food:
I thought this pic looked better in black and white:
At the end of the night I had bacon ice cream for dessert. Yes, bacon ice cream:
Was it good? It was fantastic, amazing, delicious, ZOMG!
April 18th, 2009
I’ve arranged the pictures of the art from the Beyond The Fringe show as they were hung in the gallery. Imagine you walked up to the Stables Gallery:
That’s my art peeking out!
Here’s what you would have seen if you had walked through the door, turned left and worked around the space.
Carolyn Hinske
Patta
11 x 17″
discharged rayon on handmade paper
Pat Dozier
Olla Grande
60 x 41″
hand dyed wool tapestry
Pat Dozier
Shadow Mountain
60 x 42″
hand dyed wool tapestry
Lizzie Gulick
Madame Laussel
36 x 30″
handmade felt
Kimberly Hamill
Celtic Knot Triptic
27 x 28″
pick up weave on frame loom, 100% naturally dyed wool
Lizzie Gulick
Landscape
46 x 30″
handmade felt
Kimberly Hamill
Be Free Now
76 x 7″
woven on back strap loom, 100% naturally dyed wool, ikat technique
Noel Anderson
Blue Tooth
11 x 9″
leather assemblage, cactus needles, shells, various beads
Violette Alby
Seeing Red
72 x 84″
100% recycled cotton
Noel Anderson
Planet Earth
9 x 9″
leather assemblage, abalone, turquiose, various beads
Nina Silverberg
Spring 1
6 x 6 x 2.5″
Spring 2
10 x 11 x 1.5″
Spring 3
11 x 11 x 2.5″
Spring 4
12 x 13 x 1.5″
Finnish lambswool, merino wool, felted, needlefelted applique
Mary K. Lyon
Time Forever
30 x 23 x 1.25″
hand dyed and commercial fabric, watch faces, pieced quilted
Merce Mitchell
You Are
57 x 41″
wool fleece, natural dyes, cotton and metallic thread, handfelted, handstitched construction, machine and hand embroidered
Merce Mitchell
The Results Are Inconclusive
41 x 23″
wool fleece, embroidery thread, wool yarn, natural dyes, handfelted, handstitched construction
Merce Mitchell
Defragmentation
59 x 37″
wool fleece, cotton thread, natural dyes, handfelted, handstitched construction
Mary K. Lyon
Five Pears
29 x 32 x 1.5″
hand dyed and commercial fabric, shibori bleach discharged, acrylic painted, pieced, quilted
Abigail Z
Helen
40 x 32″
wool roving, yarn, cotton floss, felting, knitting, fulling, needle felting, sewing
Twilight
An Arrangement Of Elements
58 x 58″
wool, cotton, handspun yarn, felting, spinning, embroidery
Lizzie Gulick
Heiros Gamos (The Sacred Marriage)
72 x 34″
handmade felt
Twilight
Lunar Life
32 x 18″
wool, cotton, handspun yarn, felting, spinning, embroidery
Abigail Z
Whitney
53 x 10″
wool roving, yarn, cotton floss, beads, felting, knitting, fulling, needle felting, embroidery, beading, sewing
Nina Silfverberg
Reach 1 12 x 14″
Reach 2 14 x 8″
felted Finnish lambswool
Faith Welsh
Turtle Dancer
22 x 43"
mixed media fiber collage
Faith Welsh
Gratitude
18 x 12″
mixed media fiber collage
Nina Silfverberg
Being Here
34 x 30 x 12″
local Navajo Churro wool, Merino wool, felted
Violette Alby
Four Colors
60 x 72″
100% recycled cotton
Connie Fernandez
Las Lagrimas De Juarez
30 x 30″
colcha embroidery
Carolyn Hinske
Number 2
47 x 33″
hand dyed/shiboried silk, hand knit swatches, hand formed beads, wool
April 12th, 2009
Remember how I had the back of the Fisherman’s Shrug finished? Well, I pinned the pieces of the shrug together and the back was too small. I frogged it and am reknitting it.
The medium sized sleeves fit great. I’m knitting the back in the large size.
I’m finished with the leg portion of the second kilt hose.
Next up is casting on for the second foot. Have I done that yet? No. I got distracted by some Noro yarn:
The colors aren’t showing up quite right. This is Noro Cash Island and it’s my new favorite yarn. It’s buttery smooth on the needles and is a joy to knit.
I’ve cast on for Knitty’s Tubey. I’m altering the pattern a bit. First I’m knitting the body and then I’ll knit the sleeves. I’m cutting the belling on the sleeves and thinking of putting some ribbing on the ends.
April 9th, 2009
