Crafting Chaos

First weaving

My first weaving is off the loom:

I like this piece but am not sure what to do with it. Maybe I’ll just hang it up on the wall. A close up:

Weaving is slow but I think it’s because I have to manually move the header for each row. A header moved by a foot pedal would surely speed things up. I have a weaving idea for an art piece that I’ll hopefully start soon.

Add comment June 27th, 2009

First fleece on mother piece

I’ve started needle felting my mother piece. First up is some red and black fleece:

I know the working title is “Through Our Pain We Find Love” but my working nickname is “Giant Bleeding Cunt” because, well, that’s what it looks like. Plus having a secret nickname for my art gives me a chuckle.

Prana totally knows this is an emotional work. He’s been right by my side when I work on it.

He even does the kitteh making biscuits move on it. His claws are sharp so it’s like he’s claw felting it for me.

2 comments June 26th, 2009

A new sweater project

I’ve started a new sweater for Thebes. It took me awhile to decide on a pattern. But then I remembered this:

This issue of Rowan magazine is so beautiful. There’s a ton of patterns in here that I want to make. I’ve cast on for the Chieftain sweater:

I’m making some alterations to the pattern. First up I’m using Noro Kureyon in this cool camo colorway:

Oh Noro how I love you! Each little square is a delight to knit. Then I’m going to make saddle sleeves and base the dimensions off of Thebes Heirloom sweater. This means I’ll have to alter the squares around the shoulder and neckline but I think it’ll work out.

For now I just get to make pretty little squares. They make an excellent car project.

Add comment June 21st, 2009

Sock progress

My green lace sock (from Socks from the Toe Up) is coming along slowly. But I like the way it looks so far.

A pic of the side:

Whenever I knit from a chart I seem to knit slow. But the lace pattern isn’t difficult. Before I get up to the top ribbing I’m going to leave the stitches live and start on the second sock. That way I can take them both up as much as I can before running out of yarn.

2 comments June 19th, 2009

Frogging my Mother’s work: baby blanket

Another crocheted item in my baby memento box was this baby blanket.

Wow, that’s an intense shade of red. It’s painfully bright.

Frogging this one made not only my forearms hurt but made me nauseous as well. Not fun.

Here’s the two yarns after putting them through the ball winder:

I’m planning on using this yarn as the core for some funky yarn I’m going to spin for the mother piece.

3 comments June 12th, 2009

Tubey progress

Tubey is coming along nicely.

Somehow I messed up on the yardage requirements for this pattern and was four balls short. You’d think being that short in yardage would have become apparent long before but I somehow missed it.

I searched online and found an Ebay seller who not only had the Noro I needed but in the same dye lot. Score!

Add comment June 10th, 2009

Frogging my Mother’s work: yarn clown

I had been working on my woowoo exercises for a few weeks when I decided to call my Mother. Normally when I call my Dad she answers the phone and doesn’t acknowledge me as her daughter. I identify myself and ask politely to talk to my Dad. She always gets a cold, disapproving tone in her voice as she tells me to hold on or that he’s not home.

Since she also has Endometriosis I worked up the courage to call my parents, hoping she would answer. Though I’m an adult I still find it difficult to talk to her. That coldness in her voice makes me feel 12 and unloved. But if my Mother could answer some questions about how Endo affected her it might give me some insight on how it affects me.

I called and my Dad answered. This was a surprise because my Mother almost always answers the phone. Turns out he just got downsized and decided to begin his retirement. I ended up asking him about my Mother’s Endo. He told me her doctor had said it was the worst case of Endo he had ever seen. He confirmed that she got her hysterectomy in her early 30s like I had suspected.

During the conversation he asked me if I’d like my baby pictures and mementos. This took my completely by surprise. I said sure if he didn’t want them and my voice got a little shaky. He told me he was keeping some of the photos but that my Mother was doing spring cleaning and wanted to get rid of them.

That is so typical of my Mother. I moved out when I was 18 and she just now decides there’s no room for them. A week later I got two boxes. I instantly recognized my Dad’s handwriting which pulled at my heartstrings.

That was nothing compared to the steam truck of emotions that hit me when I opened them up. First I opened the photo box and saw a ton of old photos. There was a picture of my Mother pregnant with me I’d never seen before. There were pictures of her holding me as a baby with a smile on her face. That was weird. I bawled like a baby. The bed was littered with piles of used kleenex. The photo that really got to me was the one at the end. It was a photo of Thebes and I’s wedding. There had been more but I think my Dad took them out to keep. But the fact that he put them in the photo album at all was so tear inducing.

The emotions were pretty intense. But I figured it was best to do it all at once. I opened the baby memento box. There were a ton of things in there-my first Kermit doll, some baby clothes, school records and handmade items. My mother is a crocheter. She made me several items items when I was little.

When I opened the box I knew what I was going to do. Some of the handmade items are going to be put into the mother art piece. Now I’m not frogging all of her work. There are some baby clothes that I’m going to keep for mementos sake.

I’m actually not frogging much-a yarn clown, baby outfit and baby blanket.

First up is the yarn clown. My Mother collected clown art and figurines. I’ve never liked clowns; they creep me out. Go figure.

All of the handmade baby items are made out of acrylic yarn. It doesn’t feel great but this was back in the 70s so it makes sense. The smell is familiar though. The whole box had smells that triggered memories.

Her stitches are very uniform. What surprises me is that she didn’t weave in her yarn ends. Instead she cut the yarn very close to the knot. Her favorite color is red; red is one of my least favorite.

When I took the clown head off I saw “79″ written on the inside. Could it stand for 1979, the year she made it? I would have been three.

After frogging the yarn I put it through my ball winder:

While frogging the clown my forearms were sore as if I had been lifting something heavy all day. I would put it down and feel fine. But then I’d start frogging again and my arms would again feel sore. It’s not surprising that I’m having reactions like this but it still feels weird.

2 comments June 9th, 2009

Chaos yarn notions bag

After spinning up my Chaos yarn I wasn’t sure what to do with it. There was only 40 yards so I didn’t have too much to work with. I decided to make a little bag. I cast on 25 stitches and just knit until the length looked right.

Then I lined it with fabric and hand sewed it up.

Here’s the other side:

I sewed velcro inside for the closure.

Pattern: my own
Source: me again
Yarn: my handspun yarn, yarn scraps, approximately 40 yards, 5 WPI
Needles: 7.0 mm needles
Size: NA
Modifications: none
Started: May 2009
Finished: May 2009

Add comment June 2nd, 2009