I got my first commissioned knit piece-a dog sweater. Lori hooked me up.
I found a free pattern on Ravelry-King of the Beasts (Lion) Dog Sweater The pattern was pretty easy. I altered it by doing a turtleneck instead of fringe and skipped the tail part. Other knitters on Ravelry mentioned how big this sweater turned out so I made a large and made the underneath part extra skinny.
Lori had an old sweater from the dog and my new one matched up great.
I’m behind on blogging several things-last year’s AZ trip, Taos Open, Taos Wool Festival, Occupy hats-but I just finished a new project that I’m super excited about!
This is my new knitting bag. My old bag was showing some wear and had gotten stained. I’m going to use it as a grocery bag. The new bag is made from my handspun Chaos yarn.
The lining is one of the last pieces of clothing I grabbed from the Taos Free Box before the town decided to shut it down-sob. There’s talk of trying to save it and I hope something can be done.
The strap is a nylon belt from one of Thebes’ old pair of pants. The sewing thread and snap are the only new items; everything else is recycled.
Now I have a matching set-my new knitting bag with my Chaos Yarn notions bag.
Don’t they look cute together?
Here’s a close up of the Chaos Yarn:
I love my new bag!
Sieben joined me for the photoshoot. He’s so cute when he brings me toys:
Pattern: improvised
Source: me
Yarn: my handspun Chaos yarn, 2 balls
Needles: 12.0 mm needles
Size: NA
Modifications: none
Started: Fall 2011
Finished: Nov 2011
I’ve started a new large scale project-Stitch For Occupy. In solidarity with the Occupy Wallstreet protesters I’m making wool hats for protesters in cold climates.
The Hothead pattern (Ravelry link) from the Stitch and Bitch book is great for this. It’s quick, easy and super stretchy.
I’ve started a blog, Ravelry group, Facebook page, Twitter and even have a new email- stitchforoccupy @gmail .com
Want to support Occupy Wallstreet? Knit up some hats! There’s tons of protesters so I could use the help. Check out my blog for details. If you need addresses to send warm goodies to just send me an email.
Do you find lacework confusing? Do you find cables patterns tiresome? Then come to my Knitting With Charts class this Sunday! I’ll teach you how to turn complex knitting instructions into easy and quick to read charts.
The class will be held at Lori’s Yarn & Fibers upstairs studio.
Date: Nov. 5th, 1-4 pm
Pric: $30
Prereq: Knitting basics
Materials Needed: Yarn, Needles, Pattern you’d like to chart
Contact: Shop # (575)758-9341 or email me at twilly23 @gmail .com
I’ve been working on some small pieces lately. First up are some felt flowers for Lori’s Yarn Store (FB link).
They are partially felted and need another round or two.
There’s new yarn on my wheel. I’m teaching myself how to spin cocoons. They’re a little tricky but I think I’m getting the hang of it.
It’s probably overtwisted but I’m hoping I can correct that some during plying.
El Carnero De Colores (ie Colorful Ram) is a collaborative piece by artists Floyd Archuleta, Twilight Kallisti and Abigail Z.
Floyd built the lifesize sculpture out of recycled wire, rebar, fence posts and a real ram skull. Abbey knit and crocheted most of the squares. I made additional squares, the face, hooves, tail and assembled the fiber pieces over the wire base.
Abbey said she wanted the ram to look like a cross between Day of the Dead decorations and a New Mexican cemetery. I think we captured the look.
Pictures of the wire sculpture can be seen here. Progress pics can be seen here and here.
The face, tail and hooves are a “normal” ram color. The normal colors turn brighter up the legs and then bursts into the technicolor fleece.
Abbey said we should get some sort of ribbon for our efforts so she knit the ram a bouquet of roses as a prize.
The ram’s colorful fleece is blooming with bright flowers.
El Carnero De Colores is currently on display and for sale at Weaving Southwest.
Here’s a picture of him in transit. It was a little tricky but we managed to fit him into the car.
The dimensions are 41 1/2″ H x 23″ W x 56″ L
When I brought in my Poppy Purse to Weaving Southwest they commented that people kept trying to wear my them. Could I make a hat? I said yes and went home to figure it out.
I made the petals small to lighten the weight of the hat. The smaller the petals the more the hat could hold. I used I-cord for ties. The I-cord trim made the hat a bit snug on my head. I’m sizing it as an adult small/children’s large.
Lion’s Brand felts so lovely.
I have a flower on my head!
I’m thrilled with how this turned out and plan to make more. I combined several patterns into a new pattern to make this hat. A bit more tweaking and I think I’ll have an easy pattern to work with.
The majority of this hat was knit during our Durango trip. Car knitting feels so productive:
Here’s Granola helping me put up laundry.
This hat is currently for sale at Weaving Southwest. Want a felt flower hat? Email me at twilly23 @gmail .com
Pattern: mash up of several patterns
Source: N/A
Yarn: Lamb’s Pride Worsted Wool, 4 skeins, some partial
Needles: 6.0 mm
Size: custom
Modifications: N/A
Started: July 2011
Finished: August 2011
I’m ready for a happy post so will go for a knitting one tonight. I finished my brown shrimp socks in July and am very happy with them.
I love Tofutsies sock yarn. It’s a blend of wool, soy, cotton and shrimp tails which I think is cool.
The pattern is Diagonal Lace Socks from the book Socks from the Toe Up.
Since I wasn’t making gauge I altered the lace pattern by just taking out the last yarnover, stitch decrease.
I finished these socks on our Durango trip. Here’s Sieben on a walk during that trip:
He had such a great time traveling with us. I’ll blog about the Durango trip soon.
Pattern: Diagonal Lace Socks
Source: Socks from the Toe Up
Yarn: Tofutsies yarn, 1 skein, some leftover
Needles: 2.0 mm
Size: custom
Modifications: altered lace pattern slightly because I didn’t make gauge
Started: May 2011
Finished: June 2011
Abbey has been cranking out squares and I’ve been assembling them. We knew this would be a big project and it is. Still though progress is being made.
We decided on a solid gray for the head and plan to put on needlefelted eyes.
I love how colorful it is. Acrylic yarn is great for bright colors and outside endurance.
Sewing the squares on the underside of the ram is tricky. I have to bend in all sorts of ways to attached them. I’ve been sewing several squares and rectangles together before attaching them to the body and that helps.
I think it’s going to be a hit at this year’s Wool Fest.
I’m making some new socks with some Tofutsies sock yarn which is partly made with shrimp tails. The pattern is the Diagonal Lace Socks from Socks from the Toe Up: Essential Techniques and Patterns by Wendy Johnson. Wendy Knits has great patterns. This is my second pattern from this book. The first was my Samhain socks which were also made with Tofutsies yarn.
This pattern is pretty easy. I had to alter it somewhat because I wasn’t making gauge.
The kittens have two cat beds, a cat shelf and a cat cubby. But where is their favorite place to sleep?
Yup, Sieben’s dog bed. If he’s outside we’ll let them sleep on it.