I finished spinning up my latest batch of Chaos Yarn. I have 206 yards this time.
I spun up the scraps into a single and then plyed it with some thin Peruvian yarn some friends brought me back from their vacation.
A close up:
Lori from the Yarn Shop saved up a lot of yarn scraps from the store. That really helped with the yardage and variegation.
I’m thinking of knitting up a funky bag with the yarn.
Here’s Prana posing with the yarn scraps that Lori gave me.
Normally I don’t name my yarns but this one became named as soon as I took it off the niddy-noddy. It’s called Stop The World I Wanna Get Off.
Early this spring I was feeling overwhelmed. I just wanted to spin but I had a shitload of deadlines. I finally said fuck it, poured myself a glass of wine and started spinning some roving I bought from the Taos Wool Festival.
“Stop The World I Wanna Get Off” was exactly how I was feeling at the time. At first I was trying to spin thin but the wine and my fuck it mood took the wool in another direction. I just had fun with the yarn and it got funky.
A close-up:
Prana was napping nearby:
There’s only 52 yards of this yarn. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it. Maybe save it for an art project?
Here’s a pic of the roving.
It’s West by Southwest handpainted wool roving and I bought it at the Taos Wool Festival in 2009. It was 4 oz. I plied it with some purple yarn in my stash.
I finished up spinning my periwinkle roving from Lonesome Stone.
A pound of fiber turned into 420 yards of 2 ply.
A close up:
I’m pretty happy with it. I’m going to spin up my other Lonesome Stone roving and hope to have enough of both for a sweater.
Prana’s happy we’re back.
I finished Sieben’s dog bed. The crochet and knit versions didn’t work but the sewn one turned out great.
To challenge myself I decided to use as much recycled materials as I could. Everything but the the sewing thread is recycled.
I cut up sweatshirts for the top.
Jeans were used for the bottom and sides.
Scraps of linen and muslin fabric were used for the pillow lining. I wanted to make the outer layer washable so the stuffing needed to be made into a pillow.
Old pillows are great to reuse for stuffing. I figured Sieben would like it if his doggie bed smelled like his humans. Prana helped out.
The pillows weren’t big enough for the bed. I pulled them apart to puff them up.
To prevent the stuffing from shifting I sewed in some dimples. This was the hardest part.
The stuffed pillow:
All done. It’s nice and thick and very comfy.
I put a zipper on one end to easily take off the cover for washing.
How does Sieben like it? Very much!
Pattern: Sieben Dog Bed
Source: custom
Materials: recycled sweatshirts, jeans, linen, and muslin fabric, recycled pillows and zipper
Size: custom
Started: April 2010
Finished: May 2010
I have four skeins of Chaos Yarn spun up and there’s still some yarn scraps left. I think I’ll have enough for two more skeins.
It’s tricky to spin but the end result is groovy.
Prana was being cuddly.
Can you believe this cuteness brought me a dead mouse the other day?
Last month I started a new art project. My furry assistant helped me prep the canvas.
This piece will be called The Portal.
It’s based on a magical waterfall. Back in March my friend Helen took me to a beautiful ice waterfall. There was an opening in the ice and water was pouring down.
Looking at it I felt moved spiritually. I knew that I could walk into that opening and be transported into another world. The feeling was so powerful that I knew it was true. But then I started questioning it. Where would I go? What kind of world would it be? How would I get back?
As soon as I started questioning it the moment passed. The portal felt closed and I knew that if I walked into the waterfall I’d only get wet.
Still, the moment stayed with me. It was such a beautiful and sacred spot. For my art piece I want to capture that spiritual moment.
The ice waterfall was huge. I couldn’t get it all into the camera frame so I took two pictures. That’s Helen in the bottom pic.
I’ve been saving up yarn and fleece scraps for about a year. Spinning up this yarn is quite messy.
While spinning bits of yarn often fly up in to the air. Prana seems entertained by it.
So far I have about eighty yards and the bag is still half full. I hope I have enough for a funky bag.
The last time I changed the covers I discovered a bed monster. What could it be?
It’s Prana! He loves playing under the covers. We played for a bit and then he got cuddly.
My friend Sera’s little girl recently was diagnosed with Leukemia. She’s currently in the hospital getting chemotherapy. I made her a little bunny to cuddle.
This is a neat pattern. You make a square and then fold it to make the bunny body. The ears are added on later.
Prana helped out as usual.
I used some stuffing for the tail and embroidered some pink eyes.
The underside of the bunny. The points of the paws are the corners of the square.
It seems like a good size for a two year old.
This was a quick knit. It took me three days. It could be cranked out in a day if needed. The bunny has been mailed off and hopefully will provide Sera’s daughter some comfort.
Pattern: Knitted Bunny
Source: HeartStrings FiberArts
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish DK, Nutmeg colorway
Needles: 4.0 mm
Size: 9″ square
Modifications: embroidered eyes, made square 9″
Started: April 2010
Finished: April 2010
Initially I wondered how I’d know when the figures were done. I kept tinkering with the details over and over. Then one day I looked at them and thought “it’s time”.
First I took scissors and cut the mother figure open.
Then I added the “blood”. I felt heavy but calm.
The blood was too concentrated so I spread it out and fluffed it up some.
As I was ready to join the figures a wave of nausea started rising up. But then the thought “you can do this” came into my head. I realized yes I can do this and began needle felting them together.
When my mother disowned me she said that “she was no longer my mother but was the womb that gave me life”. The figures represent this.
In a sense she killed her mother role. The mother figure here dies in the act of releasing the daughter figure.
Often people ask what happens when I call my parents. My mother almost always answers the phone. She sneers a hello, probably because she sees my number on caller ID. I identify myself and ask to speak with my dad. Silence answers. She stays silent long enough to be awkward but not long enough for me to ask if she’s still there. Then she either tells me to hold on as she gets my dad or she’ll tell me he’s not there. If he’s not there she’ll often hang up after telling me. Occasionally I’ll have time to ask when he’ll be around. She’ll tell me and then hang up.
She tries to act like she doesn’t realize I’m her daughter but the hatred in her voice tells me otherwise. She sounds angry and resentful of me. Holding such a grudge for sixteen years seems unhealthy to me. But she’s stubborn-I get my stubbornness from her-so I’m not surprised she hasn’t let go. I’ve really worked on letting go of my anger and resentment. I’ve been pouring those emotions into the piece.
Prana has been a constant help on this piece. While I worked on the figures he sat on the womb in the spot where they’ll go.
He was determined to sit there too. If I wanted to put the figures in that spot to see how they’d look I’d have to pick Prana up and sit him on my lap. If I didn’t he’d just go right back and sit there. He just radiates love when I’m working. He’s helping quite a bit.