Crafting Chaos

Noro blanket progress

I’ve finished with the Noro portion of Thebes’ blanket.

This Noro colorway is awesome. I’ve made eight squares.

Next up I’ll block the squares.

Then I’ll make the borders out of Lamb’s Pride wool.

Here’s Sieben on a recent walk:

He loves going on walks with me.

1 comment August 30th, 2010

Washing wool

My friend Laura was so nice and let me use her bathtub to wash my latest wool fleece.

Latest as in, I bought it two years ago. Lazy hippie! But hey, at least I’m finally getting to it. I’m planning on spinning it up first and then dyeing it afterward.

While the fleece soaked I mended a pair of pants for Laura. Then I attached some new clasps on my Arwen sweater.

I bought these pretty clasps on Etsy. Proper pics to come soon.

I brought Sieben along because he gets along with Laura’s dogs, especially her dog Bobo.

He had a fun time and so did I.

Add comment August 3rd, 2010

Sock progress

I’ve gotten some progress on Thebes’ kilt hose.

Mostly I’ve been working on The Portal so I haven’t been knitting much. This sock makes for great car knitting though.

Monsoon season has started and we’ve been getting downpours. Sieben and I took a walk in the forest when the rain let up.

He was a happy boy!

Add comment July 26th, 2010

Slow knitting progress

Remember the Sugar Lotus Blossom tank that I started in May?

Here’s where I’m at now:

This project has been kicking my ass. I got one repeat into the medium size and then realized it was too big. So I frogged and started the small size. Then I wasn’t paying attention to the lace chart and had to frog back some. I’m still on the first repeat.

The lace chart is not terribly hard but the repeat moves slightly over on some rounds. Very confusing-to me at least.

And here’s a cute picture of Sieben as a puppy.

This was taken in the fall of 2007. He was such a cute puppy.

2 comments July 3rd, 2010

Fun mending

I’ve been working on my mending pile. Normally it’s not that thrilling. But sometimes it’s fun.

I got this teddy bear for Sieben from the free pile. He chewed the nose off so I patched it up.

Sieben was happy to get his teddy back.

Though normally he looks like this while playing:

Add comment June 15th, 2010

Dog Bed

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

2 comments May 24th, 2010

Noro Striped Sweater

I finished my Noro Striped Sweater and just love it. Elizabeth Zimmerman’s percentage system worked perfectly. She was such a genius. She saved this project. Sieben posed with me.

This project started off as Tubey. After I finished it and put it on the thing was so tight on the armpits that I was worried I’d have to frog the thing off. I had to peel it off myself. The sleeves turned out to be a struggle. But then I used Zimmerman’s seam sweater percentage system for the yoke.

I worked the decreases until I thought it was high enough. Abbey suggested I do the collar in seed stitch. It really gives the sweater that perfect finished detail.

This sweater fits great. And the yarn-oh gods I love Noro Cashmere Island. It was soft but after blocking it feels even softer. It feels comfortable to wear next to the skin.

The Noro colors are just beautiful. I love this sweater so much!!!

Pattern: Noro Striped Sweater
Source: Zimmerman’s Knitting Without Tears
Yarn: Noro Cashmere Island, #10 colorway, 8 skeins
Needles: 4.5 mm
Size: custom
Modifications: custom
Started: April 2009
Finished: May 2010

3 comments May 8th, 2010

Gorge walk

Last month I wanted to take Sieben somewhere new. There’s a nice trail by the Rio Grande Gorge rest area. Here’s a classic shot:

Sieben strikes a pose:

On the walk we encountered some tourists who complimented Sieben on his handsomeness. That’s my boy!

There was some spring snow in the Gorge.

We had a fun walk. Then we drove to the Taos Cow and shared a sandwich and chips.

Add comment April 19th, 2010

Light at the end of the sweater tunnel

I’m so close to being done with Thebes’ sweater. Here it is blocking:

I started this sweater back in September! After it’s dry I’ll put in the zipper and it will be done. We got some more snow here so Thebes will be able to wear it some before spring.

Sieben and I took a walk the other day. He was so excited about the snow it was hard to get a non blurry picture of him. Here he is running by me:

Add comment February 24th, 2010

Chicken legs

I’ve decided that Grant’s turkey hat is really a chicken. This project has been a bitch to knit. What a pain. But it’s so funny I stuck with it. Here’s the legs:

I did I-cord for the claws.

Sieben and I went on a walk the other day. He loves the snow. Here’s him looking super cute:

3 comments December 31st, 2009