Spinner-ette!

My first handspun! I went to the Tulsa Handspinners Guild meeting and met a bunch of new fiber friends! In about an hour, I spun this little jewel using a low-whorl drop spindle. Don't ask what all of those words mean. I need to buy a spindle and practice more so I can learn the language of spinning.

Don't be alarmed: I'm not, repeat NOT going to buy a spinning wheel. It's a long process to make your own yarn and I am not sure I want to sit still for that long. But, that said, I am knitting socks on toothpicks, so who knows?? It's cool that the same people who spin usually dye their own yarn. Now THAT is interesting.....

I Love Sock Yarn

So, this is my third pair of socks. HELLO?! Yes, I said socks. My friend Sara says that's going a bit too far, but I think that knitting socks is fun. I KNOW that you can buy 7 pairs of socks from walmart, blah..blah..blah...A little tedious, but fun. You take a ball of yarn that looks like this:
Let's just talk about the yarn: It is from Three Irish Girls. I bought it from someone on Ravelry who wanted to de-stash. I SO want to be a member of their sock yarn club.

Hold on there. I just said 3 terms that non-knitters will not understand. Ravelry is an online facebook of sorts for people whose creativity stems mostly from yarn fiber. If you are a member of a sock yarn club, ususally you will get a skein of yarn in the mail monthly as long as you pay the fee. Usually, it's about $80/3 months. To de-stash is to actually use the yarn you have or sell/trade your yarn with someone.

Ok, so back to the sort of boring story about sock yarn. I love sock yarn because it comes in so many beautiful colors and variations. I think this is true because it is easy to dye this kind of yarn. Also, more obviously, easy to sell. Usually 1 400 yard skein will get you 1 pair of socks. Well now, I have turned the heel and on to the home stretch. Maybe I'll give them to my baby sister in OKC - she appreciates my handknits.....but, i might keep them - i love the colorway! Look how it knits up!

I need to figure out how to take better pictures, but there is a lot of light pink and green in the sock. It is handpainted yarn - so loverly....would look great with my open sneakers....

Weekend Sewing

Within the next 2 weeks, there are 3 baby showers at my school. Let's talk a minute about teachers: most of us are uber-planners. Spring is the time to have your babies b/c it maximizes your stay-at-home time. And you don't have to close the school year. Which, most times is a blessing. Well, this year at JEE, is the year for boys. So what to give a new little one but these:

Each mommy-to-be will get 3 blocks for fun playtime. I found the pattern and directions from this cute little blog londonmummy.They were tested by a certain curious 10 month old, who found them quite yummy. And, this fabric came from my stash. Wow. A whole yard gone.

Next are some socks I started recently. So far, I've made 2 pairs of just plain old, well..socks. Now I'm working on using a pattern that extends from the cuff to the toe. It is a baby cable pattern, but I don't have to use a cable needle. Since the picture, I've started the heel. Starting the heel makes me feel like I'm getting closer to the end. Each time I start a sock, the leg/cuff part is a drag. It feels like it takes FOREVER.

Stash Diet??? What Stash Diet??

So here we are in February and I went to my mom's 60th birthday party. That was really fun! People come from out of the woodwork every time there is a party at my mom's. Of course, right before it started, I went to the Oklahoma Quiltworks. Just to see what they have (kind of like going to an ice cream store when you are watching what you eat). There was an awesome quilt store in Tulsa (I worked there), but now, no such awesomeness. So I'm browsing for small stripes and bought this:

Here are some of the blocks I was thinking about when I was buying the fabric.
I'm thinking about turning the squares so it's shaped more like a diamond (actually a rhombus, if you're technical). The goal is for it to look kaleidoscope-ish. So I'll cut out black squares, hopefully the same size as the other ones and then sew it together.

Later that night, after everyone went home - and let's just say it was LATE, my mom and her closest friends went to Jan's house to look at her quilts. Jan is old-school. She watched a documentary on Gee's Bend and saw a quilt that caught her eye. Then she paused the dvd, photographed it and then using many higher-math skills, made a pattern. That's not how I work. You can be sure that my process goes from "I have this idea" to "OH NO!" to "Now, I think I have it!" and then the quilt is done. Ask me about my coffee cup quilt.

As for the $63 spent on fabric, let's just say I'll make plans for it, but first you can guess that it will hang out on the shelf for me to pet for a while. Yeah. Crafters pet things like yarn and fabric. It's weird.

Resolutions continue in February

mom's house socks
Originally uploaded by sdchimblo

The crafting diet continues! Here is some fingering weight yarn from my LYS called punk junkie. It is so cool - i have like 2 or 3 skeins of it. I made some quickie socks for my mom for her 60th birthday! I'm so glad that her cancer is behind her and not only that, but she will have some new tatas to show for it!

All diets are supposed to be a lifestyle change, not temporary until you get the results you want. AND that said, it is easy to fall of the bandwagon. Like, I bought some yarn recently for a cool sweater I have been dying to make. And then, I bought a skein of "three irish girls" sock yarn from a raveler that was trying to destash. Now, I want to join their sock club. The colorways are amazing. Hey, I'm doing my part to boost the economy right??