Another New Thing

So, I have inherited a very old sewing machine that once was my great-great aunt's. It's a Singer 1776 model, fully electric, and thankfully, new enough that it has universal needles and a universal bobbin band (very thankful for that after I broke the band this weekend). I'm thrilled to have it, so I wanted to try out doing a simple block quilt.

I am definitely rusty on my sewing skills. I wanted to just sew straight lines right now before I make the two skirts I have planned. Glad I did. Despite being slightly wonky, here is what my quilt top looks like without being ironed:It's crib-sized and I haven't cut the backing or the binding for it yet. In fact, I'm really just winging this whole quilt since I've never done this before. Anyone have any recommendations for a good, basic machine quilting book? I picked up a magazine at JB's the other day, but it doesn't give much as far as instruction goes, but does give lots of inspiration.

Anyways, that's what I've been up to. More painting will be coming in the near future, which I'm excited about. Also, I still knit :oP My projects are just in the boring stage now. I've got two more balls of cotton to add to the table runner before it's complete, so I'm chugging along there. Almost done with the first sock in the new pair too.

Enough rambling. It's 8 PM and I'm totally ready to crash and go to bed. Goodnight!

Knit on...

Charlie

Charlie is now ready to spin! Today, I finished the last of the flick carding and then took the fleece over to ReBelle to rent their drum carder. I came home with this:A big tupperware bin full of carded fleece. Once I get the llama fiber finished that is currently on my wheel, the spinning of Charlie will commence.

Knit on...

Stitch Markers

This week, I had fun making some stitch markers. I've never felt the desire to make them, but when I saw a few strings of beads at Hobby Lobby, I knew I had to make some. So, I made these:and these:And these:And my personal favorite:
These are all for sale in my etsy shop if you're interested in any of them. I'm hoping to add some more things to the shop in the near future since I'm doing some spinning and I've also got some hand knits that I'm now ready to part with after making them. And, I may have a new obsession, so you will probably see more stitch markers in the near future!

Knit on...

When You Have No Voice...

You stay home and knit and spin. At least that's what I did today. I wound up with a fever and a throat that was on fire, so I figured I may have come down with strep throat. Well, turns out this is just my yearly bout with tonsillitis that then goes into laryngitis. So, I now have no voice, but thankfully no fever, so I am spending the evening in front of the TV, knitting and spinning away.

I figured today I would give a project update. First, I finished the next pattern for Fiber Fiction. I am very pleased with it and can't wait until October to release it with the next section of OtherKin. Unfortunately, you'll just have to wait until October to see that one :oP

My table runner is growing a lot. It's now about 2.5 feet long. Another 2.5 feet to go and I'll have enough to cover the table:Sorry for the crummy picture. I just could not contort myself or the knitting to do anything better than that!

Next, the travel sock got a little work at lunch on Monday, so it's growing some:Last for today, I did some spinning while I sipped hot tea. I started working on the llama from a few years ago and forgot how delightful it is to spin:Back to the hot tea I think for tonight.

Knit on...

Creativity of the Soul

During times of major stress in the world, I am thankful that I have been blessed with a creative soul. I have found that ever since I was a child, when things would get bad, I would create things. As a kid, I drew a ton. When something happened, I would sit down with a piece of paper and a pencil and just draw whatever my brain could imagine.

In college, I learned to crochet, and while it frustrated me to no end that I didn't pick it up quickly, I would create when I was sad, stressed, or even on the rare occasion I was bored.

Now, I have many creative outlets. I knit, crochet, spin, paint, write, take pictures, and sometimes I even still draw. I've been contemplating creativity as an outlet of the soul the past few days because I have been watching a friend of mine go deeper and deeper into a funk. It has made me thankful for the blessing I have been given to have such a deep sense of creativity. I use creating as a way to commune with my Creator. Since I was made in the image of the Creator, it only makes sense for me to create.

I suppose I have been in a contemplative mood given that today is the anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the situation with my friend. My thoughts and prayers go out to all those who were affected that day directly by the loss of a family member or friend. My thoughts and prayers also go out for the nation I call home.

I think it's time to create again.

Knit on...

Painting, Not Knitting

I've still been knitting away at the table runner and crocheting dishcloths, but tonight, I did something totally random. Renee and I wanted to do something different tonight, so we were looking into activities. We came across a painting website, and then it dawned on us: Bob Ross painting night!

So off we went to Michael's Craft Store and bought some acrylic paints and an economy pack of brushes. We didn't feel like we wanted to spend much on this, so didn't bother to get the good oil paints that Bob Ross recommends. She already had the canvas sitting at her house, so paint in hand, we went there.

We listened to the soothing voice of Bob Ross over the next couple of hours, creating our own little world that was supposed to be an autumn stream, but for me, ended up turning into an autumn lake instead. Then, to make our own truly unique happy trees, we did the next logical step: add glitter to the wet paint.

And so, I give you my first true painting that was not done by a paint by number:The picture does not do this thing justice. I think I managed to create a fairy wonderland :oP

Knit on...

Happy trees...RIP, Bob Ross

A Scaly Table Runner and Dishcloths

I couldn't come up with a more creative title, so I figured I would just state the obvious. The first thing I have been working on this week is the dragon scale table runner and it's a little over 1.5 feet long now:And yes, I am still fascinated by the sparkling yarn. If I have any leftover, I am totally making a sparkly dishcloth of some kind.

Speaking of dishcloths, I made about 10 this week:I should have spread them out for you, but honestly, they all look pretty much the exact same. So, you get them stacked on top of each other. I'm now moving on to another cone of yarn to make more of these. I'm stashing these away for Christmas presents.

Oh, and I'm also painting. You will get pictures of that later on :oP

Knit on...

Knittin' and Spinnin'

I managed to finish two things this weekend. First, I finished the anniversary hat from ReBelle out of their anniversary hand dyed yarn:And next to that hat, you can see a skein of finished yarn freshly off the wheel.

I think it was a productive weekend :o)

Knit on...

Knit n' ROCK

Last night, I went to a roller derby match between the local Rollergirls of Central Kentucky (ROCK) and Knoxville (Hard Knox). I was sitting with a group of lovely knitters:We knit, we watched ROCK get torn to pieces by the jammer from Hard Knox named Goblin, and all in all, had a great time.On my way home, I stopped to get lottery tickets, pulled into the gas station and was greeted by seriously about 50 ducks:They kinda freaked me out too because when I came out of the store, they tried to follow me into my car. These ducks are obviously used to hand outs (as evidenced by the guy feeding them leftover movie popcorn) and expected me to contribute. Starting up the car seemed to make them realize they were getting nothing from me, but I think they all may now be plotting my death based on the looks they gave me. Just sayin'.

Tomorrow, I'll show you what craftiness I have been up to here recently. Right now though, I should probably do laundry so I have clean clothes for the upcoming week.

Knit on...

Happy Birthday to ReBelle

ReBelle, my favorite local yarn store, celebrated 5 years of being in business. Not only were they celebrating being around for five years, but they now officially don't owe anymore on their loan and the business all belongs to these two happy owners:Congratulations, Sarah and Robyn! Oh, and this picture took some time to get because these two kept cracking up trying to find a pose :oP

To celebrate, there were cupcakes:There was a table of yarn, t-shirts, and embroidery bags for 5 bucks a pop:From that table, I scored two skeins of yarn (which I had to give Sarah a hard time about being all in the colors I can't see. For those of you who don't know, I am red/green colorblind, a rare trait for a woman. So yeah, reds and greens :oP I did have Renee pick me out two that matched so I didn't wind up with something truly wonky color-combo-wise) and a t-shirt. I also picked up a skein of Malabrigo sock yarn that just really called to me.

When I went up to the register and wished them a happy birthday, I received 10% off my purchase (I would have said this anyways, but on facebook, they had told everyone about the 10% off deal). Then I got to pick a prize out of the basket and scored a sample of lavender Eucalan wool wash. To just put icing on the cupcake, I then was able to draw a random prize out of the bag and came out with a Lamb's Pride printed nail file. All in all, such a great experience!

I congratulate these two. It's a rough economy, but they have made it work by providing a welcome atmosphere and the products that knitters and the community want. If you're not local, check out their website by clicking here.

And here is my score for the day:Knit on...and support your LYS!