Tag Archives: fiber arts

Garland of Hearts

Posted on February 14, 2012 | 8 Comments

We don’t usually do much to celebrate Valentine’s Day, but I came across this crocheted heart pattern (by Lucy of Attic24, Teeny Tiny Hearts (Ravelry link)) and just knew I had to try stringing them up.

So, I did. On Friday I pulled the Valentines-y colors from the scrap bin and started hooking. Stowing it all away over the weekend so it would remain a surprise for Paul was hard. Then, Monday, I was crocheting in earnest. The hearts whip up quickly, each one took me less than 10 minutes to complete. When I reached 50 — the number I’d estimated I would need to span the chosen space — I stacked them all up, grabbed a ball of neutral yarn and my needles and came upstairs.

I cut a length of yarn, threaded my needle, and started stringing! (Here’s my project page.)

To borrow Lucy’s phrase, ta-da!

Here’s a wide view:

So, what do you think? I thought it added a touch of fun, of whimsy. I thought the variations in the hearts (they’re not all the same size, some of them are actually duo-toned) would be more visible, but that’s OK.

Happy Valentine’s Day! I appreciate you!

Note: I’m probably more behind on telling you about my fiber arts endeavors than I am about my bookish ones, but I’ve finally got another post (or two) almost ready to go, so hooray!

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Posted in free pattern

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Fiber Arts fun day

Posted on September 21, 2011 | 3 Comments

Yesterday we (Maisie and all) traveled to Clearwater, NE, to spend some time with MareLee at Prairie Threads. We’d visited once before, and had a blast, but this time we were more intentional with planning our time, and it was even more fun!

First of all, this shop? In a cute house in a little town, Prairie Threads is full of quality yarn, spinning fiber and tools. But the real star is MareLee herself. She’s been doing fiber arts for decades, and she’s had an answer for every question I’ve thrown at her so far. [I'm already plotting more occasions to pepper her with queries.]

Since it’s such a long drive (2 hours one way), we’ve thus far made it a habit to call ahead when we’re planning to visit. And this time, we did more than that; we asked for some instructional time. I was able to dye with her, experimenting with several different methods and tools than I’ve used in the past, and Paul finally got to try his hand at felting.

Picture time?

I dyed three items, 2 skeins of yarn and a length of combed top:

The yarn I dyed (this and the green) is fingering weight sock yarn, 50 percent superwash merino, 25 percent bamboo and 25 percent nylon. It has 459 yards in each 100 gram skein.

Look, it is green!

Mmm, wool.

None of the things I dyed came out exactly like I wanted them, but I had fun and I learned quite a bit, too. So all in all, a success.

I also came home with some other, ahem, stash enhancement. I’ll just show you a couple of the new additions:

This is hand painted by MareLee, 100 percent wool, single ply, and such great color!

I had never seen Brown Sheep's lace weight yarn before. This skein is huge! Its 170 grams provide 1500 yards of 75 percent wool, 25 percent nylon. The color, Deep Plum, is gorgeous, too.

I just love playing with color, it’s so vital to me! I hope I can get back to Clearwater soon. Do you like taking day trips?

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Posted in WordLily

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Fiber Arts Friday: Green

Posted on June 17, 2011 | 7 Comments

Word Lily knits and crochets

Greens

Stack of WIPs

green yarn

And more to come!

The Project Spectrum color for June is green. In addition to finishing my Citron (Rav link), I’m hoping to really dive in and make significant progress on this collection of designs.

Those I’ve started, above, aren’t the only patterns I’ve got planned for this collection. :)

Happy Friday!

Where are you seeing green today?

Fiber Arts Friday

Also, see the Fiber Arts Friday roundup at Wisdom Begins in Wonder to see what other people are crafting this week.

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Posted in knitting

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Words from my reading

Posted on May 18, 2011 | 9 Comments

I think these might be the last words I pull from Godric:

gillyflower, n Carnation or a similar plant of the genus Dianthus; wallflower
page 52, Godric by Frederick Buechner
“We stood beside my father’s stone where I had laid a gillyflower down.”
This reminded me of Harry Potter!

woad flowers

woad, n An annual Old World plant (Isatis tinctoria) in the mustard family, formerly cultivated for its leaves that yield a blue dye; the dye obtained from this plant
page 54, Godric by Frederick Buechner
“Her hands were blue as Father’s lips with woad from dyeing fustian for my lord, and she seized with blue fingers round the wrists.”
Apparently you get the same indigo dye from this plant as from “true indigo,” Indigofera tinctoria, but in a lower concentration. [This plant is considered invasive in the United States.]

fustian, n Formerly, a coarse sturdy cloth made of cotton and flax; presently, any of several thick twilled cotton fabrics, such as corduroy, having a short nap; pretentious speech or writing, pompous language
page 54, Godric by Frederick Buechner
“Her hands were blue as Father’s lips with woad from dyeing fustian for my lord, and she seized with blue fingers round the wrists.”

I just love that two of these words are related to dyeing!

Previous words posts drawing on the vocabulary of Godric:
First installment
Second installment

More great words on my Words from my reading page.

Book cited here:
Godric by Frederick Buechner [Amazon]*

What new words have you found lately?

* That’s an affiliate link; I am an Amazon Associate and receive a small commission on sales through my affiliate links.

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Posted in books, word

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Fiber Arts Friday: Project Spectrum, week 1

Posted on May 6, 2011 | 16 Comments

Word Lily spins

I’ve been really enjoying Project Spectrum this first week. Red isn’t exactly a color I gravitate toward, but the project is certainly making me more mindful of it, so far. Not all my Project Spectrum endeavors are fiber-related; I started a Tumblr as a sort of homebase for my Project Spectrum — although I may end up posting other things there as well, who knows?

RED that’s been through my hands

handspun

Remember those two batts I posted two weeks ago? I finally got them skeined and photographed. They’re both composed of the same mix of fibers and colors, but the more homogeneous was carded twice and the yarn with more distinct colors was carded once.

handspun from my hand dyed, hand carded, wool
50.2 grams of fiber yielded 114 yards, pre-bath.


55.6 grams of fiber yielded 100 yards of thick and thin, pre-bath.

I also spun up 4 ounces of a wool/silk blend fiber:

handspun wool-silk blend

Plying this is on the agenda for today.

Planning ahead

I think I’ll also be ordering beads today, for my first-ever beaded knitting project, the large-size Aeolian Shawl (Ravelry). I’m looking at these beads, to go with the Jaggerspun Zephyr wool/silk in mahogany I already have. I certainly won’t finish this within the month, but I’m looking forward to the challenge, regardless.

Where are you noticing red today?


Have you crafted a finished object this week? Check out the roundup of other people’s finished objects for the week at Tami’s Amis.

Fiber Arts Friday
Also, see the Fiber Arts Friday roundup at Wisdom Begins in Wonder to see what other people are crafting this week.

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Knit, knit, knit

Posted on April 29, 2011 | 17 Comments

What I’m not posting about today

• I could post about the yarn I spun, from the batts I posted last week — except the yarn is still on the bobbins.
• The project I’ve been spending most of the week on is still not quite ready for its close-up, either.
• I didn’t knit the royal wedding. And I didn’t even wake up early to watch it.
• Yarn School is underway, and I’m kind of sad I’m not there, experiencing it again.
• I’m tentatively gearing up for Project Spectrum, which starts May 1, but I’m not sure how avid I’ll be, considering my other commitments. Still, I bet it’ll be fun to stretch myself and how I look at and think about color; join us?

Word Lily knits

Instead, I guess I’ll share a couple finished knits.

I finished the short socks I talked about a few weeks ago.

Pink handknit socks

Ravelry project page
Not sure who the end user of these will be yet. But, making them set my brain a-whirling! Hopefully this brainstorm won’t fizzle, and I’ll have more to share on the subject.

I also wrapped up the hat I mentioned in that same post.

black hat for Paul

Ravelry project page
Again, just a basic hat (the whole cobbler’s children situation, now somewhat remedied), but I think that’s what he wanted.

I also finished a couple other socks, but no, they’re not a pair!

two socks do not make a pair

Sunrise Socks

sunrise sock

sunrise sock detail

Ravelry project page

This yarn is super squooshy.

I tried several different needle sizes and sock sizes before settling on this combination. These should fit my husband.

Rivercat Socks

Rivercat sock

Rivercat sock detail

Ravelry project page
Rivercat Sock pattern

These socks (I cast on for the second sock last night) are for a much delayed swap with a friend.

They seem super-skinny, but I think that’s mostly because of the ribbed nature of the pattern.

I seem to be falling down a sock-knitting hole this year, after taking 2010 mostly off from that particular obsession. I can’t get enough! :D

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!


Have you crafted a finished object this week? Check out the roundup of other people’s finished objects for the week at Tami’s Amis.

Fiber Arts Friday
Also, see the Fiber Arts Friday roundup at Wisdom Begins in Wonder to see what other people are crafting this week.

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Spinning my wheel

Posted on April 22, 2011 | 21 Comments

Instead of spending a lot of time telling you what I’ve been doing fiber-wise, I’m going to spend that time actually pursuing my fibery pursuits today. :D

drum-carded batts

These batts are both made from the same mix of fiber and color, but one was carded twice and the other was carded once. I plan to make a two-ply yarn.

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Posted in blogging, spinning

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Simple knits

Posted on April 8, 2011 | 18 Comments

Word Lily knits

It’s been a week for simple knitting here at the Waystation.

I’m more than half way through a pair of simple short socks, which I cast on for Sunday.

Short sock knitting

Pattern: Super Simple Short Sock by Meghan Holcomb, a pattern I used back in 2009.

Mods: I didn’t like the heel, so I ripped it back — made the flap 2.25″ instead of 2.5″ and worked the heel cup from the Yarn Harlot’s Sock Recipe.

I’m using yarn leftover from an earlier pair of socks. If/when I run out of this yarn, I’ve got a coordinating color ready to go.

And then last night, despite the presence of said sock project, I cast on for a basic hat.

Black hat start

Ah, the joys of photography black. Maybe I should not have even bothered.

My husband (he recently informed me) is without winter head coverage, and this is not acceptable. So even though it’s forecasted to be 84° F tomorrow, I’m working on a hat, in black Lion Wool. So far so good!

Do you ever get the urge for simple knitting?

P.S.: Last week I posted photos of my Springling Shawlette, and several commenters asked me to say something when that pattern became available. Well, Cosy’s Springling Shawl pattern was released this week.

Fiber Arts Friday
See the Fiber Arts Friday roundup at Wisdom Begins in Wonder to see what other people are crafting this week.

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