A shiny, not-so-new spinning wheel

So I went to Parkersburg several weekends ago and look what I came home with!

My dad dug it out of my grandpa's garage attic. It was a little dirty and needed some TLC. But I have washed it down with Murphy's soap and have rubbed it with Boiled Linseed Oil a couple of times and she shines. Now she is missing a footman and the entire Maiden of All setup. And the wheel that is actually on her has several cracks in the wood. And the wheel on the ground that is in pieces is in pieces because this: Was the center piece. I have glued it together and I am going to see if I can put that wheel back together. It won't really be an easy fix. And I don't think it will ever be my main wheel. But it would be nice to have something I could take to our historic recreation stuff. And a Footman is relatively easy to replace (stick with hole on one end and leather strap on the other). And Ashford sells flyer units to convert their wheels to double drive. I thought I might try and look around for someone who is converting to double drive and wants to sell what would now be their leftover single drive unit. But it is more of a someday, I might do it.
For now, the wheel makes a very nice model. Don't you think? That is a Mobius wrap I knit from my handspun that I spun for the Fiber Olympics. It has gotten a bit warm to wear something that is so think and smooshy and woolen. But I look foward to getting to wear it in the winter.

A pretty, New bag design

I swear, it just feels like days are running away from me. I've had this bag designed and made a couple versions of it. I just haven't had a chance to blog or to make any more of them. Mostly I've been getting home and zoning out on the couch until it is too late to get started on any sewing projects. Blah

But it is a really cool design and I can't wait to get some made. I call them my Dumpling Bags. Which is a complete rip off of a knitting pattern called Dumpling Bag. Which I've made and I love. But the set up for this sewn bag is very similar. Sort of. Essentially the concept of the closure.


The outside and inside. This bag has two layers with some midweight interfacing in between to give it a bit of sturdiness. It has a square bottom and with the interfacing, it is pretty good at standing up on its own. I've used a lining so that you can't see my horrible seams. :)

How the bag closes. The top edge of the bag has a little loop on one side and has ribbon running through the top like a drawstring. When the bag is open, the longer ribbon is "hidden" inside the bag. When you want to close your bag, you pull the drawstring out and thread it through the little loop and you are ready to go.

I now have a two of these bags. The first was the proto-prototype that I used to get the design and to make sure my idea would work. So it isn't lined. But it works. The second is the one in the pics above. Which I wouldn't sell because, well, it was the prototype to streamline the design.

I just need to get motivated. I even have zippers to make more drop spindle bags. I just need someone to be like "OMG! I would buy all of those you could post in your shop." It might help with the motivation. :)

Shiny New Crochet Hooks

So I was reading a lovely website called Petite Purls the other day. Not for me, I just feel it is time Julia got a little something for her 6 month anniversary of being so darn cute. Well, they were having a contest on the blog to giveaway some crochet hooks I had been lusting over, a super adorable bag, and some other goodies. Well I entered and I won. Freakout time.

Seriously hardcore had been wanting a set of the Etimo hooks. I love to crochet. But it is the one crafty thing I do that probably is the most painful. I'm convinced my hands are going to fall off when I turn thirty. But I would like to try to avoid that. These hooks seemed like they might help in avoiding the no hands thing. But the price tag.

Well, if I hadn't have won these, they would have been worth every penny. First I will mention that the little pouch they come in is Sparkly!!! It doesn't take much to amuse me. And the pouch itself is great. It folds up nice and small. Keeps all the hooks organized. And it has a little zippered area for stitch markers and yarn needles. Very convienient. And it is sparkly.

So I decided to give these guys a workout. Two most difficult things for me to crochet without some pain are amigurumi (small and tight) and crochet (no give). So I did both.


I had a friend who had been asking her mom for a Katamari for a while. So I thought I would take care of it. It has been a while since I made the last one. It is pretty simple. I forgot how many of those nubby things you have to make. But I made it through. And no wrist pain. Even though I was working very tight with an E hook.

So I tried cotton. I saw this color at AC Moore and the yarn was on sale for $1.10 a ball. I like bright colors. And we had just finished a vintage potholder swap. There were several patterns I wanted to make for myself after I found the ones to make for my partner. So I did. No trouble working with cotton. Even made myself and dish scrubber and a little pad to set my cup on so it wouldn't mess up my pretty cedar chest. And then this guy. Have I ever mentioned how awesome the Java Joint is? Well they are. Although we do try to give back to the owners for letting us take over the back of their resturant once a week. Amber is a huge Star Wars fan and is starting to amass a collection of tiny crocheted Star Wars characters. I had been wanting to make Admiral Ackbar for a while. A very nice Raveler sent me the pattern. And we had the brilliant idea to make a little speech bubble saying "It's a Trap!" Yeah it is pretty awesome.

BTW, I would like to thank Haley for her made embroidery skills. It is not one of my best talents. Hence the reason I am trading my sewing skills for her embroidery skills. I am very excited about my evil squirrel bag.

But the point about this post is Shiny New Crochet hooks= the awesome. The handle is soft, but not squishy. It has a little ridge towards the hook end where my thumb fits perfectly. So I no longer get a dent in my thumb from holding the hook too tight. Oh and the hook shape is like the Boye needles. Which are the pointer ones. The ones I like.

Random catch up day

So much to post about, so little time to do so. I actually have several posts that need to be written about specific things. But I had a crown put in last week and I'm on antibiotics because it was not behaving itself and I can't tell if it is the meds actually making me feel exhausted and not very good at writing well thought out posts or just a coincidence that I started feeling like this when I started taking the medicine.

So even though I have a black thumb and I probably shouldn't be in charge of the care of plants ever, I planted some. I have some basil and cilantro and some chives. And squash and zuchinni and tomatoes and a pepper of some sort. And I got so excited that they have lived for a few days I went and bought some lavendar and rosemary and my mom brought me mint. I am very excited and I pretty much want to be able to make even the tiniest bit of salsa from my "garden". I shall hope. And try not to overwater. I even bought some of that special soil that is supposed to keep me from killing them with water. We shall see.

My dog was cute so I took a picture.

I made maple fudge for my Step dad's birthday (yay Brian!). I put a little in a pan of its own. I made two full batches I didn't think he was going to miss what I took. And I added bacon to it. Those who know me know I am a mite obsessed with putting bacon into things it normally does not belong, bacon cake and bacon chocolate chip cookies for example. So I thought bacon might make a delicious addition to maple fudge. I was right. Although if you try this, I advise making sure your bacon is crispy and very well drained. The chewy bits were weird. And if you want, I can give you my fudge recipe too.

And I started these socks. I am very excited and they are coming along pretty quick. I am doing them on a really long circular needle even though I hate magic loop, but it means I can do two handed knitting on the. It really helps for that part where you change color every stitch.

Guild Retreat

Guild Retreat was earlier this month. (I'm apparently behind on posting) This was my view for most of the weekend. Just imagine more people.

Like this.

And this. We had some great times. Poor Jess and her yarn of doom. I have no idea what happened to this skein, but they had that whole thing moving. Essentiall the chair and Janet acted as part of the swift. I got video too.

It was great because we changed it up a bit this year. We went to Cedar Lakes and were able to stay the whole weekend. And we didn't have to bring food, because they have a cafeteria. It made things so much simpler.

And it wouldn't be retreat without goodie bags and door prices. A bit of the spread can be found below. I got some great fiber from Bearlin Acres. A cute bag with silk yarn. And a new case for my interchangable needles. I'm very excited it has the needle sizes on the pockets. It will make the organization a lot easier.

And I took my bags to sell and I sold enough to buy shoes. Not just any shoes. But my Sketcher Shape-Ups that look like black mary janes so that I can wear them to work. Thank you everyone. I've even gotten a few new ideas for bag designs while at guild. I think I have gotten the pattern and construction figured out. Now I just need to make a couple.

Steeking

So I have made another sweater. Yay! This one took exactly one month to finish. yay for bulky yarn. And it is just in time for lovely 90 degree weather. But I will still wear it to work. Oh but the best part about this sweater; I steeked it. For those playing at home, that means I cut it, down the middle, all those stitches. I was mildly terrified, but I had several women at guild who had done it before and they held my hand the whole time. And threw me chocolate. I liked the chocolate.

Here is the sweater before. Everyone kept telling me how much they loved the center detail. It was actually seed stitch for the selvage stitches. It was not helping my resolve to actually go through with the cutting.

I was a little stressed about cutting a sweater I had just spent a month on. Yay for support!

Almost done! All done and with a shiny new zipper. I was going to do a button band, but with the ribbing all around the bottom, I thought it needed something a little stronger to hold it closed. It is a bit roomy and the bulky yarn doesn't make it the most flattering thing ever. But it is warm and I wish I could wear it now.
Oh and did you like the skirt. Got home from work yesterday and had to go to a dinner that night. I didn't like anything I owned so I made a skirt. I love having a craft room.

Whatcha doin'?

Not much really. I've been working on bags and sewing and working on a bunch of big projects that seem like they will never be done and working on projects that are presents or for a swap so they are secret.

But I did think it was about time that I took some updated pictures of my Sock Yarn Blanket of Doom. And cool new feature of Ravelry, I am going to share the project page. It has more pictures and more information about the project. You can click here to see more about it. Lots of lovely people have donated sock yarn for this blanket. But I could always use more if you have it laying around. About 5 grams of yarn will make two squares. 5 grams of yarn makes a ball about the size of a walnut. So I don't need a lot. But I do have a pretty healthy amount of yarn accumulated so far.

Like I said before, a lot of sewing has been going on. I'm trying to get a good stock of bags done before the retreat, maybe try and sell a few there. But this project is just for me. A lady in our guild had done something similar to her wheel. Essentially it is just a padded pillow for the treadle. But she made hers and essentially upholstered it onto the treadle. Well, I didn't really feel like stapling fabric to my wheel. I sensed that would hurt resale value a bit. So I designed one I could take off. It has two velcro straps on the bottom to hold it on and my favorite design element is the non stick stuff on the bottom. You know that foamy stuff you cut and put into your cabinets as a liner. Well I cut a rectangle out of it and sewed it on as part of the bottom lining. That sucker isn't going anywhere. I tried it out last night. I am in love. Do you think these would go over well in the store? I would have to do them as a custom order depending on the size and shape of the treadle and where the hinge is. Maybe I'll see what the ladies in guild think.

Oh and more bags should be going up in the store soon. And I hope to get about 8 more made this week. We shall see. I heart this fabric.