Category Archive

I just had to play with it, I couldn’t help myself after buying a “cheap as chips” polymer clay book.  I’ve joined a couple of spinning groups on ravelry including “spindlemakers”.  I really  wanted to try a bottom whorl spindle…so why not make one, right?!  Several people had made theirs out of polymer clay so I thought I’d give it a go.  Mixing colours was a little difficult as I don’t think the primary colours are “true” - so mixing red and blue did not make purple.  But blue and yellow gave a nice green so maybe the problem was with the red?  Anyway, here’s the result…the shaft is a 99cent wooden knitting needle.

And it spins like a dream.  I was so suprised.  It doesn’t spin out a lot and it spins for a really long time.  The fiber is a wool/silk blend.  It’s a bit sparkly…both the fiber and the spindle.  I pressed pearlescent powder into the fimo before baking.

And since I was onto the fimo - I tried to make some canes.  Not perfect.  Not good enough for beads, but OK for stitch markers I think.

What can one do on a rainy day without a car?  Dye.

Today I rang up the automotive man to see if I could book our car in because it was smelling strongly of petrol.  It had been running really well apart from this curious smell that wafted up through the floorboards when we parked it under the house.  It’s an old car form the 80’s that has been in our possession for little over a week.  We have pushed it hard in that week and it has responded gloriously, apart from the smell.  I, not knowing much about cars, thought that since it was going well nothing much was wrong.  When I rang up to ask the garage about it I was told not to drive it as it might CATCH ON FIRE AND EXPLODE! 

So it has been towed to the service station and I have been left at home with the rain pattering steadily down.  A perfect day to experiment with crafty stuff. 

I have been meaning to try jelly crystal dying since reading an article on it in Yarn Magazine about a year ago.  I think I got a little carried away with adding and mixing colours.  I might try to restrain myself next time.  the article talked about the jelly setting and becoming gooey during the process but mine stayed pretty liquid.  Also I noticed that the diet jelly was thinner in consistency thatn the regular jelly and, I think, more intense in colour.  I’ll have to experiment further to confirm that.

 I have also completed the week 19 TAST stitch - Basque stitch today.  I enjoyed it but I think I kept getting the direction of the twisted stitch wrong.  I’ll have to keep practicing.  But I’m wondering if it really matters?  Does this mean that some stitches are Basque stitch and some stitches are a different stitch?  I didn’t set out to make a picture but it just turned into  one.

Just to note - at this stage, if you happen to see 3 comments left on the pay it forward post and are thinking “oh..3 people have already signed up and I’ve missed out”…think again.. No-one’s signed up yet.

And as for my TAST projects…I’m steadily losing hope that I’ll ever catch up…but I’m still having fun with it and learning heaps anyway.  Which is the point, I think.  So I’ve been working on bonnet stitch, which is so sweetly named, don’t you think?   I quite liked this stitch , although I found it difficult to get the tension right so that the loop part of the stich stayed flat.  Nothing that a bit of vigorous ironing won’t fix, eh?  Well, actually, in some cases the ironing didn’t fix it, but I quite like the effect anyway.  So here it it is.

I’m also working on the “Notre Dame” jumper, designed by Veronik Avery.  I love her designs, almost every time I stop to have another look at a design when flicking through Interweave Knits, it will be one of hers.

And I also plyed my first balls of spindle spun wool.  Now I know they are a bit uneven still.  But I think I’ll be able to knit a little scarf out of them.  And if that doesn’t work I can always felt it and make a knitted purse/wallet.

It feels like a long time since my last post and since my last TAST stitch - but I’ve had a lot on - kniting/embroidery-wise.  I knitted Dad a hat for Father’s day - and forgot to get a photo.  I went yarn shopping with Mum as I have promised to knit her Veronik Avery’s Threepenny Opera jumper, from Interweave knits.  We have been meaning to hunt for some yarn for a long time.  Neither of us are particularly flush so I thought I’d hit a jackpot when, 6 months ago, I found a reasonably LYS who said that I could put away the required number of balls and then buy a couple as I needed them.  A sort of extended lay-by/ ”pay as you knit” system. 

I thought this was fantastic and finally got Mum to the store to choose some nice wool.  We found some that she really liked but when we went to the counter to discuss the purchase the lady looked horrified at the suggestion of “pay as you knit” and said that the system didn’t work for anyone and they hadn’t done that for years and that she didn’t know of anyone who did. 

 All I can say is…it would have worked for me.  As a result we weren’t able to purchase the yarn - there is no way we could  afford to pay for it all at once.  And so I guess it will be back to Lindcraft eventually - to pick up some cheaper yarn.  Not that I have a problem with cheaper, or indeed recycled yarn .  I had just wanted to make a special jumper for Mum and give her a choice of colours and types of yarn. So it was a little disapointing.  I do understand that it may not work for the yarn store in that, if you put a certain number of balls away and then don’t use them all the store may be left with one extra ball at the end of a season.  But then, does it work for the store that a  customer is excluded because they can’t afford to pay for the yarn all at the same time…but would be able to afford to pay for the yarn in installments?  I would have thought that $120 is $120, whether that be paid in one hit or in five. 

I think I just felt a little bad because of the horrified look on the woman’s face, it made me feel as though I wasn’t good enough to shop there.  A sort of “You seriously can’t be that poor that you have to budget for $120!” attitude.   Well, yes, I certainly can. 

I did finish my Column of leaves scarf , designed by Brooke, in the yarn I won from the Knitting Psycho’s podcast.  I really like it and I’m so glad I decided to make a scarf in sock yarn- it’s so light and warm.

I’ve also worked on the TAST knotted Cretan Stitch. 

 I didn’t try to make a cohesive piece as I sometimes do - I was just playing with the sitches.  I really like the way the sitch builds up when overlapped (see green strip on right).  I quite like using it to build up a net too - thought I think this could be done better if pre-planned a bit - I just did it on the fly.

Well here we have two experiemental projects that actually turned out ok (I think)

Here’s the finished “cuddle cushion” made of leftover wool from my husband’s and my jumpers’.  I had a blue jumper and he had a brown one.  Now they are joined - as one commenter said “interesting”.  

Growing up in my family, “interesting” was the word used to mean “I have no idea what that is/what you’re doing/what your weird sense of colour or style is - and I don’t like it - but  I don’t want to risk hurting your feelings by saying so”

Needless to say we all worked out what the word ‘interesting” actually meant before long.  And as a teenager I came to cling passionately onto that word to describe myself.  (It seemed a better word that “boring”, which was the alternative)

Here’s the front

 And here’s the back.

 Considering that I didn’t use a pattern for the knitting I’m pretty happy with it.  Plus - I didn’t have to go out and buy a cushion.

 And here’s the embroidery. 

It’s all in cross stitch. I made it for TAST.  It sort of grew as it went along , though I did have a sketch for it.  I would have preferred subtler shades of blue for some of the embroidery but I was using up my odds and ends.  

On an unrelated note:  The tree is off the house now - which is good.

This will need heavy blocking!  Today I’m preposing that life feels like heavy blocking.  I feel like I’m being stretched into a shape that is not my original one!  Will it make me functional, like I expect this cushion to be?  Will it look ok if you don’t peer at the seams?  I don’t know… but I know one thing… this cushion cover needs HEAVY BLOCKING.

 It’s the cuddle cushion that I mentioned earlier; made from leftover yarn from mine and my partners’ jumpers.  I like the concept if not the execution.  I guess it looks ok.. or will look ok.  It’s a bit of a strange colour combination.  And the yarn doesn’t match entirely so washing will be a bit of a chore.  The brown yarn is %100 New Zealand Wool and the blue is an polymid/wool blend.  I didn’t have a pattern for this. I made it up as I went, I just really wanted to try mitred squares…so guess what?  I forgot to work out how the thing will close up at one end.  I might have to do an inside flap like a pillowcase if one of the edges turns out strong and neat enough.  Otherwise, a zipper maybe?  Let’s see how it really turns out.

 I’ve also completed the week 5 stitch from Take a Stitch Tuesday, Chevron Stitch.  I really liked this one.  I’m thinking of making it into something… what?  I wonder.

I’ve submitted my podcast to itunes, as I think I mentioned before. It’s been accepted but it still hasn’t appeared in their directory.  You can subcribe to it from the show notes page.. but how will people know about the show notes page?  I’ve put it under the blogroll here..is that to narcissistic?  It’s really not meant to be.  These places are just spaces for me to play. Hope everyone has a happy day.

This week I started a podcast so come along and visit.  It’s called Changelings Knit and Stitch.  I’ve submitted it to itunes and they’ve accepted it although it hasn’t appeared in their store yet.  But you can sign up to it from the show notes site : Changelings Knit and Stitch podcast So I welcome you to come and have a listen.  Hopefully it will appear on itumes soon too. 

 I’ve also been doing some knitting for my nephew.  Here are two hats and some booties/socks that I’ve knit from “Hot socks” by Sockenwolle.  They look a bit square-ish but that’s only because I’ve mounted them on plastic take-away containers for the photo.  I haven’t seen the baby yet but I’m sure someone would have told me if it had a square head.

 I didn’t use a pattern for the socks or the peaked hat.  I wanted to see if I had learned enough to work it out as I went.  The socks are just stocking stitch, and the peaked hat just a checkerboard  pattern in purl and knit stitch - but I think they turned out ok.  I am indebted to Lara from Math4knitters podcast,who made realise that increasing in eight sections on every other row would produce a circle. It also produces a peak if you start from the crown down and increase in quaters every other row until there are 16 stitches on the needle, and then continue in eights.  (That’s a rough description by the way)

The other hat was made roughly following a Debbie Bliss pattern.  However hers was done in garter stitch and had no pattern and was done as a flat piece that was seamed up the middle.  I knitted this in stocking stitch with some rows in garter stitch between which I put in some bobbles.  I needed to use her pattern to get an idea of when to decrease and by how much.  When I did the peaked one I basically increased evey other row until I had the desired amount and then just knitted round after round until I had the length. With this hat there is some more gradual shaping up the sides.   I’ll try this the next time I make a crown down one as it does give the sides a more rounded fit.  Perhaps it fits better on rounded heads, but, as the baby has a square head… Oh. No. That’s right, the baby doesn’t have a square head.

My brain is really plodding along today.  My knitting is whizing. I’m one and a half mitts through the Wine and Roses Mitts pattern from Interweave knits Winter 2006.  (That sounds like too many “itts”)

 I haven’t done too much lace work before so this was a good introduction to it.  This is the second pair I’ve made, (see Knitting)  and they have really whizzed by - which is fortunate as they are a present for my Sister’s birthday which is very very soon. 

I was very please to see that my ATC’s arrived at their destination, despite post office hic -ups, and I’m eagerly awaiting my swap cards. 

My mother sent me a reminder to do some water colour painting ( she’s trying to teach me), so I’ve got some time laid aside for that this afternoon.   It’s only now that she tells me it’s really difficult to do!  Not that I thought it would be easy… I guess I just didn’t think about it at all.  And not thinking is usually precisely what I need in order to accomplish something.

It’s me versus the housework again I’m afraid.  Or at least that’s my procrastination excuse for today.  I did managed to do the next Take a Stich Tuesday stitch. (Detached chaing stitch) I have managed to work on my cross-stitch a litte. I did think about starting a webring for knitters/stitchers who just happen not to be mothers.  But then thought better of it. I have managed to start a little hat with left over sock yarn… I did say a little hat….. on my train ride to the city yesterday.  It’s the first time I’ve used dangly stitch markers instead of little plastic rings and I’m a convert,  even though they were just the freebie ones from Simply Knitting magazine.  Still, they were heavy enough to keep the stitch marker in the right place, and they were pretty.  I might have to make myself some.  I am a bit of a compulsive knitting and stitching magazine buyer. I find that they calm me down.  It’s weird.  Even the ones that aren’t so great.  One of my favourites is Yarn.  It’s an Australian magazine and has really intelligent articles in it with pretty unique graphics I think.

I gathered a collection of shell bits and pieces that I might use in a embroidery piece somewhere along the line.

I really love the varying purples in these.  I’ll sit and stare at them a while and hope I come up with a plan.

Not ’sick of trying”; not “sick and tired”; not “too sick to try” nor “tired try-hard’… well, maybe “tired try-hard”.  Certainly I do try hard and today I’m tired.  I’m also a bit sick, which perhaps explains the nonsense spilling out of my brain. 

But, though I have no pictures to speak of I have images running around in my brain.  I had a dream last night in which I had started a story on this blog, as a page.  Sort of a continuing selection of short stories or prose with yarns or threads linking them.  I might try it.  We’ll see.  Could crash and burn. But, since it’s a blog and no-body knows me, and possibly not many people read me (or it)…why not try, eh?

Now in terms of crafty updates:

• I’ve finished knitting the fair isle cushion cover but I can’t afford a pillow insert until next week, so I haven’t had the motivation to sew it up yet.  That will probably happen next week and then I’ll have a pretty picture of that.
• I’ve started a new stitch for Take a Stitch Tuesday - detached chain stitch - which I, well…don’t like so well.  Perhaps I’m not dexterous enough for this one. Or perhaps it’s harder than I thought to embroider a felted bowl.
• I’ve started a new cushion cover (I may not have mentioned that we are in dire need of cushion covers as the ones we have now are falling apart - a shame really as they were lovely ones that my sister-in law gave me a few years ago - but now they are in a sorry, well - worn shape with threads bubbled up and beads falling off  - I’m saving the beads, thrifty person that I am)  The cushion cover is made from left over yarn from two jumpers, mine and my partners.  So it will be a true cuddle cushion though it may end up that the concept is better than the yarn combination. But I can live with a good concept.
• And I’m still working on “that” cross stitch.  It feels like I will be for the rest of my life!
• I’ve sent off my ATC’s and I hope they reach their destination on time!  I’ve allowed two weeks but they’ve got to travel around the other side of the world. Will I be blacklisted if they don’t arrive on time?  Will this be the final curtain on my ATC experience?