I know I'm a little late to the party on this one, but I just was shown by my friend Chuck how cool the fiber trends felted slippers are.... He made a pair for a relative - so after seeing his, I just had to make some... so I went this weekend to stitch cafe and bought some cascade 220 to make Gregg a pair. He picked the colors for his shoes and I am excited about making them! I have heard that they're complicated and I was a bit anxious about starting... but last night I decided to dive in - I got my yarn and wound it into little cakes... The best treat about the pattern is that it's NOT difficult! Just read and follow the pattern... work slowly and after an hour or two or three (I don't know how long it took; only that I was tired at 10:30 when I finished the first one) you have what looks like a giant slipper! I have to make the second one and do the magic felting part, but it looks like a slipper! HOORAY! What a beautiful place for a retreat - nestled north (I think it's north?) of the Golden Gate Bridge, we were at Point Bonita YMCA - bunkbeds, staying up late, knitting and learning... The grounds were beautiful - we saw deer, racoons and even a skunk (who was cute!) - I was enamored with the fog, cool temperatures, drizzle, moss and atmosphere - it's not what I'm used to in Los Angeles, that's for sure! a short and easy hike down the pointe brought us to this big steel door through the mountain - it is the entrance to the path that leads to the lighthouse - and is open only a few hours a day a few days a week - I loved the rust colored algae or rust or whatever it is around the door - the color was so beautiful! I tried to get a photo of the bridge at night - and while I was very still (sat my camera solidly on a post, set the timer, did long exposures) I didn't take into account the mist and fog in the air... it's fuzzy because San Francisco is a bit fuzzy - it's misty and hazy and foggy and I LOVE it!! Poor Darrellllll... (founder of menwhoknit.com) - when are ya gonna get out of the brigade? :) a view from inside a part of the brigade (used for WWII I think) - not sure what this really was, but we thought it'd be a great place for a bar or dance club - that is; if they'd put up some railings... Mr. Farris again taking great photos of the city and the bridge... me and my buddy Michael - he helped me immensely with my circular sock knitting machine... (and he MADE a pair of socks on his while doing so!) - see that sweater? he made it - an insanely talented guy - can't wait to learn more from him and the other guys next year! and last but not least, Point Bonita Lighthouse - a beautiful spot... (and I got great cell phone service out there!) I know I didn't show much knitting on this post - but knitting WAS done - I just didn't photograph it... I got about half of the front of a sweater done, and took a few classes as well. we learned twined knitting, hand spinning on a drop spindle, freeform knitting/crochet, mosaic, and entrelac among other things. Wanna be involved next year? please do... just get in touch with the guys who organized it and they'll email you as it gets closer. WonderMike and HizKnits from Y Knit were the ones in charge this time -- amazing men - along with everyone who attended... I went with a friend from school to an art supply expo in Pasadena on Sunday. There were probably 100 vendors there, selling brushes, paint, canvases, and all kinds of neat artsy stuff. We hung out at the Golden Acrylic booth and learned about OPEN - their new acrylics that stay wet for a day... (instead of 10-40 minutes!) - we also went by Duho Studios - a company that was making exotic wood panels for painting - BEAUTIFUL - I bought some goodies at a few booths, including loading up on pallette knives and mediums and gels at the Liquitex booth. I discovered white ink there also - which I'm excited about and think I may use in a project very soon! When I got home, I did some messing around on the abstract landscape - I added some texture with string medium that I tinted with inks - it's the consistency of honey and drips in neat long strings... I also put on some crackle medium and some medium that has a type of sand in it... To be honest, I'm not overwhelmed with this piece quite yet - I don't love the way it looks and have no clear direction as to how I will finish it. I WILL say, however, that after visiting all those booths and reviewing some of the literature I brought home, I am looking forward to working more on it tonight. in knitting news, I continue to work on the striped sweater I am test knitting. The more I work on this the more I love the pattern (and idea) and the more I dislike my color combo. I just don't know if I'll wear it because the colors are soo bright... but I am not giving up; I wanted to do this more than anything and I'm clicking right along with the pattern... I will reserve final judgement when I try it on... I found an awesome vintage easel online (yeah, craigslist!) for a great price - it's over 7' tall and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! - I haven't figured out exactly where I'm going to put it (it's REALLY big) yet but I have a feeling it'll end up in the garage. We are thinking that if we clean part of the garage out I'll have room for my yarn storage system and my painting and circular sock machine stuff - it'll take some doing though - we're due for another yard sale! (if only we had the time to do it!) This photo is from the listing... I can't wait to get the area set up so I can paint - it'll be awesome! We went to Alamitos Bay Yarn Co. for their sale but didn't find anything - all the wool (the stuff I loved) was not on sale - so we headed to Yarn Lady (in Laguna Beach I think) and I bought yarn for the buffalo sweater. I started it yesterday, hoping to get gauge after my muddling around - but ended up with a back that's only 17" across - not quite big enough... I think I'm going to have to double the yarn to get the right gauge (which I believe means doubling the quantity) - ... and here's a little treat for those of you who might not know... may I introduce to you (or remind you of) the one...the only; Alberta Hunter! there's a wonderful documentary out there about her life... she had an amazing story - it is also a musical ("My Castle's Rockin'") ... check her out! I got a second place ribbon for my Dr. G's Memory Vest! - Yippee!! This was my first cabling attempt... I'm very proud! My snowflake sweater got third place - I entered it into the handknitted sweater category... equally as proud - although the armless drag queen they have it displayed on is cracking me up! (99% of the way things were displayed was impeccable... items grouped by color... theme... whatever - and I was having a difficult time wrapping my head around the work involved in setting the exhibit hall up - but that 1% turned out some funny things... and the "drag queen" installation was one of them) - it's OK though... just having it on display (and placing!) is wonderful! I also got 3rd place in the Men's Knitting Competition - it was fun to participate and I already have some ideas of what I want to enter for next year! I took a class on Saturday at Unraveled with Janice Rosema (Fiber Goddess) and had a great time making my own lambie pie! the process is not difficult at all - it's a little fiddly but quite simple - and since it's a stuffed animal, gauge isn't REALLY important either! We had a blast knitting and hanging out - and one wonderful knitter bought pastries to share with us from the bakery across the street! By the end of the class, many lambs were almost completed... most lacked faces and feet, but we all knew what we were doing... The next morning I woke up and spent some time adding ears and legs to my critter - and Sunday night, I added his face, complete with button eyes - he's adorable and I really enjoyed myself. I recommend you go to Ravelry or Janice's ETSY shop and buy the pattern - it's a quick knit, allows you to play with the beautiful Ozark yarn and when you're done, you have created a creature with personality all its own! I was impressed with the shop we were knitting in- it's in a beautiful old brick building with high ceilings and ancient beams - it's comfy, cheery, and the staff is very helpful - I'll definately go there again... I wish it was a little closer to my house... but I will say this: it's worth the drive! I understan now why some people swear by this place! I also did some organizing - this is how far I am on my mitered square blanket - after stalking finished projects, I think I like this style of layout for my blanket - it'll give a neat edge and when it's all sewn up, the seams make fun vertical lines... but I am a ways off from completing the piece - I have about 50 squares left to make.... I started a new sweater last night (8/10/08) and decided it's sleeves first this time - I think if I get sleeves out of the way, I can use them to double/triple check gauge and it makes it easier to complete a project because all it leaves for me is the front and back to knit which is, let's face it, the FUN part.... After seeing this sweater that Grumperina made, I simply MUST make a vintage pattern by Mary Maxim but I can't decide which to do - I have these patterns... of course, I'm not opposed to modifying or combining the charts.... what do you think? This is the first buffalo pattern I ever bought - it's bigger than the one on the back of Grumperina's sweater - which is kind of cool - I could mix it with the same pattern she used... I may (or may not) want to use the "ground" that the buffalo is standing on... This is the glorious pattern that was the inspiration for the madness - I think it's way too cool! I could just knit it the way it is also... but while I LOVE the way it looks, part of me doesn't want to just duplicate what Grumperina made... she's pretty darn inspiring... and while I believe it'd be flattering, it's probably more flattering to use her craft posts as inspiration rather than duplicating her idea (although at the end of the day, I guess she really just made a pattern from 1957; it's not like she designed the thing).... ... and then there's the fish sweater - I was thinking of doing this one and putting a border on the bottom of it perhaps of fishing lures or something (knitted pattern, not actual lures!) - keep in mind I'll probably (definately) change the color of the pattern to whatever I want... most likely I'll want to do something a little less "contrasty"...(is contrasty a word?) :) Last but not least, my FAVORITE - the seahorse sweater - I think it's a bit gay - but I really think it's cool - if anyone has ideas of a color mix that might make this more "hip" and less "homo" speak up - it's my fav... I think it looks sort of western - like a cowboy shirt... and if I can figure out how to do it and it be a little less "obvious" then it's probably what I'll do... These patterns are all so amazing - such great graphics - Mary Maxim has tons of them (these I believe are all from the mid/late 50's) - and I think that knitted in good wool they'll be awesome! - browsing Ebay you'll find a lot of them available - as well as on oldcraftpatterns.com - Last night I delivered my entries for the 2008 LA County Fair and while I was there, they asked me to make a plea to the other guys who knit in the Los Angeles County area - so here goes....
It's a LOT of fun to work on this piece - I am enjoying using my mannequin to help me figure out where to put new bits... I spent the morning sitting out in the back yard with the TV on (yes, we have a television in our backyard) - enjoying the cool/warm weather and watching some mystery show... pretending to know how to crochet and making random bits of crochet and knitting. piece after piece made and stuck into a ziploc baggie... Once I had a lot of bits done, I started to attach them to my fleece - which I bought from Ozark Handspun! I haven't discovered yet just how much of the fleece will be visible by the time I'm done with this piece... it's a "work in progress" which as you know means that I have no idea what it's gonna look like finished! I finished my "Memory Vest" - designed by Kristen Kapur in honor of her father - the pattern is beautiful and easy (you can get it through Ravelry or through her website) a simple donation to help fight alzheimers grants you the key to make your own... this is the first cabling project I have made and I loved doing it - I made an excel spreadsheet that lists out each chart and its repeat - it helped me keep track although I was still able to mess up a time or two and forced myself to rip back... but I did it and I'm proud! I can't wait to model and show it off! :) On other news, I have a friend that has posed a challenge - her grandmother passed away while knitting a baby sweater for her yet to be born great great grandchild - the lineage is all a little confusing to try to write - but the jist of the story is that there's no pattern and only the back was completed - my friend would LOVE to get the little baby sweater completed - and I know that we can figure out the sweater pattern issues, but I'm not sure what the stitch pattern it! If anyone has any idea, please email me and let me know what it is... once I find this out, we can figure out the rest of the pattern. It's part of the family history that this wonderful lady would knit each newborn a sweater - and we want the future first great great grandchild to have this sweater that was started for him/her.. |
Archives
July 2023
Categories
All
|