MMMM..... Fiber....

Knitting The Creatures of the reef shawl is coming along nicely. Slow, but steady anyway. The seahorse/crab chart is complete. I haven't been working on Jim's socks much lately because, well the shawl has my undivided knitting attention right now. I absolutely love working on it. There will be more of these in my future!

Spinning We were out on Sunday looking for chopsticks (who knew that a nice-ish set would be hard to find) and ended up in Pier 1. I love that store. Anyway we started looking around and I sat down in one of the chairs. I mentioned to Jim that it was almost perfect for spinning. It was just a little too deep. I am a little on the short side and I don't like deep chairs. I want something I can rest all the way back so I can sit up straight. If I can't reach the back then I slouch. So he looks at me and says to try a different chair. Next thing I know I have tried just about every chair in the store. The sales lady is helping and everything. Well I found it. It is the right heighth and depth. It kind of comes around the sides of the back and feels like a hug, but the back isn't in the way. It was love at first sit. So we bought it. We weren't going to buy any furniture because we are moving in December and we are pretty well getting rid of what we have, but I guess we are also buying a truck, so it doesn't matter. The chair can move with us. I moved my wheel back downstairs to the living room and have been attempting (unsuccessfully) to learn long draw. Everytime I think I am getting it, something happens and I realize that I am not really getting it at all. But I am not too frustrated. I know it will come in time. I spoke with the gentleman from the alpaca farm not far from here and he told me about the spinning guild that meets about an hour and a half from my house. They meet every third Saturday so I am going to try to make it down there next month. It is kind of difficult since my husband and I share a vehicle, but I am going to go anyway! I am hoping that someone there can help me. I am very self conscious of my spinning. I didn't take a class or anything to learn, so it makes me a little nervous that they will tell me I am doing it all wrong. I guess if I am, someone ought to tell me though! I spin a fairly balanced yarn at this point and although it isn't as thin as I would like it to be, I am still learning. Anyway. I am taking my stepson to the alpaca farm with me on Saturday and we are going to get to tour the farm and meet the alpacas. I would like to come home with some fiber, but since my husband put in his two week notice at his steady paying job so he can start his sales job full time, it may not happen. I am glad he is going to be doing the other full time, but when you start working for mostly commission, it can be a little scary. I have full faith in him though. I am hopefully going to be teaching my stepson to spin soon. I told my husband that I feel confident enough in what I am doing that I think I could teach him correctly. He has asked several times. I think I am going to try to get a new drop spindle at some point and give him the one I have now. It isn't great, but I don't know if he will stick with it or not. Fingers crossed.

Sewing and quilting Did I just say quilting? Yup. One of the things that I thought I would never do, and here I am addicted to the fabric store and finding more quilting patterns than I could ever possibly make! My best friend in the whole word quilts and I finally broke down and asked her to teach me. Really it isn't so bad, except I think I am going to have to modify the pattern just a tiny bit because I should be getting enough out of the fat quarters to make 3 squares, and I am finding myself coming up just short. I am measuring and cutting everything correctly, so I don't know what is wrong. But I don't care really. I am also thinking that instead of making it 5 squares by 7, I am going to make it a little more even. 35 squares means that I would have an orphan square. I am a little on the OCD side and I think it would drive me insane. So I am thinking 5X8 squares. As far as sewing is concerned I completed my first ever top. I have sewn other things, but never clothing I actually intend to wear. There were some last minute alterations that I needed to do, and the alterations didn't come out so hot, one side is a tiny bit crooked but I am the only one who has noticed, but it is done! I haven't decided how I am going to go back and change it to where it is perfect, but I have to tell you I love to sew! Not just a little either. It is not as much fun to me as knitting, but I believe that there will be many, many more hand sewn clothes in my closet. I need a dress form. Not just for sewing. I would like one for knitting so I can work on patterns a little easier. It is hard to see what something is looking like when it is ON me. I never really thought that I would want to be designing clothing of the non knit variety, but I do! I guess I just want to do it all. But knitting and spinning are still more fun for me and I still intend on them being my focal point. I doubt seriously that I will ever try out for Project Runway, but I think that I will have many made for me clothes in the future.

Well off to knit! It has been a long stressful day and I need some relaxing!

Shawl update no pics

Well I am almost through the seahorse/crab chart. It is taking me quite a while to get through it because I haven't gotten to knit NEAR as much as I would like to. I was hoping to get more than two rows in yesterday. My best friend and I were sewing yesterday and I didn't know it was going to take us until 11PM last night to finish the blouse we were working on. I will post a picture at some point. The shawl is getting much easier though. Really the pattern is not difficult at all, just easy to not pay attention and get lost. The stitch markers are a tremendous help. I will definitely use them again. I will also probably be knitting this shawl again in the very near future for my mother. Maybe. If she is nice. I am kind of sleepy and we are going to see the new Harry Potter in a little bit so I am going to keep this short and sweet for now. I am either going to take a nap or knit. Or both.
Have a happy week!

Creative Juices are FLOWING!!!

I am working on some designs right now for a line of knits. I am on a lace kick right now so they are starting out as a few different lace shawls and then maybe I will go on to a few sweaters and maybe some socks from there. I am just sketching on them right now. I still have some decisions to make as far as what I want them to look like and all that. I am in the middle of knitting a shawl right now that I would really like to finish first. I am excited because I have never done much designing before so this is going to be my first "real" design. I have done some small stuff before but nothing on quite this big of a scale before. It feels very good to get this creative side out and exercising it a little bit. I am also wanting to spin the yarn for these. At least for the final products, not necessarily for the "trial" ones. I have colors that I am working on in my head that my limited amount of colored pencils is just not allowing me to show on paper right now. Mostly because I am thinking probably doing heathered colors since I LOVE heathers. I have one of the colors pretty well picked out, just have to spin it up and go. I might play with some dying next weekend. I don't have much time during the week right now to dye. My supervisor just had a baby so I have to stay an hour later at work every day (OT for me!) and it really cuts into my evenings. Plus I am usually so exhausted that by the time I get done exercising and eating dinner, it is time for bed. I may try to soak some yarn tonight and have it dying while I exercise tomorrow. LOL! Maybe I will take my crock pot to work with me and dye there! It is just going to be a very small amount because I am experimenting with it. I need to buy some more fiber. *sigh*

The Creatures of the Reef shawl is coming along nicely. I finished the first chart last night and ran a lifeline. I am three rows into the second chart. I have to say I really enjoy this pattern. It was designed by Dorothy Siemens and she has several others that are very lovely. I will definitely be knitting the peacock feathers shawl, maybe later this year. I may try to get a blog post going later on today or tomorrow on what all I will be trying to knit for the remainder of 2009. It will be kind of short right now because we are going to be moving in a couple months and I am trying to not buy much yarn/fiber right now so that there will be less to pack. Since we have a soft top Jeep we can't rent a pull behind UHaul and we don't have much we want to take with us. Most of our stuff will either be sold or donated. We already donated what amounted to 6 or 7 lawn sized bags of clothes, and there are still more to go! Oh and there was close to one bag of unmendable, stained, or otherwise undonatable clothes. So basically if it is not in my stash now, it won't be for a couple of months (maybe I will buy enough to knit another shawl). I am trying really hard to destash what I have now. I am knitting an afghan for my aunt to destash and I am going to do a couple of charity projects as well, if I have enough yarn that I can do it in. I have lots of single skeins. The rest will probably be donated or something. Just keep my good yarns.

I am feeling like my brain is working a lot better right now than it was. I wonder if it is because I have cut way down on the amount of carbs I eat. I really hate admitting that because I am a self admitted carboholic and I kind of miss my carbs. I am doing pretty good on my diet. Not that I have been perfect, but even the times that I have been "bad" I have limited myself and, well, I am proud. It has taken a long time for me to get to this point, where I am in control of what I am eating. I think I am driving my husband crazy with it though. He is the one "helping" me with the diet and there are times when I get kind of cranky when all I want is a big bowl of pasta. I don't mean to make him feel bad. I really do appreciate what it is that he is helping me do. It is getting easier and I have been losing weight. I haven't done so hot this weekend. I haven't worked out once and I have had steamed WHITE rice twice and I am not admitting what I ate at Village Inn with my dad the other morning. Pancakes and fried potatoes may have been involved. But other than those minor setbacks I am still good. Oh and I have not had enough water this weekend. Oh well. I will drink some in a bit.