Friday, February 27, 2009

Tada!

I finished the baby blanket last night! This was my first afghan and biggest project so far. It took a little over a month, but that was with putting it down a lot. It is so soft and precious, I hope my friends and their new baby will love it. It goes in the mail today.

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Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Post Office Hat

Over the weekend I searched and searched for what to do with my hand painted yarn. I thought a hat would be nice as the yarn would go well with my turquiose bobble scarf. I settled on the Post Office Hat pattern by Shannon Murphee. I altered the pattern a bit because I prefered the way the yarn looked in single crochet. I did fewer puff stitches and made it longer and more cloche like, which I really love.

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Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Fancy Fibers Winter Retreat

Mom and I attended a fiber retreat on Sunday in Argyle. It was put together by Mary Berry of Fancy Fibers. There were lots of really neat women there, spinners, knitters and crocheters alike. Much of the day was just free time to work on whatever you wanted. I took along the baby blanket, and got quite a bit done.
In the afternoon we took a workshop on dyeing/painting yarn. We used superwash merino wool and jaquard acid dyes. Mom has tons of experience dying fabrics, but the yarn was new to both of us. I really enjoyed seeing the surprising colors that came from blending the dyes. I used Turquoise, Brilliant Blue, Pumpkin Orange and Hot Pink. There are some really beautiful and subtle shades of green that came out of blending those colors. I kept telling myself that I wanted to keep some white, but it was really hard to stop adding colors! I did leave just a bit of white, and I love the way my yarn turned out.
Oops, my glove had a hole in it!


As a novice I don't have a swift or ball winder. I googled instructions and came up with this makeshift way of winding my skein into a ball. Put the skein around two chair backs and move them apart until you get tension to hold the yarn up. Then cut the ties and start winding your ball. It worked fabulously!


I am really excited by the outcome of my handdyed yarn, and can't wait to make more! I had wanted to reskein it to see all the pretty colors, but since I'm not selling it I didn't see the point in that. Check out my beautiful ball of yarn bellow. Now what to make? It is 220 yards, so maybe a scarf?



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Friday, February 6, 2009

I'm Likin' Lichen!


This Winter Lichen Necklace by Sophie of Duck Duck Goose Stuff is so lovely and organic. I love that Sophie can make silver look so close to nature. Here is her description of this piece:
This piece was inspired by the way that lichen sometimes sits in the fork of a twig; very visible in the winter when there are no leaves, it has a weird, other-worldly kind of beauty.

Also, please check out this blog post by Alicia Paulson. Alicia has a knack for taking me on a journey with her words. This post about a walk through the mossy woods of Portland really made me long to go there. How wonderful to have such a beautiful city at your disposal!

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Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Love Birds

I have been attracted to bird images lately. I found these Lovebird prints that would make perfect Valentines gifts for your special someone.
Love Birds Valentine by Bound Staff Press. A Linocut limited to an edition of 50.




"Lovebirds" By Geninne.
An archival quality limited edition print of one of her watercolor illustrations.




Pierced Lovebirds by Jenny Bird.
Two color Linoblock Letter Press Print.


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