Wednesday, June 28, 2006

wha? twice in one day?!

I took some photos, never could get enough sunlight so I just did the best I could indoors against a white background (my oh-so-snuggly down alternative comforter)


Tempting II in all her glory (and no, I have not blocked her, and I wore her all day so she's a little saggy atm)



My 3rd skein of handspun, about 12.5 yards of corriedale



My second skein of handspun, and first attempt at dying! Unknown yardage, silk hankies dyed with fruit punch and lemonade walmart brand 'koolaid'


Now I just need to find a pattern to use for such a small yardage, because that blue stuff is FABULOUS if I do say so myself. Gorgeous color (which I can take no credit for) and much more consistant in the spinning (which I can) ;)

I'm still here!

The Mr is out of town for a traning class, so I've been spending most of my free time on the phone with him rather than updating this blog like a good little fibermonkey

I do have progress to post about, and will try to get photos taken at lunch so I can show off a bit ;)

I finished Tempting II Monday night, and am wearing it to work today. It's pale yellow Cotton-Ease (color name is Banana I believe) with a real mother-of-pearl buckle. I did make a couple minor modifications, I k2 together all the way across the decrease row of the yoke, and attached the neck band on both rows rather than just one as directed in the pattern. I originally knit it according to the pattern specs, but the neck band was SO LOOSE that there was no hope of it ever staying on the shoulders of a linebacker in full gear, much less on me. So after a few minutes googling I found others had the same problem, and went with the bigger decrease and smaller band. I can now wear it to the office with no fear of bra straps showing, and that's always a good thing around this place (we have dress code nazis, I get busted for a bra strap showing through a shirt while other women have cleavage hanging out with nips almost exposed and they don't say anything!)

I also dyed and spun up my silk hankies. I completely forgot to take a photo of the dyed hankies, but I will be posting the resulting mini skein later today

I also spun up the dyed corriedale that came with my spindle kit, it's a lovely shade of blue. It's hanging to dry right now after setting the twist, but I hope it's dry enough for a photo later this afternoon as well

So now I'm without any fiber to spin! Oh noes! I'm starting to search the net to find the best deals, or the best sample kits so I can try my hand at lots of different fibers and see which I like the best before ordering larger quantities. The silk was really the start of the "oh! I get this now!" moment for me, and the dyed corriedale just continued that on. I'd still love to get some hands on training, but I'm not quite as lost as I was on the first batch

I'm still planning to go to my local fiber guild meeting next month (July 8th) and am looking forward to it!

One last thing, this is one of the wedding photos that just cracks me up! It's like 'who tipped off the paparazzi?!'

wedding chopper visit

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

I'm a Mrs!

Ok so I've been a Mrs for almost 2 months now, but things have been insanely busy so I haven't gotten around to updating this blog yet...

If anyone is interested in seeing wedding photos, you can check out our website at Beth-and-Stephen.com

As far as the fiber world, I'm nearing completion on Tempting II in some Cotton Ease that's been hiding in my stash since LB discontinued it last year. I found a vintage mother-of-pearl button online that I ordered yesterday, and have about an inch more to go before starting the neckband.

I received some garter stitch cotton dishcloths for a wedding gift and loved them so much I've already knocked out two dishcloths of my own. I went from a scarf straight into felted purses and jumpers, so I skipped the dishcloth phase and I missed out! I've knit one with a cabled owl in the middle, and another with a martini glass. They work great, and are nice to use up the Lion Kitchen Cotton that was leftover from the SnBN yoga mat bag I made a while back.

I've also joined the world of the spinners, or am at least knocking on the door. I got a beginners spindle kit a few weeks ago and have made my very own first skein from corriedale. It's nothing fancy, but I like it!

first skein of handspun

I have an order of silk hankies on the way to me now so I'll be playing with kool-aid dying this weekend, and will be starting to spin them as soon as they're all dyed up.

More updates later!