Maryland Sheep & Wool 2011
May 14, 2011
Now that a week has passed, and I’ve somewhat caught up on the to-do list these past few days, I have a few quiet moments to share some photos from Maryland Sheep and Wool. Seems to be a theme, since Bridget just blogged about it too.
Last Saturday morning, we shepherded Philly knitters to and from MDSW on the annual bus ride from Rosie’s Yarn Cellar. It was early for most, but we had coffee and raffle prizes. The buses were abuzz with chatting and the clicking of needles.
Arriving at the fairgrounds mid-morning, the buses unleashed us on the festival. My goals this year were to not buy yarn. I followed that. It was so hard, as I was originally toying with the idea of getting some Bartlettyarns Sportweight for my first sweater design, set to commence (self-imposed start date) in January 2012. Instead, I was free to look, touch, and take photos of things that my heart loved. It was weirdly freeing to quiet those inner IMUSTHAVETHISEVENTHOUGHIWONTUSEITFORALONGTIME thoughts. Instead I bought a spearmint plant, a tomato plant (Paul Robeson tomato, if you are curious), some excellent handcast pewter buttons with big sailing ships on them (to be used on a sweater on my knitting priorities list, so I’ll show them when that is finished), and an adorable teeshirt for myself and for a friend’s wee one. The day was gorgeous, and I got to meet up with some wonderful internet (flickr/blog/twitter) friends throughout the day.
I’m only had half a cup of coffee this morning, so here are some pictures to show off the fun in the sun at MDSW.
Project Spectrum, and other things
May 6, 2011
Lolly has started up another round of Project Spectrum, and I’m so glad she did. I’ve enjoyed PS in the past but have never participated in the way that I want to. This time round, I hope to change all that.
May is the color RED, so I took the time a few days ago to look at the red items in my life right now. Once upon a time, when I was 8, red was my favorite color. Not sure why or why it changed, but red has not been a prominent color in my life since. I gravitate towards the blues, greens, grays, browns, oranges, yellows, and pinks. Even sometimes purple, if the purple is right. Red is a rare color for me, yet I’m currently working on 2 knitting projects that are bright red…and I’m enjoying it!
Since May is also the month of Macro May, these shots serve double duty. It’s interesting to see how much more I’m noticing the color red, now that the month is “dedicated” to it. That Lolly. She sneaks into your brain.
Even a photo of my dear friend Maura fits into the red category. Well, technically pink but with the spotlight it really showed up as a red on my camera. (This is from the circus show I mentioned last post. She is pretty amazing.)
Since I am still finding that my yarn, fabric, and fiber stashes are all overwhelmingly large, I thought that I would do a Project Spectrum themed giveaway this year. Each month, an offering or two will be put up to win, in the color being celebrated. Finding red yarn in my stash is proving difficult, but check back next post. I think I have a nice little something something that could be yours. I’ll be doing the standard random number generated winner from comments, but will detail all of that when I show you the red giveaway.
In the meantime, I need to tidy my house and bake some cookies. Headed to Maryland Sheep and Wool tomorrow morning, shepherding the Philly knitters on the Rosie’s Yarn Cellar annual bus trip. I hope to see many people there, this year, including Ms. Project Spectrum herself. If you see me at MDSW, don’t be shy! Say hi! I’d love to meet you! Oh, I cut my hair, so this is what I look like these days.
The first of many
May 1, 2011
Recently attended a bridal shower for a good friend and was not quite sure what to bring as an appropriate gift. Weddings are tough, gift-wise, for me. I do not have a lot of money nor do I want to merely pick something off of a list of pre-picked things. I’m even less interested in gifting something not on the pre-picked list that is bound to not be wanted or desired by the recipient. Basically, I like to think a lot about the giftee and what could be made lovingly and received lovingly.
I think I hit the nail on the head with this gift. Our friends are getting married this summer and have a great aesthetic in terms of fashion, home decor, and life. In addition, the bride-to-be is super crafty and appreciates all things well DIY’d.
I picked out some fun, bright cotton charm pack squares sitting in the stash and got to quilting a couple of potholders. Originally, this was to be a set of 3, but the third potholder was with fabrics that didn’t match these two as much…and I screwed up on the binding on that one so back into the WIP basket it went.
I had some cotton quilt batting sitting around and was unsure of how to use it, since it was crib dimensions and I am child-free. It was great to be able to cut off some of it to use here. I know I’ll be using the rest of that batting to make many more potholders. Some for us. Some for other people. They are just so fun! And a great quick gift.
I used a solid fabric for the back, as opposed to having a patchwork on both sides. Since I have never actually finished a quilt (please ignore those 4 quilt tops sitting in my office awaiting their completion), this was the first time I was able to sandwich the thing together, pin, chalk, and machine quilt. I was a bit nervous but followed the guidance on Oh Fransson! and was off! I pieced the tops of each so quick, since they are a simple 4 patch. They were received well and I am so pleased!
Happy May, everyone!
Shetland Trader comes to Philly!
April 15, 2011
Hey friends. Just popping in real quick to let you know that Gudrun Johnston, the Shetland Trader, is headed to Philly tonight.
She’ll be at Rosie’s Yarn Cellar tomorrow, Saturday April 16, 11am-5:30pm, for a book signing and trunk show. If you are local enough to come by, you should! Her designs are gorgeous and she’s a really awesome person!
Work in Progress Wednesday
February 23, 2011
Well, this is moments away from being a finished sweater. I have ends to weave in, so I’m still counting it as an in-progress knit.
So far, I’m very pleased with this sweater and I only hope that the blocking process will make it even more so, which it usually does. I have buttons all picked out. Once dry and ready to model, I’ll reveal it to you with all the knitterly details.
Work-in-Progress Wednesday
February 16, 2011
I always love the blogs that detail works-in-progress on Wednesdays, or any day of the week in regularity, for that matter. I’m thinking of starting to do a similar thing. Unfortunately for you knitters out there, this WIP might not be that interesting to you.
Our Kitchen Renovation in Progress. A WIP of huge proportions.
Oh wait. There’s a knitterly thing in this photo. Idlewood in the wild (of the kitchen)!
On owls, and wool, and priorities
February 10, 2011
In January, I cast on and cast off for the fastest sweater ever made. The oh so popular Owls by Kate Davies. Nothing but utter love for this knit. It took a total of 7 days and fits like a dream.
No mods were made. I measured myself at the 38 inch bust size and knit the 38 inch bust size. I got spot on gauge with the called for needles. I lengthened the body and arms of the sweater since I am a long person. I used the called for yarn, British Sheep Breeds Chunky, in the now discontinued color of Dark Gray Welsh. Since I have a long body, the added length to the sweater required me to crack into a 7th skein to finish the ribbed collar of the sweater, but if I were a bit shorter I would easily get away with this size and 6 skeins of the yarn. (ravelry project page here) That’s ok. It leaves me with some yarn to add to my pretty scrappy hexagon crocheted blanket.
This blanket is one of the few yarn projects on my knitting/crochet priority list. I am a polygamous crafter and it stresses me out. The few times that I’ve solely committed to a singular project, I finish it so quickly and get to enjoy both the process and product. Unfortunately, after I work on something monogamously I usually have a fit of casting on for a large number of things and feel like a hurricane. It sucks, really. I am always flitting from thing to thing without finishing much of anything. I do this in most aspects of my life but it isn’t a comfortable role for me. I hate it every step of the way but have a hard time reigning it in.
Enter my priority list. I have a few sweaters, a pair of socks, and this crocheted blanket on there. I’m only working on these projects right now and destashing a lot of yarn, ripping out long abandoned projects, and thinking of things besides knitting that I want to do, used to do, and love to do. I am going to try a bit of knitting quitting at the end of this list. I have a ukulele that I want to learn to play. I have a few quilts I want to finish. I have many books I want to read. I have lots of bike rides I want to take. And since I don’t know how to accomplish everything in my small amount of free time, I need to try freeing my time a bit more.
It’s scary. It’s unsettling. And it’s weirdly freeing.
Have you ever had to tell yourself to stop something, take a step back, and re-prioritize? How did you handle it?
