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February 26, 2007
I've Been Organizing
My craft room is one of those rooms that always manages to get away from me. The table gets piled with yarn and books, fabric and paper. Just stuff. Clutter. I know I'm lucky to have a craft room, but I seem to prefer crafting on the couch and just use that room as a catch all for all the stuff I don't want to put away. Travis calls it "The Room of Death" - cute isn't he. I decided that this weekend was the weekend I would clean things up. I bought a closet organization system a while ago, but I hadn't followed through and really finished with the room. This weekend I did that.
The closet is the home for all my fiber - yarn and fiber, books, bags, and a few other crafting things.
I put shelves and drawers in to hold yarn and books. The fiber sits in baskets and bins on the floor and spinning stuff rests on shelves with the yarn and knitting supplies. There wasn't any room in the closet for knitting needles, so I decided to make wall holders. I looked around a long time, but couldn't find anything that fit my needs, so I made some fabric covered pockets. I made organizers for circular needles, one for dpns, and one for straight needles and crochet hooks.
The circulars and straights are hung behind the door in what would have been wasted space.
And the dpns are hung in a small space between the bookcase and the window.
I have a great table for the room. Travis gave it to me for Christmas a year ago (well, a year and a couple of months). It's huge and pine and takes a beating and cutting and pounding doesn't hurt the finish. The one bad thing about the table is that it's huge and it makes a great place for dumping crap. So, I spent a large portion of my time on Saturday putting things away, throwing things out, and cleaning off the table.
I transformed a flee market chair by spray painting it red and making a chair cushion using leftover fabric from the window shades.
The only other things in the room are a filing cabinet Travis grandfather made, a shelf that I use to hold my sewing machine and craft stuff, and a bookcase that is already full. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with all the books that I'll buy, but what can you do when you love books?
So, that's my craft room organization. What do you think?
Posted by Stephanie at 2:42 PM | Comments (74)February 20, 2007
Apple Turnovers
I hope you all had a lovely holiday weekend. Things were pleasantly quiet around here and I managed to accomplish a few things. I spun on Friday night and my alpaca spinning techniques need some work. It's pretty slippery stuff and I haven't mastered the best way to spin it, but I'm going to have a lot of time to practice because I have a basket full of fiber. I imagine I'll be spinning this alpaca for months to come. I hope I have it figured out by the time I get done.
Saturday afternoon seemed like a good time to try to bake some apple turnovers. I tried these once before (although with a different recipe) and they were less than stellar. However, I had some apples that needed to be used up and so I thought I'd try again. This time the recipe was from my favorite baking book - How To Bake. The recipe uses quick puff pastry (my first try at this) and has you cook the apple filling before you bake the turnovers. I added icing rather than just dusting with powdered sugar because Travis thinks everything is better with frosting.
I am really happy with how these turned out. The pastry is light and flaky (not tough and chewy like my last attempt) and the filling is sweet and a little spicy. The recipe made 6 (with apple left over) and they lasted for a day and a half. I will definitely be making these again.
I am this close (imagine me holding my thumb and index finger about 1 1/2 inches apart) to finishing the second knee high - I can't wait. I'll have those pictures for you just as soon and I can get it done. These suckers have taken forever, but I hope they're worth it in the end. Have a great Tuesday that is a Monday. Happy knitting.
Posted by Stephanie at 6:36 AM | Comments (27)February 16, 2007
Happy Friday
The weather here is terrible again. This winter has really been bad. It's snowing and blowing again, and it seems like a good weekend to stay inside and knit (and to be really glad I don't have to worry about driving to a job I hated). I hope you have a great weekend and stay warm (or cool depending on where you live). Tonight will be spent spinning and I think I'm going to try to spin the alpaca - something new and different. I'll leave you with a little western eye candy. Happy Friday.
February 15, 2007
The Knitting Continues
Sometime in December, Jenn and I made a deal. In exchange for a truly awesome Christmas goodie basket, I would knit Jenn the Bulky Beret from the Vogue Knitting Holiday edition. There was a lot of discussion about the yarn because the pattern calls for Blue Sky Alpacas Bulky Hand Dyes, which put the cost for the hat around $45. Jenn and I thought that might be a bit much for a hat, so we started looking at alternatives. Ultimately, we decided on Rowan Big Wool in Bohemian. I ordered 2 balls and then discovered that they were backordered - for 2 months. The yarn finally arrived last week and I picked up the magazine and the needles Saturday. I ended up with a 47" size 13 circular for magic loop rather than the the dpns and the 24" circular the pattern called for.
I started on the hat Monday morning and finished it after karate Monday night.
The pattern is very simple with a twisted cable stitch detail.
I sent it off to Jenn yesterday and she promised a modeled shot as soon as she gets it. Now, I have to get back to knitting those swatches.
February 12, 2007
Coopworth
The never-ending blue coopworth is finally done. I had hoped to ply it during the week, but I didn't get to it until Friday night and it took me a couple of hours on Saturday to finish it up.
While I didn't enjoy spinning this fiber, I am quite pleased with the overall result. It is fairly even and I'd say about sport weight.
I tried to spin this fiber woolen, which creates some challenges, but overall plying it went better than I could have expected. The finished yarn is scratchy, so I'm not sure what it will become, but it's in the stash closet and the right project will come to me one day. The Friday Night Spinners is really working for me. Even if I don't spin at all during the week, I make time to spin on Friday nights and I'm actually making progress on my spinning. I told you before that I have some camel colored alpaca (and a little bit of dark brown - yum), but I also have some Blue Moon Fiber Arts Sheep To Shoe that I won from Wendy. Which one do you guys think I should spin next?
Posted by Stephanie at 5:02 PM | Comments (14)February 8, 2007
Two Thumbs Way Up
All right, I'll admit it. I'm a couple of days late with my knitting update, but I have a finished project to share.
Project Details:
Pattern: Two Thumbs Up by Designedly, Kristi
Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Moose Creek. I would estimate that I only used about half the skein of yarn for these mitts. I've had this ball of yarn for a long time and I really enjoyed knitting with it. The little bit of mohair makes it a little difficult to frog, but it's very soft and didn't split or fuzz at all.
Needles: 2 2.5mm addi turbo 24" circulars. I haven't used 2 circulars before (I tried it once, but ended up switching back to dpns), but I really liked it. The 2 circulars worked really well. It seems like the pattern went a lot faster and I didn't find the dangling needle annoying. So, I might have to try that method for a pair of socks.
Thoughts: I really liked this pattern. It is well written and fun. I like that it uses fine yarn and small needles - it makes the end result much more refined.
The genius part of this pattern is how the thumbs are constructed. There is no waste yarn, no picking up stitches, and best of all, no holes.
February 5, 2007
Time For A Change
How was your weekend? Mine was nice, despite the cold weather. I got some crafting done and I baked up a storm. I haven't baked in a long time and I'd forgotten how relaxing it was and how satisfying. Aside from the baking I spun on Friday night - I finally finished spinning the coopworth and I'm going to try to ply it today. I'm anxious to see how it turns out and to move on to something else. I'd show you a picture, but it looks just like the last time I showed you a picture, with just more on the bobbin.
I also did some sewing last week. I joined Holiday Headstart and then promptly didn't do my January project. However, I did manage to finish the pajama pants by February 2nd, so I'm counting that as close enough.
Project Details:
Pattern: Wide-Leg Lounge Pants from Amy Butler's In Stitches
Fabric: Some blue cotton I bought last summer to use for a dress that never materialized. I had enough for the pants and my sister likes blue, so I thought I might as well use it.
Modifications: I didn't add the trim on the bottom because I didn't have any and my sister likes plain things so I wasn't too worried about it. Now that they're done, I'm glad I didn't add trim because the fabric is pretty busy and I think the trim would have been distracting. I also used ribbon for the drawstring rather than making a cord out of the fabric. I thought sewing the fabric into a 3/8" cord would be a major pain in the ass, but I also thought the ribbon looked nice and was easier to tie.
These pants were a simple project, but very cute in the end. I tried hard to make everything look really professional - I even finished the seams. Honestly, I wasn't sure about the Holiday Headstart thing, but now that I've done one project, I really see the wisdom. I'm already thinking about what I can do for February. I like those pants so much, everyone might be getting pajama pants for Christmas.
In life news, I've been holding out on you guys. As I'm sure you all know by now, I haven't been happy at my job for a long time. Things have been steadily getting worse, so a week ago was my last day. I had gotten to the point where I had a headache or stomach ache every day and I just decided that it was time to make a change. The kicker here is that while it is definitely time for that change, I don't have another job lined up - yet. That is causing me some stress. Ok, maybe more than some. But, I have a couple of options to consider and I'm keeping my ears open for a great opportunity. And in the meantime I'm taking advantage of my time off to read and craft and I'm probably going to tackle painting my bedroom in the next week or two. The really good news is that despite the stress of having to find a job, I feel so much better. It's like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I'm happier and enjoying the things that used to make me happy. So, if nothing else comes of this, those feelings make it all worth while. Have a happy Monday. I have knitting to share with you tomorrow.
P.S. Does anyone use Gimp? I'm trying to download it and I'm having a hard time (I keep getting an error message).
February 2, 2007
Eye Candy Friday
The weather has turned cold again. I'm not sure what the official low was last night with the wind chill, but at 7:00 the weather station said it felt like -30 at my house. Yesterday was spent getting extra blankets for the horses and straw for the barn (and about 15 other errands) to prepare for the super cold weather. The wind blew the road shut again last night, so I didn't even make it to karate. I've been knitting and today I'm going to finish the pajama pants I cut out yesterday. Despite the cold and the wind, the snow is pretty when you can stand to be outside in it.
Have a great weekend. Happy knitting.
Posted by Stephanie at 10:29 AM | Comments (17)
