I want to decorate my house for Halloween.
I don't have a lot storage space for decorations after the season this year.
I do have an Internet connection and a buttload of spare paper. Thus, lookit the awesome stuff I found:
This site is the best. LOVE the mechanical bat. Oh, and I think I need to wear a shirt with a pocket on Halloween just so I can have a pocket monster in it.
I think these will be too much work for this year, but they've got some cute things. I like the winged jack-o'-lantern.
These little buggers are cute. I need to put a couple of them together soon.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Spin-In News
Whew. Just got back from the Spin-in. Downtime was not a significant problem. Ooh, let's see...
My gloves won second place in their category! Go me.
I was not insane-impressed with most of the vendors. I didn't come home with any yarn. I did come home with a bunch of roving, because I'm like that. I am a sucker for silk, especially tussah roving and mawata (i.e. silk "hankies"). But I didn't spend nearly the amount of "petty cash" that I took.
I did, however, buy a spinning wheel. Actually, a bit more than that. I bought THE spinning wheel: a Schacht Matchless. I got to try one there, and it was soooo nice. Absolutely lives up to the hype.
I was planning to order a Kromski after this event unless I found a wheel I liked, but I did have in the back of my mind that if I found a Matchless for a good price, I'd go for it. I did, so I did. Got some nice freebies, too. The only down sides are 1) it's an order, not a carry-out, so I'll have to wait a week or two to play with my new toy, and 2) it's a single treadle. Under normal circumstances I slightly prefer a double, but the huge treadle of a Schacht makes it not normal circumstances. Because of the design, I think a single will be just great, and quite a bit cheaper.
So, very soon I will have in my possession a spinning wheel that will do everything I ever ask of it. So of course, then I HAD to buy roving, you see. :)
I think I've gotten enough big toys until after November, though. ^_~
I also tried the Schacht Ladybug. That is also a very nice wheel. It can have a place on my short list, too.
Oh, and I learned microwave dyeing. Given my love of insane-bright varigates, hand-dyeing may be in my future.
My gloves won second place in their category! Go me.
I was not insane-impressed with most of the vendors. I didn't come home with any yarn. I did come home with a bunch of roving, because I'm like that. I am a sucker for silk, especially tussah roving and mawata (i.e. silk "hankies"). But I didn't spend nearly the amount of "petty cash" that I took.
I did, however, buy a spinning wheel. Actually, a bit more than that. I bought THE spinning wheel: a Schacht Matchless. I got to try one there, and it was soooo nice. Absolutely lives up to the hype.
I was planning to order a Kromski after this event unless I found a wheel I liked, but I did have in the back of my mind that if I found a Matchless for a good price, I'd go for it. I did, so I did. Got some nice freebies, too. The only down sides are 1) it's an order, not a carry-out, so I'll have to wait a week or two to play with my new toy, and 2) it's a single treadle. Under normal circumstances I slightly prefer a double, but the huge treadle of a Schacht makes it not normal circumstances. Because of the design, I think a single will be just great, and quite a bit cheaper.
So, very soon I will have in my possession a spinning wheel that will do everything I ever ask of it. So of course, then I HAD to buy roving, you see. :)
I think I've gotten enough big toys until after November, though. ^_~
I also tried the Schacht Ladybug. That is also a very nice wheel. It can have a place on my short list, too.
Oh, and I learned microwave dyeing. Given my love of insane-bright varigates, hand-dyeing may be in my future.
Friday, October 17, 2008
I don't have a project?! What do you mean, I don't have a project.
This posts is actually about three posts. And I'm running around trying to get ready for the spin-in/itty bitty fiber festival I'm going to, so it might be disjointed as well.
Lookie what I finished!
They're blocked and everything, but still a tiny skosh damp. At the suggestion of my knitting group, I'm planning to enter them into the "Viewer's Choice" awards at the spin-in tomorrow. Unless I get lost and don't get there in time to enter. Think kind of like a county fair type of competition. Just friendly, the most you stand to win is a ribbon.
It's always amazing to me what is hard or easy to people. One of the ladies at my knitting group brings these amazing lacework shawls and she's just whipping through them while chatting up a storm. I have to be completely alone in relative quiet to handle lace. On the other hand, just about everyone went insane over these little guys and were absolutely amazed (and asking me to teach a class on it). Yet the reason that I brought these is because up until I got to the original colorwork fingers (not used because they were too tight), they were a project I didn't have to pay much attention to.
At least to me, the hardest part about colorwork is learning to knit with your off hand. Once you know that, you're just switching which hand you wrap the yarn with.
However, motif work like this is the one time I wish I was primarily an American knitting instead of continental. For absolute best appearance, for most people and myself included, the background yarn should be knit with the right hand and the motif yarn in the left. Because of the way the yarns lay on the back, the left-hand yarn pops out a tiny bit more. However, I am MUCH faster and more natural wrapping with my left hand. Trying to do all the background with my right would not be all that much fun, not to mention slooooow. And the effect is so subtle that it's literally a subconscious perception; only the most absolute expert would be able to tell which yarn was in which hand looking at the finished pieces. As long as you're consistent, no one will consciously notice.
Anyway, spin-in tomorrow. If I'm entering something, I've got to be there for at least five hours. It's an hour away, so I can't really leave and come back. I've never been to this before, so I don't know if that's a problem or not. There are workshops, but I'm unclear whether the ones I most wanted to take have been cancelled or just aren't on the online schedule for some reason. I've heard the vendors are amazing, though. I'm hoping to stock up on pretty yarn (dude, I need buttloads of fingerweights in bright multi-colored colorways), and if I'm really super-duper lucky maybe I'll even find a spinning wheel -- but I won't hold my breath there.
Nonetheless, being a spin-in, eventually I'm probably going to want to sit down and work on a project. I'll throw a spindle in my bag, but knitting is cool too and keeps me occupied longer. But, I've discovered I don't have a project I can take!
What have I got going right now? Um... two lace things. I can't work on lace and be friendly and social at the same time. (And one's going to be frogged anyway.) I finished my gloves. I haven't started my sweater, and I need to measure, wash, and re-measure the swatch first because I've never used the yarn before and I'm going to basically rewrite the pattern. I guess I'll start something. I was going to start a sweater for an MSD, but that has to be custom fit and I do NOT want to carry a doll around. So I think I'll take the stuff for the nerdly mittens I want.
I have got to just buy a metric buttload of Dale of Norway Baby Ull in black and in white. I'm thinking 5 to 10 skeins of each color. I love the stuff.
Anyway, I need to be getting stuff together for tomorrow, so ja ma!
Lookie what I finished!
They're blocked and everything, but still a tiny skosh damp. At the suggestion of my knitting group, I'm planning to enter them into the "Viewer's Choice" awards at the spin-in tomorrow. Unless I get lost and don't get there in time to enter. Think kind of like a county fair type of competition. Just friendly, the most you stand to win is a ribbon.
It's always amazing to me what is hard or easy to people. One of the ladies at my knitting group brings these amazing lacework shawls and she's just whipping through them while chatting up a storm. I have to be completely alone in relative quiet to handle lace. On the other hand, just about everyone went insane over these little guys and were absolutely amazed (and asking me to teach a class on it). Yet the reason that I brought these is because up until I got to the original colorwork fingers (not used because they were too tight), they were a project I didn't have to pay much attention to.
At least to me, the hardest part about colorwork is learning to knit with your off hand. Once you know that, you're just switching which hand you wrap the yarn with.
However, motif work like this is the one time I wish I was primarily an American knitting instead of continental. For absolute best appearance, for most people and myself included, the background yarn should be knit with the right hand and the motif yarn in the left. Because of the way the yarns lay on the back, the left-hand yarn pops out a tiny bit more. However, I am MUCH faster and more natural wrapping with my left hand. Trying to do all the background with my right would not be all that much fun, not to mention slooooow. And the effect is so subtle that it's literally a subconscious perception; only the most absolute expert would be able to tell which yarn was in which hand looking at the finished pieces. As long as you're consistent, no one will consciously notice.
Anyway, spin-in tomorrow. If I'm entering something, I've got to be there for at least five hours. It's an hour away, so I can't really leave and come back. I've never been to this before, so I don't know if that's a problem or not. There are workshops, but I'm unclear whether the ones I most wanted to take have been cancelled or just aren't on the online schedule for some reason. I've heard the vendors are amazing, though. I'm hoping to stock up on pretty yarn (dude, I need buttloads of fingerweights in bright multi-colored colorways), and if I'm really super-duper lucky maybe I'll even find a spinning wheel -- but I won't hold my breath there.
Nonetheless, being a spin-in, eventually I'm probably going to want to sit down and work on a project. I'll throw a spindle in my bag, but knitting is cool too and keeps me occupied longer. But, I've discovered I don't have a project I can take!
What have I got going right now? Um... two lace things. I can't work on lace and be friendly and social at the same time. (And one's going to be frogged anyway.) I finished my gloves. I haven't started my sweater, and I need to measure, wash, and re-measure the swatch first because I've never used the yarn before and I'm going to basically rewrite the pattern. I guess I'll start something. I was going to start a sweater for an MSD, but that has to be custom fit and I do NOT want to carry a doll around. So I think I'll take the stuff for the nerdly mittens I want.
I have got to just buy a metric buttload of Dale of Norway Baby Ull in black and in white. I'm thinking 5 to 10 skeins of each color. I love the stuff.
Anyway, I need to be getting stuff together for tomorrow, so ja ma!
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