New! Things!

Progress!!! Fiber-wise,

• I finished the Permutations poncho and it looks great; it's already been out to dinner twice. (Photo coming)
• The two Beiderwand pillows are on the couch.

  

  Beiderwand

  
  
• Two of the 3 Ikats that I've intended to hang are hanging; the third will go up on Sunday after DH visits the hardware store. I had to fringe one of them and figure out hanging tech for all of them.  Basically, I sewed 3/4" velcro to a cotton sleeve, and basted the cotton sleeve to the back of the ikat. The other half of the velcro was stapled to a baseboard sized piece of wood and nailed to the wall; then the ikat was applied to the to the hanging board. 
• Sommerloch is blocked and ready to wear (photo pending). 
• I figured out where I am on the Sunsets and Sand sweater (from last year) and knitting away on that. 
• I started a shirt in linen from the camp shirt pattern, minus darts. It's slow going as it's making me nervous. 
• My looms are naked, and it's been awhile. That's not good.

I also finished making the limoncello, and am working at spring cleaning my clothing closet. The piano lessons continue and progress is slow, but I'm still enjoying the process.

April '23:What I have been doing and what is on the short list

What I have been doing and what is on the short list:

Volunteer in the garden:
Spunky Monkey

• Permutations: A Dan Doh poncho pattern, travelled to Australia with me. I got quite a bit done on the flights and I'm currently working on the last 40 or so rows, and I want to wear this at our knitting retreat in June.
• Sommerloch sweater: It is done except the bottom edge curls up a bit and the shoulders need to be tightened up a bit. I'm lazily pouting about it, but really... it would take a couple of hours at most to make it wearable, and it does fit. 
• Sunsets and Sand sweater: I stopped working on it before I left on vacation last May. I think I'm half way. I need to figure out where I am and get working on it!
• The Beiderwand pillow tops: They are off the loom but need wet finishing and pillow-top-making.
• Shirt made out of paper fabric: I finally sewed up a muslin without darts from the Natalie pattern and it looks fine, so I can proceed with figuring out the rest of the project. I did by some cotton/linen to make the shirt first so I have more practice. For other fabrics, I think I'd like to put the dart back in and make it work, or move the dart to the shoulder and release it in a cute little pleat. And I found a cute collar trick in Threads magazine I need to try.
• I also need to get hanging hardware on the ikats so that they may be hung...
• There is currently nothing on the looms, either. The study group is working on combo weaves which I'm not excited about at the moment, so I'm tempted to use a kit I got from KS's stash for advancing twill scarves. 

I'm also playing a lot of piano, and I need to get the vegetable garden going in the next two weeks. I've got some guild stuff to do and it seems like an awful lot of doctors stuff going on for someone who is healthy.

Q1'23 finished things (3)

I'm late in posting my Q1 progress... I finished:

• First yarn spun on the Nano
• The cardwoven hiking belt
• Handspun paper fabric
• The Tasmanian Overland Track

I'm particularly fond on the 4th accomplishment on the list...

You'd think now I'm back I'd be getting a lot done. Well, between medical appointments from my unhappy knee, general malaise that results from returning from travel, and a true unwillingness to make any decisions about what's next, I'm a little stuck.

Don't forget these beans, and a belt.

Note to self: This is the BBQ bean recipe that I particularly like. I've posted it before but will do so again.  I don't have a smoker so I finished it in the oven.  We had them for lunch today and the only thing missing was ribs and some cole slaw. 

Other than that, not much new... a little spinning; some knitting is happening; I'm half way through threading my loom; and I have a belt ready for the hiking trip.

I'm going to talk about the belt a bit... The driver for this is that I'm long waisted (pretty much everything on me is long, being tall and all), and many pants are cut for folks that are shorter and wider, resulting in pants that didn't hit my waist and would either fall down or leave a chilly unattractive gap between my shirt and pants. I finally found hiking pants that are long enough in the waist, but they don't have belt loops, instead being slightly elastic. I tried wearing them multiple days in a row but the waist stretches a bit and I found myself fussing with pulling them up a lot.  

Also, I'm fairly serious about losing some weight. I'm down about 8 pounds and likely to lose more on vacation. Then I plan on losing a bit more. And I'd hate to just get rid of these pants because all they need is a belt.

Think of it as a visual resume

My solution was to put belt loops on the pants and weave a belt. I've been procrastinating for weeks because I have no idea how to make belt loops... Last night I finally spent time in the studio analyzing a pair of jeans and came up with a pretty good solution, but it's out of cotton and I'm not sure how durable it will be.

To make the belt loops, I cut strips of cotton 1.5" wide and sewed them into a tube with a 1/4" seam. Then I trimmed the seam (makes turning easier), and turned the tube so the seam in on the inside. I used what's essentially a large tie wrap to iron the tube flat (there are plastic pieces made for this) with the seam down the middle of one side. I then top stitched close to the both edges.

The pants have patch pockets on the front so I aligned the two front belt loops with the edge of the pocket closer to the front; one belt loop in center back, and one on each side halfway between the front belt and center back.

Then I wondered how the heck they make a tube and turn it using denim for blue jeans... a quick examination revealed that the fabric is folded in thirds and the top stitching also produces some sort of magic web like stitch on the back side. If you want an example, grab yourself a pair of jeans and take a look.

The belt, as I mentioned in the last post is cotton with nylon weft and nylon edges. I wore it for today's hike and the belt and belt buckle are not uncomfortable with the pack belt. Success!

Lots of walking, little studioing

I'm training for a 6 day hut to hut walk so doing a lot of walking, not putting in a lot of studio time... My max was 58km in one week with 15 pound backpack and a bunch of climbing. I've backed off a bunch but still trying to get the studio mojo back; one of the issues is I need to clean up in there, and I'm procrastinating...

I did finish weaving the paper yarn fabric! It's 13" wide (approx) and about 6 feet long. I washed it on the "handwash" cycle and hung it to dry; Looking forward to sewing it. There's maybe a yard or so of warp left on the loom, I need a plan for it...

The Sommerloch sweater is almost done but sitting in Knitting Purgatory right now. I need to tighten up the neckline a little and re-bind off a little tighter. I'm delaying as it's not warm enough to wear it anyways.

I warped up a card woven band for a belt; 30 cards of 10/2 cotton, with nylon alternating with the cotton on the edges. I'm also using a nylon weft. This was recommended to me as the edges of belts tend to wear more; but I fear that the nylon is abrading the cotton! I'll need to put belt loops on my hiking pants to use with it.

The goat spinning project is delayed by lack of time... Also I may use commercial yarn and not leftovers for the first rug; seems prudent.

I cast on the DanDoh Permutations poncho and my knitting happily on it. 

I'm also ready to warp the loom with yardage for 2 pillows... 

As always, making a list of what I'm working on always makes me realize that I'm doing more than I think I'm doing! Which was the original purpose for this blog.

What's up for 2023?

Hiking between the raindrops

I'm in a bit a crisis at the moment, induced by too much of good things. I'm training for hut to hut hike... the more time I spend on the trails now, the more I'll enjoy the trip.  And hiking calms my brain, gets me to sleep (most nights), and is in general good for me. But it saps my energy for other things.

So I'm prioritizing my piano. Which is fun and I'm paying for lessons so I should practice.  And I'm trying to cut weight for the hiking trip, so cooking good food is a priority. 

This is all leaving very little time for my other passions. And my studio is becoming hopelessly cluttered.

I'll start by saying I did spin 3+ ounces of chain plyed wool on the new e-wheel; too much fun!!! It's my first finished object of the year. I'd like to knit a cowl from it. (photo coming soon)

I'm currently working on

• Fabric from the paper yarn and a shirt from the fabric.
• The Sommerloch sweater (almost done).
• Spinning some goat for rugs.

What I need by March is a decorative neck band for my fleece and possibly a belt (tablet woven).

For the next knitting project,  I plan on casting on a mobius shawl from the handspun. I'm also winding off yarn for a DanDoh poncho.

And I need a plan to unclutter the studio.

Other than that, the priorities are similar to before with some additions:

• Mosaics, probably stepping stones and the table. I'm also thinking about a sculpture and the pot with the cat.
• Dye something.
• Make 2 small rugs for the Lodge master.
• Beiderwand for the study group. 
• Leno in linen
• Carve a stamp for some cards.

Q4 finished things (4), 17 for the year.

I don't have much to say for q4... 

Still life of Nano and Foot

One deflected doubleweave scarf, and one cowl. I joined the cowl, non-mobius, with a flat felled seam and am very pleased with it; the scarf went to JE. 

2 baby blankets for the 2 new grandneffs.

I resized the green sweater, and attended SOAR.

So I ended the year with 17 finished objects which is not too bad!

And I've acquired this little bit of fun... Foot included for scale.