Silhouette Blog $50 Giveaway

The Silhouette is one of those electronic craft cutters, and there is now a blog for it, and they are celebrating that fact with a giveaway of a $50 Silhouette cash card for downloading files for the cutter, I believe.

Here's the link: Giveaway

Follow their rules to be entered in the giveaway by the date they say, and good luck!

A Dr. Who Stripe a Week, Except . . ..

for the massive ones! And, like this week's stripe of 6 rows of the yellow, I've got half of next week's required 20 tan done already, which is one of the benefits of a small stripe week . . . .

It's a very small goal, but it gives me room to work on a 12" crocheted squares afghan project that needs working on, although at the moment the crochet feels agonizingly slow (I'm a knitter first, but no prejudices against crochet; I just need to loosen up a little so I'm not fighting so much when I come 'round again and need to get the hook through the top of those crochet stitches, lol!!!). Yeah, I'm a tight knitter, relatively.

The overwhelming length left to go on this scarf has left me to leave it sit for 6 or 7 weeks between picking it up for a few rows - now, with this very modest goal, including splitting anything over 30 rows into two week allotments, goal-wise anyway (although I'm free to speed ahead, if desired), I feel free of the "weight" of the many feet of the rest of the scarf that has yet to be knit, and I can proceed with joy once again.

It's no longer the "Scarf of Doom", or the 13 more feet to go, or what-have-you. It's the squishily loveliness that garter stitch especially is, in Cascade 220 Solids, Heathers, and Tweeds. Perhaps one Cascade 220 Quattro in there as well, I quite forget.

I do, however, regret that the . . . hue? of the yellow should be a bit brighter, and that the . . . value or intensity of the brown should be . . . not darker, exactly, but something. It IS in the warm tones, as I wanted, and goes well with the almost-not-green khaki, as I also wanted. Still, it was hard to pick when some colors were just strands in a sample book, as the brown was.

The colors do all feel well together, despite the yellow and brown blending together too much when next to each other. So I'm happy, overall!

Alpaca Farm Girl's Fiber Arts Friday has once again gotten me to blog, and off my duff so to speak, so go visit some of the other participants to see the fibery goodness!

Dr. Who Scarf of Doom

Here's how far I am . . . . . . . . (it's going to end up being about 14 feet long, so this is a drop in the bucket! I tend to work on it in spurts . . . it's been awhile.)

It's a gift for my younger brother having gotten his master's degree in a brainy area.

I'm using mostly Cascade 220, with some Cascade 220 Heather, and two Cascade Tweeds in 220 as well, which isn't keeping strictly to the source but I really wanted a warm brown and found that most were on the cool side, like my very light beige-ish tan, and really needed the brown and semi but almost not green to go nicely together and so the green came from the tweeds as well (as of yet, though, the green has not been knit into the scarf - I believe the only color to not yet have touched the needles).

I am working in worsted instead of sport weight, though the original was in sport, because that would take freaking forever. Sometime I'll post the link to where I'm following directions for how many rows to do in each color, for worsted weight, that a lady worked out, as she did not want to do sport weight either, and after several tries and some math, she figured out how many rows of the worsted to take up the same amount of space that the thinner rows of sport weight yarn do.

This scan of the scarf filled the width of the scanner bed, and most of the length, to give you a rough idea of how long it is. I don't have my graphics programs reinstalled (I recently wiped the C: drive and reinstalled the operating system, and while I know there are online apps that I could lighten, straighten, etc. the graphic/picture with, I'd rather just get it done and up on the blog for now). So please forgive - the colors are not quite accurate, and definitely darker than real life; this is a quick and dirty post (well, I've rambled now, so not so quick lol).

It's about time I posted! Hurrah for Fiber Arts Fridays!

Creating From Visuals

You may remember that awhile back I had a rather ambitious idea of a design challenge involving artists, artisans, crafters, creative types, media, materials, and such of many fields, varieties, types, bents, leanings, and visions to participate in this project/challenge of mine posted about HERE.

What you may not know is that I had contacted a tatting artist who seemed to be behind the 25 Motifs Challenge in the tatting community, and asked if she was interested or knew of anyone who might be - I think she assumed I knew "WHO" she was in the tatting community; I really had no idea at all, even though I'd seen her websites - one has no sense of a person's "stature" in any community just from websites!

Or even, really, just from being told so. Regardless, I thanked her for her time in replying, as I appreciated it, (and do not believe that she understood the concept of the project, although I suppose some may not) and I moved on. I believe since everything comes down to being based on basic geometric shapes anyway, you can make anything out of anything into anything, or at least you can form or attempt to form a shape or pattern in a variety of media and combination of techniques and arts. Why not try? That's the fun of an experiment.

Today I was browsing some blogs which I had not in quite some time, and ran across a link to a Design Challenge for tatting - granted these seem to be put together with tatting specifically in mind, whereas mine would be not necessarily with any particular craft or art or technique in mind, but I thought, cool, this is a beginning of a type of what I was talking about, anyway . . . . Tatting Design Challenge.

I've seen the same thing develop on Ravelry, where there's a couple of groups (such as Design Inspiration Challenge, link good only if you have free Ravelry account) that start with a design inspiration and then go from there, no matter whether they crochet, knit, or whatever. It's nice to see that I'm not the only one with wild ideas, although I suppose mine is rather more broad in concept, in order to compare how the inspiration would translate across and into various media and by various artists/artisans etc.

Although I do think my original time frame proposal of one month might be a little optimistic, lol. 6 weeks to 2 months might work better, depending on what arts and media were involved . . . . . lol!!!

Especially weaving, as an example of which I discovered and talked about here.

As Anakin Skywalker Would Say, "Spinning Is A Good Trick!"

Here, finally, is the fiber I've been spinning. The first fiber, that I bought for a challenge in a Ravelry spinning forum, for last September's theme (yes, that's September 2007!!!)..


Anyway, more of the fiber has been spun than you see here. It's actually down to one of those lengths you see there, about the length of my forearm, not the couple of lengths there. Just one of them, and less than a foot. The chaos that erupted earlier this year (see my main blog) what with deaths in the family, medical stuff slowly finding out about, and then all of a sudden they're poking around in my knee and then WHOA life-changing medical news!! (Another reason this blog, and all others, as well as even email, I'd stopped reading even that of late, which had never happened before, has been neglected).

It's about time I showed my spinning! What prompted this you may ask? Well, I finally did start browsing a few blogs yesterday, and today caught up on some Lime & Violet's Daily Chum blog. The particular post that prompted me to get off my tushie and edit some piccies that have been languishing on my hard drive, waiting for some processing was this one, entitled "What's On Your Bobbin?". Of course, you see that my "bobbins" are toilet paper rolls, but this IS my first spinning - I don't know if I can do it ok yet or not - you do with what you have! They work fine at the mo, anyhow, although one is a little squished (who squeezed my Charmin . . . . (the handspun IS very smooshy, sproingy, and squeezable!!! Can't blame you . . .).

The bobbin on the far right is the first spun (actually, I think I may have spun one before that, and lost it - I'm not sure), the middle is the next spun, and the one closest to the spindle, is the most recently spun save what is on the spindle itself.

You can probably also see that my spinning has become more consistent. For those who don't know, yarns that vary from thin to thick and back to thin are called "slubby"; the thicker parts are the "slubs". Beginner spinners are pretty much make slubby yarns right off the batt (ha, couldn't resist that pun, batt, hee hee). Some people call them artisan yarns, novelty yarns . . . . some spinners make them on purpose . . . . some patterns benefit from a slubby yarn - there's a yarn for every purpose and pattern, and a pattern for every purpose and yarn (usually, on that last!).

I was very pleased to see my improvement, but by the third bobbin you see there, I was becoming so consistent to my eye, that I was thinking the skein of yarn I'd end up with would just be . . . . unbalanced and odd. I was fairly certain when I started that I'd end up with slubs, as a newbie, and so I did, as I started, as you can see there are definitely slubs, especially in the first two "bobbins".

So, on the spindle, I began to slub on purpose. It took me a minute to break my consistency. But for the pattern I have already picked out for my first spun skein (going to ply it once with itself, so it'll be two-ply, but many parts of it are very thin so no worries of it being an inch thick unless two horrible slubs happen to meet, and I can fix that), it would look weird to have slubs at the first quarter of it and the rest mostly all at a fairly similar gauge/weight of yarn. That'd look odd in almost anything, unless you were spinning it that way purposefully with something specifically in mind, like say you wanted some slubbiness on the edge of a scarf, say, in the fringe or something, but not in the body. Or on the flap of a purse, but not the body, or whatever else you decided or dreamt up.

Anyway, here's some more gratuitous fiber and spinning pictures. The fiber and learn to spin kit (including spindle, and instructional DVD-ROM, created by the vendor, and a bag of some undyed fiber to spin, included in the price of the learn to spin kit (the dyed fiber was an additional purchase beyond the kit)) was purchased from a very nice lady, and someone whom I will definitely do business with again, especially since her prices are excellent, her service is excellent, her instruction on the DVD was really great (hard for me to judge, being a beginner, which is why I'm not continuing w/the excellents because how would I know yet!!! Woobies Wool is the vendor, and she can be found at the Tiny Lady Cooperative, one of a group of sellers. Seems so far so good though!!!), and she's not a "big name" in the wooly world, so she needs all the business she can get, not that I'd not shop with some of the more well knowns just because they are well known! Supporting the less known is good too though!

The Family Who Weaves Together . . .

I apologize for the lack of the giveaway and answerage to the memes and tagging. I am still flattered and so pleased to have been so tagged and awarded. It's just been a rough beginning to the year, with genetic osteoarthritis popping up and several deaths in the family and a very close call a few weeks ago soon after the other deaths.

Very maudlin, I know!

One day, my daughter came home from school with the weaving I've seen called "God's Eye" but that she referred to as something else (naturally, the schools would call it something else, and I am glad, because I am not comfortable with casual use of Heavenly Father's name). She explained to me that she had some frustration with it until a boy sitting next to her or near her in class showed her a different way to wrap and go over and under, and then she "got it" and did it with this adjustment or adaptation and really enjoyed the project.

She was so pleased with it, and herself! I was the proud mama, of course, as well as being tickled that one of the "art mothers" who comes in and helps by having projects for the children to do, chose a weaving one!

I have several weaving ideas I've got to settle on before I warp up the inkle loom, but I've got a vintage Bakelite Weave-It 4" loom that I've woven up some plain weave on, in sparkly blue Patons Brilliance yarn. I guess I'm just afraid to weave in the ends, that I won't be able to make sure they are in good enough before I take the square off the loom! I figure with this yarn I need to go the extra mile (er, figuratively) with fixing in the ends, since it's not a "sticky" yarn like natural wool. It's pretty though, and I have specific plans for it, in various colors. Coupons and clearance prices come in handy for it . . . . .

That Giveaway Soon - If you Scrapbook, You'll Like It This Time 'Round!

Well, ok, so I didn't make that giveaway by the end of January like I had said. But, it's coming!

Anyway, I don't have any pictures of the Toilet Paper Casting that we did, but I DO have some Decoupageing pictures to share! Wa-la!

These pictures are rather unflattering of me but it's not like I knew my pic was gonna be taken that day lol. We were messy, and we were having fun.

Ah, and my new word(s) for the month (I started this last month along with Jessica Sprague (too tired to insert link right now, will do so tomorrow, with the same word she chose for January - Focus) is inspired by LivE (again, ditto on the link), and is "Go Play". Now, that could mean different things to different people, but what it means to me, is a good thing. Thanks for the inspiration, LivE!

I just made this digital scrapbooking background paper to put behind the photos, although I reduced it in scale roughly average of 50% for each photo. I'll include a pic of the paper at the end; it's a grungy thing that looks like a graffittied wall, to me.

If anyone wants to give me an opinion, especially digiscrappers, what do you think?

On closer inspection (because I really only threw the paper up here as an afterthought, so I hadn't "inspected it") I see in the upper right corner and near the bottom left corner, areas easily adjusted; the layer(s) in question aren't shifted into position quite correctly, methinks. Still, you get the idea!