Because I'm not tired yet...

(though I hope to be shortly) and I'm trying to distract myself from the fact that the roving I ordered did not work out for me to spin (I am allergic to Louet brand roving... who knew?), but I'm sure Ilana will enjoy it and have better luck... I'm going to ramble a bit about things not very important in the grand scheme, but currently relevant to myself... Jewelry, fashion, colors and the coalescence thereof...

So... I have an awesome blouse I bought a few months ago. I had a coupon for a free $30 at Lane Bryant, I needed several shirts for the High Holy Days, it fit well, the color wasn't vile, I bought it. It was about $11 after discounts were applied. I love shopping wins. Plus it's 100% cotton, no petroleum-based synthetics - FTTW! I didn't think much of it at the time, it was just something I could buy to fill an immediate need and hole in my wardrobe. I have since fallen in love with it. It's a midnight sky blue. It has... not Swiss dots (since those are embroidered in) but something very close to them woven into the fabric and ever so slightly puffed sleeves. It goes with my coral necklace that I asked my sister to make for me because such color combos are IN according to the people who decide these things, as portrayed in the film and novel "The Devil Wears Prada." (Also, they say that bold, "statement" jewelry is the thing. And will continue to be the thing for at least the next year.) I am in love. Honestly, it is my favorite outfit right now and I fully intend to wear it half to death before Spring when it might be out of style. *nods sagely*

The coral necklace came to me one day in July. I was gazing at some coral beads in a bead shop and I thought I usually hate wearing such a bold red, but omg, those would make a pretty necklace! But I wavered on it for a few weeks and didn't buy the beads until almost September because until then I didn't have a vision of what I might want the necklace to look like. But I did buy them and had them sent to my sister and told her I just had to have some fabulous 18" long necklace made with them (and maybe some silver spacers). And she, being the talented, totally genius lapidary artist she is, did just that, as you can see by following the hotlink above. (If anyone reading this feels they must have one just like it, please do contact her through that page and inquire. She is always happy to make additional copies of an item, and I'm fairly certain she still has some of the same beads left.)

And what happens... Bright red is one of the "top" "IT" colors of the Fall '08/Winter '09 fashion season according to Pantone, who are apparently those IT people ultimately responsible for the why fashion colors are significant/cerulean sweater scene in "The Devil Wears Prada." I didn't know that at all going in. I just thought, omg, I love those red coral beads! Must have! Because I don't really pay attention to things like that until clothes are in stores and people are wearing them. I buy what I like because I like it. Or I buy what I don't totally like but find acceptable at the time because I need something for a specific purpose. I don't usually plan ahead. Especially accessories, which are almost always an after thought, if they're thought of at all.

So because I called the red so well for something I just had to have for the Fall/Winter this year... not really caring, except that I sorta do, I'm trying to figure out what I just have to have made for the Spring/Summer in '09... This is what happens now that I fully intend to take advantage of the fact that my sister is a jewelry-making goddess... I found some lovely deep sky blue turquoise 6mm rounds at Michaels (on clearance, the silly people!) the other day. Snatched those up and am now plotting. I have no idea what I want done with them, but they are so very pretty... I may go back and buy more... Maybe a really long, loopy, drapey necklace...? I dunno...

I also want a hamsa necklace SO bad! I don't have one! I find that shocking and wrong! I don't know what color I'll have that put together with when I find a pendant... Maybe many colors? In a trade-bead sort of look, except not because I'm not terribly fond of trade-beads... Although, maybe evil-eye beads? I dunno yet... I still haven't been able to find a hamsa in stores, only online, and they tend to be kinda pricy... like as much as I usually pay for all the beads and/or finished necklace altogether... and I find that shocking and wrong too... Because apparently, "ethnic" inspired jewelry of the Middle Eastern/African/Asian/Indian variety is going to be the thing in fashion jewelry (in addition to the bold stuff) this next year... So where are the hamsas in stores? Because we wants it precious, yeas, we do...

To continue the list of jewelry-wants, I'm coveting my mom's pearl necklace that she got from Lara... If Lara has another 26 pearls left, I might just have to ask her to make yet another one for me... Mom let me wear it because it was required for an outfit I wore to synagogue several weeks ago, and it looked so good and I felt to very chic! So now, I want one myself... Although, I'm sure Mom will let me borrow it anytime because she's awesome like that...

Just to note, colors I'm really feeling good about right now (in no particular order): true red, aqua, robin's egg, Tiffany blue, London topaz, midnight sky blue (although apparently Pantone is calling it "Twilight Blue"), indigo, navy, autumn sky blue, turquoise, aubergine, amethyst, bottle green, slightly-on-the-blue-side grass green, forest green...

Meanwhile, I need to go back to the drawing board for some of my planned Holiday gifts, revise and start the search for appropriate roving again... Ah, well... I'm sure it will work out. I'm thinking now black, white and gray Shetland will serve for my immediate needs and I'll worry about colored rovings once those are squared away.

New things I've made recently...

Still knitting and sewing up a storm since I left for Virginia in the middle of July, but I've been remiss in posting pictures, even though I've been taking them. So... here's pretty much everything that I've finished in the last two and a half months...

A cup cosy for like Starbuck's cups and the like... though I try not to patronize Starbucks... (YAY! My first successful fair isle!)



The other side of the same cosy...



More felted bags... I've made probably 8 of these now and I want to make more... They work up so fast and look so good and are such a perfect size for so much! Guh! I love 'em!



6 cotton canvas place mats, bound with bias tape that I made (first time I've ever made my own bias tape - *g*)...



A hat I made for my friend Chelsea's birthday...



A hat I made for my friend Mia's birthday...



A headband that I gave to my friend Stacey as an early birthday present...



A keyhole scarf...



6 pairs of baby booties made out of Bernat's Organic Cotton yarn...



The scarf, headband, hats and cosy were all made with KnitPicks.com yarn and patterns that I got in their summer cotton sampler kits. I altered the pattern for Mia's hat because I didn't like the zig-zag pattern, so I made it into diamonds by shifting things about a bit.

I'm not sharing pics of my dishcloths because they're all the same and so simple and I've made at least 6 this month... I've also made another watch cap like the one I made for Jensen and Jared a while back (but have not yet sent to them), but this one is a Christmas present for Jason, Susan's husband... He needs it on those cold mornings when he's out in the woods.

I've also got about 6 works in progress right now (2 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of fingerless mitts, a lacy headband, and a little impractical bag that I might rip out because it seems rather useless though pretty).

Crafty things... :D

Since the cabin being finished keeps being delayed, and now we can't leave Tampa until June 30th at the earliest (ARGHH!!!), I've had to keep myself distracted and busy so as not to loose my mind with frustration and idle waiting... So... I've been crafty...

I finished the hat that I'm making for Jared Padalecki...



It's done with the same pattern I used for the hat I made for Jensen, but I changed colors, as you can see... The black is 100% fine natural black merino wool, and the green is Colonial wool that I got from coppermoose on ebay. I had to keep the green off areas that would touch skin because it's kinda itchy, though the color is lovely... so that informed how I arranged the colors. The black is also double-knit above where the brim folds over, so the hat should be pretty warm, in a good way. Overall, it weighs in at a hefty 6 ounces, due to the heavier merino that is double-knit.

I also made pillows...



They are done with cut-out pre-printed pillow shapes. All I had to do was take batting, quilt each side by machine and then put the sides together and stuff them. I used Nature-fil Bamboo fiber... and I wonder if the left over is spinable... *is plotting* It's about $12 - $14 for 12 ounces of the stuff, so if it is spinable, that is really good. :D

Finally, I made onesies for my niece, Sophie. (And by "made," I mean I ironed on t-shirt transfers.) Her birthday is coming up in August, and like the good aunt I am, I plan to spoil her with presents...

These first two don't have designs on the back.



But the rest do have backs...




YAY! :D

What I've been up to...

I've been busy today.

Weeded, fertilized and watered the garden, picked cucumbers and green beans.

Went out to lunch at the mall and then to Dillards because they were having a sale on bedding and my parents had gotten some Dillards gift certificates for Christmas this last year and they wanted me to get linens for the spare beds at the cabin. Got Ralph Lauren sheets and pillowcases for next to nothing. Yay!

Then went to the Joann's by that mall because they often have really good remnants. I got two linen remnants to make napkins with. Yay!

Came home, decided to get paint chips from Lowes, which is around the corner from our house, so that I can match things for the cabin. We aren't painting anything, but I've already gotten my bedding, and the granite in the bathroom has colors in it that I want to pick out in the towels, so I needed a close match in color that was more portable than either bedding or a slab of granite - hence, paint chips. Did that.

Then went to the other Joann's which is next to another mall about equidistant as the other one in another direction from my house. That one is bigger and I wanted to see if I would luck out on fabric for curtains for my room. Alas, I did not. But I did luck out on stumbling upon a fabulous sale. They're remodeling that store and so half of it is on clearance right now and another quarter is seriously discounted. Yay! All magazines 10% off, a lot of yarn on clearance, fabric, beads, all sorts of things... I got more remnants (linen - again... I think I'm becoming obsessed with linen remnants for napkins and placemats), DMC's Encyclopedia of Needlework (every kind of needlework - if you use a needle of any sort to do it, it's in there, in detail with pictures), linen embroidery thread and magazines.

I got the new Victoria magazine because it's full of inspiration for the cabin interior design, and the Spring 2008 Spin-off Magazine. This in particular is a must have! They have a bunch of knit lace shawls (!!! - not patterns but extremely inspiring nonetheless), as well as a couple of knit hat patterns for any gauge handspun.

But the piece-de-resistance are the Danish Tied-Shawls (if you click the hotlink of "Spin-off Magazine" above and scroll down you can see a pictures of a small part of one of these shawls). There are patterns and they are made with handspun, hand-dyed yarn. And they're folksy and beautiful. And useful! They tie in the back so they won't fall off and will stay put while you're doing important things. Did I mention they're handspun, hand-dyed (with natural dyes too!), and hand-knit. I'm bouncing with joy every time I even look at the pretty pictures! The magazine is $7.99, but for this alone it's so worth it. Go. Run. Buy a copy. There are a lot of other useful looking things in there too, but I'm far too distracted by the shawl pattern to look at anything else seriously yet. I am so making myself one this summer! I'm tired of not having my own shawl... I've made bunches for others, but never kept any myself. There are more patterns for these types of shawls available at the author's website.

Oh, and Happy Mother's Day! :D

*off to obsess over the Danish Shawl some more*

Been busy...

I went on a little trip to South Carolina and Virginia last week during my Spring Break to visit Susan and my brother and sisters and other family there. It was a lot of fun and it felt like a lot longer than just a week with all the things we did. I took lots of pictures (312 to be exact) on my mom's new digital camera, which I borrowed for the occasion.

While in Virginia, I picked out the granite for the countertop in my bathroom in the new cabin. The guy told me that it's called "Green Juparana" but I can't seem to find a picture of that online... In any case, it's got some subtle splotches of sagey green, but is mostly yellow and gold tones, with flecks or red and black in a folded pattern across the surface of the stone... It's very pretty and mirrors the exposed bedrock stone outside where the hill was cut back a bit.

The cabin itself is progressing quickly. The plumbing and electrical things are all done and the interior walls are being finished. The roof is pretty much finished as well. The flooring and ceilings go in next week. We went out and took pictures.

The back:


The front:


The hillside:


The view from the porch:


We also went to the fabric store and got things to make a shirt and a dress for me for EyeCon and a shirt and new dresses for Susan, which I think she mostly needed anyway, but is also making especially for EyeCon. It's in 16 days! Wheeee!

We also went to Yarns, Etc. in Greensboro and I got roving... I think the gray stuff might need to be picked through some more before spinning, but overall it's good stuff from a small farm, so I shan't complain. The blue-gray 30% mohair/70% corriedale is very nice... I've spun some on my Hitchhiker (which is now fixed and working perfectly) and did a simple 2-ply. See here:



And I spun up the last of the black Merino that I had... about 6 1/2 ounces...



I also bought a pound of bleached 50% linen/50% silk roving for a shawl I want to make of my own design, which I typed of before here... I'm going to spin it going for a dk-worsted weight... And I want to try Navajo plying. But first, I think I need to dye this stuff... I want light colors... I want light blue-green and very light, almost-not-there pink and I want to leave some of it natural. I have no idea how to go about achieving these colors though because everytime I've ever tried to dye things before I've been going for deep, dark colors and the only way I know how to get lighter colors is by exhausting the dyebath. Also, I've never dyed roving before, let alone roving that is silk/linen. And I don't want to fuck it up. Although, maybe it might be better to spin it, knit it and dye it afterward when it's all finished so that I can get the color placement exactly as I want it... and maybe even do something like a tie-dyeing effect... I don't know. So. Any help, suggestions or advice you might be able to give me on any of this will be much appreciated.

In other news: This Saturday, I'm going to RenFaire with my friends. It will be awesome...

Fabric samples

Got the linen fabric samples that I order from fabric-store.com today. they look really nice. I scanned them, but they didn't scan very well. The colors in the first sample look almost as they should, except that the colors are a little more harsh than they are in person. The greens and blues are much softer on the actual sample, and the light blue is more of sky blue than it appears in the scan. The second sample looks only somewhat like the scan. The pink is a lighter carnation pink, and the color of the stripes in the what looks like almost peachy-orange stripes is actually salmon pink. The brown stripes are actually natural flax colored. And the white samples in both are totally washed out, as you can see. I tried fixing it, but Photoshop was not cooperating. They are all 100% linen, and all of them are 5.3 oz/yard, except for the white and white/natural linen stripe on the second sample, which is 6 oz/yard. I'm wondering what would be best to get, and I welcome suggestions. With these prices, the difference in price is not an issue.