Pedal Power

Say what?  This sustainable, pedal-powered un-knitting machine has my name all over it, doesn’t it??

A highly unusual Rube-Goldberg-like bicycle, designed to help recycle unwanted woolen clothes, unravels any garment item back to its pre-knitted form.   Created by Kingston University’s Imogen Hedges,  the un-knitter is one of this year’s best student-design curious contraptions, chosen by the British National Centre for Craft and Design,

While on the fascinating exploration, I stumbled onto the Fibershed‘s Cyclocarder–that can turn my backyard, community center, or farm into a human powered wool processing station.  Neat-o-fun!

I am happily be an un-knitter…at least through the holiday.  Or a music maker with a boombox like this one.

I wonder how I can get myself an un-spinner…Any idea?     What pedal-powered gadget would you ask for from Santa?   The quest continues…

For now, I am doing it the old fashion way.

Happy crafting and keep those creative juices running!

(still doesn’t do texting, MySpace, Twitter, StumbleUpon, DiggIt…but caved into Facebook!)

November

Fiiiirrrst! Skipping away giggling.

That quintessential November has returned. Thanksgiving is coming up. That means not too far away is Christmas!!!!

And you know what that means. I will be knitting/sewing/felting like demon to make those warm gifts and necessities for our families and friends.

Are you feeling the strain of holiday present-making yet?

I’ve been brainstorming since the summer and yet I still feel behind. Ah, such is life.

Meanwhile, I’ve been offered a 40″ handmade loom recently…another craft I’ve been pondering on how to incorporate my love of weaving into my day. Would you say yes if you were me?

Crisp air, warm drinks, and busy busy hands. Don’t hold back and share your passion and love.

Happy crafting and keep those creative juices running!

(still doesn’t do texting, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, DiggIt…)

Jizzy Jizzy Jazzed

…so thrilled to join in spinning today to see Laura (the brain behind Textiles A Mano,) Jo, Liz again…Mary and Wendy for the first time, plus a couple of familiar faces Janel (showing off her stunning hand-spun quivit, beaded lace cowl) and Laura in her fabulous hand-spun Solar Flare.  A basket of preaches…a very accepting group.  You spin what you spin.  There’s lots of chattin’ and some munchin’.  It was utterly peaceful.  Social spinning is so much fun while one may absorb information and tips like sponges from spinning goddesses!

As you may know, I’m easily distracted by soft, luscious, shiny fibers, an avid voyeur of all things beautiful, and on the look out for daily diversions…

A limited quantity of these cloud-like, exotic braids were dyed and blended by Laura herself.  Last of the two are mine, all mine!  Laura’s choices of stock are overwhelming tempting.  It was hard to not grabbing everything in sight.  She creates some of most delicious, dreamy batts I wanted to take home–be sure to keep your eyes open for them glittery batts at Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, OR, next week. Thankfully, I left the plastics at home and spent within the limit of what I had in cash!  Here is a small harvest spun and plied on my Cascade drop spindle

Based on the 3-gram, 32-yard sampler, I will be able to knit a substantial lace in a range of 1100 yards out of the two 50-grams braids. It is remarkably bunny soft…buttery goodness!  I was looking at motorized carders last year, but, the price was prohibitive for me. We are talking well over $1000 and in some cases $2000.  I can’t justify that as a hobbyist.  I also would not consider motorizing the carder myself.  That’s not in my skill set.  Nope…absolutely not going there!  I’m not that experienced when it comes to carders.  If I really wanted a motorized version of a carder, I would talk to Pat Green and see what they recommend.  But really, just a hand-carder as it stands has increased my output so much compared to what I did a year before that I don’t need to go there myself.  Besides, good news is that Laura just got more of the fine, exotic fiber in so she would dye and blend me some purple-blue braids in the near future

while on the subject of spinning, here is Bling Me blended by my sweet spinning buddy LeAnn that I have been dying to show the world

The fiber was fun to spin up.  There is a rhythm you must find, but, was such an instant pleasure at seeing the fiber be transformed into yarn

and so easy to ply together with my KCL Dichroic Glass spindle while on the day trip to Portland yesterday.

;”>

This small 19-gram hank of sampler measures a meager 80 yards. Though a decent fingering weight (210 yards/50g,) I am contemplating whether or not to leave it as a single and finish it as a single lace. Would it hold up? Or spin it finer and leave it a 2-ply?  Decision. Decision.

Ain’t I lucky to live in an age when i may do for fun what other people did of necessity, and I may do it with an astonishing range of luxury fibres to produce an amazing range of yarns, fabrics, and garments, most of which are totally non-essential in today’s society.

Fiber art and fiber craft are one way in which I may really let myself go, choose whatever seems appropriate for the moment or the mood, improvise up a storm or turn out a perfectly executed design from a complex pattern, doodle, learn through mistakes, exercise my imagination/editing/tweaking skills, and just plain have a fantastic time twiddling my little sticks and hooks and string and things. I love the tools for what they are, as they are–and I so love yarn

that I would just pile up balls of it on the floor and ROLL in it to soak up all that beautiful colorful fiber goodness. Life is good!

Happy crafting and keep those creative juices running!

(still doesn’t do texting, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, DiggIt…)

An Afternoon of Merriment

at my friend’s ranch yesterday.

Squeal! It’s the great spinners that come to Spin-in that make it.

Everyone is very generous with their sharing. It is a relaxed atmosphere where I learn more about the craft without having to take a workshop. It’s always where I can see someone doing something and just lean over and ask her about it.

It is wonderful to have a local group to sit and learn and work with. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing newly-born lambs,

taking a turn with sweet Rowen, and catching up with spinner buddies.

Typically, I love the challenge of taking a really raw material and turning it into something deliciously delightful. I guess it’s sort of the difference between using a cake mix and baking from scratch. Almost. But, this afternoon, I couldn’t resist of spinning the cake mix rovings

Border Leicester from one of Kip’s
I love a new fiber. This one is 75% wool from one of Pam’s lamb Liz, blended with 25% silk

And boy, is it silky! I wasn’t going to bring home any new fiber, but, its shiny spun sample was staring at me for a few hours…I just couldn’t resist! It draws and spins lovely.

My favorite is still cashmere and merino

This is one of my pay from Pam last summer. It will be plied with Liz above, gradient dyed, and knit into a lace designed by me…hopefully in time for showing at Black Sheep and Sock Summit

I spin, both on a wheel and with a hand spindle (though much more often on the spindle.) I’d say that, for me, the level of relaxation is about the same, but spinning is much more hypnotic.

When I’m knitting, I relax and fall into a rhythm; but, my mind is still very active–reading a pattern or chart, thinking about what’s coming next in the rows ahead. Sometimes I can watch tv, read a book, walk (a trick I enjoy!) or chat on skpye, if the pattern is easy enough. Often, it is satisfying enough to simply knit with no other distractions. With knitting, I find myself more in the present.

When I’m spinning, my hands move more instinctively and automatically. It feels as though I’m just watching the colors flow past–a lot easier to become entranced with the rhythm of the wheel and treadles. My breathing falls into the same cadence. With spinning, I go much more quickly to that place without time…until I screw up and break my single or let the twist too far into the fiber…

BFL, Silk, Bamboo, & Mohair locks specially blended by my sweet fiber buddy/giver LeAnn
What are you content with?

Happy crafting and keep those creative juices running!

(still doesn’t do texting, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, DiggIt…)