Tag Archives: In The Works

Drive By Photos

Posted on November 4, 2012 by | Comments Off on Drive By Photos

Where I have been–in photos


Athrun Captain America in his Halloween parade.


All of my yarn in one place, conveniently arranged on shelves at the Twisted! Fiber Festival


Brock’s new winter hat-in-progress.


The fourth pair of socks from the Sock Knitting Master Class.


Starting Jane’s Ubiquitous Shawl to keep up with Heather Ordover from Craft Lit


Do you think Jane would like the periwinkle?

And a quick note to say that my etsy shop is now back online. And there’s a special sale running if you visit my facebook page.

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Twisted Fiber Festival

Posted on October 21, 2012 by | Comments Off on Twisted Fiber Festival

Just in case you were wondering where I have disappeared to:

I have been organizing this with the help of two lovely ladies who are, like me, going to be vendors also. As you can see below, I am teaching a class as well.

Twisted! Details

Vendors:
Alpacas at Orchard Hill
Knit n Spin
Tiny Dino Studios
Twisted Sisters
Th’red Head
Blushing Ewe
Shirley’s Succulents
Tom Swayne Woodworking
Prairie Productions
Laura’s Pygoras
Creations by Anna
Rouse House
Images in Time 3D
The Wicked Stitch
Elaine Kruger’s Sewing
Barb’s Nuno Felted Wearable Art

TWISTED Fiber Festival
FREE Classes/Demos
Saturday, November 3, 2012

The Potwin Fiber Artisans are happy to offer the following FREE
classes/demonstrations during the course of the TWISTED Fiber Festival! Each of the demonstrators is an artisan in the subject matter of their class/demo and many have scheduled classes in January so that you can build upon the knowledge and techniques you learn during the festival. Each session is 45-55 minutes long and the artisans will have tools available for you to utilize during the class; some will have tools available for purchase, and many vendors at the festival will have fibers available for purchase!

10am- BEGINNING KNITTING with Jenny Binfield
Jenny will show you how to caste on and begin knitting, and will have a handout with her basic knitting tips and techniques. Needles and yarn will be available, or you can bring your own needles and purchase some delicious handspun from one of the vendors.

11am- BEGINNING CROCHET with Susan Hudgens
Learn the basics of crochet, including slipknot, chain, slip stitch, single crochet & double crochet. Bring a crochet hook, yarn and scissors-some materials available, first come, first serve.

Noon- SPINNING with Marla Holt
Learn drafting techniques that allow you to quickly and easily spin fun thick n thin yarn and lofty thick singles on your spinning wheel. Please bring your spinning wheel and about 4 ounce of fiber you are familiar with spinning.

1pm- EMBROIDERY BASICS with Susan Hudgens
Learn the skills needed to complete a simple embroidery project including choosing materials, overhand knot, back-stitch, overhand stitch, French knot, satin stitch,, Lazy Daisy and as many other as we can fit in. Bring scissors, aida cloth, needles & floss-some materials available, first come, first serve.

1pm- DRUM CARDING DEMONSTRATION with Jennifer Beck
With an eye for color and texture, Jennifer creates beautiful art batts! Come watch her show you just how fun and easy it is to create an amazing fiber batt on a drum carder, ready to be spun into a unique OOAK yarn or used in your next felting project.

2pm- MAGIC LOOP KNITTING with Meg Wickham
The Magic Loop Technique allows you to make something small and circular by using one long 32″ or longer circular needle. Bring 75 yards of worsted weight (very soft) yarn and US sz 7 needles at least 32″ if you want to try alongside the instructor.

3pm- DROP SPINDLE SPINNING with Lori Warren
Lori will cover the basics of using a drop spindle: getting started, prepping your fiber, drafting, starting a leader, and park & draft spinning. She will also demonstrate how to skein and finish your handspun yarn. Drop Spindles, made by Lori, will be available for $10.

4pm- NEEDLE FELTING BASICS with Anna Walker
Stab something into existence and learn from @FELTit herself! With a barbed needle and some pretty fiber, learn the basics of needle felting as you create your own little cyclone! Basic needle felting instructions will go home with you along with your felting needle and a foam block!

I might not be very present until all of this is over, but when it is, look for the relaunch of the Tiny Dino Studios Etsy store and lots and lots of knitting!

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A Tuesday Jumble

Posted on September 18, 2012 by | Comments Off on A Tuesday Jumble

Life has been a jumble lately.

Yesterday I came out to my car after work (late, of course) to find that my right front tire was flat. This didn’t really surprise me because I haven’t been able to keep air in the thing to save my life and kind of just gave up on filling it up the last few weeks. The kicker is that I get off work with just enough time to get across town and pick Athrun up from school. And it was raining, can’t forget that part. You’ll be proud to know that I only panicked a little bit

I managed to snag a ride, Brock was out of class, so we picked Athrun up, put the donut on the car and drove home, dreading having to pay someone for a new tire, because I pretty much dread paying anyone for anything–except yarn. I will happily pay for yarn in almost any circumstance. At least I knew I was going to have Tuesday off, so I had plenty of time to take care of getting the tire replaced.

Having Tuesday off is not a normal thing. Last week, my place of employment played host to Kansas Book Festival, which meant I had to be at work all day long on a Saturday, which is apparently so awful it earned me an extra day off during the week. I chose Tuesday (today, for the record) not just because it makes more sense for my job, but because it seemed more special than having Monday off, because you know, that happens sometimes. Let me tell you, having Tuesday off is awesome. I didn’t have to compete with anyone else for the washer and dryer in the basement, I didn’t have anyone to mess things up while I cleaned, and nobody stepped on the sweaters.

That’s right, I dedicated my day off to fall cleaning. (That doesn’t quite have the same ring to it as spring cleaning…but it’s the same basic principle, just preparing for winter instead of recovering from it.) I cleaned the house from top to bottom, did all of the laundry, tidied closets, and washed sweaters. I love cleaning the house when there is no one home. I don’t know why, but that’s just the best time to do it. And it has been a long time since I have been home by myself for an entire day. Call me crazy, but it was heaven. I have shining floors, clean carpets, and when the weather turns for good, the family will be prepared with freshly laundered woolens.

All of this, however, has not left me very much time for knitting.

After getting distracted by two pairs of socks and a sweater, I am making a good faith effort to get my brother his birthday socks before the weather turns, even though he could probably use them now. He rides a motorcycle, and I know from my Moped days that it’s always 10 degrees cooler on a bike. So I have put all other projects aside until I can finish these.

That means my other projects look like this:



Almondine is one sock plus one sock cuff, and the yarn for the French Market socks finally arrived. I bought a lot, because I plan on doing a lot of swatching. Besides, don’t you just love the colors? I will admit, I chose these colors partly because of their names. The cream is, strangely enough, called Cream, the dark brown is called Bison, and the fawn color is called Wheat. The French Market socks will henceforth be known as Kansas Socks, because I know of a farm where I could one of each of these products within twenty miles of where I live. (The other reason I chose them is because it reminds me of the three most common Alpaca colors I have seen, and I really wanted to do these in natural colors. This way I can just pretend.)

I also have a design in my head for a sweater. And it will probably stay there for the foreseeable future.

Then there is this.

Yes, I found a craftsy class on stranding and steeking. The class was on sale, so I bought it over the weekend. I have never wanted to use the same exact colors I have seen in the pattern before, but I want that vest exactly. I just have to wait until I can afford all that yarn…but it’s so gorgeous! I have been watching the classes, and I think I can handle the steeking when it comes along–I think.

What have you been up to?

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Twisted

Posted on September 10, 2012 by | Comments Off on Twisted

On Saturday I did something I have never ever done before. I visited a bunch of different yarn shops all in the same day. Okay, so it was only three yarn shops, but that’s two more than I have ever been to on the same day before. And, I bought sock yarn at that them all. (buying sock yarn, of course, is highly usual behavior for me)

I know you are all asking yourselves, but why did you spend most of your day in the car so you could hit a few little, but very cute yarn shops in central Kansas? Well, there is the obvious reason…what knitter needs an excuse to buy yarn? Yarn is always needed. Then there is the reason for the trip, which was equally exciting and no less important than the need for MORE YARN. Well, this is why:

I am in the midst of planning Topeka’s brand new Fiber Festival. Myself and a couple of ladies from the Potwin Fiber Artisans have been hard at work finding a locale, plotting floor plans, emailing like crazy and just plain old dreaming big. We want to create something fantastic–and we need you help. We need volunteers to teach. We need volunteers to help hang fliers, to bake goodies for our bake sale, to donate to the silent auction, to just be around and help out. We need vendors. We need artists!

If you’re in the area and are interested in helping us make this event great, please contact me at marla at potwinfiber dot org.

All right, enough with the commercial. I went down to meet and make friends with some LYS Owners, and it was wonderful. I had never been to any of these yarn shops before, and I found something to love in each of them.

First stop was Wildflower Yarns and Knitwear in Manhattan, KS. And this is what I found:

A yarn so delicious I wound it up and cast on Almondine almost immediately. (Yes, I realize this is project three in the book, but the yarn for project two isn’t here yet and you know I already finished owls. What’s a girl to do?)


This is a little out of date, as the sock now has a heel and a gusset and everything, but you get the general idea.

The yarn is Knit One, Crochet Too Crock-O-Dye in a color way that is mostly numbers. It’s a butterscotchy, brassy mix of browns out of wool, silk, and nylon.

Next up was The Shivering Sheep in Abilene, KS. Cutest shop ever. She had things I drooled over. Including, but not limited to this lovely skein of Fleece Artist yarn.

I am not sure what pair of socks this yarn is destined for just yet, but it will luscious.

On next was Yarns Sold and Told in Salina, KS. This shop has soo much yarn. We got there just before closing, otherwise I could have spent all day browsing (and lounging in their gathering area which I wish was my living room!) Instead I walked away with skein of Cascade Heritage that is the same color as Lamb Curry take away from the local Indian joint.


I am thinking this yarn will be perfect for one of the more masculine patterns in The Sock Knitting Master Class book. Brock needs some curry socks, I think.

All of the ladies I spoke with on my little road trip were lovely, and you should visit their shops when you are in there area, whether you live in Kansas or not.

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FO: OWLS Sweater

Posted on September 9, 2012 by | Comments Off on FO: OWLS Sweater

Look what I’ve got. . .

A whole row of owls…

And a sweater to go along with it!

I don’t think I have ever been happier with a finished sweater than I have with this one. It was quick, relatively simple, and it fits perfectly.

I absolutely love myself in this sweater.

It is very comfortable. I am looking forward to wearing it this winter as a casual, everyday pullover.
I even like my belly in this sweater–and that is not something I normally say.

OWLS Sweater Specs:
-Pattern by Kate Davies
-Knit out of 5.5 Skeins of Wool of the Andes Bulky in colorway Stormy.
-I used size US 10.5 needles for the ribbing and size US 11 needles for the main body. I knit in the round on 32″ metal knitpicks interchangeable needles, using magic loop for the sleeves and modified magic loop for the neck.
-I used stitch markers on the yoke to mark where each owl was meant to begin and end. It really helped the project move along quickly, because I wasn’t afraid my owls would come out crooked.
-I used three different sizes to create a sweater that fits my body as I loose weight. The lower half of the body is knit in pattern size 7, while the upper half of the body is knit in pattern size 5. The sleeves are a modified pattern size 3. (The sleeves were only modified by adding stitches as I attached them to the body so they would match pattern size 5.) Don’t forget to measure, measure, measure!

I haven’t made my mind up about button eyes yet. Do I want any? Should I leave it how it is? I am thinking, that if I can find the right buttons, I might give one owl on my right shoulder a pair of glinting eyes…maybe.

What do you think?

And if you’re in NE Kansas, I start teaching a class about how to knit this sweater on Thursday night–and there’s still time to sign up!

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Practice and Progress

Posted on August 24, 2012 by | Comments Off on Practice and Progress

Guess what you guys?! I can do colorwork!

Who would have thought, that it would be just as easy picking up some needles and doing it. Don’t get me wrong, I am still working out the finer points of keep my yarn from tangling and not pulling my floats too tightly. And the gauge on this swatch is ALL WRONG. I can barely fit that over my toes. But it has a pattern of color, and it is so far in the vague shape of a tube, so I call it a successful practice swatch!


This is a better picture of the color pattern. Which makes me think either my yarn (protoceratops) isn’t the best for color work projects, or my colors aren’t contrasty enough. I am leaning toward both. Of course, I have absolutely no idea what makes a sock yarn good for colorwork.

I browsed through my latest knitpicks catalog and picked out three colors of Palette to make this sock out of. While, yes, Knitpicks is cheap and easy, I mostly decided on this yarn because it was made for colorwork, and I want to see what that is. I will be purchasing it the moment I get paid next week…and scouting my local(est) yarn stores for sock yarn for the next few projects.

While I am waiting for money, I have been making some progress on my OWLS sweater! (Class starts the 13th! Sign up now!)

But I can’t show you now because my the picture uploader is seriously killing my lovely “it’s the weekend!” buzz and not uploading my photos properly or in a timely manner. Just be satisfied to know that I have the body and one sleeve done, and by the time the weekend is over, I hope to be joining it all for the yoke. Hooray for knitting with bulky yarn!

Happy weekend. I shall spend mine knitting as fast as I can!

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Socks and Sweaters

Posted on August 8, 2012 by | Comments Off on Socks and Sweaters

After swatching on Sunday, I found that my usual gauge for the assymetrical cables socks worked perfectly. Hooray for not having to buy smaller needles! I used my same old trusty long tail cast on. I happen to cast on really loosely, so if you cast on tightly, I might recommend a slightly more elastic cast on.

So far, the cable pattern is pretty straight forward, and I am loving the yarn. I would be further along, except I got a little distracted by OWLS.


I love how charming a little 2×2 ribbing can be as it transitions into stockinette. Very simple. Very classic. The instructions for this sweater so far are clear enough for me to keep up with all the decreases and still chat with my sister all night–until I gave her my tablet to read something funny–and I then I didn’t have my pattern anymore. Between chunky projects, I always forget how satisfying it is to work with this weight yarn. I feel like I am doing so much with so little effort. I can’t wait to teach this class. Details are coming soon, I promise.

And just because it’s pretty.

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Sundays are for Swatching

Posted on August 5, 2012 by | Comments Off on Sundays are for Swatching

I have felt a bit aimless in my knitting lately. I have been knitting a lot of simple things, stockinette socks, stockinette sweaters, garter stitch bags. While all of them are relatively easy, they are all also relatively simple. I like a good simple knitting project for stressful times, when the hands just need to be producing and the mind needs to be relaxing. I will still tell you, if you ask, that a plain stockinette sock is the best relaxation knitting in the world. But every now and then, there comes a point where a woman needs just a little more to do. Taking on the Pearl Street Pullover was part of that. I have never done a cabled sweater before, and I am enjoying the heck out of it, even if I am afraid I am going to run out of yarn. I think it was also my motivation for the ill-fated moth man scarf I blogged about last time. Ill-fated? Yes, it is already in hibernation. I have a record with lace yarn and it seems I am doomed never to ever finish a project made out of it. I think I need to come to terms with the fact that I am a cable and color girl, and that while the occasional lace is nice, I prefer the solid to the dainty.

Which brings me to today’s topic. You see, I have plans. Big plans. Plans that almost scare me a little bit when I think about it too much.


This is the pile of things I am going to work on today, because it’s Sunday, and if I can’t sit on my butt and knit all day, I don’t know what else Sunday is for. In the middle you see the beginnings of a sock. This is my control project. A simple pair of stockinette socks on the needles that I can pick up when my brain needs a break from all the new things.


This particular pair of socks are my little brother’s birthday present. (His birthday was a month ago, but I am consoled by the fact that it has been 100 or more degrees every day since then and he wouldn’t have worn them anyway.) They are some self-striping t-rex yarn that he picked out of my shop. He might have just turned twenty, but I am proud to say he couldn’t pass up having Air Bender inspired socks.

Why do I need a control project you ask? Well, mostly because I made two knitting decisions in the last week that prove I have obviously gone quite insane. Two things happened to me last week. I stumbled across Ann Budd’s blog where she challenged herself to knit every sock in her Sock Knitting Master Class book. Second, I was finishing up teaching my beginners sock knitting class, and was thinking what other knitting classes I should schedule for the fall. Some how, the amalgamation of these two ideas in my work-stressed brain led me to make two very ill-conceived decisions. One, I need to learn more knitting skills so that I can be a better knitting teacher, therefore I too shall knit through the sock knitters master class, and blog about it. Two, I will teach a sweater knitting class, because I love knitting sweaters and would like to pass the bug along. Of course, the pattern I chose, O W L S, I have never knit before. I don’t feel comfortable teaching something I have never done, therefore I need to knit this sweater. I don’t have any illusions about knitting it all before the class starts, especially given my insane sock undertaking, but I would like to stay at least one step ahead of my students.


The yarn I am going to use for O W L S is just some knitpicks Wool of the Andes Bulky I bought ages ago. I have a ton of this stuff laying around. I am not sure what my plans were anymore, but I have enough of this steely grey color for a sweater. Today I am swatching for the sweater.


I am also swatching with this lovely golden protoceratops sock yarn for the first pair of socks in The Sock Book (this might be how I refer to the Sock Knitting Master Class for the duration of the project.) I do have to confess, that I have not swatched for socks since probably the second pair of socks I knit. I have not had a problem thus far, but I figure when socks are patterned and offer different sizes, it might be prudent to get a good idea of what my sock gauge even is these days.

First up is Assymetrical Cables by Cookie A. Wish me luck.

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Pseudo-Ravellenic Knitting

Posted on July 30, 2012 by | Comments Off on Pseudo-Ravellenic Knitting

I know to really participate in the Ravellenic games, one is meant to join a team and sign up for a competition, etc., etc. I still wanted to give myself a knitting challenge, and I am taking this challenge just as seriously as though who signed up officially, but the truth is that internet forums have been leaving a bad taste in my mouth lately. Yes, even on Ravelry, and it makes me sad. So, this Olympics, I am avoiding the forums part of the knitting games and just doing it on my own.

I chose Anne Hanson’s Motheye as my project. I have really knit a lace scarf, and I have yet to successfully complete a project out of lace weight yarn. So, I threw my balled-up yarn from my ripped out Starling, which I will finish one day when I have the patience to dye the yarn first, in a pot full of red dye.

This is the effect it’s having on the pattern.

This was just a little ball of yarn, a little snag in the ripping out I couldn’t untangle, and the white shouldn’t last much longer before it runs out. Even now, I can feel myself growing bored with the undyed yarn, and am thinking of switching to the bigger ball. The big ball should have a much larger red section, and therefore a longer transition. We’ll see how it goes. However, I am still enamored of my Pearl Street Pullover out of undyed yarn. Perhaps it is the cables rather than the color?

I do love the nupps! Nupps are another thing I have never knit. I like them and am dreaming of pairing them with cables sometime in the near future. Or do they become baubles when the are with cables. Is there a difference?

There is much I still have to learn about knitting. More on that later.

The suspense, it should be driving you mad.

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A Bit of an Hiatus

Posted on July 25, 2012 by | Comments Off on A Bit of an Hiatus

Some of you might have (or are bound to now) notice that I put my etsy shop on vacation this morning.

I am not taking it down.

I am not dissolving my business.

I am not even going to quit selling at the farmers market.

I just have not had the time or the peace of mind to put the energy into the online shop that it needs. I make a sale, then forget about it until it’s the last available shipping day. This has happened with every sale this month. I could understand if I weren’t making sales, but I am, and then I forget about them. And I don’t think that is fair to anyone, especially the folks waiting for their fun, new yarn. So I put my shop on vacation until November 5th, 2012.

This gives me time to do three things:
1. Settle fully in to my new job
2. Plan the 3rd Annual Fiber Arts Bazaar (I will settle for nothing less than a fabulous.)
3. Build up some hand-made inventory and replenish sock yarn, etc for the holiday season.

Things I am not taking a break from:
1. Blogging and micro blogging. Keep checking back here and on facebook and twitter
2. Knitting and spinning and maybe weaving if I ever get off my arse and get my loom back out
3. Dyeing
4. Selling locally

So there you have it, the big news.

In other realms, I have decided what my knitting challenge during the Olympics is going to be! (see how I cleverly worked my way around the name controversy there?)

I am going to make Motheye by Anne Hanson out of my red laceweight yarn. And I am going to finish this one! (Some of you might have noticed that I have pulled out every laceweight project I have ever started)

What’s your Olympic challenge?

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