Museum Adventure

The Bearded One and I took advantage of the long weekend to tackle our LA Bucket List. Friday, we went to the Natural History Museum and the California Science Center. It was great to walk around and see artifacts from all over the world. Wasn’t just pretty minerals and dead animals - though there were plenty of those - but also Roman Artifacts, a butterfly pavilion, Aztec carvings, space exploration modules, and amazing Dinosaur fossils. My phone’s battery just couldn’t keep up with all the photos I took. Our last stop of the day, a visit to the Endeavor Space Shuttle, was my favorite of everything we saw and not just because I’m sentimental about space exploration. Endeavor is absolutely amazing from any angle. 

Floor Mosaic from the ruins of Pompeii

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 Inspiring, fun, thought-provoking, and crafty links to round out the week and jumpstart your brain. 

Metropolitan Museum of Art Releases 400,000 Images to the Public Domain

The Ages And Ages: Tiny Desk Concert brings the pep.

A green grass roof seems like a great place for a picnic.

What the internet actually looks like. 

This is one lovely yarn shop in Portugal.

Garterlac Dishcloths

Fairly sure that I’ve fallen down the Entrelac rabbit hole. The day started innocently enough when I went looking for pattern that would look great with variegated yarn. My first choice, Grandma’s Favorite, pooled catastrophically. My second choice, the Garterlac Dishcloth, seemed like it was made for variegated yarn. The pattern had been in the queue for years. Why not not try it? Little did I know that I was standing on the edge.

Casting on was simple. As were the crumpled looking edge triangles. Then I knit a square and then another and another. In no time at all, I was working the bind off triangles and weaving in ends. Picking up stitches be damned, knitting entrelac was fun! I was officially falling down the rabbit hole and it was awesome.

I was so tempted to keep these for myself but into a box and off they went to their new home. Going to be knitting a lot more cloths so I’m sharing the entrelac love. After all, it’s a perfect use for my giant stash of kitchen cotton. 

If you’ve never tried Entrelac knitting before, this pattern is a good place to get your toes wet. It’s well written and easy to understand. The cloth is small and quick so you’re not investing a lot of time trying a new technique; however, it’s still large enough to know if you enjoy working Entrelac. Doesn’t take much yarn either - less than 60 yards, about 30 grams, of worsted weight cotton. Plus, the cloth looks very impressive and much harder to make than it actually is. If you can knit, pick up stitches, and work kfb and k2tog, you have everything you need to get started.

The Specs:

Pattern: The Garterlac Dishcloth from Criminy Jickets

Yarn: Knit Picks Dishie Multi - Nettle

Needles: US 6 (4mm)

Dates: May 6 - 9, 2014

@Ravelry 

Drum Carding Weekend

This was what my kitchen table looked like pretty much all of Saturday and Sunday. See, this is the last week I’ve got the drum carder and I’m determined to make the most of it.

I spent a good chunk of Saturday feeding 3 oz of light rose grey alpaca through the carder. It was amazing to see the fiber go from crimped locks to a soft and fluffy batt. Don’t think I’ll ever get tired of seeing that transformation. 

On Sunday, I carded the 2 oz of Romney bought at April’s spinning guild meeting. The very same Romney that prompted my last minute decision to rent the drum carder.  Locks went in and a fluffy cloud came out. If it looks like a cloud, it has to be a cloud right?

In total, I processed 5 oz over the weekend and I’m still not done. There’s more alpaca and angora coming from my distant stash. Until that arrives, I’ve got grand plans for this bump of fiber from Spun Right Round. Going to use it to try something new, The Monet Effect Technique from Grace Shalom Hopkins. Interested to see how carding recombines the pink, blue, and green together.

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Had a fun idea for a new pattern. After copious notes, sketches, and knitting, all I have to show for it is frogged yarn. Time to cast on again. 

Inspiring, fun, thought-provoking, and crafty links to round out the week and jumpstart your brain. 

Pejac’s Canvases and Street Art

Adorable felted mushrooms

Love peeking into an artist’s studio

How to Kick Monkey Butt - Focuses on drawing but is good advice no matter what your medium. 

Gif-iti

Sound Blogging Advice

Spun Right Round in May

Beware! There are spoilers ahead for May 2014 shipment of the Spun Right Round Fiber Club. Scroll on at your own risk.

Last week I remembered that it was almost time for the latest club shipment to show up in my mailbox. April’s package, Olivia, was still hanging out on the wheel and I thought there’d be just enough time to finish. Didn’t happen. When the package arrived, there was still yard after yard of single to spin but May’s colors were the perfect kick in the butt to finish. The sooner Olivia is off the wheel, the sooner I can start spinning up Potted.

Potted’s greens, blues, reds, creams, and even browns are right up my color alley. Might even be my new favorite color way from Spun Right Round and I have a lot of favorites. A little note said that the inspiration for this color was “potted plants, foliage, and hanging baskets”. Pretty sure she nailed it since the colors remind me more and more of my Mom’s plant covered porch. The fiber, Falkland, is one of my favorites to spin and I’m already planning what to do with this bump. Shawl? Fingerless Mitts? Mystery pattern?  

Also included in the package were two adorable little BFL punis. I’ve seen punis before but never handled them. This pair is small, just 4 grams, but are surprisingly plump and firm. Can’t wait to spin them up to see what cute little mini skeins they become.

Unfortunately, my 3 months in the Spun Right Round Fiber club are up. I can honestly say that I have throughly enjoyed it and would recommend it. The colors are beautiful even if they are out of my usual green and grey spectrum. The base fibers are lovely and soft. The one bump that I’ve started spinning has been a pleasure to work with. Plus, how awesome is it to get pretty fiber in the mail every month? I’m incredibly tempted to sign up for another month or another 3 months; however, I’m also tempted to sign up to a different fiber club with a completely different color palate. 3 months and 12 oz of fiber is a good sample of a dyer’s wares. I know for certain that Spun Right Round’s fiber is exemplary and I’m sure I’ll buy it again. In the meantime, there are so many other amazing dyers that make amazing art as well. I’d be remiss to not try them out as well. 

Who are your favorite dyers? Or do you dye yarn and fiber yourself? I’d love to know.

Go On An Adventure

View from the edge of The Getty Art Museum

This past weekend The Bearded One and I crossed two things off our LA Bucket List: The Getty Museum and The Griffith Observatory. At the museum we saw ancient manuscripts, Rococo furniture, Pollock’s Mural, Van Gogh’s Irises, and so much more that I can hardly remember it all. The few hours spent wandering the museum cultivated an appreciation for the Italian portrait painters Pontormo and Titian that I didn’t know existed before Sunday. What’s more, walking through the exhibits made me want to crack open my sketchbooks and get back to my long neglected sketching. At the Griffith Observatory, it was also inspiring to see the space exhibits and get a bird’s-eye view of LA while standing next to the old school telescopes. 

I enjoy being a homebody as much as the next person. Okay, probably a little more than the next person but there’s more to life than the confines of one’s own walls or the flickering glow of the screen. That’s why, every so often, you need to get out and go an adventure. Don’t have to go far or spend a lot of money. Just try something new or something that you’ve always wanted to do and jump start your brain. 

LA from the top of the Griffith Observatory

Griffith Park and LA 

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Inspiring, fun, thought-provoking, and crafty links to round out the week and jumpstart your brain. 

I was on the hunt for a washcloth pattern that would look great in variegated yarn and decided to try something that’s been on my knitting bucket list for awhile, Entrelac. The Garterlac Dishcloth was a great and addicting introduction to the technique. Pretty sure that I’m going to be making a lot more of them. 

Sprawling Ink Cityscapes by Ben Sack

Coconut Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies might be on the menu this weekend. 

Romain Laurent’s Looping Portraits 

Learn about circuits and electronics with conductive play dough. The site includes “recipes” for the dough and tutorials for building circuits that would be great for kids of any age. Totally going to make a batch. Science is awesome and occasionally unexpected.

Handspun Nebula

As unassuming as this skein looks, it is actually spun from wool and a whole lot of firsts. The skein was made from the first batt I turned into fauxlags, aka fake rolags. It’s the first time that I’ve spun a true woolen yarn. The first time that I’ve spun black wool. As well as the first time that I’ve spun long-draw from a traditional prep. More than a sample anyway. Having spun this yarn and to now be holding it in my hands, makes me feel like I’ve leveled up to become a better, more knowledgeable spinner. Still one that still doesn’t know what to make with her ever growing stash of handspun either.

The batt had been sitting in the stash for years without a purpose. It wasn’t until seeing a demo on rolags and actually spinning one that I had some clue of what to do with the fiber. Unfolded, the batt covered my entire balcony table. What exactly had I a gotten myself into? Remembering the demo, I spent the next couple of afternoons turning the batt into 37 fauxlags. They covered most of my kitchen table. Couldn’t help but wonder, again, what I’d gotten into but all those worries disappeared once I started spinning.

Big or small, long or short, the rolags were incredibly fun to spin. Spinning the 37th was just as enjoyable as spinning the first not just because of the different sizes but also the colors. One rolag would be black with bits of purple and the next would be full of eye popping blue. Despite their differences, the rolags combined to form a fairly consistent yarn. Well, as consistent as a lumpy, bumpy, woolen spun yarn can be. Plying definitely evened out some of the more mountainous sections. After a bath and a few good thwacks against the shower wall, the yarn plumped up nicely. I’m ready to prep and spin another skein just like it.

The Specs: 

Fiber: Spinner’s Hill Batt - 4 oz of mystery wool

Color: Storm (combo of blue, black, purple, and brown)

Yardage: 440 yds + 11

Weight: Sport, 10 - 12 WPI

Dates: March - April 26, 2014

Spinning Up Olivia

2 weeks ago, I couldn’t decide what to spin so I asked Instagram to pick for me. Olivia, the April shipment from the Spun Right Round Fiber Club, was the unanimous choice. Then it was time to take a closer look at the bump.

Freshly unchained, the colors seemed to be all over the place…

...but a little organizing set them right…

...before I coiled them up again.

The steady repeats would have been perfect for fractal spinning but I wanted to try something new, yet still simple. The easiest thing to do turned out to be splitting the roving in half lengthwise and spinning the singles from opposite ends. Seems like articles and spinning tutorials always always mention spinning from the same direction when it comes to manipulating color. I’m interested to see what happens when you go in the opposite direction. With the first single finished and the second underway, I’m hoping the long repeats turn into a spectacular barber pole. 

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The first single from April's Spun Right Round Fiber Club. 

Inspiring, fun, thought-provoking, and crafty links because there’s more to the internet than knitting and spinning. 

I’ve always wondered how people wind such beautiful and orderly spindle cops. 

Check out this beautiful spiral staircase. 

What Really Happens When You Start Over

About DIY Projects

Love these Retro Tech Lego Kits, especially the old school computers.

A Puppeteer’s Advice from Jim Henson

Bradley Hart’s Bubble Wrap Paintings

Aspiring Teenage Mutant

Was in the mood for a little yarn shopping last week and ended up at the beautiful Twist Yarns in Manhattan Beach. After perusing and petting everything that caught my eye, I walked out with 2 skeins of Twist Fluff, hand dyed by the shop’s owner, Cathy Karen. There was some vague idea in my head about knitting them into a slouchy hat and a matching pair of mitts. Whether it would be a pattern of my own or someone else’s, I hadn’t gotten that far.

While catching up on  Dull Roar, I saw the I Was A Teenage Mutant Hat from Apocalypse Knits. The pattern was and still is one of my favorites from when I first looked through the book but I’d forgotten about it. Though I somehow managed to buy the perfect yarn for it. Cast on last night and it’s rather relaxing to just knit something that someone else has already put the work into designing.  Sometimes the thought gets into my head that I have to design and write up everything that I knit. As enjoyable as it is, the process gets tiring after awhile. Plus, let’s not forget that other designers are constantly coming up with amazing patterns that I want to make and wear. I’m not doing myself any favors my fencing myself in to my own patterns and thoughts. It’s important to get an idea of how other people think about yarn and fiber too. The only thing to do is give myself permission to work from other patterns and give myself the opportunity to be inspired and learn new tricks.

Speaking of inspired, the ‘Teenage Mutant Hat’ pretty simple, which makes it a relaxing knit, but has a great twist at the end. There’s no crown shaping because the hat to closed off with some strategic kitchener stitch. I can’t wait.

So far the yarn, Twist Fluff, is lovely and held up to frogging like a champ. The first attempt was too big. Whomp whomp. Anyway, the yarn soft and cushy but still seems durable and sturdy. The color, no idea what it’s called, reminds me of a rocky beach and is knitting up wonderfully in garter stitch. Should be equally lovely in stockinette. 

Adventures With A Drum Carder

I blame the Romney I bought at last Saturday’s spinning guild meeting. The fiber is lovely, soft, and clean but it still needs to be prepped for spinning. Unfortunately, I have no way to prep said fiber which prompted the last minute decision to rent the guild’s drum carder. It’s definitely large and in charge. So large, in fact, that I brought it home in a rolling duffle bag. Just what exactly I’d gotten myself into? Then guilt set in because there were only 2.5 ounces of Romney compared to the enormity of this hungry machine. The guilt didn’t last long because I started to remember all the alpaca, angora, and random bits of wool that have been sitting un-prepped and un-spun in my stash for years. And what about all that roving? Maybe I could experiment with that too. See ya later, Guilt.

The first thing to hit the drum was some random bits of practice grab bag wool. Before feeding it through the drums, I pulled the chunks apart to thin them down a little. Didn’t worry about color or anything else. The wool went in until the drum was full and there still half a bag left to play with.

The colors blended beautifully though there are still random spots of solid blue after 3 passes through the carder. Looking forward to spinning it up and seeing the finished yarn.

Since this was my first time using a drum carder, or a carder of any kind, I’m amazed at the transformation. Before, there were just squishy clumps of wool I didn’t know what to do with. Now, I’ve got something that I can’t wait to spin. Also, the process was a blast. Get to play with wool and fiber? Check. Get to play with color? Check. Get to make stuff? Double check. Me thinks that I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole and I have no idea how deep it goes.

Since making those first 2 batts, I’ve done a little more research on how to properly use a drum carder. How to clean one too. The best info I’ve found is a 3-part series from vampy.co.uk. Part 1 is all about the basics of how a drum carder works and the necessary accoutrements. Part 2 is about carding raw fleece. Part 3 is about how to blend fibers. Now that I’m armed with a little more knowledge, I’m ready to play around, experiment, and make more batts. 

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Fun and interesting links from the week.

Underworld: The Intrepid Cave Photography of Robbie Shone

Beautiful, varied lamps made from vintage and discarded glass

One wonderful balcony, please. 

How to Make a Knotted Steek - Definitely want to test this for my next major color work project.

Now I want giant, silly pom-poms for my bike too. 

Simple Socks

After the complexity of the Shur’tugal Socks, a simple pair of socks seemed like just the thing for purse knitting. The pattern shouldn’t take a year to knit not should it get left behind for something less complicated. Before it got too big, the Amiga Sweater and all of its stockinette was fine purse knitting but it’s time to get back to socks. 

I spent way too much time trying to find the perfect simple but not boring pattern before picking the Business Casual Socks. The pattern seemed easy enough to mod for toe-up knitting and into knee highs. Unfortunately, the tiny cables kept getting lost in the different colors. Next I tried variations of ribbing but nothing lived up to my expectations. Eventually, I stopped fighting the simplicity and went with the plain jane stockinette that looked so awesome in the toe. The colors are wild and interesting enough to keep me from getting too bored. Plus, stockinette socks are great tv knitting since you don’t have to look at them when you’re not turning a heel or increasing a gusset. 

It’s not just the colors that are making these socks such a pleasure to knit. The yarn, Koigu KPPM, has great bounce and softness. I don’t have to use my smallest size 0 needles to get a nice, squishy fabric either. If this pair goes well, my stash is going to have a lot more Koigu in it. 

Frisson Shawl

When I first saw the Frisson pattern, I was instantly smitten. I liked the shape and the size and the points. I liked the combination of garter stitch and eyelet wedges. It looked like an easy knit that wouldn’t be too boring, what the Knitmore Girls would call ‘autopilot knitting’. To the top of the queue it went and, when I decided to knit a shawl for a friend’s birthday gift, Frisson beat out all the other options.

The knitting was definitely easy since the pattern was well written and easy to follow. Addicting too because the points just seemed to show up on my needles when I wasn’t looking. I’d knit one point and just have to knit another. Eventually, the rows got long enough that I couldn’t knit a whole point in one sitting but it was still really fun. If I hadn’t dropped a knee on my circular needle and snapped it at the join, I would have finished the shawl a lot sooner. Lesson learned though. Don’t leave knitting needles on the bed. 

Even after knitting one as a gift, I still want to make a second one for myself which is the sign of a great pattern. Have the yarn picked out and everything.

Another reason this shawl was such a great yarn to knit was the yarn. Twist Heavenly, a blend of superwash merino, cashmere, and nylon, is a local yarn hand dyed in Manhattan Beach at The Twist Yarn Shop. The yarn is wonderfully soft and has great drape. The colors are beautiful and knit up well too. Even with the long rows of garter stitch, there was no flashing and the colors barely pooled. One skein of Heavenly wasn’t enough to knit the full shawl but, with 12 points, this Frisson is still a perfect size to wear as a scarf.

The Specs: 

Pattern: Frisson Shawl by Brittany Wilson

Yarn: Twist Yarns Heavenly - Geode 

Needle: US 5 (3.75 mm) Circular

Date: February 23 - March 31, 2014

@Ravelry

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Fun and interesting links from the week.

Bears on Stairs

New York Subway Driver Portraits by Janus van den Eijnen

What I’ve Learned from Indie Publishing by Tammy Strobel

Chineasy

Corg Life

Need a little blue, green, or purple eye candy?

Shear Joy

Shur'Tugal Socks

I sometimes forget how hard it is to take attractive photographs of one’s own feet only to be reminded whenever I try to document a new pair of socks. I’ve tried several times to get good photos of this pair but they never came out. Either my feet looked like amorphous blobs or my legs took up have the shot or the lighting was terrible or… You get the point. Yesterday, the marine layer filled the sky and the diffused light was perfect for taking photos. So, I took one last attempt and, 5 months after binding off, the Shur’tugal Socks finally get their spot in the limelight.

I love the pattern and I love the yarn, Sweet Georgia Tough Love Sock, but these socks were not a fast knit. At the cast on I wanted a slightly more interesting sock than plain ribbing but Shur’tugal turned out to be more complicated than I wanted for purse knitting. So they languished and spent more time in the bag than they did being knit. They languished even longer when I had to rip out an entire gusset because it started too late. The motivation to finish didn’t hit until a big trip was right around the corner and I really didn’t bringing these unfinished socks cross-country again. I finished them one repeat at a time and finally cast off a few days before getting on a plane.

Of course, there were mods. The biggest was working the socks toe-up though I didn’t bother to flip the charts. No point with this particular stitch pattern. It looks good going up or down. The secret bonus of working these socks from the toe was that it let me test out the stitch pattern. It was stretchy enough for my foot but didn’t have enough give to go completely around and up my leg. I worked a few repeats right after the heel before switching to 2x2 ribbing up the back. No way I’d be able to get those socks on without that ribbing. Plus, it was much easier than figuring how to add an extra repeat in pattern. 

The Specs

Pattern: Shur’tugal Socks by Alice Yu

Yarn: Sweet Georgia Tough Love Sock - Lettuce Wrap

Needles: 2.25 mm Circulars

Dates: Jan 31, 2013 - December 9, 2013

@Ravelry

I haven’t had much of a chance to wear them because, most of the time, LA isn’t cold enough for wool socks. Looking forward to living in a different city where knitted goodness can become a regular part of my wardrobe again. 

Spun Right Round in April

If you’re a member of the Spun Right Round Fiber Club and haven’t received April’s package yet, there be spoilers ahead. Read on at your own risk.

***

Just this morning I had the random thought that it was time for the Spun Right Round Club to show up at my door. I checked the my mailbox on a whim and there was a puffy envelope with my name on it. 

I wasted no time ripping open the paper. Inside was a lovely bump of fiber named Olivia. The colors - a mix of purple, pink, white, blue, and yellow - are a bit more subdued than last month’s Color Bot. Not something I would have picked for myself but the mix is swiftly growing on me. I want to spin it into a simple 2-ply just to see how how the dark purple blends with the bright pink and yellow. 

The fiber itself, Rambouillet, is a special treat since this is the first time it’s ever graced my stash. I keep draping it around my neck because it is marvelously soft. Never mind that it’s 70º both outside and inside my apartment. The more I handle the fiber, the closer this bump is getting to the very top of my spinning list. It’s even beating out that bit of Malabrigo Nube. 

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Will Rogers State Beach

Fun and interesting links from the week.

Labyrinth Room Series by Matthew Borrett

The hand embroidery on this quilt label is wonderful.

The amazing Pinch Library and Community Center in Yunnan, China.

A brief tour of the Ístex Fiber Mill.

It’s so interesting to look into other people’s Bullet Journals.