Where Do I Start?

I haven’t posted since February.  I’m not sure where to even start!

I went to a Hill Country Weavers retreat with my mom the end of February.  One of the highlights was finally meeting Christina.  We’ve been blog friends since 2007!

After that was a trip to Florida where My Hero worked and I did lots of spinning.

Then I went back to Texas to DFW Fiber Fest with my mom and The Genius.  We took spinning classes with the fabulous Jacey Boggs.  The Genius and both learned a lot.  And, if you’re in the market for a spinning magazine, Jacey publishes Ply Magazine.  Go subscribe!  There was also a fabulous marketplace there.  Miss Babs and Western Sky Knits got most of my money.

And I got a nasty cold.  A cold that I’m still fighting four weeks later.

Between naps and fevers and a running nose, I’ve done some spinning and knitting.  Rather than describe all of it, I’m just going to do a photo dump.

As of today, I think I’m going to survive this stupid cold.  Maybe I’ll blog again before May!

I Love Cherries!

I’ve always loved cherries.  Almost 29 years ago, I picked out a dress for our rehearsal dinner.  I only ever bought clothes that were on sale, but this dress was expensive.  Anybody remember Carole Little?  Anyway, it was white with cherries on it.  My dad actually went with me and bought it.  It was a great dress!

Fast forward to last week.  I had to make this!

This is Mini Cherry Pie from Fig Tree & Co.  I pulled some fabric scraps, and by the next day it was pieced, quilted, bound, washed and dried, and hanging in my sewing room.  I found the cute little shelf on clearance at Target.  And yes, I love wild wallpaper!

I also finished a spinning project.  I think I started spinning this in November.  I was going to leave it as singles, but I hate single ply yarn.  I just have to remind myself of that occasionally.

It’s a little bit under plyed for my taste, but I may just be too lazy to fix it.

Speaking of single ply yarn, I have another weaving fail.  I chose an alpaca, wool yarn to weave, and it has problems!

I had a terrible time working it through the lease sticks.  See how fuzzy it’s getting.  I’m starting to break ends.  I’m going to go as far as I can with this.  Maybe I’ll at least get a couple of pillows out of it.  No more singly ply yarn for me!!!  My only consolation is that it would have made a horrible sweater.  It would have pilled the first time I wore it. Now it’s out of my stash.

By the way, if you’re a weaver, you probably just groaned and said, “Well, duh”!  Please feel free to offer advice in the comments.  I won’t be offended.  This weaving thing is kicking my butt!

I’ve been spending the bulk of my time in my sewing room, because it’s the easiest place to contain this little girl.

I actually heard myself say, “Lola!  Don’t eat the sewing machine”.  She was quite interested in the foot pedal cord.  She listens well, but has to be watched all the time.  Todays lesson was to not chew on my knitting.  She is the sweetest little thing and hates being scolded.  It will all take time!

And now it’s bed time for me.  Having  toddler in the house again is hard work!

Christmas Quilting

I finished a quilt.  Yes, you read that right.  Well, sort of.  It’s pieced, but not quilted.

I started this quilt several years ago and quickly got bored making star blocks.  I’d pack it away and every time I’d pull it out to work on it, I’d realize I didn’t have the pattern book with the quilt.  I’d search for the book, make a few more star blocks, and pack it away.

Last week, I pulled the bin out yet again, and started a google search for the pattern.  I think what finally yielded a photo was “Christmas star quilt”.  Score!!!!!  It’s a Brenda Riddle pattern from the book Comfort and Joy.  I ordered the book and finished the star blocks while I waited for the mailman.  Then I finished the quilt, and didn’t do it quite like the pattern anyway, because I was going to run out of fabric.

 

I think this will be one of the prettiest quilts I’ve ever made when it’s quilted which will probably be two years from now.  The fabric is Roman Holiday by Three Sisters for Moda.  Don’t even bother looking for it.  It’s long gone.  I think I saw somewhere that the fabric came out in 2006.

And….another finish, though not nearly as major.  I started a scarf last fall with some squishy soft yarn that I actually spun worsted.  It should have been a quick scarf to knit, but for whatever reason, my ball of yarn seemed to go on forever.  I pulled it out the other day and decided it had to be finished.  Frankie had a band concert the other night.

Yep, that’s him playing the tuba.

Anyway, I finished the scarf!

It’s a big squishy roll.

It’s finished and I really like it.

And….there is weaving.

Only it’s not mine.  The Genius got a loom for Christmas….a little early.  She’s never had a lesson and this is her third project.

We call her The Genius for a reason.

And now I’m off to see what else I can finish.

Fabulous Factory Tour

The last morning I was in Colorado, I was just planning to hang out and knit.  I started out by blog and Pinterest surfing.  Then I decided to look at the Schacht website and dream about the loom I’m going to own some day.  I soon realized that the factory is in Boulder.  Then I realized that I was also in Boulder.  I’ll bet you know where this is going!

I quickly made a phone call, showered, and packed my suitcase and the yarn I had strewn all over.  An hour later, I was here:

My tour guide was Denise, and we had a lot of fun!  The factory smells wonderful!  Who doesn’t love the smell of freshly cut wood?  Are you ready for lots of photos?

I own a Matchless, so needless to say, that was really intriguing to me.  I have a photo of mine when I got it in 2012.  The wood is much darker now, because cherry darkens as it ages.

Here are a whole bunch of legs for the wheel.

And the wheel itself.  The pieces are glued together and then held under pressure for a couple of days.

This is what it looks like before the final carving is done.

Look at all the fliers.  Denise told me they didn’t very often have that many sitting there.

One thing I thought was interesting is that the employees seemed happy.  They’d smile and say hi when you walked by.  Some of them have been there for more than thirty years.  We walked outside and saw a whole bunch of garden plots.  Any employee can have a plot for their own vegetables and flowers.  The only requirement is that their garden has to be organic.  They also have chickens on the property and if a employee would like, they can take care of them for a week and take all the eggs.

Ok, back to the inside tour.  Look at all these cute Ladybugs!

 

Oh, one other thing I learned is that the Schacht company has another factory along with this that makes bike bells and mirrors.  Evidently the owner is an avid biker and couldn’t find a mirror he liked, so he decided to make his own.

And then there are the Sidekicks.  I’m seriously considering selling my Kromski Sonata travel wheel and buying one of these.  They use all the same bobbins, etc.  And they fold up and fit in a small bag for travel.

 

 

But here’s what really had me jazzed up!  I’m thinking this is the loom I’m going to want some day.  That day may be coming because I finally found a time for the weaving class I want to take.

I left there so excited about a craft that I never thought I wanted to learn.  I’ve been spinning for almost three years, and I just love it.  It’s totally relaxing and I’m creating gorgeous yarn at the same time.  Thanks Denise, for the great tour.

I’ll leave you with a photo of what I started spinning last night.

 

The fiber is from JulieSpins.  She’s my all time favorite dyer and supplier.  This fiber is Polwarth, mohair, and silk and it spins like a dream.  It’s called Pumpkin Patch.  Someone commented on Ravelry last night that with Julie’s stuff, what you see on her Etsy page is what you get, or even better.  She does a great job photographing her yarn and fiber.  Go buy some!  You won’t regret it.

Now I need to go be productive.  Or have a nap.  This “middle age” stuff and waking up in the middle of the night is kicking my butt!!!