Sunday, November 2, 2008
Random things...
Here's the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself. (See below)
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them. (See further below...)
5. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.
1. I like bad jokes. I like any jokes, really. I can't go 30 minutes without saying something sarcastic, or trying to make someone laugh during the course of a normal conversation. It's like I'm Chandler from Friends. I wonder sometimes if people get it, or they just think I'm an idiot.
2. I'd be completely content locking myself in my apartment for an entire weekend, doing nothing but watching X-Files, spinning yarn, eating pizza, and drinking wine. Actually, I pretty much do that every chance I get. Everyone thinks I'm an extrovert, but I'm a classic introvert- I need "me" time almost constantly. My boyfriend is the only person I can be around 24/7- the only other person I can be "alone" with, if that makes sense.
3. I'm kind of a wino. Not in a 12-steps kind of way, but in a "what would I do if I couldn't afford to drink wine every night" kind of way. I should just say I'm a hedonist and I somehow manage to balance out all my lushing about with being productive and ambitious. I'm not one of those people who tells themselves "no", although I should probably try that sometime.
4. I realized this past year that I've become terrified of driving. This is probably due to the fact that because I live in a city without a car, I haven't driven anything anywhere for over 3 years. The thought of driving down the highway with all those speedfreaks cutting people off and not signaling makes me hyperventilate.
5. I love to cook. I love eating at fancy restaurants and then trying to make whatever I ate at home. I would rather slave over dinner for 2 hours than eat fast food. Sure, I still break down and get delivery or takeout if I'm super busy, lazy, or the kitchen is empty, but I've gotten to a point where I'm kind of a food snob. On the food topic, I eat like a vegetarian 85% of the time and don't eat red meat or pork, except once a year at the office holiday party when I have a giant expensive cut of filet mignon. I can't afford to eat red meat worth eating, so I savor it when it's on someone else's dollar.
6. I have really broad tastes when it comes to movies and music. I love electronic lullaby music as much as I like ridiculous industrial and heavy metal. I love horror movies of any flavor. I like the "dark" stuff, but you'll also catch me watching Disney movies. There are few things that really scare me or gross me out. I have a lot of fun trying to find those things. Movies that really push the envelope are my favorite.
Ok, maybe those are some lame factoids but it's hard to think up these things, and even hard to type with a cat on your keyboard. I'm not sure who's left to tag, but if are reading this and haven't done this yet, consider yourself tagged!
And here's a gratuitous batt picture:
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Fall Bake-Along: Pumpkin Bread!
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I use olive oil for everything though!)
1/2 cup water
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups flour (sometimes I do half white flour and half whole wheat flour)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 cup chopped dates*
3/4 cup chopped walnuts*
*optional
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugar, oil, water and eggs together. In another bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cloves and cinnamon; then add to the first mixture. Add the pumpkin, dates and walnuts and mix well. Pour into your baking tin of choice (I use either two small loaf tins or one big loaf, but you could probably do these as muffins too.) Bake until done, at least 1 hour. Best served with hot coffee or tea on a cool autumn morning, or with a glass of milk as a bed time snack :)
Monday, August 11, 2008
buried in wool
Here is the latest batch of rovings:
I've been buying a LOT more of other artists' fiber lately; something I thought I could curb by producing more of my own, but being surrounded more by my own stuff makes me crave something different and new. I've been trying to spin lots more, but it comes in fits and starts.
This is probably the best yarn in the world, spun from Hobbledehoy batts- I call it "Waves Become Wings":
And this is "Aeroplane Flies High" from my handpainted roving:
That's all for now! I've got to try to catch up on some sleep :)
Sunday, July 27, 2008
whole lotta roving
And here are the others, all hanging out in my yard, post photo-shoot.
I was so tempted to fall asleep in the roving pile!
I did a few more today, including some for the Craftster Fiber of the Month swap. Now I'm finally going to go spin. This past week has be exhausting, for some reason, and has sucked away my spinning mojo.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
holy fiber art!
From top left: Sari silk, organic cotton roving, cotton and ecospun roving, loosely carded ecospun (all from Little Barn); merino-sea cell roving from Creatively Dyed, a handful of freshly sheared alpaca, and silk hankies from Lone Tree Wools.
We almost came into owning a "fiber rabbit" too:
I honestly don't know if I've ever seen Ben happier than when he was holding that bunny!! Only $30 too; I thought they were so much more (I know the pedigree ones are.) Maybe when I get that farm house...
I also got to meet some fellow Etsyians- KittyGrrlz, My Favorite Thing, and Spinundrum. We may even meet up and have a spinny session or two in the future! Yay!
All in all, a really great event. If I'm anywhere near Illinois next year, I will definitely consider participating as a vendor.
Off to watch the old school "Batman" and to spin up some of this loot!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
experiment
The goal: to devote an entire month to some hard-core dyeing & spinning. Hard-core meaning ~30 rovings/skeins of yarn dyed on the weekends, and spinning every night. The BF encouraged me to see if I could bump this whole side-project woolly business up to the next level, and he promised to help. I placed some mammoth orders on Monday- 10 pounds of merino, 7 pounds of falkland, 6 pounds of BFL, 27 skeins of yarn, and dyes. Yeah, my bank account is freaking out a little bit, but hopefully I can get through this in a month and more than have it paid for in a week or two. This will also help me get geared up for doing the craft show(s) in the fall.
In other news, two of my newest yarns:
Another Elvis-inspired yarn, "Viva Las Vegas", spun from Hobbledehoy batt,wrapped in gold thread with some sequins here and there:
And "Monster Mash" from some Falkland roving I dyed up. Colors didn't turn out quite as I expected them too (I wanted more vibrant purple) but it will still stripe nicely and it's bouncy fun!
Saturday, July 12, 2008
back to it
But if you'd like to see more, they're on my Flickr account. Gratuitous greenery! The BF and I visited one of his old classmates who now lives on small farm and has plans to flesh it out and make it fully sustainable over the next couple of years. I got to spin outside under a giant tree with hummingbirds flitting around and big ol' farm cats flopped about on the grass. Yeah, it's kind of a wonder I'm back in Chicago. I don't know how well I'd handle country living, but I'm getting closer and closer to making the jump and trying it out. But I don't want to work. I just want to retire to a full time spinster at age 25. Wishful thinking, eh? I don't think I can afford a farm AND student loans on a spinster's income. Rats.
I did a lot of spinning while I was down there- mostly in my BF's parents' house and in a local cafe. To my surprise, only the bus-boy asked me what on earth I was doing. Maybe it's rural enough down there that most people are familiar with spinning wheels?! Anyway, here is what I got done last week and some of this week:
From top left: Laminaria, hand dyed BFL; Calico, hand dyed merino (huge skein for a two ply!); Prismatic Wall, hand dyed merino; Harlequin, merino from Pigeonroof Studios.
I finished two yarns yesterday, including the first of my Elvis-inspired yarns that I've been dreaming up (I went to Graceland last week!) More will follow, rest assured...
Time to get back to the dye pots. And to place another wool order. I may do something crazy like purchase an entire bump. WHOA.
Oh, P.S.- I got into YarnCon! I've got time, but I have to lay out a Plan for inventory, setup, etc. And I'm feeling kooky enough to apply for DIY Trunk Show too. I'm out of control! It's probably actually not-so-smart to do two craft shows within two months of each other in the fall when everyone is clamoring for holiday shopping and I'm only doing this part-time. But I'm enough of an over-achiever to try it anyway.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
countdown...
Oh, in case I didn't mention it before, I'm going to Southern Illinois with my boyfriend, to run around the woods he grew up in. It's a cheap thrill for a girl like me who's wild at heart but has been in the city for far, far too long.
In other news, I got another customer appreciation photo!
This was spun by Claire de Lune out of my "Tart" roving.
Speaking of yarn, I started handpainting yarn. I think I'm pleased with the results so far, and I'll have more fun trying new things this weekend- since I have 16 skeins waiting for me in the living room ;)
I should have more BFL here tomorrow, so I'll get in one more huge weekend of dyeing before I'm off for a week. I think I'll dye some skeins for myself to take on the trip- duh, I'm bringing my wheel, could I live without it for a week? ;)
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
*stuck*
I'm also trying to plan out where I'm going to put all these flowers around my house:
They were $4-5 a TRAY at my favorite grocery store (all of that cost me less than $20!), so I went a little overboard. I've planted a fraction of them around the base of two trees in the back yard, but I'm thinking the rest may need to go in pots. Lots and lots of pots!
My head is also here right now:
A June sky never looked so good! Also, handspun yarn looks better when photographed in the back yard with grass in the background. I think all my yarny photoshoots will be al fresco from now on-
Saturday, June 7, 2008
zzzz
This week, I spun up a couple of new yarns and started doing some fall knitting. Yeah, knitting is hard to get into when it's this hot, but I'm working up some great fingerless mitts. The first is from Folktale Fibers famous handspun patchwork yarn in the colorway Silhouette:
These are my test mitts, so they're a little big. I'm keeping them for myself.
Then, I got all inspired by the book by Cosette Cornelius-Bates, aka Cosyknitsliterally, called "Knit One, Embellish Too." It totally caters to my sensibilities and skill level as a crafter and knitter, so I started these mitts from some Pigeonroof Studios roving I spun up:
I think I'm going to embroider some vines and sew some small coordinating buttons on as 'grapes' or whatever.
I feel like it's been forever since I've knitted anything, so it's nice to do it again. Also, I find it's great to keep me busy during 7-hour sessions of playing Twilight Imperium with some friends.
Anyway, here are the yarns for the week:
Frog Prince, bulky singles from misc batts, unknown weight and yardage:
Get Happy, a mash-up of several
And Violet Hour, many purple and black batts, plied with clear thread, 110 yd, 4 oz:
Plus the Pigeonroof yarn in the WIP above. I got Intertwined the other day, so I'm going to try some new techniques this weekend- I think I'll start with corespinning my autumn-inspired LOOP batt!
I'd better go either check on how my rovings are drying, shower, or fall asleep.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
woolly week!
Here is what I got from Lapoli- May FOM swap- i love the purple and gray:
And here is my first LOOP spontaneous spinning batt- I chose autumn as my favorite season, and I'm psyched. Steph also posted this on her Flickr so I got to drool over it for a couple of days- I was so happy when it turned out to be MINE! I couldn't get a good pic of the whole batt (it is HUGE) so here's a pic of the little flowers it come with- LOVE THEM!
And finally, my first Hobbledehoy batts of the month! I've started spinning these already! I love purple, green & blue:
Aside from all this fiber to make me happy, I posted a bunch of stuff on Monday and had 4 sales within as many hours. Woohoo! Thanks to the loving BF for helping me package stuff up and ferry it to the post office. Time to finish up my smoothie and head off to my "real" job...
Thursday, May 22, 2008
days get better when...
I ordered this last week as my mother's day presents from my cats to myself ;) They know what I like! The fluffy rainbow batt is in a place out of reach from little claws on the very top of my stash shelf. Will I ever be able to bring myself to spin it? Inspiration is not lacking; as you can see, I also got Handspun Revolution. Yes! This three day weekend is going to be great...
If that wasn't enough, I actually went looking through the Treasuries on Etsy and look what I found!
Maybe it'll get to the front page!!!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
new fun things
I really love this. It's a mash-up of several different batts, but mostly some superwash merino from Enchanted Knoll. I think this yarn would make the most gorgeous cape or shawl EVER, so I'll be sad to see it go... and not so sad if it doesn't sell ;)
Also, on Saturday, my awesome BF finished up the banner he designed for my shop & blog (see above!) and then formatted parts of it to make into stickers! Yes, STICKERS! I've had a sticker fetish since I was a kid, so this is a huge deal for me!
So the kite-sheep is my logo, and the other sticker, the one with the clouds and the sheep, is something he did just for fun. You can't read it, but it says "Domesticated Sheeps- Making your day more happy." Ain't that the truth!
I also finished up the book Craft, Inc. by Meg Mateo Ilasco last night. It was a great step-by-step on how to turn a craft hobby into a full-time job. Granted I won't apply half of it to myself because I am in no way ready to do this full time, it was good to know the first steps- like applying for business licenses, etc, which are mostly necessary to do shows and stuff. Hey, who knows, this could go somewhere!
To reward myself for feeling all ambitious and productive, I bought a ton more fiber. Well, at least a couple of pounds anyway. I realized a 3 day weekend was coming up and I wanted to get psyched for busting through most of my stash. I also packaged up and sent off handpainted rovings for my first two swaps- one through Etsy and the other through Craftster. AND I just wound off a skein and am setting the twist now, so hopefully it'll be dry in time for Fiber Friday!
Hmm, yeah... I HAVE been busy ;)
Sunday, May 11, 2008
sheesh!
Anyway, I've been busy with keeping my apartment clean. Seriously, that is a full time job. I have actually done a lot of spinning this week though:
MOULIN- spun with some batts from Hobbledehoy, Loop, and Mandalinn, plus some stuff from my stash, plied with woolly nylon:
MIDGEWATER- my first TRUE scrap yarn, spun from a thousand different batts and rovings, worsted to bulky weight:
COSTA RICA- I spun this sitting outside last weekend. Drop-dead gorgeous BFL from Allspunup, spun into a striking worsted weight single:
POODLE SKIRT- spun from a batt by The Ranch, super thick and plied with clear poly thread:
On the bobbin- SUGARCUBES roving by Hobbledehoy, spun into a worsted weight two-ply, ready to be crocheted into a baby hat/booties set for a coworker- stay tuned for FO pics SOON!
Time to go rinse some roving and set it out to dry. I FINALLY got to dye some wool this weekend, it's been ages!
Friday, April 18, 2008
First wheelspuns and some roving...
From left to right, top to bottom: Cry Baby (from Copperpot Woolies), Blues (very first spin, my own handpainted Corriedale), Secret Garden (Hobbledehoy LOLbatt), Solemn (handpainted BFL), Woodstock (from Lapoli), Live Wire (another LOLbatt), Allsorts (from Copperpot's gimongo batt, my first plied yarn!), Vamped (handpainted Corriedale), and Water Hyacinth, singles in progress (from Mary Jane's Attic.)
Also, I dyed a ton of roving the weekend before- another collage to feast on!
Treebeard closeup, Material Girl, Maison Moderne, Dried Petals, Color Box, Color Box closeup, Meritage, Concord. Treebeard again. I LOVE Treebeard. I'm going to have to try that colorway again. All of those are Falkland wool roving.
Ok, it's time for me to go work on that Water Hyacinth single... it is taking for-ever!
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
ZOMFG I GOT ONE!
Look!
It didn't come with bobbins, so I've ordered those, and in the mean time I am cleaning him up, oiling him down, and practicing my treadling while trying to think of a name! I'm so excited!
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Spring? Is that you?!
Today was just as beautiful, so the BF and I went to Vella Cafe for his birthday breakfast, and then shopping for food and garden supplies. I think I'm going to do a bunch of herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, lettuce, and flowers. I also bought a raspberry and a blackberry bush. I'm out of control! We started turning up the beds and lining them with brick so they look extra nice (and so the lawn maintenance people know to not weed-wack anything down!) I hope the landlord doesn't mind... I'll definitely post pics of it when everything is up and running.
I think now it's time for a glass of wine and a handful of fiber to spin up.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
April Fools? Or just a really great idea!
In a bizarre turn in its campaign to create London’s greenest law office, Eversheds is to let sheep loose on the roof of its new building at One Wood Street.
The trial scheme will see four sheep used for a three-month period to maintain the grass on the building’s flat eco-roof, which is designed to prevent heat escaping through the office ceiling.
The firm has recruited an animal welfare officer, Sean Coates, who will spend the equivalent of one day each week taking care of the animals.
Coates, a former RSPCA officer who is now a freelance consultant in urban livestock management, said: “It’s important we keep the sheep in tip top condition to get the best out of them.
“They work as a team so if one of them isn’t pulling their weight, we need to make sure we’re covered.”
Coates said that the animals did not represent a danger to pedestrians in high wind, but added that the firm was insured in case of such an incident.
The decision to conduct the trial came after Eversheds undertook a lengthy consultation into ways to introduce sustainable energy methods into the new office, which will be completed in May.
The majority of partners in a partnership vote supported a trial of the grazing scheme, leading to Eversheds consulting energy experts, farmers and animal trainers about its viability.
“As well as keeping the roof trim, it’s possible we will also use their waste to fertilise plants in the firm’s new herb garden,” Coates said.
If the scheme is continued beyond the three month trial, Eversheds associates will be given the chance to name the animals in an online poll on the firm’s intranet site.
The firm yesterday also revealed that it is set to use the underwire of bras in its London office’s 160,000 sq ft of flooring (The Lawyer, 31 March).
****I'm going to go work there and become a corporate rooftop sheep herder. I'm not sure what I want to do with tonight. I'm in kind of a cranktastic mood, so I'm not sure if that means I need to force myself to be productive, or just veg out. Not really sure what would make me feel better at this point, or what I have the energy for. First things first: dinner. Ugh.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
*grin*
Not that it was a bad weekend- I went up to Milwaukee (for FUN!) with some friends to tour the Sprecher Brewery. $3 for a tour, four 8 ounce "samples" in a glass cup and all the rootbeer and other soda you could drink... hel-lo! I'm not a beer drinker at all, but it was a good time nonetheless. After that, we got dinner at a restaurant at the bottom of the old Schlitz brewery, and then hit up some bars in downtown. I can't believe I have to go back up there tomorrow AGAIN, which means I should go to bed ASAP. Oh well, at least I get a free lunch.... :\
Friday, March 28, 2008
fib3r pr0n
Bela Lugosi roving (corriedale):
Nocturnum roving (corriedale) Not as happy with this one. I was going for some deep tonal blacks but it didn't really happen, what with the big red splash and the white spot. Whatever, it'll spin up just fine methinks:
Pigeons roving (BFL). Now I know pigeons aren't purple and blue and all that, but it reminds me of the way the light hits their feathers and shimmers in all those nice pretty colors:
And here are my second three rovings, ever- left to right: Amazon, Sakura, and Dollhouse:
Amazon handspun:
Sakura handspun:
Snuggling yarns!
I tried spinning Dollhouse with the intent of plying it with thread, and I think I'm going to hold off on any more plying adventures until I get a wheel. It just ends up being a huge mess and a pain in the ass. Never mind that the cats have darn near destroyed everything while I am spinning it anyway!!!
Monday, March 24, 2008
more yarn
This was spun from the green and yellow corriedale roving which you can see in the previous posts:
And here is a sample-size LOOP batt called "ribbon dance". It was FANTASTIC to work with!
There are two more, but I am going to wait until the bit of yarn I'm working on now is finished so I can post a complete "roving to handspun" comparison!
Sunday, March 23, 2008
out of control
Anyway, onto the roving:
These are 4 shorter corrie strips all dyed separately but intended to coordinate together; named "I Want Candy":
Here they are woven together:
"Nightmare", BFL roving in blacks, grays, pinks, purples, greens, and blues:
Another BFL called "Lightening"- blacks, blue, and burgundy (which I thought was gray, at the time- oops):
And here is "Solemn" (I'll get better at naming these, I promise)- another BFL. I wrapped the roving in a spiral instead of a back-n-forth linear pattern when I painted it, the idea was to try to have spots of blended color on the roving resulting in subtle tonal shifts. I think it worked out nicely, and I'll have to keep this one for myself!
I have 5 more rovings drying in the bathroom as I speak, and I'm in the midst of spinning up my Sakura roving while the BF plays FF8. Rock.