Saturday, September 25, 2004

Ponchos, my dear...


Two ponchos, one for me and another for Emily (3 yo).



Crocheted poncho for my little one. Very simple pattern from the Candy Tots book. I love the flower specially.


This one is for me, knitted, using the Straw.com pattern. I was able to use most of my smaller skeins of handspun yarn. Lots of ends to weave in-lol!

Monday, September 20, 2004

I have decided...


that I will stop feeling guilty everytime I start a new project. I refuse to be stressed out by feeling that I have to finish an old project before I start a new one. It's my project, my time, my yarns and my needles! So there! I can start as many projects as I want as long as I have needles available. And when I start feeling guilty, I will use it to motivate myself to finish that UFO. I know I am my worst enemy. And I plan to take lots of notes in case I forget.

CA Wool and Fiber festival:
Rather small gathering, not a lot of vendors, very little choices. Total driving hours is 7 hours from Sacramento to Boonville on narrow zig-zag 2-lane roads. I wonder why they hold it there? Lambtown is bigger and more accessible. I came home with some handpainted Tussah silk roving and one prize winning Cormo fleece from Merry Meadows Farm in Willits, CA. Beautiful, clean and inexpensive. There was one vendor selling 4 rather expensive drop spindles. That's it!

Well, I won't be going back next year.

Wednesday, September 15, 2004



Susan Bates Socks set. This pack contains 4 different sizes, US size 1, 0, 00 and 000. The needles are color coded and measure 7 inches long. There are 5 needles in each size. I've always wanted to knit those tiny socks that people make into earrings or lapel pins. Now I can play with them.

Tuesday, September 14, 2004


Picture of the Simple Elegance stole from Soysilk thread.


close up of the lace stitch.


Blocking another crocheted lace shawl. I used hundreds of pins to block this one. Makes me wish I had some of those blocking wires.
I am crocheting the Triangular Shawl by Doris Chan, page 91, in the latest IK magazine CROCHET. There is an error on Row 1. The pattern repeat enclosed in brackets [...] that needs to be repeated 15 times is missing one step. After the last "ch 3", you must include "skip next 2 sc" or your work will end up crooked. For an advanced crocheter, it only makes sense to do it but to a beginner who is following the pattern word for word, that one ommision screws up the pattern.

I will try to email Interweave Press. My past attempts in emailing magazines have not been successful. Vogue Knitting has the worst customer service, in my opinion.

Saturday, September 11, 2004

Totally, utterly lost


I can't believe it! I'm lost without the stole. It's kinda like I don't have a purpose anymore ( ha, ha!). Good news is that Jonelle loved it even with the changes I made to the pattern. And without a project to finish, I'm wandering aimlessly between the piles of wool in my craft room. But wait, I almost forgot the last sock I have to knit for Mary. I'll get that finished and out to her soon.

I also finished Teresa's socks and with the leftover yarn, I'm knitting her a lace scarf. Teresa Simons (Mountain Shadow Ranch)is my spinning mentor. She has taught me a lot on spinning, wool preparation, sheep breeds and has been very generous with her time and awesome fibers. I love hanging out with her.

I have been thinking a lot about designing my own patterns. In the works right now is a lace scarf pattern from one skein of Cara Mia yarn. The pattern is already written up. Just need some sprucing up. Second is a pair of lace socks. Third is some lace fingerless mitts. Yes, I am addicted to lace!

Monday, September 06, 2004

I finished the stole!


It's over! It's finished! No more lace stole! What an utter relief! I'm going to miss the blasted thing. I don't remember anymore when I started the Simple Elegance Stole (designed by Debra Chinn) that I knitted for Southwest Trading Co. (Soysilk). I washed and blocked it and it's drying upstairs. Very tedious but ended up being breathtaking. But I can't knit another one for myself. Once I send it back to Jonelle, I really don't see myself knitting another one. It's not the pattern. It's me. I don't see myself knitting the same pattern over and over again. That's why we buy so many patterns. So we can knit a brand new pattern everytime.

The CA State Fair ends today. I had a wonderful time helping Teresa do a demo on Spinning Cotton. People were amazed to see that we still spin on handspindles. Very antiquated, they say. Teresa and Corwyn spun on spinning wheels. I spun with drop spindles. I noticed that more kids crowded around me. They were fascinated with the toy wheel spindle I made. The adults were more interested in the spinning wheels.

The fair was a success. Only 1 hitch. When the fair people cancelled Black History day last Saturday and closed the fair early at 9 pm instead of midnight. There was some protest but I guess they had to do it because they didn't want a repeat of what happened last year. Oh well.

I'm happily off to new project and finishing off old ones (yeah, right).