Vacation Postcard

We're on vacation until school starts in a few short weeks. See you soon!

Dissertation Vacation

[Blueberries from Appleberry Farm]

I am at the last stage of working on my dissertation.

I have my data, I have my analysis strategy and I have set up a couple uninterrupted blocks of time to write.

Postings will likely cease for awhile - I'm trying to quiet any and all distractions over the next six weeks - but I'm sure that I will still find time here and there to craft, knit and sew.

And I will let you know all about it when I'm ready to return to this space. Until then...cheers.

The needles pointed west

I'll be back in this space again soon.

I've been knitting, but I also went here.

Slowly getting back on my feet (with socks)

Slowly, slowly I'm gravitating towards crafting again. Not sure what my hiatus was all about. I think I just reached a saturation point after sewing the quilts and needed to rest for a bit. I also think that the pull of the outdoors: gardening, camping, reading in the hammock and al fresco meals, took/takes more of my creative energy that I realized. I'm happy that it's been put to good use - our yard is really coming together and we've had some fun adventures - but I missed my needles. I am back on to something again and it feels good: restful, fulfilling and exciting - all that knitting should be for me.

I'm diligently plugging away on these socks (I will meet my deadline) and I cast on my first pair of self-striping socks. This is my first time working with a cotton blend yarn and so far so good. I think that I am going to call these my rain garden socks. The greys, blues and greens remind me of rainy summer days, and I cast on for them in the midst of planting our new rain garden.

I've also been doing some planning for a set of sweaters for my girls this fall. I'm thinking of a pair (or triplet) of wallabies, with slight modifications (rolled hems, maybe no pouch).

What is it about a trip that inspires the need for new things?

With our trip coming up tomorrow, I was inspired to make a few things: 1) a custom camera strap and 2) fingerless gloves. (Hey, I needed something to calm my pre-travel jitters!)

I had been eyeing some beautiful camera straps on etsy, like these and these but decided to try something else, something a little different, on my own.

I invited DH up to the sewing room to browse my fabric stash and we settled on something that he likes as much as I do (we are equal opportunity photographers, so this was essential), some fabric inspired by Ghanaian adinkra sybols. Examples of adinkra symbols can be found here.

I basically made a cover for the existing camera strap. Just a long tube, hemmed to length at each end and sewn with a seam up the middle of the back. It is a snug fit, so it won't slip around. It is removable, so I am free to choose something else entirely different next year if I like. I also just covered our existing strap, so no need to purchase any additional hardware to make this compatible with our camera. Sure you can see some of the original strap poking through at each end, but that's alright with me. You can't beat the custom look.













The pattern for the other project is from a book I received for Christmas. The Maine Morning Mitts seemed perfect - something to keep the chill off my hands and something to keep my fingers free for knitting. I used the Rowan Colourscape Chunky bu Kaffee Fassett in colorway Ghost. It's 100% lambswool. I dropped down a couple needle sizes to account for the thicker wool and now they feel cozy against my hands. I can't wait to sport these around the city.

Also, for any new or experienced fiber enthusiasts out there who want to expand their understanding of yarn and how it's made, I highly recommend The Knitter's Book of Yarn (Parkes). The level of detail was perfect for me and her writing about the origins and history of particular fibers was fascinating. I have a much greater understanding when to use which kind of yarn - and on which projects - than I had just three weeks ago. I mean, I understood that you should use sock yarn to make socks, but as for how different fiber combinations subtly work for or against each other, well, that was a different story. After reading this book I walked into my LYS with a much greater understanding of what I was looking at - where the yarns came from and why certain blends were offered over others. I can't recommend this book more highly. Besides, it's chock full of cute/beautiful/imaginative patterns and what could be more inspiring than that? Knowledge plus inspiration equals one happy momma.

A few pictures of our trip when we return. Until then, be good.

...Finish another project?

Here are some pictures of three felted coin purses I have sitting on my shelf. I knit them up, sewed the seams, even made the accompanying flowers, felted everything (in our frontloading washer no less) and then let it all sit. I need to sew the flowers on to the outside and add the zippers - seemingly easy enough tasks, but for some reason it's just not getting done. Maybe I'll work on them this weekend. While the pictures don't do them justice they are the richest colors. I picked up the kit (from Pick Up Sticks!) at a small yarn store, Knitch, in southeastern Wisconsin while husband and I were on vacation with our youngest daughter (3 mos. old) in late December. I would be remiss not to mention the lovely b&b we stayed in - The Inn at Pine Terrace - their oversized spa tub made the entire trip worth it. I also picked up the felted poinsettia wreath kit for next year - hopefully I'll get around to that after the advent calendar (which I have yet to blog about) is complete.