Posted by: Mare F | April 1, 2019

Love it when it works out….

Sometimes the fiber spirits are with you and it happened to me recently. Having all kinds of yarns, bits and pieces, a few small skeins of one color and on large skein of another, well, when it comes together in an afghan I just really appreciate it. A week ago when I was cleaning my studio (a never-ending task I’ve decided) I put together a couple of bags with yarns for baby afghans in the hopes that they would blend together nicely as there wasn’t enough of either to make an afghan.

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These were the two I put such high hopes on. I had 4 of the small skeins and the one large lavender.

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I can’t begin to say how pleased I was with the way that the corner to corner was working up with 4 rows of white varigated and 2 rows of the lavender.

 

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A small pointed edging in the lavender finished it off last night and now it just awaits a trim and weave on a few ends. And as a bonus, it kept my lap warm once the temps started to drop yesterday. Quite a happy surprise all around. Do you have much good luck with matching yarns that really aren’t quite close?

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Posted by: Mare F | March 21, 2019

It’s here, it’s here

My hap book arrived in the mail yesterday. So much fun. I’m already trying to decide which one to try although I admit it will be the one that looks the easiest to me. And the history. The beginning of the book is history and photos of haps. So happy here. It will be raining this afternoon so my carrot for the work day is my hap book, a pot of tea, and the couch with a cat or two. What more could one ask for on the first full day of Spring?

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Posted by: Mare F | March 18, 2019

And it’s a pair of mittens….

Finally, I finished my first pair of mittens in a few years and I’m thrilled. If I hadn’t had some frogging issues (found a dropped stitch in the decrease after accidentally pulling a needle out of the stitches) I would have cast on another pair last night, but I was too annoyed with myself to go and dig through my mitten yarn basket. Later today, with a cup of tea, I shall start again.

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I’d forgotten how satisfying mittens are as a finished project. Is there one particular project that you truly enjoy working up?

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Posted by: Mare F | March 14, 2019

Thursday chat

This past Monday I spent a couple of hours working my way through airline reservations. It had been many, many years since I last made them. The process is a bit more complicated, and if I’m perfectly honest, I’m not as quick as I once was. Now that I’ve dragged that portion of the story out I will get to the point. I wanted nothing more to do with the computer on Monday evening. I took my internet headache to the couch and worked quietly on the Cable Hooded Cowl pattern from Red Heart that caught my eye last week. I checked my email on my phone, I was expecting an email concerning a drop spindle class that I might be offering in the near future and I spotted an email from Thriftbooks concerning a book on my wish list.

I couldn’t get to the computer fast enough and log on to get my copy. Now I’m pacing and pressing my nose to the glass portion of the door waiting for the mail person to deliver it to my house. It’s rather astonishing how quickly I am able to revert to toddler stage. What makes you giddy with anticipation?

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Posted in Knitting

Posted by: Mare F | March 11, 2019

Hat surprise

One advantage to being only marginally organized is finding more hats knitted than one thought that they had done. That happened this weekend when I started pawing through my pile of finished projects to see what colors I’d made hats in so far this year. I have to be careful because I tend to get stuck on a color and then run with it for several items. Any way, I found that I had a few more hats knitted than I thought that I had made. It was a lovely surprise.

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It also prompted me to choose this lavender yarn for the next hat.

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It looks like some reds and neutral colors would be good as well. Why do I always forget about neutral colors? Do you have a system for color selection?

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Posted by: Mare F | March 7, 2019

Thursday chat

This week’s challenge for me is to come up with some knitting and crocheting projects that will have instant gratification in a 2 hour program time frame for adults and children. I do like a new puzzle and this one promises to give me a run for my money.  Just imagine all of the lovely hours spent searching yarn and fiber websites for ideas. Teapot here I come!IMG_2392

Do you have a go to website or publication for your crafting ideas?

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Posted in Crocheting, General, Knitting, Patterns, school crafts, Weaving, yarns | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: Mare F | March 4, 2019

Cotton, cotton, everywhere

A week ago Sunday, when the weather was rainy and raw, I started crocheting up octopuses from the left over bits of cotton I’d accumulated from making bags, towels, and dish cloths. They did turn out very nicely, but they also got me to thinking about the rest of the bits of cotton. A while ago I’d seen a pattern for crocheted teething rings and, after a bit of thought (yes, I gave my son a dishcloth with a bit of ice in it to gnaw on when he was teething) realized that it was a brilliant idea to add to my donation list of items. So, the last two days have been spent working through the rest of my cotton.

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This is just a portion of the cotton with which I started. I didn’t think to take a picture until yesterday afternoon so about half of it had already been made into pouches, face pads, and the strips for future teething rings.

 

IMG_2475I sell the pouches with 7 reusable face pads in them at the craft fairs. These were my first clean up project with all of those little bits of yarn that multiply happily over time. The ball on the table will end up being a round bedside rug. It’s made up of the very last bits tied together. The cotton will just soften and fade gently the longer that it gets used. I’m very much looking forward to using it.

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And here is the bag of strips. Not sure when they will become teething rings, but I will at least have this portion of the task done so when the urge to do the last bit of fussy work with them (we all know how I feel about sewing) I will settle in with a pot of tea and my bag of strips. Do you use your bits and pieces up in interesting ways? Please share if you do….I’m always looking for ways to use it all up!

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Posted in Crocheting, discussion, General, Organizing, rug making, yarns | Tags: , , ,

Posted by: Mare F | February 28, 2019

Thursday chat

Do you have a favorite animal or toy to knit/crochet? I’ve been playing with the idea of adding them to my stock, and sometimes, just to make because they are fun, but I’m not sure what to make. This past Sunday it was rainy, 33F, and just ugly outside so rather than do any of the chores I should have done I opted to make a cup of tea and crochet octopuses.

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I had to ask Doug to put the safety eyes in for me. I’m not strong enough to get the backings on so I’m fairly confident that they won’t come out easily. There are eight octopuses in all because that is the amount of 15mm eyes that were on hand. I’ve since ordered more eyes and a package of noses. Now to decide what to tackle next…..

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Posted by: Mare F | February 25, 2019

The treasure trove

On a rainy, icy Sunday morning I decided that I really needed to get a system set up for writing my blog and updating my studio account. Perhaps because it was rainy and icy, this particular Sunday morning made me think that this would be a great time to do these tasks. I’m usually well rested and fairly relaxed plus I’m up early enough that even during the summer only the quietest outdoor chores should be accomplished at that hour so really, it seems ideal. Now to work it into the routine because, really, I am a creature of habit.

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I also need to finish setting up my “photo booth” in my studio. This is another reason that my studio is not as up to date as it might be. My studio has southern light and on sunny afternoons the natural light is amazing, but I don’t often think of taking picture then. Perhaps giant sticky notes spread through the house would help….until, of course, I view them as part of the decor. This can happen. I just took my Christmas cards down from the beam in the living room and it’s February!

Do you have a system for getting certain chores done which can slip past quietly if you don’t pay close attention?

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Posted by: Mare F | February 21, 2019

Dry spell

Totally confusing state here. I want to knit or crochet, but I can’t find a pattern that speaks to me. It’s not as though I haven’t looked at patterns, and more patterns, and yet  more patterns. I’ve looked at my yarns. They are not speaking to me. I can only hope that this is the result of lingering cold fuzziness. I started a granny ripple baby afghan yesterday afternoon, but it took 3 tries when I got home to get the proper white. It’s an okay project, but it’s not making my heart sing. When, oh, when will my yarn talk to me again????

 

assorted colors of threads

Photo by Tim Savage on Pexels.com

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