fo: Welcome Home Tapestry

This project has been done for a while now, and the pictures taken nearly a month ago.  It's about time I finally shared!

A while back, I mentioned that I'd learned to weave on a frame loom.  I took a class a friend of mine taught at the store, and I'm so glad that I did it!  We built our own looms, and learned a few different stitch techniques.  Or I would've if I hadn't plowed on through and finished my tapestry ahead of everyone else.

This is the one I wove in that class.  I gifted it to a friend that let me stay at her place for 3 weeks while she was out of town and I was homeless after the breakup.  She's a wonderful friend, and volcanologist to boot (that will make more sense when you read the description below).

It's mostly Icelandic wool, either commercially spun (top white and bottom black) or handspun (dark grey and bobbly cream), but the medium grey was Briggs & Little Heritage yarn.  The item attached to the medium grey is actually a piece of vesicular basalt (volcanic rock with gas bubbles) wrapped with silver and sewn onto the tapestry.  I was really inspired by the gorgeous shades of the Icelandic and of the layering that can occur with extrusive volcanism (lava flows).  The whole thing was an ode to Iceland's geology, really.

I really love how this turned out, but the bobbly handspun second from the top intrigued me!  See the little hill in the contact with the white?  That formed naturally from larger bobbles stacking up as I wove.  I really wanted to play with the nature of this yarn, and so the inspiration for my next design was born.

For this one, I just wanted to play with the thick-thin texture of the cream handspun, so I paired it with an evenly spun black commercial Icelandic wool and alternated rows of each yarn.  I messed up the first part of the tapestry since I initially tried weaving the handspun over and under every two strands (called the warp threads), but this really affected the texture and smoothed out the effect that I wanted.  I'd also planned to use some white commercially spun Icelandic wool to try to show off the distortions, but I didn't like the effect (and only realized well after it was too late to pull it out).  Ah well.

It was fun to see how the handspun would stack up.  There was actually a lot more extreme waves in the fat white section above, but the thick sections started to line up to fill in the thin sections, and I wound up with less extreme waves.

On the other hand, there was less chance for the handspun to "fix" itself in the narrower bands, and they formed some cool waves.  I love the texture of this tapestry.

And since it's one of my favourite features of my previous tapestry, I made sure to include a thick rhya at the bottom.

I was a bit lazier with this tapestry though.  On the previous one, I weaved in all of the warp threads at both the top and the bottom.  This time, I just wove in the ones at the end so they wouldn't protrude and hid the rest behind the rhya.  Haha GO LAZINESS!

This tapestry was started before I moved into my new apartment in March, and was made as a "welcome to your new home" for myself.  It was an essential thing to focus on when I was feeling so lost, since I find weaving really captures my focus and attention.  Especially one like this, where I was really experimenting with the material and engrossed in the results.

Expect to see more tapestries from me in the future!  They're so fun to do.  I do need to make some for the store, since my friend has really hooked people into this art form.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

As an aside, this is the first time I really felt artistic in a long time.  Unlike with the majority of my knitting and sewing, I felt like I wasn't just following instructions but actually using my artistic spirit to create something unique.  Not that knitting or sewing can't be artistic, nor that others haven't created works of art in those mediums, but I never felt that way in regards to my own work; I don't consider myself an artist when it comes to sewing or knitting, but I definitely felt like one with these tapestries.  What do you think?  Do you feel like an artist, or at least, artistic when sewing or knitting?  I always feel like I'm making pretty but practical items.  I guess practical can be artistic as well, but I guess it comes from a prairie farming background, where you make what you need because it's necessary - hard to look at those skills as artistic as well.

fo: Birch-Newsprint-Clocks-Whatever Quilt : finally done!

So uh, do any of you remember the quilt I planned out and quickly sewed up back in, oh, March 2015?  The one that I stated in this post that only needed to be bound by the bias binding I'd already completed?

I just finished that sucker last night.  Oops.

To be fair, the mostly-finished quilt got tucked away for one reason or another ::coughIhatebiasbindingcough:: and then forgotten until I moved into my new place.  And then I got into a fight ::coughinstigateditinafitoffrustrationandheartachecough:: with the Ex and basically cut him out of my life while I heal before I could claim the blanket I bought in Mexico.  This meant I had no blanket for the couch in my often-chilly basement suite.  AND THEN I started using the unbound quilt, so now my couch is full of wee little threads of yarn that came off the edges of the quilt, and the thing was starting to get a little ratty.

Obviously it was time to bind that sucker.  The moment that the sewing machine was unearthed, I did so.

Guys, don't look to closely at the binding.  I vaguely used this tutorial and completely machine-sewed the binding on.  But instead of neatly stitching the final side down, I triple-stitch zigzagged that sucker down.  To reflect the triple-stitch zigzag that I "quilted" the blanket with. Yes.

Whatever, I don't care how ugly the edging is, because I now have a cozy and bright couch blanket to snuggle under on my evenings off as I knit and watch unending episodes of Last Week Tonight on youtube and read shoddy Star Trek fanfic.  :D

My life is obviously complete.

fo: Moustached Coffee Cozy

"I moustache you to please use me to keep your coffee cup cozy"

Like the coffee cup cozy I just made?  It was a quick and fun little project that used up almost all of my left over yarn from this sweater.  Woohoo stash bustin'!

I just used this basic cozy pattern, but then duplicate stitched on a moustache I charted out from this cute little hat pattern (must try making that one someday!).  And to round out the Ravelry links, here's one to my project page for this little moustachio'd cozy.

Please forgive my lovely hair.  It's been a day and I didn't feel like finding a brush to smooth it out!  :) I thought that the cozy looked way too small to fit on a cup, but I tried it out on this plastic cup that's about the same size as to-go cups and it's a perfect fit!

Anywho, this was just a quick post for today.  Things are sort of crazy right now and I'm working on something that's going to be a really big adventure.  Not able to talk about it yet (sorry!), but I'll tell you as soon as I know it'll work out.  ACK vague much, Heather?  Haha sorry.  For now though, I'm just trying to fit crafty stuff in between the crazy, and thankfully this project was a quicky!  Sometimes those are just needed.

Hope everything is good in your world!

Stupid Distracting Hobbies and Missed Eclipses

So I got distracted and I managed to miss the eclipse yesterday.  I'm so pissed at myself about it too, because it was a beautifully clear night here in Whitehorse and the moon was perfectly framed in my large front windows.  AND I have a camera that hates the colour green but takes wonderful pictures of the moon.  It was too light here still to see all of it, but we would've been able to see the last half at least.

I did manage to catch the very very tail end of it.  You can sort of see the Earth's shadow on the upper right side.  If you squint.  It was more evident with the bare eye, but my camera sort of caught it.  It's not as good of a picture as I can get, but I figured I'd lose my chance if I took the time to grab and set up my stand...thingy.  Thing that you put the camera on for steady pictures I'VE LOST THE WORD OMG HELP ME SOMEONE.

What was I distracted by, you ask?  A rerun of my (very unwise) favourite show, Mayday (it really don't help my flying anxiety at all) and knitting up this pretty dishcloth:

It's the Lizard Ridge Dishcloth by Laura Aylor (although I've dubbed it 'Waves of Colour'), knit out of some leftover bits of Bernat Handicrafter cotton I've had accumulating for a while.  It was a fantastic exercise in short rows, let me tell you, although I did substitute the Purlbee's short row technique for the one in the pattern, since it produced a much cleaner stitch.

I love the cloth and the show, but I don't think either was worth missing the eclipse.  :(  Did you get out to see it?  Was it as amazing as all of the pictures show?

If you don't say "No Heather, wasn't worth it at all, your dishcloth was a much better use of your time", I might cry.

wip Name and Shame Time

Uh, I might have a problem.  A big startitis problem.  A woman at one of my knit nights recently asked me how many projects I had on the go, and I jokingly said 15.  Um.

Here, let me lay it out for you.

1. Year in Temp scarf.  Started in January, stalled out in March.  Still recording the daily temps though, so I'll catch up...someday.
2. Toque Tank.  This was the second knit I started during the TTTKAL, after I powered through my Avana.  It flew off of the needles...until I hit the armhole and neck bands.  This will probably only take another couple of hours of knit time.
3. Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot! Nearly finished the first fingerless glove!  Loving this project, but the colourwork takes a lot of concentration.  Maybe a half-hour to finish the first?
4. Striped toque.  This is for a silent auction for an upcoming family reunion.  We're fundraising to buy an outdoor event tent.  I'm planning to make a pair of fingerless mitts and a cowl to go with it.  This is still in the wips because I just need to finish sewing in ends.  Uh yeah.  Minutes.
5. Henri.  The as-yet-unblogged sweater.  I adore this thing, it's like a wearable swatch, so much fun to knit!  I need maybe a few more hours to finish the front, then onto the back.  This got put on hold while I knit my Cardboard Cafe for the Holla Knits KAL.  Definitely something that needs to be picked up again soon!
6. Fuego in Flames toque.  Haha just started this sucker.  I justified it because...because.  I'm knitting this out of a scrumptious yarn one of my best buddies sent me in March for my birthday.  Considering how much I'm loving both the pattern and this yarn, it shouldn't take too long to finish it.
7. Amiga for the Heather's Amiga KAL.  Just blogged about this.  I'm nearly done the raglan increases, but will be holding once they're done to wait for Heather to catch up (she cast on tonight - July 7!).  
8. Nub of a scarf.  Was supposed to be a small lacy scarf using this amazing qiviut that the above-mentioned Heather sent me a while ago.  I don't like the lace though, so I guess I'll frog this and find a better project for this yummy yarn.  Not that there's a lot to frog.
9. SpringTastic Socks.  Started this on the way to Mexico, hoping to finish the pair on the trip.  Then realized how long fine-weight yarn socks take, so hoped to finish one.  Then was just pleased to get past the heel.  Uh, these are taking a while.  I like them though!  Must get back to them.
10. Yet another Baby Vest.  Same pattern as the pink one I just made.  Probably only need another hour to two to finish this one?  What the heck, me, just finish it already.
11. 5 Hour Baby Sweater.  On...5 months?  AHA yeah.  All that's left is about 12 rows for the hem and buttons, AND THAT'S IT.  I...don't even know why this isn't done.
12. Silver Star Crocheted Blanket.  Started for a friend's baby, took too long to start, baby is now 1.5 years old?  I don't think he's getting this blanket.  Good thing I didn't tell his parents about it, eh?
13. Reverb.  Uh so I started this November 2013, and last worked on it during a plague the end of December 13.  I do really want this cardigan, it's just been hard to restart this.  Maybe I should pull it out again after I finish Henri.
14. Alpaca Winter Socks.  I think I mentioned these socks (or erm, half of a sock) in the Baby Vest post - they're a community knitting project.  They'll be a really heavy and warm men's over-socks.  These suckers weigh a ton already!
15. Dishcloths!  I'm including both of these as one project so I don't go over the holy number 15, shhh.  Actually, I've joined another dishcloth swap and they posted both the Happy dishcloth and the Pinwheel dishcloth.  I spent that morning working on these instead of cleaning my house and packing for a camping trip last Friday. HAHAHA.  The crochet dishcloth only needs another half hour to finish.  The pinwheel needs to be seamed and have all the ends sewn in.  One or both is going to someone awesome!

I actually think there might be more, but this is what I could find.  And this doesn't even touch on sewing.  I have a declaration to make though:

I, Heather of Things I Make. Plus Rocks, do declare that I will finish at least 5 of these projects in the next month, and will not start anything else until they're done.  I will also finish all of these projects before the end of 2015.

And now it's your turn: how many wips do you have?  *arches eyebrow*

Cross-Canada Dishcloth Swap!

Hello all!  Here I am, back in the Yukon, and glad to be here, even if it is snowing out. 

I had a fantastic trip back to Manitoba - saw lots and lots of people.  It was busy for sure, but some of those people I haven't seen since I moved up here, nearly 3 years ago!  Still, it was good to get home.  I've been cleaning like a mofo all afternoon - odd motivation to have after a holiday, but I think I know the reason.

This was by a lovely lady out of Ottawa, ON.  Love the tulip, and the gorgeous red shade!

I GOT MY SWAP DISHCLOTHS!

Wait, let me back up a bit.  Back in January or so, a member of the Canadian Knitters group on Ravelry proposed doing a cross-Canada dishcloth swap, where you'd knit two dishcloths and send them off to two other Canadians in the swap, along with a post card and any other little goodies you felt like including.  You would, in turn, receive two dishcloth swap packages from two other people across Canada.

Who could say no to that?!

This package came from an evil woman out of Hilton, Alberta.  Why evil, you ask?  She also included a bar of homemade caramel.  SO GOOD OMG IT'S GONE ALREADY.  Caramel is my kriptonite.  Her dishcloth is lovely though, I adore the orange and I've never seen this stitch pattern before!

The packages I received were waiting for me when I got home last night, and let me tell you, I bee-lined for them, dumping my bags in the middle of the floor and literally ripping the packages open!  I might've been a little excited.  It was so much fun to see what my two lovely swap partners sent me, and learning more about their home town and province in their postcards. 

Here's the packages I prepared and sent off earlier this month.  All but the last has made it (the 3rd one was a swap angel package, covering for someone else.  It only went out a few days ago).

I sort of made up this chevron pattern - I love goofing around on Excel.

I adore this dishcloth pattern!  The link to it is here.  I might have to make up more of these for Christmas gifts!

And another of the above pattern.  I forgot to pick up a bookmark for it.  :(

I got my packages ready early, although I left off sewing in the ends until the very last minute.  They all included a dishcloth knit using Bernat Cotton, a local postcard, and a notepad with a cover design by one of our local artists.  It was so much fun, and I would love to do it again sometime!

...anyone want to do a swap?  :)

wip: Quilts and Sweaters and Garment Sewing Plans (OH MY!)

I've got two projects on the go right now that I'm determined to get finished asap.  Because wow do I ever have a lot of wips!

The first is my quilt.  This thing flew through my sewing machine, and all it needs is the edges bound!  I tried making continuous binding for the very first time, and despite a lot of confusion and almost making a bunch of rings instead of one long strip, I managed to get 150" made up!  Now to make up another 150", and I'll be ready to finish this thing off!  It's looking so bright and cheerful, and I'm so glad it's nearly done, yeh gods I'm tired of man-handling this beast.  SO much more unwieldy than a sweater or a dress.

I should've learned this lesson already from the blanket I made my Mom this Christmas, but sometimes it takes a few tries before this aging dog learns something new.

The other project I'm stubbornly being monogamous with (for knitting, anyways) is my Cardboard Cafe.  I powered through the front right side with the help of a few late nights, and just cast on the front left side this morning.  I had a root canal done today though, so I'm distracted and achy and utterly useless for knitting.  So instead of knitting, I dug around in my pattern and fabric stash, and brainstormed some garments to make to go with my new cardigan!

I'm still in love with my Coral Laurel (even if it's a wee bit too snug on me right now), and I'm thinking another tunic-length dress and a top would be perfect makes, since I mostly have the fit down.  I didn't take a photo, but a quick fitting showed that I need to do a small FBA and maybe add a 1/2" to the centre back to make it fit a bit better this time, so it's nice to know that in advance.  This pattern might become a TNT for me!

I'm thinking that funky orange for the shirt, and either the woven plaid-like shirting or the purple floral for the tunic-dress.  I'm SUPER keen for the orange, since I've been trying to find the right t-shirt pattern for it for YONKS, so I'll probably start with that.  I think it'll be fun with my Cardboard Cafe, don't you? 

What do you guys think?  Subtle plaid or loud purple for the dress?

Guess Who's Quilting!

That would be me!  I bought this fabric in the fall in one of my bored-at-work-impulse-shopping-for-crafty-supplies sessions, and while I loved the fabric on arrival, other projects called to me.  But in the last couple of weeks, this project has been weighing on my mind.  Today, I finally dug out my cutting mat and roller blade and started to chop it up!  No sewing yet, I don't have time to start this afternoon, but soon. 

So excited!!  Do any of you quilt, considered quilting, or just fallen in love with all the pretty quilting cotton?

fo: Umaro Blanket for Mom (ssshh don't tell!)

The never-ending blanket is done!!  Seriously, I only finished knitting this at noon on Wednesday, the day before I returned to camp and the last day I could possibly ship this thing out.  How people knit blankets (and full sized ones at that instead of wee lap blankies) out of anything finer than super bulky without tearing out their hair, I'll never know.

Pattern: Umaro by Jared Flood
Yarn: 100% Acrylic Bernat Softee Chunky (super bulky)
Mods: Ran out of blue yarn, added brown stripe as "design element".  Did not do last half repeat because ran out of yarn again.

This pattern was lovely to knit, it was interesting and kept my interest.  So nice to watch the large scale stitch pattern develop.  The only downside was that this sucker got heavy on the needles.  So heavy that it sheared the metal on the connector piece of one of my knitting cables while I was knitting the last row!

I was pretty sick of this blanket by the end, but I think that was because of my self-imposed deadline, and no knitting is fun under a crunch.  But I had to get it done, because the only knitted gifts I'd committed myself to was for my Mom, who hasn't gotten any knitted things from me.  She'd asked specifically for a pair of fingerless mitts, and aha damn they're not finished.  More on that later.  So I had to get this done just to send her something that was finished.

Although she nearly didn't get the blanket.  As soon as it came out of the dryer all soft and snuggly (can not believe how much this yarn softened up with a wash!), Darryl immediately stole it and wouldn't give it back.  Not even pictures made him relent.  So haha you guys get to see one in retaliation!

For those who celebrate, how goes your Christmas prep?  Are you all chill and cool and done, sitting back and enjoying the season?  Or are you like me and getting a little manic trying to get everything done?  Are you crafting any of your gifts?

And more importantly, have you ever sent a picture of an unfinished gift with the promise that it'll will be done soon? 

-ish.

The Never Ending Blanket

I realize this picture doesn't have a scale.  It looks so tiny though DEAR TOAD WILL THIS EVER END?!

Knitting a blanket for my Mom for Christmas, and it's never going to end.  This is it as of this afternoon.

This is it 20 days ago.

I am never knitting another blanket again.  If this was crochet, I'd've been done weeks ago.  *grump*

It is awfully pretty though...