Crafty Bootcamp

While the blogging has been sparse, the crafting is going full throttle! I'm leaving for Germany next Wednesday and though I had done such a good job these past weeks in adhering to strict crafting schedules, I'm running behind all of a sudden. A few things I hoped to have done will have to wait until I get back (my sunhat may just turn into a rainhat then). I wanted to sew a dress and a top, that'll have to wait too. Buttercup may not get done either. I finished the back and front pieces, but now I'm stalling on the sleeves. See, I'm wondering if it wouldn't be more useful if the sleeves were elbow length instead of short (I'd be eliminating the button closure part). Also, having stared at the tie closure for awhile, I picture that tie coming undone easily unless I double tie....but do I want a chunky knot right above my belly button? No. Should I just do a button closure? What do you guys think?

I finished the quilt top for my niece and I'm really happy with it. It's based on Denyse Schmidt's 'A Hop, Skip and a Jump' quilt from her book. I don't have the book so I made up my own pieces. For those of you unfamiliar with the design, yes, they're supposed to be crooked. I'll machine quilt it this weekend, so you'll see it finished before I leave. At the top right corner you can see a bit of the green backing fabric, it's called "Happy Homemaker". Nothing like subliminal programming starting in the crib (I love those little irons, I started ironing my family's laundry when I was five or six, it was my absolut favorite thing to do. My sister may thank me a few years from now). Did I ever mention that I went to a girl's high school AND a women's college? A double feminist education and all I dream of is being able to stay home all day to sew, knit and bake. Well, and travel.

Do over. And over, and over .......

That's been the story of my crafting life these last few weeks. Some of you have wondered whether I'm still alive and kicking, no worries, all is well, I've been reading a lot more than usual lately, and putting my bookbinding skills toward repairing some old books. A lot of my crafting hasn't resulted in any mentionable fo's so far, and I didn't feel like talking about the many incarnations of works in progress. Like this floppy hat I've been sewing. When I finally made crown number seven, which at last fit perfectly on both my head and the brim part, I got dirt on it. Beats me where it came from and it doesn't come out. So I had to take a break. I made this instead, a cover for my sewing machine.

You can't go wrong sewing a rectangle! All you Pure Knits addicts will recognize the cute ribbons Miss Y ties around her shipments. Yay for recycling!
I've also started working on a baby quilt for my niece. I'm still waiting for some more fabric so no pictures yet, but the design is based on Denyse Schmidt's 'Hop, skip and a jump' quilt. In various pinks, a lot like this fabulous piece. Isn't that beautiful?
Knitting is back on the program. I had finished the back of Buttercup using my own modifications, when I ran into serious problems on the left front. So I gave up and emailed Kim for some help. That was on a late afternoon, and the very next morning I had got an answer from her mom. She was so nice and helpful, it really resolved any resentment that had grown towards the pattern. I re-knit the back and finished the left front, it's pretty quick knitting now and I hope to have it done in a couple of weeks. I love the new collection, especially Beth. They've also got a preview for the newest collection, Light and Shade up, it looks like some of the pieces are recycled from previous collections, but there are a few new designs as well. I like the beret, but it seems to be made from fuzzy wool and I can't wear wool on my head, too itchy!
When everything else either take so long or doesn't work out I grab my bead stash and make jewelry. It's quick and satisfying and I love dainty sparkly necklaces. Here a three I made over the past week:

On the left, a very long gold chain with blue quartz beads, it can be worn doubled up; in the middle, a piece of rutilated quartz on gold chain; on the right aquamarine rondelles with a lemon quartz drop.
Saving the cutest for last, a squishy squirrel from knotty bits.
Go check out her etsy shop, the are some more squirrels and adorable kitties, all lovingly and perfectly stitched.

Kiri

I finished this shawl over a week ago after almost two weeks of intense knitting. Kid Silk Haze is lovely and works so well with my cheapy Phildar needles, but the pattern rows grow mindnumbingly looong towards the end. I was getting bored fast, hence the (for me) quick turn-around.
When I blocked it, the points on the left side refused to get as pointy as the ones on the right, and I have no idea why. The cast off turned out loose enough with US8's. It's not really bothering me though, I'm happy with it.

Pattern: Kiri, available for free here
Yarn: 2.5 balls of Rowan Kid Silk Haze in 'bleached' (discontinued color)
Needles: US6 for the shawl, US8's for binding off
No changes, no problems, ahhhh.
I never thought I'd jump on the shawl bandwagon, but after Kiri I'm craving more, something open and crisp and possibly black.

A little give-away

Update: It's all taken! Lori, c.e, and Elizabeth, please email me your addresses. Thanks guys!
Here are some fabrics and yarn that deserve to be used and loved. If there is anything you'd like, just leave me a comment and some way I can get in touch with you. Everything is from a smoke-free home, has been safely stored in plastic, but may have been exposed to cat hair at some point.

On the left is a high quality olive wool jersey, about 67"lx41"w, it feels like liquid wool. The photo doesn't do it justice.TAKEN. c.e. it's yours, email me your address!
In the middle, a 24"x25" piece of cotton-linen mix, with a cute muted orange-y fan print.
On the right, a long piece of Thai Silk in blue-purple-gold-black. It is 80"lx39"w, and stunning in person.
2 balls of GGH Soft Kid in a terracotta color. One ball has been used a little and rewound. TAKEN.

TAKEN.

Connecting

It truly is amazing what a few days off and good company can do to restore balance and happiness in your life. Before my roadtrip, I'd felt so out of sorts and disconnected that it even affected my speech. I used the wrong words, my grammar was off and at times I was just completely lost for words. Though this can also happen to me when I'm feeling happy, when my highs are so high that the intensity of that emotion leaves me speechless, and I become very quiet and calm, which is often misunderstood. Often, there just isn't any adequate language to describe what is going on inside of me, or sometimes, it's not the right language. It fascinates me to see how much language reflects a society's culture, how some languages have certain words available to describe a particular thing or state of being, that others don't. My good friend M feels 'round' when everything is in balance, and that comes really close to what I've been feeling these past two weeks, just round (and I've been eating so much yummy food lately that it can be applied physically as well ;-)
On the fourth of July I had lunch with Mary of Mamie makes, who was in San Francisco on business. We meet at a tea house right across from Imagiknit, which luckily was closed, no temptations there! Mary's blog has given me so much inspiration over the months, and I always hoped I'd get to meet her someday. Some people you just know you're going to click with, even if you've never met them in person. Three hours later, I wish I could have kidnapped her to chat all night! She brought me surprises from NY, Japanese pastry that was devoured, eh, savoured instantly and a beautiful Japanese book with designs of Japanese fabric. Thank you Mary, for the gifts, but mostly for the lovely time I had.
Surprises also came by mail from across the ocean. First, an envelope from Finland from Mari (who doesn't have a blog, I think), containing beautiful self-striping Novita wool yarn in beachglass colors. Definitely socks, I'm thinking.

I love the bird motif on the envelope!
A package from Germany arrived on my doorstep yesterday. Suzi sent me a spare Rowan magazine and as a surprise included this beautiful yarn dyed by her friend Claudia, aka Die Wollmeise.

The color is 'Rhabarber' or rhubarb, and so luscious I want to eat it. She also included this cute card from a bazaar, what a great idea to use up left-over yarn.
Mari and Suzi, thank you both so much, I'm so excited about these beautiful presents!
My little give-away (some fabric and yarn) will happen tomorrow around 9am. Whoever leaves the first comment, gets what they like. I'll pay for the shipping, no matter where to.

Back and busy

Wow, it's been an amazing July so far! Right after bf and I got back from our fantastic roadtrip we celebrated his sister's wedding and spent time with all the family that came to visit; I also enjoyed a long lunch with a lovely blogger from NY and I've been knitting and trying to sew. I'm still so full with impressions so I better start from the beginning. But there might be a sequel to this post in case I can't concentrate long enough.
The roadtrip was amazing and I'm still experiencing a sort of reverse homesickness for that nomadic lifestyle. Lava Beds National Monument is an amazing place in the north eastern part of California which no one ever seems to have heard about, hence the area lacks chain stores and strip malls and feels forgotten. While it may not be too interesting for the standard roadtripper, it's a fantastic playground for geology lovers like bf and myself. Lava flows, caves and lava tubes, a mountain covered in black glass (obsidian), hiking on wilderness trails with no one else around, except the occasional jack rabbit, kept us happy and if we'd realized just how busy the coast was going to be, we'd have stayed here the whole time.
Here is the view from a fire tower, that white peak is Mt Shasta 200 miles to the west.


Yours truly on top of the most recent lava flow which happened 800 years ago.


Crater Lake. Pictures don't do it justice. The water is the bluest blue you'll ever see.


Old Coca Cola ad on a reststop off Interstate 5. The little guy looks crazed.


Our last days were spent on the Northern California coast. It was so busy and everything booked, we were quite overwhelmed being surrounded by so many people after the solitude of the first days. But we always manage to find an emtpy spot, like this beautiful beach to watch the sunset.


The time flew by as it always does when you're having fun. Back home, we got ready for bf's sister's wedding and I made her a guestbook incorporating the wedding colors red and gold. Never mind that I added a touch of patriotic pride with the black cloth (it wasn't intentional, but nothing else I had matched the paper ;-))



I didn't knit as much during the trip as I thought I would, there was too much to do and see. When I'm camping, I always fall into a cycle of going to sleep at sunset and getting up at sunrise. Knitting has become a late in the day activity for me, something I do after work, I've been reserving my lunch breaks for reading which I've neglected for a long time. But my socks got finished eventually. Made of lovely Sundara yarn in 'bisque', I've renamed them Ambrosia socks, inspired by the colors of some store-bought Ambrosia salad (first time I've heard of and last time I tasted this concoction, in case you don't know it either, it's fruit and lots of whipped cream mixed together.) Though the salad didn't sit well with me, the socks do. I've knit them toe-up with a pattern made up of knits and purls on US1's, and finished them with a picot bind-off. They fit so well, but I really loved that the water was crystal clear after I washed them, just like the red Sundara yarn I used before. It makes me feel better knowing that the dye isn't absorbed by my skin.


Buttercup is still sulking in the cupboard and I've yet to email KH about the mistake. Indulging my procrastination skills I have thus another project in the works, Kiri! I'm using 3 balls of KSH in 'bleached', a bunny white which unfortunately is discontinued. I'm already through one ball, it's such an enjoyable project, my first lacy shawl. How can I knit sticky mohair in the middle of summer? Thank you, coastal climate! While our days are warm and sunny, the nights are chilly in my basement lodgings. It's the perfect yarn cellar.
Mmh, my brain is getting fuzzy and yours probably too, but there is still more to tell, about my blogger lunch, lovely mail from Finland, and free fabric....though unlike PBS who makes me wait another week to find out what's happening on Miss Marple and the Moving Finger, you'll get the second part tomorrow :-)

Here and there and nowhere

I almost forgot about my vacation! Bf and I are leaving tomorrow to explore the Lava Beds in the north-eastern corner of California, circle Crater Lake in Oregon, confuse stalactites and stalagmites at Oregon Caves, and shiver in foggy Redwood National Park. I can't wait to get out of the city and be surrounded by silence so my synapses can fire again. I've been so fragmented lately. I'm using the wrong words all the time, except when I'm not able to spit out any words at all, in either language. I feel, I think, it just gets lost somewhere on the way out.
When I get back in ten days, I might have a finished oject for you (and no, it won't be Buttercup, that one is staying home!) and some free fabric to give away.
Auf Wiedersehen!