WIP - Handspun Blanket

 So, I've been spinning and dying fiber for almost ten years now! Which means I've gather a whole lot of small skeins, leftover balls, and other sundry bits of handspun yarn. It's been given it's own special bin, and it was starting to overflow. Handspun is precious, yaknow?

 So I've been making granny squares with the leftovers! It's a perfect way to use it up - I can simply use different sized hooks for different weights of yarn, I make the largest square that I can from a given skein of yarn, and the extras become mixed color squares as granny intended.

 So far I have worked thru about half the bin. I have observed that I have a lot of purple, blue, and green yarns. I like nice chunky yarns, but some have been thin enough that I decided to ply them before crocheting! I've got a variety of sizes, and I'm looking forward to laying them all out to piece together...

Strangely enough, the bin is still over full... Hooray for "scrap" yarn!

Be Mine, Crafty Valentine

Happy half-priced candy day! I hope all my lovely readers enjoyed their day of flirtatious frivolity (Or grump, as you prefer.) With all my Valentine cards delivered I can now them share with you, so here's the highlights from this year's collection of very punny crafting cards.

Because we all know, a crafter's first love is the fiber! (Or string, or paper, or wood, or whatever we made things from...) Happy V-Day!

WIP - Handsome and Handspun

My yarn stash, as always, overfloweth. After another year of spinzilla, my bin of handspun was getting rather tight! I have always sold the majority of my handspun yarns, but over the last few years there have been a number of small experimental skeins, special purchased fibers, and the leftover small skeins from a big batch that's been divvied up.

And so, I have decided to create a blanket using up all my handspun bits! Some are a true mini-skein or a wee ball, some are simply an orphaned skein with no other plans. All of them are being crocheted into the biggest square they will make (Well, no bigger than 12" or so, extras become little squares.) and will become a blanket! I've got two sizes of hook on hand, and anything too small gets doubled up to make a good thick fabric.

I'll update when I've got a big enough pile to lay out and begin piecing, in the meantime the bin of yarn is becoming a bin full of squares, and I'm realizing that I've got some favored colors...

Heimtali School Museum - Native Textiles

During our week of workshops in Estonia, we had a Field Trip to the Heimtali School Museum. It's an old parish school, similar to the one room schoolhouses of the American west. In fact, any students who lived far away would sleep in the upstairs and go home on weekends!

The school is still in use, but the classes are for students from Viljandi who are recording and conserving textiles, and for youth who are learning about Estonian culture. In a recent project, the fence posts were painted in the style of traditional mittens! (Take that, Pinterest!)

The youngsters also made these, a project to rescue a lonely glove when you've lost its mate. It's a small and simple way to teach them traditional skills and patterns.

The collection included traditional weavings - these remind me of pieces from the American southwest! Surprisingly, the stripes are created in weft, instead of warp.

Here is an entrelac crochet blanket, being held up by Anu - the museum's curator and a champion of Estonian Native textiles.

Here's an embroidered blanket with crochet borders. Anu told us that, after the collapse of the USSR, she would find these old blankets being used for dirty jobs and neglected. She said that she would go buy cheap blankets, and trade them to people she saw using them for things like placing car parts and gardening.

This one is crocheted, with embroidery on it!

Here is a pair of socks in the characteristic bright orange of the Islands. They were gotten from a young woman who was embarrassed to wear them, but they were knitted by her grandmother. She wanted to be more fashionable.

Here we have some of the traditional mittens, along with a detailed record of the pattern.

Students from the College learn to draw extremely detailed records of the collection, many of these I could have used as a knitting pattern!

Anu has written a book of patterns for stuffed animals and puppets that use Estonian patterns. She wants children to be able to recognize and name some of the many patterns that are part of their heritage! As a knitter, a stuffy is also more accessible than knitting an entire sweater on size 00 needles...

The museum included a selection of traditional farm tools, including these cards and combs. There were also a number of models of people doing traditional work and play that involved horses.

And here, in careful storage, is the meat of the collection. Knit garments from around the country and islands! Mittens, which can be traced to their origin by pattern and colors alone. Above, the mittens in black with greens and purples, are very modern takes on old patterns. The use of black/brown/grey with white and red is more common.

Here we have a pair of very simple gloves, but they have been darned and darned and darned some more! Well loved...

A baby bonnet, with a traditional "eye" on the forehead. All baby hats had such a structure to protect the infant from evil spirits and the like. Even today the custom is still common throughout the country.

And an entire dresser full of tablet and inkle woven ribbons! The patterns ranged from very old, to complex modern styles. The most common colors were red and white, and motifs with sun wheels and crosses were the norm.

Pawing through the collection (With gloves on!) was a textile historian's dream! However, having the curator on hand to give you the stories behind some of the objects was half of the experience. A blog post is coming up where I'll show you Anu's studio and tell you more about her work!

EDIT - REGISTRATION IS OPEN FOR 2016 CRAFT CAMP.
You too, gentle reader, could enjoy the culture and craftiness of Estonia!

WIP - Dragon Boats and Baby Blankets

I decided to start the New Year with a sweater project - and epic sweater project.

The Viking Boat pattern has seen many iterations over the years, but  it always seemed a little dumpy to me. I have a bias against drop sleeves ( get it? Bias? Haha..ha... ok it was bad.) I noted a version of the project, that was fitted! A raveler had incorporated designs from other patterns, color changing yarns, and a Led Zeppelin quote. In other words, she made it AWESOME.

So I set out to recreate the feat. I got many skeins of yarn from the sale bin, this is Tracie from Imperial Ranch, and each skein is never-ending! I first had to find a yoke pattern for a comfy shaping, and re-chart the dragon boat. The original is hand-scratched x's on a grid, headache city. Both patterns turned out to be entirely in Norwegian... but since I was only concerned with the charts it was OK. I've picked out a few more patterns to complete the bottom, and charted the Elder Futhark runes to add more Old Norse flair!

And then... I will have to knit the sleeves. *Scream of despair *

I've also been distracting myself with a pair of baby blankets. Last year I started a year long afghan class, with a new crochet pattern each month. I, needless to say, fell behind in my crochet. I picked out my 10 favorite patterns, and made 5 iterations of each, all in different colors of green. I'm now divvying them up into two piles, to create two different baby blankets, one trimmed in bright yellow, and one in sage grey.

When I started this project I was simply planning ahead, assuming abstractly that I would need baby blankets eventually. Now there are two alien parasites gestating, so I have to stop slacking and get them done...

What are you working on?

I'm a Granny... Square Maker!

 After at least a month of crochet I finally turned a pile of random yarns into a pile of random squares. Fifty of them to be exact. Which gave me a huge sense of accomplishment, followed by the crushing realization that I need to assemble them to actually have a blanket. (Can't we teach the baby to do that itself?)

 I first had to find a properly neutral yarn to tie it all together,  the Sweet Grape from Malabrigo won out as the best choice. Then I edged each square in single crochet.

I laid out the squares in piles of five, trying not to clump similar colors too much. I'm just a little OCD, so it's best for me to not plan everything too closely, that way madness lies..

Then all the strips are stitched together...

Tadaaa! All those random brights and lovely purples blended into a wildly colored blanket. I expect I will use the rest of the Grape yarn to trim the outer edge in a double crochet or such.

Of course, just after taking this photo I spotted one last pile of five squares, the cat had been sleeping on them for a few days. So glad I didn't trim the blanket yet...

What's the biggest thing you've ever crocheted or knitted?

Works in Progress

 As summer gets into full swing the craft projects are moving along. First there's my second Wheel of the Year embroidery. I have all eight plants laid out, and I'm preparing to add words and the finishing touches.

I finally took the step that I should have done first. Seriously, before everything else. Lesson learned. I kept making marks to outline the work area, and they kept rubbing off while I worked. So I took some sewing thread and basted down a circle that will be easy to remove when I'm done. Doing this made me realize that I was a bit off center, so now I'll be adding more to some of the plants so they extend to the edge. *Sigh*

If I don't start my next project by putting in guide lines someone please shoot me.

 I of course also made a smaller offering piece. This was a bouquet of all the flowers in the wall hanging, scaled down. I finished just in time to run off to the ritual, and didn't get a picture first. That's a strange sinking feeling that must not have plagued our ancestors "Well, it's burning now. No chance to take a photo I guess."

My less flammable project is a granny square blanket. I've used an entire bin of hand-dyed yarns in assorted (read - not matching at all) colors. Each square is a unique mix of colors, and I used nearly every scrap of most of the colors too! I'll be finding a suitable yarn to pull the whole thing together (probably gray, the only thing that might not clash with all these bright colors.)

I'm going to trim each square and sew them together, which should give me a 60" x 30" blanket, perfect for a baby gift.

What are you working on? Let the stash bust continue!

Get your Granny on!

 I just reached the first great crochet milestone (well, after learning what HDC means), Granny Squares! Such a simple thing, with endless variations, and so much potential!. It makes great use of small amounts of yarn, and creates vibrant color swatches.

I learned the technique in my year-long afghan class, and the squares are piling up in shades of green. But I've never been able to focus that well...

 I received, via a de-stash chain, this box of wonderful hand-dyed yarns. Some are a nubby thick and thin, some a simple worsted. All of them have exciting color pallets, and combined they just sing. Each ball seemed to be a slightly different size, and no ball was big enough for any major projects.

So, thru the magic of granny squares, these great colors are getting stirred into a colorful afghan! The squares are popping out fast, I already have quadrupled them since taking these photos. Of course, at the end I'll have to stitch them all together.... Ugh.

Do you have fond memories of granny square blankets, or that famous 70's vest?

Greening for Spring

 School has been limiting my time for craftiness, it's cramping my style! But I'm still working my way thru projects.

My crochet pattern of the month has made almost 6 squares, and this month's has me itching to get hooking! I've even been a good girl and woven in all my ends each time I finish a square. Which is just evading the final dilemma of what color to trim each square in....

And my knitting needles aren't resting either. This has been my knitting-in-class project for quite some time, this is in fact the third time starting it to get the proper collar/shoulders size ratio. It will be a lovely flowy green caplet if it takes me the rest of the semester! I did plan on wearing it for Eoster next week, yeah right...

Everyone go easy on the whiskey and green beer tonight! Are you crafting for spring?

Squared Up

 I'm certain that everyone who has ever met me knows I knit, usually in front of them in fact. What's worse than forgetting to bring your knitting with you? But I also know crochet. That is, I knew exactly two stitches - chain, and single crochet.

I just joined a year-long crochet afghan class, and already doubled by repertoire of crochet skills! Each month we will be learning a new square, and then sewing them together to make a mixed blanket. It's like a sampler that keeps you warm!

I bought all the yarns already - 10 different shades of green. After all my years of art classes and yarn dying the safest color combo for me is still to not combo at all ...

You locals can still join the class if you want to dedicate yourself to a year-long project (they may be offering the classes month by month also, for those of you who are afraid of commitment.) Check it out at Fancy Tiger.

Are you expanding your craft in the new year?

Why Dying Yarn Can Take A While

When it's dying day at my house it's a full day's affair. I wait until I have several hundred yards of yarn spun up and ready to dye, then I have to skein it! For some of my yarns I do a long skein method which allows you to fit more colors and makes for less pooling on the finished item. My fancy shmancy device for this... is a pair of shovels set several yards apart.

This batch had a skein length of 14ft, which gives me plenty of room for slow color changes. I did three dye baths - green yellow and orange - to make this yarn. While the pot is going I also wash and dye some raw wool fleece in the same colors to use for blending. So in one day that was 6 different dye sets.

Once dried the long skeins show the color variation you can achieve this way! I then skein it back into standard two yard skeins, demonstrating the way the colors will look together when knit up. This was an organic Merino roving, and despite being handled so much it is still heavenly soft!

I worked up a few samples with my leftovers, the knit does indeed have a slow beautiful stripe; but the crocheted cuffs I made really let the colors play together and makes it truly look like a field of tulips! This yarn really has gotten me in the spirit of spring and I can't wait to get things rolling in the garden.