Awesome Week

I'm happy to write that this week I was able to keep focused on completing a couple of my projects.

First on my list...... my husband's entertainment center.

 

before painting

Finished

My original plan was to do some sanding on the edges to give it a Shabby Chic look.  When I asked Jim his thoughts on sanding the edges, he told me he liked it just the way it was.  Good news for me.....first finished piece using Annie Sloan chalk paint.

 

His 50" flat screen was delivered yesterday and I must admit.....it looks pretty cool.  Now to just get rid of our huge sleeper sofa which is taking up so much room I can't get a decent picture.  The house is slowly getting a "new look" and we're very happy with the way it's all turning out.

 

Second finished project ......my Elf Clobbers

 

I love, love, love how these turned out.  My friend Jill and I checked out a couple new stores in Hastings on Tuesday and the owner of a clothing store thought they were awesome.  She had to try them on and show them to a several other customers.  Then she asked if I would make a pair for her.  Wow.....what a compliment.

 

On the knitting front.....still working on my Palette of Color shrug but did get started on my next furniture project.

 

 

I've been using this cabinet in my studio to hold all my dying equipment but thought it would make an awesome island in my new kitchen.  On Tuesday I emptied it out and after quite a bit of struggle, we managed to get it up the stairs so I could get it washed and ready to paint.

 

When I started washing it down, I realized it had been painted with an oil base paint and Anne Sloan paint is latex.  Problem.......or so I thought.  I was planning on having to sand it down and prime it with Kilz but I was told that wouldn't be necessary.  Just to go right ahead and paint it with the chalk paint.

 

First coat applied on yesterday.....

 

 

Yikes.......pretty rough looking.  I left it to dry over night and today I'll be putting on the second coat.  Sure hope it looks better!.....keep your fingers crossed.

 

That's it for me, now it's time to head over to Wisdom Begins In Wonder to see what everyone else has been doing......then  back to painting.

 

Happy Fiber Arts Friday everyone!

 

 

  

 

I've Lost My Focus!

For those of you who have spent any time with me can testify,  I'm usually very focused on just working on one project at a time.  Well I guess maybe some of my friends have rubbed off on me or my life has just been taking me in many different directions.

Whatever the cause, I just can't seem to focus on any one project right now.  I'm jumping around like Mexican jumping beans.

I'm still working on my Palette of Colors shrug.  Almost done with this section then I can block it and do the cuffs.  Must stay focused......must stay focused!

Well so much for staying focused.......I was surfing around Ravelry (I know, I know, what was I doing surfing Ravelry?...should have been knitting on my shrug) and found these cuffs and just had to give them a try....their called Elf Clobbers.

 

Of course the cuffs knit up quickly and then I realized the next part was crochet.  Oops.....I don't crochet!  Luckily I have a friend that does.  I talked to her last Wednesday when I saw her at Your Local Yarn Shop knit night and she was so nice she didn't even make me whine.  She just said "sure I'll do them for you". What a sweetie.....thanks so much Sue.  Now I just have to knit the ruffle and they will be done.  I love them so far.....now my focus will have to switch from the Palette of Colors to these since she just returned them yesterday.

 

On a non fiber note, I decided to try my hand at painting and re purposing some furniture pieces.  My husband found a buffet that he wants to use as an entertainment center for his new 50" flat screen and he asked if I would paint it red for him.  What the heck....RED......well why not!  I'd just recently found out about Annie Sloan Chalk paint......so in I jumped.



Buffet before painting

Inside painted Old White
 

Outside painted with 1 coat of Graphite

Since I don't know what I'm doing, I'm still trying to decide if I will give it another coat of Graphite or just start in on Emperors Silk.  Once I have the red coat on, I will do some sanding because I want to have some places where the original color shows and some with the graphite color with the red being the focus. This is a very bold red color so I'll be using Annie Sloan dark wax to finish the project and this will tone down the red quite a bit.  I think I'll need to spend some more time on YouTube to help me make up my mind.

Maybe losing my focus was just what I needed to open up my creativeness!






Knitting Progress

Wow, it's been a couple of months since my last blog.....life just sometimes takes over. The last two months of 2012 were not the best for us so we're looking forward to good things in 2013.

I've been working on the Palette of Colors Shrug.  I bought this kit from KellyJ at our annual "stash sale" at Your Local Yarn Shop.  I thought it would work up quickly but have been surprised at the length of time I've been working on it.  Hmmm....that could be because the bulk of it is worked with lace weight, I've just been lazy and not knitting that much or cause I took the time to work on a hat for my son's girlfriend.  Whatever my problem has been, I'm  now determined to get it done.

This knit is actually going to be mine......

When we went to Vermont in October to visit our son and his girlfriend, Ashley asked if I would knit her a hat.  I told her, "no problem".  She picked out a pattern from Ravelry but when I decided to start kniting it, I just couldn't get into the pattern.  So after doing some searching on my own I found inspiration from my favorite designer and started Raxtur by Stephen West.  

This was an interesting and fun knit.  You start on the ear flaps and when you get to the body of the hat you turn it wrong side out to knit the color work on the top.  You use slip stitches to make the vertical stripes in this area and I must admit, even though it was easy, sometimes I messed up during this part and had to take out a few times due to my lack of concentration.   I thought I had every thing fixed.  Finished the hat and turned it around only to find an error about half way down the color work.  Wished I'd only said "drat" but actually had to use some strong language!

The error is on the back of the hat so if you wear it with the ear flaps down the hat is slouchy enough it doesn't show.  Ear flaps up and it sticks out like a sore thumb.  I was so bummed I put it away and haven't looked at it again until today.  Now I have to decided if I'm going to rip it all back or leave it alone.  DRAT!!!....since writing this, I really think I have to rib it out.  

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Vacation Fun



After making plans to visit our  son in Vermont the end of September, I hit the web to see what might be going on over the weekend.  Woo Hoo......found out the Vermont Sheep and Wool festival was that weekend and it was only a hour from our son's house.

 

So on Saturday Jim and I headed to Tunbridge.....


parking in the infield of the horse track
 

camping on top of the hill....bathroom at base of hill.  I'd hate to make that trip in the middle of the night!

 

Food vendors, lamb was definitely on the menu.  This is the first time I've been to a festival that sold both ready to eat lamb as well as frozen.

 

Vendors......

 

 



Sheep, alpaca and llama barn....

 

 

 

And surprise.....the goat barn.  There must be a lot of cashmere goat breeders in the area because they far out numbered all the other animals.  Of course, Jim thought this was awesome.

 

 

This guy was really interested in my camera.....

As we moved down the isles, I noticed a couple of ladies in long black dresses.  They were bent over with their backs to us helping with the judging.  I turned to Jim and whispered, "I didn't realize their were Amish in Vermont".   Right after I said this they stood up and to our surprise, they were nuns.

 

Before we left, I took this picture of Jim outside the "Sugar Shack".  He couldn't wait to get some of the maple treats.  They had maple cotton candy, donuts with maple cream frosting, maple candy and maple ice cream.   He wanted to try the maple ice cream but it was a very cool day so he opted for the donut with maple frosting instead.  I swear he'll go anywhere with me as long as he gets a sweet treat.....what a small price to pay!

 

 

We had a great day even though the weather was cold with misty rain most of the day.  The festival was much smaller than Michigan Fiber Festival but well worth seeing. 

Days trips with our son and his girlfriend.....

Fun at the apple orchard......

 

 

canning the fruits of our labors.....

 

 

 

 

We had an awesome time in Vermont with Robert and Ashly.  Then it was time to visit with Jim's family in Northampton, MA. Guess what's in Northampton, MA?......Webs.

 

 

 

What a lucky, lucky girl I was on this vacation.  Just to prove I didn't spend all my time shopping.....came home with my Flamboyan complete and my Akimbo started.

 

 

That's it for me today.....hope everyone has a great Fiber Arts Friday!!

Piece Out

I found I just needed a little break from shawl knitting.  I was looking though my collection of patterns and books by Stephen West and my husband saw this hat and said "oh, I'd wear that hat".   Wa la......decision made on pattern......now the yarn choice.     

Since this was going to be his hat, he wanted to pick out the colors and of course it had to be from one of our animals.  So off to the basement we went.  He picked out this yarn that has a very muted, earthy look.   He thought the color was very "man-ly".

Then we needed to find accent colors.  I don't know about you but it seems I have a never ending supply of left over yarns from various projects.  He selected his colors and his new hat was on my needles in no time.  He was very willing to be my model.......

This was a very simple and quick knit.  Just what I needed as a break from what seems like never ending shawl patterns and I have a very happy husband.....win win!

On the spinning front......

Last week I shared my current project for the Tour de Fleece.  I thought it was going to take forever to get all three singles spun, but I'm happy to say, this is not the case.  Once I had the suri/merino roving done and moved on to "top", it's moved along quickly.

This is what my bobbin liked like on Wednesday but after yesterday it's almost full.  Woot, woot!  The plan for today is to "getter done" and start plying.

Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe weekend and we'll see you next week.

Tour Time

Yep.....the Tour de Fleece is in full swing again.    Of course I'm back on the Team of Wonder and the best part of the Tour is seeing all the fantastic yarns that are being created.

In my last post, I shared the last of my Yarn Hollow roving that needed to be spun.  My first priority was to get this done to free up my bobbins. 

 

This turned out to be the most colorful, fun yarn I've ever spun. Ssssssh, don't tell my team mates, I am on the Alpaca lovin fiber team after all.  It's Merino Superwash in two colorways,  Spumoni and Bengal Bees, finished yarn is DK and 284 yds.   I absolutely LOVE this yarn

I'm currently spinning some of my Suri/Merino that I dyed a nutmeg color. 

My plan is to spin a 3 ply yarn using these three roving's. 

Notice the use of the word "plan". This is the first time I've ever considered spinning a 3 ply yarn and the first time I've spun so thin.  I figure it will take me the rest of the Tour and beyond to complete.   I'm hoping I can stay the course.

I'm also moving along nicely on my Stripe Study shawl using a skein of the 100% suri lace weight yarn I dyed last week.  I'm pairing it with a purple merino/silk skein of Cascade Heritage fingering weight. 

KellyJ suggested using the different yarn weights and I must admit I was concerned about how it was going to knit up but she's very persuasive.  She said "have I ever steered you wrong".......trust me"!   Once again....she was right.  I'm loving how it's looking.

I've completed five of the 12 rows the pattern calls for.  I have another skein of the purple on hold at Your Local Yarn Shop encase I decide to make it larger cause I'm not sure how using lace and fingering together will affect the size.

So that's my week in review...... just want to leave you with a couple of pics that brought a smile to my face when I got home from work yesterday. 

New addition to pasture, 1995 Buick

Your know your a redneck if......

We don't have lovely green pastures on our farm but more importantly, for our alpacas and goats in this heat, we have shade, lots of beautiful shade.  After hosing down the alpacas, my husband decided to wash our second car and just closed it in the pasture for the night.......safety first.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday

Fiber-licious Fun

Just a quick post as the day has gotten away from me.  Had a great week for dying some yarn.


First up was some lace weight 100% Suri.......

.....next came a blend of brushed Suri and nylon.  I really like using one strand of mohair for plying with my handspun so was thrilled when I found this brushed Suri.  Who needs mohair when you can have Suri......right?  Just kidding, I'm sure there'll still be mohair in my spinning future.

Currently working on 100 % alpaca in fingering...........

On my wheel......the last of my stash from Yarn Hollow.  On the larger bobbin is Merino superwash top in colorway Spumoni.   I'm spinning up 4 oz. of Merino superwash top colorway Bengal Bees.  I think this will make for an interesting combo.

My plan was to have all my bobbins emptied for the start of Tour de Fleece tomorrow.  You know how that goes.....

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend....enjoy the 4th and will see you next week.