Making progress!

January brings the snow;
Makes our feet and fingers glow.
Sara Coleridge

16.01.2020 Today is sunny, -4 degrees F, and feels like -15 

January has been a productive month thus far.  The fabric I was weaving at the shop is now off the loom, washed, and steamed.  Checking the pattern/recipe for the Sarah-Dippity skirt by Sarah Swett, I  am pleased to know the fabric will work well for the project.

The fabric is 12-inches wide and 2.72 yards long

My palette of colors is getting larger.  Each color is a rolag's worth and just enough for a sampling.

Carding and spinning a palette of colors for a small weaving project.  Dyed wool from Kerry Woollen Mill

Progress is being made in the room by organizing the WIPs, UFOs, stitching, weaving, and knitting goods so things are easier to find.  Storing unspun fiber in tubs is the best solution because I can see the fiber through the translucent tub.  The downside is the tubs take up quite a bit of space in the small room.  The closet is where I store my art supplies, it is well-organized and out of sight until I need something.  The fiber and everything that goes with it takes up a lot of room and is distracting when I sit at the drafting table or the computer.  I have confidence that things will be much better soon.  No photos yet!

Meanwhile, there are plenty of small projects to keep me busy when I want to do some social knitting.

Boot cuffs are quick-to-knit projects and they are nice and warm.

I finally pulled out the 21-colors of Blue Sky Woolstock mini-skeins for a project, which will most likely be a hat.

Sample knitting for an upcoming class

One of my favorite sweaters is Aranmor by Alice Starmore.  Knitted in 2011, it was a joyful knitting project not only for the lovely cables and texture stitching, but the yarn was (and still is) just beautiful.  Rowan Scottish Tweed Aran, has been discontinued since I was in the finishing stage of my project.  I calculated the yardage for my sweater (I thought correctly) but ran out of yarn at the collar.  Thankfully, an online shop had three skeins of shade 025, which I bought even though only one skein was needed.  Since finishing the sweater, it became my go-to travel sweater and the only thing about it that irked me was the collar.  The decorative twisted stitch section after the ribbing rides up.  Not a terrible thing to happen, but I am not above changing neckbands and collars on sweaters multiple times.  It was not difficult to find the yarn end and then frog back to the ribbing.  Adding a turning ridge would fix the issue.  One row, not enough...two rows, meh...three rows, it will work.  

Knitting the twisted stitch section on the wrong side of the collar, the purl rows above the ribbing create a fold.

Stay warm!

Ahhh, it is done

Well, here is the finished Aranmor.  It is just gorgeous and I am very happy with it.  It was the perfect blend of yarn and design.

I love this sweater! 

Now that I am at the end of the Aranmor journey, it is time to go to the next project.  I started a little cotton cardigan for spring/summer.  I believe it is time to use the handspun yarn for a vest or sweater.  The fingers are a bit swollen lately.  Too much marathon knitting.  I called the cardigan Little Brown Cardigan, but last night my friend and student, Karen, suggested Little Brown Jug, which I think is perfect!  It is the color of root beer.

Ho ho ho, you and me
little brown jug
how I love thee

Now it will be done!

The postman brought me a package right to the door.  Verra Yarns was very quick with the delivery and it was beautifully packaged.  Now I can finish the Aranmor even though the weather warmed up.  I will have something to work on tomorrow when Jim's staff is here.  

The sleeves are giving the new yarn a big hug!

A good match

Eevee and I had nice walkies after she got a trim.  Her legs get a bit woolly during the winter.  The leaves are trying so hard to pop out and I believe with the sunshine they will be quite pretty, soon.  The windows are open and the fresh air smells so good.  

Yesterday I went to the doctor to get another antibiotic for the stubborn bronchitis.  I do not like taking more medicine, but after over three weeks, I want this to be over!  

I have to neaten up the house and get some cookies baked for tomorrow.  One of the Scouts is coming quite a distance, so we'll have a guest tonight.

Ben at 10 and Eevee 

Ben will be 21 soon, and naturally his birthday falls over finals week.  I bought some fun things and goodies for him to share.  It is like a party-in-a-box.  We will celebrate with him when he comes home.  I am going to make him a game that will be funny for him and his history buddies--pin the pickelhaube on Bismark.  I also thought about pin the (coat)tails on Washington, but decided he would get a kick out of Bismark.  

Time to clean and bake, when that is finished it will be time to work on my sweater.  I really only needed one skein, but after this near disaster, I am taking NO chances.  One skein will do all the work and the other two will keep it company in the knitting bag!

Aranmor sadness

'Rub-a-dub-dub Mother C. went to the tub to get her poor Aranmor a skein

When she got there the tub was bare and so her poor Aranmor had none

...And she was really ticked off!'

Sigh...the life of a knitter is not an easy one.  At least with paint, I can go out and get another tube of the same "dye lot" and be done with it.  Knitting?  NooooooOOOOOoooooo!  I was so careful to check yardage ahead of time and my gauge is spot on to Ms. Starmore's (quite an accomplishment, if I say so myself).  I spent the morning looking online to search nationally and internationally for a few skeins--I need only 1, but am NOT taking chances.  I found a lot of 8, three will be sufficient to finish.  I am checking to make sure the order went in, even though I got an order number.  Overkill, I know, but one must not take chances with discontinued yarn!  The body is finished and I was almost to the saddle on the second sleeve when I stuck my hand in the tub--horrors!--worse than a slasher movie.  Well, at least in my opinion right now.  Until I have the yarn in my hot little hands, I will not rest easy.  That would be a cold, dark dive into the frog pond.  

Daisy Bowl

Enough of that!!  I have an entrelac class tonight.  I hand felted the daisy bowl.  It is very cute, just as I thought it would be.  I will leave the pink/green/white bowl unfelted and then I have two bowls in progress so I can work with the students as they progress.  The Quant pattern is ready and I have to steam the first sample (knit in Noro Kureyon from Kathryn).  I like it better than I did at first.  I knitted it exactly like the pattern.  On the shop sample, I modified the ends to match.  There are lots of modifications on Ravelry, which is handy!

The bronchitis is barely hanging on and annoying.  This week will be week 3 of it and it is time to get better.  It just needs another nudge to get out of my system.  Over-the-counter meds just treat the symptoms, so another visit to Dr. V. is in order.  If I go on Thursday, I can see his therapy dog, Rufus.  I love Rufus and he always makes me feel better.  "Dog pills."

Art in Bloom

The last of winter melted away yesterday with a visit to the MIA.  My friend, Lynne, and I spent the rainy day at the museum taking in the Titian exhibit before it goes away and it was also cool to watch the floral artists set up for the Art in Bloom exhibit all over the museum.  Florists chose works of art as inspiration and arranged flowers to display along side the art.  Lovely colors, textures, and smells!

A nod to Alenander Calder

This is the painting to the left of...

Hortense! 

Renoir is to her right.

This one was so beautiful and captured the light and color of the painting.

Ahhh, Monet...

This was a clever and very Americana interpretation
of Grant Wood's work.

Chagall needed no flowers!

Lynne's friend did this arrangement beside the monkey.

The art teacher at CRHS made her vase and arrangement.

This was one of my favorites--simple and elegant.

The Quant is finished!

I finally got photos of the dreaded headband.  I like the Great Adirondack yarn much better than the Noro for the project.  I used the pattern modification to make both ends the same.  The left sleeve of the Aranmor is almost finished and I started the cuff of the right sleeve.  Light at the end of the tunnel--at last!  The weather is still dreary today, which is fine--I do not have class until later.  I hope the rain stays away during the baseball game, as Jim and some colleagues from work took the train into the city to see the Twins play.

I like the pattern modification to make the ends match

A sleeve and a cuff

I have a lot of catching up to do.  I lost a few days with being miserable.  Bronchitis = ugh!  We received some "medicine" in the mail the other day from Bernd and Angelika--Ritter Sports and Milka chocolate bars, a chocolate bunny, and Milka eggs with little purple spoons for scooping out the cream centers of the eggs!  That will make me feel better really quickly!  Danke!

Spring might just be here...

The water at the Rum River Dam in Anoka was really rushing
now that the snow has melted!

I am afraid to say that too loudly.  As the snow melts in the back yard, I am doing yard patrol.  Not my favorite job, but necessary.  A robin hopped by the back door.  I think it is safe to say SPRING!

I finally edited the felted bowl pattern, and since it has been a week, it is time to try it one more time.  Kathryn is taking a shot at testing it for me.  Aranmor is progressing...meh...I had to frog that darned center section because on row 97 the numbers on either side of the section were off by one...not happy about that.  Such is life and knitting.

Bottom of the bowl marked for the first triangle tier

11.04.11  Wow, it has been some time since I started this post.  As you can see by the photo of Aranmor, the buds on the maple tree are popping out.  

I made another entrelac bowl and took photos of it in progress.  I have two to felt and Kathryn did a great job with the pattern and I just need to re-word the top triangle tier. It will be a perfect pattern for teaching.  

I will call this one "daisy."

My knitting demons have disappeared for now and the second side of Aranmor is just about finished.  I will be very happy to begin the sleeves.  

I like that this photo shows the true color of the yarn.
I really love this pattern!

Twisting the turns and turning the twists

Progress..

Now that I have slain most of the knitting demons, the Aranmor is going gangbusters.  I'm past the first diamond and onto the next.  I can see in the photo in the book that there appear to be 3 1/2 or 4 diamonds up the front.  This is an enjoyable project.  I love how the Rowan Scottish Tweed is knitting up.  The natural color will show off the cable work nicely.

Jim is finally home from Ohio.  He visited his Mom, sister, niece, and her boys.  Mom turned 88 on the 28th.  She had a nice birthday and I am glad he was able to see her.  It has been quite a while since he was there.  I have not been back since a couple of months after my sister's funeral.  Jim had dinner with a couple we have known since junior high/high school.  They had a nice time.  We all keep in touch on Facebook.

...is going well!  Spunny inspects my work.

Tomorrow is the last of the wheel spinning classes.  One of my previous students will be there to make up her last class.  I am very proud of her.  She is spinning yarn for a project from A Fine Fleece, which is a really nice book.  Oh dear, here I go again!

While Jim was in Ohio, I made a couple of warm blankets.  Normally I wouldn't go for these because I love natural fiber, but Polar Fleece is so nice and cozy.  We got the scout fabric from the Wood badge breakfast auction and I just couldn't resist the gnome fabric.  The scout one is larger, I just squared off the gnome fabric.  I might make a pillow cover to take along camping.  I might need the extra warmth when I go to Okpik this coming weekend!  Okpik in Inuit for Snowy Owl.

Boy Scout blanket

Happy Gnomes

To make a simple, smaller blanket:  Polar fleece runs 60" wide.  Buy enough to make a square of fabric of the main color and a backing color.  On a large surface, trim the selvedge edges of both the backing and main color.  Now lay the backing and main color with wrong sides together.  Cut a 4" to 5" square from each corner (this determines the length of the fringe).  Now cut the fringe about 1" wide and 4" to 5" long all around the blanket.  Next tie every other fringe with overhand knots on the right side (the backing color should show up on the front), and then turn the blanket over and do the same on the wrong side.  It makes the fringe look better.  That's it!  It has been so cold here and these  blankets are lightweight and easy-care. 

Cables, classes, and spreadsheets--oh my!

Eevee contemplating whether or not to venture out

I attended another class at the Apple Store this morning.  I created a spreadsheet for my classes and one for the Aranmor.  Rob was so helpful and it was nice to tweak on something I created.  After class I walked down to Caribou and enjoyed a cuppa Joe, a muffin, and some wi-fi time.  

Today is very sunny with a bit of wind kicking up.  The temperature is bottoming out by tomorrow.  Kathy and I will brave the cold and have our Friday coffee together.  I look forward to catching up and hopefully she will have on one of the sweaters she made recently.  

It's a big old egg outside!

23.01.11  Baby, it's cold outside!  It is very cold, but with a collection of sweaters and accessories, I always stay warm!
Progress on the Aranmor is coming along, but I seem to keep making mistake on row 17-18 of chart B.  Sigh...it seems that happens every so often in a project.   Working past a particular section can be frustrating.  It is not difficult, I was probably not paying attention (over confident) because the knitting was going too smoothly.

I love the texture!

We went to the Wood Badge Breakfast at Base Camp and it was such fun to see my patrol mates again.  We picked up some Scout stuff from the silent auction and Jim even had the winning bid on a cool chair that the Scouts (from the troop that Dennis and George started) made.  I heard a familiar voice bid, which surprised me.  Jim was upping the bid and didn't expect to have the winning bid!  All the money earned from the silent and live auctions helps fund Scouters that want to attend Wood Badge.  The upcoming WB course staffers were introduced and I found out that I may be a troop guide.  It was a surprise, but by 2012, I will have enough experience under my belt.  I will be away from my comfortable spot behind the camera!

Woody Bear came along
to decorate our table

Now to the front of the classroom...I will be condensing the Explore Color class and the Twists & Turns classes into one daytime class and one nighttime class.  It will be easier for both Kathy and for me!  The classes should be larger and it is always more interesting with larger groups.  So far it has been so much fun to see the progress of the colorful projects and the lovely cable projects students have chosen.   Today is the second session of three wheel spinning sessions.  I believe the antique wheel issues should be ironed out and the Babe wheel will cooperate with the students.  Ever faithful Louie always performs well for me!