What's On and Off the Needles.......................

It has been a slow winter for knitting-- just couldn't get my "mojo' going to do any knitting.

This was a mystery FLG (finger less glove) pattern that popped up on my radar in January--I found some handspun wool/silk blend and cast on

And then they just were put aside

Finally!  picked them up and finished them off--nice warm mittens

I like the design

I began this 'swing' cowl just because--to see what all the fuss was about this technique

Not handspun, but stash yarn--this is an different technique of doing short rows, but I lost interest after I knew how it worked.  Has that ever happen to you?

I requested this book for Christmas gift and it got buried under all my other paperwork until just recently, so we began with lesson One

which was to string 150 beads onto your ribbon (thank goodness for stash yarns!) It took awhile to string all those beads and I learned a short cut way of doing it after several other unsuccessful means........................take it from me--dental floss is the way to go when stringing beads! 

Ever Wondered--History of Fiber??

Have you ever stopped to think about the timeline of fiber? I never did--until this website/book popped up on my radar. Fiber Timeline

Thank you Marie-Therese Wisniowski for this fascinating information! 

MARDI GRAS

 
If you have ever lived in a Southern state, you have attended at least one Mardi Gras parade.  Or maybe, you visited during Mardi Gras season.   As we lived in Louisiana for many years, we attended the BIG one in New Orleans numerous times--it was hectic but fun! 

What is Mardi Gras or "Fat Tuesday"?  events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after the Epiphany or Kings day and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday, referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday. The day is sometimes referred to as Shrove Tuesday, from the word shrive, meaning "confess"


Mardi Gras Carnival season is party time!  Enjoying oneself until the struck of midnight of Tuesday when the streets are washed and all party goers need to go home or some attend midnight mass to atone for their sins. 
 And then lent begins and good fresh seafood is on the menu. 

May you have a good Mardi Gras where ever you live!  and look forward to 2015: February 17 when Mardi Gras rolls around again!
 

EZ Dye Cotton Sliver????

Well, I never thought that cotton sliver would be EZ (easy) to dye! Never, never, never! It has always been a chore to dye cotton--first you must soak and sometimes boil the cotton to get the fibers dampen and saturated enough to take the dyes. Then you have to find the correct dye to use. Mostly, fiber reactive dyes are used but you can use natural dyes too! So, when I spotted this product at our last January spin-in, there was no stopping me from buying --must give this a try!

Check out Cotton Clouds website on how they dyed the fiber 

I purchased my fiber from Ewephoric Fibers

Into the pot the fiber went along with ACID dyes--that's right!  I used acid dyes and no mordant necessary when you dye this fiber.  This fiber has been processed to eliminate the use of a mordant.  How do they do that?!!

Here is my cotton EZ dyed! and the best part--it is EZ to spin!!  As soon as it was dry I was at my spinning wheel to give it a try.

Wow!  what fun to spin! 

 

 

FatCat Coming At You!

Once again, each month I'm always amazed at the how Sindy comes up with such interesting and unusual patterns.  Oh, to be such a designer! 

The next to last doggie block for me--background fabric has run out!  Too bad as this has been fun!

another kissing fish--just wished I'd used a brighter fabric for the fins

HOOT!  HOOT! HOOT!

And a new block of the month (BOM) beginning in February--how cute are these fellas!

check Sindy's patterns out at Fat Cat.  These patterns are free each month until the next one is posted--join in the fun!

In-Spir-a-tion!

Meeting with my weaver friends is the greatest inspiration! They always amaze me! Give me insight into different ways of thinking about a warp and a weft. In fact, any fiber technique! The latest February meetings brought forth more fruit for thought.................

Dottie is our 'recycling' fiber person.  She can always come up with more ways to reuse 'old' fabrics.  She had taken some woven fabric that had 'aged' and made little heart pin cushions as gifts for a luncheon.

Connie had finished weaving her wrap--big chunky weft and warp, indigo dyed colors.

she added the stitching in the motifs to add contrast points

Look how lovely and genius!

Dottie showed off her needle felted honey pot bear.............

He's quite the fellow!

Now, take this model

Give it to Kate and she is off and running to fashion her own unique needle felted bear--just because, she wanted a bear!

Rosemary had her handspun wool--having recently taken a novelty spinning workshop with Connie

She created these lovely unique yarns

At a different weavers gathering, our luncheon table covering was these interesting table mats; the cutlery works well in this setting 

And sometimes, the best part of meeting with fiber friends is the chance to admire their wearables.  this scarf was worn by D'Anne

And we have the over achiever in Marion!  She is quite the weaver!  She took linen and cotton warp to cram and space to make this lovely fabric

The drape and feel is awesome!

And Karen's rugs!  oh, my!

Rosepath setting

The look of the back one has almost an undulating twill effect

But, up close you can see it is just the weft--she uses yard of fabric that she cuts lengthwise to have a continuous weft--now, you got to admire her for that.

Up close look at Karen's rug

Linda was working with block weaves and had three different versions of the same block structure

The top towel was huck lace weave

Here is the third version

Since our group is studying traditional Swedish weave, this towel fit right in

This lovely spindle was a departing gift to Leigh

Gretchen was showing her lovely warped painted scarf

All we can say is a definite WOW factor!!

 

Yes, there is always inspiration at our weavers' meeting--maybe, I should be on the loom and create some inspiration myself!

Nature's Colors

How often do you use Nature's colors for your creations?  The colors are around us all the time--winter, spring, summer and fall. 

My favorite nature scene is a winter sunset--there is nothing like a sunset at the beach.

The colors bounce off the water and there must be clouds to have the full effect

My camera has a section where you take different color sections--this is definitely an interesting way to view the same natural scene

Take a look at this sunset from the same location as one above with different tints and hues

And when I take photos like this I can revisit the evening over and over

The daytime flashes of lights off the water is awesome

The blue green of the waters against the white of the sandy shore

And of course, the ruby red of fresh strawberries.  How can we not use Nature for our color selections?

and I love this feature on my I-pad--kaleidoscope feature in the photo booth.  This is a photo of a ball of yarn that I was knitting from--ah technology! 

Have fun with nature and the settings on your camera!