Now that I have these new "friends", I've put one to good use modeling the Jane Thornley inspired shawl that I made a few weeks ago. I used a different yarn for almost every row, some wool, some handspun by me, some fun fur, etc, etc... It was just knit stitch on large needles-I cast on 110 stitches-and knit a couple rows of each yarn. There are a few rows of the Feather and Fan stitch which turns out really cool. I hope to make another one but in all shades of grey. These are so fun and easy. I'm working out ideas for scarves like this, too. I'm not a very accomplished knitter, so this is a big deal for me, and I guess I'm patting myself on the back a bit.

Gift of Thanks

So, this morning as I was playing around with my new sewing machine, making tons of little quilted squares to sew into little gift boxes, I took notice of a copy of a picture I had thrown in my garbage a few days earlier. Now, this was a poor quality copy of an old photo of my mother when she was young that I discarded from another project I was working on last week. Something about the picture made me want to take it out and try a little quilted frame around it and jazz it up a bit. I began sewing, add ing lace and bits and pieces of scrap fabric. one little scrap was a little print of music notes, and since my mom loved music I figured it would be perfect for the piece. It was upside down when I stitched it in place, so when I turned it over to admire my work I got a huge jolt when I noticed that the letters on that little scrap are my mom's initials- m p -for Myrtle Pecor--At that very moment I felt her presence (she's been gone for many years now.) I cried a bit because I miss her so. She loved Thanksgiving, with all the wonderful baking and setting of a beautiful tablewhere we all could gather and enjoy our family.

Today I am thankful to my mother and this wonderous gift of her memory, and all the memories of Thanksgivings past. Thanks, Mom, I love you and miss you.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

fun colors

I had some fun with a little color this morning-I had read somewhere that there was a Mexican equivalent of Koolaid out there, and just happened to find some at the local PicknSave. It's called Klass and comes in several flavors-but my store only had Tamarind, Pineapple and Mango. So I just grabbed one pkg of each. I had no clue what Tamarind could be-but really needed to find out-so it was first. I just used a canning jar, and poured in the powder and some water. It smelled very strange-and I had to try a teeny bit---eeeyukkk--but it was a light shade of brown that could be nice. I put in a glug of vinegar, and 1 oz of wool. Then I "cooked" it in the microwave for a few minutes. I did the same with the pineapple and mango, and they all took turns for a few spins. I then let them sit for a bit to cool-but not long, cuz I was too anxious to see what I got. Well, let say for some better color it would be a good idea to put several pkgs of tamarind to get a nice brown-but I'm ok with the pale tan I got. The same goes for the pineapple-its a very very pale yellow-but pretty. The mango turned out the best. It's a pastel-but definitely the prettiest of the lot.

So what did I learn from this adventure? The taste of tamarind is hard to rinse out of your mouth, I need to find the other flavors of Klass, and I need to get many packs of each kind to get a more saturated color.

All in all-I learned a lot today.

Last week I checked out the Fiber Arts Friday blogs and read about cardboard looms for weaving. I searched the web like crazy for more info and found all kinds of fun stuff. So I proceeded to snag some huge pieces of cardboard from the garbage at work to make all kinds of looms. I started small-first a round loom to make a beret...then I figured out how to make one to make a nice long scarf-I finished the beret-its cute but I don't look good in a beret-so someone will be getting it for Christmas--and the scarf has only just begun-but I'm lovin' it so far. I plan to use up all my practice spinning stash. The next project will be an attempt at the big triangle loom. Cross your fingers for me.

working with fiber

I've been trying to make a dent in the fiber projects waiting around the house. From the huge bin of wool that I recently washed, to the wild colors I've been carding to use in the Fiberwire I've been spinning and also, the Romney wool I've had in a bag for a few years that I carded and have now started to spin. Nothing is organized and I keep hopping from one project to another-I must have wooley attention deficit disorder. Oh well, I love playing with wool in all its stages, and will be up to my ears in it for quite a while.

Had some fun trying some core-spinning with wire as the core. I first carded some random wool with lots of angelina and firestar for glitz. I put lots of different colors. I then took the batt that I made and split it into four long strips. Then I predrafted each strip til fairly thin and just barely holding together. I used 24g wire on a spool and attatched one end to my leader on the spinning wheel. I let the spool just roll around on the floor while spinning Z (clockwise) and just feeding the fiber on , from the right, at a 90 degree angle. I let the wire just glide across the top of my left hand. The only problem is the spinning wheel doesn't pull it on to the bobbin. You have to spin a length and the wind it on by hand, but that is really the hardest part of the process. I just love how it turns out and plan to make much more. I'm sure it will make great necklaces and bracelets.

another class

took another class from Mystele-I enjoy her style and creativity. Had fun painting a couple little items.