knitting

A quiet day knitting.  One heel is finished on my current socks.

spinning

Worked on spinning the third spindle full of Shetland.  I've been stopping at about 1 oz per spindle.

sketch

pencil sketch

sock knitting

Started pair of socks number 20.  I'm using a self-striping yarn so I went with basic ribbed pattern.  I really didn't care for the colorway that I'm using at first but I'm liking it more now.  The addition of a little bit of pink really made a huge difference.

sketch

Tree study, in pencil.

gull wing socks

My gull wing socks are finally finished.  I like how these turned out but they were a bit slow going.

raven origami

This is suppose to be a raven, I guess is kind of looks like one.  I folded it following the diagrams in the book "Beautiful Origami" by Zulal Ayture-Scheele.

spinning

Spun some more of the Shetland roving that I started last week.

sketch

A pencil sketch based on a painting by Thomas Moran.

knitting socks

I am slowly making progress on my gull wing socks.  I have turned the heel on both and have started working on the cuffs.  The heels on these really fit my foot nicely, I think I have found my new favorite heel :)

handspindle

Tonight I cut & sanded some extra shafts for my babe handspindle.  Because this spindle is adjustable, with the extra shafts I will be able switch shafts after filling a spindle without disturbing the cop.  Plus I sharpened one end to a point so they will worked better as bottom whorl spindles.

gingerbread (vegan)

gingerbread  (slightly modified from the recipe in "Sweet and Natural" by Meredith McCarty - I made some changes to use what I had on hand).  This was my first time making this recipe - it is definitely a keeper :)

1 cup   white whole wheat flour
1 cup   hard red spring wheat flour
1 T   baking powder
1 1/4 t   powdered ginger
1/2 t   each cinnamon and nutmeg
1/4 t  cardamon
1/8 t   each cloves, allspice and mace
1/2 t  sea salt
1 T   peeled and grated fresh ginger
1/3 cup   canola oil
1/2 cup   pure maple syrup
1/4 cup    blackstrap molasses
zest of 1/2 lemon
2/3 cup  soy milk
1 t    vanilla
3   large dried dates, chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Oil an 8-inch square baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients.  In a medium bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together, reserving dates.  Whisk wet ingredients into dry and transfer batter to pan.  Sprinkle dates over the surface and gently smooth them in with a rubber spatula.
3.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and color is quite golden, 35 to 40 minutes.  Allow cake to cool completely before serving, at least 2 hours.

spinning

It was another spinning day.  I now have 1 spindle full (a little less than 1 oz) of Shetland roving, only 3 more oz to go.  I think I'm going to 4-ply this fiber.  It should end up being a light worsted weight.

sketch

A quick little pencil sketch of a pine tree.

sock knitting

Worked some more on my Gull Wing socks.  It is slow going, but I do like how this pattern works up in this yarn (SWTC's TOFUtsies).

homemade yogurt

 Today I made some homemade yogurt.  The method I used to make my yogurt is fairly simple.

Directions
 Heat 1 quart of milk to 110 degrees F (do not let milk boil - if it is too hot it will kill the live cultures) and then whisk in 6 oz of plain live culture yogurt.  Divide milk mixture evenly among clean jars.  Place jars into a yogurt maker (mine is a Yolife maker), without lids on.  Cover and turn on machine.  The yogurt will be ready in about 10 to 12 hours.  Place lids on jars and refrigerate for up to 1 week.  Flavor with fruit and sweeteners as desired.  Save 1 jar to culture the next batch of yogurt.

scrap fabric bookmark tutorial

Scrap Fabric bookmark

Supplies: 2 (1/2" dia.) magnets, 1 piece of 7"x3.5" medium weight fusing, 1 piece of 8"x4.25" fabric, 1 piece of 1.25"x5.5" piece of fabric and 1 piece of 7.5" long trim

 To make:  fold fusing in half the long way and place 1 magnet on each end.  

Fold over and sew magnets in place.

Pin small piece of fabric on top of larger piece.  The larger piece of fabric will later be folded in half the long way.

Sew the small piece onto the larger piece.  I left the edges raw and frayed them after the piece was sewn on.

Fold larger piece of fabric in half the long way with front sides together.  Sew around the open edges leaving a gap for turning.

Turn fabric right side out and insert the magnets in through the turning gap.

Sew around all 4 edges and across the middle at the point where the bookmark will be folded in half.

Sew trim to the top of the bookmark.

The finished bookmark.

sock knitting

Almost finished the brown striped socks that I've been working on.  I should be able to finish these up tomorrow pretty easily.

spinning shetland

Started spinning some Shetland wool I purchased from Wool-in-Legends at the Michigan Fiber Festival.  I like the feel of this fiber and so far it is spinning up nicely :)

acrylic painting

Today I started a new acrylic painting. I have only put down 2 base layers so it doesn't look like much yet. 

first layer

second layer

spinning

The green llama/wool fiber all plied and wound into a hank on the niddy-noddy.

spinning

The green llama/wool mix fiber is now all spun and half of it has been 3-plied.

sock knitting

Started another pair of socks today.  Not the prettiest of colors but the striping patterns are nice in this brand of yarn.  The pattern is a simple 4x4 rib.

Creativity Research

Today I read an interesting and insightful little book on creativity:   "Steal Like An Artist: 10 things nobody told you about being creative" by Austin Kleon.  The copy I read was from the library, I liked it enough that I am thinking about buying myself a copy even though I am currently on a very restricted book buying diet.

sketch

A still life pencil sketch

spinning

Started spinning some new llama/wool fiber.  This fiber is much more pleasant to spin than the last llama mix I spun.  

knitting and spinning

Today was another day of knitting and spinning.

The llama/merino fiber that I've been working on for the last couple of weeks all spun & plied.

And the same fiber put up into a hank on the niddy noddy.

My raglan sweater is now starting to look like a sweater.

spinning

I have finally finished spinning my sticky llama/merino fiber.  Yea!  I am now working on Navajo plying it (my favorite technique), to make a fingering weight 3-ply yarn.

raglan sweater

This is the beginning of a raglan sweater knitted from the top down.  The pattern I'm following is in Ann Budd's new book "The Knitter's handy book of Top-down sweaters".

sock knitting

Finished another pair of socks today.