I finished the Log Cabin blanket that I started back in early May for the wedding of our friends. Finished size was roughly 48″x42″. The perfect size to throw over your lap and snuggle up with a cup of teas and good book. True to the best of gifts, it is a bit difficult to see this one leave my home. Made of odd bits of yarn left over from projects over the past couple years, making it was a fun trip down memory lane and they type of item that would give warmth of heart and body on as cold day. Several yarns were those that I dyed myself, including a small bit of my very first skein of hand painted yarn. There was even some that I spun from sheep which were raised on the farm where the happy couple lives. Definitely a project that I will do again once I have a good stash of leftovers that needs using up. I have a few new projects lined up to work on that will start me on that quest. It feels good to have made a “big” knitting project. It wasn’t the most complicated of patterns, but it did take time. I often shy away from the longer projects because so often I will go into a flare and not work on it for a time. (Not too different than me and my blog in that respect.) If I chose a smaller, quicker piece then I have a better chance of finishing in a reasonable time frame. I didn’t rush through this one, and only at the end when I was in a time crunch did I push myself to work on it when I didn’t really want to be working on it. True to my form, I finished it the day of the wedding with 3 hours to spare. Just enough time to get my daughter and myself cleaned up and ready to go. She was the flower girl, which in the world of a 7 year old girl is a much honored role. She was up first thing in the morning asking how long until the wedding. When I told her she had 7 hours to wait (an eternity in her eyes) she groaned and asked how many minutes that was. 420 met with several more groans.

We are in our final week before we leave for our trip to the Pacific Northwest of the US. My brother is getting married and it will be the first time back for my whole family except for me. I went last year to gather with several of my sewing mama friends, where I taught a little workshop on wet felting and then I went to a course on using hypnotic techniques as an element in the childbirth classes I teach. This year I went to get started on a holistic course of treatment for my fibromyalgia. Very different reasons. So much has changed. I know from my own experience that it will be odd being back in a place that used to be home and have it seem so foreign. It’s remarkable how much we have settled into life here.

There are always a million details that pop up at the last minute. With this being a month long trip I am expecting twice that. We are moving house (again) shortly after we get back so all that needs to be squared away this week in addition to all the normal packing business. Fortunately it is still pretty calm today with a week left to go, and maybe it will stay that way if we are lucky. Cross fingers and hope for the best!

With limited budget (as in zero budget) for acquiring of new yarn for my stash, and a need for a significant but not too brain taxing project I decided to give a Log Cabin style blanket a try. It is a stash buster project using up all the odd bits and bobs left over from other projects and a few odd skeins that have been with me for way to long and needed to be used up or given away. My original intent for it was to just make something for the family. We can always use another nice warm blanket. But then I remembered that our friends are getting married in late June and it would be a perfect wedding gift for them. They are very eclectic people and it is definitely an eclectic blanket. So far it measures roughly 2ft x 2ft and I am hoping to make it no less than 4×4. I might need to raid some yarn from my shop to meet that goal but if ever there was a reason to do so, making the perfect gift for good friends is as good as it gets.

I have a few other projects that I would like to get started in the next few weeks. I had hoped to make a shrug with some nice cotton that my friend Anna gave me last year before I go to Seattle in July. I’m not sure that I will get to it by then, but it would make a good project to work on while I am there if I don’t finish it before hand. I have another project planned that I really want to get done before the end of June, but again I am not sure that it will be possible. Its another gift for another wedding and I can’t say anything more because the recipient just might be reading this blog. But if I don’t get it done before that wedding I will give my apologies and get it to them as soon as possible. Hopefully before their first anniversary!

Last week the spirit of the season blew through me as I surrendered to a most intense fibromyalgia flare. With a good mystery audiobook playing on my laptop on my nightstand, cup of tea placed within easy reach, and my supplies set before me neatly on my bed I began hunting and pecking through beads and baubles for inspiration. The result was several pairs of glass and stone earrings that were bundled up and sent to their new homes before I had a chance to take pictures, and this lovely necklace that I made for our friend Sabrina. Made from orange/red/yellow rolled felt beads that I made last spring and colorful glass beads which I bought in a fabulous bead store in Barcelona.

I also made this divine hat for Stephen to wear with his once again long hair ponytail. It is cold in the mountains of Italy where he lives but it can be a real pain trying to find a hat that works with ponytails. Hopefully this will do the trick and keep him warm and in style. Made with handspun single and the pattern can be found here.

It was good to get some creative work done. I have been in such a drought lately, putting my energy mostly into daily needs, but also attending to other calls that have been demanding my attention. When I opened my box of beads and tools there was a sense of apprehension with my eagerness to get started. Knowing that I was in the midst of a bad flare, I also knew it was entirely likely that I wouldn’t be able to finish what I started. Another thing that keeps me from my creative pursuits is the lonely trail of abandoned projects that are evidence of good intentions gone the way of dreams. But not this time. Once I got going the momentum built on itself and I began to get as much energy from making them as I was putting into them. More even. What a joy and a delight! ‘Tis the season to be merry and bright!

There must have been some huge celestial event, or some other type of shift in the universe recently. I cannot figure out what else may have caused me to list some of the goodies I have made over the past several months in my etsy shop. I suppose I like seeing them sitting nicely on my cool green Ikea shelves. It does make for good conversation when someone comes around for a visit to chat about my fabulous hobby. Eeesh. Ouch. I will admit I am not the most self promoting of artists, but I really do think of my work as my art. Not that I have anything against hobbiests, I do have bonafied hobbies of my own. Like amassing the ultimate pashmina collection and parenting. (okay, yes, I kid on that last one.) But my fiber work is my art. My work. It might sound like a corny sales pitch from Ye Olde New Age Shoppe, but I truly do put energy and intention into each piece I make. Even the little ones. Each item I make marks the moment in time that they were created in and while engaged in my creative process I always find new sparkles to explore in life. Nonetheless, there does seem to have been some sort of warm wind that has blown across the frosty tundra that was my motivation to actually offer my goods for sale. Even if they do look really cool on my shelf.

These were originally made for my littlest daughter, but alas they are not pink enough for her liking. (The girl knows her mind, and her mind says PINK PLEASE!) So into my etsy shop they go.

Hand felted with resist and needle felted decoration of flowers and vines. Super sweet. These were my practice for a pair for myself that I am hoping to get made before I head off to Seattle and Portland (yippy!!!) for a couple weeks. (We’ll see how that big idea goes as I launch into my traditional week-before-trip sewing and knitting frenzy. Why I wait until it is crunch time before I get my rear in gear is beyond me!)

Next up is a knitted felt bag with needle felt button and flower for a little extra groove factor. Made with handpainted wool yarn I got in a swap.

Yes, there is a color theme to my work this week. I figured that if the sky is insisting on being gray then by golly I am going to add a little of my own color and brightness to my world! Anytime the heavens want to follow my lead is fine by me! (hint, hint oh Universal Powers….:)

I was there in heart if not in body as my dear friend Valerie birthed herself into motherhood of Logan.

Yarn from a hand dyed swap at Mothers of Purl. Gorgeous Autumn colors that coordinate perfectly with a big snuggly scarf I made last year. Pattern is Coronet from Knitty. My second time attempting cables and I think I can safely say I am no longer completely intimidated by them. Not completely. Just partially. Learned invisible/provisional cast on, which is also something I have been skeered of. Casting on was straight forward enough, but I need to get the hang of unravelling the graft. Luckily my blips in this area are nicely concealed by the cable and the colorway. And its in the back.

Next up is my first attempt at plying. Using my very rudimentary drop spindle (which I hope to use enough to justify getting a wheel. A gal can dream, right?) and some bats that I had aquired a couple years ago. Not entirely sure of the fiber content but it is dreamy soft. I suspect Merino and there are definately some silk slubs. Still the novice spinner, it is definately a novelty yarn. Width varies from worsted/aran to bulky. Overall I would consider it bulky. There is still plenty wool left over to make more, which I may do depending on how this one knits up. I am thinking it would make a gorgeous hat and scarf. Maybe something from Garn Studio. I love their stuff.

I am fondly referring to them as my “doh!” socks. I think it is fairly self explanatory why.

I picked up the skein of sock yarn at a charity shop for 25p and decided to test out the pattern with it. Its a nice wool blend sock yarn in a heather green color. Broadripple from Knitty. The pattern calls for self striping yarn to have the full effect, but since I am cheap I decided to see if I like the pattern before spending real cash on a new skein. Of course if I was truly smart I would have weighed the skein to be sure it had enough yarn, but nope. That would be just too clever for me. So, nearly done with the pair as I approached the final toe I ran out of yarn. Luckily I had some odd yarn from a previous project left over that I was able to finish with. Good thing that bit is meant to be inside a shoe. And Anja is quite amused by my funny toe so not all is a loss.

The upside is that I really like the pattern. It was very easy and looks mighty impressive despite its simplicity. The self striping yarn is a must though in order to get the true glory of the pattern.

With winter rapidly approaching I am on a run of wool earflap hats. My own pattern (just a basic cap with ear flaps and i-cord ties added on) which has been really well received. I have had several requests for customs of these as a matter of fact. I love it when others love what I make. Its all well and good that I am happy with it, but there is something really uplifting to get positive feedback from folks.

First up is a tiny newborn/premie hat made of Blue Faced Leicester aran in my own handpainted ‘totally hippy’ colorway of lucious jewel tones.

Another earflap hat in lovely dusty deep lavender tones. The yarn was received in a ‘hand dyed yarn swap’ with some of my knitting mama friends over in Mothers of Purl at sewingmamas

And a quickie that I made in a manic knitting session last night. For my current client who is at 40weeks + 17 days and was subjected to a rather stressful visit to hospital where she was given the major induction pressure (bordering on abusive in my not so humble opinion). I channeled my frustration and anger at how she was treated into making this little cutie. Made with Rowan All Seasons Cotton. Winged the hat pattern and lame-o attempt at my own pseudo Fair Isle. Simple but sweet.

For a sweet wee babe born to a client. Just a mere 4lb 2oz (at full term!) she is the tiniest babe I have ever held in my arms. Healthy and happy… just small. (And happily plumping up quite nicely thanks to her mama’s magic milk.) Made of Rowan All Seasons Cotton. No pattern, just winged it. Baby’s head is about the size of a small orange, but alas it is not orange season so I had none to try it on for size. Luckily Miss Marrow was happy to lend her services. A perfect fit!