Watch This Space

It's possible that I may revive this blog.

Business Plans

I'm working on changing the way I distribute my knitting patterns, and things I've made for sale.

My sister Gretchen and I set up an Etsy shop in January of this year. We're thinking about getting an occasional space at the local Farmers' Market, and doing some local holiday markets/sales. We'll both be offering items for sale at the CU Spinners and Weavers Guild Annual Show and Sale (November 2 & 3, 2012), as well.

As for my patterns, I've been selling them wholesale through a very limited number of yarn shops for more than 12 years. As you can see, my pattern website hasn't been updated in six of those years. ( It's on my list. Really.)

I have a number of free patterns, too, which are available as pdf downloads here.

Clearly, I don't work at this very hard. And I don't want to work at it very hard, to be honest. My heart and soul are in the creating, not the business logistics. I have no desire to submit designs to magazines or yarn companies. If they come to me, fine. I want to be in complete control.

So I'm converting all my paid patterns to pdfs and will sell them through Ravelry. Ravelry allows for direct sales to individuals, either through their home computers or via their in-store sales program. Payment is handled through Paypal, with which I've had good experiences.

Pattern pdfs can also be sold on craftsy.com and etsy.com, but the audiences there are much more diverse, and less focused on knitting -- and more likely to erroneously think they're buying a knitted hat, rather than the pattern to make a knitted hat, according to what I've heard. Ravelry pattern sales are automatically targeted at people who know how to knit (or crochet) and understand what "pattern" means.

I will probably investigate Patternfish as well - it's another targeted pattern-distribution site. But one (or two) things at a time.

It's beastly hot here, and dry, and has been for some time. I am so appreciative of air conditioning and ceiling fans!

Wedding Sampler

I've been going cross-eyed finishing a wedding sampler for a client. She had stitched about 25% of it, and handed it off to me to finish in time for the wedding.

I got it done, it's mounted, and waiting for its frame. It turned out nicely, I think. She asked me to modify parts of the design, leave out a central motif, and stitch the couple's names and wedding date in the center -- in a sort of Hebrew-looking alphabet.

I went online and found this font, which I used as inspiration for charting the names and date. She was pleased with the result.

Here's the finished sampler, before framing. 

It will have a fairly dark blue mat and a gold frame. I think the frame we ordered is close to 14" x 14".  The stitching is 16 stitches/inch. I've done finer work, but not in quite a while. I was glad to have my new glasses!

Next up, replicating a family Christmas stocking for a bridal shower gift -- due a week from Saturday.

At least it's knitting -- I won't go blind doing that. 

Inspired By...

My guild, the Champaign-Urbana Spinners and Weavers Guild, is doing a cooperative project with the Spurlock Museum at UIUC. Those of us who chose to participate are creating work inspired by an artifact from the museum's permanent collection.

Museum staff selected a number of artifacts which are not usually on display. The staff members who chose the artifacts are not fiber workers. In choosing artifacts from a range of cultures, they looked for a variety of colors, textures, and patterns. Pictures of the artifacts can be seen here.

In February 2011, we were shown pictures of these objects, so that we could begin to think about our choices. In May 2011, we held our last meeting of the year at the museum, and were able to examine the actual artifacts, with museum staff present to answer questions. Our final selections had to be made a month later (June 2011).

Since then, we've been puttering away. We've had lots of formal and informal meetings to discuss our processes and our progress, and have made use of a special mailing list to keep in touch (and keep up with approaching deadlines!).

This month (Tuesday, May 8, 2012) we met at the museum again, for a potluck buffet and a display of many of the works inspired by the artifacts.

It was amazing. I'd seen some of the work at different stages, either in person or in photos, but seeing what members brought, all in one room (well, one room and around the corner into the next) was impressive.

Each member's work will be shown alongside the artifact that inspired it. The exhibit will be on display at the museum August 20, 2013 - January 18, 2014.

I chose the "Wrought Iron Window-Door", item number 1929.11.0001. A photo of this object can be seen in the lower right corner of the project brochure here.  (Scroll down to the second page of the pdf.) Museum records state it to be from France, 16th Century. I wondered who looked through it, and what they saw. The more I looked at it, the more magical it seemed. In my mind, it became the gateway to a magical, mythical garden.

I'm using my renditions of the window-door as the outer surfaces of the doors to a triptych. I replicated the pattern of the window-door in wool pencil roving, which I needle-felted onto a woven wool fabric (from a thrift store skirt). On the inside surfaces of the doors will be depictions of a Tree of Life and a Fountain of Life, both universal concepts. The large central panel will be a depiction of the Peaceable Kingdom, another universal concept. The fabric for the inner panels is wool from a thrift store coat. I'm using embroidery, appliqué, needlefelting, and other needlework techniques on these panels.

Here's a detail of my Tree of Life: 

Each bird is about the size of a US penny. 

A couple of my critters from the Peaceable Kingdom: 

The lamb is about 3" from head to tail. They're made from pieces of felted sweaters, stuffed and embroidered. The lamb has real sheep curls needlefelted to his body.

Our projects are to be turned in at the museum the last week in June. I still have a lot to do, but I this project is feeding my soul in a way I couldn't have imagined at the outset. 

More to come. 

Al Sadu, traditional weaving in the United Arab Emirates

Today's entry:

I found this interesting, and hope you will, too. I am always amazed at our ingenuity as a species. There are so very many ways to make cloth: weaving, felting, knitting, crochet, and other looping techniques; and then so very many varieties of working within each of those methods. The link below will take you to a fascinating video.

Al Sadu, traditional weaving skills in the United Arab Emirates | Intangible cultural heritage - UNESCO Multimedia Archives

In this weaving tradition, the patterns of the weave are created as the warp is put on the loom. The weft (the yarn woven between the warp strands) is beaten down so much that it doesn't show at all. This is the same technique used in inkle weaving (belts, bands, etc. - think guitar strap).

Also: new items in Yarnpro's Cottage Workshop - keep checking; we are getting more ideas than we can keep up with!

Eilynna's Honey Bunny Quilt

Here's a quilt I made for Eilynna - the top was finished in May 2011; the quilting happened off-and-on, over the next several months.

The pattern is Honey Bunny's Garden, from Crabapple Hill. I had picked up fat quarters of three quilting fabrics in peach, green and cream at Threads of Time, thinking they would work well together. I didn't have a plan in mind. A month or so later, I happened to see the pattern for this quilt, and immediately knew I would do it with those three fabrics. So I bought enough fabric to make the quilt. Or so I thought.

I embroidered the pictorial blocks on good-quality muslin, held double (this is the best. idea. ever. -- even though I am pretty anal about keeping the back of my work as nice-looking as the front, the second layer of fabric really helps). I suppose I could look up when I started, and how long it took to embroider the blocks, but I'm not really about that -- I enjoy it while I'm doing it, and enjoy the results when I'm finished.

As an aside, I'm always a bit perplexed when the first question out of someone's mouth is "How long did it take to do that?" What difference does it make? How long did it take you to play that round of golf? How long did it take you to read that book? How long did it take you to watch that TV program? What I do is my recreation, my creative outlet. Some of my friends are painters (art, not walls). I've never heard anyone ask them "How long did it take you to paint that picture?"

I cut the pieces for the blocks with a rotary cutter, and machine-pieced them. My piecing skills improved a lot as I worked through the blocks and assembled the quilt top.

I added a border to the top, which meant that I had to piece the backing fabric to make the back big enough (the fabric had sold out). So much for buying the quantity specified on the pattern -- next time, I'll buy extra, just in case I make some design changes.

I used Warm & White batting -- I love this stuff, because it's low-loft, behaves well, and you can quilt as far as 10" apart. I only wanted to quilt around the outside of the embroidered blocks, which finished at about 9"x9", so this filled the bill nicely.

The pieced areas of the quilt were hand-quilted in a cross-hatch pattern, fairly widely spaced.

Eilynna uses this quilt in her crib at Grandma & Grandpa's house when her mommy & daddy are at work.

Where Does The Time Go?

Wow, long time no blog.

I've been busy. That should suffice.

One of the many things that has occupied me the last few months is setting up and making stock for an Etsy shop with my sister.

That takes time, and requires upkeep -- which I confess has also fallen by the wayside.

I'm just into too many things.

I'll try to do better about keeping this blog up to date.

I'll leave you with a photo of my most recent creation for the Etsy shop -- it hasn't been listed yet, but should go up today (I hope). It's a tea cozy.

Cash's Quilt

A little more than a year ago, I started making quilts for the grandkids' birthdays. This quilt was made from a kit from Keepsake Quilting, with additional fabric for the backing. 

The red border fabric came with the kit, and was meant to be the backing, but my friend Matthew snagged me the end of a bolt of the road fabric to use on the back. With that, and leftover red fabric, I was able to piece together a backing that Cash can drive his Matchbox cars on. 

The vehicles came as die-cuts with the kit. I glue-basted them on, then zigzagged around each shape in black. There were enough vehicles to applique to the upper border of the back as well. 

I purchased black double-fold quilt binding at JoAnn to bind the quilt. Batting is Warm & Natural. 

I hand-quilted around each wide stripe on the front, also in black. 

This is the only quilt in that birthday series that was actually finished by the relevant child's birthday.

It's long enough that he'll be able to use it on a twin bed, when he moves up to one. 

More pix below. 

Two months?!

I've been busy, just not posting here. Oops.

In those two months, I have finished two quilts, worked on two other quilts, knitted three dresses for my granddaughter, one or two tops for myself, some random socks, done some commission knitting for clients, and read some books.

I also shifted half the stuff out of my studio to make a bedroom for my sister, who will stay with us for the next few months, until she finds a place of her own in the area. It's really nice to have her here. We hadn't lived in the same town for over thirty years.

Our son is also living here, along with our grandson (about half-time, in his case), while he attends school. Classes start tomorrow, and he is really excited.

I took the month of August off from work at the shop, and have really enjoyed the time. Just another ten days of vacation remain. Sigh.

I'll try to get caught up on reporting my finished projects.

A Scarf with Holes in It

Don't worry, they're intentional.

Here are some photos of a crocheted scarf I designed this week for Needleworks, the yarn shop I work at.

It takes just one ball of Noro Silk Garden Sock, and measures approximately 54"X6" after blocking.

You could use Noro Kureyon Sock to make a longer scarf, or a second ball of the Silk Garden Sock.

Yes, those photos are both the same scarf. The lower picture, shot without flash, shows the texture nicely. The upper picture, shot with flash, shows the holes being blocked open and is a more accurate representation of the colors in the yarn (though it's somewhat less orange than it appears).

The pattern should be available soon on the Needleworks website, in our Pattern Library.

Koi Pond Update

I found some solid backing fabric in the darker shade of the wave print border fabric and finished the Koi Pond Runner. 

Here are a couple of photos. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. 

It's just the right size for the coffee table, and will also work well on the dining room table. The real challenge will be keeping a table cleaned off so I can use it.

Koi Pond Table Runner

More sashiko today -- two stamped panels by Olympus, which I ordered from Studio Aika. This particular design is SC-0039. Both the fabric and the stitched swirls/ripples are a bit darker than they appear in this photo -- at least on my monitor.

I embroidered these at our Spring Knitting Retreat at Threads & Beds in Danville, IL. Everyone was amazed at how quick and easy the running stitch is to do. I think I set off a minor frenzy of sashiko lemmings, too. ^_^

At first, I thought I'd make a couple of pillows, but decided a runner was more practical.

These are my first mitered border strips ever. I'm pretty pleased with them. I ordered the printed border fabric from Fat Quarter Shop, because it reminded me of the traditional sashiko waves pattern. I'm not sure where I picked up the red batik -- most likely from Threads of Time.

I'll put a narrow binding in the red batik around the perimeter of the runner. 

I still have to find some fabric for the backing. Maybe I'll do that next week. I'm debating whether to continue the fishy theme on the backing fabric, or use a solid in one of the blue shades of the border fabric. Simpler would probably be better. 

I have a binful of Olympus sampler blocks in traditional sashiko designs, about half white fabric and half navy/indigo fabric, some purchased at Threads of Time, and some from Studio Aika. In most cases, I have the same design in both colors. My plan for those is to work the stitching in navy on white and white on navy, and make a bed quilt -- probably queen-size, though our bed is full-size. Apparently, I hog the covers when I'm asleep (but therefore not responsible!! so there!!), so extra-wide wouldn't be a bad idea.

Sophie's Ball Gown

I have a little friend/surrogate granddaughter, Sophie, who is three years old.

When my daughter made the Twirly Dress by Sew Baby for her daughter, I knew I had to make one for Sophie, too.

I found a tshirt with sparkly "gems" on the yoke at Kohl's, and two coordinating prints at JoAnn Fabric. Once the shirt and fabric were washed, it took only a few hours to cut the panels for the skirt and sew the dress.

Sophie loves it! I have lots of fabric left, plus the bottom half of the tshirt (which was cut off to make the bodice) -- so I think I will make her a fancy purse to go with her ball gown.

I'm told she wore it for 3 days in a row, which is really gratifying. 

Lexxi's Quilt

Ah, the Power of Stash:

• Wildflower appliqué blocks with embroidery and blanket stitch -- made several years ago, and set aside, because I had inadvertently appliquéd them onto the wrong foundation fabric, which didn't match the foundation fabric I had used for the first batch of blocks. Oops. Oh well. 

• Setting blocks and binding from fabric purchased to make a dress for one of my daughters -- which I never got around to making, but saved for years anyway (even though I didn't live through the Great Depression).

• Backing and borders from fabric my mom passed to me probably 12-15 years ago; my Auntie Lizzie* (her oldest sister) had given it to her (who knows when?). There were probably 8-10 yards of it.

*(Auntie Lizzie lived in a big old house, with rooms FULL of fabric, thread, yarn, etc. So yeah, given that my father's father had a BARN full of stuff when he died, and my father had a garage full, I'm probably doomed from both sides.)

But see? It's good to have stuff on hand!!

I did have to buy the batting for this quilt. I also purchased stencils for the quilting in the borders and setting blocks.

The photo above and the one below were taken after washing the finished quilt; the quilting is more obvious after washing. I think the slight shrinkage of the batting makes the whole quilt looks cozier, somehow. The block below is the same one in the photo at the top of this post. 

And I do label these things: 

Striped Tunic/Dress

We got a new yarn at the shop a couple of weeks ago: a wonderful dk-weight organic cotton in the Freedom line of yarns - it's called Sincere.

I bought 4 balls of it and made this little sundress/tunic/ top for Eilynna. She's almost 18 months old, and it's a little big just now as a dress, but it should fit her through all of the stages listed above.

The yarn was a real pleasure to knit with, and the (free!) pattern will be available on the Needleworks Inc. website soon.

Two of the shop's "regulars" are already knitting their own little dresses from the pattern to test it!! The pattern is written for one size, with a 23" finished chest measurement, which should fit a 2-3 year-old -- depending on the 2-3 year-old. It took one ball each of the four colors, with just a smidge left of the purple; there were larger amounts remaining of the other three colors. I cast on Sunday morning and had a finished dress by Monday evening.

Christopher's Pajama Quilt

Once upon a time, there was a grandma who sewed flannel pajamas every winter for her little grandchildren. She always saved scraps of fabric, because she grew up poor and was a young wife and mother during the depression.

When her grandson was a teen, she made a large comforter for him from the flannel scraps left from his pajamas. He loved his pajama quilt.

Sadly, the pajama quilt was badly damaged by fire. But his mother saved it, even though she hadn't grown up during the depression.

Not surprisingly, his grandma still had scraps left over from making the comforter. She gave them to his mother, who repaired the pajama quilt several years after it was damaged. The pajama quilt was loved and used for many more years.

Then the grandson had a little son of his own. His grandma had died several years earlier, at a good ripe age. But his mother still had some scraps of flannel from his pajamas, so she sewed a little pajama quilt for her grandson. There weren't quite enough scraps for the project, so she added plaid flannel left over from bathrobes she'd sewn for her twin sons when they were small. (His mother always saved scraps of fabric, too -- even though, as noted above, she didn't grow up during the depression.)

This is Christopher's Pajama Quilt. It's not quite crib size, but just the right size to snuggle under for a nap. He likes it.

Elin's Deathflake Set

I hope she has picked up her package by now, so this doesn't spoil the surprise. It should be nice for next winter, at least.

A hat and tiny purse with the Deathflake motif. Tiny purse also has beaded dangles with Czech skull beads. I was thinking it might be handy to wear at work, for her little necessaries. I lined it with a totally girly pink & white calico floral print.

The scarf is two-color brioche rib - following instructions in the current (at time of writing) issue of Cast On magazine, I learned the technique well enough to fix some (though not all) of my mistakes.

A Little Something

There was just a bit of yarn left from Eilynna's balaclava and Christopher's stocking cap, so I knitted a Tiny Owl.

It was inspired by these.

Eilynna wasn't that interested until I embroidered on the beak. Then she knew it was an owl, and she WANTED IT.

Tiny Owl stands about 5" tall. I love the feet!

Oops.

This is the top for Lexxi's quilt. 

BEFORE

AFTER

Now I can start quilting. 

More Catching Up

Knitted in January:

Cash's stocking, "Christmas Sampler" from
Gwen Steege's Knit Christmas Stockings.

Christopher's stocking, "Snowman at Midnight" from
Elaine Lipson's Christmas Stockings: 18 Holiday Treasures to Knit.

Beth's stocking, based on a felted Christmas mitten in Bobbie Matela's
Knit Noel.

Tumbling Blocks crib blanket, in Ella Rae Amity,
for the crib at Grandma & Grandpa's house. I had to try to correct the color in the photo, and it's still not right. The blanket is a deep heathered forest green, just gorgeous.

I also made a sweater for Lucy. Being a puggle, Miss Lu has some (shall we say?) "fitting issues", and sweaters "off the rack" don't really come in her size -- er, shape. My sister and I took the relevant measurements and I just started knitting, with occasional fittings to confirm my reasoning. I was right every time. I used Wool-Ease from the stash.

Red is definitely Miss Lu's color.

A hat for my oldest son, using the Deathflake chart available here. Yes, he's pushing 40, and I'm still trying to get him to put on a hat when it's cold. He did wear it during our recent frigid spell, so I was gratified. The yarn is Cascade 220 Sport. 

There's a bit more January knitting to show, but it will have to wait for another update. 

In other news, I have Lexxi's quilt pin-basted and ready to quilt.