Christmas and New Years

For Christmas my kids gave me some wonderful presents! 'Curly' and 'Tomato' each gave me a skein of yarn:


The colors are a bit tricky to photograph, but they are purple and maroon. They are meant to be used together as the specific yarn used in a pattern on my new LOOM! :)




Unfortunately the new loom was missing a small hook (which arrived today - thank you webs customer service!) so I started warping it with some of my weaving cotton to practice and learn how this rigid heddle loom works. I look forward to having some fun over the next week or two and then hopefully warping with the new yarn!

My husband also gave me other presents, including a couple of knitting books - Wrapped in Lace by Margaret Stove and Knit. Sock. Love. by Cookie A. both look interesting. He also gave me Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day - which I love the artisan bread book so much I'm excited about these variations.

My other daughter 'Lily' gave me some coupons for extra chores around the house and a whole book of different things I can request of her (running some laundry, sharing with siblings, watching siblings, doing her school work quickly, etc)

I also received a beatles cd and an elvis cd, a gift certificate to webs, and some fun games to play with the family.

During our wonderfully calm (although disappointedly sick) vacation I also finished the fiber that was on the spinning wheel, so I now have this pretty yarn!


We also watched a lot of tv and movies (due to the sickness that travelled through the family) and so I spent a lot of time wanting to work on easy projects - the crochet blanket is pretty simple and straightforward, so I made a lot of progress on that. Currently it is almost big enough for a lap/couch blanket, but I have at least three more large-ish amounts to add and then I'll want to look through both my stash and my husband's for more sock scraps!


I also spun a little silk on the spindle last night, even though my hands are a bit dry it wasn't as bad as I thought and was actually pretty calm and fun.

Socks, Vest, Tunic and More

When I posted about my birthday one item hadn't arrived yet... I had commented on this listing on etsy to my husband right around my birthday and he surprised me by ordering it for a late present.



I haven't been spinning lately, but I have plans this week to at least start some again.


Soon after he returned from a trip for work I (a month or two ago) had finished brown socks for my husband.



I forgot to take a picture right when I finished them, and he wore them the next day, so if they look a little stretched it's because he just took them off!



He already handed me yarn for another pair which I am planning to start within the next couple of weeks... I love doing the plain socks, I can knit while watching tv or while watching children - which means they got done quicker than patterned socks!


I finished my first steeked project!



Unfortunately I ran out of the green yarn about 1/4 of the way through the neck ribbing! Someone else on ravelry had listed the same yarn, same dye lot in their stash and was willing to swap me it for some of the yarn in my stash! I only had to wait a couple of days (Well, less than a week) for it to arrive. I worked on the brown socks and finished them while waiting and then finished up the vest as soon as the yarn arrived.



I love how the vest looks on me, but you will have to wait until I buy a new shirt to go with it, as I don't have anything that looks great under it yet! I will post pics here or on ravelry or both once I've made that purchase.



I originally made these slippers for my husband, but I left them in the washer felting a smidge too long and while he could fit into them they weren't comfortable. So I promised him a new pair in the fall and I felted these a bit more and gave them to my dad instead. My mom already purchased nice leathery bottoms for them (and got them in the mail) and just needs to sew them on and he'll have a great warm and non-slick pair of slippers!

I also finished the weaving!


I had done one set of napkins already and after christmas I warped the loom for another set. My family loves using large cloth napkins at meals and although we bought a bunch at ikea I really liked the look of the handmade ones. I finished weaving on my birthday in april and then finally took the couple of days needed and finished most of them for my daughter's tea party that she had for her june birthday. A couple of days later I finished the rest and now the loom is returned and the weaving yarn is back with the stash... perhaps sometime for christmas or spring I'll look into getting a cricket loom or another small loom that I can use for a while and pack away otherwise. I did enjoy weaving though!


Last year when we went to the MA sheep and wool was when my daughters discovered their love for weaving and we originally borrowed the large floor loom from my wonderful neighbors. This year we went to sheep and wool and the family enjoyed seeing the sheep, shearing, sheep dogs for the first time, kool aid dying, lots of things for sale, friends (fun bumping into our neighbors and their friends and sharing their fries!), and a tiny hay maze and play area!




We kept our purchases in check as we are slowly realizing how anti-surplus-consumerism we really are (yes we have stashes, mine - yarn and fiber - fit into four rubbermade bins, my husband's fit into another two and I'm comfortable with that amount). We purchased some new fiber for each of the girls (the pink for 'curly', the yellow and half the brown for 'lily', the green and rest of the brown, and the bright colorful one for me) and some patterns and the yarn for them for my husband. All of my stuff is already added into my ravelry stash page - which I love for knowing what is in those four buckets when I find a new pattern I want to make! If you love the look of something and don't want to go searching on ravelry (or don't belong) ask me and I can tell you what it is!


Also for my youngest daughter's birthday I finished a tunic for her!



I was actually shocked, I worked on it for a couple of weeks and she never asked what it was... I guess they are used to me knitting strange things and just being so excited about them that I explain what they are randomly, but she never knew it was for her, until I was *almost* done with it on her birthday... I told her, tried it on her, finished the last set of pattern and then did the bottom edge and washed and blocked it.



She was very excited about it and twirled in it every time she's put it on so far. She couldn't wait to show her friends, so she wore it to a birthday party she was invited to less than a week after her birthday!

Gifts and Weaving

My newest niece received a bright teddy bear that arrived in her home just a little while before she did.



I also worked on a gift for my neighbor's new baby - she or he hasn't arrived yet, but a new bear and blanket are waiting for him/her.





I recently finished weaving something. It was my first weaving project and it was very exciting to have it come off the loom. I still need to finish hemming and weaving in the ends of all the color changes.


I can't wait to have all five cloths done and wash them and have them done... I just had these random other things to finish first.

...like these:



My three kids now have new slippers (or will as of tomorrow when I felt the last pair and stretch out the smallest pair a bit)

Distracted

I'm still trying to finish a couple of projects, but I have been busy with this:



and with this...




...and my husband's week long vacation, and painting our hallway and bathroom ceiling, and our ninth anniversary, and normal summer stuff.


I should have at least a couple finished things to show next week, but this week is going to be lots of quiet work, which sounds great to me right now.

Animals

So... for my daughter's birthday she got one of those little weaving looms. I helped her do a square, and then she allowed me to try one with yarn (instead of those stretchy loops). This red woven square quickly (at bed time, with help from my husband) became pig's super costume, and our mild mannered pig became....


....SUPER PIG!

The adventures of super pig began and have continued now for many days.


And then we have the hedgehog:




Made by my sweet sweet husband :) It didn't come out exactly like the pattern, as he used (I handed him) more of a furry yarn that felted slightly rather than a real eyelash yarn. The hedgehog is very cute though... it just needs eyes now, and oh right... a seam sewn closed.