Friday Frolics (I know, I can’t think of anything better)

Here’s a picture of a pretty little knitted gift bag my Taos knitting friend, Laura, gave me.  Tucked inside was a safety pin full of pearl and bead stitchmarkers.  I’ll be reminded of her every time I use them.

 

Laura is the one who “founded” our knitting group that has become so close-knit (pun intended) over the past five months.  It’s hard to believe we’ve been meeting such a short time, because we’ve all become fast friends.  I will really miss them when I’m in Virginia, but I know that whenever I come back for visits they’ll be there on Wednesday nights.

Yesterday John, Mishka, and I went for a four mile mountain bike ride on a new trail.  It’s actually a short forest road off of a tight curve of hwy 64 as it heads up the mountain towards Angel Fire.

What a gorgeous place.  The road had only a few really technical spots for riding and it was bordered by a meandering creek and lush green grass.  Mishka was in the creek right out of the truck.  I don’t know how she knew it was there, but she was in it.

While we road she ran in and out of the creek, and the grass, and ran up the hill on the other side of the road, chasing who knows what.

At the end of the road was a pond surrounded by aspen and another track where we left our bikes and walked for a bit.

We found patches of wild iris all over the area.

 

In one place they were blithely taking over the human-made road.

Coming down the hill we rode about 10 to 12 mph and Mishka kept up the whole way.  After her running, sprinting, and generally nosing about, she was filthy and pretty tired.

When we got home, she laid down by my sewing chair while I worked on a new project.

 

Here’s a teaser.  I’ll post more tomorrow.

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Knitting in the Garden

In spite of the high winds we’ve had in Taos lately, I’ve been able to get in a little knitting in the garden.  Our garden walls block some of the wind, and the light is wonderful for seeing small stitches and true colors of yarn.

I’ve gotten to the heel flap on the first of the socks I’m making for John with Interlacements Tiny Toes yarn, but my camera battery conked out before I could get a picture this morning.  I’ll have more finished to show tomorrow, anyway.

I’m also making progress on my Branching Out alpaca lace scarf.  The perfect project for garden knitting.

Next to one of my garden sitting and knitting spots our first iris of the season has opened up and it’s gorgeous.

We haven’t known what color any of our iris are since they were put in a year ago in April, and by the time we arrived in June they were already finished blooming.  So we’re having fun guessing what colors we have this year.  We have only a week left, so I’m hoping more will open before we have to head back to Virginia.

This morning a Ravelry knitter from Lawrenceville, about 18 miles from Emporia, contacted me, so I know I now have at least one knitting friend ready and waiting for me when I get there.  WhoooHooo for Ravelry!

We’re off this morning to explore a new mountain bike trail.

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May Take It Further Challenge Completed

For the month of May Sharon B issued this challenge:

What do you call yourself, and why? 

This question has a very specific focus with regard to those of us who work with fibers, fabric, color, design, etc. 

The challenge color palette uses these colors:

At first I wanted to make some kind of garment, either a jacket or a clergy stole, because it would be a very visible symbol of “what I call myself”, and carries the theme in my faith tradition of “putting on” a new garment or name to fully describe oneself after a period of transformation.

However, I knew that would be pretty hard to design and complete well in one month, so I’m setting that plan aside and will work on it later.

I decided instead to make another journal using a gel print on cotton that I had made before this challenge, but seemed to fit.  I added hand embroidery and beaded sequins to this flowing ribbon design.  The ribbon design came from a series of doodles I did that came out like ribbons.

It’s one of my favorite doodle motifs, and is a motif that symbolizes much of my life:  like a flowing, shifting, floating, turning ribbon, that has a different appearance as it flows, yet is still the same ribbon.

To illustrate what I call myself, I used this ribbon, then embellished it with fibers that flow around it, adding beads and sequins for sparkle and texture.  I continued the flow of the ribbon beyond the cover bounds with an organza ribbon tie.  With the journal cover alone I think I can explain to people who ask what it means to be a fiber artist.

I have resisted for a long time calling myself an “artist”, thinking of myself more as a skilled craftsperson.  However, as I have moved more and more into the realm of creating pieces from my own designs I feel more comfortable with the term “artist”, even though I am pretty much self taught and have some trepidation based on my lack of formal knowledge of art technique and history. 

With that said, I believe artists bring together elements in ways that haven’t been brought together before, often bringing order out of chaos of element and arrangement, producing design. 

It is, I believe, the creative character of all human beings, in many different endeavors, that gives us the deepest connection to the divine.  When we create, we transcend the mundane–even when creating with mundane elements–and we sometimes, thus, are able to glimpse our true selves.  That transcendence does not come without struggle, however, if it is true creation.

I chose to make my gel printed embroidery piece into a journal cover that encloses pages for recording quotes, ideas, and goals that are bounded by signature covers of hand dyed fabrics.  On two of them I have placed triangles to symbolize the work I do with piecing and quilting of fabrics. 

  

The inside cover and pockets (front and back) are also hand-dyed fabrics. 

If I carry this journal with me and am asked about what I do, I can use it to tangibly show:  painting and printing on fabric, stitching with fibers and beads, hand dyeing fabrics, sewing, and quilt making.

Throughout this month’s exercise I have tried out different word descriptions of what I call myself and why:  craftsperson, quilt maker, embroiderer, artisan, textile artist, and fiber artist.

I keep coming back to fiber artist.  It’s the nomenclature I’ve most often used, and feels most comfortable rolling off my tongue, even though it means I usually must add an explanation.  In that explanation I am able to open people’s vision to a broader idea of what the word “artist” encompasses.

My palette is not just paint, but an entire array of textiles, fibers, dyes, beads, and even found objects.  Creations are usually multi-dimensional with both visual and tactile texture. 

I am also a writer in my professional career as a clergy woman, so placing my fiber art around pages for writing adds another dimension to the descriptive piece. 

In the same vein as this month’s challenge, I have begun to read sociologist Richard Sennett’s latest book, The Craftsman.  It explores what it means to do or make something well simply for the doing of it as opposed to as a means to an end.  He posits, I believe, that our post-modernist cultures have lost that value in many areas, while engaging it in other ways that are new and unexpected.

I’ve just begun the book, so I’m looking forward to seeing where he takes this theme.        

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Diamonds and Pearls Shawl Completed

Yesterday I blocked my Diamonds and Pearls Shawl and today it is off the board and ready to wear.

I am quite pleased with how it turned out, although I’m not sure I blocked the shoulder shaping correctly.  And I did have trouble with the bind off, as many other people have had. 

I sent an e-mail to Knitter’s Review asking about the bind off because I couldn’t figure it out, but got impatient to finish, so I used the crochet bind off some people on Ravelry recommended. 

I should have held off, though, because Clara Parkes, the author of A Knitter’s Book of Yarn and editor of Knitter’s Review very graciously answered my e-mail  yesterday.  She sent me a close up picture of the edging and walked through the pattern instructions step by step.  I couldn’t believe she took the time to do that! 

I will definitely try this shawl again, and will try the pattern bind off with some scrap yarn following Clara’s instructions and picture to get it right first.

I’m not sure if I’ll use this yarn, though.  I bought the Artyarns Silk Rhapsody to try out with this one-skein project, and while it is gorgeous yarn, it does have a strong raw silk odor to it, which did not diminish with soaking in a Eucalan bath before blocking as I had hoped.  I’m going store it with a lavender sachet and maybe that will help. 

There’s a larger piece I want to make with this yarn, but I’m going to hold off for a while and see if the odor goes away.  It’s not terrible, but I would not have expected it with a yarn as expensive as Silk Rhapsody.

While Diamonds and Pearls was on the blocking board I started two small projects:

 

A pair of simple k3,p1 rib socks for John with one of the skeins of Tiny Toes yarn I got at the Pagosa Springs Fiber Festival Sunday from Interlacements. 

As usual, my camera shows these colors bluer than they are.  The blue in the yarn is a deep purplish blue–sort of cobalt–rather than the bright blue the picture shows;

 

and a Branching Out lace scarf with some sage colored lace weight alpaca yarn I picked up out of the mix and match basket at Victory Ranch in Mora.

I don’t have to think much while knitting the socks, while the scarf provides a little more challenge, and since they’re both small they’re good projects to carry me through the next couple of weeks as we begin to pack for our move back to Virginia.

My plan for today is to try to finish my May Take It Further Challenge project.  

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To the Blocking Board

I finished the knitting on my Diamonds and Pearls Shawl yesterday and it’s ready to be washed and blocked.  Lace blocking takes quite a while to get just right, so I am anticipating a pretty intensive time getting this piece blocked.  I want to handle it very carefully because the yarn is mohair and silk.

It was another very windy day in Taos so I had to take the picture inside.  I’m still working on trying to get better inside lighting for pictures.  

 

This is another little shawl that, while finished will be larger than it is just off the needles, will just float across the shoulders and a little ways down the back.

It was an amazingly quick knit, even though I had to mess around trying unsuccessfully to get the pattern bind off to work, and finally had to resort to a crocheted edging that was suggested by a number of people on Ravelry.

Besides blocking this shawl, I’m hoping to make significant progress today on my May Take It Further project.    

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Pagosa Fiber Festival

We couldn’t have asked for a better day.  We kept saying that over and over as three of us from the Taos Yarn Lovers knitting group traveled from Taos to the Pagosa Fiber Festival in Pagosa Springs, Colorado yesterday.

The sky was crystal blue punctuated by fluffy clouds that appeared to be painted onto that gorgeous blue background solely for our pleasure.

Snow capped mountains border the valleys through which we drove, and in many places there was still snow along the sides of the road.  Sparkling streams of snow melt water ran through the brilliant spring greens of the valleys.  It was a day on the edge of winter into spring where aspen were fully leafed in some spots and still winter bare in others.  Spring calves and foals were abundant among the herds grazing in the valleys. 

The Pagosa Fiber Festival is quite small compared to many–only about 30 venders.  But that was part of its charm.  All of the venders had quality products to choose from, and the lack of crowds made it easy to casually chat with the folks displaying their wares.  It was extremely hard to narrow our choices of what to purchase.

I wanted to replenish my sock yarn stash, since I’ve used up all but two pairs’ worth of cotton for sports socks.  I had lots to choose from.

 

Judy Ditmore of Interlacements, LLC has some truly passionate colorings in all of her yarns.  While I was tempted by the crinkly rayon yarns among many others, I stuck to my plan to purchase sock yarn and picked out two skein pairs of Tiny Toes II.  The teal, blue, burgundy, brown colorway is #218, and the blue, green, gray colorway is #403.  Both are 100% superwash merino wool and machine washable.

   

I really enjoyed meeting and talking with Judy.  We not only talked about the yarns, but about Ravelry and using the internet to promote yarns and share information about all things related to yarn and yarn lovers. 

Another vendor with wonderful sock yarns was Crazy Monkey Creations.  We had a lot of fun talking with the Christina Cooper who dyes the lovely colors of yarn hanging on the display rack.  Christina graciously allowed me to take her picture while she was working at her spinning wheel.

Look at the yummy colors of sock yarn I got from her.  I love the colorway names almost as much as the yarns.

 

Left to right:  Grapefruit Diet, Amethyst Dreams, Greens of Summer, and Rushing Water.  Aren’t those fabulous?  These are all 100% superwash merino wool (Monkey Toes), except Greens of Summer (Panda Toes) which is 65% superwash merino, 35% rayon of bamboo, and are all machine washable and dryable. 

I have some great sock knitting ahead of me. Now to pick out patterns that will show off these great colors.

Although it was terribly tempting I managed to resist buying any fibers for spinning.  Meredith got some great ones, though, including an angora rabbit/wool blend and some tussah silk that just begs to be touched.

We lunched outside on the lawn at Victoria’s Reign which houses both an antique/gift shop and a lovely little cafe on the main street.

Before getting back in the car we walked down to Edelweiss Needlework Chalet which has a really nice selection of quilting, needlework, and knitting supplies. 

On the way home we made a quick stop into Tierra Wools in Los Ojos, NM to see their magnificent handwoven rugs and to touch some more wool before returning to Taos.

Altogether a perfect day.   

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Great Desserts

Most of my creative activity Friday and Saturday went into making desserts for our neighborhood Memorial weekend block party.  Several of the people who have homes in our little subdivision in Taos do not live here full time.  So whenever nearly everyone is here we have a party.

It’s become traditional for me to bring dessert, so I made two, both from Colorado Collage by the Junior League of Denver.

Citrus Cheesecake:

and Peanut Butter Brownies:

They both turned out great and everyone really liked them.

Yesterday I bought my very own drop spindle so I can return the one I borrowed.  I also picked up some Australian Coriedale roving and a book, Spin It, for a little extra instruction.  It’s already helped me to understand more fully some things Linda was trying to teach me that didn’t quite click on Wednesday.

I’ll finish up the dark green roving before I start on this.  Dare I hope to make some actually usable yarn with this next batch?

Today I’ll be away in Pagosa Springs, Colorado for the Fibre Festival.    

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First Attempt

On Wednesday Linda from my knitting group taught me how to spin using a drop spindle.  Boy, did I feel like a klutz.  However, she told me I was doing fine and to keep practicing.

She sent me home with a spindle and some roving and I’ve been practicing a couple times a day.

Yesterday I was actually able to roll off a ball of yarn.  It’s pretty ragged and uneven, and you can see from the picture that the ball of yarn is not much bigger than a US quarter.

But I’ve been trying the different techniques she showed me, and yesterday I made even more progress.  Still pretty uneven but I’m having more and more moments when I think I can actually feel how it’s supposed to be.  Hopefully the next ball will be a little larger. 

Tomorrow I’m heading up to Pagosa Springs, Colorado for their Fiber Festival with Laura and Meredith from knitting group.  I’m going to be on the lookout for spindles and fibers.  I’m hoping for better weather than we’ve had here in Taos the last couple of days.  It’s been cold, wet, and windy.

I finished the embroidery on the cover for the journal I’m making for the May TIF challenge.  It’s been hard getting any pictures to turn out well of this piece.  I had to tilt it at an angle so the colors and stitching would show better.  But the pictures are still not a very accurate representation.

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A Surprise Gift

Last night my friend Meredith gave me a wonderful going away gift when our knitting group gathered over pizza.  Although I’m not moving for a couple of weeks yet, we wanted to share a meal together before I leave.

Meredith totally surprised me with this gorgeous cashmere scarf.  I think she said the lace pattern is Crane’s Nest.  I’ll have to check with her again to be sure.

We’ve been watching her knit on this for several weeks, and have been admiring it.  I was so surprised and feel so blessed to receive such a gracious gift.  I know I’m going to wear it a lot–it’s my color–and it will be such a nice reminder of a good friend I’ve made through knitting in Taos.  Thank you, Meredith! 

I worked a bit yesterday on my May TIF project which has been neglected most of the month.  I knew I wanted to add some embroidery embellishment to this gel print I made on cotton fabric, but couldn’t quite figure out what to do.  Size is 9″ x 13″.

I was going through my beads and found some dark blue sequins.  While dark blue is not in this month’s palette I decided to add them anyway.

I just picked up the piece and started putting them on without any plan.  Then I started adding some seed stitching.  It’s kind of hard to see on the photos.  Even the close up doesn’t show the stitching too well, but I’m using a sort of amethyst shade plus a light blue.  If you really look hard you can see the amethyst stitching. 

You also can’t tell from the picture that there is a lovely sparkle and sheen to this piece from the metallic copper paint I used on the gel print.

It’s much prettier than the pictures portray, and I think I’m going to really like it when it’s finished.

I’m going to add a little more of the light blue and some medium blue stitching, also.  This piece is going to be the cover for a small journal that I will use to show what I mean when I say I am a fiber artist. 

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Diamonds and Pearls

I started my Diamonds and Pearls Shawl designed by Sheila January in The Knitter’s Book of Yarn yesterday.  I’m using the suggested yarn, Artyarns Silk Rhapsody, in a pink and green colorway, no. 105.

This is the third pattern I’ve worked from this book, and also the third Sheila January pattern.  I really like her designs.  

The yarn is luscious, and the shawl, so far, is working up great.  I’ve run into a snag at row 41 and have done some tinking.  It still doesn’t seem right so I need to do a little more investigating to see where the problem is.

This is working up quite quickly, though, so I think I will have it completed sooner than I had thought. 

I’m waiting for pattern and yarns to arrive in the mail for two more lace shawls that I’m going to do over the summer for a Summer of Lace Knit Along on Ravelry.

One of my knitting group friends offered to teach me drop spindling, so I spent a little over an hour at her house yesterday feeling like a total klutz.  But she actually said I was doing better than many other beginners she had taught.

She sent me home with a spindle and a big bunch of roving, so hopefully I’ll have a little bit of progress to show by tomorrow. 

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