Needled

Offspring the Younger has been exploring needle felting and was interested in getting some instruction. I understand only the basic principles. Clearly, a class was in order.

Elaine Marcus periodically teaches needle felting at our LYS, the Naked Sheep Knit Shop. The multitalented Elaine (who is also a doctor, which I suppose might come in handy when dealing with these wicked barbs) did not disappoint. (Please, do not judge her by my halting first attempts. I suck at 3D design.) OTY and I highly recommend her class, which was packed with information and liberally seasoned with wit. Seriously, if you are anywhere near Portland, check it out!

Mutant leaf:



Ornament? At any rate, an easy project that is build over a styrofoam ball:



Other students, also novices, turned out jaw-droppingly gorgeous creations, including an incredibly realistic strawberry and voluptuous blossoms. OTY fashioned an adorable polar bear, for which I have no photographic evidence. Apologies!

Bagmania

Offspring the Younger, inspired by a pattern and fabrics we found at the Pine Needle, commissioned me to put together two reversible sling bags and a little zipped pouch.

Here's the reverse side of the polka dot bag.



And here's the second bag and the little pouch.



I love this pattern. Can't you imagine all sorts of great possibilities?

Baby bunny

Pattern: Knitted Bunny
Designer: Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer
Made for: coworker's baby shower
Needles: US 5
Yarn: a very lovely single left over from spouse’s first knitting project. I believe it was a German blend of silk and merino.
Started: July 10, 2008
Completed: July 10, 2008


He has a most excellent little tail, if I do say so myself.

Cold comfort

Before blocking...




Pattern: Entrelac Stole (with modifications)
Designer: Nancie M. Wiseman
Made for: donation to school auction
Needles: US 5 Brittany birch straights
Yarn: Grignasco Top Print
Content: 100% alpaca (with not a few guard hairs, more's the pity)
Colorway: 408 olive/brown/gray
Started: March 2005
Completed: February 24, 2008

A real back-burner project, but great fun to knit. Ravelry'd here.

Fresh from the oven

Can you tell I was anxious to get these to dry?



Just in the nick of time for Offspring the Younger to give to her teacher at the end of the school year.



Pattern: Garter Rib by Charlene Schurch
Size: Men's 9
Yarn: Abundant Yarn & Dyeworks Naturally Dyed Sock Yarn
Colorway: Donovan Should Wear Red
Amount: about 400 yards
Needles: US 1 dpns
Started: April 7, 2008
Completed: June 10, 2008

Ravelry'd here.

Documenting the year

Well, I haven't been so good at keeping up this here blog in 2008. Perhaps there's still time to address that shortcoming...

This is the first of my long-done projects just now seeing light on the internet:

Emma's patchwork-y pillow




A birthday gift from one of the offspring to a cherished friend. Did you know you can find quite cheap pillow inserts at IKEA?

Keep those birthday party invitations coming

HPIM1794, originally uploaded by scribblearts.

I love having opportunities to try out new projects. Here's my first attempt at Pink Penguin's patchwork fabric basket, made for one of Offspring the Younger's friends. Great tutorial, and one I highly recommend. Plus, the results are just so dang cute!

We popped in a few small containers of fun bath products, and this:

a reversible headband. You can find a tutorial for this project at The Long Thread. With practice, maybe I can make my edges at neat as Ellen's...but I'm still very happy with my results. And can I just say, free tutorials rock! Thanks so much, generous crafters!

In a dark place no longer

Although I haven't been documenting it well here, I have been busy making stuff these last few months. I also managed to finish off a UFO that had been hanging around forlornly. The Iris Mermaid scarf is now at home with my husband's stepmother, who lives in a warm climate and celebrated a birthday this summer.



Just the fishtail lace pattern, knit up in Brilla. I was disappointed when I came to the last of my yarn and saw how short the scarf still was, but it blocked much better than expected. I have to say that I like the back almost as much as I like the front.



More details on Ravelry.

Look, a helicopter

My life is full of distractions. I try to make the most of them.

This is a birthday gift for the August sibling, based on the great 1-hour bag tutorial by Jodie at Ric Rac. Took me perhaps five times as long as it took her, but that's--oh, look, a helicopter.

Giving Portland a bad name

Hey, what gives, Yarn Garden? Get with the program, already. Dang.

Dear A Little Red Hen:

I'm sorry you met with such a frustrating response from a business in my hometown. Please know it does not reflect the views and behavior of most of Portland's citizens. And by the way...you are my hero.

Keep fighting the good fight.

Sincerely,
Scribblearts

You rang?

marriedtothesea.com

So, what have you done for me lately?

Owls. Many, many owls.

It is the season of birthdays at our house, and in a moment of weakness I agreed to do slumber parties for each of the offspring. Compounding the damage, I also suggested we make these little dudes as party favors.

My prototype:


Members of the parliament:


(Sorry about the dark photos.)

I've made 16 so far. That was enough for the parties, but not enough to satisfy the unexpected demand from adults. These are fun, but a bit fiddly. Hardest part? Finding buttons that work well as eyes.

"It almost looks like an A."

-- My mother, when she caught sight of this ornament on her gift bag

Um, yeah, Mum...that would be because it is an A.

Or my best attempt at one in wire and beads. Must practice, apparently.

True to form

I suspected when I started this blog that it would fall victim to my nature--in other words, it would become wildly inconsistent.

Tah dah.

I can't even blame the advent of Ravelry. I've had this affliction for a long time.

Catching up on some of this year's projects (in no particular order):


A Christmas gift for Mum. Colors are her choice and suit her perfectly. She also chose the lining fabric, a Kaffe Fassett print.


Pattern: The Bag
Designer: Wendy Wonnacott
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Cotton Frappe, approx. 2 skeins (318 yards) in 012 Field Mix and 1 skein (159 yards) in 001 White (cream, really)
Needles: US 4/3.5 mm Addi Turbo, 24" circular

I didn't think much of the garterstitch straps called for in the pattern, so I cranked out about 10 feet of I-cord. I'm very happy with that mod.

If I recall correctly, my row gauge didn't match that specified by the pattern, so my finished bag was squatter. I remedied this by making a shallower gusset (about 1" as opposed to 3"). Another happy mod.

One source of great frustration: Even though the Field Mix colorway was not intense it bled like crazy all over the cream when I washed and blocked the main piece. The effect grew uglier as the bag dried. (The knitting looked like I'd used it to rub down a rusty car.) In desperation, I threw the bag into the washing machine on hot with color-safe bleach and some Cheer. That did the trick!

This little project entails quite a bit of finishing work. Nice--but I don't think I'll make another one.

From the archives

Pattern: Maddy's Mitts
Designer: me
Yarn: Royal Fiber Spinnery Royal Platinum Alpaca, 100% baby alpaca, double stranded
Needles: US 6 dpns

Offspring the Younger and I picked out this yarn at the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival in September to make a birthday gift for OTY's friend. OTY is primarily responsible for the design. This yarn is so soft and fuzzy, and the color had people drooling. The finished project met with a very favorable response.

On deck for this winter solstice

* The Bag (pattern by Wendy Wonnacott) for Mum
* Knit slipper socks for Gram
* Polar fleece slipper socks for Gram
* Baby Alligator scarf (kit from Morehouse Farm) for Mr. W
* Sewn gift bags
* Something special for Gram's 90th birthday (December 24)--You go, Gram!

Am I too late...

...to get a Gocco? Would that I had listened to my mother years ago and invested in one when I could.

Weasels in suits

The (Work)Place That Shall Not Be Named has just gotten a lot worse. (And no, I don't work at IKEA!) I'm alternately piping-hot mad or limp with despair. Bloody hell.

But I digress from the really important stuff: fun creations!

As part of efforts to mark the August Sibling's birthday (Happy 30th! Hah! You can't get me!)...er...I made this cuff in a hurry:

Yeah, it's a little different, but so is the sibling. I used Leigh Radford's Herringbone Leather Cuff pattern from AlterKNITS. (Go here for corrections.) It would have been better had I gone with her suggestion of using round leather lacing--the cuff doesn't have much body, for one thing, when made out of the ribbon yarn I used--but I'm still reasonably happy with it.

See? It wasn't a fluke.

Here I am again. I know you'll want to stop the presses.

I'm going to do my best to reconstruct the more interesting bits of my summer. There was at least one sewing project--a tote bag for my aunt--that flew by before I could document it. Otherwise, I was pretty good about hanging on to their tail feathers long enough to snap a parting photo.

These were for my mum's birthday at the beginning of August:



The color is truer in the second photo.

This project was such a pleasure, even though the schedule was crazy. The pattern, of course, is Cookie A.'s famous Monkey. Really, it's as good as everyone says. I had fun substituting an eye of partridge heel (my first) and I used a smaller needle size than called for on the heel and foot (so it wouldn't wear out too quickly), but I made no other changes. The yarn is Fearless Fibers' 100% Superwash Merino Wool. I'd wanted to order some for such a long time. I certainly wasn't disappointed. The shading is exquisite and the hand is soft, but lively, too. Go get yourself some!

The family that IKEA ate

I don't know if I have any readers left after such a long silence, but if you're still out there, please know I haven't abandoned the blog. I'm just laboring under a new regime. Now that I've started to get my sea legs, though, I plan to resume regular posting.