More Plank Weaving Fun!

I love woven fabrics, but that little free loom I scored would never be able to handle the yarn I've been weaving lately.  At least as long as it's the warp yarn.  I've just pulled this beauty off the plank loom today and I love it soooo much.  The yarn is one I'd done a while ago, which is 100% bamboo.  So this thing is so super duper soft.  And it flows and drapes so nicely. 

And one  more, because I love the on the loom picture.  You can really see the whole scarf here.

It was a quick weave, and fun to boot...  Now, do I keep it for me, or sell it at the Christmas Bazaar on Saturday?

~Kara

Just keep knitting

I'm currently working on a Blanket for seriously cold people for my sister. There will be 5 colors in total. It's taking forever and a day. So my mantra right now is just keep knitting. Maybe it'll be done by Christmas. Or maybe even sooner. I can hope anyway. Each row is taking 10+ minutes. So my conclusion is that blankets take to long!

~Kara

Free loom? Yes please!

 I was asked "Do you want a 'Weaving Thing'?  They are just going to throw it out anyway."  I wondered, was it a triangle loom?  A tapestry loom?  A board with nails in it?  Or a proper full sized floor loom?  A table loom?  There are just so many 'Weaving Things' that I couldn't be sure.
I honestly didn't know what to expect,  but I said yes anyway.  And then I was presented with this:

I've not set it up, or tried it out yet.  It's some filthy.  My hands were black after trying to open it up.  And it needs oil.  I couldn't get it to stand.  But it's definitely a table loom.  1 reed, 2 shafts, and it appears to have all the pieces, but I wont be sure until I get it standing.

But how sweet is that?  I'll get scarves off it, once I get it going.  Now I need to borrow Mom's books!

~Kara

Color Blending Fun!

One of the Level 2 Master Spinners assignments is to blend all the colours on the colour wheel from the three primary colors.  These are my results:

Just the yarns.  Reds all the way through to the purples.

Part way to being finished.  Note that crochet hook.  It's 1.5mm.  So this stuff is t h i n.



And the final piece.  I think I'll be leaving the yarn ends out.  I kind of like the way you can see them, as the whole point of this class is the yarn, not so much the crocheting or knitting of it.


And yes, the lighting is terrible.  And no, none of these pictures give the true colours.  Hopefully there will be sun tomorrow, and I'll be able to get much better pictures of these gorgeous yarns.

~Kara

Thankful, 2012

Today is the day we celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada.  While we aren't doing the turkey and stuffing and cranberries etc. today (honestly, we did it yesterday!),  I still have things to be thankful for.


I'm thankful for my ability to make beautiful yarn.
I'm thankful for my health.
I'm thankful for my newest endeavour with Steeped Tea.
I'm thankful for this house we bought because it's all there was available in this town at the time.  It's now our home, where many memories are being made and will continue to be made.
I'm thankful for the dirty dishes, piles of laundry, toys strewn across every inch of the floor, and the general chaos that this home is in every day, because it means I'm surrounded by love, and we have so much more then a lot of people in this world.
I'm thankful for my family.  My lovely children who simultaneously drive me nuts and bring me untold joy.  My wonderful husband, who is a plumber, and as I type this is gone to get his drain snake, because the afore-mentioned children have flushed something down a toilet, and now the main line is plugged.  I'm also thankful that he is a kind, caring, and patient man who works hard and 'brings home the bacon'.  In other words 'money for fibre' (among other things of course ;) )
I'm thankful for my extended family - Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, and Grandparents (of which I'm lucky to still have all 4 of.).  And even my In-Laws.  I'm thankful for them too.


I am thankful.  I am blessed.  What are you thankful for today?

~Kara

Scrap Happy Scarf

I used to sew A LOT.  And therefore have a ridiculous amount of scraps that are long and thin.  They are the right size to quilt with, truly.  But why let perfectly good fabric be turned into a blanket?  Especially when you can spin it.

This is part of the pile I started with:

I spun it up on a core of pencil roving

And then knitted it straight off the bobbin into this lovely scrap happy scarf!  It's a drop stitch scarf, with one row of single dropped stitches, and a row of double dropped stitches.

It's actually quite comfy and warm, despite some of the more coarse fabrics I did put in there, including the stuff you cover ironing boards with!  It's a little wacky, but so very fun!  I entered it in the Craftster RRR challenge, and voting takes place until the 20th!  Have a look at the other fabulous entries, and give the one you think deserves to win a vote if you are a member!  ( And if you so happen to think my scarf does, well then all the better for me :D)

~Kara

She didn't die after all!

So I kind of fell off the blogosphere for a while there, didn't I?  But I promise you I was enjoying life to it's fullest.  I spent a week (A Whole WEEK!)  unplugged, at a fly in fishing camp with my husband, sister, brother-in-law and a few of their friends.  It was an amazing adventure.  7 beautiful sunsets, something like this:

I did, of course, take along my spinning wheel.  And didn't quite fill a bobbin.  But really, I was adventuring!

Speaking of adventuring, we went for a walk on the island and came across this odd lichen.  At first I thought "Can I spin it!!?!?"  I turned to my husband who said " I don't think you can spin it."  Before I even said it out loud.  Turns out you can't, but it makes great fire starter.

After that amazingly relaxing quiet time away from pretty much everything, I was back to Real Life full force for a whole week, and had little to no time to do much of anything before I left again, this time, children in tow, to my Parents place!  It's approximately 8 hours one way, so we stayed until we had to leave, because of the start of the school year.

I pretty much made my Mom buy a loom in June this year, and she still hadn't warped it up (in her defence, she needed to buy somethings, and the LYS there was closed for most of July)  So while I was there,  I helped her out, making the warp, pulling the threads through the loom, and getting started weaving!  It took us the better part of a week, because there were so many other things we needed to do while there.  But we did it!

She has since finished this off, and I bought her a bunch of cotton to keep practicing with.  She says she'll try to make dish cloths with it.  I can't wait to see more of her work!  She really seemed to enjoy it!

And of course, I couldn't pass up collecting bales with my Dad.  I took this shot while out in the field.

We finally made our way home, with just 14 hours to spare before the first day of school for my oldest boy.   And I truly haven't stopped "doing" since we got home.  I've gotten a good start on the actual practical work part of my level 2 homework.  And managed to get a good start on the re-arranging of my crafting studio.  And started the rearranging of the whole basement, so we can frame a room in for the oldest kid.  And did most of the refinishing of a dresser.  And And And!  A lot of things, anyway.  I will, of course, share all the wonderful things I've been up to in these past 2 weeks, but not now.  I will save it for later!

~Kara