The Fiber Artist

Wow, that sounds pretentious doesn't it. But it is the name of my company, so I decided to use it. This is where I will keep a record of works in progress in the hope that it will result in more productivity. It will also give me a place to ramble on about my life, so that maybe later I will remember what happened in ___ (fill in day, month, year of your choice).

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Unplanned Progress

Last night Sierra came home from spending the afternoon with Mykyll (yes that is how his mother spelled it). Complaining of a injured back. By 9 "Doctor" Reynolds decided that I needed to take her to the ER. On Saturday night, after 9... Oh yeah, that is always fun.

The lines on the picture show where I was when we arrived at the ER, one of them up to the heel start, and the other about 2 inches down from there.

So first I knit the short one up to the heel marker, then put the waste yarn for both heels in, then knit the 2 rows after the heels, then changed the needle size up .25 mm.

After changing out both sets of needles I proceeded to knit up the leg of the first sock, and have it almost to the "half of the length of the foot" point, where I will change needles again, another .25mm larger. So 0 to 1/2 to 1 American sizes.

We got home about 3 AM with muscle relaxers for Sierra, (who is fine by the way) and a load of irritation for me. I slept late this morning, and have accomplished little. But the socks are coming along.

If I had been equipped with extra yarn and needles I could have had several converts last night, because the place was packed and no one was getting out of there without a 5-6 hour wait.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Married

Last night was Odd Tuesday. While waiting for the rest to show up I finished the 2nd back and joined the 2 halves. So it is a sweater now, even if the fronts don't have a hope in Hades of meeting. But the back is done and I can put it on and get an idea of what it will be like finished. It will be very warm. And cozy. And Bright.

Before I left for Louisville, I went over to the studio and started the first 2 cotton gowns, and I went back this afternoon and finished the first 2. Pretty much the same as the flannel ones except short sleeves. So spring can arrive I have (at least 2) summer gowns.

Off to sit in front of the TV and knit on Cuff-to Cuff fronts.

Monday, February 16, 2009

All the Flannel Gowns are Finished

On Saturday, I made a pink nightgown in honor of Valentines day. And finished a purple one almost completely. On Sunday I cooked Spaghetti sauce, chili, and macaroni, ground beef and tomatoes. then today I went over, finished the purple nightgown and cut out and sewed completely the green, which is the last of the flannel gowns. It feels good to be done with them. And 6 of the cotton have been washed and the first 2 cut out. I can stack and cut all of the rest at once since it will not be the really thick flannel that could only be cut in 2 or 3 at a time. So one more cutting session and then I will be finished with the cutting.

I got the pink nightgown on Valentines day, a gift from me. Sierra on the other hand got a big red teddy bear holding a red heart, taken out to dinner, and a dozen pink roses. Which are just lovely. I think I need to get some pointers from her.

I am taking tomorrow off. And going to odd Tuesday, even though I do not have a dentist appointment. I will go over to the studio for part of the day and then take off for Louisville. To heck with the cost of gas!

I am upset with myself because I have been knitting the cuff to cuff and intended to be working on the backs, but actually have been working on one back and one front, so now I need to get the other back to where the first one is so that I can pin them together and try it on to see if it is wide enough.

So off to watch a movie and knit on the sweater.

Aren't Sierra's roses lovely!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

And Then There were 4

The 4th flannel gown is finished. And the other 3 flannels are washed. And the 5 cotton fabrics as well, and all but one dry and folded.

I wash fabric before I use it, if it is going to do anything weird I want it to happen before I put a lot of work into it. And this caution has served me well in the case of the purple flannel, after it was woven it was stretched along the bias, and wound onto the blot, had I sewed it up with out washing it, the stretched fabric could have hung crooked for the rest of the life of the nightgown. Because I washed the fabric the problem became immediately apparent because it could not be folded lengthwise with out getting wrinkles that could not be gotten out.

This morning I tore one of the ends, to get the straight of the grain, folded the length of the material in half lengthwise, and basted the fabric across the torn end and along the selvage which lined the material up resulting in about 14 inches longer on one side of the end which had not been torn. That was a great deal of distortion. because it was so much I put it back into the washer, and once washed got it out and smoothed it out by hand and left it on the cutting table to dry. It is now straight and I will be able to cut and sew it without any problem, tomorrow, perhaps.

Monday, February 09, 2009

UFO Monday

One of the e-mail lists I an on designates Monday as UFO day. So this morning I got the 2 old nightgowns, (made within the last 60 days) that needed to have their pockets sewn down to the fronts, took them over to the studio, and sewed them down.

Oh by the way here is the 3rd nightgown, pink polka dots.

Then I lay the Cuff-to-cuff down on the chair, and pinned it so that I could see how much is left on the back, approximately.

And I got a picture of the Dk. Blue Guy socks with the first foot underway. Sure don't get much knitting done with two days of 3rd grade. But did get a little.

As soon as Sierra and I get through with school, I will either go over and make the 4th nightgown, or sit here and work on the cuff-to-cuff, while watching some of the recorded shows on the DVR.

I have a sore throat, I am hoping that it is just that someone, (it may have been me) turned off the humidifier because it needed water, and then forgot to finish the job by refilling and turning it back on, and it stayed off all day yestersday, so the air was really dry in here last night and this morning. It is full and running now so I am telling myself that my throat is getting better. I have no other symptoms so I hope I am telling myself the truth.

Sunday, February 08, 2009

Stash Enhancements

My friend, Viki of Fiber Labyrinth, recently sent me an e-mail to tell me about the sale on sock yarns at Rams Wools, and of course as she knew I would, (because, she knows that I can resist anything except temptation and chocolate), I went and made a purchase.
Also I have really enjoyed knitting up any of the Meilenweit yarn I have ever had, and they arrived last week and here they are. Good Guy sock yarns every one.

I got 2 blue yarns, one light and one dark, and a red and a brown.


The Cuff-to-cuff has reached the neck divide, and the fronts have been put onto holders, and I am going to finish the back which is both less
knitting, (being 4-6 inches less than the front), and less shaping so I will finish and join the 2 sides of the back, and then I will be able to try on the fronts and know when I am finished knitting.

Today I spent the day in the studio and got another nightgown finished and a 4th one about half finished. So if Sierra gets her schoolwork done early enough I will go over and finish that one tomorrow.

Tuesday, I am back to the dentist, and hopefully the pain will be taken care of. So maybe some more challenging knitting for the end of the week, I hope anyway.

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Still a long way to go

I have not been drinking I just have a granddaughter who does not want to interrupt what she is doing (watching TV) to take a picture of her grandma's knitting, especially if said knitting is not for her.

This is the Cuff to Cuff, which in my hands has become a cuff-to-center-x2. I still have about 2 inches to get to the side of the neck.

I know it looks like more but that is because it rolls up, but I measured it and it is 2 inches, and then I can start the neck shaping, which will remove a few stitches in the middle of the rows. I am debating with myself whether to keep on doing all of each stripe, both back and front, or should I finish the back and then finish the fronts? Decisions...decisions..

I do have the clasps to close it with when I finally get there.

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

My Face Hurts

So to distract you from the fact that I have not done anything useful, (well there was a little knitting, and a little sewing up), and Pictures would look pretty much the same as the last time. I took a blog quiz and it came up with this:




Your Word is "Peace"



You see life as precious, and you wish everyone was safe, happy, and taken care of.

Social justice, human rights, and peace for all nations are all important to you.

While you can't stop war, you try to be as calm and compassionate as possible in your everyday life.

You promote harmony and cooperation. You're always willing to meet someone a little more than halfway.

What's Your Word?

OK, I can live with that.

Then there is LaVonne Who is starting a yarn CSA with her sheep fleeces. You can check it out here: Blog ( scroll down to Jan. 31) or etsy look at the bottom of the right hand menu.

I have bought fleece from her and got good value for money, in fact there is some gray roving from her in my stash.

And I really support the CSA idea. So if you like the idea as well, check it out. LaVonne is good people, and who doesn't need more shetland and shetland blend yarn?