thingy

vintage thingy
I just got a box of yarn (after a bag of yarn) busting with old and vintage yarns. In the bottom was this crazy tool which comes apart. The base is pretty obvious to determine the use. You turn the knob at the bottom and spokes pop out. It's for making flower embellishments. It's one of those fancy ones, too. The spokes go in and out. When you're finished, you pop off the flower like they do on tv.
The thing for the top is a mystery to me. It fits in the holes on the base. I can't really see what you would do with it. It's not a cord loom because it lacks the center tube to extrude the cord. It has 4 posts, each with two spikes. It fits on the base by 2 posts, even though the base has 4 holes. There doesn't appear to be any difference in directionality. And you can extend and retract the spokes for the loom while it is in place. No idea, seriously.

giotto top new yarn

giotto top new yarn, originally uploaded by hairycarrot.

This is the perfect match I found to complete my Giotto top. Even though I know I said it was finished, I hated the back. Now I can change it. The yarn is mission falls 1824 cotton.

I don't know where my size 11 needles are . . .

Plying on my Drop Spindle

I made this short video to show how I ply yarn on my spindle. There is no sound, but that was better than the video game music that was there before.
I have my two singles posted in a box resting on an old spinning wheel. They are pointed downward so that gravity holds the needles in the box. When I'm not spinning, the spindle fits through the slats on the uprights for the wheel.
I ply the two singles together, and then check the twist. If it's over or under twisted, I correct before winding it up. Then there is less to set later.
My cardboard box lazy kate.

yarn construction

I've spent this past week's evenings creating this self-striping yarn. It doesn't have a purpose, yet, but who cares? Eventually I'll come up with something to do with it. It's made from many varieties of wool and fiber from a http://luxe.etsy.com spinning kit. This one was named higgledy piggledy bits n' pieces.
Being the second one I made, the balance of the two plies was much closer than the last time. I'm also more satisfied with the coils. I haven't uploaded any pics of the finished yarn, but I'll do that today. There's still a pile of stuff left over from this kit, which I couldn't quite fit into this yarn. I'm going to combine it with the last kit's leftovers and make a third - probably a wrapped single.

Knitting at D&D

my scarf start and my buddy 
I'm practicing to use the f-stop on the camera. I'm pleased with this picture. It even captures the page-turning action.

So, I bought this yarn at la droguerie. I really like it. I'm starting out with 50 grams of alpaca in an asparagus color. The pattern might be similar to feather and fan. It is a multiple of 17 plus 1, with a moss stitch border of 2.

k1 *yo k1 yo k1 yo, p2tog 6x, yo k1 yo k1 yo k1, repeat from * until the end. p 1 row, k 1 row, p 1 row, repeat from beginning.

Just because I'm knitting doesn't mean I'm not paying attention. Last week I threw two fireballs from my necklace while knitting.

boy am I behind

I never think about his until I am no where near a way to update.
This month has been very busy. I had excellent sales from etsy, which is pretty good since I only have small items. Now that I'm past my December rush, I can focus on making other things which are fun. I want to make stuffed birds. My stuffed crochet animals are mostly only creepy looking. We'll see if that can change. My bunnies were so absurd that I labeled them zombies. I once sold a fairly ugly frog with button eyes. He was square. I guess if I made him nicer, I could sell more. He didn't have to be ugly, but the yarn was just disappointing.
I got my new spindle in the mail and spun up a little bit of yarn. I have to get on that fast because I have people I want to give it to soon. In fact, I wanted to give it to them in the past. Past due.
I found my crochet hooks! This made fulfilling my etsy orders much easier. I had listed some puppets I couldn't find from moving, but I won't specify which ones. I was surviving with an H, but didn't want to send out some of my products. Luckily, I found the rest and got to remake my dissapointments before shipping.
I have some new designs that are almost ready to go up. The unicorn was waiting for me to find the hooks, so it can be realised along with its breathren. This will not be the last.
I'm almost finished scribing some patterns. I have several finger puppets, and a sweater or two. Ravelry is pretty interesting. I'm not terribly into it yet, but I don't follow patterns that often. You won't find me making Clapotis, even though I have alpaca just for a scarf, or knitting Fetching, even though fingerless gloves are useful. When it comes time to use up my yarns, I'm just going to make things on the fly, like I usually do, and maybe write the directions down.
Knitty is a pretty impressive phenomenon. All these people are contributing patterns, which are destined to be available for free, and they are wildly popular. Ravelry makes this even more interesting. People have access to excellent patterns for free. Then you can go to Ravelry and see how many people report making it.
I pledged to do a handmade holiday this year. I'm number 6185. This way I got to shop tons on etsy and every time a package arrived, it was like Christmas.

Revien de la France

La droguerie 

I got to visit this store on Saturday and it was really crowded. I waited in line and took my turn. Looking at all the yarn on the wall had me wondering, just how popular is knitting in Paris? There were really only a few types of yarn to choose from. Plain wool, alpaca, cashmere, and bamboo lined the first section of wall. The second section held cotton, linen and a linen blend. Basically all the yarns were basic, standard solids. There was nothing I could categorize as novelty or art. While those are not the standards by which I base my yarn purchases, it was a little strange not to even see variegated yarn. The closest was three-ply bamboo which plied 3 colors together. Most of the yarn was DK to Aran weight. Across from the basic wool was a bulky wool. If you were seeking variety of color, you were set, If you needed variety of guage or texture, you only had so many options.

My french is pretty terbble in terms of understanding when people talk to me. I can read for myself, and produce functional sentences, but listening is a real challenge. And since I never talk about knitting in English, I didn't have anything as far as French knitting vocabulary to work with. I also never buy yarn with a plan or pattern. So when it was my turn, I had to make up a plan on the fly. Apparently, my celery colored alpaca yarn is going to be a lace scarf. This it probably the only way I would ever make myself a nice scarf, so so be it.

It's strange to buy yarn the same way you buy cheese. Both are great when you get them, though.

I love Luxe

I just got my order yesterday from Luxe. It is absolutely gorgeous. I was really confused when I opened it, since the color was much richer than pictured. I imagined I was getting something tan with purple bits, and opened something purple with tan bits. It is the prettiest thing imaginable.