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Moving Sale!

I'm thinning out my stash, my bookshelves and my tools to get ready for a move later this summer. Now's your chance to snap up some great stuff! I have lots of books posted now, and will have more as I go along. Take a look and check back often!!

More Experimenting

I've been playing again! I wanted to see what would happen when I handpainted recycled yarn with Wilton's. Here's what I got. I think I like it!

First, the finished sample: knit on size 4US needles.

Here's how it started out: a gold Eddie Bauer man's sweater of a lace-weight wool/rayon blend.

Handpainted with Wilton's and ready for the microwave.

Ta-Dah!!!!!

I think I will be playing some more with this technique!

Gotta Love FO's

Here it is... "It's a Hot Summer Bag" all felted and beaded. I used fire-polished glass beads to emphasize the "flames." Ready to go!

And... a little toddler-sized pillbox hat out of my teal wool... and a bit of Pom Pom by NY Yarns (discontinued)... verrrrry soft.

Busy Relaxing

That's what I did this weekend. I had a very relaxing time, but also got a lot accomplished. In addition to the necessary chores of housework, laundry, shopping, etc., I had plenty of time to create. I love it when things work out that way.

Summer Berry Hat - Lion Cotton


It's a Hot Summer Bag - Paton's Merino
(pre-felting, embellishing)
All except Black are hand-dyed with Kool-Aid
(Lemonade, Orange, Cherry)


Lion Wool (Winter White) hand-dyed with Wilton Teal


Donegal Irish Wool (recycled) hand-dyed with Wilton Violet

Ta-Daaaa!!

mmmmm...Irish Wool

I'm learning a bit about myself while learning about recycling yarns. The hardest thing for me is deciding which ones to keep and which to find new homes for. My stash was already bursting the seams of our home before beginning this endeavor. Now...my, oh, my! (Cosy warned me about the yarn taking over!) I'm coming to a realization that my lifetime will never be long enough to make everything I want. AND, I have to remember they are not going to let me take it with me. *heavy sigh*

So this means I have to let (some of) it go. This gorgeous Donegal Irish Wool that I just finished processing really wants to be made into something new and wonderful. It has the feel of hand spun and has the promise of being very toasty come winter. It's available here. I wish you could pet it online.

Stay tuned...there's more to come!

What a Great Day!

We took the class on a field trip to Oaks Park today.
A perfect day! And to quote a student...."I LOVE FUN!"

A Little Crochet

I am always amazed at the cycles in life. In addition to the more obvious ones, I also seem to cycle through my crafts. My enthusiasm for each ebbs and flows. Knitting will always be my first love, but lately I've been delving back into my crochet work. I love both for different reasons and for different types of projects.

This is my most recent crocheted piece. My great niece, Hailey, just turned nine-months old. This little summer frock is for her.

More!

Check out these beauties!!! Available here!


Lace-weight wool/silk blend
(SOLD)


Worsted-weight wool/mohair/angora blend
(SOLD)


Worsted-weight 100% wool
(SOLD)

Recycling Eddie Bauer

I have been really enjoying ripping things apart lately. Especially wonderful sweaters!!! It's good therapy. I can take out all my aggressions on someone else's knitting and not feel a bit guilty!

I've been stockpiling thrifted sweaters for a while, but hadn't really started pulling them apart until the past few weeks. My home smells a bit like wet (clean) wool, and I have skeins hanging in almost every room! I'm loving it, but my son is a bit put off by it all. My plan is to get more up and ready for sale in my new shop.

I must admit, it's hard for me to decide to let them go. Being such a yarn addict, I want to keep them all!! But alas... they must find new homes. Take a look. And more will be available soon.

Lemonade

Today I'm making a great big double batch of lemonade. But not literally. I recently sent off a rather large shipment of hand-made items to be sold on consignment at a shop on the coast. Well, something happened in the meantime, and the shop is closed. My box was returned to me, so there is no real loss. But, bummer, man!

So, turning those lemons into lemonade, I opened an Etsy shop! Please stop by and see. I only have a few items listed just to test the waters. I welcome any and all constructive feedback. This is a new venture and I'm feeling pretty cautious. Many of you have much more experience in this area, so please share your ideas.

Come see me at janknit.etsy.com
Thank you, all!!
Janet

Birthday Wishies

Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law, Tina!

Don't tell her, but I am sending her a skein of my recycled wool yarn. She crochets, so I'm hoping she'll make herself something yummy out of it. It's very soft and quite colorful.

Tina recently opened her own art gallery and studio in Ocean Shores, Washington. She has also commissioned several of my pieces to be sold in the gallery. Wish us both luck!! And if you're in Ocean Shores, look her up!

Tidepools

First, a big thank you to Larissa for including me in the test knitting for her upcoming book. It was great fun to have even the tiniest part in it. After having a peek at a few of the zillions of things that have gone into the book, I am so looking forward to seeing the finished product!!

On top of that, I was one of the lucky recipients of a skein of Blue Moon Socks That Rock yarn! The colorway, Tidepool, was designed especially for Larissa to compliment her color theme for the book. It's so special. I wanted to make sure what it becomes is equally great.

I tried at least four different sock patterns, and each of them "pooled" the colors way more than I could tolerate. I don't mind some pooling. In fact, I like the effect on lots of things. However, I was getting ALL the purple on one side of the sock... yechh...

Finally, I was able to get more of the effect I wanted with a "wavy" stitch... plus I like the puns!

With apologies to the Yarn Harlot, I took an action shot of my sock at Urgent Care this week. My allergies and asthma got way out of control. I'm new to this asthma thing, and I ended up going in for a breathing treatment. (I'm okay now.) But my Tidepools kept me company while waiting. (The lighting in the clinic sure washes out the color. No wonder EVERYONE there looks sick!)

More to follow....

Woo-Hoo Moo!

My Moo Cards just arrived! Available through Flickr, they are smaller than a standard business card. By having photos of some of my work printed on one side and my contact information on the other, they will be perfect as tags and for general advertising.

T-Shirt "Yarn"

I've been playing with "Calamari Knitting" (and crochet) as shown in the Mason Dixon Knitting book. I love the idea of using old T-Shirts for knitting and crochet, but the double strand of fabric makes a very thick "yarn," precluding its use for most items. While it is wonderful for a cushy bathroom rug, I would not want to wear it.

Instead, I have been cutting the torso of my worn shirts into single long strips.

After trimming off the hem, I cut a 1/2" to 5/8" continuous strip (around and around and around...) up to the arm pits. As I wind the resulting "yarn" into a ball, I slightly stretch the strip. This causes it to roll back on itself (it's stockinette stitch), and make a more rounded yarn (rather than a flat ribbon). Depending on the width of the strip, the yarn is a bulky-weight gauge that can be knit or crocheted into a dense cotton fabric.

And the sleeves??? They certainly could be used to make something else fun (patches? pockets? bag linings?). I like to use the soft cotton for cleaning cloths. No waste!!

In Our Prayers

Feelin' Swappy!

What a great day! I received these beautiful stitch markers from my swap partner, Melissa. The swap is through Get Stitchy!, a great online forum for knitters, crocheters, and other fiber enthusiasts. I love the blue and silver...one of my favorite combinations.

And here are the ones I made for her. I really liked working with the green glass beads and the silver wires. These are not my first markers, but I do have very limited experience making them. Each time, I learn a little more... especially about making the wire loops. Below is my first attempt at a row counter. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I'll need to make one for myself now!

Spring!

It's official. Ashes has seen her shadow and declares it is Spring!

For those of you who don't know Ashes, she is my sweet kitty that is soon to be 15 years old. She developed diabetes last year, and has been very ill since about October. In fact, we really did not expect her to survive the winter. With love and care, she has been doing much better in recent months. It has become her habit to just quietly hang out in my bedroom all day, coming out only to eat or use the facilities. Then the sun started shining. She has been making more appearances in the living room, basking in the springtime rays. Ahh, the sunshine makes us all feel better.

Silly me!

I printed up some Jan-Knit business cards this weekend. Then I needed a case to protect them in my big bag. I found myself looking at some in the nearby office supply store, and being disappointed in the selection. Then it hit me (oww)...make your own, silly girl!!! So a couple of On-Demand movies later, here's my new card holder...

It's crocheted out of recycled gray wool, embroidered with some of that thrifted crewel wool I found a while back, lined with a bit of cotton scrap from a sewing project, and fastened with a leftover blue mother of pearl button. Ta-dah!! Beat that, Office Max!!

V-Stitch Shawl update

The main body of the shawl is now complete and being blocked. I am still consider multiple options for finishing...fringe, beads, edging... I decided to wait and see how it drapes after it's blocked and dry... to be continued.

Oh, and the little colors peeking through are happy flowers on my sheets! I love them!