floral wool shawl

While I was making the striped shawl, I was also making this floral shawl.

I spun the brown yarn from the last of the BFL/Cormo lamb fleece that I had.  It is so soft.  It is rather large and cozy.  Another good shawl for being cozy with a cup of tea and book.  It is not as heavy at the striped shawl but I think it may be warmer.  That may be because the lamb fleece is softer.

All the variations of brown are from the fleece.

I have been enjoying embroidering flowers on wool.  So I did it here.  All the yarn is from other projects.  Mostly hand dyed from other artisans.   It makes me happy.

It is going to be for sale in my shop.  Even though I would rather keep it.  But that is part of what happens with almost of everything I make recently!

A not exciting Saturday night

I had such a not exciting Saturday night but so much me!  I have been drooling over a crochet artist on Instagram, Isa Catepillan.  I think her work is lovely and she makes me wish to up my crochet game.  I have some yarns of a lace weight that I thought:  shawl.  I am now playing with granny squares and am going to learn cables so I up my game.  Maybe make a dress?  

I am doing this by not going by any pattern.  I am going to use my favorite dress pattern as a go by and work within those constraints.  I like Isa's cable accents and I can see where they add a lot of structure.  Again, something new to learn.  Cables in crochet.  Something I have wished to learn for awhile but this is letting me take the jump.  I may have a wedding to go to next summer and if this dress is wearable I might just wear it.  It is truly about learning skills though.

Koda Bear learned a new skill this weekend.  He has been helping me sew since he was interested.  That was before he was a year old.  But on my treadle sewing machine, you have to be tall enough and strong enough to work the treadle.  When we moved the stool closer to the machine, he was big enough.  

We started off simply with him guiding fabric through the machine.  Can he make the stitching go where he wishes it to?  Can he control his hands and feet at the same time?  He did a very good job.  Then my Beloved said he needed a sleeve for his paint ball marker hoses.  The two of them found fabric, measured, and cut.  I pinned the sleeve together and Koda Bear sewed.  Koda Bear still has problems with the initial pinning.  It is a dexterity thing.

Then the sleeve was done.  Koda Bear did not realize that it was actually going to be used on the paint ball marker.  He was so excited and proud that something he made on my sewing machine was actually going to be used!

I am still threading the machine.  And filling the bobbins.  But the filling of the bobbins will happen soon.  Threading will get there.  So proud of Koda Bear.

stripes

I have had an interesting week.  I have not been able to figure out where the time keeps going.  I also had one day where my joints were very hot and stiff.  They felt swollen.  I felt swollen.  But other indicators would have said not.  So I sat in my chair with this shawl, yarn, and hook and finished it!

I really liked how it turned out.  All the colored yarn is from the same fleece that the farmer dyed.  I spun all the yarn in this.  This is one of those times where my Dad would say the actual crocheting takes the least amount of time.  It would if I had not started it three times.  I kept having different thoughts about it.  I get laughed at on how many times I will start a project.  It is part of my process.  But in the end, I really like it.

Why do I like it?  Because there is a cozy weight to it.  I could see myself cuddling under this with a cup of tea and a book.  Especially if there was a fire place near.  I do make things I like so I admit to being very tempted to keep this.

But no, it is going into the shop.  Both here and on Etsy.

Though, if it does not sell, there will be great temptation!

sweater for a bear

I do believe I may be one of the few women who has boyos who go into a yarn store and feel like they need to sit in the chairs.  Not because that is unusual but because they want to touch all the yarns, all the soft, and all the colors!  Yes, even Koda Bear.

Koda Bear told me his favorite color is yellow currently.  He went and touched every yellow in the yarn store.  But he also touched greens.  I asked if he would like me to make him a sweater.  He said yes.  I told him to pick the yellow he wanted.  That is the color above.

I have started the sweater.  I am hoping to get it finished before he goes north but I do not think it will happen.  I work on it every day but I forget how much I do.  I am not going to get to everything I wish to finish today before I leave the house to coach.  Too much and a curve in the path today.  There will always be too much and curves though.  That is life!

There is more of this sweater done then is pictured here.  I am making it in such a way that I will be able to take it apart when he grows and maybe add that green he so liked.  Grandma Bear's can plot!

simple things

I crochet every day.  I try to sew every day and spin every day as well but crochet usually is a given.  I have tried every style of hook.  Metal, plastic, wood, bone.  I like metal.  A well finished wooden hook is a thing of beauty. 

I have really liked to come to like Furls hooks.  They are nicely ergonomic.  I like the pewter hook and I have one of their wooden ones I really like.  I do not like the wooden hook pictured on the right very much at all.  The finishing is not as nice as I would have liked.  Especially for the price.  I put it in my Etsy shop for sale until I get a chance to give it some TLC.  When the TLC is applied, I may regift it.  That is how much I do not like it.  I will not regift it until some sanding and possibly buffing is done.

The pewter hooks I purchased from Furls were very nice.  At least the hook part was.  The handle was plastic.  The fit and finish from the handle to the hook always left a little bit to be desired.  Especially with how many people I have in my life who make things and put handles on tools.  Then I chipped one handle and one handle came off a hook.

The boyos of Serenity Knives rehandled them for me.  Honestly, it would have been less expensive to buy a new hook.  But then all of the hook would have hit a landfill.  Hooks that are not bone do not usually break on me.  I would have still had the same fit and finish problem.  The fit and finish on these two hooks is now much better then the original.  I can see me using these hooks until my hands do not work well enough to crochet any more.

The hook on the bottom of the picture is a mystery wood.  The top hook's handle is king wood.  They are both lovely.  The king wood hook was finished for me first so that is the one I have been using.  It is a wonderful hook now.  I have no complaints.

Next handle that breaks, getting it rehandled.  It appears to be how I get paid by those boyos for food and errand running.  But I do not complain at all!