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Is this thing on?

So, just about the time I get going in my blog, I get an invite for Ravelry. I can say, with no shame, that that is why I didn’t blog. Ravelry has to be the best thing ever for fiber artists, ever.

But, I’ve been working on the business and designing more, and I figured that a blog would be  a good outlet of ideas, personal notes, etc.

I’m working on updating everything here, this blog is definitely not in it’s finished state. But I hope you’ll pull up a chair, stay for a while, and enjoy yourself!

Etsy and Overstock.com

So the folks at Overstock.com have decided to go all crafty on us and open an Etsy account under the name “Worldstock”.

The rest here I am shamelessly ganking from Violet’s (of Lime and Violets) blog because she says it so much better than I can:

According to the Overstock.com agreement to vendors (which they sent to someone they wanted to rip off), they take your item from you and mark it up THREE HUNDRED PERCENT. So those “poor people” they are helping are making something like 30 cents for every dollar they’re charging you. Doesn’t sound so humanitarian or helpful, does it?

Worse, etsy hasn’t deleted this asshat company’s account. The items are, under most definitions, handmade, but they aren’t being sold *by the artisan*, which was supposed to be in the TOS over there. This creates competition for the eyeballs of all the etsy visitors, which is kind of what etsy was supposed to be about — having a place where indie folks didn’t have to deal with corporate bullshit.

If you are an etsy buyer/seller, PLEASE EMAIL ETSY at abuse@etsy.com. Flag/Report all of worldstock’s items. Get the word out there that this is EXACTLY the kind of crap indie people have to deal with elsewhere, and that it’s cheapening etsy into a great big garage sale.

Please people, email, email, email! Etsy is for indie artists – not for multi-million dollar corporations. Feel free to copy this to other blogs, email it, get the word out!

Weeeee!!!

School is over, finals are D-O-N-E.

Last weekend I just kind of sat on the couch, feeling that I should do *something*.. but not sure what. Then it dawned on me.. I could read ANYTHING I wanted, do anything I wanted, without feeling like I needed to do something for school. Justin and I went to the library, where I got books on cookies and bread making.

I have been knitting, too. I finished one of my Monkey Socks:

I love the Risata. But with Christmas coming up, I set the socks aside, and I started a hat for Justin. I am using the Fake Isle Hat pattern, and using Lambs Pride Worsted. The last time I tried this the edge of the hat curled horribly, and I frogged it. So this time I used a size 5US on the ribbing only, and then changed to a 6US for the hat. And I also changed to a 2×2 rib.

I started it yesterday, so I think that’s decent progress. Working with the mohair in the yarn makes me itchy sometimes, but it’s just a hat, and I’m not gonna be the one wearing it. :-p And it’ll make it warmer for Justin.

And speaking of Justin, his birthday was last week. I asked him what type of cake he wanted, and he said “cheesecake”. So I kept sending him recipes, and he kept veto-ing them. (Hey, if I put all this work into a cheesecake, I want to make sure he *really* likes it.) And then I stumbled on this Oreo Cheesecake recipe. And it was love at first sight. I made it for him, and it took 2 pounds of cream cheese and a full box of oreos. And it was gone in a weekend. I’m sorry, hips.

Ok, back to knitting.

I just wanna knit.

Next week is finals week. It has been nuts. I got some work done on the Monkey sock, but I’ve been writing papers and studying for tests and all that other fun stuff. I have done a little bit of baking though, to keep my sanity.

And today my new baby arrived:

The boyfriend got me a Kitchen Aid mixer for Christmas. I am so *thrilled*. As soon as it was opened I dove into a batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies with it. It’s amazing. I’m gonna have to behave myself and study and not just bake. I do want to try bread soon, though, but that would be best left to when I am not so rushed.

I can’t wait till next week is over and I can kick back and just knit, guilt free, thinking I should be studying or writing something!

Picot is pretty snazzy.

I started a pair of Cookie A.’s Monkey Socks in Knitpick’s Risata last night, and I decided to use a picot cast on. I used this tutorial right here. I wasn’t quite sure how it worked at first, so I followed it blindly, and it worked like a charm.

A picture will be forthcoming when my battery is charged.

Forks in the Road

So this will be a post with little knitting content. But a lot of things have been going on lately, and I thought I would post them here.

So I have been attending college and studying history, but I have been specializing in women’s history, and primarily in the history of violence and rape. Not a pleasant topic, by any means.. but one that can’t be forgotten, either.

And I am an activist, too. I am active at our local Planned Parenthood, and I am vice-president of the on campus Students for Choice group. So I tend to speak up about things.

The university I go to offers a Masters degree in Women’s Studies. And the with that, I could teach at the local community colleges – there are tons around here. And they are clamoring for more diverse courses to be taught.

I thought I would graduate in the spring and work in social work, like at Planned Parenthood or at the YWCA. While I don’t have a degree in social work, I have “street experience”. And I’m still gaining it. As a social worker, though, you don’t make much money.

I had an appointment with a professor, though, who said that she would like to see me get my Masters – and coincidentally, she is also head of the Masters program on campus. She said with that I could also supplement what I make working full time. I won’t be making much, but I’ll be doing what I love. And getting a teaching position from time to time might help make the ends meet.

So it’s been pretty interesting. For a while I thought I was going to be going down one road.. graduating, working, (finally getting a spinning wheel!!!), but then a door opened that might help me grow some more. It’s going to take some more thought, but it might be worth it.

WIP’s

School has been kicking my butt, but I have managed to fit SOME knitting in.

This is the Celtic Cable Scarf (PDF). In wonderful Cascade 220. At first I was using a cable needle, but then into the second repeat I decided to see if I could remember and successfully cable without a cable needle, and it’s working great.

And here’s a somewhat decent picture of the Orchid Lace Scarf. I took about 30 different pictures of it, and this is the one that turned out the best so far – anything with a flash at all causes the Sea Silk colors to look garish and you can’t see the lace pattern.

So I’ve just been working on both of these. Tonight I might pick up a pair of socks that need the heel turned, and get that done.

And Socrates got his nails done!

No, that’s not nail polish, that’s Soft Paws. Putting them on was really simple – I thought he would get crazy like he does when I’m cutting his nails, but he just sat in my lap and watched me. You just put some of the cat-safe glue they give you in the tip, and slide it on. Socrates has been scratching up the boxspring and the corner of the couch – and he has outsmarted everything so far. We Saran-wrapped the boxspring, and pretty soon he would go UNDER the bed to scratch. For about the first 5 minutes he walked around like something was stuck to his feet – that was pretty funny. But he got used to them pretty fast, with just some licking. But they are all still there and secure, and he can’t scratch anymore!

Can I just say…

That photographing Sea Silk is a bitch? And I have a dark colorway of Sea Silk for my Orchid Lace Scarf, so whenever I try to take a picture it flashes and make the colors look garish. Working with this yarn is interesting.. I like working with wool better, but gee, since I’m allergic, I don’t have too much choice. This yarn has very little give, so you have to make sure to keep your stitches even. But it is working up very pretty! I plan to take it outside, or set up lighting so I don’t have to use the flash.

I’m only about 2 repeats into the scarf.. knitting has been a little slow. My PMS symptoms decided to show up early, and since its the first period since my ovary removal.. it’s been bad, since my estrogen is evening itself out. I’ve been eating Advil like it’s M & M’s. (If anyone is doing the math, yes, it’s been over a month since the ovary removal.. but I’m on Seasonique, and I only have my cycle once every three months. So I’ve been reading knitting blogs and going to class, and doing knitting here and there.

Today I planned to stop by Knit On!, my fav LYS, but when I stopped by the bank to cash a check, I realized it was Columbus day, and the banks were closed. So that’ll be postponed until tomorrow. I want to knit the Celtic Cable Scarf (PDF) out of Cascade 220, in a nice fall color. Cascade 220 is my savior when it comes to wool.. it’s a wool yarn I can make a scarf or a hat out of and actually wear without itching. I guess it’s with the way it’s made.. I did the “bra test” with a swatch, and it was too itchy, so I guess a sweater is out of the question. But having it for accessories is great, because it’s nice and warm, and I do *a lot* of walking on campus this semester.

And since this is such a disjointed post, I’ll leave you with one more thing..

My cat in a necktie.

I’m still here!

I’m still alive, I promise! I had a horrible sinus infection this week, but thanks to a Z-Pack I am getting back up on my feet. I love those things.

Not much knitting.. I am making some progress, slowly but surely, on my Orchid Lace Scarf. And yes, PinkPorcupine, I will have pictures soon.

But I trimmed down the yarn winder a bit, and c’est fini:

You might notice there is no treadle. But looking at the picture, I do notice a cat in the corner :-p. I fiddled with the foot peddle for a while, and finally, just to try it out, I took the attachment I had made for the peddle off the yarn winder and turned it with my hand. That part looks like this:

I just turn it with this (kinda like a ballwinder), and I can get a thing of lace on there in 10 minutes. A whole heck of a lot faster than when I was doing it on the swift! A lot less manpower needed, too. It seems really sturdy. I used a rubber band and put a clip on the end of one of the arm thingies to hold the yarn as I get it started. Works really well, and it really speeds up the process. So I just decided not to mess with the treadle and go the simple route. And it works great!

I <3 my UPS guy

I ordered my base yarn for the laceweight yesterday. 3 day UPS shipping.

It showed up *this afternoon*.

Awesomeness.

Now I have almost 30 skeins of laceweight to play with, and 2 new colors of dye. I already have yarn soaking, and Justin claimed defeat and said he would stay out of the kitchen and dining room this evening. (Both rooms are incredibly small, and it’s hard for 2 people to be in them at once.. sad, eh?) He can’t stand the smell of wet wool, so the fan is in the window and the pots are on the stove.

Ladies and Gents, it is time to dye.

My Fall TV Line Up

I noticed a number of knit-bloggers are blogging about what they watch for fall TV. And I thought I would write some stuff, too.

But we don’t have a TV.

Well, I lied. We have a TV, but it’s a small 13 inch TV with rabbit ears that we got from my parents for emergencies.. and to watch Lost. And it hasn’t been on in months.. well, since the Season Finale of Lost. And it probably won’t be on until the Season Premiere of Lost, or god forbid, there is an emergency where we need it.

Life without TV is interesting. I used to be hopelessly addicted. I never thought I could live without it. One of the first questions we get from visitors is “But where is your television?!?” Our living room set up is nice and cozy, with a stereo, the iPod speakers, bookcases, Justin’s music stuff, the couches, etc.

We just kind of made the decision without any thought. You see, if we both worked full time and had the money for a nice flat screen and 5000 channels, you bet your ass we would have TV. HBO, Showtime, etc. But we don’t both work (I go to school full time), and money isn’t flowing freely in. And when you are stuck with 4 channels, and most of them mainstream media (which we both loathe), we just didn’t watch it. We keep up on the shows we want to watch (Weeds, etc) using online TV sources. No commercials, no media. It’s great.

I listen to NPR all.the.time. It’s always on in the background, so if something is going on, I hear about it. When I knit, I usually watch something on the laptop, listen to a podcast, or listen to NPR, or Justin when he is playing guitar (he will play 2-4 hours a night.)

So when Lost comes back on, we watch it approximately an hour a week. Because we are HUGE Lost dorks. And my boyfriend *hates* when I tell people this, but when they mention a book on there, he runs out and gets it and reads it. THAT’S how much we are into it. We originally started watching it when we rented the first season from the library, and when we caught up we realized we should get a TV.

It really brings a new element into things, and I like it. I actually get more knitting done, more reading done, a little more of everything. I’m not exactly sure what we will do when we have money for a TV with all the frills, but it will be interesting to see.

We have power! (Well, treadle power.)

So as you can see, I have made some changes. I took the circumference down some, and I added washers, and a lot of super glue. And foot power.

So this is what the turning mechanism looks like now. I found all of this at Home Depot.. just kinda wandering the aisles. I used 3/4 inch PVC and where I needed to put a nut to hold something in place I would put a nut, some superglue, and then another nut, just to secure it. This will be turning, a lot, so I want to make sure everything is sturdy. The long screw that everything is on is just a 40cent 6 inch carriage screw.

The long rope thing is vinyl covered metal wire that I will attach to a foot treadle that I am making now – out of a metal hinge and plywood. The bottom of the skein winder needs more weight, but truth be told, I will probably end up just putting some books on it.

All in all I have spent $33 on all the supplies. And I think that is all I will need, and it is working well. If the treadle part doesn’t work, I will at least have a nice hand-turnable skein winder for my lace yarn. And, being that I am going to place a huge order for that this week, I need it

And I wanted to mention: feel free to blatantly rip this skein winder off. Feel free to print my pictures and take them to Home Depot or Lowe’s. Feel free to email me with questions. If you want more pictures, let me know. This was pretty simple to put together, and would have been cheaper if I wasn’t going to make it foot-powered – but with the amount of yarn I skein, I need to give my arms a break :-p.

And re: comments.. school has been SUPER busy, so if I haven’t been answering your comments, I am so sorry! With trying to keep up on the business and keeping up on school, things have been crazy. I promise to catch up soon.

Give me a Dremel and I turn into a MANIAC.

So my wooden swift that I bought off of JoAnn.com last spring has been dieing a slow, agonizing death for a few months. I have remade the center shaft, and done various over things to fix it, but with dyeing laceweight it is pretty obvious it was not made to wind 1760 yard hanks of yarn.

So I knew I had to come up with something. I didn’t like any of the skeinwinders I saw online, because I needed a large width. And I don’t have a huge amount of money to spend, so I decided to see if I could make one myself.

And the thing is, I was raised redneck. You give me enough PVC piping and a Dremel, and I can make anything.

So I decided to try it. I was definitely winging it. The boyfriend and I went to Home Depot today, and with the plans I laid out in my head I got what I thought I needed. The total for the parts came out to just under $12. And I made sure to get an extra 12 foot section of PVC pipe so I had plenty of room to play around with.

After we got home I fired up the Dremel. All went well, and I have the general bulk of it together. What I do need to do, though, is stabilize the turning point with washers. So tomorrow I plan to go to Home Depot and get washers and see how that works.

The skeinwinder:

The circumference of it needs to be taken down a bit, but I wanted to get into the shower (the dust from the PVC was EVERYWHERE and it was itchy), so that can be done tomorrow after I stabilize it.

And this is the “turning point”.. where I need to put the washers. To be precise, I need to put one in front of the nut. And a couple where the PVC hit each other. And ignore the pink tank top, it was hard to get a picture :-p But the construction is relatively simple.

And did I mention the plastic dust got EVERYWHERE? I had to take a shower, and even the cat wasn’t immune:

I fully expect this to be a work in progress, and to work out the kinks as they show up. But the pieces are relatively cheap, and with the Dremel I can do all the work myself. If I can, I would love over time to turn this into a treadle powered skeinwinder, so I can pump it with my foot instead of having to use my arm!

Potholder

So tonight I just made a simple pot holder from that fat quarter I picked up from JoAnns.. it’s evident I am *not* good at binding, and that I’ll need some more practice. Its just made with 2 layers of cotton batting. But it was a good taste at working with fabric and batting, and what binding consists of. And how much practice I’ll need

JoAnns is evil.

Ok, maybe not. But even though they don’t carry much in the way of awesome fabric, they do carry some good stuff. And I tend to have a weakness for them and the 40% off coupons. Ok, a big weakness for them. And they handed out fliers with a bunch of coupons on them, and I had TWO of them.

So I got a yard of each of these. I know, I have a thing for the cherry print. But on the pink its so cute! And the cats.. its black cat, on pink. How could I not turn that down?

These are both fat quarters. With the coupon, they were like 80 cents a piece. The one on the right is going to be a pot holder or two. The one on the left was just intriguing. The gold is actual metallic gold, and very pretty.

This cherry print I got a couple weeks ago, but I am going to make this purse out of it. I finally just now got all the notions and whatnot for it.. finding a magnetic snap was damn near impossible. But I got red piping and red lining, and it should be cute.

I didn’t get much else at JoAnns, other than some thread.. I had to get craft thread because the boyfriend has been popping buttons off of his clothing, and regular sewing thread is not cutting it. I tell you, it’s like living with a kid sometimes. With him and that cat, how did I end up living with two smelly, rough-housing, stinky boys?

I did swing by Hobby Lobby, too. They have Sugar n Cream on sale, and I wanted to see if they had the new Stripes. I know, my SnC stash goes beyond SABLE.. I think I have over 150 balls of it and 5 or 6 cones. A ton of that I got during the Amazon misprice, but I have really been coveting the Stripes. And alas, they had 8 out of 9 colors, and I picked up one of each. Im working on a dishcloth using the Lizard Ridge pattern, so having this new yarn will hopefully give me the ambition to hurry up and get it done!

Drive by post

So I have been working on the Orchid Lace Scarf in Sea Silk. On my Denise circulars. And it wasn’t going so well.. I needed better points on the needles. But being a poor college kid, and already having the Denise set and tons of add-ons I have bought for it, I didn’t want to invest in Addi Lace needles in a size 6. I know most lace projects are on size 5, etc. So at the LYS I picked up a set of Bryspun circs – size 6, 29 inches, for $6. And the needles are GREAT. I frogged the project since I was only 6 rows in, and it is looking so much better and even. The concave tips work like a charm.

Most of the lace projects I want to knit in my Ravelry queue are knit on size 5′s, so I will probably invest in a pair of Addi Turbo Lace needles. But I like knitting with “warm” needles, like wood and bamboo and the Denise. And who knows, if this goes well enough, I just might pick up size 5′s in Bryspun.

Lace and quilting

So the laceweight is coming along well.. heres a couple pics:

So far, so good. I posted the gold one on Etsy and it sold within the hour.. the burgundy I just listed tonight. I *love* the colors, though, and wish I could keep them for myself. :-p

So I bought these 5 fat quarters in a set from JoAnns (It was only $5.24 with a coupon!). I want to make an autumn type wall-hanging or mini quilt to hang on the wall. But I cannot find a pattern that I like, that would allow me to use the 2 big prints. Any ideas? Thoughts? Recommendations?

Things I Learned From a Pencil Bag

1. I can put in a zipper.
2. Not very well.
3. Next time I need a pencil bag, I might just buy one because of said zipper and the wrestling with it.

But now I have a pencil bag to hold the various items I need for class. I found this fat quarter on sale at JoAnns, and today I was able to pick up that dreaded zipper. But the bag is cute, and overall I am pretty happy with it. It was good practice, too.

A Side Step

Usually I leave my politics way out of this blog. This is my neutral territory.. knitting. And crafting. I am very politically active, and it takes up a lot of my time. It stresses me out, gets me angry, keeps me busy. At times it can be a complete emotional rollercoaster and I have tended to keep this blog as my political free-zone so I could have a calm, peaceful haven. It’s knitting. There’s nothing like just closing the whole world behind you after a day of extremely emotionally charged activism and taking up the needles and knitting.

But I am going to pause that neutrality for a second.

The other day I was at Half Price Books and I was in the Women’s Studies section, and I happened across a book called Back Rooms: Voices from the Illegal Abortion Era. It was rather inexpensive, and they were having a sale, so I picked it up.

I have a rather extensive Women’s Studies library, both here at the apartment and at my parents. I am always on the lookout for new viewpoints, ideas, thoughts. Pro-life, pro-choice, it doesn’t matter. If you have an idea, bring it on. But after a while the same thoughts and ideas keep coming up. It’s the same old stuff.

This book is like nothing I have encountered before. It is chilling. If you are pro-choice, you need to read it. If you a pro-life, you need to read it. If you are undecided, you need to read it. This book is a set of oral histories from women who either obtained abortions before it was legal or had a child long before they were ready, either because the abortion didn’t work or they couldn’t obtain one. The kitchen table and coat hangers you always hear about? These women *lived* it. Their stories need to be heard. I have never run across this book before, but this is something that needs to be out there more.

This book is haunting, chilling, educational, and most of all, oral history. From women. We can’t forget the women who came before us, plowed through to make paths for us, and tread in waters that most of us have not. Hopefully they won’t be silenced and forgotten.

Squee!

Very good mail day!

First off, I got a TON of lace weight to dye. I have some new techniques that I want to try – this ought to be interesting. So I am either going to be posting a long line of expletives because I ruined a bunch of laceweight or post in triumph because my technique worked.

I also came home to a huge box of roving on the front porch. You can bet you the stock pots are already fired up and boiling. I have BFL, Merino, and superwash Merino. Yay!

And also, I decided to try some Knitpicks Risata. I have a tried and tested allergy to sheep/wool, but I can usually get away with wearing blends in sock yarn and scarves, etc. if the blend is under 50% wool. And Risata comes in at 39%. The main complaint I heard about this yarn was the colors – people wanted brighter colors. Noooo! I am so sick of finding cotton yarns in bright, neon colors. I am so happy to find a sock yarn in subtle, dark, colors. The yarn itself is very soft and squishy. Right now I see the only problem being the yarn might be a little splitty due to its construction – but I can’t vouch for that right now, as I haven’t knit with it yet. I cannot wait to cast on for a pair of Monkeys for this – I have been stuck with knitting with stuff like Sockotta, and I can’t knit anything with a pattern to it! I am curious to see how this wears.

Anyways, I am going to get back to dyeing, so I will leave you with a picture of my quilt that I am working on. I laid it out perfectly, all seams like I wanted it, and someone thought it would be fun to play (note the purple mouse):