Thursday, March 28, 2002
No NYC posts just yet - the first couple of days back I felt like a zombie, after that I went back to work and have been so busy. One good thing to come out of the zombified state is that I finished a Fluff scarf that I started while on on holiday. I bought the Fluff from the wonderful Downtown Yarns but more on that later. I also discovered the amazing Noro yarns while in NYC, how did I live without them?! Yarnstash sells Noro at very cheap prices - They don't have the complete line of yarns but do stock several of the more popular ones. Sunday, March 24, 2002
Well I'm back from NYC and what can I say - I came, I saw and I shopped! I also met up with some great people - Joan and her daughter Lucy - Joan is an art quilter and very kindly showed me around the garment district Judi and Julie fab NYC knitters - Judi showed me around The Yarn Co. where I bought hardly anything......honest..........! :-) We've only been back a few hours so I'll post my belated NYC posts later - I did try and post from a cyber cafe but couldn't remember my password. Fortunately I was able to type them up on my trusty Visor and Stowaway keyboard so watch out for my reviews later. Sunday, March 17, 2002
It's been a few days since I blogged but I've been really busy preparing for our holiday. But I've still been knitting and sewing. The Colinette Isis scarf that I posted a pic of is nearly a FO! I had my hair done on Thursday night - Sally is a mobile hairdresser who does my highlights at home - and was able to do quite a few rows on it so it looks like the scarf will be accompanying me to NYC. Thursday afternoon I went fabric shopping with my friends Karen and Hannah. We went to this great Asian store called Sanna Silks where they sell Sari fabrics. I choose some fab printed velvets for skirts and a tunic and Karen bought a beautiful red silk fabric. Hannah didn't choose anything this time but we all left with armfuls of bracelets! We won't wear them all at once but it does mean that there are plenty of spares if any break. Friday - a surprise parcel arrived form my friend Anne. She's German but has lived in London for over thirty years. I'd asked her a while back if there were any stores selling sock yarn near where her sister lives in Germany but this was before I discovered the delights of Wollywood. Anyway, she sent me two 100g balls of a sock yarn called "Golden Sock 100", I'd never heard of it but although the label is printed in German it's made in Italy which makes me wonder if it might be re-packaged Regia. It has a very soft hand similar to Regia so might come from the same producers. Included with the yarn was a little note saying that she hoped I would use it but had never seen me knitting! Both she and my aunt were very surprised to learn that I sewed. They didn't think it was something that I'd ever have an interest in. I just think that it goes to show that we are always evolving, our personalities are a work in progress if you like. You can't predict how someone is going to turn out. The sock wool she's sent me is enough for two pairs of women's socks so I'm planning on making a pair for her to say thank you and to show that I really do knit! Sock wool makes up a sizeable amount of my stash and I have plenty of books, net print outs of patterns and techniques etc. I haven't knit a pair yet but looking at socks like Theresa's are very inspiring. I just love her wonderful idena's Bambino ull socks! They look fantastic! Friday pm I made some lavender bags and pillows for my yarn stash. I didn't use muslin after all but some fun oriental designed fat quarters that I had from EQuilter. I used to be in their Batik and Oriental fat quarter clubs. I'll try and scan some swatches of the fabric later. The whole craft room now smells of lavender! I won't be able to knit on the plane - which I have no problem with BTW - but am still deciding which knitting project to take with me on the coach to the airport. There is a garter stitch scarf that I'm making for Andy but the wool is a real PIA, not as bad as Isis but still difficult. It's a DK type weight with big tufts of wool ever few inches and it's those tufts that make it hard to knit. Andy said he liked the yarn but I'm not so sure he'll like the finished product. I had wondered about a pair of mittens from Regia yarn but most of the patterns I've seen require dp needles which would be too fiddly for the coach I think. I'll only be using circular needles - 1. because of the lack of room. 2. Because I prefer them to straights. I could knit some socks on circs but since socks are new to me it might be a bit complex. Today I'm going to make a couple of skirts to take with me to NYC - one from some of the Sanna Silks velvet and one from some black fabric that I bought in San Francisco in November for .99c a yard. The whole skirt will be less than $1.99 to make! I have started sewing one of Andy's shirts but it's so complicated that I'm taking a break from it today. This will be the fourth shirt I've made him but they give me such a headache! It's the collars, they're really fiddly. I don't make anything with collars for myself! :-) Wednesday, March 13, 2002
I'm so psyched! Firstly, because Beth of Homemade Slice of Chaos likes my scarf, crappy scan and all, and secondly, because I've been offered a six month contract! Yay! Holidays and sick leave for six months! Now I can afford to have an all out blowout in NYC - watch out fabric, bead and yarn stores! - and pay more towards the household bills. Gosh, I might even get a pension! Still knackered and a bit sniffly - disturbing all that dust has set off my allergies - but I don't think I'm feeling as bad as Ms. Dangerous Chunky. Send her some virtual flowers.  I'm knackered* after all that housework! So I've decided to spend this afternoon watching tv and working on the Colinette Isis scarf in Jewel. I've scanned it in for you to see but it's shown up a lot darker than I'd have liked. One day we'll have a cool digital camera...one day.......... I've using a circular needle because I find that they're a lot easier to knit with, plus you don't accidentally poke the person or cat sat beside you. My first subscriber copy of FiberArts magazine today and it's their Wearables issue! I love wearable art but what does it mean to be a wearable artist? I suppose that you're a wearable artist if what you create is perceived as art that you can wear. But so many people put themselves down either by not thinking that their creations count as art or by believing you need a degree in order to be classified as an artist. I think that if you love what you've made it is your own piece of art. After all even an unmade bed was called art! If you are interested in wearable art you may like to check out Belle Armoire magazine or the Art2Wear email list * In case you're wondering, "knackered" means exhausted or worn out. Comes from the old expression "Going to the knackers yard" which is where tired old horses went..........It wasn't a good place to go if you get my drift.
Blogger is working again so here's yesterday's entry which I had to post in my navigation bar instead. 12.03.02 Looks like Blogger's down so I can't post today. Haven't done any crafts today - too busy with housework as my Mum is visiting tomorrow. And I also seem to be having email probs so if you're currently waiting on a reply it won't be until Wednesday sorry Tuesday, March 12, 2002
I'm off for the next two weeks! Yay! My boss has already phoned me this morning so it's nice to know that they can't do without me completely! Supposedly I'm going to get a lot of tidying, sewing, knitting and general preparing for our vacation done this week. Whether that'll all happen remains to be seen! People actually read this? I've had two emails over the weekend from people who've read this blog - one from Anita Rowland pointing out a bad typo (fortunately I'd already seen that I'd mis-spelt muslin and had edited the blog) but I always appreciate a heads-up, and one from Spinning Ginn asking about my Colinette hat. She has some beautiful knits on her site, be sure to check it out. I really like her chunky chenille scarf. Anyway if you read this blog feel free to drop me a line at either the editor email or my new one marieATscifiville.com Remember to replace the AT with an @ Sorry for the spambusting measures but there's only so many "buy millions of email addys so that you can piss people off" type emails that I can stand. NYC countdown - 7 days to go!!!! Sort of Sci-Fi but not - I've become a regular reader of Wil Wheaton.net. I would have laughed at this concept previously because I found his TNG character rather irritating. But his blog is one of the best out there. Go check out his site and leave all your preconceptions behind or, if you're still not convinced read this article I don't know what it is exactly with blogs, why we get so hooked on them - perhaps it's part voyeurism, partly living someone else's life but mostly I think it's because we all love to be part of a bigger community. I don't know many crafters near me so it's nice to go online and see what others all over the world are up to. BTW (By The Way) although I've found plenty of knitting blogs I haven't found any other jewellery making blogs and only a couple of sewing ones. If you know of any or have one that I should check out let me know. I'll be putting the Cool Crafty Links page up later this week and could do with a heads up on any new blogs etc. Monday, March 11, 2002
I'm off for the next two weeks! Yay! My boss has already phoned me this morning so it's nice to know that they can't do without me completely! Supposedly I'm going to get a lot of tidying, sewing, knitting and general preparing for our vacation done this week. Whether that'll all happen remains to be seen! People actually read this? I've had two emails over the weekend from people who've read this blog - one from Anita Rowland pointing out a bad typo (fortunately I'd already seen that I'd mis-spelt muslin and had edited the blog) but I always appreciate a heads-up, and one from Spinning Ginn asking about my Colinette Isis hat. She has some beautiful knits on her site, be sure to check it out. I really like her chunky chenille scarf. Anyway if you read this blog feel free to drop me a line at either the editor email or my new one marieATscifiville.com Remember to replace the AT with an @ Sorry for the spambusting measures but there's only so many "buy millions of email addys so that you can piss people off" type emails that I can stand. NYC countdown - 7 days to go!!!! Sort of Sci-Fi but not - I've become a regular reader of Wil Wheaton.net. I would have laughed at this concept previously because I found his TNG character rather irritating. But his blog is one of the best out there. Go check out his site and leave all your preconceptions behind or, if you're still not convinced read this article I don't know what it is exactly with blogs, why we get so hooked on them - perhaps it's part voyeurism, partly living someone else's life but mostly I think it's because we all love to be part of a bigger community. I don't know many crafters near me so it's nice to go online and see what others all over the world are up to. BTW (By The Way) although I've found plenty of knitting blogs I haven't found any other jewellery making blogs and only a couple of sewing ones. If you know of any or have one that I should check out let me know. I'll be putting the Cool Crafty Links page up later this week and could do with a heads up on any new blogs etc. Sunday, March 10, 2002
Oh my God! I think I've got my sewing muse back! I was looking through Vogue yesterday at the folkey look that's back in - my actual all year 'round look - and was thinking about the drawstring tops that I love so much. I have several patterns to make these however, after a nightmare of a Burda pattern where I ended up making a gi-normous painters smock of a top I haven't touched them. Now my head is full of dragon fly stenciled creations. I have a great stencil from Diane Ericson called Bugs In Flight that I bought from Purrfection last year and still haven't used. I'll have to get at least one of Andy's shirts done before I can tackle this but I'm actually feeling excited about sewing for the first time in ages!
Save Your Stash From Bitey Bugs With Lavender Bags Finally got around to buying some lavender! My local healthfood store did me a generous deal and I now have enough until the summer when I can harvest flowers from my own plants. Can't be bothered buying extra muslin for the bags so I'll be thrifty and use what I have. I can always tie a fancy braid around the tops to liven them up. I just had a flash back to when my mum made lavender bags for my primary school's summer fete. She spent ages making tons of them and spent a lot of money on the lavender only to find that the school sold them for 10p each! Ah well it all went to a good cause but it just goes to show how much handmade goods are devalued.
I'm not knitting any more hats in the near future. I finished a Colinette Cloche hat in "Lapis" Isis yesterday and it's too big. I can't unravel it because of the annoying nature of the yarn - it's a viscose chenille and is very difficult to work. If I frog it the fibre will be bald. I was wondering about turning it into a cushion or something but since it's a bell shape that would look pretty weird. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know. I'll probably give it to a friend or something. Current active WIP is a seed stitch scarf in Colinette Isis (why, oh why did I buy so much of this yarn before actually knitting with it?!) in the Jewel colourway. Hard to knit but looks like a Monet painting come to life. I'm determined to press ahead with this one just to get it over with. It will be a joy to wear though, it's just beautiful. I bought some Rowan Denim today to make a knitted cotton bag for the summer. Now this yarn shrinks and fades with washing so I may have to make it slightly larger than I want. I bought two balls of black, one of mid blue and one of navy. I had wanted to make a brighter bag but the store I bought it from doesn't have a very big selection. I may just have to look out for some cool hand painted cotton while in NYC - not long to go now! - or have a look at Colinette again. Less than two weeks now until we go to NYC. I can't wait! I'm hoping to meet up with some NYC knitters while I'm there and I'll certainly be checking out as many fabric, yarn and bead stores as I can. Just have to stay within my budget! :-) Tuesday, March 05, 2002
I'm so excited! Andy is in London at the mo and just rang me from the craft mags section of Oxford St Borders. He picked up Interweave Knits, Vogue Knitting International and Jewelry Crafts for me. I can't wait to get them!!!!! It's a shame that we don't have better craft magazines in the UK. It's especially sad that there is no UK based handknitting magazine - I actually had to buy a copy of Woman's Weekly some weeks ago because it had a knitting pattern that I wanted. Woman's Weekly! The horror! That's not my kind of mag at all. Anyway enough of other mags - I just remembered that the latest issue of Sew News arrived for me today and I haven't read it yet. I also need to make dinner and if you ever read my very first post you'll see that I can be distracted enough to leave dinner until late. Can't be doing that! Sunday, March 03, 2002
Yesterday I visited Undy Yarns in Magor, Monmouthshire. It was the first time I'd ever been there and because it primarily caters to machine knitters I wasn't too sure to expect. This is not the place to go if you're not intending to buy in bulk because aside from a small selection of balls it sells cones of yarn. The prices are excellent - £7.95 for 400g 100% shetland wool, £10.95 for a 400g cone of a wool/cotton chenille blend - they say that 400g will knit up to one 40" garment. I bought four cones of what I think is an acrylic chenille 1350g in total for £16.20 and a pair of 6mm circular needles. I don't normally use acrylics but thought it would make some scarves or something. Although I did buy some yarn I was disappointed that the selection of non-human made fibres was rather limited and didn't have much variety in colours. They were also only in very fine guages like 4ply while the acrylics were more varied. This could have been because the regular store owner was at a show yesterday so she could have taken the more interesting stock with her. If you like working with acrylics there's a massive selection and prices are very cheap. Have you looked at your stash lately? I know I'm not alone in having a sizable stash and I have three stashes - yarn stash, fabric stash and bead stash. The bead is the smallest but only in that it takes up less space and the fabric is the biggest. It wasn't until I became a knitter that I considered that these stashes had to be protected from various little beasties that like to munch on them. Thankfully the beads are safe from them but the fiber isn't. I'm planning on making some little muslin bags filled with lavender, cedar and rosemary. I'm going to buy some patterned muslin, the type that's used for curtains to make the bags. I've read that you can buy cedar chips from pet supermarkets as they're used to line the cages of small animals like hamsters. I normally have both rosemary and lavender in my garden but didn't get around to harvesting any last year. Dried rosemary from the herb section of a supermarket will be fine but I'm still checking for lavender sources. I'll probably buy some from here since they seem to be one of the only places where you can purchase bags of dried lavender. Sure you can buy ready made bags to scent your stash but where's the fun in that?! Whilst looking for the lavender I came across this page that has alternatives to using chemical cleaning fluids around the house. It's part of a site for people who feel that exposure to insecticides has left them sensitive to other chemicals. These alternatives would be a lot cheaper than buying regular cleaning fluids and probably safer for the environment too. Saturday, March 02, 2002
Thought I'd better post that last bit before the day was actually over! The April issue of Bead and Button magazine came in the post today. Wow! this issue is full of projects that I want to make! There's the Frilly Foliage bracelet on p48 that would be very cool make in green with blues - would match with my favorite earrings and necklace. Peyote triple-tube bracelet on p54. This is a sort of watch band style bracelet with a donut in the middle. Doesn't look too hard either which is always a good sign! Square stitched beaded humingbird on p58! I have a copy of Jewelry Craft magazine from last October which has a brick stitch humingbird in it but that one is flat. I'm not sure how long the 3D one would take, it looks very involved. I'll probably be too impatient to try it! Frame pearls and crystals in a square stitch bracelet on p56. This looks very unusual in fact one of the variations pictured in the mag reminds me of a lizard. I finished Chicknits' H2O hat today but I'm not too sure about it. Truth be told I wear larger fabric hats so it's probably not really me. I'll see how it goes but I may frog it to become part of the Toscana jumper from the Fall issue of Interweave Knits Friday, March 01, 2002
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