Purling Sprite

Finally the end of the semester!!!

We are super psyched at our house, a little run down, but pyched. School is over for the semester, yipee!!! Now we get to have 3+ months free of assignments/studying.

I took Sam to dinner to our little place-The Indian Oven. Of couse, the kids came with us but at least we didn't have to cook or wash dishes (don't get me wrong, I still have dirty dishes at home).  I am so proud of my darlin' :).

Of course, our next move, to catch up with the DA orders, then we are going away for a few days to some place calm and fun. 

In the knitting front, I wanted to start a bag but bummer me, I didn't have the needles required-a size 11 circular 24" long...bummer. But, no fear, I started another project, the little wheels on my head are always turning and I can always come up for uses for my yarn.  I really wish we had a LYS that sold Addi Turbo's. I am not too keen about traveling to Ogden or Salt Lake to get them, I would spend more on gas than on shipping charges if I ordered them from the Internet. Hmmm, maybe at the end of this month I can get them, hehehe, the end of the month is here, LOL.  We'll see what the next month brings :).

Hugs to all,
Your Loomy Knitty Friend

Bag is finished!!!

Ok, I thought this should have a subtitle too :).
My Very First Finished Needle Knit Project
Yippeee!! My Mother's Day bag for my mom is done :). Thank you Miriam for all your help. The handle came out the perfect width and length.

Here is another look of it :).

It is my first needle knitted project and I am very proud of it. It looks good-the felting helps to hide all imperfections and my uneven stitches. It is drying and once is finished, I will add a magnetic snap to it and then off to NY for my mom :). Maybe I will add some chocolates or a nice bracelet made by me (the bracelet, not the chocolate, LOL).

Beadles, the bead store, yesterday was a very cool experience. It is my first time trying out beading. It was difficult as the choices are many, but Sarah and I had lots of fun. Sarah made two really cute pendants/chokers. One with a pink Pi and the other with some green stones. Both really cute and way cool.
Me, well, I went for the easy way out and I made baby Nyah a little bracelet.

For myself, I made a Pi choker.


Next time I go, I am making some stitch markers/holders :). A girl can never have enough stitch markers, LOL.

Right now, I am starting a bag on my 30" AJAL it is an experiment and I am hoping my idea will work. If it does, we will have a new pattern in the works ;).

Looming Thoughts

Through out the day, I have been thinking about the looms and looming in general. In my profession as a loom vendor, I get asked many times "Is it easier than knitting with needles?" My usual answer: it depends on how good you are at knitting with needles. If you are a fast knitter and you know how to read patterns and create your own patters, you may find that looming is a piece of cake.

However, as I started thinking today about looming, I realized that loomers have a very difficult hobby. Unlike needle knitting, looming is unchartered territory. There are no books out there on Looming (at least not yet-March of '06 will see the first booklet of Looming). There is no Loomin' support groups out there, except online. Patterns and instructions are very minimal and if you want some good patterns, you have to pay for them, unlike knitting where you can get tons of good patterns free.

So, if we take into consideration that the Loomer will be making their own patterns or adjusting whatever pattern is out there for her/his use, I would have to say that Looming is more difficult than knitting with needles. The learning curve in Looming is shorter and a loomer can become a pro in about 3-6 months. 

Looming is an art, just like knitting with needles. Both take lots of hours of practice and froggin' and both are rewarding to the crafter.

To all the loomers out there, HOORAY for everyone. We are pioneers in a new, old craft, and one day, maybe, we will have our own section of books at our local bookstore.

Happy loomin' :)

Calm day

A slow day at home, yep, I stayed home today. No making looms for me today :), instead, have a mountain of laundry to get done and some cleaning around the house.

Later today, I am going with Sarah to a bead shop and maybe we can make something cute and girlish :).

The mail lady came and she brought great things with her. I am in awe at the awesome colors and fabulous yarns out there.

Do you see that Iceland wool, it is amazing. I love the feel of it and each strand is spun the same thickness. I love it!! I don't know what I am going to make with it yet, but each one of those skeins has a purpose for being in my stash :).

Yesterday, I got a 30" Regular Gauge AJALYeah, I know I wanted a large gauge, but Sam hasn't had any time to make it and I have ideas to try out, so I am going to try them out with a single strand of yarn in the regular gauge. I don't want to forget my ideas so I better start on something.  Hopefully, I will get the Large Gauge for Mother's Day. Then again, I also asked him to make me a yarn swift. Hmmm, poor guy.


I have been working on the bag for my mom for Mother's Day, I will post pictures of the bag later :).

Ok, so I am not completely gone for the day, LOL, I wanted to show you this beautiful Polar Bear. I have a thing for Polar Bears and wonderful Lori L. sent me the link for this one. It is needle felted. The picture is the property of www.AChildsDream.com I want this little bear. I wonder if it is difficult to make it, hmm. I am going to put it in my Wish List To Do's :).

Cool sweater

Ok, so my skill lever with needle knitting is one of a 10 year old, however, I really want to make this  Rogue Hooded Pullover.  But, for the life of me I can't put it in my cart and purchase it, it takes me directly to my paypal login screen and I can't do anything afterwards.   
Ok, after searching for an email address to mail the payment, I found it.

Yarn came, Yippeee!!

Well, after waiting for my yarn to arrive for an entire week, it finally came :). I paid for Prioirity Mail, but it was sent UPS Ground---super slooooooooow service. It doesn't matter though is here and now I can keep going with my mom's Mother's Day bag. I hope I can get it done on time. Miriam, I need your help :)!! Help!!! I am going to make eyelets for the handles and I have no idea how to do it. Can you point me in the right direction to look on the web? Is it just an yo? Or do I need to bind off a certain amount of stitches? Unchartered territory coming up.  How about a session? :).



Ok, I have to be really honest here--I AM LOVING KNITTING WITH NEEDLES. The fact that there are patterns already made makes creating things a lot easier, not to mention having lots of help around and meeting people that share the same interest.

As you may have noticed, I have been absent from a lot of the KWON groups and from the blog, well, Sam has been really busy typing away papers and junk for school. The good news, he is done with his papers. The bad news, he still has a major final on Friday :(.

Here are some pictures of my yarn-there is more of each color, but I thought just to give you a peak :).


Oh, I also ordered some Lamb's Pride for my Oregon Tote bag. I really need a diaper bag, I am tired of carrying the one they give at the hospital. It seems that everyone in Cache Valley has one and I want to look different, so that is my next bag after my Mom's present is finished.

Do any of you know where I can obtain beaded handles? I would like to have my mom's bag with beaded handles? Thanks a bunch :).

Embellish it!

Nyah is doing much better today :). Her eyes were not watery like yesterday's and her little eyes look happier. She was even cooing and playing around.  No church for us today though, we stayed home and slept :). 

Well, I know I told you all that I will be embellishing my little Pretty in Pink bag last week, but I never got around to getting it done. Tonigh though, everyone went to bed by 9:30pm, even Bryant!!! So, I sat down and played a bit with my felting needles and some bits of yarn left over from bigger projects.  I have a thing for butterflies and dragonflies and this time, I chose to go with the butterfly. I took the idea from one of Nyah's little outfits (one of my fav outfits).  I was thinking of adding the flowers, but, I thought that less was better in this occasion.  The little bag is small, but it will be great for a date night. 


I did find out that when looming an item that is going to be felted, it is best to purl through out, at least I like the look of it better. Can you see the vertical lines of the stitches in the bag? Well, they don't go away even if you run the washing machine for five cycles. However, if you purl it, they completely dissapear :). So, from now on, I am purling all my felted items, or I am turning them inside out before felting.

I sat down today with a huge project in mind: a baby sweater for Nyah on my loom. I got my fine gauge baby loom and my KnitPicks Merino wool in Hollyberry color. I loomed and loomed until it was time to increase for the sleeves, then I realized my stupidity, I did not account for the sleeves when I chose my loom. The loom only has 60 pins and I need at least 90 for the whole thing. I was sooo bummed out. It was looking really cute. Needless to say, the frog came to visit my house and was happily croaking, rib it-rib it.  But, before I pulled it apart, I took down the stitches per inch and rows per inch.  Here they are if you are interested: Fine Gauge Loom, Flat Stitch--12 stitches in 2", 19 rows in 2" 

Oh, the update on my loomed basket, the body is finished. I just need to do the bottom. I refuse to loom/cork an I-cord that is about 10 feet long, so I ordered an Embellish Knit from Joanns and used their 50% off coupon. Hopefully it arrives before next century. I am still waiting for my Patons Merino Wool to finish my Mother's Day present for my mom.  I am crossing my fingers that it will arrive this week.

Til later ;)

Aches and Pain--Just gettin' Old

Getting old is no fun I tell you, we think that as we get older we get to do all this cool stuff, well, we forget that as we get older, our bodies do not act the same way they did as when we were 10, especially after having a babe.  My back has been killing me!! I can't even bend down to pick up a binky without having pain shot up my back--tell ya what, it is worst than labor pains! At least with those, I know what's going on. Fortunately, there are qualified people that can help silly geese like me get back to "normal shape". I am going to the quack on Monday, hopefully he will be able to set my back and maybe the headaches, and my back pain will be gone.

Also, my little angel, Nyah has a terrible cold. Her eyes are all puffy and her nose is constantly running, and she has an awful cough. It makes for a very unhappy house. We are all worried sick that she may get RSV or pneomonia.  No church for us tomorrow-at least for Nyah and me. 

In the knitting front, things are rolling wonderfully. My baby sweater is coming along and we are one week away from finishing it. Miriam is an awesome teacher and the class is lots of fun. I am kind of sad to see the class come to an end. I hope we can all see each other every month at Knitter's nite.  Or, maybe we will all get together for the Felted Bag class :).


Miriam I did!! I remembered, I hope it did it correctly, does it look correct? I went home and after cuddling Nyah for a bit, I sat down and did the homework. I hope I did it alright. It looks like the other side, now I am ready to keep going, but I don't understand the instructions :(. I want to finish this puppy, I am ready to start another one :).


I have been looming a bit too, I am making a basket on my loom. I have the body done, I just need to get the bottom of it done. I am taking my own sweet time though, I am trying to figure out how to do the bottom.

Options:

• Making a square bottom, attaching it, then cut the excess after felting--Thank you Becky :)
• Make a long I-cord and make a circle with it--Problem-how to attach it all together, so it stays as a circle?
• Try to make a circle out of loomed wedges
• Try to make an actual circle by increasing then decreasing on the loom

Hmmm, decisions.

Here is a pic of my two little angels from a few days ago :). Bryant loves to have pictures taken with his little sister.

Loom Doom

Looms, looms, looms I am surround by looms. That is all I see all day long, even in my dreams I am putting looms together.  Aahh, somebody help me, now I see why I have resorted to knitting with needles. I am trying to get away from the looms, but my brain thinks "oh, I can do this on a loom too, let's do it on a loom next" the betrayal is just too much. Even my own subconscious betrays me.

Finals week is a nightmare around here. Sam is super booked with school work and the silly demands from school. And me, I am just drowing in loooooooooms, thus the title Loom Doom :).

In the knitting area, well, I am still waiting for my pretty in pink to dry up, then I am going to embellish it with some needle felting. I can't wait. Maybe tonight, or tomorrow, or someday :(. At least Saturday is approaching and I will get 2 hours of knitting time uninterrupted.

Till later loomies :),

I

Ok, So I am not completely gone for the day :), thanks to Miriam, I went and spent some more mula in getting another pattern that is absolutely a MUST have for a crafter, the Nantasket Basket. Now, I have to get some of the yarn for it. Now, I know what I wrote before, but I HAVE to make something similar on my loom--Yeah, see the betrayal again, LOL. What do ya all think? I am thinking, make a tube for the body, then the bottom make an I-cord with a corker or a thumb loom and then make the bottom of it (bottom is a circle). Of course, the handle on a corker/thumb loom. I really like this basket for my yarn, it is cute. Thank you Miriam ;).

Bye, bye now ;). Now, I am in a happy mode.

DRATTTSSSSS!!!

The felting is done, now time to wait. I have one piece of advice, use a zippered pillow case AND secure it with a safety pin.  My bags got out, dratss! My pretty in pink, ended up being a lavender rather than pink. Oh, well.

Here is a pic, Pretty in Pink still looks purty :).

My little one got her 4 month shots today, she is feeling miserable. Her little chubby legs are sore, she can't even kick without tears coming out. It was an afternoon of cuddling her in bed with me. 

The storm took my phone line away, I was desperate trying to reach Sam to find out if Bryant had made it back safely.  He did :). Computers are great. I was able to send him a text message to his cell phone.   

Till another time my loomy friends :)

Shhh, can you hear it?

Yeah, that is the sound of a quiet house. Hear the buzz of the refrigerator, the tic toc of the clock, the quiet humming of the dishwasher--it is weird to be able to hear those small noises again. I am home alone with Nyah, Bryant went with his Uncle Spencer down to Salt Lake to pick up our pegs :). The tranquility is amazing, LOL. I sure miss him though, however, it is nice to have the house all for myself, listen to the radio without it changing automatically to a dance CD and my living room transforming to Club Axis instanteneously.

I have been looming away, trying out different yarns and felting them to get measurements.  All my yarn stash from Knit Picks arrived yesterday and I have a little bit of every color to try out. I can tell you this much so far, the Merino wool is superb to the touch and it doesn't make me itch--I can see a sweater for me in the near future. The skeins though are really small, so if you are planning on buying this type of yarn (either the Merino or the Wool of the Andes) plan on getting a lot of skeins for your project. I used 2 skeins in a small bag (14" high x 10 wide-prefelted) so I will need to get at least 10 skeins for a big bag. 

My current project-felting as I type. My inspiration came from my new notebook. The little faerie reminds me of my lovely Nyah.


Ohhh, the mail came today and it brought wonderful tidings. My Oregon Tote Bag & My Little Companion Patterns arrived.  I have been reading so many bag patterns lately that I am starting to predict the way they are made. Basically the same method, garter the bottom, pick up stitches and knit on the round, place stitch markers, decrease or slip stitches by the markers, etc. It seems the same thing on all of them. I just need to learn now how to make some different handles. I have the i-cords down, but I want to make other types of handles. Like Miriam's orange bag.


I am felting some stuff right now, so I better jet and check. I will post more pictures later today.