Arts and Dannas

February 11, 2008

My cousin Cait is getting married in July, and i am her maid of honor! We talked about it a bit and we're both pretty clueless as this is our first times being involved in a wedding since the age of 4 or 5.
I have decided that if she wants, I will crochet her a nice shawl or wrap to wear in the evening when it starts getting a bit cooler out. (but it will be July when she gets married so it still might be 90 degrees out!) I need to find a good pattern. Nothing too heavy or old ladyish (read: intricate). I'm not dissing anyone here, it's just that she's 23 and it's a very simple wedding, and a simple dress, plus if it's a simple pattern I wont have to stress about it as much either. And you know, it still might be too warm for something heavy.
I found something that might work out here but i don't know if i want a shawl so much as a wrap. I guess i'm just thinking along the lines of a gigantic scarf, sort of like this:

I think this one calls for denim silk? I don't know but it's sort of weird. It might work in a fingering weight or lighter white alpaca or something... I've still got a few months to think about it and see if she would actually want a wrap to wear for her big day if it does get chilly. If anyone has any good ideas, please send them my way!!

February 4, 2008

As promised, here is the plastic fork hackle I was talking about.



Seriously now, is that not the most cheapest thing you have ever seen? And you can see that the tape isn't even duct tape- it's some off brand that was half the price. The forks too, now that I think about it. And even all that llama fiber sitting there was free. It works just fine for very small amounts of fiber, and I have to be really careful when pulling it off. It's working fine for my needs as I am not a voracious spinner yet and I've only washed a handful of that llama anyway to work with, so it's not like I need something heavy-duty to work with right now. And besides, those hand carders I ordered back in November should be here soon, right? Right??
Anyway, this would be a good cheap alternative if someone was just interested in mixing small amounts of fiber together.

It's attached to my coffee table which, in retrospect, is not a good place for it at all. I can't put my feet up anymore when I'm sitting on that side of the couch. And I like sitting at that end of the couch... haha oh well! Craftiness before comfort, eh?

And of course I didn't come up on this one all on my own, I saw this page: This Land! >> DIY Hackle V. 3.0
So much wonderful things they have going over there! Check it out!

February 1, 2008


Roving being dyed. What a lovely ghetto setup! Its pretty much all merino combed top, but that little green in the front is SOY! yes! happy soy! I found it languishing in a sale bin at the Little Red Schoolhouse (which was the first time I had been there in oh ten years...) It's soft and silky and happy! And, it smells like soybeans when wet. Go figure right?






And this, my friends, is some lovely baby llama that I got from a friend in a big lawn bag. I washed it and now am spinning it with a little bit of dyed by me pink merino.

And for next time, I'll show you my ghetto (are we seeing a trend?) hackle made of plastic forks. Also, the results of the roving in the first pic.