Fried Egg Tote Bag

I knit this tank top in 2010. When I finished it and put it on I saw that the variegated yarn had pooled color into "nice" uneven fried egg splotches in the most awkward place. It was the same on the back so I could not wear it backwards.

A friend suggested I convert it into a bag. Once I refolded the tank, the armholes became handles!

The tank languished for many years. However, yesterday, I decided to dig into the sewing UFO (Un-Finished Objects) stack and work my way through it. I finished 6 things including the bag!

This is the lining, fully interfaced. I laid the knit tank on top of the fabric and rough cut the shape.

I also added a pocket with some fabric that reminded me of the first garment I made for myself back in 9th grade. Yes, I made a wrap skirt with fabric in shades of brown with clusters of mushrooms all over. For kicks I searched for "1980's wrap skirt patterns" and found the exact same one on Etsy here. My teacher asked me twice if I was sure about the fabric choice. Of course I was! I wish I still had the skirt because it must have been most hilarious.

Once I had the body sewn and the corners tucked to make a flat bottom I had to clip and fold the lining into the handles one edge at a time.

Then sew each one after pinning before moving onto the next edge.

I did have to patch the top of the handle as I didn't cut the lining long enough to go over the shoulder/handle. You can barely see it.

Corner button that I think adds a nice detail to the bag.

Finished bag. I love it!

Sometimes its good not to think to much or measure to much about a project. Just wacking out fabric shapes is not my normal way of sewing. This on-the-go method is freeing and a UFO got crossed off the list.

Backstrap Complimentary Pick Up part 2

A quick post to share a band I just finished weaving on the backstrap using complimentary pick-up.

I had a lot of trouble keeping the yarns in the correct pick-up order on the last band. See this post. I finally looked at Laverne Waddington's book Complimentary-Warp Pick-Up to see if I was missing a step. Sure enough, I was not using two swords to hold the pick-up cross. That is the magic step that keeps the yarns in order. I hardly made any errors on this band after faithfully using this technique.

Close up of the band. I wanted to do another 9 thread motif from her book and this mirror image hook was it.

This is the finished band. I'm quite pleased with how easy it was to weave (using the two swords).

These are the two bands with same color yarns in different placement. I plan to use them as the handles of a tote bag. Yes, I'm using the one with all the errors in it because I want to remind myself of the difficulty I had weaving it and remember not to repeat the mistake.

Done and Done!

See first post on this subject here.

While I'd much rather be writing about my SUPER AWESOME backstrap weaving workshop last week I need to finish my Little Mermaid story. I'll get back to the workshop next post.

The skirts were delivered before I left town Friday before last. I put everything into a big black trashbag and dropped it off backstage. It was a huge relief to get them out of my house.

This is what was in the bag! Seven sparkly, scaly skirts.

Here are four of the Mer-sisters. I think they are very happy with their skirts.

Onto the bandeau tops. This is the sparkly fabric. Nylon netting with iron-on sequins.

I cut all 7 in short order. The little white tabs are plastic boning so the side seams did not collapse.

I sewed the seams using a small zigzag stitch to bag out the top. The fabric was really sticky to sew though. I had to change the needle twice as the glue from the sequins gummed up the needle badly.

This is what the inside looks like after some quick and dirty sewing. I did use a basting stitch to gather the center front before sewing down the ribbon tie. The gathering under the boning was done on the machine.

I will deliver them on hangers tomorrow morning.

Done is beautiful...as we use to say in the costume shop at college.

The GG Robe

I made a robe for my son Ian a few years ago. That story is told in this blog post. He wore that robe all the time. It kept him warm and toasty for longer than a kid's robe is usually able to. Well, it was finally time to make a new robe.

I took Ian to the fabric shop. We walked down the cotton aisle and the flannel aisle. He picked out 3 cotton fabrics and 1 cotton flannel and said he couldn't decide which was his favorite. Then he asked me to guess which one he wanted. I said "all four?" He said "YES!"

This is what he picked out. Flannel pizza and smooth cotton for the rest.

I know! Crazy right?!? I asked him if he was sure he wanted all of them in the same robe. "Definitely!" He told me exactly where each piece of fabric was to go.

He didn't want a tie so he picked out 2 buttons from my stash. Both are vintage. He liked the metal button because it had military stuff on it and the leather button looked like wood.

Putting all these pieces together...this is the result...I especially like the attitude!

Front view. The hard alcohol print is for dad to enjoy. And the money print gave him buying power.

Back view. He especially liked the pixelated bomb in the print.

 Inside view. The flannel is warm, cozy and yummy.

He calls it his Gangster Gaming robe. AKA, The GG Robe. Everything you need to have a good time...food, drink, games and money. Everything an 11-year old desires.

Side note: I did knit his house socks too. I wrote about his dad's pair of socks in this post. Same yarn, same pattern. I made myself a pair, too. Then I got over my sock craze.

Stuff I Did While On Vacation

At first I thought I wasn't doing much crafting. No real focus. Then I catalogued what I did during the week of Thanksgiving. Turns out I was really productive.

1. Made a new bath robe for my son. Super funny combination of fabrics.

2. Crocheted a small coin purse inspired by something I saw on Pintrist.

3. With help from my friend, Kathleen, I dyed eight 4 oz. bundles of fiber in the crock pot.

4. She also helped me get started on my first backstrap weaving. I've been wanting to do something with a backstrap for a year now. I was so obsessed that I finished the tape the next day.

5. Dyed silk samples for a tie dye class I taught the next week.

6. I demoed how to spin a fun curly textured yarn from mohair locks with my Saturday Spinners.

All of these things will appear in more detailed posts in the coming weeks. Random photo: the big guy below is a resident at a spinner friend's home. He is just about as wide as the sidewalk.

Studio 49 Retreat 2017 Challenge part 5 Finale

The final end to this Polwarth fiber challenge. Lots of pictures below...

Two scarf ends that needed sewing together to make a loop.

I wanted to have a flat seamless invisible join instead of an overlapped hem. I chose to cross opposite ends and loop back to the same side.

Detail of crossed warp end with needle weaving end into fabric.

 Almost done.

Ends all crossed and ready to pull each loop closed flush against the fabric.

The join turned out a little more wonky than I thought it would. It's not as invisible as intended. Instead of pulling two ends in opposite directions at the same time, I should have pulled one side flush then the other side separately. Ah well, lesson learned.

I wasn't confident the crossed ends would be secure, so very lightly, I needle felted the seam.

Then I got to the fun part...beading the fringe.

I chose three tubes of the larger glass beads, put 3 little beads on each strand and started twisting. A bigger glass bead finished off the ends.

After hand washing and air dry, WALLAH! A finished challenge project.

I had lots of little cut ends left over from the warp. I couldn't bear to throw them away. The solution: a pom pom for a keepsake. Which I finished with beads as well.

Finally, I leave today to show off these items at the Studio 49 Retreat.

Studio 49 Retreat 2017 Challenge part 4

I finally wound my hand spun Polwarth yarn onto my 10" Cricket loom and started weaving. Post for part 3 here.

Scarf in progress on the loom. The thick grey line is the BFL hand spun yarn for the weft fringe.

A close up before I took it off the loom. Nice pleasing Fibonacci color sequence eh?!?

Off the loom ready for finishing and beading. I used every bit of the white Polwarth hand spun I had (part 2 post here).

My selection of glass beads to play with.

It only took me a week to weave the scarf. Duh! Now I just need to make time to do all the finishing. Sew in the yarn tails, connect the ends in to a loop, twist and add beads to the weft fringe, and finally wet finish. Doesn't seem like much but I know it'll take me longer than I think.

Lastly, here is a picture from my sister of the yarn I spun for her (see this part 1 post) and the beads she plans to knit into her piece. I can hardly wait to see her finished cowl.

The retreat is next weekend. Gotta finish!

Studio 49 Retreat 2017 Challenge part 3

I changed my mind.

It happens often when thinking about a project. I start with one idea and it morphs into something else until finally I start. Then it morphs again. This is what's going on now with my Retreat challenge project.

The hand spun yarn was going to be a hat. I made a gauge swatch to determine what size knitting needle I wanted to use. I started with size 7 at the bottom of the swatch. That's what the pattern calls for. The middle section is size 6 needle and then the top is size 5. I placed the swatch on a stitch holder because I didn't want to cut the yarn. I intend to use every bit.

The change of plan arose when I realized that I was not enjoying knitting this yarn. I like knitting with my hand spun yarn but this one didn't feel nice or fun. I don't know why. The yarn is soft and stretchy. Lovely to hold and touch, but not to knit with apparently.

My eyes lit upon my 10" Cricket rigid heddle loom and BOOM! I had a new idea.

I am going to weave a scarf. Having limited yardage presented some challenges; 232 yards of white, 155 yards of grey. Not a lot of yarn for weaving. So I set about trying to figure out what to make with what I had. I started with the 10 dent heddle and a Fibonacci sequence in the warp. I calculated a basic scarf at 8"x72" and discovered I did not have enough yarn. I want to feature the white Polwarth with a few grey BFL stripes.

I was inspired by the Biscuits and Jam Scarf by Sarah Jackson featured in the May/June issue of Handwoven Magazine. I'm lucky enough to be a fellow guild member of Sarah's and saw the beautiful scarf in person at the SCWSG June meeting. She wove hers in cotton with beaded weft fringes. Then sewed the ends together to make a circular scarf. I really liked the weft fringe idea.

I made drafts on paper first. Then I made a yarn wrap to see if I liked how the Fibonacci sequence looked.

I drew a scarf close to 1/8" scale and made more calculations. One set with 80 ends for an 8" wide scarf and one with 70 ends. I have just enough yarn (I think/hope) to make a scarf 7" wide with a weaving length of 60". There will be a small plaid section where I put another Fibonacci sequence in the weft at one end of the scarf.

If I run out of white weft then it will be a little shorter. But that's OK since I want to sew the ends together to make a loop and wear it like a cowl anyway.

I think I'm ready to start...

Studio 49 Retreat 2017 Challenge part 2

See this post for the beginning of this story.

I have finished spinning my yarn for the Studio 49 Retreat 2017 challenge. Yay! I scaled down my vasty many oz. project idea from last year. I decided that finishing it without undue stress and last minute spinning/knitting was going to be better for my health and for my family.

So the new project idea is to spin just the original 2oz. of creamy white Polwarth and 2oz. of lovely natural grey BFL (BlueFaced Leicester) I have in my stash. I will finish two separate yarns and knit a 2-color Mosaic Sampler Hat. A new technique and a small doable project! Sort of unusual for me. But smart this time around.

My singles.

I wanted a 2 ply yarn so I needed to divide the singles into two sections to ply. I didn't want to ply from a single ball for some mysterious reason. Here is my set up. I weighed an empty bobbin then weighed the full bobbin and did some calculations to figure out what my end half bobbin should weigh so I had two close to even singles ready to ply.

The red box is my homemade shoe-box lazy kate with tension device. I made her when I first started spinning in 2003 and she is still my go-to kate. Almost there with the divided singles.

Two pairs of singles!

Plying set up.

I used my 1970's Ashford Traditional spinning wheel with the jumbo bobbin set up to ply both yarns into big skeins. I added a couple extra treadle pushes to get the tighter twist I wanted.

My two finished skeins and a close up of the lovely yarn. The grey BFL is a wee bit thicker than the Polwarth.

The yarns wet finished nicely. Both are soft and squishy. The Polwarth in particular is stretchy and the creamy white just glows. It's going to be fun to knit the hat. But first...must knit a swatch!