New Beginnings

It's been a long time since I've written on this blog and I figured the beginning of 2014 was a good time to get started again. This is going to be a great year, I know it. In 2013 both of my children were married and my son moved to Georgia. We traveled to Europe and Jason received a job promotion. I continue to work at both the high school and college but fiber continues to be one of my main loves. I love to knit and weave and this year I started spinning - yarn, not on a bike.

I can't wait to improve my fiber skills and hope to master spinning fine, consistently beautiful yarn! My first project of the year is a pair of socks. My little sister is having her first baby and can't wear the socks I knit her so she needed a pair of bigger socks to fit her new "mommy" sized feet. I hope she likes them. Making a special gift for a loved one is a great way to begin 2014!

Maybe tomorrow I'll let you know my knitting goals for this year :)

A Little Like Quilting

They say quilters are a little crazy. They take perfectly good fabric and cut it up to make a different perfectly good piece of fabric. I should know, I am a quilter. There is something rewarding and comforting about creating something both useful and aesthetically pleasing. Knitting has a similar affect. We take wool from a sheep, clean it, spin it and use tiny strands of yarn to create something both useful and beautiful. Fair Isle or stranded knitting is especially tedious and time consuming. I don't know if I really like the looks of the sweater but when it is finished and blocked, I'll let you know.

Projects started

At the beginning of the summer I took a picture of all the projects I was working on. Some needed minimum work to complete like adding buttons or piecing together while others needed considerable more work and were in the beginning stages. I had a cardigan to complete, a pair of socks, an Ishbel shawl, a fair isle sweater and other random projects. Mostly, I worked on completing projects but I did start, and complete, a few so I could work on something new for my trip. Here is a picture at the beginning of summer. In a few days I hope to show a completed version of this picture. I can't wait to see it!

It might be a girl....

I found out a few days ago that one of my best friends is going to be a grandmother. I sense some knitting may be in order. Who knows, it may be a girl!

Knitting for a Friend

Okay, I know this is a crocheted blanket and I just gave it to a friend when I missed her baby shower but I like the idea of knitting for a friend. Crocheting for a friend just doesn't have the same rhythm. Isn't it crazy how you go through times and you want to make things but you feel like you don't have anyone to make them for and then when you have someone to make things for everyone ends up pregnant or celebrating something special!

Entrelac

I love learning new skills. I've been watching some videos on Craftsy and Entrelac has captured my attention and I can't wait to see where this goes....

I'm weaving - where are you going?

My husband has an interesting sense of humor. Often when I say that I'm sewing he will respond with, "so what?" Last week he topped himself and responded to my comment "I'm weaving" with "where are you going?" He was cracking himself up! Looking back, I'm sure he thought that was hilarious.