LOOMing Possibilities

My Mother would be mortified over what I'm about to do. I'm about to show you pictures of a room that finally knows what it wants to be and is a bit of a mess. These are the before pictures and I see endless possibilities and potential for this space.

This, my dear readers, is a spare bedroom that never had a purpose. At one time, my father stayed in this room for a few months. Another time, it served a roommate well. It was the "harp" room for several months. Now... now... it's going to be my fiber sanctuary. Here are some before shots.


Note the bookshelf in the next picture. My Dad made it out of scrap and it's been in my bedroom since 1994.


This is my stash on top of a box that my brother made to contain a wedding gift. I figured it made an ok surface for plastic bins.


I plan to paint the room, get some new furniture and make it a really special place. I can't wait to blog about the "after", but it might be a while. My Dad is helping and I am grateful to him.

Did you notice something LOOMing in all of these pictures?


Yes! It is my new loom. Her name is MacSally and she is a Macomber 24" wide, 10 treadle, 8 harness loom. She is also affectionately known as a "baby mac". How is it that I came upon this wonder?

Sam and I took a rigid heddle weaving class at TYF and had a wonderfully good time. I've been keeping my eyes open for a rigid heddle loom only to purchase it if it was a "really good deal". Otherwise, I knew I'd have to wait to buy a new one. Buying a new rigid heddle loom is not a bad thing, they are a good price and they hold their value. I was wandering around craigslist one night and happened to come across a posting for my new girl. I don't know a thing about floor looms. Was it a good deal? Could I learn to weave on it? Did I want to weave? All signs pointed to "yes" with the help of my fiber-enabling friend Debi. This was the deal of the century and I just couldn't pass it up.

So, the morning of New Year's Day (1/1/10, can you believe it?) came and Debi and I went to go meet Dana, the weaver from Carefree. It was love at first sight. Here's a photo of Debi, Dana and MacSally.


Debi was kind enough to lend me a couple of books and a video to get me familiar with my loom. She also helped me set the treadles up, which almost drove us both to drink. As much as I wanted to go home and start-a-weavin' - we had to get to TYF for the annual potluck.

Here are some fabulous photos of the potluck:
Yes, we were bad and got kicked outside. Just kidding! The shop was so full and the day was so lovely that it was a great opportunity to be outside!

Debi weaving a scarf on her cricket.

The shop was packed ;)

Look at all the food!


Such a blast! TYF is the greatest LYS (local yarn store) and all of us are so grateful to them for hosting such a wonderful day.

Now, for some FPs (finished projects):
This is Sam's Cabled Bella Mitten. They were a gift for someone. Don't ask me about the pattern, I think she found it on ravlery.


I finished spinning up my BFL ballerina-colorway by Dicentra Designs



I finished knitting a hat for everyone's favorite Argentine, Mauro, and managed to give it to him ON Christmas. The expression on his face is priceless. That's his new viola in the background.


I also managed to finish knitting up a town & country shawl (pattern at TYF) out of my handspun with some novelty yarns. My Mom was in the hospital and I gave it to her there on New Year's Eve, which she appreciated. Thanks to my model, Ben, for "showing" it.



It's been a good turn of the year. I hope to do more blogging, get some more projects done and complete my fiber sanctuary. Here's to 2010!

What a weekend!

I started my weekend off with a bang. On Friday, I went and did something that I hadn't done since April. I used to do it every 5 weeks, but since we've had limited funds I had to cut back. I cut my hair! There's a picture of my short hair later, but here's how much I cut off:


That was Friday between work and TYF. Off I went to TYF to do some more weaving. Sam and I took a rigid heddle loom weaving class with Terry. We finished with the warping and I was excited to finally start weaving. There is a lot of prep work involved in weaving, which definitely pays off. So what am I weaving?

I spun some thick and thin singles inspired by "Expressions in Spinning"; this is a group that meets at TYF once a month and draws inspiration from various themes. Last month's was poetry and Shel Silverstein was selected. I chose primary colors because his poetry reminds me of elementary school. Additionally, I had a lot of energy - so I decided to do lumpy bumpy coils around a core commercial yarn. Here are some pictures of my spinning:



Back to weaving. Terry suggested that I incorporate my coils into my weaving. What a great idea! Here are some pictures of the scarf that I am working on.




I love weaving and hope I get to do more of it. Sam and I have come up with a list of things that we can make. We have much love for the fiber.

Friday night, I began the latke venture and didn't finish until 1:15pm the next day (yes, that's Saturday). The really sad thing about my 7+ hours of latke cooking is that I didn't even make them from scratch, I used a mix. People loved them. Even a Jewish buddy said they didn't turn out so badly. I made over a 100 for a Chismakkah party that my gaybors hosted on Saturday evening.



I managed to get to TYF for a couple hours in the afternoon and ran into Chris. I love this picture of Chris and Sam knitting on the big sock.


I ran over to Betsy and Jeff's for their house warming party. They have such a cute home. I am so happy for them. They deserve only the best.

Geared up for the Chrismakkah party and headed across the street to my favorite gaybors' (Jeff & Brent).


Max and Gaby helped to host and they were the sweetest little elves ever.


They had the best tree ever! Jeff found a vintage 1950's foil tree (with a color wheel) at a garage sale a few years ago. This thing is awesome! They decorated with a pink feather boa, pink and black ornaments and to top it off (yes seriously) a vintage Cher doll from the 70's. Jeff even custom made her outfit.



So many faces that I hadn't see in a while. It was nice to celebrate with everyone! It was a huge success, we probably had about 50 attendees and my latkes got gobbled up ;)






Sunday, we went over to my BIL & SIL's (bro-in-law & sis-in-law) for a Hanukkah dinner. Ben made a beautiful brisket. I should have pulled out the camera and taken pictures. He bought a 12-pound brisket and 10 people managed to polish most of it off. We must have liked it or something...

I saw NEW MOON for the first time with my SIL and her mother and sister. It's silly to say, but "I loved it!"

What else? Oh, yeah! I'm working on Sam's Hanukkah present and both Ben and I are extremely excited about the way it's spinning up. I'm spinning up some BFL dyed by Dicentra Designs. I am in love! The color way is called ballerina, but we can't really figure out why. This fiber was definitely intended for Sam (the former ballerina) - it's KISMET! I'm going to 3-ply it. Woohoo!

What I'm Up To

I have been itching to capture some of the knitting and spinning I've been working on. Since I recently got a brand new camera (yay for SLRs!), I felt compelled to blog.

Spinning up a storm am I...

I recently spun up some Pagewood Farms hand dyed BFL that I bought from Tempe Yarn & Fiber. I did a traditional 3-ply and I'm gaga about how it turned out.


I decided to buy several novelty yarns and splice them (thanks to the dynamic and brave Terry at TYF) to knit them with my lovely turquoise BFL. Here is the ball of spliced novelty yarns by itself and alongside it's future neighbor.



Then, I spun up some BFL from Laughing Rat Studios. I am lovin' the BFL. I specifically bought this colorway for Sam, since she loves the green. I navajo plied it. Some pictures:






I have also been having a ton of fun at Expressions In Spinning, which is a group at TYF. We are inspired by different themes each month.

Last month's theme was Harry Potter:


This month's theme was poetry and we chose Shel Silverstein. This reminded me of elementary school so I chose primary colors. I hand blended the colored, spun them thick and thin and then coiled/beaded them around a core.



With all this spinning, gotta make it a point to still knit.

I'm taking a class with Chris (she's my knitting super hero) at Knit Happens. Try toe-up, 2 at a time, magic loop socks... yes, seriously... on size 1 needles. These are for my DH. He chose the yarn, which I think is an unusual choice, but they are for him and he can have whatever his little heart desires.


I'm really into sock knitting. I've knit a couple pairs, but always top down. Here's a single that needs a companion.


Here's a sock that I'm working on for Sam. I prefer the 2 circular needle method...


I'm still doing a bit of baby knitting for my niece Zoey who is due in January. I can't wait to meet her. Here's a baby dress, pattern by Tora Froseth. This picture did not come out great... still learning about lighting. It's actually pink and yellow. I think it's totally appropriate for a baby named Zoey.


And, of course, where would I be without my trusted-partner-in-crime - Sammy! Here's a couple of super cute pictures of her.



... and her amazing knitting. This is a sweater folks...


SO much fun! I can't stand it. Well, gotta go knit some more.