So MANY squares!

I went from 81 squares in the original design to now 169 in the chart below.

I have decided not to give this as the wedding gift it started as. First of all it'll never be done in time. Second, I'm not sure it'll get the appreciation from this young couple and finially I think I know a recipient who will appreciate it, the person who's coaster was the inspiration, my buddy's mom.
All of Franklin's squares were two color, the same two colors.  I have solid squares, two color half squares and two color three quarter squares and am using 8 colors.  I have a total of 12 different kind of squares.  Why must I make things harder?


I am working on this every chance I get. In the car as a passenger...

as a driver waiting on others...

At home watching TV...

At church before class starts...

Here this little ball of yarn, mathematically should be enough to make another square, and guess what it was!  With only a 6" tail remaining, isn't God good?

More later, got to make more squares. : )
Happy stitching!

Star Wars and Epiphany update

My friend Robbie loves Star Wars, that would be putting it mildly. He isn't obsessed though. My husband found the kit Star Wars crochet and bought that for me the end of October. Below is a picture of all the characters I completed in 2016.

I am very much looking forward to when the new book comes out in March.

Epiphany is going well. Here are the final colors. The shaded brown on the left is going to be the border.

This chart is my squares. The circled one I have to play with and see if it's going to line up correctly.

Here is a picture of two completed squares, thankfully they are the same size!

I have decided to make the 81 squares and that will give me 54" square. I can't decided how to make up the 18" or so I'm missing to get to 72". Maybe adding another color and making garter strips. We'll see.
More soon.
Keep using that super power of turning fiber into art!

An Epiphany

My epiphany moment...
I follow Franklin Habit's blog, Fridays with Franklin on the Makers Merchantile. Recently he did a series called stealth blanket. https://www.makersmercantile.com/blog/fridays-with-franklin-2016-6-16.html
I knew I wanted to do it to do filed the idea in the back of my mind.
A couple of weeks ago I was at a friend's house and took this picture, my friend's mom is a quilter.

I filed that in the "ideas" file on the computer.
Then last week while working on a knitting masters swatch at the kitchen table it hit and I squealed, which I rarely do.
Use Franklin's square pattern to make the quilt on the coaster!
I made a note in my phone and added details of other choices still to be made, size, colors and for whom.
Most of that came in one shot while cooking yak stew with my son on Friday night. Our neighbor is getting married oh February and we need a gift. Tah dah! They are decorating the house in earth tones and a bit of blue.
The size I haven't settled on yet but thinking 72" x 72". That way they both can cover up on the couch together.
I went down to the stash to see what I had and came back up with this.

I know it's not enough to make a blanket of that size but I can at least get started and have a plan on place when I go to town.

The knitting masters I mentioned wille be another post.
Happy stitching everyone!

Hmmm. Where have I been?

Wow, okay so I know time goes quickly and I slacked on entries here, but WOW, almost a year.  I didn't realize it had been that long.  The family members decided not to move.  My wheel is completed and I spun on it all Summer.
I have been doing some blog reading, something I hadn't done before and I learned that I was making blogging too complicated and that is part of the reason it became neglected.  I'm not going to commit to a time frame, a particular topic or photos in every blog.  I do want to share the knowledge I am gaining about fiber arts with others.  I commit to that.  That way I can post from my phone in the middle of nowhere, at the bus stop.  Not having to carve out time to go to the library and make a post, complete with pictures and in depth subject matter.
Here is a picture of my finished wheel though.

I also learned to weave in October.  Carl bought me a ridged heddle loom.  A 15" Cricket.  I did the scarf project that came in the box and I enjoyed the process.  I finished the scarf when I returned from KS and started a new one the next week.  It will be a hound's tooth pattern for my Mom for Christmas.  I should have it finished in time.

I made many Christmas presents this year.  A tiny blanket with a dog's head and a hat for the foster child of my BIL.  A blanket each for my neice and nephew.  Socks and crocheted storm troopers for my buddy Robbie and a blanket for his birthday.  I crocheted a trivet and dish rag for a white elephant too.

The blanket projects and my weaving projects can both be seen on Ravlery, I have kept up with that.  The Star Wars guys aren't there because they only take a couple of hours each.

Happy stitching until next time!

Welcome to 2016!

Well it is snowing,  again. We had about five inches over night and it is still coming down. I enjoyed a nice day by the wood stove knitting on socks.  I hope that 2016 has begun well for you.  Looks like part of our family is in for some change; they are moving.  Closer to us so that will be nice for the children to have grandparents closer.

Here is my Christmas present from Carl.  Not totally finished but soon I hope.

He replicated the Ashford Traditional I love so much.  The wheel is oak, the hub is blue pine and the rest is scrap.  I love it!

Here is my list of USOs for this year.  We made this term up at the last stitching meeting in Bennett. UnStarted Objects.  I keep this list on my Nook and can check things off as I start them.

Mourning Leaves
Aurora
Secret Garden shawl
Chevron socks
Owlie socks
Dog Sledge socks
YOTH socks
Paca sleeves
Tube worm socks

This list is longer.  It is the UFOs from last year. Those with a * were on 2015's UFO list.

KNIT
Tiger Lily*
Seasons Tech Work
Winter Wheat
Fall Mitts
Sampler Scarf*
Green Doily
Estonian Triangle*
Peach Baby set
Wedding Shawl*
In the Garden*

CROCHET
Wheat dress*
Inherited table cloth

SPIN
Super wash Kool-aid
Gray paca*
Gray paca and vari merino
Green silk and merino
Camel merino
Gray Sheep

PROCESSING
Cori and bamboo*
Monkey, paca, silk and bamboo

OTHER SKILLS
Log cabin quilt*
Tatted leaf*
Pillow cases*

For my other fiber goals I plan to post any project that takes a week or longer on Ravelry. Azariah on Rav.  I want to finish at least four new designs this year.  I want to learn to weave and do the backwards long draw.
Please feel free to share your goals in a comment.

The Kook-Aid book took a hit this week,  but it's okay.  I was testing stock viability and dumped the jar over. It was a two month test instead of eight but I got enough info and still have other jars that can be used, just not as controlled as before.

I have finished cover pictures for each season of Country Sophistication. Summer is currently the blue version of the shawl and I want the yellow,  but with so much snow it will remain a want.

The next entry will be a review of last year's projects,  with pictures.
Have a blesses weekend!

Happy New Year!

Hello Everyone!
This will be short as I am posting from a device,  instead of a computer and curious to see how well it works.
I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and are ready for the new year.  Our Christmas was three days long but all went well and I'm thankful for that.
Here is a picture of what Carl made for me. It is not complete yet but will be soon.

Yesterday I had a wonderful time spinning with Wanda at her alpaca ranch. I filled a bobbin with one ply of what will be sport weight super wash merino dyed with Kool-Aid.

No other updates for today. Next week I will post updates and my fiber goals for 2016 as well as review 2015.

Until then keep on stitching!

Okay...  So wow here we are at the end of December and I said I would update right around Thanksgiving.  Well after a blizzard, sickness, more snow and then a death in the family, here I am again, finally.

Let me start with Merry Christmas!
I hope that the love of Jesus is warming your heart not just in this season, but all year long.

Time Management
This time of year is a great time to talk about time management, because there is so much to do and with the new year just around the corner it is time to start thinking about adding more good habits to your lifestyle.

When the children returned to public school, after being home schooled for two years, this fall I found myself with about 40 hours a week to fill.  There is only so much cleaning and cooking to do in a day, so my fiber arts should get some more attention now, right?
I wasn't getting any more completed than before.  I was actually overwhelmed by the amount of options I had to work on.  I decided I needed a schedule.  I made a daily schedule and broke the day into one hour blocks.  There was time for designing each day, then dying, crocheting, knitting on a certain thing...  I made a schedule for Monday and Wednesday and then Tuesday and Thursday.  Fridays are special.  I scheduled time to work on newer skills I have acquired and don't use often enough.
There was time too for Bible study, lunch of course and "free time".  I did this excise and stuck closely to it as life allowed for a couple of weeks.  I no longer do this schedule because it was just enough to get me motivated to see what I could really accomplish.  I have completed more objects in the last 2 months this way than I did over the summer.  My new skills are still mostly sitting, but I will get there.

Update
Right now I am trying to complete items so that I don't carry as many UFOs into next year as I had this year.  More on those and that next time.

The Kool-Aid dye book is still moving along.  I've started experimenting with the slow cooker and am having great results.  The next challenge is to find a thickener for hand painting the fiber.  The tech work is still getting almost daily time for the Seasons Collection.

I received an email from the editor of Spin-Off magazine in November and I have been hard at work on a new submission for the Summer 2016 issue.  I spun and knitted the item in two weeks!  I will block it tonight, but you will have to wait until late spring for a picture.  Sorry.

YARNIT!
There is this wonderful tool, if you haven't heard of it yet, you are missing out!  It is called the Yarnit.  I now have two.  Here is their website: theyarnit.com
This is the greatest invention.  I use it for knitting, crocheting and spinning!  It comes in many colors for both the dome and the base.  It includes a strap that you can attach and walk while stitching.  In spinning I use it for plying.  I make a plying ball from which to ply and these guys hold them right where I need them for either wheel or spindle.

The first photo is my yarn in a plastic baggie, before Yarnit, and the second is my yarn in the Yarnit.  It stays clean and safe inside the dome.  I take my Yarnit everywhere and can't wait to get another!  By the way they are American made.

Well that is all for this go around, there will be more pictures next time and lists.  Until then stay warm and Merry Christmas!