Part of what I wanted to do while I was "for real" job hunting in Denver was to hone the skills that I have and learn new ones at the same time. I wanted to get better at spinning -- be more consistent and be able to spin yarn of a specific weight on purpose (you know -- other than either really bulky or really thin). With this project, I got to kill two birds with one stone, which made me all kinds of excited.
Tunisian crochet is something that not a lot of people practice anymore -- at least, I'm only starting to learn about it and see a few projects here and there. You use a looooong hook with a stub at the end -- so it looks like a knitting needle, but with a crochet hook at the end.
Photo ganked from Google.
I was recently introduced to a new blog called Nikki, in Stitches. She recently did a post on Tunisian Crochet and her efforts at learning the craft. Her post was not on the type of stitch I had seen before, so I went to YouTube and found a tutorial (I used this one). Turns out what I wanted to make is called Simple Stitch (easy enough, but apparently also called the afghan stitch) and after about 10 minutes, I was crocheting away.
I used the yarn I had spun up from Tanis Fiber Arts' Prism colorway (read about my adventures spinning it here). I love the way this yarn turned out -- I purposely plied it so that the colors would match up randomly, and when I saw another Tunisian Crochet scarf I knew that it would be the perfect way to showcase the beautiful colors. (Here's a link to my Ravelry project page.)
Tunisian crochet is kind of exciting because it manages to look like nothing else -- it's kind of knitted, kind of crocheted, kind of woven. There are other stitches that mimic knitting even closer.
It's a little on the short side, but I like it anyway. I may wear it a couple times and then perhaps gift it to a deserving niece or cousin somewhere.
I also finished a really great book this week. I read The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, by Aimee Bender, recommended by my wonderful mother. The main character in this book, Rose, discovers at an early age that she can taste other people's feelings in the food they cook. She discovers her mother's depression, the baker's feelings about his girlfriend, and so much more. She copes by eating heavily processed foods -- chips, vending machine snacks, frozen dinners -- anything that's so heavily processed it has no emotion tied to it. She tells the story of Rose and her family - her brother's reclusive-ness and strange disappearances, her mother's struggles with her private life and what her friends are facing. I really enjoyed this book and thought Aimee Bender did a wonderful job with the prose style and describing what Rose is feeling throughout. The ending was a little ambiguous for my taste, but it suited the rest of the story -- you don't really know what happened, and neither does Rose, so it's okay.
I love a good book, so I'll be talking about those that I read here a little more. I wish I could knit and read at the same time ... that would be wonderful.
It's been a while since my last post, and for good reason. In the last month, I quit my job, said goodbye to friends and family, moved to Denver, Colorado and have spent the last two weeks unpacking, organizing, meeting deliveries, re-connecting with friends from high school that live in the Denver area, exploring the neighborhood and the city-at-large, hanging out at craft nights and stitch-and-bitches ... and oh yeah ... knitting. And spinning. And dyeing.
Those in the Denver area can look for me to be hanging around Fancy Tiger and the Lamb Shoppe. I visited both of these shops when I vacationed here in October and May, and have attended a craft night at Fancy Tiger already since moving here (and plan on attending more -- and their classes -- and the store in general). I'll be bringing samples of my dyeds and spuns to the Fancy Tiger Craft Night and the Denver Downtown Stitch and Bitch {rav link}, so if you like free stuff? You know where to find me.
It's a photo-heavy post, but I've done a poor job of remembering to take my camera with me when I go out exploring. So these are projects I've been working on, but expect to see pictures of neighborhoods and hang-outs as I get back into my old habits (I only just dug out my camera cord today, otherwise this post would have happened a couple days ago. I searched everywhere for that damn camera cord -- boxes, crates, drawers of junk, places I thought I had seen it. Turns out? It was in my nightstand drawer, where I always kept it. Right).
First up: Tulip Monkeys! {project page}
Knit from the Tulip colorway by Tanis Fiber Arts. The yarn was gifted to me for my birthday by my friend Katie, and I cast on within a few days -- something I don't usually do. I just love the colors and wanted to do a pattern that would really make the variegated stand out. Cookie A's Monkey was perfect. I love love love these socks and cannot wait until it's prime sock-showing-off weather. I also got some TFA fiber (in Prism and Tulip) for my birthday that I'm looking forward to playing with. Stay tuned for that one.
I've been playing with some dyes, too ... after promptly staining my kitchen counter bright blue (stupid turkey baster not sucking up dye properly), I came up with a color I'm really pleased with. Meet "The Grass is Always Greener."
Some other experiments that I haven't decided will be repeated yet or not -- I rather like the blue and yellow, and the orange is definitely ... well, orange.
Before we left Houston, I somehow managed to spin up four full ounces of Pigeon Roof Studio's Chrysanthemum roving. I bought this months ago -- I loved the colors and thought if I had something I was excited to spin, I would practice more.
Turns out I was just crap at spinning with a drop spindle. As soon as I got my wheel, I was totally hooked and gave a little "squee" of delight when I dug this up out of my stash.
No idea what the yardage is, but it's a nice strong 3-ply (my first Navajo ply), and it's a yummy BFL. Softened right up in my wool wash bath and I can't wait to make a hat from it so my cute little ears don't get cold.
I whipped this out for a neighbor of mine -- an unusual custom request, but it was fun nonetheless. A Dirty/Clean sign for her dishwasher so she and her boyfriend will no longer put away dirty dishes, or re-wash clean ones.
And this one I just finished last night (holy crap, I've been busy these last two weeks ... no wonder I haven't been blogging). The Frock Camisole {rav link} from Interweave Knits, knit up in a Knit Picks pima cotton blend.
Expect to see lots more of me in the coming weeks! I have lots of work to do and many things I'm working on developing, but it's a resolution of mine to keep my camera with me more often and get over my shyness of photographing seemingly random objects and situations. Denver is a great city and it has lots to offer -- I'm excited to be a part of their craft revolution and spread the knitting/ spinning bug as much as I can.
Photo ganked from Google.
Tunisian crochet is kind of exciting because it manages to look like nothing else -- it's kind of knitted, kind of crocheted, kind of woven. There are other stitches that mimic knitting even closer.
It's a little on the short side, but I like it anyway. I may wear it a couple times and then perhaps gift it to a deserving niece or cousin somewhere.
