I had a busy week on the crafting home-front. I finished up cloth diapers for Boo. He now has 25 homemade ones and 6 purchased ones. I’m using the purchased ones for overnight as they seem a bit more absorbent. I may make more, I need to get the too-small diapers out of rotation and have two or three days at home to evaluate the quantity. I have plenty of fabric to make conservatively 15-20 more. I can’t see needing anywhere near that many. I’d like to save the fabric to make smaller or larger sizes in the event we need other sizes. The ones I made have hook and loop closures so that it grows with Boo, hopefully to as big as he needs.

I won a contest from The Counting Sheep Farm. I get a surprise box along with some superwash fiber I ordered. I’ve been participating in a stash down contest. Please don’t ask why I am buying more fiber while I am stashing down, I just am. I wanted some sock yarn and I don’t want to spin wool that I have to hand wash, so I saw she had some superwash on sale. The only contest is to challenge ourselves to knit/spin from the stash. We earn points that we can redeem in the store for a percentage of one item or several depending on the number of points we redeem. I added points this week by wrestling with my works in progress. Along the way Rachel, of Counting Sheep, offers mini-contests where we can earn coolie prizes. Stay tuned for pictures of what’s in my goodie box. To participate in the stash down for points and win any contests you must be a member of Ravelry and join the group for Counting Sheep Farm.

I finished a dishcloth that had been on the needles because I ran out of yarn. I finally found the yarn and reunited it with the dishcloth. I’ve made a bunch of these garterlac dishcloths. Feel free to search the archives for more. It’s a neat looking dishcloth that let’s one practice enterlac easily without fear of messing up “good” yarn.

I also finished my first handspun project, a hedgehog. I spin the brown belly and creamy paws. There is actually one strand of homespun brown knit with one strand of fun fur, but it’s difficult to see in the pictures. There are no eyes or nose because Boo is too small to have those pieces on his toys. He seems to like to grab at the fun fur, much the same as he grabs at the furbabies in the house. At least with the hedgehog he’s not hurting anyone.

I haven’t been focused on crafty things as much as I would like to lately, Boo (understandably) takes up more time than I seem to have in a day. With one week left in February, I’m not sure if I have finished much but I’ve had fun thinking about crafts.

After Christmas, I needed a quick break from long projects so I knitted a bunch of quick things:

• Spinning Wheel bag
• Lunch bag for Jason
• Two reusable mop covers (which desperately need to be tested)
• coolie ear warmer

I took lots of knitting with me out east when we visited my family for a week. I started knitting a bear for Boo before he was born and am stuck on the head. I keep ripping it out and trying again which slows the progress. I also brought my Christmas cross stitch project, an advent calendar. I purchased it as a kit a number of years ago, 2006 I believe, and work on it when I can. Now that Boo is here, I need to finish it. Next on the needles will be mittens and a hedgehog from my homespun yarn that I finished just before our trip. Already on the needles to finish: aforementioned bear and a few other plushie toys.

On the spinning front, I just ordered larger bobbins, more smaller bobbins and some attachments for the wheel so that I can ply longer sections at a time. My prototype ball winder is great as long as I keep the right amount of tension on the yarn. I attached another clamp so that I can keep one hand on the yarn at all times. Next up I need a swift, I think that may take care of some of the tension issues.

I need to finish Julie’s placemats, 11 more to go I think. I’ve started thinking about my Christmas 2010 project, I’ve got an idea, but it needs some work.

Boo’s borrowed cloth diapers are getting small, so I’ve been cutting out new ones like crazy. Seven cut, two more sewn but needed modifications and zero in currently circulation.

I’ve had a busy weekend spinning, knitting, and cutting fabric for Boo’s diapers. The spinning is brown Shetland wool I bought in November with my spinning wheel. I’ve certainly improved my spinning since then. I made a 3ply yarn this weekend and I think the best bobbin was the last one I prepared and the worst was the middle. It appears as if I spun with my attention on something else during that second one. I had huge deviations in thickness over the bobbin. I have about 354 yards so far, with a bit more on the wheel still to ply. I’m going to n-ply or Navajo ply because I don’t have an even amount left, the middle bobbin ran out much quicker because I measured the bobbins by weight and some of the fiber was used up in thick areas rather then length. N-plying will allow me to ply each single against itself so I can’t run out. I think I’ll make mittens, scarf, maybe a hat of some sort.

I finished some this weekend: a reusable washable mop cover and a Calorimetry for keeping my ears warm. I followed a free pattern from a big box craft store sponsored by a big yarn maker for the mop cover or it’s online. I didn’t so much like the pattern and won’t make it again. I didn’t make pieces and sew it together, instead I picked up stitches and made the rest up as I went. The Calorimetry is from Knitty. The light brown thing is the bottom of a lunch bag for my Sweet-ums. It’s almost finished now, I’m working on the last few rows, then I have to make the draw string and handles.

by Amy King, 2009

a review/summary
I borrowed this book from the library along with many others to evaluate what books to add to my spinning library. This one will be joining my library at the end of the week, making an Amazon order for Christmas. Amy challenges the readers to play with the wheel. It’s nothing I couldn’t have figured out on my own but to see it written down, permission to play with the wheel whether it seems conventional or not, somehow makes it ok to set about doing. She tells us to change a specific setting one way then spin, then make another change and see what happens. Then change another setting and asks how it changed from the previous ones. (scientific method anyone?)

After the introductory chapters she gets to the business of explaining many of the questions I had in a blog draft like how to know how much twist to put in the yarn. She shows us how to evaluate previously spun or purchased yarn in an effort to reproduce it and encourages us to keep a spinning notebook. She shows us how to spin a variety to novelty yarns and even shows several knitted swatches of different prep and spinning techniques on the same base fiber. I feel like cover to cover gets me a spinning class. Can’t wait to get my hands on the book permanently. I’m off to browse the rest of the books, stay tuned for more reviews.

A long while ago, I found a site that challenged readers to make a list of 101 things to accomplish in 1001 days, if you search for posts here with the 101 in 1001 tags or use your favorite search engine, you’ll find it. I jumped on board and am almost half way through my 1001 days. I have made some progress, which is exciting and had to remove some things from the list that are no longer relevant or impossible to complete at this point. While I am fairly certain that I will be fortunate to complete 60 or more of the 101 things, I have learned how to make a more feasible list in May of 2011 if I choose to try this again.

Art/Craft
12. Purchase or make a drop spindle (9/2008 made 2), spin at least 6 oz. of pre-dyed fiber & knit into socks
18. Finish R2D2 hat, write instructions (11/2008)
21. Frog Homespun blanket and reuse yarn to make hoodie (2009)
22. Stamp cards to use for special occasions: have 20 in reserve – 10/20 (11/2009)
26. Calculate yards or number of projects in stash, get to work (this is in constant progress which would be finished if I would stop adding to the list and stash)

Education/Self-Development
1. Play guitar on worship team (requires learning to play guitar) no longer on the worship team, need new task

Health
2. Lose enough weight to fall into healthy BMI and keep it off (I do have an exact number for a goal weight) (in process)
4. Kayak at least 15 times each year as often as possible

Literature
1. Read/listen to 15 Classics (1 every other month) – in progress
2. Re-read Wheel of Time, creating personal encyclopedia to track characters/plots – 5.5 of 11 reread
3. Read 10 biographies from individuals who dedicated their lives to societal change (1 every 3 months) – in progress
4. Join a book club: IRL or virtual (2/2009)
5. Write a review for each book read as a result of this 101 in 1001 list – in progress

Organization/De-Clutter
13. Basement organize boxes into smallest floor area possible, maximize work area: accomplished when there is room to host video game night with friends or craft session (summer/fall 2009)
15. Sort teaching boxes, condense by at least one box (summer/fall 2009)

Random
1. Rediscover natural hair color, no dyes until 100% natural again (fall 2009)
2. Go to the beach at least once a year: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
3. Commit 9 random acts of kindness without receiving/accepting/admitting credit (in process 2 out of 9)

I found this chick pattern on Alan Dart’s website back in February or March and never finished. The biggest drawback to the pattern is that all the pieces are knit flat, then seamed together. I’ve never been a fan of hand-sewing, so I procrastinated a bit. It’s not perfect, to do again, I’d place the head a little more forward on the body and place the eyes, beak and wings on the body before seaming and joining the pieces. I’m mostly pleased with the results.

Threaden (a.) Made of thread; as, threaden sails; a threaden fillet.
Yarn (n.) Spun wool; woolen thread; also, thread of other material, as of cotton, flax, hemp, or silk; material spun and prepared for use in weaving, knitting, manufacturing sewing thread, or the like.

Here is the shawl I posted about last week. My husband likes to pick on me when he sees me knitting on it because I have ripped it out several times. He asks if I’ve ripped it out to which I show him my work rather than answer. The length speaks for itself. I have to say I believe this to be a simple lace pattern over an 8 row repeat, even though it’s knit in a heavier than lace-weight yarn. Once every two or so repeats, I end up having to rip out a few rows to figure out where I lost the stitch. (I never gain them, well, there was that one time . . . )

Late this summer my Nano developed a problem. I was no longer able to use the center click wheel. The iPod still played music/podcasts, I was just unable to select what I wanted to play in what order. It started at the beginning of the list, then I had to fast forward to the episode I desired. I attempted to fix this by only putting on a couple of episodes at a time, which was less than ideal, but worked as long as I had enough listening material. I toyed with purchasing a replacement wheel and inside electronics but was concerned about wasting money if I didn’t fix it. I was also a bit envious of the amount of space on newer iPods. When the Nano was in tip-top shape, I regularly filled it and had to leave off music lists or newer podcast episodes. On Friday, I will finishing paying for my “new” iPod Classic. I purchased it before Apple released its new line in September, but overall I’m happy with my purchase. I have a smaller Classic, 120GB, as opposed to the newer 160GB one that was released in September. I looked at other brands, other sizes, other others and decided that between the ease of use of iTunes and a similar price point for other mp3 players with comparable size, the Classic was what I wanted.

And it’s that time of year again, what’s on the iPod in the podcast realm. Many old favorites are still in the mix, some no loner on the list have discontinued new episodes, some have become a bit erratic, some just don’t suit me any longer and some I try again after a hiatus.

I’ve still decided not to review any of the new podcasts nor explain why others are no longer on the list. My skin isn’t thick enough when the podcasters leave me feedback. I feel guilty when I share my opinion which hurts complete strangers. Yes, they put themselves out there. Yes, I am trying to be unbiased, I have no stake in the success or failure of a podcast so I’m not playing favorites. Moving on . . .

Standard disclaimer-not all podcasts in my list are suitable for family listening, please check reviews left on iTunes and the shownotes for the podcasts to determine if you would enjoy or be offended by a podcast.

Still hanging on:

• CraftLit | iTunes
• It’s a Purl, Man Podcast | iTunes
• knit obsession with zknits | iTunes
• limenviolet’s Podcast
• The Moth Podcast – real stories told live without notes
• Never Not Knitting | iTunes
• Stash and Burn | iTunes
• Sticks and String Podcast | iTunes
• Stitch Stud and his Bride | iTunes – podfade? just noticed no new episodes since May 2009

New-ish, but staying for a bit longer:

• Alex Anderson Quilt Connection | iTunes
• The Anatomy of Knitting Podcast | iTunes
• Books on the Nightstand | iTunes
• Brass Needles | iTunes
• CraftSanity | iTunes
• CraftyPod | iTunes
• Double Knit | iTunes – deleted this one a year ago, giving it a try again
• Knit Misadventures | iTunes
• KnitMoreGirls’s Podcast | iTunes

On probation:

• The Sassy Sheep | iTunes
• Here’s to Ewe | iTunes
• Creative Mom | iTunes
• Crafternoon Tea with Grannyg | iTunes
• avocadoknits | iTunes
• Social Knitworking | iTunes
• Sapphires-N-Purls | iTunes
• Knitscape with Becca and Betty | iTunes
• Electronic Knitting Group | iTunes
• unhinged knitter | iTunes
• Y2Knit PODconnetion | iTunes
• Strings ‘n Things | iTunes

If I add too many more to my lists, I’m going to have to take a screenshot and color code them as old, new, and on probation. If you have a podcast or know of one related to literature, crafting (knitting, crocheting, quilting, scrapbooking, stamping, etc), gardening, real-life stories, etc that is not commercially produced (we all know that Lion Brand Yarn has good things to say about itself, but I’m still not going to listen) leave a comment.

Threaden (a.) Made of thread; as, threaden sails; a threaden fillet.
Yarn (n.) Spun wool; woolen thread; also, thread of other material, as of cotton, flax, hemp, or silk; material spun and prepared for use in weaving, knitting, manufacturing sewing thread, or the like.

My knitting has been stalled for a while, for that matter much of my crafting has been stalled. When my fingers swelled up toward the end of my pregnancy, knitting and other crafts were neither easy nor enjoyable. I started work on a shawl in one color sometime in late August and decided that the color wouldn’t coordinate with everything I wanted to wear with it. I changed colors in early September and then had to purchase more yarn because I didn’t have enough. I found a colorway close enough to the skein I already had and started work again. Four days later Little Boo arrived, knitting was temporarily on hold, even though my knitting was around. After almost to two days of labor, our home-birth turned in a trip to the hospital for a major medical procedure to assist Little Boo’s arrival. Even with a flexible IV in my arm, where was no knitting. I was retaining too much fluid and not enough sleep.

So now I have a shawl that I need to complete but at least I’m making progress. This is the pattern. I haven’t taken photos of my knitting lately, maybe later this weekend, with a Little Boo holding the work-in-progress.

Every now and again I add or remove podcasts from my listening routine. It’s that time again, I’ve deleted many and am in the process of adding more into the mix. I thought that reviews of the ones I do/don’t listened to would be helpful, but I seem to have hurt a feeling or two. I’m going to rethink the “why I don’t listen anymore” statements. Feel free to search iTunes or the web for subscription info and show notes if one catches your eye. Currently, I don’t subscribe to video podcasts as my Nano doesn’t play well with video and I listen mostly while I am away from the computer “doing.” For the most part, I don’t listen to commercial podcasts, no yarn brands, craft stores, etc. Some of my currently listening podcasts are on summer hiatus, so please do not judge the first list by the last publish date, they are still recording as of the start of the summer of 2009.

Here’s the list of what’s been around for at least few months:

• CraftLit – absolute favorite, classic literature read to listeners with Heather’s literary criticism and craft talk.
• CraftyPod – only been listening a short while, not ready for comment
• Doubleknit
• It’s a Purl, Man >> Podcasts – long-time listener
• Knit Misadventures
• knit obsession with zknits
• Knitmoregirl’s Podcast
• limenvoilet – Both Lime and Violet have been recording lately, be careful, lots of language and inappropriate content for most, maybe even me.
• The Moth podcast – True stories told live without notes
• Never Not Knitting
• Stash and Burn – long-time listener
• Sticks & String podcast – long-time listener
• Stitch Stud and His Bride – long-time listener

Trying out these, but not subscribed to yet:

• Alex Anderson Quilt Connection
• The Anatomy of a Knitting Podcast
• Jackie’s Quilting Chronicles
• Knitting in the Round
• Patchwork and Pacifiers
• Quilted Cupcake Podcast