HHHH Questionaire

1. How long have you been spinning? What skill level do you consider yourself? 4 years, intermediate
2. What kinds of yarn do you create (singles/2-ply/3-ply/art yarn)? Mostly 2/3 ply, with some of the others thrown in on occasion
3. What do you spin with (spindle/wheel/both)? Mostly wheel, but I like to spin really fine yarn on my spindle
4. What are your favorite fibers to spin with? Anything you don't like? I love wool, and wool blends (silk, mohair, angora, alpaca, etc), and like alpaca too, but usually prefer animal fibers. I don't care much for cotton.
5. Who are your favorite fiber sources (etsy or otherwise)? Yarn or Tale, The Good Sheep, Serenity Farms, Susans's Spinning Bunny.
6. What kind of fiber do you want to try? I've never tried any of the "new" fibers/blends like bamboo, or tencel.
7. Is there any techniques you would like to learn? I want to work on long-draw.
8. Do you dye fiber? If not, would you like to learn? I do, but I'd like to try some new techniques.
9. Do you have fiber prep tools (and like to use them) or would you prefer ready to spin fiber? I love to prepare my own, but ready to spin is nice sometimes too. I'm flexible!
10. What do you do with your handspun? What projects have you completed? I've made some socks, some baby clothes, but a lot of it is waiting for a project. I'm spinning some for a shawl or two also.
11. Are you in need of any spinning gadgets (WPI Gauge, threading hook, etc)? I don't have a WPI gauge, and my threading hook is the cheap one that came with my wheel. It works, so it hasn't been high on my list, but new tools are always fun!
12. What colors "fall into your shopping basket"? Any colors you just can't stand? I'm a big fan of cool colors: purple, green, blue. I don't care much for yellow or orange, and only like pink in smaller quantities.
13. What is on your wheel/spindle right now? My wheel has some Corriedale carded with sari silk, and my spindle has some tussah silk that I'm spinning into embroidery thread.
14. What other crafts/hobbies do you have? I love to knit and sew, and I'm starting to enjoy reading again.
15. Other than crafts, what are you passionate about? Jesus, my family.
16. Do you have an online wishlist? No.
17. Is there anything that you collect? Matryoshka
18. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What magazine subscriptions do you have? I subscribe to Spin-Off. I'd like to get a copy of EZs Knitting Workshop, and Joyce William's Latvian Dreams, but can't think of anything else.
19. When is your birthday? January
21. What is the climate like where you live around this time (need to know for careful shipments of anything meltable)? Hot, but not unbearably so.
22. Tell us one weird fact about yourself! I don't like different foods to touch on my plate.

Favorites
favorite painting/picture(link): Monet's The White Water Lilies (It is stunning in person!)
Candy: Dark Chocolate
Food: Mexcican-style
Drink: Water, then coffee
Movie(s): My Fair Lady
TV Show(s): Chuck, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Book(s): Doctor Zhivago, anything by Nabokov
Guilty Pleasure(s): Ice cream, chocolate

We're still alive here.....

I sort of dropped off the face of the earth for a while, but I'm still alive, knitting, spinning, and sewing too. In the time I've been away, my little A turned two and I made him a Percy's Chocolate Crunch cake to celebrate:

Here are all the kids dressed up for Easter. My SIL was visiting us, so they were being extra cute for her!
J is not a little baby anymore, he's already 6 months old and 21 lbs! He rolls all over the place and moves forward by flinging himself, which looks a bit like he's doing the butterfly stroke.

Here are DH, J, B, and A on our way to church a few weeks ago. I had made their outfits for one of my BILs high school graduation. B's dress is McCall's 4006. J and A have curved raglans from Ottobre 2/05, J's romper is from Ottobre 3/07, while A's shorts are just a basic pair from Kwik Sew for Toddlers.

And because who can resist a sleeping baby!

I love Kwik Sew!

I've started sewing the kids summer wardrobe, and I've liked Kwik Sew patterns for a few years, but I gained a new appreciation for them over the past few days. This outfit for B took one afternoon to make, even with J waking up to eat, and a few other interruptions. It is KS 2596 and is sized from 1-4T. This probably wouldn't have been my first choice in prints, but it was on clearance, and it is still a nice print, and the lavender matches the flowers. It was my first time using twin needles, and I was surprised at how easy it was. I really like how professional it makes the hems look. I used to use a stretch stitch on knits, but I think I like the twin needle method better! And here is B modeling her new outfit (excuse the hair she just got up from her quiet time/nap!).

Here are J's ducky feet, just because!
With a gift card that we had from Christmas, I bought Kwik Sew's Sewing for Baby and Sewing for Toddlers. The pictures look pretty dates, but the styles are really classic and are so easy to update. Here are the short overalls in 3-6 on J. I'll be making the rest of his 6-9 for the summer! He's a super chunk, but we think he's cute!
And because he doesn't have any clothes to model yet but was so cute when painting this morning, here is A.

Sewing for Spring

I've started my spring sewing for the kids. This is a dress that I began last year (McCall 5416), but was put aside because I cut out the front upside down, so the hearts face the wrong way. I pulled it out again, and then I cut another front instead of a back, argh! But it will be fine for a play dress.
Here's another one that I like (Simplicity 5695). It was not quite as easy as the first one, but it went together quickly. The most difficult parts were the gathers. I like this style because B can dress herself since there are no zippers. I also think that most zippers are too stiff for kidswear.
Here is B modeling my favorite (Simplicity 5118). I used my serger to make a rolled hem, and then I used the scallop stitch feature on my sewing machine to make cute scallops on the edges. I like how it dresses up a fairly plain dress.
I have some patterns for the boys too, but I haven't cut them out yet. I hope to make most of the kids clothes for the spring/summer.

I've also been working on my swap mittens. I love coming up with new designs, but I can't share this one yet!

Munckin Pictures, Sewing, and Knitting

First, a new picture of the munchkins, taken a few days ago. A likes to hold his brother almost as much as B. You can tell it was still early by her crazy hair! Both of the older kids like to be next to J. A will climb up on the couch and pat his back. B did the same to A when he was this age too.
B loves to help with J, and here she is helping to snap up his clothes after a diaper change.
For the few weeks following the holidays I didn't want to knit anything too complicated, so I made this fluffy little bolero for B out of some Lion Brand Fun Fetti that I found in the sale bin at Joann's. She loves it, of course!
Two weeks ago, I washed, carded, spun, and dyed some Dorset/Romney fleece from a sheep named Maggie, who lives at Ewe and I Farm. It made a wonderfully bouncy and lofty yarn.
The yarn was knit up into soakers, which were auctioned off to help a friend whose family business was lost in a fire last month. The hat ans booties were made with Lion Suede. The hat features an owl cable, but the brown really didn't photograph well. I designed the booties on the fly. I knew that ribbing in this yarn wouldn't work well, so I added the button and strap instead. The diapers for this and the girly set were knit by my friend Rachel from the Darling Diaper newborn pattern. The brown wool for the i-cord and embroidered owl came from a sheep named Maxine at Serenity Farms. Her wool was a dream to spin! It was so soft and bouncy that I had a hard time putting it down, I wish I had more!

Here is J modeling the booties. They are nice because they don't kick off easily!

The girly set has the patterns, except the hat has a scalloped edge, and the booties are mary-jane style. I added croched flowers to the soaker ties.

A and J were needing new soakers to go over their diapers, and I haven't had the time to knit as many as they needed. So I've been shopping in Joann's remnant bin for fleece, and made them some embellished Sweet Baby Soakers. They fit like the knitted ones, but are so much faster to make! I had fun adding the goldfish, and A liked them too!
I have more knitting in the wings, and I hope to have pictures soon!

Baby Hat and Baby Picture Too

First a new pic of J, in which he happens to be wearing his new longies. Now I need to make him some shirts that actually fit! The 0-3 mo. ones are a bit short, and a little snug around the waist. He's definitely longer than either of his siblings were at his age.

Good friends of our from church had a baby girl on Christmas day. I made this hat yesterday to give to them. I used two repeats of horseshoe lace to give a nice scallop to the edge. I used Wendy Velvet Touch, about 60-70 yds (only half the ball). I love this yarn for baby things! It is nylon, so totally washable, and it is a ladder-like chenille, so super soft, but no worming!

No More Him-Drum Mitten Swap 2 Questionaire

How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? I taught myself to knit in college, so 11 years.

Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? Advanced

What are your favorite colors? Any you dislike? I'm partial to jewel tones (purples, blues, greens) black, grey. I don't really care much for orange, yellow, or bubble gum pink.

Do you like Latvian type patterns? If so, what are your favorite patterns? I like Latvian mittens, but don't have any favorites.

Do you desire mittens for yourself, your "special someone else" or your child? Me! No one else knits fir me, and the kids have some plain ones (they grow too fast for stranded ones!)

What is the measurement from your wrist to the tip of your longest finger? 7"

What is the circumference of your hand at it's widest point? 7 1/2"

What other things do you enjoy knitting? Anything! Lately I've been knitting stranded sweaters, baby things, hats, socks, and lace.

What sort of needles do you enjoy working with? (straights vs circs, bamboo vs aluminum) I prefer metal, either circs or dpns.

What’s one project you’ve not yet tried but are dying to make? Something with my handspun. And the EZ Baby Surprise.

What’s one yarn you’ve not yet tried but are dying to work with? Socks that Rock or Kidsilk Haze.

What other hobbies do you have? Do you spin? Sew? Garden? Cook? All of the above!

Besides yarn, do you collect anything? Matryoshka or anything Russian.

What kind of goodies do you enjoy? Sweets? Salty? Anything you hate or are allergic to? I love chocolate, but don't have much that I dislike!

Do you have any kids? Pets? No pets, 3 kids: DD - 3.5, DS1 - 1.5, DS2 - 1 month.

What is your favorite part of Winter? Snow, since we don't see enough of it!

What is your least favorite part of Winter? People who can't drive in the snow since we don't see enough of it!

A few FOs

I knit this pair of mittens for B during our travels for Christmas. B picked out the colors, Araucania Nature Wool. I used the Grand Plan Mitten Pattern from Interweave Knits Fall 2000. I also made a cabled pair in cream for my sister, but forgot to take a picture before we left!Here are a pair of longies for J. The cream is leftover Paton's Classic Wool, and the multi is leftover Lion Wool. He's growing like a weed, so I need to work on some more!

Merry Christmas!

We are finishing up our holiday preparations here, so I wanted to wish you all a very blessed Christmas!