How To Build A Log Cabin

january one: How To Build A Log Cabin.

My next knitting project: Log cabin. I don't have very many leftover yarns yet, but I think it would be fun to knit till I don't have anymore, then put it away till I aquire more leftovers. It's be one mixed up pattern.

Until next time...

I was struck by lightening...

I kid you not. Lightening struck a tree not far from our apartment, I was standing by the patio door, leaning on it, and I recieved one hell of a jolt. Owwww-wa! Ran up my right leg and exited through my right hand back into the patio door. My only reaction-screaming. I screamed and stumbled backwards somewhat dissorintated.

Besides scaring the living shit out of me, my leg feels like the rements of a charely-horse, my toes are still tingly after an hour, and I just feel funny.

Nothing like being hit by lightening....oye. I now have a new appriciation for the power of a severe thunderstorm.

Until next time...

Next Project: Weaving on a Navajo Style Loom

I got this book from the library: Navajo Techniques for Today's Weaver by JOanne Mattera published once in 1975 and I was reading this last night while I soaked my swollen foot in cold bath water. I dunno why my foot swells, but it seems to do so when I am very active during the day. It swells half way up my calf and it feels numb from it. I've been able to control it by soaking my foot in cold water with epson salt and taking an asprin. It's wierd.

ANyway, off track...I started to read it last night and I could not put it down! I ended up reading most of it by 1Am last night, skipping a few sections to hurry to the sections of how to. So I am gonna construct a small frame of about 22" wide by 36" long to do the sampler in the book. This is the perfect solution for the fiber I don't like the feel of.

Until next time...

The fleece photos

Top one is the clean dried fleece carded into a roving. How utterly fluffy! The uncarded fluff of fiber is behind the roving, and you can just see the carders off in the upper corner.

The Second one is the cleaned and shampooed fleece drying.

Until next time...

Alpaca Fleece: To Shampoo, or Not to Shampoo?

So I purchased some fleece from a kind lady one of the many fiber groups I am on, for a discounted price special for only the groups she is apart of (how lucky am I?!). I got a full pound of seconds (neck, belly, leg, rump fleece). With it came instructions for cleaning. Now mind you while I think intensions are all very well, I tried some expermintation.

The intructions stated that cleaning was unnecessary until after the fiber had been spun up and helps to give the fiber more grip when spinning. Now I tend to dissagree with this. I tried that...spun some up and washed it. Some of the dirt will never come out because it is permanently locked into the strands after spinning-I found out.

So I washed some per the directions...soaking it in hot water for an hour to over night. I soaked for a little over two hours, changed the water, and let it sit over night. The water was really cloudy with dust and debree.

To the right is a picture of the fiber I let sit over night in plain water, dried, and some more of the fiber washed with my shampoo next to it on the right. Big difference.

So I plunged the dirty fiber back into the bucket with some shampoo...and look at that water! There is still plenty of dirt in there!

Now it says that the fiber, when it gets this clean, tends to be slippery. Yes it is slippery...slippery soft! It is sssooooooooooooooo soft once this now clean fiber has dried and it cards up beautifully into a soft billowy white roving!! Oh! OH! It's a fiber artists orgasim! OHHHHHHh! Yah...I'm just enthusiastic about this wonderful stuff.

I'd add another wonderful photo of the fluffy white stuff, but blogger is not uploading it for some strange reason. So I'll have to add it in a seperate posting. Grrrr.

One thing that the paper of instructions also said was that you could plop it into the washer on the spin cycle to get the water out. I don't have a washer, and there is no way I am sittin at the washer in the basement (commercial washer) and waiting for it to hit spin!! Comprimise time! I used a salad spinner. Works just fine and gets most if not all the water out so the fiber is dried in as little if less than twenty minutes in front of a fan on some screening.

Until next time...

Continental Purl

Here is the video I made of how I do continental knitting/purling for a group friend having trouble doing it. It's grainy because it's just a cell phone video, it's better than nothing.

Diet Coke + Mentos

This is so frikkin awesome, you have to see this! It uses 151 Diet Coke 2 litters and over 500 mentos to make the almost 3 minute long video. It's worth a watch!

Rosemary Knits: Andean Plying Bracelet, simplified

Rosemary Knits: Andean Plying Bracelet, simplified

Now I never would have come up with this idea myself! What a clever-clever woman this is! If you have a book, and a tongue depresser stick (thingy...whatever they are called), you can ply-Andean style WITHOUT cutting off the circulation in your finger!

HA!

Until next time...

Beslubbering, hell-hated, vassal!!

Bitch time!

I think I have allergies to all this wonderful fiber!!! ARGH! Every time I spin alpaca or llama, I get an ichy throat and nose!

How utterly rude of me! I have sooooo many allergies. Grrrrr.

Until next time...

Knitted Spun Pink Yarn

Knitted Spun Pink Yarn
Originally uploaded by C4G.

Here is that batch of varigated pinkyarn that I spun up-all knitted up. I washed it in my hair shampoo (Dove 2-in-1) and it felted up nicely. Not too much, not too little. It did not take much work at all nor did it take much to remove the suds.
I've go it pinned to an old scanner box and now it sits in the sun to dry. When dry, I will measure the STI for size 7 needles.

Another picture hosting

Until next time...

That Impeach corner banner...

I found it at the link above (click entry title). I didn't vote for him but others did, now look at the mess(es) we as a country are in-and not by my choice.

Goverment for the people BY THE PEOPLE, and this person says the governement has gone TOO FAR. Our simpliest civil rights (freedoms that we are fighting for in OTHER COUNTRIES) are slowly being chiseled at and we must fight the overgrown BUSH that has begun this bullshit.

How many fuck ups are we gonna tolerate before we've finally had enough and say "Enough is Enough! Out with you...IMPEACH-IMPEACH-IMPEACHMENT!!"

I want my freedoms the constitution says I was born with. Don't you?

The time to act is now.

Until next time...

Hosting image

Until next time...

Polythemus Cats

Polythemus Cats
Originally uploaded by C4G.

YAY! The ply cats are eating and seem to be growing by the hour! They are most active at night. Here you can see them in my rearing container-a simple small trash can with 4 or so inches of moist sand in the bottom to hold the twigs of leaves up (and to keep them alive a little longer) and it provides humity which I hear is what poly's prefer.

My Pink Yarn

My Pink Yarn
Originally uploaded by C4G.

Nice! The dark pink was dyed using bright red acid dye sparingly and the light pink was dyed with pink lemonaid kool-aid. I plyed it using navajo plying technique. There are the beginnings of a knitted swatch on size 7 needles. The WPI is 12 so this makes it a worsted wieght yarn. Almost looks store bought!! I LOVE IT!

Until Next time...