Category: Blog

The Chicken Girls Accesorize

denisemor 6 January 22, 2012

For a long time I’ve been thinking that our chicken feed bags were worth saving.

They are colorful, with cool chicken art, and I really couldn’t bring myself to throw them away.
Sometimes they even have different background colors, like this pink one for breast cancer awareness-

And they are fairly indestructible, being made of plastic woven tarp-like material-

And this week, while stuck home in the snow, I finally decided to do something with them!

Tote bags! Aren’t they sporty?
Great for the grocery, the farmers market, holding projects, etc. etc.

The material is a little bit of a pain to sew, because it slips around some, and it is really hard on stick pins, but the tote bag styling is really simple, and I think now that I’ve done a few the next batch will go faster and easier.

And in wool news, I am making steady progress on Cobblestone

One more sleeve, then we get to the exciting part: the yoke! A little texture, some short rows.
Pretty sure I’ve got the yarn to cover it now.

The Wrong Kind of White Fluff

denisemor 4 January 16, 2012

We have snow.

Now, this isn’t entirely unusual (it IS January), but I’m having a hard time mustering any excitement about it.

So I’m trying to concentrate on indoor pursuits!

Especially those that serve to promote toastiness.

For example,

Cobblestone, beginning to look like it might be a sweater!

It’s really hard to take good true-to-life colors in photos of really dark colored objects, and that’s about all I could manage for now. But I have started one of the sleeves as well-

You’ll have to trust me when I tell you that the charcoal-y grey blend of Chone and Spike is much more appealing in person.

And I’ve been spending a little quality time with Hank, my Pirtle wheel, spinning nice soft cushy singles-

Aren’t they fun? No idea what they want to be yet.
But I’m ok with that.

(see last post ) 🙂

Coming to Terms with the Stash

denisemor 14 January 8, 2012

I have mixed feelings about the stash.

I love the stash.
I need the stash.

But the stash exerts a subtle pressure.
It longs to be more than yarn in a cedar chest.
Or home decor.

But these days I seem to be spinning faster than I knit.
So it tends to accumulate some.

And it’s sometimes hard to part with stash, because I either had some grand idea of how I might use it.
Or it’s not quite perfect or flashy or luxurious enough to be a “gift skein” or to sell.

So I’m not making resolutions about stash this year.

No need to put pressure on the relationship.

Healthy stash, happy Denisee.

Long life the stash!

Out with the Old, In with the New!

denisemor 3 January 2, 2012

First, the sheeps helped me close out the old year, by recycling the christmas tree

They like evergreens, and it makes their breath all fresh and piney 🙂

Then in order to get the new year off on the right foot, I brought out the other herd, my spinning wheels, for a cleaning and oiling.

Don’t they look swell, all shined up and ready for 2012’s challenges?

I also dug out the partial distaff that I got with Sophie (on the right), and found a branch out in the yard that might serve as the basket-type part on top. I’m going to work on drafting from the distaff and see if I can get the hang of it.

And lastly, I got a start on my next sweater project- the Chone/Spike Cobblestone

Still have 3 or 4 more skeins to go for this one, so I’ll be working at it from both ends for a bit-

Goal completion date: end of Feb.