Knitting

13, Bigmommy’s Birthday

July 12, 2013July 12, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

OFF THE NEEDLES

Besides scaling it down a little, I used an I-cord bind-off, mostly so I could practice it. I do like the rolled edge it makes, though.

HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY

Happy birthday, Bigmommy! I love you and am so proud of the beautiful woman you’ve become. It’s been a pleasure (mostly). Much love.

BY THE BOOK

I finally was able to get started in Joyland by Stephen King and it’s fabulous enough that I didn’t pick up my needles once yesterday because I couldn’t stop reading. Now that’s a good book. I totally plan on finishing it today and am anxiously awaiting Dr. Sleep. I think it’s due to come out in September.

Linking up with Tami and Frontier Dreams KCCO

Anyone who keeps the abilith to see beauty in every age of life really never grows old. Franz Kafka

Knitting

10 reasons why many knitters also love ceramics

July 12, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

Very interesting!!!

February Twelve

Do you see knitting and ceramics as two totally different universes? Obviously they are! But how come, so many knitters also like ceramics and vice versa? I happen to be one of them.

Personally, I’m not surprised at all, at the end I think it all comes down to the same thing. Knitting and ceramics have more in common than they differ :

1) It’s all about manual work – either very refined or very chunky;

2) It’s all about technique – no matter how basic it may seem at first, it will probably take years of experience before having learned all there is to know and most likely this will only happen to some lucky few. But that’s part of the passion too, isn’t it ?

3) It’s all about the right material for the right object;

4) It’s all about physically feeling and touching;

5) It’s all about…

View original post 103 more words

Knitting

10 reasons why many knitters also love ceramics

July 12, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

Very interesting!!!

February Twelve

Do you see knitting and ceramics as two totally different universes? Obviously they are! But how come, so many knitters also like ceramics and vice versa? I happen to be one of them.

Personally, I’m not surprised at all, at the end I think it all comes down to the same thing. Knitting and ceramics have more in common than they differ :

1) It’s all about manual work – either very refined or very chunky;

3) It’s all about the right material for the right object;

4) It’s all about physically feeling and touching;

5) It’s all about…

View original post 103 more words

Knitting

Adventures in Dyeing, Part 2

July 11, 2013July 11, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

Another experiment, this time using Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade and Cherry flavors. The jury’s still out on this one.

After drying last night, the jury is in. I like it.

And wound

The Yarn Formerly Known As Oatmeal

An hour of play discovers more than a year of conversation does. Portuguese proverb

Knitting

WIP 7/10/13, First Try at Dye and a New Book

July 10, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

BUSINESS AS USUAL

Like most other WIP Wednesdays, I’m linking up with a couple of other cool blogs, Tami Ami, Frontier Dreams KCCO and Ginny’s Knit Along. Check them out and prepare to be inspired!

ON THE NEEDLES

Wise Hilda’s Basic Ribbed Socks for Mr. Iknead

A few more inches and this one will ride off into the sunset of FOs.

BY THE BOOK

I finally made it to my local BN yesterday and purchased a copy of Stephen King’s newest, Joyland. I haven’t officially started reading it, except skimming through the pages and reading a sentence or two. Anxiously waiting for at least a 15 minute lull in the day so I can really get started.

ADVENTURES IN DYEING

Here’s the finished product I promised yesterday; it’s still a tad damp, but I think it turned out pretty well, don’t you?

First Try at Dyeing with Kool-aid – Pink Lemonade.

I found some really unattractive 100% yarn in the stash, it may be Lion Brand 100% Wool, sort of an oatmeal color. I’ve just now decided to overdye (if that’s the word) another color, possibly purple. Show and tell tomorrow.

The love of learning, the sequestered nooks/And all the sweet serenity of books. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Knitting

DIY FYI DYE

July 9, 2013July 9, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN

Yep, that’s right. Arkansas’s summer has finally come and it looks like it’s planning to unpack its bags and stay awhile. This makes for a sweaty whatever you happen to be engaged in, whether it’s baking, knitting, walking or any other of the billions of things that make up a day. Thankful for my AC and fans and thank you, Mr. Iknead, for giving me the treat of sitting in one spot, never having to leave the comfort of my cool house, except for essential tasks. Essential = groceries and/or gasoline.

FIRST TRY AT DYE

I’ve been eyeballing DIY dyeing articles and blogs, so, equipped with Kool-Aid, trash bags and part of my recent experiment in handspinning, I gave Pink Lemonade a go.

Step One

Step Two (don’t forget the gloves)

Step Three (heat to set the dye)

Sorry, no pic. Microwaving yarn not photogenic.

Step Four

Let Cool and Rinse

Will show off the finished product tomorrow, after final rinse and drying. I hope it doesn’t resemble a wad of pink worms so much.

For more detailed instructions, check out Knitty.com.

DIVALICIOUS

Babysitting Photo-Op

Genius is nothing but a great aptitude for patience. George-Louis de Buffon

Knitting

When Pots Speak

July 8, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

LEARNING

I’ve been heavily involved these past few days, checking out Google +, playing around with it and generally trying to get a feel for the site. I really like the idea, sort of a Pinterest/Facebook hybrid, I really don’t facebook much, would I use Google + more and is it easier to navigate? That remains to be seen, admittedly I’m more than a little technophobic and slow on the uptake when it comes to computer stuff. I prefer things to stay pretty much the same, I tend to melt down when something computeresque changes, even small things like layout and upgrades and it takes me forever to finally get comfortable with whatever changes happen. Slow, slow, slow in the computer literacy department.

GOING POTTY

Awesome pottery class this morning. I started a coiled pot Saturday afternoon, had to put it aside when the studio closed and then my mom had a small issue Sunday, she’s OK, but I wasn’t able to get back to work on it until class this morning. I’ve fallen completely in love with this pot; my instructor says I may have found my pottery “calling”, coils. I don’t know about that, there a lot of things/techniques I’ve never tried, but I am loving this pot.

I put the water bottle next to it so you could get an idea of its size, it’s not huge, but it’s the biggest thing I’ve done so far.

The soft square shape just sort of happened.

You can get a better idea of its shape here.

It’s finished and is in the damp box awaiting bisquing next week. This pot just happened, I had no plan or even any idea in my head, then, today, I knew when it was finished, don’t ask me how I knew, but I did. And no, I’m not hearing voices – yet. 🙂

ON THE NEEDLES

Mr. Iknead’s socks are still a WIP, but the heel turn is finished and gusset started on one and the 75% Medano Bag was finished this afternoon. I’ll show and tell it for sure on Friday. In the meantime, I’m trying as hard as I not to be seduced by the patterns in the newest Vogue Knitting, don’t know if I can resist…..

OOPS

Almost forgot, I’m linking up with Frontier Dreams Keep Calm and Craft On today. Check out the Flickr KCCO group. Very cool!

Learn to be happy with what you have while you pursue all that you want. Jim Rohn

Knitting

Fee, Fie, FO No

July 4, 2013July 4, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

NOT OFF THE NEEDLES

OK, so I didn’t pull an all-nighter to finish Mr. Iknead’s socks, though as slow a knitter as I am, it would have been impossible anyway. I remember now why Mr. Iknead only gets a new pair of hand knit socks every other year or so – it takes so long and as man feet go, Mr. Ikneads aren’t what would be considered large. It feels like I’ve been working on them since, oh, I don’t know, the last ice age, maybe. The heel turn is tantalizingly close; I think that’s what has kept me going the last day or so. I’m committed to finishing them, so I’ll keep plodding onward.

Mr. Iknead’s Wise Hildas

PRETTY PLEASE

The colors of these hydrangeas blew me away – of everything we had put in, I think they’re my favorite, I never get tired of looking at them.

Even though I don’t have a FO today, I’m linking up with Tami Ami’s and Frontier Dreams.

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous. Aristotle, On the Parts of Animals

Knitting

WIP Wednesday 07/03/13

July 3, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

ON THE NEEDLES

Wise Hilda’s Basic Ribbed Socks for Mr. Iknead

75% Medano Bag

I reduced the this pattern by 25% and went down a needle size. The full sized bag was just too big for me to comfortably carry.

Yarn Along

I’m linking up today, as usual, with Tami Ami’s, Frontier Dreams and Ginny’s Yarn Along. Pay them a visit, willya?

Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not. Walter Bagehot

Knitting

Acorns, Pot and Clunk

July 2, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

GOING POTTY

I had a touch of bad attitude Sunday, just feeling tired and overwhelmed – I suppose I finally ran out of adrenaline after running on it all week, so I took a field trip to the pottery studio for a couple of hours. After some enthusiastic wedging, I settled down and began a new coiled pot. Class meets this morning, so I’ll get some feedback on what works and what doesn’t on this particular project. I remembered to bring the fancy camera to take a photo of the acorn I started last week.

It needs a little fine tuning, I think.

Trying to decide, should I glaze true to nature or go for something more whimsical, like blue or purple?

A peek at the pot I started Sunday. I can’t decide if it needs a little fine tuning or not.

Clunks for a windclunk I randomly started

(I call them clunks because they don’t chime like glass, they clunk)

After glazing with Rhodes Turquoise

Excited to see their true color after firing!

ON, THEN OFF THE NEEDLES

I swatched the handspun yesterday, take a look –

I’ll keep practicing.

Very little is needed to make a happy life. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Meditations

Knitting

Spinning, Birds and Blessings

June 29, 2013June 29, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

OFF THE SPINDLE

Pulled my first ever handspun off my drop spindle yesterday afternoon, gave it a quick bath and laid it out to dry. I can only hope to improve, I suppose. Mr. Iknead’s drop spindle works like a charm and is easy to use. It turns so easily and spins for what seems like a long, long time. I invested in a small niddy-noddy and a yardage counter from Knitpicks today, they were on sale and if I stay as interested in spinning as I think I’m going to, I’ll need them. Here’s a look at my first ever handspun:

Very kinky and I’m sure horrendously overspun but it’s a start.

LET ME DRAW YOU A (BIRD) BATH

Mr. Iknead and I finally got back out to The Good Earth Garden Center today. We went out last Saturday but our shopping trip was cut short when my mother took a turn for the worse and had to be taken to the Emergency Room. More about that a little later. Anyway, we spent a couple of hours or so just wandering around, looking at different plants, coveting the largest and prettiest of whatever we happened to be looking at and browsing containers and pretty pots. We had decided a few weeks ago that we really needed (read wanted) a small birdbath for the front yard, so we spent a little extra time just checking different ones out. They were pretty expensive and we really just didn’t see one that turned over our engines and decided to wait for the perfect one, maybe pay a little more rather than just getting one that we thought was so-so and inexpensive. We had this agreement and were leaving when I saw the Birdbath That Called My Name. We both loved it, the price was right, so our front yard is now graced by the perfect birdbath. I hope the birds love it as much as we do!

I love the leaf shape!

Now, if only the ground cover would hurry up and fill in…..

WHERE WE STAND

Our meetings with hospice went very well, Mom was officially admitted to Arkansas Hospice and they’ll be coming to the nursing home at least five days a week, caring for her and providing support for us. A nice surprise was that Bigmommy’s best friend since babyhood is a social worker with Arkansas Hospice (we knew she worked for a hospice, just not which one) and has known my mom pretty much forever. She and her family are like family to us and that gives us reassurance and comfort during this time, when it feels like we’re always second guessing ourselves and the decisions we’ve had to make. A blessing.

THE GRANDS

The Stuttgart grands are at Grayton Beach, Florida even as I type. They’re enjoying the Vaughan side of the family tree, and I’m sure being totally and deliberately spoiled rotten by their Grandmary and Pops, aunts, uncles and cousins. Another blessing for sure. Waiting on some beach pics, will show off a few when (and if) they arrive.

Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them. Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Knitting

Home Again, I Hate Dementia, What’s Next

June 28, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

OFF THE NEEDLES

Nothing, absolutely nothing. This is not to say I don’t have projects in varying stages of completion, I have tons of them, just none even close enough to pull an all nighter to have something to post. But, hey, the day has just begun and I do have 24 hours to finish something. Totally within the realm of possibility.

MOM

Thankfully, my mom was discharged from the hospital early yesterday afternoon to go back to her nursing home. Her doctor has recommended that she be placed on hospice so Mr. Iknead and I have meetings today with both companies that work within her nursing home. I’m not ready to lose my Mom, though her dementia has erased my “real” Mom and I’ve been grieving that for a long time. Dementia kills the person within long before it kills the body without and I hate it, but it is what it is. To be continued……..

YARN

Newest yarn acquisition in my favorite teapot

Another two skeins of Premier Yarns Wool Free Sock. Mr. Iknead’s socks using this yarn in a blue colorway are still on the needles, but I’m totally loving the way it feels and how it knits up. As soon as I get something, anything, off the needles, I’m starting myself some socks using this.

Cherish your visions and your dreams, as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements. Napoleon Hill