moved to http://craftyamber.vox.com/

so with ravelry I haven't felt the need to blog about knitting. For me it is feeling redundant. So I started a general "craft" blog here to keep track of my knitting, stained glass making, paper craft, whatever stuff I make. Come by and see me :)

what pattern did I use for that hat from the last post?

It's the Marsan Watchcap and I LOVE the pattern. This is my 5th one. It's a twisted rib stitch so it gets a ton of texture and is very stretchy:)

I've used handspun, superwash worsted wool, wool/cotton... it all seems to work well :)

looming

so I've been mostly playing with my loom lately. Once you get the thing warped the weaving part goes really fast. And I'm getting better at the warping... not great but better :)

I finished up a scarf in beaverslide wool:

unlike with knitting you can't see the whole project while makin git. The scarf rolls up onto the beam and you see it all when you are done. SO at about the half way point I changed my stripe size... by accident. It started as 4 rows dark red 8 rows dusty red. That turned into 4 rows dark red and 6 rows dusty red. Oops. I'm a new enough weaver that I will just chock that one up to practice and not worry about it.

And another scarf (less mistakes) using a natural alpaca for the warp and some handspun navajo plied yarn for the weaving part:

This one I am happy with :)

and I've started a new one:

using knitpicks gloss for the warp and knitpicks decadence (alpaca) for the weft. So far so good. I like the subtle brown on brown part. Makes me want to make another one in all brown.

also been plodding along on candy stripes form the IK holiday issue:


and a hat for my husband:

using Filatura Di Crosa Zara. Should be nice to wear if I ever finish it :)

high school...

You paid attention during 86% of high school!

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Weaving...

My husband got me a Kromski Harp rigid heddle loom for my birthday:


The weaving part is super easy (at least a basic plain weave is) but wraping/worping (not sure the propper term) is hard! My tension is all over the place (the warp is the long string that goes the length of the project).

but I made a small scarf with some handspun & sock yarn:


It's a little short but otherwise I am happy with it.

Now I'm working on a longer scarf with a cotton warp (from artfibers) and beaverslide fishermasn wool. The cotton warp is even more wonky in tension than the sock yarn was. But it's still going ok:


and a bit of spinning (my first traditional 3 ply - 1 strand "hot rod" bfl and 2 strands natural bfl):






it makes me think of fruit stripe gum :)

post christmas selfish knitting

So I've been working on a few non gift items just-because-I-feel-like-making-them projects.



it's just a basic entrelac pattern using Tilli Thomas Pure and Simple silk. So decadent to work with.



this is candy stripes form IK holiday issue. I'm using some long stashed rowan kid classic (it's for me).

and a little spinning and navajo plying:




and most exciting.... I got a loom for my birthday. It came yesterday and I have no idea what I'm doing but plan to spend some time with it this weekend :)

christmas knitting

So here are some of the finished items (see my project page for all the yummy details):



and then I'll have a few more things to knit but not for people I'll see tomorrow :)

Happy Holidays!

navajo plying

I wanted to try novajo plying with my yarn rather than the traditional plying... so here is my first try:

it's romney wool and is very over twisted and feels like rope...

second try:



wool blend and much better, but a very chunky yarn.

and the third time is apparently the charm:



merino fiber from handpaintedyarn.com. The single is much finer and I made sure not to overspin the single, then worked really slowly while plying. This one I love. The color stays together very nicely. I can see using navajo plying quite a bit.

something amazing has happened

I finished a project. Well actually two! Anyone who checks in here semi-regularly will notice that I start a lot of projects... and finish not so many.

But I actually have a couple done :)

I started a little squishy ball from "knitted Toys" by Zoe Mellor in July. I knit 3 of the little pieces and then put it down. In 2 afternoons I knit the other 3 and sewed it together. Not sure why it took me so long to get back to this one. Nice easyish knit (had to keep track of shaping the pieces). I used some Cascade D'oro (discontinued 50/50 wool alpaca) and Valley Yarns Stockbridge (Webs almost identical yarn - yarn.com). I needed less than 25% of a ball of each color.





I aslo finished my mom's poncho from a couple posts ago. Don't have a new photo yet though :)

lots of undocumented spinning

I have been spinning more than usual and posting about it less... so here's some catch up.

"deep woods" superwash merino (fat cat knits - etsy)




"royal" superwash merino (pigeon on roof studios -etsy)


"explorer" wool (spunky ecclectic):


"pulse" bfl (spunky ecclectic):


I finally got around to washing and photographing these the other day (the color is a little off... the short daylight hours are making accurate color photos hard)

quick update

I've been knitting...

my tree jacket (the sleeves have been separated - it looks too red in this photo):


Yarrow Rib Socks for my aunt (first one done second one almost to the heel):


Harlot Poncho for my mom (she really wants one... )I added a cable down the front and back. Using Cascade Eco Wool:


and some spinning

bought soem blue/pink merino at a craft fair:


and here is the final yarn:


also some bfl in "vivian" from fat cat knits on etsy:


and the yarn:

knitty surprise

this is at the top of my need to cast on list!

Oblique

I have some Elsabeth Lavold Angora in a dark Plum color that could work really well!!! (perhaps I need to finish like 3 scarves and 2 sweaters before I dig in though) :)

got tagged

I've been tagged by abmatic.
Here are the rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 3 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

stuff about me:

1. I love animals. For the most part I prefer them to people. And I don't get people who don't have/want pets.

2. My sense of color is a little "special". I think most colors work together.

3. I'm afraid of fish. When I've gone snorkeling in the past I always worried the fish were going to bite my toes. I have the same mild fear of the beach... but with sand crabs. I'm protective of my feet. Maybe that is why I am digging sock knitting so much.

4. When I was a kid I used to race remote control cars with my dad and brother. We belonged to a little club that did this. I consistently beat all the guys in races (I was about 9 years old and most of them had to have been in their 30's or 40's). I learned early that there was nothing I couldn't do as well as the guys could.

5. I work in computer animation, but that is not what I went to school for. My major was photography and my minor was graphic design. I don't know a lot of people who do as a profession what they went to school for.

6. I am a bit of a control freak. When we got married last year I had so much trouble letting other people help me (except for my husband... he helped very well). We made the invitations ourselves (and the favors, and did all the flowers, and wrote the ceremony). I finally had to deligate some tasks to friends and family but it was hard to let go of some of the control.

7. I don't plan to have kids of my own but really want to be an aunt. So I really hope my brother has a kid or 2 :)

ok tagging kgirl, octopus knits, adrienne

socks have consumed me

finished a pair:



Yarn: claudia handpaints fingering
Color: chocolate cherries
Pattern: Madder Rib Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks
Needles: Knit Picks Options Circs #1
Yarn Quantity: 2 balls

And stated another:



same book (Yarrow Rib sock). Using knit picks simple stripe yarn. These will be for my aunt and I wanted them to machine wash well. The yarn is kinda fun. my first socks with the self patterning yarn.

spun some BFL

the fiber:


single ply:


and 2 ply:


Fiber is from pigeonroof etsy store. and the color is "vintage". This is one of my more sublte colorways of handspun. I'm pleased with it.

Ravelry has made me a bad blogger

but here are some finished projects.

The 2 scarves I started on my camping trip.

Irish Hiking Scarf in squishy soft merino:


garter stitch scarf in some older handspun of mine (BFL):


and my madder sock (I finished one and am on the toe of the second... but I realized I decreased too fast on the toe of the first one. so I'll have to rip it out and re-do the toe. the new one is fitting better):

pooling different on each sock... oh well.

And a finished Jaywalker (the second one is hardly started... but I'll be getting back to it soon):


and love the heel stripes: