Calli's Crafty Weekend Pt. 1

Hi there!

I have set up my crochet workspace at Books-a-Million again. Unfortunately the internet isn't working at home right now, so until further notice, I'll be blogging from work or BAM.  It's cool tho, it gives me a chance to do more public crafting.  I still get a little butterfly-stomached whenever I'm packing up my yarn and hooks to take out of the house.  I feel like people are going to stare at me like "What the heck is she doing?"  So far, that hasn't happened... I'm just paranoid. *shrug*

SO! On to the crafty weekend I've been having. =D

Friday afternoon, I went to Fiber Art Works to pick up the contrast color fiber for my handspun yarn.  I came back with a gold-ish colored fiber. (I forgot to ask Ms. Nina what kind of fiber it was.  When I find out I'll update this.)  Whatever it was, the length was maybe 3+ inches and it was a DREAM to spin. I spun up the whole ounce of fiber that night!

I am really loving Fiber Art Works.  Ms. Nina is very helpful and quick to give tips and assistance for fledgling fiber lovers like myself.  I feel like I have found my own yarn store ^.^ lol.

OK, Sabbath evening, I finished spinning the yellow fiber I've had for a few months & this morning I plied them together.  At first, I wasn't sure that I was going to like the two colors together, but after the plying was underway- it grew on me. Here's what it looked like.

(Check out the spindle I made!  WOOT! I'm so stinkin' proud.)

Now, all I have left to do is crochet up a little something with my yarn. I'm leaning towards a bow or a quickie project.  I forgot to measure the yardage before I wound it into the ball... oops. Next time I'll remember to do that.

My newest project on the "crochet front" is a set of slippers. (I wrote about their beginnings -here-)  I have successfully finished them today in BAM. I did resist the urge to put them on and walk around, lol. I'll save that for the privacy of my home.  They look pretty cute, and give off a bit of an east indian vibe... not sure why... Anywho, I like them and I think they'll be well used- as long as Miss Toot doesn't think they're her new chew toys.

BAM workspace

Completed slippers ^.^

Well that's about it crochet-wise regarding this weekend. I'm going to get ready to head home and work on my finished object with the handspun.  Wish me luck!

(I have a part 2 to this post that will go up tomorrow. I didn't want to write an obscenely long post.  I'm looking forward to writing it because the colors in the pictures are... yummy... for lack of a better word.)

Last thing!
I wore my hair out today and I'm so very in love with it!

Ok. Peace y'all!

What's on My Hook? #12

Good morning :)

This post was originally to be posted last night but I fell asleep... Honestly, I think I've been putting too much pressure on myself to post things on specific days... I like having a plan or expectation for what I'm going to be writing about, but whenever I miss a day or post something late- I feel bad.  I guess I have some thinking to do regarding these "weekly writings."

Anywho, earlier yesterday evening, I took my dogs to the park and started working on another crochet project. I love starting new projects.  Selecting the yarn colors is a process all its own.  I like to pick the first color that grabs me [in this case it was a warm burgundy].  Picking the next colors is almost an organic ceremony. I'm often sitting in front of my yarn shelf, head leaned to the side, moving the first color back and forth waiting for some combo to feel right.  Last night's combo came out to this:

What will this lovely color combo be used for?? I'll be making a pair of granny square slippers! I found the pattern on Purl Bee (click -here- for the pattern).  They should work up pretty quickly, I think... at the moment, I only have part of the first square completed.  I wanted to continue crocheting at the park, but it got too dark and the mosquitoes were a-bitin!

When we got back home, I spent a few hours spinning yarn. I'm using some yellow roving that I bought a few months ago and it's actually kinda tough to draft.  I think thats why my fingers were getting more sore than normal. I also kept thinking, "Man! I'd like spinning this better on a wheel..." lol. Too bad a spinning wheel is WAY out of my budget. SO if anyone knows how I can get a free one, let a girl know! Thanks, ^.^

I think I'm going to spin up all the fiber then ply it together.  Or... maybe I'll get some orange or yellow-orange fiber to ply with it... shoot... I don't really know. All I know for certain is that the Art Stroll is next week and I want to have a finished project made with my handspun yarn to show my yarny friends. :)

So yeah, I had a productive crafty night. Tonight should be pretty much the same, except I'm gonna pepper in a bit of cleaning :-/ So that my living room doesn't continue looking like a crafty hurricane hit it...

Have a wonderful Thursday you guys!

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~correction~

The red color in the slippers is not Burgundy. It's actually Ranch Red.

Red Heart Ranch Red

Art Adventures: pt. 2- Fiber Art Works

Hi there :)

This is part 2 of the Arts Adventure that Cherie and I had yesterday afternoon.  After leaving the Flying Monkey Artist Market, we stopped by Fiber Art Work. Ms. Anastasia's shop is so lovely.  She's really friendly and makes you feel at home as soon as you come in the door.

I planned on maybe picking up a ball of yarn or something on the visit, but definitely ended up picking up wool for spinning. Luckily, her prices are very reasonable for fiber and a lot goes a long way. I picked out an ounce of a really pretty teal/turquoise blue wool for $4.

Now, Mrs. Anastasia does not run a 'hands off the equipment' type store.  When I picked out my fiber, she says, "Ok, now you need to run it through this drum carder. Do you know how to use it?" Of course I didn't. So she gave me a crash course in drum carding and sent me on my carding way.  Cherie took lots of pictures of the process :)

The wool was partially felted from the dyeing process, so I had to pull it apart to feed into the carder.

Considering adding to my blue... decided not to.

Mrs. Anastasia taking the wool off the carder.

Sorry for the goofy grin, I'm super excited about this...

Mrs. Anastasia is really passionate about her shop and my clear excitement over my spinning-ready wool put her on another level, lol.  She kept trying to get me to add other colors/fibers/sparkle to it.  I decided to keep it straight wool since I'm still learning and I don't want to learn on something nice & lovely.

While we were checking out, I mentioned that I'm planning to yarn bomb something in July and Mrs. Anastasia said that she wants her store bombed. She said that if we plan to get people together to bomb the outside of her store, she'll feed us.  Cherie and I were like sounds like an awesome Crafternoon outing for the end of the month.  That definitely gives me something to work towards & gives my yarn bombing a concrete date to happen. ^.^

So yeah, Cherie & I left Fiber Art Work with a new batt of fiber for me, a couple rolls of fabric for her, and a plan for new experiences to come. :) I'm claiming Fiber Art Work as my personal Local Yarn Store. :)

Not So Blue Monday #8

Hi there :)

This Not So Blue Monday started off with me waking up anxious, nervous, nauseous, and dragging my feet into the office.

Now how does this beginning still count as a NSB Monday? It's because this day was honestly riddled with good things. Let's count them down :)

(1)
I turned in two applications for jobs at Oakwood.  The hardest part about knowing that your current job is ending in less than a week, is trusting that God will move in His time.  I spoke to both departments with positions to be filled and hopefully one will come through for me much sooner rather than later... One is a job I can do and one with a job that I want to do...  Oh yeah, I practically burst into tears while talking with the director of the PR department where I want to work... She said it's ok and shows my passion.

(2) 
After work, Cherie & John picked me up and we all went to see the 911 Reporters downtown in the park. The concert was awesome & I got a bunch of really fun shots.

The audience

911 Reporters at Concerts in the Park

I loved how these little girls were dancing together. Kids are awesome!

(3)

I finished spinning the pink roving last evening & soaked/hung it overnight. So this evening, I plied the brown I spun with the pink. It looks nice & I discovered plying is much easier than spinning since there's no drafting :)  I'm calling it 'Strawberry Quick.'  I don't think I have enough to really make anything of substance, but it's my first handspun & plied yarn! Hurray!

(4)
Doggy cuddles... My dogs decided that I was spending too much time working on my yarn and writing, so they pulled a hostile takeover of my roving and lap.

Toot says, "Pay attention to meee! Look I can spin it too!"

This is us not caring about what you though you were doing.  Your lap is ours!

All in all, it ended up being a pleasant day despite the shaky ground it began with. I hope you had a nice Monday.

Crafternoon #8

Hey there.

We finally had another Crafternoon with more than myself, hurray!  Today, my friends Dee & Mimi came over for some diy time. Mimi wanted to crochet a scarf to wear in the winter & Dee wanted to learn to crochet.  So we had a crafternoon crochet lesson.  It went really well & now both ladies are working on double crochet scarves ^.^

This is the direction that I dreamed Crafternoons would take. I wanted to provide a place where people could come and learn a craft or teach one. That way, we create a melting pot of diy ability.

Cherie took a picture of me teaching Dee how to crochet.

Our crafternoon guests crocheting away at their projects :)

I wrote earlier that I finished my first official handspun yarn. I twisted it up into a wee little hank and it was very cute ^.^

Cute little hanky :) I love Kiva's face in the background.

I found this briefcase sitting outside our dumpster one night.  I decided to spray paint it. A quick coat of paint is a really easy way to spruce up a find.  First, I painted it silver, then taped the striped pattern, & then sprayed it navy blue.

Here it is mid process.

And here is the completed paint job.

I have since taken off all of the tape. The clasps and metal feet are silver and the handle is still the original black.  I'm not entirely sure where I would use it. Plus, the inside is a black/white houndstooth pattern that no longer goes with the outside.   Maybe I'll cover the inside... that's still in the design works.

Cherie worked on refashioning a shirt she got from her Grandmother.  She did a lot of nipping, tucking, and grommet setting and created a very cute lace up tube top.  Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of it yet, but I will.

This was a great Crafternoon. Next week, I hope to host another Crafternoon just as great. :)

I Did It!!

Good morning!

Please know that I am so stinkin excited about what I'm about to write!!! WOOOT!
*drumroll please*

I have successfully cleaned, carded, spun, set, & dried my first hank of yarn!!! HUZZAH!

I wrote about where I got the fiber yesterday & I'm very happy with the result. It's a total of about 33 yards. I don't think I'm going to ply it.  I had to do some research on what to do after you finish spinning the yarn. Things like the best way to take the yarn off the spindle, making sure the twist stays in the yarn, how to dry the yarn, and other tips.

This is my yarn soaking in hot water to set the twist.  Before the soak, you could see all the areas where I clearly overspun the yarn & the other places where it's quite under.  After soaking the twist spread out a bit.

Here is the weighted yarn, drying on the balcony.  I'm excited to see how it finally comes out once it's totally dry.

Now, I just have to think of something to make with it. ^.^

Sabbath Crafting

Hello there!

This is what I spent my evening doing :) Spinning yarn & watching "Clash of the Titans" with Lamar.  I found the dream catcher for $5 at Thriftmart & immediately thought "I could SPIN this!!!" 

1. Thrifted Dream Catcher; 2. Salvaged roving; 3. Pet slicker brushes for carding; 4. blended rolags; 5. salvaged roving spun into yarn.

I wasn't sure how to clean it up... I mean there was all manner of smutz, bits & tangles in it. But what's expected from scavenged roving.  I spent a bit of time talking with Mrs. Melissa & Mrs. Laurie at this month's Art Stroll & they gave me some suggestions. Mrs. Melissa said I should get 2 pet slicker brushes to 'card' the tangled up wool, roll it into 'rolags,' & spin from them.  Ms. Laurie said that I should use the really tangled wool for felting. 

So after cleaning up my roving, I was able to spin a whole dark brown section on the drop spindle I bought from Ms. Melissa. Then I practiced carding (which is NOT as easy as it looks... at least not with slicker brushes).  I carded/rolled the white & orange fiber. Then I worked on blending the two. I'm going to spin them tomorrow, I think (once I take the brown yarn off the spindle).

Another thing I noticed about the scavenged dream catcher fiber is that the white fiber is half the length as the orange & brown fiber.  So that's got me thinking that it may not all be wool, but I have more research to do on that front.  I do know it's all animal fiber (I did the burn test).  Now I've just got to figure out what fiber it is.

Anywho, it's late & I'm heading to sleep because we're going to actually have Crafternoon tomorrow! Huzzah!