Monday, February 21, 2011

Now What?

We have another KAL going on in Jane Thornley's group on Ravelry. It's called Knit Me a River, and everyone's projects are river themed. Mine is based on Jane's Flowing River Scarf pattern, but I decided to make it into a shawl instead. Living in the desert, keeping my neck warm isn't much of an issue, but the evenings are cool and keeping my shoulders and arms warm is.

Because I turned this into a shawl, it's not the quick project it might have been. And, as so often happens with FreeRange/Evocative knitting, it has a mind of its own, and has grown quite a bit. Which would be fine; I like a substantial wrap. But because it's bigger than originally planned, it's using more yarn than expected.

Which brings me to my latest dilemma. I've almost run out of one of my essential yarns. It's not one that I need a lot of, but it's used to transition one color into the next, and then into the next, in 2 key places. I discovered that none of the LYSs in town have it, nobody on Ravelry seems to have it in their stash, and I seem to be left in the lurch.

 I’ve spent the evening, so far, trying to come up with a substitute, but nothing works. So I’ll have to figure out how to transition between yarns and still get the hazy effect I have in the half shawl I’ve done so far. The yarn is a mohair, in a not easy to replicate color. So I have to figure out whether I want the 2nd side of my river to be lighter or darker, or a different shade, than the 1st.
 
This is it so far:
  I’ll keep knitting till I get to where I need the yarn, but then it’ll be put on hold till I find a solution. I have a little of it left, but I don’t think it will go very far.

Felting is Fun!

Last week I did a felting workshop from Linda Germain, along with 2 Ravelry friends, Christie and BarbAnn, better known as yarnplenty and passiontocreate. We had a ball, and produced some great projects:
BarbAnn, Christie, and a windblown me
 Here's mine, in progress:
 and finished:
Front (or back, who knows?)

and Back (or front?)




I still haven't decided if it's a bowl, basket, or bag; but it will eventually tell me. In the meantime, I have it sitting where I can see it and admire it, right here in my knitting room.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

The Gem & Mineral, Jewelry & Bead Shows in Tucson

Another thing that's been occupying my time this past week is that it's Gem, Mineral, Jewelry and Bead time here in Tucson. Many of my cohorts in the Glass Bead Making world are in town, either as vendors, or as buyers. And since I set up my glass studio since last year's shows, I've been visiting suppliers to stock up on tools and other equipment to help me get back into glasswork. Including a new kiln. When we moved out here full time, I gave my big kiln to a friend; it would have cost a small fortune to ship out here. 

Since this is the last kiln I expect I'll ever buy, I got every feature I think I might need. Besides beads and jewelry (including shawl pins as an adjunct to my fiber work) I hope to start doing some small sculptures and vessels. This kiln should accommodate them all.

But I haven't abandoned the fiber work. Despite vowing not to buy any new yarn until I make a substantial dent in my stash, I bought quite a few hanks of ribbon from a vendor I buy from at the Whole Bead Show every year. It may be just a technicality, but I figure it's ribbon, not yarn.
And my Rushing River project is coming along; slowly, but nicely.
Till next time...............................

Trying to play "Catch-up"

It's been a while since I last posted. I've been so busy listing items in my new ArtFire Artisan Studio.
This has been a real learning experience for me. I'm constantly editing descriptions, trying to find better ways of saying what I want known about my beads and jewelry. It seems that not only what you say, but the order in which you say it, affects the way it shows up on search engines. And of course, you definitely want it to show up on search engines.

And since it's approaching Valentine's Day, and even more importantly, a sort of Grand Opening for the site, I decided to offer a sale on most, but not all, my wares. So that required more editing. But all in all, I'm happy with the way it's shaping up, and I now have 46 items listed, which I think is a respectable amount for having been open for just over 3 weeks. 

So, again, I invite you to visit; I welcome comments, critiques; a sale here and there wouldn't hurt.