Where has the time all gone?

I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted to this Blog. 3 MONTHS! Things have taken a slightly different turn lately, as I've been spending more time making finished jewelry, and less time making beads. The beads I have been making have been mostly for use in the above mentioned finished jewelry. And I've been doing less knitting and crochet, although I haven't forsaken fibercrafts altogether;

I did another felted Moebius basket:

 and a felted Moebius bowl:

 And I've been trying my hand at spinning with a Drop Spindle.

The first attempt, started at a mini-class at Kathy Withers; 

then left to languish in a closet till I pulled it out and started 

trying again. It yielded about 30 yards or so.

 Encouraged by my success, I tried some recycled Sari Silk 

that I had bought at one of Kathy's Wool Festivals: It yielded about 50 yards.

And now I'm really getting the hang of it with this luscious  80% llama/alpaca, and 20% Soy Silk from Camp Verde Llamas, purchased at Kathy's last Wool Festival a couple of weeks ago.

 I've already got about 125 yards of the llama/alpaca/sari silk, 

and there's still at least that much more waiting to be spun.

BTW, when I say Kathy's last Festival, I don't just mean the latest one. It was really her LAST one, as she's moving to Maryland. Boy, will I miss her and her wonderful yarns and classes, as well as the animals at the ranch. She's always been a great source of inspiration.

That's the end of this chapter in my account of what's been happening. More to come about the metals class I've been taking, and all the changes in the 

glass and jewelry part of my world.

My work has been featured in 3 Collections on ArtFire. 

2 are collections of work by members of the #AFPounce Guild.
Fab Finds for the Last Minute Christmas Shopping! 
Holiday Gifts to Pounce On! 

And 1 is a collection of Glass Art; there are 3 of my products in this one:
Handcrafted Glass Jewelry

Shawl Pins and Stick Pins, Finally

I've made a number of shawl pins for my own knit and crochet projects, but I've been wanting to make some for sale as well. I figured that the Christmas season is a great time for them to make their debut.

The shawl pins are the perfect accessory for knit and crochet shawls, scarves, and sweaters.

These are available for purchase at my ArtFire Studio.

The first one is on Copper Wire, but the others are all twisted Fine Silver Wire

I'm working on some more, including some lapel style Stick Pins, 

but haven't added them to the site as yet, so this is a preview.

Check them out, and let me know what you think. I'm interested in your feedback.

The Moebius Basket Update, and a new Patchwork Triangles Capelet

In my last post, I talked about the Cat Bordhi workshop I had attended, and showed a picture of my basket so far. I had inadvertently put an extra twist in the handle, and thought I would have to frog it and start over. But I decided to go ahead with it and see what happened. Here's the result; actually not bad.

 I also finished a new version of my Patchwork Triangles Capelet, this time using only 3 different yarns, and 2 stitch patterns in the body, and 3 stitch patterns in the border. The idea is to write up the pattern, and possibly put it up for sale.

 And this is the Shaw Pin I created for it.

I have been playing around with a number of ideas for shawl pins. Watch my ArtFire Studio for them in the coming days.

A Workshop or 2 with Cat Bordhi

Last weekend I attended 2 workshops with Cat Bordhi, a knit designer and teacher who sparked the current Moebius trend. Her innovative Moebius Cast On (MCO) makes it easy to knit a moebius in the round. At this point I can't even remember how I first was made aware of moebii and Cat Bordhi, but once I discovered them, I became obsessed. Her books: "A Treasury if Magical Knitting", and "A Second Treasury of Magical Knitting" started me off on a series of moebii, including at least 1 that I crocheted. She also has written a number of books on sock knitting, in which I have no interest.

So when I heard that one of our local yarn shops was hosting a series of workshops with Cat, I immediately called and signed up for the moebius workshop, as well as one which focused on creativity and design. The third workshop was on socks, and as I've said: just not my cup of tea.

At the moebius class, I opted for a basket, which I had never done before.  I finished the top, which is comprised of the handle (the moebius part), and the rim, from which you then pick up stitches to form the bowl. After I picked up the stitches, I realized that I had inadvertently made an extra twist. Cat said it might make an interesting effect, but once I got home, I decided that I didn't really like the extra twist. So I took it off the needles, planning on redoing it.

 But now I'm not so sure; maybe I'll have a try at it the way it is.

More on the 2nd workshop in another post.