The Seashelly Tales

Back in May,I was on Vacation and visited my brother out in Seattle. We took a trip to Victoria, British Columbia. From there a lovely bus ride up to see the Butchart Gardens. Took a ton of pictures of the flowers. Including this one: Then I got in a drawing mood and with colored pencils drew this "painting": I need to practice drawing, but my fellow students in the class I take thought it was a very nice piece. Just thought I'd share how one gets inspired.

For the past three years, I've been entering my art projects hoping to either a) win a ribbon, of b) sell a piece of artwork. (Now I'm having trouble moving pictures around here, but at least the years uploaded together.) Now this first photo is one of the vases I entered in my second year (2008). Notice the unframed, unmatted drawing above the vase that got an honorable mention! All the artists were questioning that decision! Alas, I saw neither sales or ribbons in 2008. This is the second of three pieces, another vase or chalice. This one is my favorite of the three - I call it "Pandora's Box" because when you open it, you'll see (the word) Hope! This is the only one from the first year that was worth sharing. It ended up being a wedding present to my sister. The other two entries from that year have been trashed. Ah! Now we get to the 2009 show pieces. Another large vase named "Watermelon" ...

It's been awhile. Tax season. Eats up alot of my free time and then some. Anyway, back to spinning and carding and blending yummy colors! I'm calling this blend - Magnolia Sunrise: Starts with these colors: Coming off the carder all blended: How it's shaping up on the wheel: Indian plied and all shanked up: The final product: Yummy! Need to make more for a project or something.

I guess it's safe to post pics of the xmas gifts I knitted for family. They know about the blog, but not sure if they ever peeked. So to play it safe, I withheld the pics until now. For my mom - using up leftovers from other projects: Yeah, my mom is into pigs - so piggy mittens! Whether she actually uses them or not, I don't care. She did squeal and said she liked them, so they are now part of her collection. I had a request from my sister - I did want to try to knit a sweater for her husband from my homespun, but he seems to have an allergic reaction to wearing 100% wool. She did ask for something to cover her shoulders to wear at work - she gets cold, and wanted something kinda "stylish". I chose this pattern, and undyed wool and did this: She also squealed and put it on - for a little while. She had layers on and didn't need the extra warmth, but it did fit well. My sister is IN to thank you cards as well. At least someone appreciates homespun hand knit ...

I can see myself blowing my budget on Kool Aid. I'm collecting as many different flavors as I can. Got 14 - missing the green Lemon-Lime. From now on, it's an experiment. Dyeing with Kool Aid is amazingly easy! I just did single colors for now. Soak the wool in warm water. Mix the package in the same temp water. Add the wool. Add enough water to cover the wool. Cook - stovetop or microwave. When the water is clear - you're done. Ratio: 1 pkg Kool Aid to 1 oz wool. First batch: Jamaica - spoon shows the water = clear! This shade is just absolutely perfect! No need to change the ratio for this color! Second batch: Strawberry Kiwi This is a nice shade of pink. Could be a bit darker. Maybe increase the ratio - use more Kool Aid. But it's still a nice shade. Third batch: Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade: This shade also came out lighter than I'd like. It's still pretty, but for a deeper blue, will probably need to double the ratio. Here they al...

The problem with spinning, is soon you start thinking of dyeing your own fiber, making your own roving , blending different fibers together. I soon had my eye on this: This is a Fancy Kitten Drum carder. You can process far more wool than simple hand carders . The bats that come off this well, we're jumping ahead a bit. Well, there was some money owed me that recently got repaid! Thank You! (if you are reading this), so I decided I would get me one of these "toys". But, first, you had to prep the wool - you have to clean the wool before you can use one of these babies. So, we start with this: So, we start with some nice clean-ish raw wool. Break it apart into manageable sections and start filling up lingerie bags - the ones you put your fancy stuff into before you toss in the washing machine. Meanwhile, removing as much veggie matter and twigs, etc. as you can. Oh, we don't stuff the lingerie bags. Keep it loose. Then we move to step 2: Which is pretty much the sam...

It seems I've picked up the family "legacy" regarding knitting and crocheting. My grandmother taught me as a little girl, first how to crochet, then knit. I knitted hats, knitted mittens, crochets granny squares into afghans. Instead of candy for Valentines or Easter, I got yarn - in the colors I was using for the afghan I was crocheting. Later in life, I moved on to sweaters. Well, to be honest, I've only done - 7 (Seven) sweaters total. As time goes on, and you can't stop it, I lost my grandmother - who died very peacefully in her sleep. By I have her legacy in me - knowledge of how to knit and crochet. I also inherited her circular needles, and pattern books. OMG! I've got a large flat storage bin under my bed full of pattern books. Some must go back to the 50's and 60's. They are interesting to look at. As they say, fashions do come back into style. Take an old pattern with a fresh new yarn - presto! I also inherited one of her WIP's (that'...