Walking on art

This isn't something I made, but I know all crafters out there will appreciate this rug designed by Amy Butler. It is so beautiful! I want to sit in my bedroom and admire it.


The pattern is of course amazing, but what really makes the rug special is that the wool is sculptured with the floral design. It's almost too nice to walk on. I sat all the pets down to give them a stern lecture on never, ever, under any circumstances walking on the rug, but I'm not sure if it sunk in. Maybe I could put a little fence around it, like people do with their gardens to keep rabbits out . . .

Giving my personal crafting consultant a break

I made this zippered pouch all on my own without making my mom field my endless stupid questions. My brain had a little trouble figuring out the zipper, but finally I got it in the right way. Thank you, seam ripper!


I know it's a very simple project, but I am just getting started with sewing.

Tasty treat

I made these bar cookies today. The recipe had a few steps, which usually I avoid because I like instant gratification when it comes to snacks, but this was worth the extra time.

http://bakingbites.com/2009/02/homemade-girl-scout-cookies-samoas-bars/

Big, little and zippered

This weekend my ever-talented mom came to my place for a sewing lesson. She helped me make a little fabric basket and a zippered pouch. Today on my own I made a jumbo-sized version of the basket. Of course once I got started I completely forgot how to put it together. Call it a case of brain freeze. A quick consultation with my on-call crafting guru (aka mom) and suddenly the solution was obvious. Too bad the good sewing juju didn't last to my next attempt to recreate the zippered pouch. Sigh. I'm going to need another phone consultation and maybe a brain transplant.


I think they look pretty amazing. And at this magnification you can't see my wonky sewing. Ariel seem impressed and came in for a closer look - then climb into the big basket, of course. She also sat on the fabric being cut, sniffed the bobbin was it was winding, then practically sat on the sewing machine. So helpful.

Mmm . . .

I tried two new recipes today. Very adventurous for me! Both were super tasty.

First I baked up a new cookie. Usually I stick to my tried and true chocolate chip cookies because, well, they're the perfect blend of crispy and chewy and chocolaty. But I found this recipe for crispy salted butterscotch oatmeal cookies on one of my favourite blogs - Poppytalk. I'd definitely recommend them. The oatmeal and coconut give the cookies a wonderful crispiness while still being a bit chewy.

http://poppytalk.blogspot.com/2010/02/yummy-treats-salty-sweets.html

Then for dinner I tried paprika chicken with pasta in a tomato cream sauce from another favourite blog - Crepes of Wrath. I've had a love for paprika since vacationing in Hungary and this recipe looked too tasty to resist.

http://crepesofwrath.net/2010/02/15/paprika-chicken-with-pasta-in-a-tomato-cream-sauce/

It was really good - the chicken moist, the pasta sauce creamy and the paprika gives a nice, slow burn.

I shoulda snapped photos, but I was too eager to tuck into a big bowl! Now to the paprika-stained pile of dishes.

Back at the wheel

This long weekend I had time to spend an afternoon and evening spinning. It's been so long I was worried I would forget what I was doing, but I guess it's like riding a bike. I started with a jar of mixed fibres from the Roving Spinners, including wool, lots of silk and mohair locks. I carded them by hand with a blend of all the fibres. Rather than try to make uniform rolags, I mixed different colours and ratios for a quite diverse range. Then I spun a very fine yarn, and a thick and thin with the goal of making some funky art yarn with lots of coils.


I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. The silk gives it an amazing lustre and strength and I like the colour variation. There are a few spots where I should have been a bit more careful with the thick coils, but the vast majority look great.

I had a fair bit of the lace-weight yarn left, so I gave navajo plying a try. It's a technique that makes a three-ply yarn with a single bobbin. It's tricky at first, but once you get in the rhythm it goes fast. Even with three plies, it's still quite fine.


This weekend I also started on my idea for earrings made on a small scale like the ornaments on my mobile. They're looking neat so far, but are definitely require far more patience because they're teeny. Plus I have to make two that look fairly similar. I should have gone with my first plan to make ones with the same beads, but different design. That would have been way easier. Stupid perfectionism.

Energized

I had many yards of a single ply left over from a box of Wellington Fibres roving, so I decided to spin it with a commercial yarn. That's a great way to make the most of handspun, and definitely easier than trying to get a two-ply out of a single bobbin.


It turned out pretty nice, but it's a bit overspun. I was thinking of running it through the wheel again for a balanced yarn, but I kind of like it with so much spring. Really, I'm still learning and every experiment at the spinning wheel teaches me something new.