Done and Done

Well, as you can tell, I didn't get around to the photos that I promised yesterday.  I was a little busy... doing nothing in particular!  Let's see, I made stuffed shells for dinner (YUM YUM), I made willy worm (a dessert that my mom's family made when she was a kid that involves home-made pie crust, cinnamon, sugar, and butter - its delish), I watched "A League of Their Own" and cried of course, I went to Jo-Ann's because I was out of the green bamboo/silk that I needed for the latest project.  Yeah, that was about my day.  I LOVE summer!

So, here is the "sneak peek" of my latest project.

And as you know, I'm not so great at taking photos on the loom, so this was the best I could do.  The two yarns are great: a blend with a fabulous colorway from Conjoined Creations and the green bamboo/silk.  So, I combined the two for a subtle Houndstooth pattern.  It's pretty wide, and I'm planning it for a shorter neck cowl.  We'll see what it looks like after its dried.

And here, the previous project and this one are hanging in the bathroom drying after their first bath!

So, I'm excited about both!

Also, Thomas and I just saw "Snow White and the Huntsman" today.  It was really good considering that the main actor is not great at her job.  It was a really cool take on Snow White where she gets to be a hard core princess who takes on the evil queen in her own right.  I like the stories where the princess gets to have a hand in saving herself, but of course, every princess needs her prince; she doesn't have to be so helpless that he gets to have all the fun defeating the baddies!  (There's a British word for you!)

Wait... Now its a New Weekend...

So, yeah...  It might have taken me another week, but I have another post!  Here's a couple of pics of the latest scarf, and by latest, I mean, finished like forever ago!

It's super long, so I wear it doubled.  And its houndstooth: large white squares with small taupe accents.  I like it.  It's cotton though, so I'm still wash-and-wearing it in so it gets softer.

Well, off to go make dinner... blueberry muffins, scrambled eggs, and sausage... We're so not fat at this house!  ;)

Bloggity Dig Diggity

Oh blog.  I am so sorry.  I'm sure you are feeling so very neglected.  Well, let me dust you off and spend some time with you again...

On an upside, my class got cancelled tonight (HALLELUJAH!!!) so I've had some time for fun instead!  Today, I got a present in the mail from myself...  Yay!!!  However, I have a few other things to update you on first.

#1:  I finished my tricolor houndstooth sampler... So here's a pic.  I tried several different patterns and widths with the warp and the weft.  And I remembered why I don't like working with cheap acrylic yarns.  Yuck.  Anyway, I do like that I have a sample to look at when I want to do something with houndstooth.

#2:  I've got a new project already warped and almost finished on the loom.  And... you guessed it: it's houndstooth.  Lol.  My new love.  However, this is a very subtle understated scarf that I will hopefully be able to wear with anything.  Think white and cream... Pics to follow!

#3:  MY NEW TOYS!!!!!  So, I got my first ball winder and swift!!!  Yay!  So, now my skeins will be usable center pull balls of yarn in no time!

From this...

 Through this...

 And this...

To this!!!

 AWESOME!!!  I can't wait to wind some more!  (I'm going to run out of skeins really quick.  And then I'll be sad...)

But, now its time to eat the wonderful dessert that my husband just made me!  Banana pudding with Nilla wafers.  Yummy!

Milk and Cookies

I'm on a milk and cookies break from weaving.  What kind of cookies you ask?  Peanut butter... YUM!!!!  Oh, and are you surprised that I'm weaving?!  Well, this week was pretty darn awful, so tonight is the night to relax and embrace the fact that its the weekend!  So, I warped the sampler I've had planned (which took FOR-EV-ER!!!), and now I'm working on weaving it.  Here's a pic of the warp.  I decided to use electric colors so that I could really see the patterns.  And, though I chose to use cheapy acrylic yarn so that I wouldn't waste anything expensive on a sampler, I can't help but hate myself a little because its so stinkin' difficult to work with.

So, I don't want to depress you with my bad week, so here's a highlight.  ***SPOILER ALERT:  If you don't live in Florida, you may not want to read any further!!!

This morning I walked outside into the perfect spring morning.  The air was just that temperature where you walk out and rejoice that you don't have to wear a jacket, and there was a wonderfully cool breeze blowing off the water.  It was the absolutely perfect (except the fact that I was on my way to work)!  Love.

Oh!  And I ordered some new stuff today!  I'm really, really hoping it will get here next week so I can play with it.  But, you'll just have to wait until I get it to find out what my awesome new toys are!!!  He he he!

Happy weekend!!!

Take THAT Time!

Rachel - 1; Time - 0

So, somehow, tonight I found the time to finish my houndstooth scarf!!!  But first, here's another one of my Christmas gifts that I missed about the other day...

Yay!  10 inch shuttles!!!  They were so great and convenient this project!

Now for the finished Houndstooth scarf!!!  It's super duper long (over 80 inches) and amazingly soft and fuzzy!!!

I really like how it turned out!  It's bold and different from anything I've done before!

Unfortunately, I spent my evening doing this instead of working... oops.  Oh well!  Fun is better!!!

Just a Little Pinch...

So, since I have thoroughly neglected the blog recently, here is a little pinch of several different projects, etc.

Here's the scarf I made for my mom for Christmas.  It turned out well, if I do say so myself!

And here's the scarf I made my mother-in-law for Christmas.  It's funny because I bought both of these yarns months ago, knowing that eventually, they would go to these two specific people.  People really do have colors that match their personalities in my opinion.

 And, as you can tell, the photos are not high quality because I took these right before stuffing the scarves into a suitcase and flying to Missouri to visit said families for Christmas!  I'm lucky I got both of them finished in time, so good pictures were pretty much out of the question!

And finally, here's a pic of the current project on my loom!  My parents got me this fuzzy, soft yarn for Christmas, and I'm trying out the Houndstooth Plaid pattern (partly just because the name of the pattern is awesome).  I'm liking it so far!

Well, that's all for now!  I'm sure you will see some pics of my other Christmas gifts soon!

BTW, if you haven't seen "Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows" or "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" yet and you're even a little bit interested, GO SEE THEM!  They're awesome!  There's your vitally important and extremely helpful tip of the day!  ;)

Catching Up

So, it is a Sunday night, and I'm doing what I do almost every night... sitting at home, watching a movie, and weaving!  (I'm a crazy partier, right?!)  Anyway, I thought I would take a break and post some more photos of projects I have made so far. Enjoy!

This is probably my favorite project so far.  The colored yarns are a silk/bamboo blend and they are amazingly soft and silky.  You can't really tell from the photo, but the darkest stripe is a beautiful mulberry color.  Love it!

And this pair is a hand towel and wash cloth made from 100% cotton.  (My first project that wasn't a scarf!)  They turned out pretty well even though I was winging it.  Lol!

And this last one is a very light, summery scarf.  For this I used four different colors of blue and just warped the colors randomly.  I love the twisted fringe on the bottom; I think it gives it a nice finish.

And lastly, here are some photos of what I have been working on tonight!  I'm not really making anything, I am just working on a sampler of a bunch of different stiches.  So far I've played around with Danish Medallions and Leno Lace.  I'm using really bright, contrasting yarns so that it looks cool and so that I can figure out what I did wrong when I mess up!

This one is the Danish Medallions.  The top row is a plain version, and the other two are different variations.

Here is the Leno.  There are like a billion variations of this (and the Danish Medallions), so you can pretty much make up whatever you want to do to create a bunch of different looks.  Either of these can make really cool fabrics, or they can just add an interesting trim to something.  (I'm thinking that the Leno would make wonderful light, airy curtains...hm ... I think we may see more of this in the near future!)

Anyway, photos of the eyelash scarf are coming soon.  I'm just trying to figure out what to do with the fringe; they're kind of plain and ugly right now.  So I will post pics when it's all finished and pretty.  Well, with these photos, I am almost all caught up on documenting all of the projects I have made so far!  Oh, and I got some new storage for my yarn today... I should have taken a before picture of my yarn drawer; it was absolutely bursting!  So I bought two plastic drawer things today, and all of my yarn still doesn't fit in them!  I guess I will have to buy more, the only problem is that I still have to make room for them in my tiny apartment.  Oh well, I guess!

And, something silly to end on... hm... well, I guess it is silly enough to say that I am once again reading The Chronicles of Narnia!  And, I am currently on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (which is BY FAR my favorite), so I am going to put away all my weaving gear and go read!  Yay!  (Once again, I'm such a partier!  Good thing my husband knew I was a nerd before he married me!)  So, I'm off to Narnia!  Good night blog!

(Just kidding... Another something silly:  So I titled this post "Catching Up" and now all I can think about is the line from "Pirates of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl" when Jack Sparrow is steering the ship through a frightful storm to the Isla de Muerta.  Mr. Gibbs asks him why he's in such a good mood, and Sparrow replies with a wicked smile, "We're catching up."  So, that is just running over and over in my head right now.  RANDOM!!!)