While I've been fibering, Dick's been keeping busy in the garage.
Since he does so much wood turning - with its attendant sawdust - he invested in a personal air filtering system. 
It sounds like Darth Vader's heavy breathing and looks like something from the SciFi channel, even when he's not standing under the ceiling fan in my studio. Very sexy, yes? 
Anything that keeps him breathing healthy is fine by me. But it doesn't stop me from poking fun when I can.
I seem to be addicted to making doily rugs. This one is Doily #8 (super descriptive name, yes?) from '99 Little Doilies' by Patricia Kristoffersen. 
I've been thinking of teaching a crocheted rug class in the Fall. I need to use a yarn offered by my LYS; the only one bulky enough to work - without holding multiple strands together - is Burly Spun from Brown Sheep Company. So tonight I gave in to temptation and bought a skein (I couldn't resist this color. It's 'Bing Cherry' and arrived in the store just today; they hadn't even unpacked or priced it before I claimed one for myself.) 
I finished this a little over two hours after getting home. The doily pattern called for 46 yards of size 10 crochet cotton and a 1.65 mm (size 7) steel crochet hook. I used 132 yards of Burly Spun and a 8 mm (size "L") hook. I left off the last row of picots - didn't think the rug needed them - and ended up with a rug that's about 21" in diameter.
Now I have a starting point to plan my class. One skein of thick yarn + big a** crochet hook + simple coaster (or doily) pattern = quick, fun class. Yeah, this just might work.
Last night I came home exhausted from my weaving workshop and promptly went to bed. But it was definitely worth it. After a trip through the washer (on delicate cycle, cold water, no soap) and the dryer (on permanent press), Saturday's sampler turned out super soft, with surprisingly even edges. I'll try for better pictures tomorrow when (if - it's supposed to rain all day) the sun comes out.
The goal was to try different colors and types of yarn to see what the results would be. I used both rayon and polyester sewing thread, acrylic chenille (the light purple block), elastic thread (for 'puffs' - love that stuff!), and rayon chenille in yellow, gold, Christmas red (!), brown and peach. 
My favorite color? The red. I thought it would be the worst color possible (which was why I choose it) but it looks strong and bright and I - along with everyone else in the workshop - loved it. Who knew??
I spent all day Sunday rethreading the reed (I mistakenly used a 10-dent rather than 8-dent for the first project, which made the scarf too dense) and tying on a new warp. I carefully removed the old reed from the beater (red arrow) and set it on a holder behind the new reed (green arrow). Then 2 by 2, I took all 150 or so threads out of the old slots and pulled them into the new slots.
Then one by one, I tied a new color onto the old warp threads. 
It took awhile but was still faster than starting over from scratch and rethreading all the heddles (the white string things). Plus I got to try something new under the watchful eye of an experienced weaver, which is always a good thing. 
The new warp is on and ready for me to start weaving tomorrow, after my crochet class. If all goes well, this will be a scarf for Dick. Crossing my fingers. . .
While I did this* today - 
Dick and Marie got to do this -
I really enjoyed my workshop, but I think they got the better end of the deal.
*Weaving a chenille scarf workshop with Deborah Jarchow at SCIART. First project was a sampler using different types of weft, including rayon sewing thread. Tomorrow I'm tying on a new warp and starting the scarf. 
I had the Caffe Sweater (Rav link; I can't find a photo of the finished sweater on-line. Bummer.) about 3/4 done - back and two front panels, both sleeves started - when I pinned it together and tried it on. Not good. 
I swear I did a gauge swatch and I swear I got the right gauge when I started this. The Yarn Harlot is right - swatches lie*. Not only is the d**n thing too small, but the stitches are too thick and bulky. Hate the drape and texture.
I sent the entire project to the frog pond and started over tonight. I've moved up 2 hook sizes (from an "L" 8mm to an "N" 10mm). With the bulky yarn I'm using, I should be able to remake this quickly.
But if this gauge swatch lied? I'm setting fire to the whole thing.
* I would have figured this out a lot sooner if there were sizing schematics in the pattern. Really, really don't like that about this book.
While Leia was here Sunday, I took her outside for a photo shoot on the lawn.
At 5-months, Leia loves to sit up by herself. She can't yet pull herself into a sitting position, but once she's up, she has no problem staying upright.
Until this last month, Leia hated to be on her stomach. If you put her on her belly, she'd stay that way for a few seconds and then start protesting. 
Now Leia has no problem with tummy-time and enjoys practicing her push-ups. She hasn't started rolling over or trying to crawl - yet. But with two older siblings, locomotion can't be far away. 
As you can probably guess, our girl loves her food. She's eating 3 or so jars of baby food a day in addition to her regular bottles. 
Leia also likes making faces and singing to herself. She's very vocal; I've heard her talking to herself in the middle of the night when she's stayed with us.
Not fussing or even really awake; just telling herself stories to pass the time. 
And best of all, she's a very happy baby. 
Smiling, laughing, 
enjoying those around her. 
I think she's a keeper.
Madeleine’s Vintage Shawl
By Elisa Purnell
Copyright January 2009
This is the first time I've posted a pattern. If you find errors, please let me know: epspinsATgmailDOTcom. The story of how this shawl came about, along with more photos, is here. 
One of my crochet students asked if I could recreate a shawl her mother had made 40-50 years ago. The poor thing - the shawl, not the student - was showing its age; the acrylic yarn was disintegrating and the garment was falling apart. 
This would have been a fairly simple project except for the large holes throughout the fabric; they made counting stitches and recognizing patterns a challenge. 
I finished the shawl, and wrote up the pattern (available here as soon as I proof it one more time), just before we left for San Diego. The top section is worked in a circle, then folded in half to form a half-moon. 
The lace edging is worked through both pieces of fabric. It starts the same width as the top but increases rapidly so it folds and swirls around the bottom. 
The folded section makes this shawl warmer across the shoulders and the swirly edge gives it a graceful, feminine feel - the best of all worlds. 
The edging also makes it a pain interesting to block.
I finally decided to block the half-moon section first; once that had dried, I pinned out the swirls in stages. It wasn't difficult but it was time consuming. 
I worked this in super soft fingering-weight alpaca with an "I" hook but it could be done in almost any weight yarn and corresponding crochet hook. If I made this again I think I'd use a DK weight yarn, or increase the number of rounds so the shawl was longer and wider. This one is a little small for my tastes but it's the same size as the original, which was my goal.
Five-month-old Leia helped me take photos.
Naia and Leia were over for several hours today, so while Leia took a nap Naia and I worked on a project I heard about at Guild.
It sounded so cool that I gathered up the supplies right after Christmas and I've been waiting - impatiently - for Naia to visit.
This is Sharpie tie-dye. (I used the instructions found here and here, but if you Google it, there are a lot of how-to sites.) To do this, you need colored Sharpie pens, white t-shirts, rubber bands, a spray bottle (or straws for dripping) and rubbing alcohol.
Naia and I spent a couple of hours drawing on shirts. We first tried tying tennis, ping pong, and golf balls in the fabric but found we liked having a bigger canvas so we moved up to coffee mugs and plastic food storage containers.
We experimented with dripping alcohol onto the colored area but that was too slow - I didn't have drinking straws so we used our fingers; I think straws would have worked much better. We finally put the alcohol in a spray bottle, held our breath and saturated the fabric. 
We scribbled, wrote messages, and drew pictures. We made little dots and blended layers of color. Some of our shirts turned out really well - I love the watercolor effect above - and some were pretty much a mess. 
When we were done, we had 5 t-shirts that will fit Naia and Miles, and 5 onsies for Leia. I heat-set the colors by placing the dry shirt (it's important to let all the alcohol evaporate before you do this part) in the clothes dryer for 30 minutes. 
As you can tell, Naia thought her shirt was da bomb. 
Leia willingly modeled one of her outfits but you could tell she wasn't really into it. She'd much rather practice her push-ups.
On the fun scale, I'd give this project a '10'. It kept Naia - and me - entertained for hours. And Naia will have a reminder of a fun day with Grandma, at least until she outgrows the shirts.
The San Diego trip was wonderful. The weather cooperated - the Santa Ana winds didn't follow us south - and the hotel was (almost) as beautiful as advertised.
The inn was built around the 100 year old Spreckles mansion - Spreckles was an early investor/developer in San Diego and Coronado, holding a controlling interest in the Hotel Del Coronado 
and owning all but about 6 parcels of Coronado island. The main part of the inn was gorgeous. Our room - and most of the guest rooms - was in one of the newer, probably 60's era, wings around the main mansion. Not quite as nice but clean, quiet, with a very comfy bed. The best part was being right on Coronado's main drag, just a short walk to very nice shops and restaurants.
Notice the shawl? It's my newest FO; details tomorrow.
He got through just a fraction of the 1001 foot long, 18 deck ship, but was able to tour the flight deck, island (what I'd call the bridge), and some of the quarters. 
Did you know that the Midway:
You didn't know that? Hmm, neither did I. . . 
but others I've already incorporated into my work and plan to pass on in my classes.
