FiberWoods

Dick finished the first batch of 'for sale' crochet hooks. Each is made individually by hand and polished to a high gloss. The handles are made from various hardwoods and the thumbpads are carved from ivory. These hooks are similar in style to the Clover Soft Touch hooks, which I find more comfortable than traditional round hooks. The three white hooks in the middle of the photo are hand carved from (pre-ban) elephant ivory.

From left to right: Imbuya (SOLD), size "H"; Canarywood and Ebony (SOLD), size "H"; Padauk with Ivory hook, size "D"; Bloodwood with Ivory hook (SOLD), size "G"; Purpleheart with Ivory hook, size "D"; Bolivian Rosewood (SOLD), size "G-7" (4.5mm); Bloodwood, size "H"; Zebrawood, size "G" (SOLD); and Tulipwood (SOLD), size "G-7" (4.5mm).

All-wood crochet hooks - $35 each; Ivory hook with wood handle - $55 each.
Don't see the size you need or the wood you want? Custom requests cheerfully considered.

Padauk with Ivory hook, size "D" - $55

Bloodwood with Ivory hook, size "G" - $55 (SOLD)

Purpleheart with Ivory hook, size "D" - $55

Stupid Cat

AJ loves boxes, the smaller the better. She has her own box with a thick layer of wool batts. It didn't start out as hers - she appropriated it while I was trying to spin said batts. She looked so comfy that I gave it to her without a fight. And she's been very happy with it. Until tonight.

I heard rustling in my studio earlier, and after about 5 minutes, my curiosity won out over my laziness. I found AJ pushing and kneading and adjusting the tissue paper in this very small shoe box. I'm not sure exactly how she managed it, but she finally got her entire body in the box. And she's been sound asleep like that for hours. Stupid cat.

Cute Toes

I admit, this is a blatant attempt to win yarn. But Addy's toes - and fingers and ears - are so cute, I'd probably have done it sooner or later anyway. I love the comparison between Baby Addy monkey toes and Uncle Gary monkey toes. You can tell these two are related!

Funniest Cat Story Ever

A friend sent me this story. I thought it was hilarious. Once the tears dried and my sides stopped aching, I thought I'd share it with you. Jack Jack has a history of being, uhmmm, "adventuresome". We loves him but, like most kids, he can be a royal pain some days.

I'm having some people over tonight, so before I went to bed last night I took a pack of frozen chicken breasts and other various meats out so they could defrost. I was very responsible about it and put a plate under everything so water would not get everywhere and I even put a towel over the frozen stuff so that Jack Jack would be less inclined to bother with it. Yeah.

I woke up this morning, walked into the kitchen and discovered two, now defrosted, chicken breasts sitting on the kitchen floor and one in the sink. Ew. Somehow, with no claws and without leaving teeth marks, Jack Jack put a perfectly symmetrical hole in the pack of chicken. I'm assuming he pulled everything out with his teeth (?) but the breasts were pretty big so I really have no idea how he managed to do this so quietly during the night. And there were four missing so he must have been at this for hours. This was all gross and annoying enough until I realized that FOUR were missing, not three. So where's the missing breast?

I walked around the apt looking for it and could not find it. I had ruled out the idea that he may have eaten it because they are fairly large and Jack Jack barely eats anything. So now I'm totally grossed out. There's a decomposing chicken somewhere in my apt and I can't find it! I finally ran across the street and knocked on the door of one of the younger guys who lives near me to see if he'd help. (If he had any doubts that I was completely insane, he doesn't anymore.) Honestly, I think he thought this was some highly elaborate scheme to hit on him, but he obliged and came over. After 20 minutes neither one of us could find it. He was laughing. I was not.

But do you know where it was? Where the disgusting, mushy, decomposing chicken breast was?












Swat was sleeping on it in their tree!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE CATS? And now they're covering for one another!

2 FO's - 2 Swatches

And guess what? Neither of the swatches is for the christening gown. I still have six weeks, so what's the rush, right? And besides, I've always worked better to a very-close, breathing-down-my-neck, stay-up-all-night-for-a-week deadline. (Take a deep breath, Rach; it will be OK. Trust me.) Plus, I need a take-along project and there is no.way. I'm taking white silk to tomorrow's dentist appointment.

I've wanted to make myself a sweater for awhile now. While digging through my pattern stash for the CG, I found several possibilities. So, I pulled some yarn out of the stash (see? I'm stash busting!) and swatched for 2 different sweaters. And both swatches are exactly on gauge - which I'm taking as a sign that this was meant to be. These will both be experiments to see what fits and what I like and don't like, so I'm not using the really good yarn. But wouldn't it be great if I end up loving them both?

And the FO's? The first is a KNIT finished object. This is a basic stockinette scarf in bulky alpaca from Blue Sky Alpacas. I blocked it last night, but the edges still roll inward. I'd rather it was flat, but a tube scarf is OK. And it's for ME!

This one's for Dick. I finished it several weeks ago, except for the official weaving in of ends. This is 600 yards (that's six football fields!) of angora wool by Elizabeth Lavold in a basketweave pattern. Very warm, very heavy - and he loves it. Sure hope we get more rain and some cold weather so he can wear it this year.

So, which do I prefer - crochet or knitting? Crochet is (much) faster and more relaxing since I know what I'm doing. And although I've been doing it for years, it can still be a challenge. I like that I can predict how a project will turn out and make changes to patterns on the fly.

But knitting - now that I understand how to do it - is so satisfying. Throwing the yarn over the needle and pulling it into place on the knit stitch gives such as satisfying 'pop'. Purling still isn't as much fun, but after making a 6-foot scarf with knit-a-row, purl-a-row I'm comfortable with both stitches. I've fixed some mistakes, cast on several times and figured out how to bind off all by myself. (With a little help from KnittingHelp.com.)

So I asked an unbiased third party which was better. Oreo votes for crochet.

Addy's Christening

I have the pattern (Leisure Arts 'Baby Layettes, Book2'):
I have the yarn (Debbie Bliss 'Pure Silk'):I have the model:
And I have the (tentative) deadline.

Saturday, April 14.

Wish me luck!

Yarn Crawl

I didn't think much about it at the time, but Dick spent most of last night on the computer. He's a night-time TV guy, so it was pretty unusual for him to adjourn to the den with his laptop. Turns out he was searching for high end or unusual yarn shops between here and Long Beach for us to visit today. My very own, customized yarn crawl. Am I lucky or what?

First up was Jennifer Knits in Brentwood. This was the smallest store and, until Dick told me the 'back story', I thought it was the most run-of-the-mill (by that I mean most like other higher-end yarn stores I've visited.) Turns out the owner is a published author and will design custom patterns for customers. You send her a picture or describe what you want and she'll make the pattern. For free. You just have to buy the yarn there. Very cool.

Next up - wildFiber in Santa Monica. O.M.G. The store is huge - go look at the picture on their website, I'll wait. - and has an amazing selection of luxury and unusual fibers. I found a must-have crochet coat pattern from Oat Couture (the Monet Jacket) and the softest, most gorgeous Chinese cashmere and silk yarn I've ever seen. The previous owner was Mel Clark who wrote 'Knit 2 Together' with Tracey Ullman. We're talking serious knitting store here.

Then there was Alamitos Bay Yarn. A good sized store located right on the water in Long Beach. I spent the most time here. They have a good selection of crochet books and some amazing yarn. I ended up buying a sweater book by Melissa Leapman and a skein of Mountain Colors merino and silk yarn. (Hey, it's not my fault. I had to do my part to support our independent yarn stores.) They had Lily Chin's book Knit and Crochet with Beads. This was the first chance I've had to look through it. The Leapman book beat it into my shopping bag by a thread, (ewww - sorry!) but Beads is definitely next up on my most coveted books list.

Why was Long Beach Dick's final destination? So we could end the day at Acres of Books. "California's largest second-hand bookstore with over one million books in stock." And not a single knitting book on the premises. I found the shelf where the knitting and crochet books should have been; 2 very sad crochet books were all they had. I was hoping to pick up a used Alice Starmore or Elizabeth Zimmerman tome. No luck, but I'll keep looking. Searching is half the fun, right?

Driving home, we almost literally ran into the Pt. Fermin Lighthouse in San Pedro. Built on a bluff overlooking San Pedro Harbor, the lighthouse went into operation on December 15 (!), 1874 and remained active until December 9, 1941. The ornate Victorian beauty underwent an extensive renovation in 2004. The building was closed by the time we got there, but we were able to walk around the outside and admire the ocean view and the gorgeous flowers blooming all around the fence. A very nice end to a very nice day. (Well, almost the end. We hit the 405 just before 7 pm and it was still a parking lot. It took over an hour to get from LAX to the 101 interchange. I am so thankful we don't commute to LA everyday.)

Mystery Project

Dick is working on a present for me and won't tell me what it is. But he gives me little hints . . .

It started out looking like this - And now it looks like this - Dick turned and shaped the wood block into a bowl, then inlaid turquoise along the wood's natural inclusions. I think it's stunningly beautiful - and he isn't anywhere near done yet. Stay tuned for more hints!

I forgot to show you what Gary gave me for Valentine's Day. He made this in his floristry class, including tying the bow himself. Pretty nice, huh?

Fun!

Princess Sunshine. Love them bunny slippers.

Be sure to check out Addy's Sweet-Sweet Family. Click here to make your own character. Wenona's going to make one. Anybody else? Email it to me & I'll post it on the blog. We can have our own Parade of Stars - M&M style.

Real FO's!

I finished two shawls over the last couple of days. They're the same pattern - I'm teaching this one at my favorite yarn shop in March - in different weight yarns. This one is Blue Sky Alpacas worsted weight Organic Cotton in 'Tomato'. Blue Sky Alpacas is fast becoming my all time favorite yarn company. Their alpaca/silk yarn is fabulous - great colors and incredibly soft. I haven't succumbed to the allure of their brushed suri yarn yet, but I can feel myself weakening. Soon, very soon . . . .

I'd planned to make only one sample shawl - until I saw this yarn. This is the brand new Ty-Dy 100% cotton yarn from Knit One, Crochet Too in 'Magenta Moss'. (Check out 'Cafe Latte' in the link. I LOVE those colors.) It was love at first sight - or first touch. It's a DK (light worsted? I'm not sure what what the difference is) and I loved working with it. Great texture, not splitty, and worked up fast. My only complaint? I wish the colors were more random and not quite so stripey.

AJ made herself right at home, as usual. She sees wet, pinned crochet and immediately thinks 'aha! a bed just for me!' Wish I could have gotten a picture of her 'attacking' the blocking wires. She entertained herself (and me) for quite awhile.

Glass FO's!

The slumped glass pieces Dick and I did turned out much better than we'd hoped. The glass tiles went from this . . . .



to this . . . .



Dick's leaves had more detail and (I think) turned out better than my dragonfly and flowers. But for a first effort, I'm very pleased with both.

The fused jewelry is just awesome (if I do say so myself.) I love how the dichroic glass melted and flowed into the different shapes. Dick did more grinding and polishing on his raw pieces than I did. I preferred to take random shapes, put them together and see how they turned out. A couple are headed for the scrap heap, but the rest are definitely usable. To give you an idea of size, the square blue piece in the second row is about the size of a quarter. Next time, I'll try to use something in the photo for proportion.

Marie appropriated the necklace below and has been wearing it constantly. Dick and I plan to cut a groove around the edges of most of the other pieces so we use wire wrapping techniques to make necklaces and bracelets.


Hmmm, can anybody say "Christmas presents"?