Tag Archives: handmade

In the Studio: knitting a Scottish Reel

Posted in Craft, Fiber fun, Handmade, In the Studio, Knitting by

Last summer I was able to spend a weekend at Squam Art Workshop  (I’m super excited that I went for a whole week this year!).  During the Vendor Faire, I spotted this gor-ge-ous cowl at the Knitspot/BareNakedWools booth.   It looked so complicated, it was beautiful, I even loved the name…Scottish Reel…so romantic!  I thought there was no way I would be able to make it  (note to self:  you know more than you think you do)  It’s even beautiful draped on a mannequin…f55adef2704ab2be80586d968cbfb0d7.image.450x337The lovely gal who helped me was so encouraging…  her:  Can you knit and purl?  me:  yes, definitely   her:  have you ever knit in the round?  me:  of course   her:  then you can make this, it’s only knit and purl   me:  whaaaat??? no way… I’ll take one !

So all last fall and part of the winter, I worked on my Scottish Reel…with this beautiful ghillie yarn (which is fingering weight…very fine!) on size 4 needles (I think the smallest I’ve worked on yet).  I knit watching TV, at friends houses, at karate practice, on airplanes…everywhere! And I finally finished it….this spring…and it’s sat in my studio waiting to be blocked and be ready to wear this fall.   Aaaaand finally….it’s all done!!  So excited to wear this as the cooler weather sets in, I have more yarn leftover to make a smaller version or something else.  It’s so pretty and I will say, hides some of my patterning mistakes quite nicely thank you!  It’s also lightweight and warm and big enough to wrap around twice and still be able to pull part of it up for a hood….love love love.

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Here is the link to the pattern from Knitspot for the Scottish Reel Cowl  and the beautiful ghillie yarn  or you can buy the whole thing as a kit!

Now, go make something!

 

Squam Art ::  The magic of Nicola Taylor

Posted in Creative Practice, Make, Make Stuff, Photography, Soul Work, Writing by

I really can’t tell you when I first learned of Nicola’s ethereal images, but they captured my imagination from the first time I saw them.  I had decided to go to the fall Squam Art Workshop partly for scheduling and partly because the workshop offerings were not really fiber-based (the June Squam offerings skew much more toward the fiber arts in general) but collage, and mixed media and jewelry making and photography.  Things that were not in my comfort zone.  At.  All.  Time to experience something new.

I was soooo excited to see that she was coming all the way over from North Yorkshire in  England to teach at Squam and I was fortunate enough to take a workshop with her.  “Finding your Inner Muse”.  Que the hand clapping and jumping up and down.  If that wasn’t enough, there were two of us in the Thursday class so we got to spend loads of time on our projects.

First up… Finding our muse.  We had brought/collected items that had some meaning for us, that we were drawn to….of course we had each brought many things, so we had to whittle them down to 6 (ok, 7 snuck one in ) write about each of them, create kind of a collage and then form a statement to guide our work.  (It was really much more in-depth and thoughtful, trust me this is the cliff-notes version)

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After lunch it was time to take the photos that evoked our muse.  Let me just say at the outset that I love to take pictures but I am in no way a professional photographer.  I couldn’t get my (just purchased and taken out of the package) remote shutter release to work, my camera was a little wonky on the tripod (which I had used several times before ) and my long lens decided to stop working… oh and did I mention that it started to rain…and Nicola had to tutor me on the proper way to fling fabric to make it look effortless

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…in the rain, when you’re on the dock in your bare feet and a nightgown and a prom dress rolled up underneath for a petticoat…It was fun anyway and Nicola and our helper and my classmate were lovely and encouraging and so so patient with everything…and I’m very happy with my images… just a little bit of magic and a whole lot of learning.

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When we were done with my photos, we worked on several photos of my classmate who was expecting her first baby and wasn’t sure she would ever have a photo of herself expecting.  We made the most beautiful photos for her and then we all had a good little weep.

Sublime.  Divine.  Nicola’s magic on the moors transferred to a lake in northern New Hampshire.  Thank you Nicola for your grace and generosity in sharing your work and yourself, it was a day I won’t soon forget  xo

Squam Love

Posted in Creative Practice, Soul Work, Travel, Writing by

I have been delaying writing this post because, really, I am having a wee bit of difficulty putting my weekend at Squam Art Workshops into words.  To be honest, last year I attended the Ravelry weekend at Squam Art Workshops and I felt a little lost as it seemed like everyone there already knew 100 other people, and their knitting was a.maze.ing.  I knew no one and I was swatching an afghan.  Then I met my cabin mates for the night and got in to the swing of things, and shopped at the ArtFair, and I felt a little better.  Still not super-thrilled …. but, I decided I really wanted to give it another shot.  I had heard about SAW since it’s inception and I wanted to go and have the entire Squam experience.   I’m so glad that I listened to that little voice inside that said … go…give it another go…you will get so much out of it…this was the year.

I packed up the big grey bus and headed north to Squam Lake, to a big cabin called El Dorado and a big gang of fabulous, crazy women and a chance to make art for the weekend.  And it was sublime and relaxing and oh so much fun.

The best parts??  here ya go…

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*magical woodland-where fairie houses appear in the night and wood sprites leave wreaths to mark the trails (sorry so blurry!)

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*magnificent northern lake-complete with haunting calls of an elusive loon

Eldorado family pic

*kindred spirits ready with a smile, a hug, a glass of wine and hours to sit on a dock or in front of the fire and talk about life, art, and the essence of being alive

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*phenomenal teachers to guide you on your artistic explorations with kindness and generosity

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*a glimpse of the universe in the milky way and the northern lights against a background of infinite stars

Photo by cjweinstein

*time to make art, to laugh, to walk, to swim, to chat by the fire, or just to be quiet and listen (photo by cjweinstein)

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The gathering of like minded giving souls is magic.  The setting is sublime. The lake will be calling us back again, I know.  It was lovely and restorative and far far too short.  Thank you Squam…see you next year!  xo.

Pajama Pant Party…

Posted in Craft, Fiber fun, Handmade, Make Stuff, Sew this by

Awhile back, I posted about the stacks of fabric needing to be magically transformed into projects.   I am happy to report that I managed to complete 9 pairs of PJ pants…plus one.  Yes, I am insane, 10 pairs of pj pants.  I suppose technically they were 3 pairs of fleecy/sweatpants and 7 pairs of pj bottoms…. but 10 none the less.

studio pix

yes, this is what it looks like “in process”

The girls had picked out 3 flannel fabrics and a fleece fabric each.  As I was going through my stash (another post for another day) I found a big piece of flannel so I could make pants for Charlie and a length of orange cotton fleece that I had bought on sale to make Gwen something.  Since the pants for the girls would all take the same pattern, and it’s the same assembly routine for all the pants, I decided to go for it and make them all up at once. I sewed in two batches, two of the fabrics were on the light side so I made those up with cream thread and the rest were in black, this saves me having to re-thread my serger for each color.

puzzle pants

When I have a number of the same things to make, I do all the operations in batches.  I cut and mark everything at once, stitch all of the inner legs at the same time, press and stitch all the hems at the same time…you get the picture.  It is far more efficient to work this way than to complete one pant then start on the next one.

Each pant gets a ribbon "tag" at the center back so everyone knows front from back!

Each pant gets a ribbon “tag” at the center back so everyone knows front from back!

The bonus to this process is that when you’re done, you’re DONE.  And, I won’t have to sew pajama pants for awhile.  Of course, you will note there are no pants for me ;-).

a stack of cozy goodness

9 pairs of “cozy pants” as we call them.  They are growing leaps and bounds, hopefully this will hold them for awhile.  One last pair of pants…

fred and the orange pants

Of course, they need to be approved by the studio assistant.   On to the next stack of fabric!

 

 

 

 

 

A sewing jumpstart…

Posted in Craft, Fiber fun, Handmade, Make Stuff, Sew this by

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I will say that sewing is my first (craft) love.  I’ve been sewing since I was in about 5th grade when my grandmother bought me a sewing basket and helped me make clothes for my barbie…and I’ve pretty much never stopped.  Sewing may take a backseat to other pursuits, but never for long.  Tonight I cut out something for *gasp* myself!  A super simple top that (theoretically) will be quick to make.  Sometimes you need a jump start to get back in the groove.  I think I burned out on 10 pairs of pajama pants, and I’ve got stacks of fabric that need to be transformed into things to wear and use and boy do I need to get on those projects!  So here’s to a jumpstart and a cute new top!  Oh and yes, I did finish the pj pants…post on that coming!

What projects do use as a jumpstart?!