The Week That Was

It's been an eventful and fun fiber week.  I learned the Honeycomb weave structure in my class at UNG.  Here's a sample:

I love adding the metallic threads, and I find the varying weights of yarns to be a great textural addition.

Here at home, I've just begun weaving a new bag using this fabulous yarn that was given to me!

It's a very sturdy wool which has lots of great slubs in it.  I finished weaving these dishtowels, and they are all hemmed and ready to be given as Christmas gifts.

On the knitting front, I finished knitting my first Smooth Operator Sock, and cast on for my second.  I love the yarn!

This is my go to night time knitting when I'm too tired to concentrate on anything else.

I am plugging along on the Cableship Socks for the Knitpurlhunter October KAL.  It is time to turn the heel, but I haven't found a long enough block of time to devote to it.  We are doing the German Short Row Heel, which is all new to me, but doesn't appear to be too difficult, with Michelle's fabulous video tutorials.

And last but certainly not least is my Scoreboard Cowl:

It appears scrunched up in the top of the photo because I've got my needles pulled together rather tightly.  Georgia Tech had a great win yesterday over Georgia Southern, so there'll be lots more grey to knit in the coming week.  I need to get busy on these two KALs!

Our weather has been spectacular, although we are in the midst of a drought.  I had a wonderful paddle in my kayak the other day.  The leaves are just beginning to change:

Thanks for stopping by!

A Fiber Diet

It's been a wonderful week in my fiber world.  I finally got my Macomber loom dressed and have begun weaving a couple of dish towels.

Before I became serious about weaving, I remember asking a weaving friend of mine what she loved to weave the very most.  She told me dish towels.  I thought she was crazy, but now that I've gotten into weaving and own a few of my own handwoven dish towels, I understand her response.  They really soak up the water, and they feel so darned good!  But then, I pretty much like weaving anything!  Above is the Log Cabin weave structure, just as in my post last week.  Here's another photo of my Log Cabin Market Bag, in use as a knitting bag:

I love it so much!

On Tuesday, my weaving class at UNG took a field trip to the idyllic Hambidge Center in Mountain City, GA.  Below is a photo of the spring house, in which southerners back in the day used to keep their perishables cool, as a spring runs through it.  

Mary Hambidge was a weaver, among other things, and she raised sheep, which were shorn on her 600 acres.  The wool was dyed and woven on the grounds by a group of women from the area.  There is also a working mill on the property.

We also stopped at the Smith-Williams Gallery at Piedmont College in Demorest, GA, to view Tommye Scanlin's fabulous exhibit.  I love her work and could spend hours looking at it.  She holds a special place in our hearts as she is a most gracious lady and Professor Emerita at UNG.  You can read more about Tommye here.  Below are just two of my favorites in her show:

Lastly, we made our way just up the street to the Mason-Scharfenstein Gallery of Art, where we viewed one more of Tommye's works, plus other delights.  These are pieces by Zipporah Camille Thompson, who interestingly enough, is a 2015 Hambidge  Fellow.  Her work is very interesting and thought provoking.

Here at home, aside from dressing my loom (always a pleasurable accomplishment for me!) I've spent my free time on these goodies:

Above are the beginnings of my pair of Cableship Socks in Michelle Hunters October Cableship KAL.  As you can see, we began at the toe, and I am working TAAT (two-at-a-time).  There are cables there, but they are barely visible.  The yarn is all from the same ball....you'll see more color change as I knit up the foot and leg, trust me on that.

Next are my Smooth Operator Socks.  I love this colorway, don't you?!!  As you can see in the second photo, I've turned the heel and am headed to the toe!

And then of course I have this other KnitpurlHunter KAL going on, the Scoreboard Cowl.   I think I explained last week that the grey stripes indicate when my team, GA Tech, scores (2 rows for each), and the gold is when the opponent scores.  Well, things aren't really looking so good!  

We've had some high-scoring games, so I've had a good bit of knitting each week!  There's been little time to work on my Cascade Pullover, but I plan to get back on it this week!

Hope you've had a creative week, that you weren't hit by Hurricane Matthew, and that you are well and happy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Catching Up & Starting Anew

Hello!

It's been a very long time since I've posted, but I thought I'd give it a go!  

My intention is to give a weekly update of what's happening in my creative life (and perhaps tiny excerpts from my 'other' life).

I enrolled in the Fall semester of weaving at UNG and am learning a tremendous amount.  I am the only student in the second level, but there are six students in level one, and one student in level five. We all meet together and our extremely capable professor is able to guide all of us in our work during our three hour class.  Thus far I've woven a baby blanket (shhhh, it's a surprise!) in waffle weave and a market bag in log cabin.

I've dressed my loom and will begin weaving a piece in honeycomb next week.

I'm knitting daily, although some evenings I'm so tired it's a challenge to pick up those needles.  
Here are my projects:
Winter hats for our grands, knit from DMC kits called Top This! Hats

I'm participating in Knit Purl Hunter's September Scoreboard KAL. I'm using Georgia Tech's grey and gold colors.  The greys represent times when Tech scores in a game, and the gold are for the opponent.  Two weeks ago Tech did very well against Mercer, hence all of the grey.  Last week, however, we didn't do quite so well against Clemson.  Let's see how today goes against Miami. This piece will be a cowl......not sayin' for whom!

This is my seriously sober knitting:

It's the Cascade Pullover designed by Michele Wang and knit using Brooklyn Tweed's Shelter, which has to be one of my all-time favorite yarns.  I try to knit two rows/day.....it's a real challenge for me but keeps me honest!  Thus far I'm 11.25" up the body (this is knit in the round, so it's front & back at the same time, thank heavens!), and I have to knit to 17" before I add the sleeves (which must be knit separately first).  I cannot wait to wear this sweater and I truly adore the challenge I face every day when I pick up my needles.

These are my latest go-to late night socks:

I'm using the Smooth Operator Sock pattern by Susan B. Anderson. The bottom pic shows the afterthought heel placement (thick white line), which I will begin dealing with today or tomorrow.

I'm also having great fun playing around with Halloween costumes for the grands.

Charlie and I began concocting his robot costume Labor Day weekend, and above is the top.  He has all sorts of gauges, as you can see, plus orange and lime green 'fuel injectors'.  What you can't see is a great pouch on the left side which holds battery operated flashing lights.  He also has a great helmet, which I hope to show you next week.  Maggie will be a butterfly, and she and her Mom are having a great time decorating her wings.  I need to work on her 'skirt' this afternoon......don't all butterflies have hand-dyed silk gauze skirts?????

My plan, as I said, is to be back next week, with an update of my projects.

Hope you are having a great weekend.  It's finally FALL here in northeast GA!!

Thrifty Thursday Silk Scarf Sale

My Thrifty Thursday Silk Scarf Sale

is going on now!

Mango Pango is on sale for $45, 

 shipping & handling is free in the US.

This is a great deal for a beautiful hand-dyed 19mm 14 x 72"

silk charmeuse scarf.

Check it out on my website.

There is only one available, so order it now.

What a great Mother's Day gift!

Thanks for stopping by.

Peace to you and yours.

Day 123

I'm loving this latest dyeing result

in silk charmeuse.

Sadly, it is not a scarf,

but I will be reproducing it in scarf form over the 

next few days.

My plan is to quilt the above piece.

Here is the silk I showed you in the dye pot 

in my last blog post.

This one is a scarf,

measuring 14 x 72"

in 19 mm silk charmeuse.

You can also view it on my website. 

I did a bit more machine quilting this morning.

My 'mystery piece' is beginning to take shape.

Thanks for stopping by!

Peace to you and yours.

Day 122

I'm posting a couple of silk charmeuse scarf results 

from my Day 121 post.

As seems to happen quite frequently these days,

I had hoped to post photos sooner, but.......

Both scarves are a tad bit brighter than they appear, 

but I suppose you'll just have to take my word for it!

....as always, you can purchase directly in the 

wearable arts department of my website.

Here's what's in today's dye pot:

Hopefully I'll post result pics soon!

....and I've had a chance to do a bit more machine quilting

on my 'mystery' piece:

I'm enjoying it.

We had company for dinner last night,

and as I was putting everything back in place today,

I thought you'd enjoy a pic of what remains of our table

That's one of my snow-dyed fabrics as our table runner,

and daffodils, hellebores, and camellias

in my little vases.

I just love Spring!

I've gotten a bit of knitting done this week.

Here's my latest cast-on:

This will be a very simple pullover sweater for me.

The yarn is Mrs. Crosby's Steamer Trunk

in the Northern Parula colorway.

I think it'll be great with jeans on cooler days.

Thanks for stopping by.

Peace

Day 121

It's a beautiful sunny day today,

and I'm back in the dyeing mode!

The above silk charmeuse scarf is presently batching,

and I hope to show you results either tomorrow or Thursday.

I've also got this one batching:

By the way, if you would like to order a scarf,

you can do so on on my website,

JudyintheDyes.

I now have PayPal set up, so it's really easy peasy, as they say.

I am dyeing only silk charmeuse scarves these days,

because I love its buttery soft feel and the gentle drape so much.

I'm also working on another quilt,

but much smaller and more manageable this time!

Here are a few of my most recent steps

I'm using a few helpful hints from the book

Quilt As-You-Go Made Modern.

I hope you haven't given up on me.

My weaving class at the University of North Georgia

has kept me very busy.  It's surprising how just two afternoons a week can fill up most of my free time.

Thanks so much for dropping by!

Peace!