Pedagogy

Well folks, 'tis almost the new year! As such, I've lined up a few teaching gigs around LaLaLand in honor of '09. Let's hear for working 7 days a week!

Ahem.

Despite the time suckage factor, I really do love to teach. As many of you are probably aware, teaching was my career of choice way back when. I absolutely loved imparting my passion for making unto others. I just had trouble making ends meet while doing so, hence my transition to the Cube Farm. However, I am fortunate to still have a few opportunities to play with you all! So, without further ado, I present my teaching schedule for the next few months...

On Saturdays (for the foreseeable future) I can be found at Abuelita's Knitting and Needlepoint in South Pasadena, where I teach both knitting and crocheting. Project based classes as well as private lessons can be had. Currently, we are encouraging peeps to crochet a pair of Fuzzy Boots!



Contact the store to sign up or just email me and I will pencil you in for a lesson!

My other teaching opportunities will occur at The Urban Craft Center in Santa Monica. Contact those peeps to sign up for class!

January

Design your own Amigurumi (must know how to make loops with a hook to take this class)
Sundays, 1/18 & 25, 11-1 pm

February

Project Ugg (my westside Fuzzy Boot class)
Tuesdays, 2/10, 17 & 24, 7-9 pm

Acid Dyes (oooooh, dyeing yarn!)
Sunday, 2/22, 11-1 pm

March

Crochet Project Class (beginners to know-it-alls welcome)
Sundays, 3/8, 15, 22 & 29, 11-1 pm

Whew! I am going to be a busy gal...

Happy New Year all!!

Danish Serape?

What does LadyLinoleum get when she pairs some of her lovely hand dyed yarn with the Traditional Danish Tie-Shawl pattern from the latest issue of Spin-Off mag?



Nothing short of a Danish Serape!





Both bright and bold, this cool wrap combines some of my old dye experiments with that of the new. The variegated red is Kool-Aid (and so it begins), as is the turquoise variegated, while the cobalt was achieved in a Jacquard dye bath. All of the yarn is Bare Peruvian Highland Wool (fingering weight) from Knit Picks, which is a great starter yarn for beginning dyers, oh by the way.

The shawl construction is very intriguing as it begins with a starter rectangle, stitches picked up along three sides to form a triangle, then continues with the body of the shawl, increasing at the center and ends on every other row. The beginning rectangular sequence of stitches is brilliant actually.

Ooooh, I almost forgot! The other very cool aspect of this shawl? The edging!



It's braided! Actually, it's crocheted. But it looks braided! Crocheted with two colors simultaneously, this edging is a finishing technique that I intend to use again and again. Cool eh?

Spin-Off always has wonderful knitting (and crochet) patterns in addition to great articles and project ideas for the spinner. It is my current fave mag to be sure.

Now, if I could just figure out what to wear with this shawl, I'd be sittin' pretty...literally!

Happy Friday all!

Color Me Red

I tend to go through phases with regard to color and its usage in my work. Last fall and winter I seemed to be alternately in a black/white/gray phase or a blue phase, whether I happened to be knitting, crocheting, weaving, dying or spinning. Actually, this is pretty unusual for me because, by nature, I tend to be a “red girl” (or orange). However, I had blue (and black/white/gray) padding about the recesses of my cerebrum. At the time I felt those colors constantly calling me. They wanted, no, needed, to be seen (over and over again!). So, I happily complied.

However, Saturday I knew the blues were officially over during a yarn dying session with my girl, Jenna. I just couldn’t get enough of anything remotely reddish. Or pinkish. Or orange-ish. You get my drift. Yep, I painted and kettle dyed 1500 yards of yarn in warm brilliance! I would have dyed roving too, but…um…er…I have a bit of roving backlog right now; baskets of fluff sitting patiently by my wheel(s) awaiting transformation. Keep yer shorts on, I’ll get to it!

Anyway, just look at the piles of color I created…

Looks perty eh?

And here is some of my hand-dyed reddish roving spun up…

This will get plied with possibly gold or another reddish iteration. Not quite sure which.

And then there are my current WIPs featuring…Yes, red!

I am working up a Feather and Fan Shawl from Cheryl Oberle’s book, Folk Shawls,in pretty burgundy and copper stripes.

I LOVE this book, which I have had in my possession for nearly a year.



Nonetheless, this is the first pattern I’ve tried. It’s an easy one. Well, except for working with the fiber the pattern calls for that is!

Un-spun Icelandic wool.

Think super thin, ultra-skinny roving, which pulls apart easily (yes, because it is un-spun). Due to the fragility of the fiber, this WIP just won’t travel well. Needless to say I will be working on this wrap at home only.

On the crochet front, I am working up a Singular Tee from my Knitscene pattern.

Mine will be in sultry red and cool blue-violet. This top is perfect for summer, crocheted in dk weight cotton from Halcyon Yarn, which is apropos because Los Angeles has begun to feel the heat of the season! Last Saturday and Sunday saw temps in the 90’s!

What colors are speaking to you at the moment? Inquiring minds you know.

Makin' Yarn

I know. Lately I haven't had much knitting and crocheting to show. Rest assured that I have been working both processes weekly. I've just been working on some substantial projects so I don't have anything to show you just yet.

I do have some yarn FO's to share though!

I made some real strides on the spinning front. Take a look...





Aren't they purty? I've been making tons of the two colorways above in the hopes of having enough of each to actually make something cool.

I just love spinning.

I love it as much as crocheting and knitting actually. And that's saying something! In fact, I've even been reading about spinning every night before bed...



This book is such a great reference for those interested in spinning art yarns! Right now my homespun looks a little, well, conservative. After perusing the pages of Intertwined, I am hoping to push myself right outside the proverbial box soon. Have no fear! There will be all matter of errata hanging off my singles and plies in no time! I've got a ton of goodies in my stash that would be perfect fuzzy embellishments...

On that note, I've taken to dyeing my own roving too. In fact, I spent my entire Sunday with fellow fiber fanatic, Jenna, dyeing piles of it. We also painted some yarn. Hey, that's what dye parties are all about!





I cannot think of a better way to spend a Sunday can you?

Getting Reacquainted

I'm back! I was able to leave Chicago on Friday before temperatures dropped to the single digits. Lucky me!

Anyway, this weekend was all about getting reacquainted with my family, friends and fibers. In accordance with this theme, I kicked off the holiday three day-er with an all day workshop on Saturday at one of my favorite local haunts, the Urban Craft Center, from one of my favorite fiber fiends, John Pitblado, on the fine art of fiber reactive dyes. It was awesome!

Now, I am familiar with this type of dye, having used it quite often as an undergrad in college. However, that, my friends, was a looooooong time ago. So, I needless to say, a refresher course was in order.

Just look at this lovely color...


Ribbon.


More ribbon.


Bamboo.


Cotton.


Rayon fabric.

The use of fiber reactive dyes differs a bit from that of their acid-based kin. Generally speaking they are more cumbersome in terms of their chemical components, application and final rinsing process. However, the results are really beautiful. Muted, natural beauty to be sure.

The resulting colors above are a nice contrast to my acid dyed wool below:



I really love the process of hand-dyeing fibers. For me, the color play involved satifies the latent painter within. I also enjoy the added benefit of the resulting unique yarns and fabrics than can then be incorporated into my design process. It just doesn't get much better than this!

Although I do tend to get equally excited about spinning...

And Sunday was all about that! Oh how I've missed my daily contact with my wheel! So, I got down to business and spun a few singles...



And worked on mastering my ply...



I'm really happy with the plied hank. So much so that I will be spinning up much more, enough for an actual project! I'm thinking knitting, but that may change. My mind is a jumble with ideas. I'll be sure to keep you posted...

I'm so happy to be back! Definitely ready for some regularly scheduled posts and catching up with what you all have been doing. Thanks so much for your patience and understanding!

Happy Monday everyone!