Rock carvings: The solar horse

Now I've coloured the elegant solar horse too - using simple satin stitches and broadened chain stitches - the material is darning wool and sock wool.

While working on these little pieces, I'm pondering over how to assemble them in the end. They remind me a lot of comic strips, actually - maybe I can find a way to mount them in that manner, like a pictural collage or so ...



So far, I've preferred the classic tracing and transferring method using sandwich or parchment paper and a soft pencil. I do have an iron-on-transfer pen and dressmakers' carbon paper at home too, but I find the lines which I get from these too dominant for this kind of embroidery - and as I'm not going to wash it, the lines won't wash out either.

How do you transfer your motifs from paper to cloth?



(German summary: Das Sonnenpferd ist jetzt fertig; teilweise bunt bestickt, mit einfachen Spannstichen und breitem Kettenstich - als Material habe ich teils Stopfwolle, teils Sockenwolle verwendet.

Als Paus- und Übertragungstechnik verwende ich das altbewährte Butterbrotpapier und einen weichen Bleistift - Bügelstift und Schneiderkopierpapier machen mir hier zu kräftige Linien, und waschen möchte ich die Stickerei eigentlich auch nicht. Wie macht ihr das in so einem Fall?)

Still crocheting like mad ...

Octagon flowers - aren't they nice? Quite unusual, still easy to make - so I had to try them out ...



... with some scraps of cotton yarn - but I reckon they would look interesting with variegated sock yarn as well ;-).

I found them in the latest issue of 'Marie Claire Idees', a great French craft and decoration magazine, que j'adore - it comes six times a year and is a real treasure box of ideas and inspiration.



A couple of weeks ago I also finally managed to get hold of my preferred crochet hooks (at Amazon UK), the ones which are completely made out of metal - I just don't like the ones with soft grip or full plastic.

To celebrate this, I sew myself a brand new hook case too,

open -



- and closed:



(German summary: Ich finde diese achteckigen Blumen recht apart, und doch sind sie sehr einfach zu häkeln, Stäbchen und Luftmaschen im Wechsel, jede Reihe in einer anderen Farbe - das Muster habe ich in 'Marie Claire Idees gefunden'.

Und dann habe ich mir noch ein Häkelnadeletui genäht, denn im Moment bin ich ganz versessen aufs Häkeln ...)

New start into autumn/Neuer Herbstanfang

Crisp, foggy mornings and red apples hanging sweet and shiny from the trees in my garden ... This year's Indian summer slowly turns into autumn and I realize it's been quite a while since last, dear friends ...

But it's been a great summer, warm and sunny, with friends and family visiting, some of them for several weeks. I've done a bit of this and that inbetween - maybe I'll show you some of those projects later on.

Things have happened: Elizabeth at Landanna is back blogging with fresh inspiration - Sara has moved to Argentina and told me in a mail, that there are lots of interesting textiles to see in Buenos Aires - Clare has visited a free-hand machine embroidery workshop and will certainly come up with new projects on that - and in other blogs, I've seen a lot of beautiful natural dyeing experiments, which look very exciting.

I think we are blessed to have this medium to share and inspire one another.

Two days ago, I received a very much longed-for, late big-birthday present from my Dad: a new sewing machine, a Bernina 350, to replace my still-working, but 50-year-old Singer. (Men understand the point better if you remind them that cars have improved a bit too during the last 50 years ... ;-).

I'm overwhelmed with this wonderful, new tool - and today I started playing with it, using the darning and quilting foot, exercising on a dog print fabric I had at hand:



The picture to the right shows the back - I think it looks rather funny too, almost like a newspaper comic!

Here's another one:



I did a couple of free-motion flowers as well - maybe for a greeting card - using an automatic machine pattern for the border:



And of course I had to try out free-hand writing on the machine too!



There are some books on this subject that might interest you:

- "Free & easy stitch style" by Poppy Treffry
(German title: "Das etwas andere Nähbuch")

- "Scandinavian Stitches" by Kajsa Wikman
(also known as Syko: www.syko.typepad.com)

- The "Impatient embroiderer" by Jane Emerson
(German title: "Einfach maschinensticken")

- "Textile Natur/Textile nature" by Elsbeth Nusser-Lampe
(German and English text)



And while working, I had this somewhat crazy idea to simply colour some white thread with markers to get striped and dotted thread ... Of course this is more convenient to use for hand-sewing, as you will have to renew the pattern from time to time, when unravelling the upper layer - but it's fast and easy and it even looks decorative on the shelf!



(German summary: Herbstanfang und Neuanfang. So viel Neues gibt es bei euch, liebe Blogfreundinnen - schön, daß wir dieses Medium zum Austausch haben. Ich habe seit ein paar Tagen eine neue Nähmaschine und spiele jetzt vor allem mit der Freihandstickfunktion - einige Buchtipps zum Thema, drei Titel davon auch auf Deutsch - und eine verrückte Idee, mit einem Edding das Nähgarn auf Zebra zu trimmen :-)

Pin cushion ring/Fingernadelkissen

I made a great invention today ... a pin cushion ring! (Yes, I know, there might be others - but this is mine! :-)

The idea struck me when I was about making a pin cushion on a jam jar - as a matter of fact, I am one of the few persons out there who has hardly got any decent pin cushions, although I sew regularly, both by hand and on the machine.

And when I'm sitting outside in my garden, sewing or embroidering, I never know where to put those cut-offs - don't want to throw them on the ground, neither put them in my coffee cup ... Therefore I need the jar: first to hold thread and scissors, then to collect the cut-off threads and fabric snippets.

Both pin cushions were glued on with a hot glue gun - one to the jar lid, the other one to a simple copper ring I had laying around.



And while working, I thought I could as well make a third one - it's a personal version of the flower pin cushion, I just added an extra cushion on the top, in order to separate the sewing needles from the normal pins.

(German summary: Und ich dachte, ich hätte eine neue Erfindung gemacht, mit dem Fingernadelkissen ... :-)! Auf jeden Fall habe ich jetzt sogar drei verschiedene Nadelkissen parat - jedes erfüllt seinen besonderen Zweck auf unterschiedlicher Weise.)

Noro slipover and a turning yarn holder/Noro-Pullunder und ein kugelgelagerter Wollknäuelhalter ...

My first Noro slipover is ready!

I worked front and back the same, so I can have the choice which side to wear in front.



I didn't really have any pattern, just worked the mitered diamonds (go visit Fibermania!) and took the measures from an old sweater. I do enjoy this 'domino knitting', which makes it possible to knit the whole garments with just two double pointed sock knitting needles.

For this vest, I used the more blurred and darker colours - the bright ones will be knitted with the entrelac vest project, which is also proceeding as rapidly as that slightly more complicated pattern allows ...

While knitting with my fantastic Noro yarns, I felt that I would very much like to have the yarn being unrolled from the outer side, so I can see the colours coming up next and sometimes even do a bit of planning - normally, I take the yarn from inside, to prevent it from rolling around.

When visiting me last summer, Sara had a very useful tool, a turning yarn holder, which had a ball bearing and moved very smoothly, following the knitting movements without snatching.



Unfortunately, she couldn't quite remember where she had bought it - somewhere on-line - so after having searched the net without success, I decided to make one myself.

First I just wanted to use a plain kitchen roll holder and cut off a bit of the stick - but then I stumbled into a cheap normal wooden yarn holder and bought that instead. The next step was to find a ball bearing - I started asking around - until my teenage son had one of his (rare) cleaning-up-the-mess moods and got rid of a pencil organizer which, to my great content, had a ball bearing hidden inside!

As the bottom size of this organizer happened to be almost the same as for the yarn holder, the only thing I had to do was to put the organizer apart, drill a center hole big enough for the stick casing and screw the ball bearing part to the wooden bottom of the yarn holder.

Et voilà! A turning yarn holder with almost no effort at all!





(German summary: So, mein erster Noro-Pullunder ist fertig - ich habe ihn in den gedeckteren Farben gestrickt, und zwar so, daß ich ihn beidseitig tragen kann - mit den kleinen Quadraten, die sich wie Dominosteine aneinander fügen. Außerdem habe ich mir einen kugelgelagerten Wollknäuelständer gebastelt, weil ich den Farbverlauf der bunten Noro-Wolle gerne rechtzeitig erkennen möchte.)

Almost to good to be true!/Fast zu gut, um wahr zu sein!

A couple of days ago, I was surfing the net for this and that - and suddenly I read that Ashford, the producer of my "Joy" spinning wheel, had come up with a "Freedom Flyer" - a new flyer for artyarns, provided with a 25 mm/1" orifice hook and slide yarn guides ...



... and large bobbins (left - the 'old' one to the right, as comparison) ...



Maybe you remember my earlier posting about making a DIY solution for bypassing the former small orifice? I have been using it since, but of course I was eager to get that professional gear now!

Anyway, I ordered the new equipment online the same night, and this afternoon the parcel arrived! So now I'm looking forward to quite some new spinning sensations :-)! Maybe someday I'll be able to spin such wonderful yarns as Jana does ... This is really a site to find inspiration!

On Sunday I'm leaving for a trip to Sara - I'll be gone for a week this time, as Sara has asked me to assist as a translator for a group of Swedish ladies attending an embellishing workshop at her place.

I must admit I do feel tempted to take my fancy equipped spinning wheel with me - but I guess there won't be that much time for spinning this time ...!

(German summary: Als ich vor ein paar Tagen im Netz herumgesurft bin, habe ich erfahren, daß es jetzt einen neuen Krebs für das Joy-Spinnrad gibt, mit dem man auch Effektgarne spinnen kann, dazu noch wesentlich größere Spulen. Das neue Einzugsloch - eigentlich ist es ein offener Haken - beträgt 25 mm, statt bisher 10 mm. Heute kam die Zusatzausrüstung mit der Post!

Viel ausprobieren kann ich es im Moment noch nicht, da ich nächste Woche bei Sara bin - aber bald! Bis dahin ;-), schaut Euch die dollen handgesponnenen Garne von Jana an - die sind wirklich wunderschön!)

A chopstick experiment/Ein Experiment mit Eßstäbchen

I've always been convinced that it should be possible to knit with chopsticks - and today I tried it out. I got hold on a pair of those take-away chopsticks, sharpened them with a pencil sharpener and smoothed them with a fine grained sand paper.

When I measured them, I found out that they are about No. 5 needles and that they are light and comfortable to knit with.

And what's more: for this project, they are perfect for using with the normal, thin sock wool!



I'm knitting diagonal squares in garter stitch, which gives the piece a classic patchwork look and makes a very light and elastic knitting, well suitable for a scarf or an indoor poncho - or maybe even a pullover, if I'm patient enough ...



The variegated colours in green and blue form the pattern of light and shadow all by themselves.

This knitting bears many possibilities, and I'm still trying to work out how to use it the best way.



(German summary: Heute habe ich ein paar Eßstäbchen zu Stricknadeln umfunktioniert - mit dem Bleistiftspitzer gespitzt und dann geschmirgelt - sie entsprechen Nr. 5-Nadeln und liegen leicht und gut in der Hand! Ich stricke diagonale Quadrate in Blau- und Grüntönen mit der Sockenwolle und überlege noch, was man alles damit anstellen könnte ...)

A small craft session for confused knitters/Ein Bastelprojekt für Strickerinnen

With the risk of being called a copycat, I want to show you one of the very useful gadgets I discovered at Sara's last week: it looks like a fancy bracelet (and you can of course wear it as such), but it's actually a stitch and row counter, based on the Abacus-system - a must-have for confused knitters like me.

Sara had bought hers on Etsy quite some time ago, and as she couldn't remember exactly where, I took a dive into my stash today and made one myself:



There are several sellers on Etsy, if you want one too - or you can just treat yourself to a little craft session :-).

(German summary: Das ist ein geniales kleines Ding, um Maschen und Reihen beim Stricken zu zählen - meines ist selbstgemacht, bei Etsy gibt's mehrere Anbieter.)

What a joy to recycle this! /Wunderbare Wiederverwertung

Look what I received from Sara today! A whole bunch of sari silk fibers which she had ordered from India! I'm so overwhelmed and so happy! What a joy to recycle this material! (The two small balls at the left are my very first try-outs with the material ...)



And as this seems to be my lucky day, I had one more present - this time from my 13-year old son. Coming home from school, he jumped into the workshop and just made that much-longed-for lazy kate which I've been talking about that I would really need ...

As you can see, it's the luxury version, holding seven (!) bobbins!



(And in German: Diese wunderbaren indischen Seidenfasern aus recycelten Saris hat Sara aus Indien bestellt - und mir einen Batzen davon geschenkt! Ich freu' mich so! - Ganz links oben die allerersten Versuche damit ... Und dann noch dazu ein Geschenk meines 13-jährigen Sohnes: ein heiß ersehnter Spulenhalter - für gleich sieben Spulen - den hat er heute einfach so zusammengezimmert! Wenn das nicht ein Glückstag ist ...)

Bypassing the orifice - and recycling yarns ...(Einzugslochumbau!)!

First of all, I've got to show you this:

It looks like a very modest - and a bit ugly - modification on the flyer, but it really means a lot for spinning bulky yarns and plying beads and sequins ...! Maybe I'll find an even better hook someday, but I'm very content with this solution for the moment - if you want to try it out, make it reversible, like I did, using strong sticky tape (the black one) for holding the wooden plug (where the hook is attached) fixed in the original orifice.

When spinning with the hook, I find it helpful to increase the tension on the brake a bit more than usual, and to sit a bit more to the right, so that the yarn doesn't get off the hook.

(German Version: Ich habe noch eine Veränderung am Flyer vorgenommen, damit ich auch dicke und knubbelige Garne spinnen bzw Perlen und Pailletten verzwirnen kann, ohne daß sie im Einzugsloch stecken bleiben.

Der Haken ist etwas aufgebogen und in einem passenden Holzdübel hineingeschraubt, danach habe ich den Dübel mit starkem Klebeband am Einzugsloch fixiert, damit alles auch noch rückgängig zu machen ist. Damit mir das Garn nicht vom Haken fliegt, habe ich die Spannung an der Bremse ein bißchen erhöht und sitze auch etwas mehr links vom Rad beim Spinnen.)



I've also been experimenting with recycling yarns from my stash, mostly through core spinning and overspinning dull yarns. Another solution is to ply together a couple of thin, matching yarns of different qualities first - creating a new base for further plying or partial overspinning.

This one, for example, consists of a weak and slobby acrylic yarn in Indian spice colours, which I think got more of a character being tightly plied with the black wool:



Below, I've used different short, blue yarn ends, which I found in my stash, and overspun them with a blue/green/brown carded batt, forming nubs when overlapping two yarn ends. For the finish, I plied it all with a thin blue thread holding blue sequins here and there.



Here you see three yarns from my stash - blue cotton, turquoise viscose and green wool - which I just plied together to form a single yarn. I even have enough to knit a slipover out of it - and it sure looks much more interesting as a single than separated.



(Ich experimentiere mit verschiedenen Möglichkeiten, "gehortete" Garne zu verwerten, indem ich sie z B ganz oder teilweise überspinne. Manchmal erreicht man auch recht interessante Ergebnisse durch einfaches Zusammenzwirnen verschiedener Einzelgarne - als Endprodukt, oder auch als Basis für weiteres (Teil-)überspinnen oder Verzwirnen.)

Colourful vest with (mostly) handspun yarns

Today I've been experimenting a lot with 'handspun recycling' - that's really quite exciting - but before I dig deeper into that, I have to show you my colourful vest first, which I finished this morning!

Most of the yarns used are handspun, but I mixed them a bit with suitable scrap yarns from my stash, too.

After having finished knitting the second part, I decided to wear that one as a front instead (right picture), despite of my first plans - but I also deliberately made both sides equal at the neck, so I can change my mind which side to wear in front from time to time!

As usual, I didn't use any pattern, as I find it more convenient to knit freely, just checking the size on some suitable garment.



Do you recognize the 'liquorice' and scrap yarns from earlier postings?



And another small improvement on the flyer:

I put the "heads" of some plastic envelope clips on top of the hose covering the new screws, so that my yarn doesn't jump off when my wheel is going real fast ...

Knitting, reading and spinning ...

Returning with a few interesting books in my bag and the impact of some precious talks in my mind, I feel it's so good to be home again. Having a break - this seems to be just the right thing to do at some points.



Inbetween, the snow brought by last weeks blizzards has melted away entirely, and the vibrant growth of Spring proceeds vigorously.

Still the weekend in town was quite cold and windy, and I was very pleased to wear my tube scarf (see last posting), which held not only my neck but also my ears and nose cosy warm!

At night, I then sat down to spin a simple yarn again, brown-brownish-black, mixed up with some dull colour slubs here and there, then plied with a bright variegated stocking yarn.

It looks a bit like English liquorice to me, and I'm planning to use it for that dark/coloured vest, which I started two weeks ago - this would be the back of it:

By the way, I've altered the original hooks on one side of the flyer of my spinning wheel to slim screws instead, covering them up with a bit of hose, so that my bumpy yarn doesn't get hooked up all the time. It's a real improvement, and quite easy to do!

Now I'm thinking of ways to expand or bypass the orifice, as Ashford does not provide Jumbo flyers for this mobile wheel. It's a pity, as this would be so easy to do for the producer - but I guess I'll find a solution to that myself, sooner or later.

One of the books I found in Vienna is called "Sweater Surgery - how to make new things with old sweaters" by Stefanie Girard (German version: "Ich war ein Pulli - aus alten Pullis Neues machen") - it's all about recycling knitwear in a young and modern way.

There are several books on this matter right now, but still I think there must be far more exciting ways to re-use knitwear, especially in combination with felting, knitting, punching ...

Please join me in experimenting and sharing!