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I haven't told you about my latest project yet. I know I've been working on my Solomon's Knot lace vest and actually, I finished it. I haven't taken pictures because I really want to make a second one now that I have the pattern completely worked out. Since this was a first effort, I had to add a couple rows here and remove a couple there. I'm kind of a perfectionist and it looks like a first draft effort to me. I do like the design so I will make another, but I'm taking a little break.
Here's what I'm making now. I referred to this tunic as new, but I've been working on it behind the scenes for a little while. If I just took a picture of the fabric, it would be hard to tell where I'm going with this project, so I drew a little sketch. I'm working the design in four pieces, two squares and two long polygons. The inspiration for this tunic came from my own closet. I have a cool top that was made in Japan. I really like the clean lines and construction of the piece, only there is one aspect of it I would change if I could. Then I started thinking, why couldn't I?
Is it spring down on the farm? No, actually Baby Chick and Grass Green are the names of the two shades of Merino wool roving I dyed yesterday. It might not feel like spring yet, but I wanted to have these colors ready in plenty of time to felt baby chicks and other springtime themes.
I didn't quite make it to the computer to blog yesterday, but I'm still busy dyeing this week. Normally I arrange my freshly dyed roving in some sort of design. Today when I plopped down this pound of fluffy goodness, I thought it looked inviting all cuddled up together, so I took a candid shot.
So as you can see, I now have Sapphire, Silver, Light Blue and Violet Merino roving back in the shop!
It's dyeing week here at Wind Rose Fiber Studio. That means I'll be showing off lots of fiber. Yesterday I dyed one extra color, this pretty Khaki Brown. Sometimes I get caught up in the process and like to play with my colors. This is a very earthy shade with undertones of olive mixed in with a warm light brown.
Also swimming in the dye pots yesterday were Golden Brown and Mediterranean. Today I'm shifting to cool tones with silver, violet and shades of blue.
I haven't dyed any wool for a while now, so this week I have given myself a goal. I plan to dye two colors a day for the next five days. This will replenish my Merino inventory and free me up to dye some samplers hopefully in the near future. I got a head start yesterday with a batch of Porcelain Fair Merino and Sun Touched Merino. Since I'll be in dyeing mode, this is a good week to hit me up for any specific color you may need. You may want to check my Dyed Merino section first because it has a pretty nice variety.
I just added 3 listings of Doll Mohair Top to the shop. This fiber seems pretty popular lately, so I thought I would share it with you. It's an ecru or natural mohair with an 8" staple length. It has a nice luster and makes ideal hair for handmade dolls. It's also easy to dye so you can customize your project.
My Mermaid just arrived from Snowfall Studio and she's gorgeous!
I think she likes her new home. What do you think?
I don't want to start a stampede or anything, but Kristen has a new mermaid in her shop with sweet little heart embellishments. For Valentine's Day or any day, it would make a wonderful gift!
A couple days ago I talked about frogging my Lapis Wrap for a Solomon's Knot lace vest that I'm designing on the fly. (frog/fly... too much?) Well, today I went to a scary place. I cut off a piece of my fabric from the beginning rows.
I guess I need to explain that better. I'm working my drape front style vest in one piece beginning from the left front, continuing across the back and then the right front. I have already crocheted the second armhole so I'm nearing the finish line.
I tried it on to make sure that I liked the width of the back and that is when I decided that the left front was a little longer than I wanted. The proportions just looked a little off. At this point I had three choices. I could live with it, start all over again, or I could cut a few rows off from the beginning. I knew I couldn't live with it and I didn't want to start over, so I went for the scissors.
I don't think I've ever cut into a project before unless I was using part of it for something else. In this case, I want to shorten the length without changing the look. Since I care about appearances here, I was pretty nervous. I say was because now that it's all said and done, I think I'm going to be okay.
I was able to place a safety pin through the loops of the stitches that I'll be working into when I re-create the first row. *Deep sigh* I tried it back on and now the length looks much more in proportion, so I feel like my project is back on track. I guess life is good if scary is cutting my crochet!
I was just on Facebook seeing what my peeps are up to, when I saw an interesting update from Dank Artistry. Etsy is rolling out Direct Checkout. This means that before long, you can shop on Etsy without a PayPal account. That's right, you can buy something from Wind Rose Fiber Studio with just a regular old credit card.
I've added my shop to the queue and just as soon as my turn comes up, I'll be accepting major credit cards at Wind Rose. I think it's a nice improvement to give buyers a choice. You will still have the option of paying with PayPal if you prefer. Personally, I'm a fan of PayPal, but it's always nice to have options!
I haven't talked about my Lapis Wrap in a while. Here's the thing, I'm about 8 rows from being finished and I've decided to frog the whole thing. I'm cringing as I type this because I'm afraid you'll think I'm crazy. Maybe I am. The sizing has worked out just fine even though I completely played around with the gauge. The only reason I can offer is that I can't get the idea out of my mind that I would rather it be more lacy and light.
I went browsing through one of my crochet stitch dictionaries to find a pretty lace. I found myself drawn to the Solomon's Knot lace. This has happened before. I have made one other project using Solomon's Knot lace and that one turned out pretty, so I think I'm going for project #2.
This means I'm going rogue and making up my pattern as I crochet. This is always a little risky, but it makes it kind of fun too. I've crocheted around 10 inches worth so far and I love how light and airy the fabric feels. It also has a nice drape and a stretchy quality that appeals.
I still like the Lapis Wrap pattern and maybe next fall I'll go for it again and use a lighter yarn and the proper gauge. With the temperatures already warming here in my part of the country, lace seems like the way to go!
This afternoon I sat down with my son and we made these woven paper hearts. He's doing a school project on Sweden and these popped into my head. It seemed like good timing to mix a Swedish paper craft with Valentine's Day.
I know I have a template for these in my house somewhere, but my quick search this morning came up dry. So onto the internet I jumped and I found some pretty nice links if you would like to make these with your kids.
If you are wondering about age range, my son is 12 and he made the red and purple one completely on his own. These things always depend on the individual, but I'd say maybe 8 and up unless you just have a super handy little person in the house.
On to the links! Family Fun has a tutorial complete with video. That's always nice. Their template is cute too. It's the green and blue one in my photo. It creates little hearts within the big heart. I found that this template prints better with a horizontal paper orientation.
I also stumbled upon the Daughters of Norway Nordic Paper Crafts page. How's that for a mouthful? As a Scandinavian, I found this whole website pretty awesome, but looking specifically for our woven hearts, they have some seriously cool templates. The pink and purple heart I made up above came from the third link. It's the one in the upper left hand corner on the template page. I found out quickly that this can go from a simple craft to a challenging one very fast! I should also note that I altered the template by cutting all of the lines up to the same height. How you would weave it otherwise, I have no idea!
There's still time to make homemade valentines and this is a pretty fun project. I guess I should also mention that they open up like little baskets. You can cut a strip of paper and tape or staple it into place. You could slip a sweet note into the basket or even a little treat. Once again, if you look at the Family Fun page, they have a picture of one with a handle and some red stuffing. Gee, I just realized that our hearts our sideways instead of right side up. I guess we'll have to make some more!
Hi, I just wanted to swing by and let you know that I have Cultivated Silk Hankies back in stock. I also have Tussah Silk, Cultivated Silk, Fawn Alpaca and Baby Camel. Just check out the Undyed Fibers or the Alpaca and Rare Breeds sections of the shop. It's so nice to have these luxurious fibers in the studio!
