The Early Bird is The Tired Bird

I just had a shot of my favorite cold brew, so hopefully I'm good to go. 

I am on Day 1 of waking up early.  When I say early, I mean the 4 o'clock hour. I don't know if this is a trending thing, but I blame, um, I mean, I give credit to WheezyWaiter for this little adventure.  I follow him on YouTube and last week he shared his experience with shifting to an early to bed, early to rise schedule. If you're curious:

This is one of those videos that stuck with me.  To say I value time, especially creative time, is probably an understatement.  I often feel frustrated when my creative energy runs out, but the night is still young.  I end up watching a couple hours of TV because who goes to bed at 8pm?  

So I tried it.  I slept with my Apple watch on and a 4:30 alarm set to vibrate. It actually took 12 minutes of vibration before I woke up, but I was trying to spare my husband an early morning alarm.  I'm sensitive like that. :)

I usually wake up around 6am, so this didn't feel like that much extra time.  Determined to make the most of it, I went for a sunrise run, listened to my current audio book, Creative Quest by Questlove and I killed a few zombies (PvZ 2). Now, at 3:12 in the afternoon, I am feeling the sleepies, but I am determined to push through.  I know it's going to take a few nights to fully transition.

I think I am going to switch my wake-up time to 4am.  I want just a little more am.  I'm hoping I'll have an easier time getting to sleep tonight.  Last night I tossed and turned which is adding to today's roughness. 

This may be a crazy, short lived experiment, but I can't resist giving it a go.  I would much rather spend two hours in the early morning being creative, running, or just generally doing stuff than that same amount of time laying in front of the TV.  I wonder how I'll feel a few days from now?   

Direct Checkout is Coming to Etsy

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!

Lapis Wrap Update

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!

Swedish Woven Paper Hearts - With Some Great Links

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!

Hat Sizing

I've been talking about hats a lot lately, so I thought I'd share this handy hat sizing list.  Even for those of us with kids, sometimes it's hard to remember the average head circumference of a 3 year old.  


This list leaves out adults.  21"-23" or 53.5 to 58.5cm is pretty typical.  21" is usually an adult small, 22" a medium, which leaves 23" as a large hat size.  This is the kind of information that's nice to keep around when hat making is the order of the day!

*Info for this post comes from Little Lids.

My Macrame Earrings by Amira Jewelry

I wore myself out writing a pattern yesterday, so today I'm having a little fun with show and tell.  A few weeks ago I made the mistake of clicking on an ad in the right margin of my Facebook profile.  Not only was I breaking one of my personal rules about ignoring such ads, but I also ended up stumbling upon a site that has become a major weakness.  That website is Fab.com and I think I'm addicted.   

Fab is like an ever changing, international bazaar of eclectic and fun stuff.  They feature items ranging from handmade to techy, from jewelry to housewares and even furniture.  I can't resist taking a daily peek at the sales and one day I just had to buy these amazing earrings by Amira Jewelry.  These are macrame, but as you can see from her website, Amira also creates canvas and assemblage jewelry.  You can find her work in her store on Etsy as well.  I'm particularly drawn to her macrame pieces.  I love the colors she chooses and the clean, yet interesting designs.  The quality of work in my earrings depicts an attention to detail that you only find when someone takes true pride in their craft. 


I know it's uncool to draw others into your addictions, so beware of me today!  I'll let you decide whether or not to explore the enticements at Fab.com.  On the other hand, I would encourage you to check out this wonderful artist, Amira Mednick.  I notice she sells her work at the Portland Saturday Market.  I love the Portland Market and it makes me wonder if I've seen her work before.  This is just the sort of thing that would typically catch my eye.  Of course the Saturday Market is huge, so I guess I could have missed Amira's jewelry.  I'm glad I've found it now!

My Ashford Joy DT ~ The Resolution

I've been sharing my experience with my new Ashford Joy DT, so now I'm back to share how my issues have been resolved.  I wrote to Ashford just to let them know about the troubles I was having.  I was hoping that maybe I could spare someone else a similar experience.  


They wrote me back very promptly and suggested I take pliers and bend the connecting piece of metal (A).  From the beginning, I knew that this piece of metal was a big part of the problem, but it's a very hard metal.  I had even tried to pull on it with my hands, but it didn't budge.  I was worried that the force I would need to use to bend it might put too much stress on the wheel.  I didn't want a piece of wood to split or to compromise where the metal is soldered together.  As it turned out, pliers were not very useful.  In the end, my husband just pulled on it while trying to brace where the piece is joined to the other treadle.  I winced as the wheel shuddered under the force, but my husband managed to bend the piece of metal enough to keep the two legs from knocking into each other.  


Having made that adjustment, I was able to reattach the right leg to its treadle as intended.  It's still a good thing that I shaved a little wood from the right treadle (B).  Even with everything put together correctly, the left treadle leg would have brushed against the right treadle.  I think the hole in the left treadle should have been drilled just a little to the left.  It's amazing how narrow the margins for error are on what is essentially a simple machine.  


After all of this tweaking, not to mention a lot of silicone spray to remove all of the squeaks, my Joy is now running like a well oiled machine.  I'm a little traumatized by everything I had to do to get this brand new wheel running smoothly.  I haven't experience a lot of joy with my Joy yet, but hopefully that will change.  I think I just need to spin a few skeins of fun yarn to get over my mixed feelings. 

Tunis Fleece

Last week was party week here at my house.  My youngest turned 12 and we threw a little block party to celebrate.  As a result, I didn't have any time to play with my new Tunis fleece from Tri-Ply Fibers.  Today I plan to rectify that!


Tunis is interesting because it is not only a rare breed, but also the only true red breed of sheep.  They are born red or reddish brown and even though this color fades with maturity, their wool retains a red undertone.  I guess you could call it the sheep equivalent of a strawberry blond. 


The first Tunis came to America in 1799 as a gift from the ruler of Tunisia.  They became popular both for their meat and for their fleece.  George Washington and Thomas Jefferson had flocks of Tunis sheep.  Tunis are still popular today with more flocks on the east coast than out here in the west.  From my reading, they seem rather low maintenance to raise.  They thrive well even on unexceptional pasture land and they often produce twin lambs.  I've tried to select some of the highlights, but there is quite a lot of information on Tunis.  It's well worth a Google!


From a spinner's perspective, I like the feel.  This fleece ranges from 24-30 microns.  I would say that mine is on the high end of that, but it still has a softness to it.  I think it would be ideal for a warm pair of mittens or a nice winter beanie.  In most of the articles I've read, they have given Tunis a staple length of 4 to 6 inches.  Mine, raised in Queen Creek, AZ, has a significantly shorter staple.  I don't find this surprising.  It would be downright cruel in this climate to allow sheep to suffer under 6" of wool. 


I kind of like working with a shorter staple length and this wool has a very nice crimp.  I know it will draft easily and handle well.  So that's just a little bit about Tunis.  I have 2oz which I'll divide in half and then make into a 2ply yarn.  I'll probably spin a sport or DK weight so I can get some yardage out of my ounces.  I'm thinking that I'll devote my finished yarn to my 2012 Ornament Project since I'm making all of my ornaments in ecru.  Having said that, I feel compelled to add that I can tell this fleece would take dye like a dream.  It's very porous I think would achieve deep colors with little effort.  Perhaps I'll dye the next batch.

A Beanie For Craft Hope

Yesterday Craft Hope announced Project 16:  The Littlest Warriors.  This time we'll be crafting for kids fighting cancer.  Craft Hope is collecting beanie hats for babies through teens and bags for the kids to take to the hospital.  You can even fill the bags with crayons, coloring or activity books and anything else the kids might like.    

I couldn't wait to get started, so last night I got to work on a larger version of my Spiral Baby Beanie.  I've always liked this hat and I knew it wouldn't be hard to enlarge the size.  I need another day or two, but I'll be posting a free pattern for this beanie in youth to adult sizes.  

For this particular hat, I picked colors that I thought would look cute on a little boy, but half the fun is making them in different colors every time.  You can get creative with embellishments too.  On my Crochet Patterns Page you'll find a couple free flower patterns and a little leaf.  You could also buy sew-on decals for boys and girls at most craft or fabric stores.  Novelty yarns can also take this beanie to the next level.  Imagine a fur trim or a nice bouclé.

I like to get the kids involved in these projects too, so I'll be designing an easy sew fleece hat or something that we can do together.  My boys just don't want to learn to crochet.  Can you imagine that? 

Tunis from TriPlyFibers

I just ordered my first ounces of Tunis.  I've never tried Tunis wool before so I'm looking forward to a new experience.  At the same time, I'm excited to introduce a new Etsy shop, TriPlyFibers.  The owner of TriPlyFibers happened across my shop and realized that we were neighbors.  He lives in the next town just east of my own.  I'm grateful to Jerry for sending me a little note and the opportunity to make a new connection.  


When I found out that Jerry shears sheep for local farms, I was very curious to find out what kind of sheep people are raising.  I pass by quite a few small farms just driving around the valley.  When I see sheep, I always crane my neck to see if they might be a breed with fine fleece.  Most often, they are more primitive breeds.  Cute, but not the best spinning fiber.  So when Jerry told me he had some Tunis from a local farm, I was intrigued. 


I did a little research and was excited to find that Tunis sheep are an ancient breed.  I'm feeling a little sleepy tonight, so rather than summarize, I'm just going to pass on a link to this wonderful blog post by Sittin' n' Spinnin'.  I also found this picture of a Tunis sheep in the Wiki Commons.  I love how their wool has a "rose undertone" as Jerry puts it.  He has a nice supply of Tunis roving in his shop right now if anyone else wants to give this pretty fiber a try.  

Wool ~ The Book

I think this is kind of wild, so I'm sharing it.  Tonight I was having happy hour with the husband when he told me about his latest Kindle purchase.  He just bought Wool by Hugh Howey.  Actually, he bought the whole series.


So how did he stumble onto this?  He was looking for the top science fiction listings and there it was for just 99¢ a copy!  The names are great too.  The first is just entitled Wool, but then there's Wool 2 - Proper Gauge.  Moving on we come to Wool 3 - Casting Off and last, but not least Wool 4 - The Unraveling.


I have to confess that sci-fi is not my go-to genre.  I read a little now and then, but I don't seek it out.  However, it's hard not to be a little curious about this particular series.  Scrolling down to the reviews on Amazon, people are giving it high praise.  The only complaint I read is that it was too short and they wanted the story to last longer.  I may just have to borrow my husband's Kindle! 

Miniature Japanese Garden ~ Show & Tell

Our Japanese garden is complete and on display in our family room.  This project was so much fun.  My son and I enjoyed making all of the elements and took extra joy in some of the smallest details.  We studied our stones and separated them into five categories based on shape.  These different shapes represent wood, metal, fire, earth and water.  We were also careful with our placement as we turned our stones into a retaining wall for our river.  

I'm glad I wasn't able to find a small bridge or stone lantern because it was more gratifying to make our own.  We used Crayola Model Magic which is my favorite clay for school projects.  It's so easy to mix the colors and it sticks to itself so you make individual shapes and fix them together.  We made small round rocks and stuck them together to form a stone bridge.  I used a glass tumbler to make a perfect arch.  My son made the stone lantern freehand style and it turned out so cute.  We even hid a little nesting bird in the moss.

I can't say enough about how much fun this was.  If you are looking for a rainy day activity or just some good, crafty entertainment, look no more!  We made a Japanese garden, but really you could design any little world of your choosing.  Oh, one last bit.  I used a 15 inch plastic tray for the base.  These are sold at Home Depot to put under planters for just around five dollars.  I used regular garden soil as my filler under the moss.  Okay, I think that's all the details you need to get started.  Anyway, thanks for letting me share.  Now, what was I crocheting again?

Lapis Wrap ~ A Good Beginning

I'm off to a good start on my Lapis Wrap.  Of course I've already made things a little more complicated for myself by working in a different gauge.  My natural stitches must be quite a bit larger than the author's, but I have decided not to change hooks or yarn.  

I went back and forth on this decision.  I think that if I switched to a smaller hook, my double crochets would be smaller and closer together which would help the lace stand out.  I think it would probably be a little prettier than sticking with the H hook, but I chose the H hook anyway.  This will create a vest that is lighter and more open.  I can't help but favor breezier garments living where I do.  I'm thinking I'll go ahead and make this one with the larger gauge and then maybe I'll choose a lighter weight yarn and a smaller hook and make another to the pattern specifications.  


Basically, what this means is that I'll be doing more mental math as I crochet this Lapis Wrap.  I'll also be depending on the schematics to help me accurately place my armholes and work the front of the piece.  The pattern seems to be very well written, so I don't expect to have too much trouble.  I really like the "tulip" rows or lace.  They are very pretty and fun to crochet too.  I feel like I'm zooming right along! 

Miniature Japanese Garden

It's not often that I go off topic, but every once in a while I can't help myself.  This post has very little to do with fiber unless you count the dried moss in the background.  It is creative however, and a fun project to do with the kids.

My son is reading about Asia in geography.  A particular section on Japan discussed their beautiful gardens and even listed the elements that you find in most gardens.  There's often a teahouse, a stone lantern, water, a bridge to an island or stepping stones.  I started thinking that it would be fun to create our own miniature Japanese garden.  


Here's my plan.  I have a large planter that is about 18" in diameter.  This will be the home of our garden.  A visit to my local hobby store produced this unfinished wooden birdhouse.  I think the shape looks a little teahouse inspired.  I also found some unfinished benches and chairs.  Some sparkling blue rocks will represent water and I also picked up some moss for ground cover.  I bought stones too, but after doing a little reading, I see that we'll have to be careful about the stones we choose and how we place them.  This Historical Japanese Gardens website will help with that and will enrich the educational part of our project.  I couldn't find a small stone lantern so I picked up grey modeling clay and we'll make our own and maybe a bridge too.  


I'm looking forward to spending an afternoon making a Japanese garden with my son.  It will be fun to design it together and make all of the elements.  Maybe we'll stain our teahouse and the garden benches.  Maybe there could be a little fiber after all in the form of a felted bird's nest with some tiny eggs.  Who knows?  Mainly, I want to have fun with my son and learn along the way.  I think a lot of kids would enjoy a project like this, so I thought I'd share the idea.  I think it would be fun to do with live plants or maybe in a terrarium.  There are plenty of creative possibilities!

My Ashford Joy ~ Follow-up Thoughts

I have a couple follow-up thoughts on my post about my new Ashford Joy.  I remarked before that I bought this model because I've admired how quiet and smooth it spins.  Then when I put mine together only to find that the treadle legs knock into each other, I thought maybe the quiet Joys must have been single treadle.  


Well, one of the members of my guild was at the multicultural festival yesterday with her joy and it was a double treadle!  I watched her spin and it was as quiet and smooth as ever.  I know she has had her wheel for a number of years and I noticed something different in the design of her Ashford Joy.  


The picture of the Joy I have here is what I received.  Notice that the left treadle leg is the foremost.  On my friend's wheel, it was the other way around.  I came home and searched for articles about the Joy from a few years ago and found a YouTube video of a Joy from 2006 designed like the one my friend has.  Somewhere along the way, it seems that they have changed the design, but I'm not sure they have done so for the better.  


I don't have any expectations for myself, but I think I'm going to write to the company and share my experience.  Maybe the one I received was flawed or perhaps this change in the design is causing problems for everyone.  Spinning wheels are pretty big investments, so a new wheel should be a smooth, running machine. 

Spinning & Weaving at the Multicultural Festival

Once a year I pack up my trunk and head down to the Chandler Multicultural Festival.  I attend with my guild, the Telaraña Weavers and Spinners.  This year I brought along a special guest, my son Wes.  Wes does one service oriented project each month as part of his education.  The festival provided a great opportunity to be out in the community, spending time with others and sharing our love of the arts, in this case fiber arts!

I should refer to Wes not as my guest, but my secret weapon.  You see, I always take a bunch of wool and drop spindles to this event.  I spread a blanket out on the ground and sit at kid level.  I want them to know it's okay to touch and play.  After all, there's no better way to pass on the joy of your craft than by teaching the next generation.  When other kids saw my son sitting with a lap loom weaving, it really got their attention.  I think it made them feel like it was okay to ask questions and try out the loom  and spindles for themselves.

I spent a wonderful afternoon, surrounded by boys and girls and their parents.  At one point I had two brothers and a sister all learning how to work drop spindles together.  Whenever it was time for the kids to leave, I would unwind the yarn they had spun and give it to them as a little keepsake.  So many people asked me if I teach classes.  I don't have any official classes that I teach, but I gave them my card.  If someone really wants to learn, I can't say no to that!  There aren't many yarn shops or community centers that offer classes just for kids.  It's a shame especially when you seen how interested they are.

It has been a fulfilling day of teaching and sharing.  Days like this are rare treasures.  Why can't every day be multicultural day?

My New Ashford Joy Spinning Wheel ~ The Good/Bad/Good News

My new Ashford Joy spinning wheel arrived in the mail yesterday.  That's good news right?  It's exciting to get that big box on the porch and when it relates to one of your favorite activities, even better.  So, after dinner last night, even though I was feeling tired, I thought I would at least open the box and check it out.  It comes almost entirely assembled so I found myself putting the few finishing touches together so I could take it for a spin.

That's when I hit the bad news.  I picked this wheel in particular because whenever I'm spinning with a group of people, the Joys seem so quiet and smooth.  Now I realize I probably should have looked more closely.  I suspect those quiet Ashford Joys were single treadles.  The reason I suspect this is because my double treadle is not quiet.  There seems to be a flaw in the very design.  The wood pieces attached to the treadles rub against each other creating a knocking sound that gets louder with speed.  I had a few minutes of disbelief.  Could this really be the design?  Was it assembled incorrectly.  After triple checking everything, I hit my low of last night. 

I hate returning things and I just refused to accept that this wheel couldn't be made to run smoothly. That's when the tinker in me came out.  It's also how this story has a good news ending.   Here's what I did.  I changed the connecting tube on the right treadle (exhibit A).  Instead of running straight into the hole like you can see on the left treadle, I rearranged it by removing the screw (exhibit B) and then brought the tube up from the bottom of the treadle.  There was enough length in the tube and by reversing the direction of placement in this way, the wooden leg is held back and no longer rubs against the leg of the other treadle. 


That's not all I had to do.  I also discovered that the leg of the left treadle was rubbing against the right treadle.  I actually got out my wood whittling tools (I guess it's strange that I happen to have wood whittling tools) and I carefully reshaped the wood in the offending spot (exhibit C).  At this point you are either thinking that I'm quick and clever or just plain crazy.  It did feel a bit nuts to take a knife to my brand new wheel, but if I sent it back, it would just become a problem for someone else.  The good news is that it now treadles very smoothly.  The only sound is the whirring of the wheel which is as it should be.  I'm a little less than impressed that I had to tinker to get these results, but I'm happy to have solved the problem. 

A Little Hand Crafted Nostalgia

I was looking for earrings to match my outfit this morning and picked these from my collection.  Then I got to thinking about when I made them.  After a little mental math I realized that these earrings are about 23 years old.  I made them when I was single, living in an apartment.  A mattress on the floor was my bed and I waited tables to make ends meet.  I had pillaged other jewelry for the beads and ear wires.  I used a regular sewing needle and thread to piece them together.  I remember having fun making them and though they are just simple wooden earrings, I've always enjoyed wearing them.  

I guess at 23 it's safe to consider these vintage, but vintage what?  Vintage me?  These are me before marriage and kids, before I started crocheting again and years before Wind Rose Fiber Studio.  One of the reasons I'm attached to them is that I made them long before I thought of myself as a person who makes things.  It makes me wonder about my crafting friends.  Do you have anything like this, that you made long ago and still wear today?  What's vintage you? 

Snowfall Studio ~ Crocheted Plushies for Children

I am very excited to share a new store on Etsy called Snowfall Studio.  The owner of this shop, Kristen, is a good friend.  We met when our oldest sons were both toddlers.  Each week our little playgroup would come together and we'd spend a couple hours trying to keep the kids happy while we also tried to have adult conversation.  Of course most of these conversations ended up being about our kids.  

When Kristen joined the group, I admired her right from the start.  She was quiet, but I could tell that she was tuned in to everything.  The rug rat chaos often made me crazy, but if it bothered Kristen, her face revealed nothing.  At coffee time with my husband, I would recount the previous play date and tell him that the wise woman of the group was certainly Kristen.  

Over the years we've stayed in touch even though we have both moved away from the neighborhood where we first met.  Kristen is the mother of four beautiful kids.  The youngest is now in school, so for the first time in 14 years, she has a little free time.  She is devoting some of these precious hours to making original, crocheted designs for children.  

I love her mermaids with their Waldorf inspired simplicity and their whimsical details.  The one to the left is my favorite because I like the colors.  I guess I have a thing for brunettes.  I didn't mean to saw her in half, but I want you to be able to click on the picture and see the details for yourself.  I love the shape of the mermaid's tail and Kristen's stitches are so flawless.  The starfish accents are the perfect touch to bring your imagination to life as you picture this mermaid in her magical home.  

Kristen also makes kitties, turtles and birds.  Quality is very important to her as she knows these will become beloved toys.  They are made for play and though I may be getting a little old for dolls, I'm getting ready to place an order at Snowfall Studio.  I can just see my mermaid, perched on a rock by the swimming pool or maybe on the chaise with a good book! 

The 2012 Ornament Project ~ 12 Months 12 Ornaments

I have a goal for myself this year.  This coming Christmas, that's right, just under 12 months away, I want to decorate a tree with ornaments that are all handmade.  Specifically, I want them to be crocheted and/or possibly tatted.  The rules I have made for myself are as follows:

1.  The yarn must be handspun by me.
2.  If I choose to add color, then I have to dye the yarn or finished ornaments. (I haven't decided whether I want to add color because I think a tree all decorated in ecru would be pretty.)
3.  I have to design the ornaments.  They will probably be uncomplicated, just shapes that I find appealing.
4.  I will share the designs each month here on my blog, so if you like something I design, you can make it too!

The next post on The 2012 Ornament Project will be labeled "January" and then each month to come will also have an ornament post.  

I've already started preparations for this month.  Yesterday, I spun the Merino yarn pictured above and let me say that this is the skein that finally pushed me over the edge with my spinning wheel.  I've been thinking about replacing my Louet S10 DT for some time now and I keep talking myself out of it.  By the time I began spinning the second singles for this two ply, I was fed up.  In fact, I paused in my spinning, ordered a new wheel online, and then finished up this skein as quickly as I could.  I just can't stand how noisy my Louet wheel has become and it's more than just a squeak that I could lube although there's that too.  It's the bobbin sliding and knocking around the all of the superfluous movement that the wheel generates.  Argh!

Sorry about that.  I needed to rant.  Still, I managed to spin about 115 yards of 2ply Merino.  I plied this skein a little tighter that I often do and I like how it looks and the springy feel.  I think it will make pretty ornaments.  

To the left of the yarn is January's ornament.  I've already come up with the design using the yarn I plied from my Turkish drop spindle the other day.  Now I just need to write up the pattern and make an ecru version.  I think the dye free yarn will be better for my post.  The stitches will be easier to see and I'll take some photographs along the way.  

So this is my plan.  I'll be designing 12 ornaments over the next 12 months and you are welcome to come along and join in the project.  The designs will be quick and easy, so they might be nice to do with the kids or a beginning crochet class.  Now I just have to stay on task and make my goal!