Posts Tagged ‘fiber’

The Fabulous Fiber Fest Day 2 & 3

Monday, August 20, 2007

Wow! I am tired. I spent most of my time on the second day blending Angelina and Merino fiber. I bought the Merino a long time ago. I thought it was for a scarf for Kate. But now I realize that the fiber is for a hat project. Darn! I did think that there was too little of it for a scarf. Grrrrr! I’ll have to find the fiber intended for the scarf and card it at the guild meeting.

I took Tablet Weaving 102 with Michael Cook on the third day. We learned more advanced techniques. Double Face & Brocade. I got the basics down. But I still need to be able to see how stitches are formed. At this time I have to remember how many times I turn forward or backward. I can get stuck trying to remember which way to go next. Here’s the result from the second class:

Photos of the 2nd Day

See more photos here.

Photos of the 3rd Day

See more photos here.

I stayed behind after closing of the show to help take down Mariko’s displays and booth. Hard work. I probably lost a few pounds. But that is a good thing. :-)

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Posted in Family & Friends, Knitting, Spinning, Weaving | 4 Comments »

The Fabulous Fiber Fest Day 1

Friday, August 17, 2007

What a day. So much to do at the show. We had a little area for “Spin & Knit”. Mariko even brought her drum carder for us to play with. But I ended up spending a lot of time trying to solve problems for a client. We had a DNS record update yesterday. Things usually get a bit weird for up to 24 to 36 hours when that is done. He was told, but he still freaked out! ARRGGHHHH!

At least I got to take the Tablet Weaving class 101 today. That forced me to get off the phone for 3 hours. The client’s “problem” resolved by itself by the time the class ended. The day ended good, but I am way tired. Here are some pictures of the day:

More photos can be seen here. I couldn’t take pictures of every booth. I’ll take some more tomorrow. Here’s what we learned today in Tablet Weaving 101:

I am still doing this by remembering the steps. I hope to eventually “see” what’s going on. Oh, and that’s an Inkle Loom that I am using for the project. Guess I’ll learn how to do that too. :-)

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Posted in Knitting, Spinning, Weaving | 5 Comments »

A Plug for The Fabulous Fiber Fest

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Did you know, taking vitamin B1 (Thiamine) can possibly help you repel mosquitoes? This is what I found on Wikipedia:

Some studies suggest that taking thiamine (vitamin B1) 25 mg to 50 mg three times per day is effective in reducing mosquito bites. A large intake of Thiamine produces a skin odor that is not detectable by humans, but is disagreeable to female mosquitoes. Thiamine takes more than 2 weeks before the odor fully saturates the skin. With the advances in topical preparations there is an increasing number of Thiamine based repellent products. Whilst there is considerable anecdotal evidence of Thiamine products being effective in the field (Australia, US and Canada), there has yet to be any clinical trials run to demonstrate the efficacy of these products.

Now, don’t go rushing to the store to stock up on vitamin B1. Talk to your doctor first if you want to try it! I just thought this was interesting.

What?!? Oh! I am suppose to give a plug on The Fabulous Fiber Fest. It is happening this Friday through Sunday, 8/17 ~ 8/19, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Do stop by if you are in the area. I will be there everyday from opening to closing, doing fiber related activities somewhere in the show. I am also taking two tablet weaving classes with Michael Cook. That is going to be fun!

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Posted in Misc. | 3 Comments »

What Goes On In The Guild

Friday, August 10, 2007

I’d better catch up on posting. July spinning guild meeting was once again full of fun. I took the Four Corner Hat in for Show & Tell. Shared the story of knitting it with the group. It felt really good. Again, I’ll let the photos do most of the speaking:

Show & Tell

Fiber Pushers

Chris was plucking the buns again. He he he

L.A. Times reporter came to interview individuals over 50. I think the article was about what people over 50 do in L.A.

Dave brought his huge, motorized drum carder and did a demo of carding and dizzing:

Ruth shot a video of Dave’s demonstration. You can see it here. (Please try your best to skip the first video. Pretty please!) To see more guild meeting photos, go here.

John taught a bulky singles class at April’s guild meeting.

This is what I made:

Not really bulky. More like heavy worsted. Need more practice!

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Posted in Knitting, Spinning | 6 Comments »

Mary Frances

Friday, December 1, 2006

Mary Frances is a sweet lady. She reminds me of Sophia, “ma”, from the Golden Girls. I took a bag of unginned cotton to the guild meeting last month. (Oh my gosh, it’s December already.) I was just sitting there, separating the fiber from the seeds. (I gave away lots of seeds that day.) Mary Frances came over to see what I was doing. As it turned out, she was quite an expert. She quickly showed me a few tricks to keep the fiber soft and fluffy. She also made a comment, “what is this stuff? It’s so dirty.”

Yes, I admit, it has a lot of bits and pieces of the “husk” in it. But I don’t mind, they will probably fall off during spinning.

Mary Frances went on to tell me that she grew her own cotton. Varieties of them. “Do you want some?” she asked. Ding! Of course I did. She got my address and promised to send some. It came in the mail yesterday.

I was expecting a big bag of cotton for spinning. Now I know she really meant to send me some seeds to grow my own plants. :lol: Silly greedy me! I didn’t feel any bit of disappointment though. Not at all. It was a thrill to see different cotton fiber in it’s natural form.

She sent me three kinds of cotton fiber. Top left is from an 8-year-old plant that is now a tree. It is the softest and fluffiest of the bunch. The white fiber is from Thai cotton plant. It feels a bit coarse. But that will probably change when it’s fluffed out a bit. Top right is from “Workshop Door”. (Anyone knows what that is?) Two different colors. The darker orange tan is really beautiful.

There are lots of seeds in them. I wonder if they can be grown in Northern California?

Thank you Mary Frances! I can’t wait to see you at the next meeting to thank you in person. :-) Oh, can I come see your cotton plants?

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Posted in Spinning | 1 Comment »

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