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Sunday, December 16, 2007

look ma, i'm knitting!!


the mess goes on and on
am i supposed to get these loops
or does it have to knit smoothly?


Grabbed a cone of awful wool to start practicing with the knitting machine. On my left hand i had the instruction book, like the good girl i am. Soon i learned i needed at least 4 more hands.
One right hand to hold the yarn, a left hand to hold down the cast on comb-forever until i finished knitting? Another right hand to grab the handle of the carriage and move it from left to right.Yet one more left hand to hold the left side of the knitting and one more hand, unspecified whether left or right for trouble shooting. Oh and i forgot the one needed for holding the book, that is unless you lay it down near the machine and you twist and shout with every pass.

i 'd like to be, under the sea, in an octopus's garden in the shade............


As i discovered instruction books are for people with previous knowledge because they are written full of assumptions. When it said hang the cast on comb there were at least 4 ways you could do it. But goes without saying only one of those was the right way. Trial and error until you get it.
Or try the Internet. Problem is that you type knitting machine and on the very first page, mind you, you click on a page link and all of a sudden you find yourself in a porno site and you're trapped there. No way out unless you download god-knows-what-that most likely will corrupt something literally and figuratively in your computer. The fact is that i've been getting spam with all sorts of promises ever since.


wool fetuccine


In the meantime i was producing cuttlefish fettuccine in heaps. The only thing clear was that the knitting was not growing and the comb was not hanging at the end as in the pictures. Back to trial and error.

The messy threads. That i could sort out was a tension problem. Fumbled until i got it right, no big deal being a weaver. But wait there was the closed needle issue, something that you were supposed to know. Closed needles???Oh that little thingie that sticks up! DUHH!
If you didn't only observation and more trial and error would indicate what was wrong-skipped stitches.

Then the loops. Sometimes the yarn would go smoothly on the needles and it just looked so right... Sometimes it would catch on the teeth forming loops. Loops are baad, baaad -almost always.
And all of a sudden SATORI
Those loops are needed to hang the cast on comb. My oh my, so that's where you hang it so that the knit grows!
Once that was out of the way it was swinging and swaying to the rhythm of the carriage, it's all about rhythm. This cha cha girl is now full of rhythm.


it keeps growing!!!

Now ambition is taking me along the path of wire knitting. Casting on for a coat of mail.
Come along and join me!

A few good tutes on the Internet to save you getting trapped in porno sites:
get knitting.com
ggcreations.com.au
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=j1VEuKGXoqY
the ultimate sweater machine


neki desu


Friday, December 14, 2007

cards, cards, more cards!



Two beautiful cards came in between last week and this week.
The first one is from Bina and she also included some hand spun yarns that i'm treasuring. i was in the process of getting cardiac arrest because she had not gotten my ATC, but fortunately in the end it worked out.


The second one is from Beate and i apologize for the crummy photo. It is so rich in textures and unfortunately the glare kills them.

i need to start thinking about a way to exhibit my growing collection.

neki desu

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

interesting links

xmas-07


No post without photos, i have illustrated today's post with a post card i finished last week. The top sequins are black, but do not show in the photo.The bottom ones are gold and echo the gold foil on tulle in the top part. There's also some red scrim on top of the tulle and two insets of digitally printed silk organza. BTW the waist on the right side is intentional. LOL!
This is my way of getting ready for Sharon b's challenge for next year- Take it further
a design challenge that promises to be loads of fun.

More links. i found Traditions Mexico not only beautiful photos, but also some very interesting ideas on mordants for indigo and cochineal among others.

For those interested in transfer processes i came across this page with clear instructions on using acrylic gel medium for transfers.

And on a festive note make your own snowflake. Lots of Java fun and the flakes can be used as templates for fiber related projects.
Enjoy.

neki desu

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