Meanderings of a Mermaid

For sale is a complete silversmithing and jewellery making workshop. I have nearly 90 photos of assorted gear available and a spreadsheet with a detailed list . Price is 2500 USD or 3080 CAD. Please email me for quickest reponse.

 I suppose the time is clicking away with each stitch made. I was busy at first with a pile of knitting and some sewing. The Mr. has found out he will be a step grand-dad soon and so this grannie, a few times removed.... lol ... has sprung into action. A little toque to start the parade of things.  A blanket for the dog lover in all of us. See the puppy dogs? It is lined and edged with the softest knit. This is for a special wee one.  I also made some alpaca slouchie hats for the baby and it's folks. These are all natural colours.  Peek a boo! A blue bear!  And this mayhem is where I create my fibery things. A little part of my studio is seen here. To the immediate right is a large double bookcase with my knitting library. In the far right you see my Mighty Wolf loom. It is still patiently waiting to be dressed. And here is another view of the studio. My awesome very tall workbench is remarkably open in this photo. 

So with this post I am trying out my new android smartphone. So far this is not too much of a pain. I just have to get better at typing on the flat screen. Bear with me folks. I am at camp and the remoteness creates challenges. So a little teaser in the photo above. I can't say too much about his project so as not to ruin the surprise. I took the mosaic knitting motif from Barbara Walker's wonderful book on the topic. Cute eh? Due to limits beyond my control I am not working in wool, but using cotton instead. With nil elasticity of course the fabric is a bit "lumpy+bumpy". But I think the final project will be nice nonetheless. I promise there will be more photos and description to come. Being at camp is great.  I love my studio here.

Here are the hard working crew out for a very deserving spa day. I brought the spinning wheels out from the studio to the deck and clean them all carefully with lemon oil. Inspections were done and a little fine-tuning was performed. Each wheel was put through it's paces for a few minutes after the treatment. They all look pretty resplendent in the sun, don't they? This is Lulu, my first Lendrum wheel. I put the merino yarn onto her the other day and Lulu was just having a blast with this fiber. What a fantastic wheel.  Stevie is the only new wheel I ever bought and is a Kromski brand Minstrel model. Right now it is set up with the plying head. last week I was already plying off some singles that remained here from last year.  I may not have mentioned this before but this wheel's name is Lina, after the Lithuanian word for linen. It is a very old flax wheel. And the last time I showed her picture around the Antiques group on Ravelry, a few knowled...

I have been busy with closing down the house and packing things to take north with us. So there has not been a lot of time to do much crafts. This is about 12 oz of merino (Fat Cat Knits "Vancouver" colourway) that I just plied up. It is a three ply. I hope I have time today to skein it up. I intend to take this plus the rest of this fibre north and finish spinning it there. With a total of 2 lbs I can contemplate a larger knit or woven project. Next time I write it will be from the north woods. I ache to be there and with the early spring I am itchy to get going. I've had a busy winter season with lots of teaching and two craft shows. I did pretty well, and so am happy with it all. But I need to go and recharge my batteries now.

It's been an exciting year in the south for me. I have done a large amount of teaching and have explored more techniques in spinning, knitting and weaving. Yes, even in knitting one can find new things to do (check out the Twigg Stitch). But the days in the south are numbered, since the heat is cranking up and we haven't got any air conditioning here. Thank goodness we have wind and three excellent overhead fans in this cottage. Now I am in the mood to complete a bunch of things and start to think about what I may want to haul north.  I used two colours of variegated tencel for the warp threads and a variegated silk for weft. This project was the first one I did with the flying shuttle beater on the big loom. Great colours, eh?  And get a load of the drape on this shawl. I did have some issues with the tencel shredding but in the finishing I was able to correct any little problems. I am looking forward to using this, but with temperatures in the upper 80s and 90s, it wi...

 This is the senior rooster that belongs to our neighbours. There are two junior roosters there as well, so you can imagine the noise at times. We have a large backyard and the roosters spend most of their time picking at insects on our property.   Yesterday I carded up a few wool batts. Do you think I may have got some of my colour inspiration from that rooster? I also taught my last Guild class of the season, so it was a bit sad for me. But quite the accomplishment too, as it represented the thirtieth class I have taught in this town. All free by the way.   The bluebonnets are starting to bloom nicely in the back field.  And the pear blossoms are attracting a lot of bees.  This morning the dew hung heavy on the blades of grass.  Luminaria! Fog at sunrise. Today.