01.20.12
Posted in Anything goes, cooking, family stuff, felt projects, hobbies, knitting and crocheting at 1:33 am by Administrator
This post is going to be a mixed bag of things. The first item is actually a mixed bag of yarn. Around Christmas time I was doing a search online for sock yarn and came across a link to the Supersock Store. They were advertising a 50% off sale on Cherry Tree Hill yarns. However, there were “rules” to follow to participate in the sale. First of all, the sale would start on New Year’s Eve at 11:30PM eastern standard time. The first 200 customers to place their orders would get a free “goodie bag.” Within one of those 200 goodie bags would be a card that had a saying that would have the initials DBNY. If you got that card then your whole order would be free! Well, just the 50% off sale was an incentive for me. The goodie bag was yet another lure that was reeling me in. And finally the thought that my whole order “might” be free was the clincher. On New Year’s Eve I planted my butt in front of the computer shopping for sock yarn like a looney looking at sock porn. Ha ha! I then chose the skeins I wanted to sample, placed my credit card at the ready, and waited for 11:30PM. . . errr, that is 8:30PM Pacific Standard time (the east coast is three hours ahead of us). Okay, so I didn’t just sit there really, I joined the family feasting on our New Year’s meal. It wasn’t long when 8:30PM arrived, and I ran upstairs to start dumping my order in the “cart”. One of the rules was that you couldn’t add anything to the cart until 11:30PM when the carts would open. In ten minutes I had my order placed and confirmed. Was I one of the first 200 customers? I wondered. . . The next morning I got a confirmation letter from the Supersock Store with the added info that they ran out of goodie bags just before the ball dropped in Times Square. Ah! I must have been one of the 200! Yes! A week later my order arrived. . .
Aren’t they lovely? Ummmmm.
And what’s this? My “goodie bag?”
I got seven balls of novelty yarns, a needle gauge, some sample corn yarn, a few buttons, and several knitting patterns. Ah, I love it! Nothing like a goodie bag!
So what I found out was that the Supersock Store has these sales twice a year. So I decided I’m gonna test out these yarns to see if my boys like the quality. I’ve started to knit up some of the yarn to see if I’ll be participating in the next 50% off sale with goodie bag. This is the first pair of socks in the works.
Not sure how the boys are going to like the colors, but there she be. I’m curious to see how well they hold up.
Now while I’m at it, here’s something else I worked on for Christmas gifts for my crafting buddies.
Here they are completed with the scissors paired up.
I actually didn’t know what I was doing when I was making them and just winged it as I went along. Overall, I’m satisfied with how they came out. Most of all, my crafting buddies seemed to enjoy them. Here’s another view of the completed scissor cases.
Then my sister asked if I would help her out by making cookies for her staff. She wanted me to make some ornaments to tie onto each bag of cookies. Here’s what I came up with.
By this time my camera was starting to die on me. I had to try a million shots to get something that wasn’t over-exposed looking. This was the best I could get. The tie cords I made were done on my spinning wheel.
Here’s what the cookies looked like all bagged up.
There were 20 bags all together of oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies.
My camera was acting up again, so this picture has a weird coloring. But at least it captures the gist of what the completed cookie bags turned out like. Oh! While I’m sharing goodies, my friends from the Isle of Man sent me a really nice gift basket of fruit cake, pudding, and chocolates. I thought these boxes of chocolates were so cute shaped into their IoM emblem–the three legs, which I was told meant that no matter which way they are thrown, they will stand.
Now those were yummy! This picture is all that’s left of them. . .
Toodles for now!
Marlakins
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09.18.10
Posted in family stuff, felt projects, hobbies at 2:55 pm by Administrator
Today I wanted to share some pics of Mom and Dad when they were younger, but I don’t have those pictures on this computer, so that will have to be another post. So today I’ll just share more about the memorial/reception.
Aside from the slide show at Dad’s memorial, there was also some live music. There was a trio and my uncle who performed at the memorial, but a couple guitarists and my uncle who also sang at the reception. The songs I tended to like the most because it reminded me so much of Dad were the Filipino songs. In particular, my uncle sang “Dahil Sayo,” which translated means, “Because of You.” The rest of the words are, “Because of you, life is worth living.” Such a sweet song. To hear this song, here’s a version of it on YouTube. It has both English and Tagalog. Just click here.
The other song my uncle sang for my mom was, “Hindi Kita Malimot.” Translated it means “I can’t forget you.” I wasn’t able to find a good version to share online at the moment.
For the flower arrangements on the tables, I cross stitched a bunch of little pillows.
They each had different designs, but all had “Marcos 1931-2010.” My first inspiration for designs came from a cross stitch book I checked out from the library called 2001 Cross Stitch Designs. But as usual, I altered them, then later made my own designs by the time I got to the last ones. Here’s what they looked like on the center table flowers.
Each flower arrangement was slightly different.
This is one pillow of my own design and also one of my favorites.
And here’s another of my designs that I liked but got a bit covered up.
Well, I could go on with showing each and every one of them, heheh, but I think you get the gist. The florist made 12 center piece arrangements because we were only expecting 120 people (10 at each table), but I made 14 pillows just for good measure. All the pillows on the tables got taken by the guests. So I plan to make more for the year gathering come July 2011. This time I want to incorporate more embroidery stitches, and Mom wants me to include the full date of Dad’s birth and death. So I’ve got some work to do for a little while.
Today I got to join my knitting group again for the first time since Dad passed. It was nice to see that gals again. Slowly but surely I suppose life should come back. Next Saturday I hope to join my Spinning group again as well. My sister’s and I are still rotating so that at least one of us will be with Mom 24/7. Life is tighter that way, but that’s what family is all about. We’ll just have to adjust our lives this way, and I’ll have to focus on making more good memories.
Marlakins
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07.14.10
Posted in Book Reviews, felt projects, hobbies, knitting and crocheting at 7:13 pm by Administrator
A few days ago I was doing my usual online snooping, when I came across some cute pin cushion designs. I wasn’t looking for pin cushions (I was flipping back and forth from various news articles to various craft sites, heh), but you know how one link leads to another, and lo and behold, I found a reference to a book called Pretty Little Pin Cushions. I found that my library carried a copy, so I checked it out and dove into my craft supplies to see what I could whip up.
The instructions inside included the pattern pieces that needed to be blown up 200%, but since I don’t have a copy machine at home that would do that, I just decided to make up my own pattern based on their instructions. Being that I had never done this before, my pin cushion ended up being quite large, ha! But I didn’t know that when I first got started. Here’s what it looked like in progress.
I actually only followed the pattern idea, but the rest of the design was mine. The pattern I used for the little crocheted flower on the top is from another book I have called Crochet Bouquet by Suzann Thompson. This book includes very easy to read simple flower patterns.
This is what it looked like completed.
And here’s a side view of it.
Now, I knew when I saw these little pin cushion ideas that I would get addicted to them and have to make several before moving on. I’m always amazed at how creative some people are, and love to look at all the stuff people share on the net. I’ve gotten so much inspiration from other crafters on the net. So, for my part, when I finish my projects, I will try to upload them to share as well. Oh, and the next one will probably be smaller, too, heh. Probably about 1/3 of the size, I think, would be better.
My review for the Pretty Little Pin Cushion book about a 7. I felt that the instructions could have been better as well as the designs. I think a person who doesn’t have much sewing and/or embroidery experience might have more trouble with this book. Also, some of the pin cushion designs involve knit and crochet, but doesn’t give the instructions for those patterns, just the shapes of how the pattern pieces should look like. I know how to knit and crochet, so can pretty much figure them out. But for someone who doesn’t, I don’t see how they would be able to make those patterns. However, I still liked the book because it gave me ideas. It was fun to try and quick as well. I’ve found that there are a lot more free patterns online employing so many different techniques that I’m itchin’ to try them out! Can’t wait! Too bad there’s only 24 hours in a day. . .
Marlakins
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09.15.09
Posted in Playing the Tourist, felt projects, food and restaurants, knitting and crocheting at 5:27 pm by Administrator
Nothing too exciting happening on this end. Just doing the usual chores that consume our time. But, just to keep the blog updated, I’ll add some pics of the things I’ve been up to for the past few days. House cleaning and repair work are kinda boring, so I’ll skip that for now. I did take the boys this weekend to Chinatown for a couple errands. For those who haven’t been to Chinatown, it’s located in Downtown Los Angeles. This shot is off of Hill Street.
I wanted to take my youngest son to a Chinese bookstore that I stumbled into one day that happened to carry the Chinese curriculum he likes. It’s the older version of the Chinese Reader, which has been updated, but Aaron doesn’t like the new format. So it was really nice that I found a store that sold the series in the old format.
One thing I enjoy is traveling and learning about different cultures. So that’s one reason why I really enjoy popping into some places even though I don’t understand the language and can’t read the signs. It’s just fun to see the types of things they sell and see the people. And since this was a bookstore which carried mostly Chinese material, I couldn’t read anything. It sure gave me a feel of what it’s like not to be able to read. Occasionally I think of how strange it is not to be able to read. Well, at this store I got a taste of what it feels like. Imagine a whole bookstore filled wall to wall with books like these.
A few stores down from this bookstore was Foo Chow, the restaurant that Jackie Chan used in his film Rush Hour.
I got a chuckle at how they “painted” advertisement on the side of their restaurant that it was used in Jackie Chan’s movie, hehehe.
Another thing that caught our eye was this “solar powered” trash compactor just outside of this restaurant. I’ve never seen one of these before, but hey, not a bad idea. . .
Here’s the top with the solar panels just under the plastic cover.
We continued to walk around and snoop around the vendors’ tables. I like the idea of supporting small businesses, so we picked up a few little items from them. Then we headed off towards the garment district in Downtown. Years ago I used to sew a lot more than now, and one of my favorite stores was Micheal Levine’s in Downtown. This is what part of the garment district looks like in the section where they sell lots and lots of fabrics.
There are rows and rows of stores along this street selling not only fabrics, but anything to do with sewing such as batting, trimmings, foam, etc.
Along this street is the store I was looking for–Micheal Levine’s. This time I wasn’t heading there for fabric, but yarn. They didn’t have yarn there years ago, but now they also carry yarn and other yarnie supplies. This is what I was after when I got there.
One hank of Cascade yarn to do some repair work on Matty’s sweater and a pair of Addi Turbo Lace needles! because I needed to spend at least $20 to get free parking, heheh. What a good excuse, huh?
Here’s the sweater that needed the repairs. It’s the first gansey I ever made in human size. Matty actually liked it quite a bit and has worn it like a uniform at times resulting in worn out cuffs. . .
I’m not sure how he wore them out like that, but I was just thinking that he’s gotten plenty of use out of the sweater, so was going to consider it time for retirement and toss it. BUT, then I remembered that one of the things I liked about the gansey design was that if the sleeves wore out, I could just rip the sleeves back down and re-knit them. . . Ah, here was my chance to try out this selling point of the pattern. So I got the yarn at Micheal Levines, then started to work. Here it is with the cuffs cut off and the needles back on. I decided to cut off the sleeves rather than unravel them as I figured I could felt the little pieces and maybe use them for some felting projects like flower pieces or something.
In a short while, the cuffs were done. I’m glad I decided that I should try to salvage the sweater because, hey!, Matty likes it and why not? Here are the repaired sleeves.
Now let’s see how much more wear he can get out of it. I noticed that the color of the yarn looks different when I use the flash as opposed to when I don’t. The true color of this yarn/sweater is closer to the pictures where I used the flash such as in the hank of yarn picture and the picture where the repair work on the cuffs are in progress. It’s more of a brown than a gray.
Well, that’s all for now. I’ve been hopping up and down to cook dinner and type this post. Dinner is just about done, and so it this post, so toodles for now!
Marlakins
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07.19.08
Posted in Uncategorized, felt projects, knitting and crocheting at 5:33 pm by Administrator
The more socks I make, the more left over yarns start piling up. I have been saving them thinking that I’ll use of the scrap pieces for squares for blankets and stuffed animals, etc. I even made fingerless gloves with some left over sock yarns, but really, how many fingerless gloves does one need? Two weeks ago, I found another use for my left over sock yarns. Baby socks! I have been wanting to learn how to make baby socks, so a couple weeks ago I did a net search for a pattern that I liked and took the plunge. I am very happy with the results, however, I am a bit disappointed that I can’t seem to locate the blog which gave the instructions! Yikes! I would like to give credit where credit is due, but alas, I can’t find her blog again. . . I liked her pattern because it started from the toe up and used a short row heel. The pattern is extremely simple, and I liked the look of them. All I need now is a baby to test them out on. Here’s a pic of some of the socks I make once I learned how. The tiny light green ones were my first effort, and they look like newborn size. They’re right next to a big pair of socks I was working on for Brian, who liked the look of the little baby ones in grey with the pink and orange vertical stripes on the bottom of the socks. So I told him I’d make him one for his size.
Now there should be a total of “6″ socks in the picture above, but the baby pair on the far right will get cut off underneath the listing. Also, I noticed last week that AOL browsers cut off part of the right sides of my pictures, grrrr. I never liked AOL before in the first place, and now I find another quirky thing about them, ugh. Anyway, now that I got that out of my system, here’s another couple pairs I made on Thursday and Friday while at the hospital with my mom. She was discharged today, so I was able to stay home and blog, heheh, instead of heading back out to the hospital.
Below is of Brian modeling his first pair of handmade intarsia socks. I can’t say I enjoy working intarsia much, at least not on socks because they have some quirky things about them like having to be very careful with the tension, and it’s not as stretchy as ribbed socks or other stitches. So aside from the fact that working intarsia makes the sock thicker, it also makes it less stretchy, so I decided to stop short and make them ankle socks. I also think it’s a bit harder to make a good fitting intarsia sock, so being this is my first attempt, I suppose it’s not too a bad fit. Brian is always so encouraging so he says they fit great, but I think they look a tad big. . . or maybe it’s just a bit twisted on his toe?
By the way, even though the pattern is just something I made up myself, the design was inspired by some designs I saw in a book called More Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch.
And while I was at my parents’ place, I realized I never took a picture of the brown and beige felt purse I made for my mom last year. She brought it out asking me to make her another one, but this time with green and white. So that might be showing up on my blog at another time if I can finish it. It should be similar to this one per her request.
I honestly don’t remember the exact pattern for the above purse because I was eyeballing it as I knit along watching something my sister insisted I should watch called “Endless Love,” a Korean TV series that was dubbed in Tagalog. Wow, I didn’t know Koreans were as sappy as Filipinos! But yeah I was hooked, so it must have been the Filipino in me that glued me to my chair, sobbing and knitting. I was probably using size 10 circular needles, two strands at a time of Cascade 220. As far as the instructions for the baby socks above, they are started from the toe up beginning with a cast on of 8 stitches, then working around to 16 stitches. I have to admit I did it a bit different from the original instructions because the gal cast on 16 stitches using the wrap method for starting the toes. I don’t particularly like that method, so I did my own that I liked from Janet Rehfeldt’s book Toe~Up Techniques. Rehfeldt does teach a wrap cast on method, too, but the closed toe method is easier for me. Anyway, basically, the total cast on stitches is 16, then increase on either side once every other row until there are 36 stitches total. I use two circulars, but three double points would work fine, too, or the magic loop method which the gal used, but I don’t like that as much likely because I’m not used to it, ha! Once there are 36 stitches on, work straight knits 15 rows, then start short row heel. When 5 stitches are wrapped on either side, then start to pick up the wrapped stitches again until you’re back working with all 36 stitches. Make 3 rounds, then start on 1×1 ribbing for 16 rows. Bind off. I like to use the invisible bind off at that point. Gee, I wish I had that gal’s blog page to link to since her instructions were much more detailed, but I do think anyone who knows how to make basic socks from the toe up should understand the instructions I outlined above.
I have been wanting to try lace patterns or chevron patterns for socks, but I realize that the guys in my house would prefer not to wear those styles, ha! And I’m not much of a sock wearer, but I think I might try one anyway eventually just cause I think they look so cute. In the meantime, I think I will try to brush up more on baby hats again since the little socks would go nice with a matching hat. Plus winter will be upon us again, and I understand that there are a lot of babies who live in freezing climates who could use some warm woolies.
Well, this is about a good time to call my folks and see how mom’s coming along. Toodles for now.
Marlakins
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07.06.08
Posted in Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, Uncategorized, felt projects, knitting and crocheting at 11:41 pm by Administrator
Today, July 6th, marks my seven year anniversary since my last blood transfusion! Seven years ago today, I was too pooped to do anything but spend the day at the transfusion center receiving red blood cells. Today, I spent the day doing ordinary house chores like any other healthy person. I trimmed the plants in the backyard, shopped for groceries, read a book that I picked up at the library, knitted, and more. Reaching this milestone makes an otherwise ordinary day sweet as honey. Today I relished in the fact that I was able to do ordinary things because years ago, when I was transfusion dependent, doing ordinary things at times were a struggle. Ordinary things like spreading the sheets and blankets on my bed, washing dishes, washing my hair, etc. all got me tired. Today, I could thank God that I was able to wash my dishes and make my bed, trim the trees and shower, drive out to shop, chat with the neighbor, and still have more time and energy to fool around with my hobbies like reading and knitting. Today was no ordinary ordinary day. It was my special ordinary day.
I was going to update by sharing what I was knitting today, but realized that I’ve finished other projects and never got around to uploading them onto the blog. So I might as well do that now. Lately I’ve been mostly working on socks. Brian and Matthew really like the socks I’ve made for them. Andrew and Aaron aren’t so picky with socks, so they think they’re just the same as the store bought ones. I beg to differ because while they may “feel the same,” I think they look better, ha! Brian and Matthew say they feel better. They must feel the TLC in them. . . 
So I’ve decided that I want the boys in my family to have at least 7 pairs of handmade socks each. One for every day of the week. I’m about half way there now, so still need to keep knitting. And likely when I’m done, they’ll need replacements, ha ha. Above is a pair I recently finished for Brian. He wanted socks that had cables. I still haven’t figured out how to take good pictures showing closeup details. Today I got a chance to play around with it a bit, so let’s see how I did. Brian was a good sock model.
Brian has wanted me to learn how to knit socks for years now. He even bought me an instruction book, which I’ve had for about 20 years, ha ha! Last year I finally learned how to knit socks, and Brian was overjoyed. Yes, it’s the little things that make him happy. But you know how it is when we get something. . . soon we want “more.” Brian was soon requesting that I make socks with cables running up them. The first pair I made I found that they were too tight for his legs, so I gave them to Andrew who has thinner legs than Brian. I learned that cabling makes the piece narrower. This time I cast on more stitches to accommodate for the cabling and this time they fit! It was so sweet to see the expression on his face upon receiving his first pair of handmade cable socks, ha! Just encourages me to knit more!
Then, my mom asked me to knit up another little felted purse for her. While Brian really likes handmade socks, my mom really likes felted purses. My sister bought her a present when they went down to San Diego. It was a cool lime green outfit with embroidery. My mom wanted a felted purse to match. They call that “malande,” in Tagalog, ha ha! Course I probably didn’t spell that right, but phonetically, I think other Filipinos will know what I mean. Ever since she was younger she liked to have her outfits match with her purse and shoes, etc. Boy, I couldn’t keep track of that. So, I went to Yarns Unlimited in Santa Monica and found the exact color by Cascade. I like Cascade’s 220 wool for felting. I just love the way yarn looks all twisted up so had to take a pic of it. I also found that Yarns Unlimited was having a sale, so I picked up more sock yarn, heheheh.
Anyway, so here’s the finished purse. Next to it is a pair of socks that I’m working on for Matthew.
My mom usually dresses up the purse by attaching pins or broaches to them.
On a more exciting note “for me,” is I learned another way to make socks. So far I’ve already learned how to knit socks from the top down, and from the toe up with gussets. What I wanted to learn was how to knit socks with short row heels. This week I finally learned how! Here’s a pic of my first sock made with short row heels. The sock on the left has a short row heel, while the sock on the right has a gusset. Eh, I realize it’s not easy to see it in the picture, so I took another one closer up and labeled what I’m talking about.
Hope this is clearer.
The darkness of the sock makes it hard to see the gusset, so here’s another attempt to get closer and point out the gusset. The top of the pic is where my toes are pointing. The right side of the pic is where my ankle is.
Basically, there are added stitches to make up a gusset, while in the short row heel method does not add any additional stitches. The reason why I wanted to learn both methods is because different designs lend themselves to different knitting methods. I’ve been designing my own socks, but found that there are some designs that don’t work well with socks with gussets and vice versa. The sock above is a sock I made for myself last May while Brian and I were on our trip to the UK. We had lots of waiting time at the airports. Here’s what the pair looks like on.
Here’s a closeup of the socks I’m working on for Matty. I turned off the flash to see if maybe the flash was washing out the details. I think I really need to learn how to play around with lighting. The cable twist in the middle kinda reminds me of bathroom tile, the moldings along the edges.
For anyone who likes Brown Sheep Company’s Wildfoote yarn, you might like to check out Yarns Unlimited because when I went on Wednesday, it was priced 1/2 off. So I picked up the colors that I haven’t used from them yet. Not a large selection of colors, but the price was good. Here’s a pic of the colors I got. Plus I still have a couple balls of Regia that I have not tried, yet. So far the majority of my socks have been made with Trekking and Wildfoote, but I’ve also used Paton’s Kroy sock yarn, and Lorna’s Laces. Very nice yarns. I’ve also tried other handspun, and dyed sock yarns, which were also very nice. There are so many other brands I want to try! But for now, this is what’s next on the plate.
Before I end this post, I wanted to add something that I found while browsing through my pictures on my computer. When I first learned how to make crocheted cats last year, the boys kept wanting to rough my cat up. We finally agreed that they would have to make their own crocheted cats if they wanted to rough them up. I know it sounds funny for guys to knit and crochet, but I reminded them that men used to knit before women did, just like men used to be professional tailors and chefs before women. And even today there are professional tailors and chefs who are men. Good sailors need to know how to make knots, sew, and cook. In the old days of sailing and even today in the Navy, it’s the men who do their cooking, cleaning, and sewing to repair sails. Well, maybe not “sails” on Navy ships today, but on the smaller ships with sails. Hunters don’t only hunt and start fires, they cook too. So knit they did, and this is what they made. . .
LOL, well, I had to hand it to them. At least they made their cats look like Tom cats. . .
Marlakins 
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05.28.07
Posted in Anything goes, Uncategorized, felt projects, knitting and crocheting at 6:14 pm by Administrator
This week I was finally able to work up my Manx Loaghtan ball of yarn I got as a present. I only got one ball, so I wanted to find a project that only required one ball. I originally chose a small clutch purse, but one of the more experienced knitters at my knit group told me that the loaghtan yarn was too thick for the pattern I wanted to make. So instead I made up my own pattern. Here is a picture of what it looked like when I got it started.
Just before I started on that, I also had another project that I worked up while I watch the rental DVD, Blood Diamond. Wow, what a movie. I never used to like DiCaprio much, but honestly, his performances in The Aviator and Blood Diamond is giving me a new respect for him as a serious actor. I used to just think he was a young pretty face, but he seems to have talent, too, ha! 
Anyway, here’s a picture of another experimental purse where I used some “fun fur.” I wasn’t sure how it would felt up, but this is what it looked like “before” I felted it. The bottom portion is some very old Crystal Palace yarn that I had stashed for 18 years or so, the fuzzy fur stuff is called “Fun Fur” which I bought on sale for $1.99 at JoAnn Fabrics almost half a year ago now, the red band on top was the left over yarn I had from my mom’s purse, which is a Cascade yarn. I didn’t have enough red left to complete the straps, so I used part red Cascade and part left over brown wool I’ve had for ages, and came up with the straps. So after I felted it, I was actually happy with the results! I’m telling you, felting is addicting! Here is it pictured below, next to my completed purse using the Manx Loaghtan yarn, which I didn’t felt because I wanted the cabling to show. I also attached a little Chinese talisman onto the zipper as a little finishing touch.
The little brown Manx yarn purse is my first purse or knit project where I tried to add a lining and a zipper. I’m pleased with the way it came out, although I would do it a little differently in the future. But for now, since this is for my personal use, I’m satisfied with the outcome. And it encourages me to try other sweater patterns where zippers are attached. I used the suggestion in Big Book of Knitting by Katharina Buss to add a crocheted edging to make a clean zipper attachment. It worked out very nicely. Here’s a picture of the top view showing how nicely the zipper fit in there with Buss’s recommendation to crochet a border.
Here’s a picture of what the lining looks like.
I know, funky choice of lining, huh? Well, it was just something I already had in the house for some of my quilting projects. I just thought the brown swirls matched the brown wool okay, and thought the pattern was fun, so what the heck? 
And finally, here’s a picture of another experiment wherein I used some varigated yarn and knitted in the round. The pattern came out interesting, and since I ran out of the yarn, I finished it up with some red Cascade yarn.
I have to say that felting is really addicting. It’s like Christmas everytime I open the washer to see what happened to the knit project. However, I am also pleased with the way the Manx yarn worked up, and now I have pictures that I can send back to my friend who sent me the yarn. I told him that once I make something out of it, I would sent him a picture of the completed project. Now that I’ve used up the yarn, I look at it and think that that yarn would have also made a nice little teddy bear. Hmm. I might try that sometime! Oh, did I say, “finally”? Well that was in error because I did also “finally” start on the ball of wool that I handspun months ago. I decided to make squares out of it. I plan to keep spinning all the roving I have and hopefully, I’ll end up with enough squares to sew together to make an afghan. Right now I have four squares laying out to be blocked. Hope that turns out okay. We’ll see. If so, I’ll be adding a picture of them in another post.
Toodles for now!
Marlakins
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05.12.07
Posted in Anything goes, Uncategorized, felt projects, knitting and crocheting at 7:41 pm by Administrator
Today was beautiful here in Los Angeles. It was very relaxing, and I was able to finish up a few projects that my mom had me doing, ha! I met with my knit group this AM, then in between house chores, I worked on some projects. One project was to change the turtle neck from the sweater I made for my dad about “18 years ago” to a short ribbed collar. I guess here in sunny California, a turtle neck was just too much. I had actually forgotten I had made this sweater for my dad years ago, so was surprised when my mom pulled it out requesting that I alter the collar. It has actually held up pretty well for 18 years! I wish I had taken a “before” picture with the turtle neck, but I didn’t. But I did take an “after” picture with the collar shortened. Here it is below:
I noticed the stitching details can’t be seen well from the above picture, so I took a close up of the stitch work which can be seen below:
I got the pattern from a Penguin magazine, and I believe I also used the Penguin yarn. I don’t recall the color name or number since it has been about 18 years ago that I made this. Nor do I remember what gauge needles I used, sigh. But it looks like either 5’s or 6’s.
I also got to finish a couple more felting projects for my mom. Yep, she’s keeping me busy with all her requests! But it’s okay because it gives me a chance to practice stuff that I might not do otherwise. Below are a couple more felted purses:
The one on the left is like a miniature booga bag, but this time I felted the straps already attached to the bag. I like this method because it’s easier to put the straps on before the bag is felted, and I don’t have to make knots because I sew the strap ends together and they felt up into one continous piece. For this bag I used Cascade yarns. The dimensions are 7″x7″. The brown stripped bag on the right is another experiment. My mom wanted a flat bag so that she could just carry a few items like her wallet and keys when going for a quick trip to the market. She wanted it stripped in browns, black, white, etc. This time I took the opportunity to try embroidering a little design to see how it would felt up. It’s the brown squiggly thing running across the top white stripe. I was actually pretty satisfied with the result since it did felt up well and even gave it a raised texture. I would like to use that technique for other projects.
Here’s another one where I tried to make a flap to close over the top. This was originally going to be for my auntie, but my mom liked this one, too, so it’s hers now, ha! Will have to make another one for auntie. Next I think I might like to try adding fixures to them like clasps and maybe even sew on some beads or try adding specialty yarns to make it furry, hehehe. And of course, try different shapes and add pockets. We’ll see if I ever get around to that.
But back to the knitting group I went to this morning. I met a 79-year-old lady there. She certainly looked pretty good for her age, so we got to talking. Turns out her mom passed away at 98! And she had some friends who were 106! Wow! Naturally I had to ask her what kind of food she grew up on, and wouldn’t you know it, she grew up on whole foods. . . It was quite a nice conversation, and I enjoyed her company. Part of the beginning of our conversation started out with my wanting to learn to make socks. Apparently, she had to make her own socks when she was a kid. She said she came from a large family–15 kids. . . they lived in COLD country–Canada. And they all had to make their own socks, scarves, and gloves if they wanted to stay warm! Ha! I wish I could have seen those 15 kids making knit wear. Anyway, today was a nice day. And tomorrow is Mother’s Day! So in case I don’t get a chance to hop on the computer, Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms!
Marlakins
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05.05.07
Posted in Anything goes, Uncategorized, felt projects at 2:46 pm by Administrator
One of the latest books I’ve checked out from the library is called, “Kilim, the Complete Guide,” by Hull and Luczyc-Wyhowska. When we visited Turkey last year, it was about this time that we visited a rug-making company in the Cappadoccia region. Upon arriving at the facility, the rugs were all rolled up. They had several guys standing at the ready to unroll them one by one. But first, they had us sit down while they served us Turkish pizza, ha! and chai (Turkish tea). I loved it, and it was so fun to watch them unroll the rugs for us to see. The artwork and the quality of handicraft was awesome. It was such a delight to sit there and watch as each rug was unrolled along with explanation of each style. I still remember hearing my voice join the others with “Oh! and Ah!” LOL 
Here’s a picture of the “carpet salesman” who attended us. 
And to the right, here’s another picture of some of the carpets I took a picture of while there. Just click onto the image for a larger view. These were actually small carpets, but because of the intricacy, were priced in the thousands. All these carpets are handmade, so there will not be two exactly alike. For those interested in the art, there is quite a lot to know about carpets. There are different types of weaves, different fibers used, various dyes and techniques, etc. One type of design was called, “kilim.” I was immediately drawn to them, and that is one reason why I checked out the book from the library. Since I have been interested in felting, I have been looking for motifs and designs that I like and was reminded of the kilims. 
While perusing the book, I found a picture of a shepard using a felt cloak. I remembered Andrea had mentioned that yurts are/were made with felt. With my very limited knowledge of yurts, I just thought they were made out of canvas! Ha! So I did another quick search and apparently, Andrea was correct. Here’s a link on felted yurts, Woodland Yurts. But since I mentioned how I really like kilims, here are a few pictures of them. 
These two are copied out of the kilim book I mentioned above. 
Just click onto the image to get a closer look. The last picture below is of saddlebags that were on display at a museum we visited in Antalya. I really love these, and wish I had the money to buy more rugs and other woven stuffs, but I remember that the Bible tells us not to treasure the things on earth where rust and moth destroy. . . But they sure are gorgeous! I guess in the meantime, I can amuse myself with my own felting projects and trying to copy some designs. That’s fun, too! Although not as gorgeous. . .
Marlakins
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03.15.07
Posted in Anything goes, Uncategorized, felt projects, knitting and crocheting at 7:50 pm by Administrator
I’m a bit jazzed today because I just finished my very “first” felt project! I’ve been thinking of doing one for a long time, and finally got down to doing it. There are so many cute things to try like felted slippers and hats. But for now, I thought I would try something very simple. It’s called a “booga bag.” I recommend it as a first/beginners project. So here’s my before and after shots. I got the free pattern online from Black Sheep Bags. This one is for my mom, and in the colors she likes. I want to try another bag for my auntie, and one for myself, heheheh.
The picture below is the bag after I completed knitting it, but before it went into the wash to get felted:
And the picture below is the completed bag after felting and blocking and with the straps attached. As you can see, it shrinks quite a bit. I picked up a talisman from Chinatown today, and attached it to the strap on the left.
I’m pleased with the way this came out, and it gives me encouragement that I can do these things. I can’t wait to start another project!
Marlakins
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