Productive Waiting

Waiting for a much anticipated delivery in Memory of Steve Jobs. (huge hint)

After the delivery, there is an oil change scheduled which involves waiting and boredom.

Fresh oil is reason to celebrate; but I'll be forced to wait until dinner time to enjoy family.

Then it will be time to push FlightTrack (app) over and over waiting for the man to travel the time zones.

Lots of waiting today.  Good day to start a new quick project.   

Slippers, because sometimes all I want is for time to quickly slip away.  I am not skilled at waiting.  It's a good thing that I am skilled with string.

Burn, Baby, Burn

Untagged, unlabeled, unidentified.  While stash diving, two skeins of mystery un-anything yarn fell from the lower shelf.  What?  You have never had skeins of yarn fall from a shelf and go "plop" at your feet?  Clearly you don't have a big enough stash - get out there and shop!

What really gets my goat about these two skeins is that I had them together in a plastic bag as though they are supposed to be something.  But alas, no tag or any identifying anything was in the bag with the stuff.  How odd is that?  In today's yarn world everyone puts their personal logo and all manner of information on everything!  One would think that  this should have a clear label.  

What is an out of luck woman to do?  Burn, baby, burn.  

This day did begin with a list of chores.  Missing from the list was conduct burn test on mystery yarn.  But that is exactly what I did.  My experience with identification through the burn test is somewhat limited.  I've done it a few times, but by no stretch of the imagination am I an expert at fiber identification.  What can I say but that I like labels.

Look at that very bright yellow/orange flame!  Talk about fast burning and hot!  Even with my limited experience this is obviously not wool.  But I already knew that.  It did not feel like wool and it did not smell like wool when I wet a piece.  I only wet some of the stuff in an effort to see if it would felt and fall into the "animal" category.  If it had felted or smelled, then I would have been far down the ID line.

Just because yarn burns and is not self-extinguishing doesn't mean that it is easy to identify.  In fact, it barely tells me anything.  I have a not so secret weapon that gets me fairly close.

Check out this link to help determine fiber content.  It is a dandy of a reference.  

So, the stuff does not felt nor smell of animal.  In it's dry condition is it very flexible and "soft".  Today's burn test results are:

• burns and not self-extinguishing
• huge bright yellow/orange flame
• fast burning flame
• ember continued to glow for a bit
• smelled faintly of paper, no leaf smell
• a tiny bit of ash that was more black than gray

Taken all together, I am leaning toward a very high rayon content - maybe even 100%, but something about the feel of the yarn makes me want to conclude that it has a touch of cotton as well.  It is entirely too soft to have a linen mixed in there.  

What do you think? 

Fiesta Time

The weekend was filled with joy and merriment.  The greatest fun was visiting the Fiber Arts Fiesta down in Vista.   In the same location was a gem & mineral show and both events were free.  Free parking, free admission, free conversations, free knowledge.  Let's give a cheer for local independent entrepreneurs.   

Before enjoying the fiber folks, we visited the gem & mineral exhibitors.   That was quite fun because there was everything from unpolished natural minerals to gorgeous gems set in wrapped wire.  Beads, glass work, buttons....all manner of items that could embellish fiber art.  

Among the exhibits, with free knowledge, was the weaver's barn.  This area is filled with over fifty looms and is really a mini-museum. It is also the active workshop for area weavers.  Very fascinating, even though I know absolutely nothing about weaving.  

I did talk to a weaver who is laying out all of her warp and hand dying the string with sections of color that bleed from one to the next.  Very similar to much of the artisan yarns that we all love.  The resulting fabric is mind blowing!  Sorry, I forgot to get a photo, but do be on the lookout for this type of work.   

If you are into crochet, as is my daughter who was on this adventure, check out Ami Amour (on Ravelry she is all one word, no space) for critter patterns.  Whether you are into amigurumi or just need a plushie for the grandkids, her patterns will fit the bill.  And you can even find her work at her Etsy shop.  

And then there was Tino.  He is a regal alpaca who came to the fiesta with his family from Alpacas of Anza Valley.  We could have spent the entire afternoon visiting with Julie & Don Roy and learning all about alpacas.  Talk about a wealth of knowledge for this under informed lover of the yarn.  Alpacas are considered mild-tempered, gregarious animals with an inquisitive nature and would never be caught parading around in a Ronald McDonald wig.  (Out of context, that wig statement does not make any sense.   You had to be there.  Apparently llamas have no dignity and will wear said wig in a parade.)

Here is Tino and friends doing what comes natural to alpaca.  Herding up in a pack and being friendly to each other and their many human admirers.  After spending time with these guys, it makes me love the fiber even more.

And, apparently back at the farm of Julie & Don is a lovely lady named Ebony Rose.  She did not make the trip down for this fiesta.  But 6.2 oz of her did.  That's about 722 yards of lace weight black yarn from Ebony Rose.  And no, the yarn was not free.  But - - and here is the joy of visiting with local folks - - I did get an invitation to go meet Miss Ebony Rose up in Anza.  

I do think I'll call and find out when she is receiving worshipers.

One Down. Two More To Go.

Just laying there flat and unfulfilled, she looks rather sad.  But she is done.  This gift bag that is destined to bring joy to a recipient is completed.

The contrast of the sparkly knitted ribbon  woven with matte gross grain ribbon excites me.  There are times when too much glitz is uncomfortable simply because it is all the same level of "wow."  In this instance, the humble ribbon in that green shade that goes so well with the gold undertone, lets the sparkle be the star without having to compete with anything else.

For a while, I considered using a gold cord with beaded tassel as the drawstring.  But in the end, simple won out.

One bag completed.   And it only took about 5 minutes to move this from the Work In Progress column to the Done column. 

Vision But No Completion

Oh yes.  I have vision.  Various posts over the summer waxed poetic about the beverage bags for gift giving in a few months.  Well, I'm still at the project but have expanded beyond the simple bottle cover.

Unfortunately it seems that for right now, my vision is out of sync with my fingers.  Witness the current state of the desk.  

Front bag with red yarn - - should be a completed gift bag for something small and delicate as we all know that good things come in small hand made packages.  Not even started, but envisioned.

The length of white/gold still on the needles is a half completed swath that will be just the right size to hold needles and a skein because fantastic gifts should come in fantastic packages.  Vision, but no completion.

And then under the needles is a seamless drawstring bag of a suitable size to hold a hat or scarf - either of which will fall out unless the bottom is seamed up!  Because everyone needs to receive a hand made project in its own project bag.  Near completion per the vision.

Lots of vision around here.  These three are in the "not complete" column.  They are not, I repeat NOT, ufo's.  They are each a work in progress.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.