Artist Reception March 8th

Hopefully you will be able to read this jpg I made of the poster for the Stillwater Art Guild Gallery Fiber and Clay show that I'm participating in.
 The exhibit is on display in the River Room through the end of March.
 Please join us for the artist's reception which will be from 5-9 p.m. on Friday, March 8th.
We'll have wine and food on hand. I can't wait to meet the other artists and see their work!

Felt Birdhouse and Finished Socks

I showed this felted birdhouse as one of my pieces in the Vasaloppet Art show last week. I was surprised to see that it was among the top four vote-getters in the "viewer's favorite" category.  There were 150 pieces in the show.  There's definitely something special about those felt birdhouses!  I'm planning a project with them for this year, but I'm still waiting to hear if I'll get the grant funding or not before I can announce all the details. Suffice it to say that I plan to teach birdhouse classes at various locations in the state of Minnesota this spring and summer.


I finished my second sock last night while listening to friends playing music and playing cards.
Here they are.  Like I said, I couldn't wait to wear them!

The next pairs will be made using two strands of yarn with contrasting color ribbing at the top of the cuff and at the heel and toe. (I think I will do afterthought heels this time so they will be easy to replace.) Limiting color changes to just those three areas will involve a LOT fewer joins so I could incorporate some cabling or a stitch pattern. But I have to say that changing color every inch made knitting these socks go really fast. I Googled Socka Yarn and I see that it's known as Fortissma sock yarn now.

Poor Matt got stuck in the driveway last night.  I don't think it wasn't my poor plowing job, it was more of his fast backing up.  :-)  Hopefully we can get him out today. He's asking a few friends to come over and help push him out. If that doesn't work, we will get to learn how to pull the car out of the snow with the pick up truck. Today just happens to be Matt's birthday. I made him a cake this morning and I'll make some sloppy joes for his friends. Kind of reminds me of his birthday parties of years ago. :-)

Gradated Socks and learning to Plow snow

I started some gradated socks on Sunday night while watching Downton Abbey and finished the first one on Tuesday while watching the State of the Union address. I just went with K1,P1 ribbing for the cuff on 40 sts, I wanted the color changes to be the focus. Now I've started the second one and can't wait to get it done so I can wear these! With two strands of yarn, the thickness is just right.

I used some Socka yarn that I found in a thrift shop for just $1 a skein.  It's 53% cotton, 32% superwash wool, and 15% polyamid. I should have enough yarn in the 6 skeins for 4 pairs of socks.
 Last summer I dyed the skeins different colors and now I'm using two strands at a time.  I'm knitting an inch with each color combination.  It's a LOT of joins, but I'm getting better at them. I'm splitting the cut ends of the yarn like a Y and then putting them together so the ends of the Y are parallel with the stem of the other Y.  Then I wet them and roll/rub them together and keep on knitting.  So far, so good, I hope it holds up well in the socks.  I'm doing the joins on the top of the foot/front of the leg where there won't be as much wear and tear.

 

On Sunday, the last day of the Vasaloppet Art show, we had  quite a bit of snow.  So Monday morning I decided it was a good time to learn how to plow myself out. It was a bit embarrassing when I got the Mule stuck and the neighbors were heading into school (late start because of all the snow) as I was shoveling away, but I got it out. I know I didn't do a very good job; I didn't have the blade low enough so there was still a layer of snow in the driveway.  Well, last night we got another 3 inches and this morning I got the Mule out again and tried to clean it all up. I can see already that I should have pushed that snow WAY back the first time around. Because now I don't have room to push any more snow into the edges. Next year I will do a much better job.


Tonight is Spinning/Knitting at the Crystal Bar and Grill. What a way to spend Valentine's Day night. :-)  Last week I got all the way in there before I realized it was the wrong week. Guess I was a little anxious to get out. :-)

Art Show and Gallery

Today is the opening of the Kanabec County Art Association's annual Vasaloppet Art Show. I've entered a raw felted fleece from River Oaks Mystery, a birdhouse pod, a covered vessel, and the piece shown below, "Let There be Light".

 

Last week I set up a display at the Artist's Guild Gallery in Stillwater, MN.

I've taken my things out of the Anoka Fiber Arts Co-Op for now. It is changing locations from Anoka to Coon Rapids and I just have too many irons in the fire these days. If you want to buy yarn or fiber, please contact me directly.  I will be putting some things in the Made of Mora Shop here in Mora. And I will be doing booths at Shepherds Harvest Sheep and Wool Festival in Lake Elmo this May as well as the Cambridge Fiber Fair in October of this year.

All is well on the sheep front. I love this time of year when the sheep are comfy and cool.

My ducks are in need of a drake. It's that time of year already. If anyone out there knows where I can get a Saxony drake (or Silver Appleyard or Pekin drake), please let me know.

Well, lots to do today before I go in to work at the art show.