Yellowbird Yarn Room

My crafty little entrepreneurs

The Yellowbird and I are just a few months shy of our three-year anniversary, and one thing that has remained a constant wish has come true at last:  my boys finally found something they can make to sell for themselves!

From the moment Judy showed me my original space at River City (a room, in fact), those two have racked their little brains trying to come up with something they can do to earn themselves a little extra pocket money - you know, for all those things mom and dad say "no" to (how many Lego sets do two boys need, anyway???). 

Many ideas have been thrown out over the years.  Now, I love my oldest son's origami figures and boxes out of notebook paper, and my youngest son's drawings and mixed media collages, but I was not overly confident there was a market for such things. 

Even at the suggested retail price of a quarter.

The few ideas I came up with were, of course, a bit too involved to hold their interest for any great length of time. 

I just don't do simple.  Simple is too complicated for me.

But as we sat waiting in the doctor's office last Monday morning to have the 9 yo's ears and throat checked (good times) we came up with the perfect plan! 

A couple of days to kick the cold and a few quick errands to acquire the necessary supplies, and those boys were ready to work!

Finally!  You can't see the smiles on their faces, but trust me - these boys are sooo excited!

I'll be bringing their tiny terrariums in with me to Open Knit first thing in the morning.  They only have five done so far, but I guarantee there will be more to come!

Mama needs a new crochet hook

Who knew a metal table could be so rough on a metal crochet hook?  So glad I wasn't using my beloved Laurel Hill!

And after sewing in ends on a table, the thought of sewing in ends on a nice little project that sits comfortably on your lap seems significantly less daunting.

I was quite sad to have to miss Open Knit this week, but it was definitely a day to wear the Mom hat and I did so with gusto!  In fact, during our not-so-pleasant visit to the doctor (really, who doesn't dread the throat swab?) my little man and I came up with a crafty plan. 

And, ooooooh, it's a good one!  

But, alas, I cannot tell you now.  If all goes well, I should be able to tell you all about it within the week.  Suffice it to say that the nearly three year quest for something the boys can make themselves to earn a little extra pocket money may finally have come to an end!

In the meantime, I have my new metal crochet hook and I can't wait to get back at that table come Monday morning - hope to see you then!

Can you still call it a "yarn bombing"...

...if it happens over the course of weeks and with prior approval?

Yup, this could take a while.

Inspiration: found.

My creative side has hungered for a spontaneous outlet for months now, with little time or inspiration to feed it.   But a couple of things occurred last week, seeds were planted, and I am so ready to tackle a new and fun and interesting "just-cuz-I-feel-like-it-and-I-can" kind of project!!!

Ahhhhh, yarn-y experiments.....I've missed you so...

Is your curiosity piqued?

Excellent.

I'll be there in the morning, bright and early, yarn and crochet hook in hand, ready to sit at (or stand over?) the small round table with the mesh top...

Oops.  I may have said too much.

Anyway.  I'll be there, and I hope to see you, too!

My new (can't remember when) slouchy hat

Last year, on New Year's Eve, I started myself a beret.  Finished it in a couple of days, then realized that the beret was not a good look for me.  So I frogged the whole thing and started over, going slouchy this time and just wingin' it.  Found an old lace pattern somewhere (can't remember where) and did a little math...

Got about halfway done before I had to set it aside for something else (can't remember what), and picked it up again earlier this year.  Luckily, I wrote down the lace pattern I picked or I would have had to start over again! 

Finally, I got my hat! Yay!  Would you like to see it?  Great!  Just gimme a sec to teach the DH which button makes the camera turn on and which takes the picture...

     What, can't see the hat?  Sorry, let me tell my husband to get a better shot.

Alright, that's a better angle, but just a little far away...

Ok, nevermind.  Shall I just show the other way to wear it now?

Hang on, I'm not ready!

Got one?  A real nice lose-up of the hat and the lace pattern I used so everyone can see?  And you didn't really get my face, right, just the hat?  Oh, good, 'cause I have no make up on and I'm feelin' quite silly and sure would hate to have to try to take these pictures myself.  Thank you, dear.

I'm sorry to say that the only thing I have written down is the lace pattern I found, I believe I could figure it out (as opposed to trying to remember it) if someone were interested. 

Yay, slouchy!

It's Super Bowl Sunday...

...and I live in a house full of boys.

Unfortunately, I've never really understood the appeal of football.  I'm much more of a baseball kinda gal.  I don't think I'd mind watching soccer.  Or tennis when my kids are playing.  And golf is okay when I'm knitting lace or something that requires my full attention.  But football's just not my thing.  The rules hold no sense for me.

My husband still holds out hope, though.  Not his breath...just hope.  He's a wise man.

Now, my sons have never been overly interested in watching sports.  Not even baseball (with the exception of actually being at a game because...well...that's just a good time!).  Sports on TV always just seemed to bore them, and they never showed any strong allegiance with any particular team.  

But something changed over the last year.  I don't know what happened.  Perhaps their father's enthusiasm just finally won them over.  Perhaps the oldest has simply reached an age when he enjoys the comaraderie and banter with his friends, and the youngest has followed suit in the way that younger brothers do.

It's a mystery.

But there's one thing I do know:  my house has exploded in black and gold.

Yes, my husband is a Steelers fan.  The only thing he has ever asked me to knit for him was a stocking cap that came clear down his back, had Steelers stripes, and the Steelers logo positioned on the back of his head.  And I hadn't done much colorwork by that time.

I've done even less since.

No evil 'round here...

For Christmas this year my boys each got a fleece Steelers blanket and a Steelers quilt made by my mom, and my husband got a Steelers rice pillow (aka bed-warmer), also made by mom.  Since then my oldest has made a couple of ball caps out of Duck tape in Steelers colors, and both boys decided that they had to have arm warmers with Steelers stripes.

Well.  I may not get football, but I do get knitting for team spirit.

It's just a shame their team's not in the Super Bowl.

Good things come to those who wait.

Like a pair of earrings that I love.

A chunky ring, made of cutlery, that actually looks decent on my stubby little fingers.

A non-frosted, easily-applied tinted lip balm.

Real.  Denim.  Jeans.  For women.  Boot cut, mid-rise, 100% cotton (not a single fraction of a percent of stretch of any kind), reasonably-priced, old-school jeans.

Now.  If only someone would make a big, deep, feed-sack of a purse with two long straps that will stay on my right shoulder (even over my heavy winter coat) after I throw it on effortlessly with my right hand (because my left if busy grabbing my travel mug) and is made out of ultra-soft and supple chocolate brown leather.

Well, I can't make that myself.  But I can make this.

Someday.  But I am still in the midst of several different projects at the moment so I will have to wait.  Patiently. 

But that's ok.  Apparently, it works for me.

Thoughts on the Drop

The drop of the spindle, that is.

A couple weeks ago I attempted to spin a bit of fluff for the first time.  I'd watched this video that made it look so easy...

Well, it wasn't too bad, but it was significantly trickier than anticipated.

I've never been the most coordinated of souls, and using a drop spindle does require that the right hand know what the left hand is doing (not too mention the legs!).  Then there's knowing how thick the fiber needs to be before drafting, then how much you can draft without the fiber pulling apart, then getting the spindle to spin well and the twist to work it's way up properly and how to stop the spindle from spinning and when to stop and wind the new yarn around the shaft...

phew.

I like to think of my finished product as a thick-and-thin (though mostly thick) art yarn. 

I definitely intend to try again at some point (there is far too much lovely fluff out there to play with!).  I can't say that I personally felt the same passionate obsession that I felt when I first learned to form a stitch, but it is certainly a challenge that I cannot ignore. 

After all, those lovely and stormy-looking Dyeabolical braids do taunt me so very much every time I go into River City.

The thing is, I started with the drop spindle because...well...it's a vastly more economical way of testing my spinning skills than the wheel and I'm really quite glad I did.  I do see the potential.  But I also see the potential for a spinning wheel to be much easier to use.

Some day.

In the meantime, I will do the drop again.  Occassionally.  It's a nice change of pace.

(The results of my first spinning efforts may be seen as knit into the Yarn Tasting.  I used about a third to a half of the fiber that comes in the basic drop spindle kit from Spinner's Choice.) 

By golly, I did it!

Do you see it up there, on the right, at the top of the page?  It's a link.  A link to a pattern.  A pattern for my hat that I designed all by my little self.

yay!

And it has a new name, too.  I was calling it just the ponytail hat, or the convertible ponytail hat, but a while back I was showing it to someone who said "it's like a little cardigan for your head!".

And thus we have the "Cardigan Ponytail Hat"!!!

So the pattern is now available to all, for your knitting pleasure (personal and non-profit use only, please).  If you knit one  I would love to hear about it!  You may leave a comment here, if you like, or drop me an email...or post on Facebook...

But I do have another option for you if you happen to be tooling around on Ravelry...

I have a page officially all set up right here, so people can either admire the versions others have come up with or post pics of their own for others to admire.  I, myself, have recently finished knitting my fourth version (two of which are available for purchase at River City as of this writing) and hope to have pictures of all of them on the Ravelry page soon.

I'm really excited about this and I can't wait to see where it goes (48 hours after creating the Ravelry page and it's already in 15 queues and I've gotten 4 comments...so cool!).  Hope you enjoy it, too!

Mama's got a new toy...

...and tomorrow she plays...!

Whether you come to offer helpful hints, to pick up pointers, or simply to laugh at my novice attempts at creating yarn, I welcome you to join me for Open Knit tomorrow morning (10:00 to noon at Judy's) for my kind of spinning!