A Dearth of Creative Activity

Since June, I've had very few opportunities for creativity. I spent most of June packing up our stuff, in preparation for our move in July. Unfortunately, I had to do it almost by myself, since my husband was spending eight to twelve hours a day working on assignments for his THREE summer classes.

July, we moved. And then moved more stuff. And unpacked stuff, and rearranged stuff, and brought more stuff over from storage. We also bought a Billy bookcase from Ikea. That lead to yet another trip to Ikea, since we had so many books that we needed two extra shelves! (And we could really use another bookcase just as large; there are still tons of books in boxes!)

I also had lots of furniture to assemble, since we had purchased a Noresund bed when it was on sale, in anticipation of our move. There was also the Majiker sideboard I had bought a year and a half ago, when it was put on clearance.

I did get a spinning wheel, which is so incredibly wonderful. Seriously, you wouldn't believe how much I squeed when we picked it up. It was a bit sad... So it took me two evenings to assemble it, and I got to use it exactly once. I've been way too busy, and I had to miss my spinning guild meeting, so I missed the opportunity to get help.

I was so very sure I would have lots of time to do creative stuff this month, but it hasn't been the case. The apartment is still in a state of semi-chaos, and my craft space is the worst. I can't slack off, either, since I have friends coming to stay with us in a couple of weeks.

So I've had to satisfy myself with knitting. I love knitting; don't get me wrong. And I'm happy with the progress I've made with my Malabrigo simple shawl. I even started a sock, but the tiny double pointed needles and skinny yarn are driving me nuts, so it's on hold.

I can't even remember the last time I put some real time in with my art journal. I pray it will all come together soon!

Thanks, Peachtree Handspinners!

Thanks to y'all, I have filled my bobbin! Thanks, too, for all the fiber-obsessed time, including the chance to some dyeing. I had never used cochineal, and now I have some lovely dyed yarn to play with.

Seriously, the Peachtree Handspinners Guild was so fun. I plan to go again next month, and join once I'm sure I'm going to stick with this.

Spinning and felting and crochet, oh my!

Well, on the spinning side, I received a very prompt, very helpful reply from the Peachtree Handspinners Guild. It turns out that Interweave has a couple of free, downloadable brochures on spinning that look helpful. The kind woman who responded suggested that I attend their next meeting (at the end of the month), too. I'm really afraid I'll learn to do it horrendously wrong, so I think I'll put the spinning aside until then.

So, needle felting. Emily Barnard of Colorado Fiber Arts has the most amazing needle felted animals, at Art in Sheep's Clothing. Wow. That's intimidating. Someday, maybe, I can do that sort of stuff. Now, I'm more up to the cute little needle felted birds she teaches in her class. Or a needle felted ball, maybe.

Oh, I know! How about an eyeball, like the crocheted one at Monster Crochet? Big round ball, two concentric colored circles in the center...I can do that!

Did I mention I'm insane? I have to finish a crocheted Katamari...by Saturday. Somehow this slipped my mind. I'm using Simply Soft in Dark Country Blue (I think...it looks darker to me) for the body, with Berry Blue and Dark Country Blue in concentric circles for the little bumps. I hope to make it (semi) functional... Really, the pattern is just a really big crocheted ball, sort of like this one. I'm crocheting it with two strands held together, using an I hook, for the body; I'll probably use just one strand for the bumps.

I'll post pics when it's finished.

Spinning woes!

I'm trying to learn to spin with a drop spindle, but so far the results aren't exactly spectacular. I finally, after many tries, made a yard of something that resembles yarn. (I'm afraid that's the best I can say about it...)

It took a very, very long time, though, and it wasn't exactly done correctly. Plus, it has now mostly untwisted.

Oh well. I'll use that fiber for needle felting. You can use pretty much anything for the core... In the meantime, I've emailed the Peachtree Handspinners Guild to see if they can refer me to classes or recommend a good video.