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Yarn For Thursday

Posted on November 7, 2007 by Joyce Makes Art

I’m so sleepy! It’s one of those nights when I can barely keep my eyes open. But I haven’t shown you much of my dyed yarn lately, and I really want to share a bit of it tonight because the colorways have been so pretty.

This is mostly for sale yarn, that you can find starting Thursday at noon, Eastern time, here.

First off there’s Lucy organic merino. I just love this yarn. I can’t help myself. I only have two skeins of it dyed up or I would be keeping it for myself. I think there is some Lucy sock yarn in my future.

Then there is Ella, one of my paintbrush series, on a nice bulky blue faced leicester that I love for hats and sweaters because it knits up so quickly, but behaves like a much finer yarn.

The paintbrush yarns are the ones that knit up with this lovely random coloration that makes a great knitted fabric.

I’m also in love with Morgan, an elusive colorway that just wouldn’t photograph as pretty as it is in real life.

FInally there is Old Flame (we all have one, don’t we? tell the truth girls). I don’t work in reds an awful lot but I’m always very happy when I do. I’m going to dye enough of either this colorway or Hedgehog to make Ollie a little sweater now that it’s finally getting cold.

All of these colorways and more will be up for grabs tomorrow, Thursday, at noon when Elliebelly stocks. There are limited numbers of skeins, so make sure you get there early to get your favorites.

Also, please keep a look out for information in the next week or two about my holiday plans for turning yarn into giving. I’m dyeing up some favorite colorways and planning to sell them via lotteries to raise money to make a donation to one of my favorite charities, Heifer.org.

If you don’t know a lot about Heifer, it’s worth checking out. It is one of those charities that really uses your money to do good works. Heifer is modeled on the insight that if you give a man a fish he eats for a day but if you teach him to fish he can feed himself. They offer the opportunity to buy farm animals to help people in need establish themselves. I particularly like the idea of donating a sheep — it seems so fitting — and hope to raise enough money to donate one.

I’m in the middle of dyeing up so colorways I hope you will really want to get your hands on so that together, we can help others during the holiday season. Stay tuned for more on that soon.

Art & Soul Virginia 2008

Posted on November 7, 2007 by Joyce Makes Art

I’m going to be teaching at the Art & Soul retreat in Virginia in 2008. I’m very excited!

I’m teaching one class, on Saturday, on fabric portrait collage. Sort of like this.

We’ll spend most of the morning dyeing cotton and silk fabric using a low immersion method that gives fabric a pretty crackle dye look.

I also like to do a lot of surface design on the fabric, much like I would on paper with layers for the background of a collage, before I get around to using the fabric. So we’ll be doing a lot of that as well.

Having never done anything like this before, I’m not sure if I should be worried that no one will sign up for my class (info here) or that too many people will sign up, so I think I’ll skip the worrying part and just get down to enjoying the fact that I get to teach something I love doing to a group of interesting, fun people. And, If there is anything I have learned from lecturing about that law it is that people really love teachers who bring along snacks. Thankfully, the room Kathy Wasilewski (check out her classes here and here) and I are sharing has a small kitchenette, so I’ll make muffins or banana bread, and make sure we all have lots of art and good stuff to eat.

I’m looking forward to seeing lots of old friends and making new ones like I did last year. Even though May of 2008 seems far away right now, I know it’s going to get here quickly, and I can’t wait!

Missing in Action

Posted on November 4, 2007 by Joyce Makes Art

One of my cousins e-mailed me yesterday to complain about the lack of entries on my blog this week. I promise, I haven’t been ignoring y’all on purpose! Technology has been the enemy this week. But everything seems to be working now, so I’ll play catch up.

I tried to post Tuesday night, while I was in Atlanta for work. I had an internet connection, but for some reason, the photograph I took of Teddy’s scarf in progress, using my cell phone, didn’t make it onto my computer. I kept getting a funny little broken square in my email. No picture.

The reason I wanted to show you a picture of the scarf was that I was debating about the length. It didn’t seem quite long enough as I approached the end of the second skein. Since I couldn’t show you all a picture and ask for opinions, I ended up using most of the third skein and making a long scarf, hopefully long enough for much wrapping around the neck and warming up of my second son.

I’m never one to make an in-your-face statement about the fact that I’m a proud knitter, but I did take my knitting along to court the following morning, and knit through the cases ahead of us on the docket. I find it is a huge aid to my concentration, although I have never developed the self-confidence to knit during my own cases. I took along my Handmaiden Sea Silk scarf — the only piece of lace I’m working on at the moment and one of the oldest of my unfinished objects. No matter how much I knit, it seems to drag along, but it’s far enough along that I can see how the colors are going to switch back and forth, and that seems to have been enough motivation to have gotten me going again.

I got home from Atlanta in time for trick or treating. The Judge yet again demonstrated his ability to come through on the important things — taking Ellie and Ollie and two of their closest friends ALL over the neighborhood, while the two mamas passed out candy and, erm, one of us knitted.

Thursday I was back out of town for work again, this time without an internet connection. But with knitting. I finished off the Be Sweet Tea Cozy.

I love how it looks with the ribbon tied through the top! Sadly, it isn’t quite big enough. I’m begging an extra skein off of Jennifer in exchange for a silk yarn to be designated in the future. Go look at her blog if you want to see some really amazing batik!

This weekend I’m working on some organic merino yarn — the colorways are new and I love this yarn. Here’s a little taste. This is "Metro."

Make sure you remember to stop in when Elliebelly Yarns stock this Thursday at noon. I’ll have some fun little yarns for you to look at and some new playsilks! I’m working on cleaning up the Main Elliebelly Site
and getting it restocked. Thanks to those of you who have wandered through all the sold items to shop. I promise there will be fresh new items by next weekend. Also, please consider signing up for my announcement list if you aren’t already on it. I am planning on dyeing up some special yarns and selling them to benefit Heifer.Org. If you aren’t familiar with this charitable organization, they provide farm animals to families in need and do wonderful work. I’m hoping to raise enough money to donate a sheep this year. I’ll fill you in on the details of how you can buy yarn and help people become self-sufficient on the announcement list later this month.

Finally, I want to talk about art. I still can’t show you any art because of issues involving the Judge, our oldest son, and a total inability to understand that if you screw up the computer that Mom’s scanner is hooked up to you are obligated to fix it, instead of spending all of your waking hours playing Morrowind. That is sort of frustrating, because I have lots going on. I’ve been making time for my own art — doing lots of dyeing and fabric collage and also working on a round robin book. I’ve also been doing a fun little mail art round robin, hosted by Kathy McElroy. I’m about to break down and get everything fixed so I can share some artwork again — I’ve really missed participating in the Wednesday Stamper.

For those of you, who like me, are art retreat addicts, you will know that tomorrow, Monday the 5th, is the day the class listings for Art & Soul in Hampton Virginia next May go up here. Although I haven’t mentioned it before, I’ll be teaching a class called Dyeing To Collage, which will involve dyeing and surface designing cotton and silk fabric for incorporation in fabric collage. I hope some of you will sign up for the class, or stop by to say "hi" during the retreat. I’m really looking forward to it!

Dear Ellie

Posted on October 27, 2007 by Joyce Makes Art

Dear Ellie:

I’m really sorry about the socks. Despite my best efforts, my gauge was off.

I’m feel terrible that they are way too big for you. I used the child-sized pattern and everything seemed like it was going along perfectly. And I know that this was some of your favorite yarn ever — unfortunately it was a one of a kind skein I dyed without making notes.

The socks were very fun to knit and I feel so bad, my darling daughter, that you won’t be wearing them. I am, however, going to enjoy wearing them myself. Gauge can be a bad thing that way. I hope you will learn from my bad ways and not repeat my mistakes when you are a grown knitter.

Love,

Mommy

Slow Progress

Posted on October 23, 2007 by Joyce Makes Art

Some weeks I feel like I make slow progress. Slow progress at work, slow progress with the house, slow progress with knitting. This is one of those weeks. Everything seems to be in slow mo.

This might be because I am knitting inch after inch of boring same-ole same-ole garter stitch — one of those acts of knitting that can only be accomplished by the love of a mother. Rows and rows of garter stitch scarf, in an unrelentingly the same solid pumpkin color, selected by my little pumpkin to match his favorite Crocs. I am starting to think that finishing this scarf is bound to earn me a small place in heaven.

Really, everything else is going well. I’m finished knitting the Noro Adventure Bag. I’ll hold off on finishing it because Nora, from Noni Bags, is teaching a finishing class down here and I’m going to take a day off of work to study at the feet of the master.

I’m also making progress on my Rowan sweater, Anise, knitting both fronts at the same time.

And, I’m close to finishing socks and Ellie’s Cahaba River Jacket. So yes, it’s slow progress, but ultimately, it seems to be going somewhere. I seem to be developing the funniest attitude about finishing projects, especially ones I really like. It’s sort of like reading a really good book. You want to savor it and drag it out. Not let it end too soon. Yes, that’s the kind of knitter I’m becoming. Or maybe it’s just my evil twin’s incredible ability to rationalize not wanting to do the finishing work.

I’m off to see if I can’t make a little bit more progress tonight. I’ll leave you with this picture of sock yarn. Lots of new colorways! Although this picture is a batch that has gone off to a yarn store in New York, several of these colorways will be available this week at Elliebelly when I stock on Thursday, and more will be up the following week.

I

Bollywood

Posted on October 22, 2007 by Joyce Makes Art

Some yarn is so good that it rolls into my house and immediately goes onto the needles without becoming part of the stash. And, some really really amazing yarn gets knit up immediately, without distraction.

Be Sweet’s Bollywood Magic Ball did me like that. It came with a veddy, veddy simple tea cozy pattern and it was simply irresistable.

Here it is.

It would be done but for the fact that either my gauge is off or their tea pot is smaller than mine, so I’m awaiting a second ball to add a few inches to the top before I finish it off. Isn’t it cute?

There must be good knitting karma in my universe this week because I’ve finished knitting my Noni Adventure Bag (pictures forthcoming) and am making lots of progress on Teddy’s Alpaca garter stitch scarf (although it puts me to sleep in the same way that reading a Kafka novel late at night does).

I’m also going to share a new banner I had done for Elliebelly. The idea was mine, but it really helps to have a good graphic designer to execute it! I confess to being way too silly to have a serious business, but I love doing things like this.

In case the banner isn’t going through all the screens for you, you can see it directly by clicking here.

Drought Flowers

Posted on October 21, 2007 by Joyce Makes Art

The drought in Alabama is terrible. I think the last information I saw said we were 28 inches behind in rain. We’ve been on a restriction for months now that lets us water twice a week. I turn off the shower while I wash my hair.

Most of my flowers grow in our front yard (so that the evil pups can romp in the back). This is my azaleas.

And here is my flower bed.

Early on, I decided to avoid watering, and see what survived. I don’t anticipate it getting any better next year. We’ve lost a mature peach tree and even the rose arch over our front door.

Amazingly, a few things have survived. My rosemary hedge is beautiful. And we have flowers here and there. I’ve taken to calling them drought flowers.

Every time we get a sprinkling of rain, they come out.

They’re so beautiful. They’re like a promise. I miss my tangled English garden dreadfully — I plan on doing some careful replanting and nursing. I’m hoping I haven’t lost all of my tall garden iris and I’m hoping my roses will all survive. I don’t think I’ll ever take a summer flower garden for granted again.

Even the cats seemed to languish in the hot summer weather. Harry has been looking peaked for the last few weeks. But, with the cooler air this week, the Main Coons are back outside and playing like their happy lunatic selves. I’m hoping that it will stay cool and their mood will be infectious.

We’re off to see Where the Wild Things Are, being performed as a ballet by Alabama Ballet. It’s going to be Ollie’s first trip to the ballet. He saw it in rehearsal and really wanted to go. I’m not sure four year old boys and the ballet are a good mix, so please wish me luck this afternoon!