Moving Faster Than Continents/ The Wrap Update

Here is the wrap so far! It's just past 20 inches and about halfway done. It's still pretty slow going. If I work at it I can get over an inch in a day which I estimate to be about an hour and a half of knitting. Halfway is a pretty good mark and now I think I can have it done in time for sure, and not putting the finishing touches on at the rehearsal dinner!

The Results Are In: April 24th Blog Carnival

You can read about all the studios and gardens here!

http://athenaworkman.blogspot.com/2009/04/etsybloggers-april-24th-edition.html

Dream Studio Blog Carnival

For this blog carnival my imagination runs wild. I don't have a studio right now. I do most everything in my living room. I did a post a while back about my set up. I moved since then and have much less space.

My supplies and finished items are kept on the shelf or in the bedroom closet. Current projects go in a basket at the top of the shelf.
The spinning wheel hangs out in the bedroom unless I'm spinning in the living room. There's just not enough space here. Current knitting goes in a bag so I can take it with me.

I dream about having a room where I keep all my supplies and tools and finished projects ready to sell all together and organized. It would have bookshelves and a desk where I can leave a drum carder and ball winder set up with space for my swift too. This is my fiber art studio.

For decorations: the walls would have lots of bright colors with pictures from my favorite painters and well as my own photos. I'd have a huge selection of yarn and wool to play with, as well as all the tools I want, including a drum carder. That will be my next big fiber art purchase. I really want a drum carder. My dream studio could also have a loom and another spinning wheel and a little button press. It should also have a sink.

In this dream I also have a ceramics studio which has lots of big windows and great views of nature, and my own kiln and wheel. I could have a clay mixer and several large tables to work on, and lots of shelves for my work.

Both studios belong in my house which is also a dream.

I've Been Feature By The Soap Seduction!!!

I bought some delicious smelling handmade soaps from The Soap Seduction to make my felted soap, and she featured me on her blog! I'm pretty excited about it, and it gave me a laugh.

Visit The Soap Seduction's ArtFire Shop

How To Install a Lifeline in your Knitting

A lifeline in knitting is a loop of some yarn or thread that goes through a row of stitches so that if a stitch is dropped it can not unravel past the row with the lifeline.

What you need:

your knitting that you want to protect and appropriately sized needle and yarn or thread. I used this pink thread because it was sitting around. Another lace weight yarn would have worked very well also.


Lay your knitting flat, and thread your sewing needle through all the live stitches. Just follow where your knitting needle is. (Be careful not to go through any stitch markers.)



When you have your yarn or thread through all the live stitches tie the ends together so it won't fall out. Now if you drop a stitch, it won't fall past the lifeline. If your knitting comes of the needle everything below the lifeline is protected.

How often should you use a lifeline? Think about how upset you would be if you lost that portion of your knitting. The more upset you would be the more often you should use the lifeline, saving you the heartache of having to reknit that section should tragedy strike.

Here I've added another lifeline with a yarn that stands out a bit better.

Felted Soaps are Here!

Yay! Felted soap! Well, I've done the first batch. :)

I've had a lot of people ask me "What is felted soap?"

Basically, it is soap covered in felt- soap that comes with its own wash cloth, only it works way better than your average wash cloth.
It makes such a nice lather with only a little water, and helps your soap last a bit longer, which is especially great for handmade soaps.

When you're done using it be sure to let it dry.

As the soap is used up the wool will continue to shrink helping you use every last bit of the soap. When the soap is gone you'll be left with a little scrubbie. Keep using it at bath time or cut it open and you have a place to keep tiny treasures.

Treasury Time :)

Treasuries are fun to make!

Soap is almost here!

I did some felting today, and the soaps are turning out great. I've got them sitting out to dry. Next step is taking more pictures and listing them!

Bittersweeets Challenge Anniversary Sale on Easter Weekend

The Bittersweeet's one-a-day Challenge group is celebrating our one year etsy-versary Easter weekend, search the tag "dailychallenge" to find our shops and sales from April 10-13.

We're all having our own sweet sales so check us out!

The Wrap Update

Three pattern repeats done! Only about 39 to go...

I'm on my way!

In celebration of a milestone!

This is a picture that I got from the dreamy giraffe a while back.

April 10 Blog Carnival- Going Green

Here are some of my green things!
hand dyed yarn
aviation chart magnet


green scarfGreen is such a pretty color to work with. I should make more green things!

As far as eco-friendly, most of the items in my shop are that kind of green. My aviation chart magnets and mirrors are made with expired charts. The charts often get tossed, although I've also used them to decorate my walls or wrap gifts, and now I use them to make magnets and buttons!

I make lots of things with natural fibers. I have some acrylic things in my shop, because people like to machine wash things, but I really love to work with wool and alpaca and other natural fibers.

Here are some eco-friendly things:
a cotton bag
felt place mats

felt keepsake purses
I also use some recycled packaging to ship my items. When I pack up my items, I often use cushioning that I got when I bought something else.
I generally avoid making lots of waste. I try to find new uses for things, or someone that can use them. I try to use up that last bit of yarn with a creative new project.

I think that's pretty green! :)

Featured Etsy Blogger for April

Each month the Etsy Bloggers choose a member to feature. The featured Etsy Blogger for April is ... TwoZanyZebras!

TwoZanyZebras sells blankies, kiddy clothes, and burp cloths.

You can find her blog here http://www.TwoZanyZebras.blogspot.com
and her Etsy shop is here http://TwoZanyZebras.etsy.com



This shows a few of the things that are in her shop!