Sooo cute!!  (And Herbert is lookin’ good too!)

This determined little mama climbed out of the swamp (what looks like a whole mess of weeds above, not to be confused with the GIANT THISTLE that’s about to take over our grill) and up a fairly steep slope to dig a hole in our backyard to lay her eggs.

I don’t think she much appreciated me staring and taking pictures while she was hard at work…or maybe it was the two fixated kitties at my feet who were just BEGGING me to open the door so they could go investigate.

Okay, Madre, what type of turtle babies should we be expecting?

The first two days of class we planned, calculated, wound, warped and started weaving our projects.  It was WONDERFUL being back in a weaving studio and even though I was pretty rusty with all my preliminary yardage calculations (as exhibited by the extra long warp I ended up with – oops!)

The third class we spent in the Dye Lab and since I ended up with two pieces of fabric, I decided to immersion dye one and hand paint the other.  The fourth class we all came together for show and tell!

Unfortunately, the yarn Elisa and I wove with had a much higher twist than our classmates so we didn’t get the high contrast that others got.

Even so, I’m quite pleased with the results!

Back in April I took yet another class at the Textile Center, this time taught by Susan Stein on silk fusion (also known as silk paper, but silk fusion sounds cooler, doesn’t it?)

Silk fusion is created from silk roving and a textile medium and is limitless in possibilities.  I enjoyed layering in ribbons, metallic threads and Angelina fibers for some extra sparkle!

My last bit of silk fusion was an experiment to see if I could intentionally create open spaces.

While I find the colors rather garish, the technique itself is rather interesting and definitely deserves some more tinkering with for future projects.  Maybe a sun catcher or lamp shade to show more layering?

]]> http://www.endsandpicks.com/2010/06/11/silk-fusion/feed/ 0 http://www.endsandpicks.com/2010/06/10/long-overdue/ http://www.endsandpicks.com/2010/06/10/long-overdue/#comments Fri, 11 Jun 2010 02:23:59 +0000 Melissa http://www.endsandpicks.com/?p=1109 These last few months have just FLOWN by and I am so behind on so many posts.  So without further ado, here are some long overdue photos of the awesome weekend workshop I took at the Textile Center back in March, entitled Artful Knit:  A Sculptural Approach to Knitting taught by Adrienne Sloane.

Adrienne started off our weekend of sculptural knitting by challenging us to knit with materials we wouldn’t normally knit with.  We were tasked to experiment and see what craziness we could come up with.  I played with wire, ribbon, fabric strips and woven tape threaded through felt circles.  It was quite a liberating experience!

I also played around a bit with “finger knitting” which I hadn’t done in YEARS.  I’m hoping to finger-knit a bit more ribbon yarn and then knit that into a bigger knitting piece for some cool knitted-knitting texture.

I think my favorite part of the class was all the discussions we had on how to knit different shapes, holes, bumps, bobbles, loops and pockets.

Some of my technique samplers turned out looking a bit like the Loch Ness monster, don’t you think?

All in all it was a FANTASTIC weekend.  Thank you so much Adrienne for being so inspiring and teaching such a wonderful class!

Lucca’s mom has been asking me for a jellyfish since she saw rhymeswithfun’s Julius back in the day.  Jarvis now hang’s out over Lucca’s changing table and is sure to make diaper changes much more fun!  (Well, at least for Lucca anyway…)

Baby Quiba will be welcomed home by Herbert once he arrives mid-June.

Herbert was knit from the free Ribbit pattern with no real mods except that I only used fiberfill instead of the recommended tennis ball for stuffing.  Can’t wait to meet you next month, Kai!!

Since Kevin had to carry it back with him to Shanghai, I opted to go a slightly smaller route than before so he wouldn’t have to buy a new suitcase to bring it back!

Finished, it measures about 12″x18″ and consists of a Merino and Corriedale felted base with a thin layer of silk hankies on top to get that wonderful nubbly texture with a little sheen.

I added felted crochet flowers, hand-made beads, embroidery and silk throwsters waste to finish it off.

Congratulations Kevin & April!!  I hope you enjoy it!

Herb, named by ms rhymeswithfun herself, was knit from the Octopus pattern out of Hansi Singh’s amazing book Amigurumi Knits: Patterns for 20 Cute Mini Knits.  Look at those cute curly tentacles!

First Julius and now Herb.  What shall I knit for my favorite foodie next? 

Sunday afternoon, a few hours before the closing ceremonies, I finished my Skewed Socks earning a Gold medal in the 2010 Knitting Olympics!

The ‘origami moment’ when the heel is Kitchener stitched together is really really cool.  I mean, really cool.

Other cool things learned – Judy’s Magic Cast On,  Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off, and how to knit a sock on two circular needles, all of which will definitely be used again.  My only comment on the bind off is that it’s a bit more ‘ruffly’ that I would have liked, so I’ll probably only use that again on patterns that aren’t so sleek-looking, but still a great option to know.

I am absolutely IN LOVE with these socks.  Only problem?  I got a bit distracted early on in the first sock and knit a longer foot than I originally intended.

Oh well, at least they fit The Canadian.