And a few more little things...

One of my fiber friends has been on something of a 'pioneer' kick, and her enthusiasm has drawn the rest of us into various endeavors. We've dyed fiber and yarn with natural plant materials, taken a class on simple cheese making, and now -- soap making. Well, if we're going to all the trouble of making our own soap, then I'd like it to be gift worthy. Hence the many facecloths. Hopefully we'll end up with lovely, sudsy soap (and no lye burns!) and can make up little gift baskets -- who knows, maybe I'll even throw in some of last summer's loofah harvest!

One skein of DK weight cotton (forgotten brand, possibly Elann house brand) yielded two crocheted cloths. On the left is a generic pentagon motif from one of my stitch dictionaries, and the pinwheel motif on the right is taken from a design in Doris Chan's new book "Crochet Lace Innovations" (Rosalinda top). (Excellent book, by the way, with several designs you'll see me working on in the coming weeks.) Perhaps it's a little too open for a cloth, but I loved it. In any event, it's for a face, not scrubbing out the oven, so...

Then there's a little fun project, a crocheted button necklace --




Nothing more than some buttons, leftover size 8 perle cotton, and a magnetic clasp.

Little things

'Blue Ocean' scarf -- Stats: Waikiki pattern available free from the NaturallyCaron.com web site. Size F crochet hook. Yarn used is Color Changing Cotton (CCC 4) from Wolle's Yarn Creations .

And a dainty little facecloth -- Knit from Rowan Linen Drape (discontinued). Pattern is Petal Dishcloth from Dishcloth Boutique.

What a cutie!

From the bonny banks of Clyde (Kilbowie, Scotland) meet Ailsa -- a Singer 99K hand crank, 3/4 sized sewing machine. This wee lassie was 'born' sometime after August 1, 1927. How she made her way from Scotland to a dealer in Texas to a new home in central Virginia is anyone's guess. She's a smaller version of the Red Eye treadle seen here previously, but powered by hand rather than foot.

Mr. MinglingYarn is probably hoping that this concludes the collecting portion of my current mania -- especially given the state of his lower back -- but you just never know, do you?

Poor, neglected Cassidy

In all the excitement of trying out my new treadle sewing machine, I've totally forgotten to post about my finished Cassidy, although I did manage to get it up on Ravelry. So, just in time for it to be put away for the season...

Stats: Knit from Araucania worsted weight wool, purchased ages ago on sale at Elann. Pattern is 'Cassidy' by Chic Knits. No modifications to an excellent pattern, although I probably could have shortened the sleeves just a bit. If I'd finished knitting this one sooner it would have certainly been my "go to" sweater for cozy winter comfort. Love it!

Is it just me, or are we having a particularly nice Spring -- perhaps to make up for Snow-mageddon? Walking outside these days is like being in a ticker tape parade with all the cherry blossoms drifting down from above!

At long last...

...some crochet!

Stats: free pattern courtesy of Naturally Caron (you'll have to Google -- too lazy to link!) 'Spa' yarn (acrylic/bamboo blend), smallest size. Mods: shortened by a pattern repeat in total length -- shortened sleeves by 4 rows. Another delightful Doris Chan design!

What a workout...

...but I have my first TFO (treadled finished object) -- a napkin!

More to come, but I was so excited to actually get it working that I had to show it off. I'm not sure that the stitching really shows that well in the photo (no close up lens, but you can click for bigger), but I'm really pleased with it. What is actually showing on the top of the napkin is the bobbin stitch -- since I was making a narrow mitered hem I wanted to see what I was doing and had the back side on top. I could have gone with a longer stitch length, and probably will for the rest of them. Unlike modern machines there is no convenient little numbered dial to set that -- you simply turn an unmarked screw one way or the other to change length. That will take a little getting used to! I have a feeling that I didn't get the leather treadle belt tight enough, so that will need looking after, but other than that -- what fun!

Look what followed me home...

...Can I keep it, Ma?

It's a circa 1922 Singer "Red Eye" treadle, not in the most pristine of condition, but I'd like to actually use it, rather than have it be a display piece, so that was OK with me. I've cleaned it up a bit, given it a nice drink of oil, and all that's left is to replace the leather treadle belt and the old girl should be good to go. I've been procrastinating on the belt replacement -- I'm not the most mechanical of people and recently almost set fire to myself while trying to repair a spinning wheel drive band (it was plastic; you need to melt it, yadda, yadda). Fortunately, no fire is involved in a treadle belt replacement, although I have read a hint about piercing the leather strap with an ice pick...

At any rate, I look forward to some 'green' sewing -- I shall laugh in the face of power outages! And who knows, maybe all that treadling will be a nice fitness regime? Heaven knows getting that heavy old cast iron treadle up to the second floor of our house was a real workout -- many thanks to Mr. Mingling Yarn who shouldered the lion's share of that load!

And on a seasonal note --dare we hope?