Revealed: My New Craft Room

While we had the house disassembled for new paint and carpet, we decided to expand and move my craft room from a dark little room in the basement to an upstairs master bedroom. It was a big, long and somewhat empty junk room that transformed into the craft room of my dreams. I purchased coordinating office furniture pieces, added a denim covered loveseat, made denim valances and matching table runners to tie the whole room together.

Check out this video (double click on arrow) of my new creative oasis.

The Nest is Full!

The most exquisite yarn order arrived today from Blue Sky Alpacas. I fell in love with the Scoop Neck Vest knit from Brushed Suri and Alpaca/Silk. (It's one of the nominations for the next Sexy Knitters Club KAL). Aside from my current WIP's, I now have more than I can possibly ever finish this winter. Let the nesting begin!

Nesting for Winter?

Monarchs are flying south, horses are getting their winter coats and I'm sure somewhere up north bears are preparing for hibernation. And what do you think knitters do to prepare for winter -- we build our knitting nest. Mine a pile of projects mounting as a yarn order arrived yesterday from Lion Brand. I know, you say, Lion Brand with a wrinkle in your nose. Yarn snobs take note: flip thru a fall/winter catalog and there are some pretty cool designers in their camp. I'm looking forward to making this Cable Luxe Maxi dress in easy-to-care-for Wool-Ease in Cocoa. Can't you just picture it with a great pair of boots and a chunky necklace?

Road Trip: Gove, KS

Today was a vacation, road trip, therapy day. I packed a thermos of Godiva coffee, snacks, knitting bag and an audio book CD and hit the road for one destination: Gove City Yarn and Antiques. I had seen a billboard for the shop once coming back from Colorado on I-70 and have been itching to check it out ever since. Although we now have an awesome LYS, I still enjoy traveling to other shops and getting motivation and new ideas from yonder places. Thankfully, after the 250 mile drive there, the shop met all my expectations.

I was inspired by a vest design by the owner, Betty Lou, called the ShagKet and I purchased yarns in shades of brown and tan to complete the project. You tie assorted yarns (or scraps) together leaving tails and carry it along with a base (wool) yarn following the vest pattern. I can see mine as a croppped vest with maybe short rows to make the back a little longer. It makes a very unique creation. Betty Lou told me a man once offered her $900 dollars for one she had made out of denim strips. It was beautiful. The shop was crammed full with yarns, books, patterns and antiques. If you make the trip, plan to spend a couple hours taking it all in -- you won't be disappointed.

Sock Tree

I've been feverishly working on miniature socks for a year-round sock tree and here it is in all it's beauty. All 12 socks made from Rowan Denim and I added a garland of wood buttons and spools to go with the theme of my room. Nowdays, ornamental trees are not only limited to christmas green and this kahki color matches my newly remodeled craft room perfectly. The room is coming together nicely and I'll be revealing it soon.

Seaming for Greensburg

It was a cold, rainy day as I drove to El Dorado, KS to participate in the seaming event for Rebuilding Greensburg Block by Block. Laura (and her church, El Dorado First Baptist Church) was the most gracious host with food, drinks, sweets and prize drawings as we seamed and marveled at the uniqueness and generousity of those who knit and crochet. Tables of women filled the gymnasium and as each group of 4-5 completed an afghan of 56 squares, we would ooh and aah at each completed work of art. My group was thrilled to complete two afghans. Laura has over 4,000 more blocks to go so if you're looking for an opportunity to participate or contribute watch for her postings. Good job, Laura!!

Denim from WIN

This is my third handmade denim item I've purchased this year that supports a great cause and thought I'd share this one in particular. I came across these handloomed products from WIN (Wichita Women's Initiative Network) and wanted to let everyone know about this great program that supports Wichita women in transition. You can find some of their items for sale at the Spice Merchant but I visited their location on E. Third street and was impressed by the many looms and sewing machines they provide for women to use in their program for the sale of their handmade products. One of the staffers told me these crafts/occupations are therapeutic to many of their clients and I can sure relate to that! You can find more info at this link and keep in mind WIN accepts donated denim and sewing machines.

These are going to look great in my soon to be remodeled craft room. More to come.....

Ready for Some Football

Opening game and I was ready for some football but our KC Chiefs were not -- I think they forgot to send their offense to Houston as they lost 3-20. Anyways, it was still good to kick back to watch the game with Subway sandwiches and my knitting. I started on Rebecca from Debbie Bliss Cashmerino. (It's actually a childs sweater that I'm knitting in the largest size. I fell in love with the sample at Twist). I had a rocky start until I figured out the "yarn forward" is what I know as a yarn over. I found a great tutorial on line after I started over about 3 times.

Tilted Duster

Although I've neglected my knitting and blogworld due to way too many home improvement projects, I somehow managed to find some extra time to complete a winter sweater. At first glance, I didn't care for the lines of the Tilted Duster from the Fall 2007 Interweave KNITS but it grew on me. I opted for the suggested Berroco Peruvian wool (find it at Twist!) in Marron and finished it off with 1 1/4" coconut shell buttons. The only change I made was to add a few extra rows at the neckline so it would fit more like a turtleneck and a few extra rows for longer sleeves. It fits great and I'll post a modeled picture later after I wash and block it.

Hedera Socks

The Hedera socks are my first completed project from yarn purchased (Panda Cotton) at our new LYS, Twist. The cotton and stretchiness of the yarn appealed to me and worked well with this lace pattern on #0 dpns. Once completed, I rolled them up and put them in a drawer devoted to hand knit socks only. Honestly, they spend more time in there than wear time on my feet!

Home Improvements

After living in our home close to 15 years we had to face the realization it's time to bite the bullet and invest in some major interior home improvements. The fun began with a trip to Sherwin Williams to pick out neutral paint colors for the walls and white ceiling paint. I went with 3 shades (Bagel, Cream & Biscuit) on the same color card to work with throughout my home. Star came out and installed new flooring in the bathrooms and new carpet will follow in two weeks. In the meantime, we're tackling the painting room by room so I'm sadden to report I'm not getting much knitting done.

Bathroom:

Sand Creek Station Golf Course

Where has the year gone? I cannot believe this was the first time in 2007 that I've been able to get out on a golf course. My good friend from work, Jamie, and I played in a Health Underwriter's tournament at Sand Creek Station in Newton, Kansas. (Why yes, that's my Nike running skirt!) It's a new course with some pretty holes worth checking out. My game has suffered due to my lack of practice this year. So many hobbies, so little time.....

3 Days in Sturgis = PRICELESS

We're back from our quick trip to my 10th year at the Sturgis Rally. It's a long haul so husband and I stopped overnight in Cheyenne, WY and had a nice soak in the hot tub followed by an awesome steak dinner. We woke to have coffee at Starbucks and walked around the state capitol plaza.

From there we rode a couple hundred miles to main street in Sturgis for some shopping and biker action.

Then we spent the next couple of days riding around in the Badlands and Spearfish Canyon.

Since our mountain lodge in Lead was just outside of Deadwood, we also spent some time hanging out in town at the restaurants and casinos. Deadwood fills up with bikers and is a great, low-key place to sit and watch the bikes cruize by.

Before we knew it, our 3 days at the rally were over and it was time to make the long trek home. We rode straight from South Dakota to Kansas for a long day of 15 hours and 893 miles of hot riding.

DIY: Reconstructed Levi Handbags

Our long-time good friends, Matt & Melanie are opening a new, bigger motorcycle shop in Galva, Kansas. M&M Choppers will now be right on Highway 56. They are going to have so much exposure due to their new location and I'm sure they will have more business than they can handle. Melanie takes care of the decorating and clothing line and wanted to have some handmade items in the shop so she turned to one of her BFF's (ME!) to make some denim purses to sell out of a stack of old Levi's she had piled up. And you know, I'm no stranger to Levi reconstruction! I added a little motorcycle/biker flair with the linings in skulls, flames and barbed wire. Only got another stack of jeans to go but will send these off to the shop on Monday. Just gotta love denim!

DIY: More Skirts

Instead of knitting, I was sewing and I couldn't stop. I somehow managed to crank out 4 - count 'em - 4 skirts this afternoon. I made a Sunday plan to complete some of my uncompleted projects and now I'm done with skirts for awhile. It was fun while it lasted but I've got to move on.

Sheep for Shelly

Every knit shop needs some wool sheep so I made a Flock of Sheep for Shelly's new shop opening. Which by the way, is TOMORROW!! The big one is from two strands of worsted wool and the small one using one strand.

Sleepover

My little darling, Harlee, spent the night and we went to Riverside Cafe for breakfast this morning. While in the area, we played in the fountains in Riverside Park and then checked out the newly constructed Keeper of the Plains that overlooks our city.

I liked this picture of me because you can see the Arkansas River and our city skyline in the background.

THE YARN IS COMING!!

I almost can't stand the excitement for our new yarn shop, Twist, to open. I got to offer a "helping hand" and see a sneak preview of just some of Shelly's inventory. You just wait -- Wichita has not seen this type of knitting selection of yarn, bags and notions before. We have SOOO many project ideas and it's going to be such a creative hot spot in the Delano District of our fair city.

Beaded Bracelet

My bracelet says it all.

Loom Beading

Where do I find the time to resurrect yet another old hobby? I have so many craft skeletons in the closet! Usually I'll be in the middle of one project and then get distracted by a creative idea to start something else. Am I normal? Taking a break from knitting to obsess over meticulously counting and stringing seed beads on a loom with aspirations of a custom (self-expressive) bracelet. We'll see how it turns out.....