Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Andrea Wong Knits


If you are curious about what the portuguese style of knitting is all about, I can suggest that you to go and visit Andrea Wong Website . There you will find a lot of her dvds, one for socks which I am hoping to get in the future, and the pins that she has created for the ease of this style of knitting.  This dvd has all kinds of material for you from decreases, cast ons to  decreases, ssk, beads , two colors at once, cast off and more in the portuguese style.  What I can tellyou about the portuguese style of knitting is that is very different and I think it is very ergonomic.  It gives you an option for doing what we love in a different way.  I will definitely have some future videos demostrating this kind of knitting.  I can't wait to see what her sock kniting dvd is like when I get it some time in the future, maybe for Christmas 2010.  Thanks for stopping by



Tauron Sepia Yarns


TauronSepiaYarns (6)
Originally uploaded by Crafty Andy
Does the Ha'la'Tha approve of your yarn? In the Imaginary world of the Twelve Colonies of Men and Kobol and Caprica , Yarn is a luxury that Taurons indulge in. Playing around with the camera and using some creativity, I am here to share with you some of my yarns. I hope you have a wonderful week and we will keep you inform on our spinning progress. Today I got some DVDs, in a day or two I will have s review. Thanks for stopping by.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Spinning Lab March 2010

You may want to Search Amazon.com for yarn dyeing if you are interested in learning more or sign up for classes at one of your local yarn shops that works with natural dyes or acid dyes.  Eco Friendly is always nice and preferred..  This is Sunday and a beautiful day to go to the East Bay to take a class / labs on drop Spindle with Wonder Mike, from Fiber Beat, at A Verb For Keeping Warm  .  When I got there Kristine was cooking some beautiful colors and had something drying out in the open.  The plethora of colors was intoxicating, I wanted them all, lol!
Marcel, I believe that is his name is a French Angora rabbit, very cute bunny he was in our midst at the end of the class getting some needed excercise.  I took a class with 3 others at A Verb For Keeping Warm  ,
As always I learned a lot and got to have a good time with fellow spindlers, thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Nikon D3000 Remote


MLL3Remote
Originally uploaded by Crafty Andy
This is the Remote for the Nikon D3000 and other models and it is a lot of fun to use. I would recommend this to anyone who has this camera. I was able to take several pictures with this and is as easy as pie.  YOU can actually Search Amazon.com for ml-l3 wireless remote for nikon d3000 and find a great deal with other things you want. There are certainly a lot of packages with this little fellow that are interesting.  Don't think too much about it it is a wonderful tool to add to your camera.  Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

The Sonata Unfolds

 Kromski Sonata Spinning Wheel Clear Finish W/Bag is  a delight to work with.   I am documenting the fact that I received  it in good conditions and unpacking it in front of you.  I am also showing you the great deals that came with it. I got my wheel from Http://CopperMoose.com and they have a wonderful , bend over backwards  customer service.  I am also showing you a bit about how little this beauty is in need of being put together.  This Kromski is foldable and very easy to transport.  There will be another video in which I will be showing you some of the fiber I got.    If you are looking for a great Traveling wheel , you will be surprised by this beauty of a wheel.  It is compact , light weight and comes assembled, very little to do when traveling with it.


Thanks for stopping by.


Saturday, March 20, 2010

Spring 2010 San Francisco


Spring2010SanFrancisco (5)
Originally uploaded by Crafty Andy
I went into the Spring mode today and was playing with my camera around. If you visit my flickr you will be able to see what a spectacular day it was and still is. I love San Francisco! Thanks for stopping by!
Welcome to San Francisco and Spring 2010!

Friday, March 19, 2010

As The Fiber Turns

Well Crafty Andy has become more Crafty at nearly his 50th Birthday, not until next month, I am 49.8999 years old lol.  I  got a nice Wheel to become more of an Artisan of the Fiber Kind. This is another journey along with my spindle that will be a lot of fun. I am very Happy to enter this second part of my life as an Fiber Artist. SonataDbTreadle
Today I got some delicious fiber from Milk Protein, bamboo and all kinds of wool which is below and more on the previous post.  I like the double treadle of this wheel.   It is more comfortable.  A wheel is a different kind of machine let me tell you.  You need to make it your pet and be nice to it and it will give you lots of pleasure in time.
CarbonizedBamboo
MilkProtein
BlueFaceLeicester

Now looking forward to creating yarn . Crafty Andy has moved to the Dark Side. Making yarn will be a lot of fun as I get more experience, this is a portable wheel with a bag and it is very light. It could use some wheels, but is not that heavy. I am looking forward to my classes to learn more about drop spindle and wheel spinning, more about plying, navajo plying, joins and the rest of all that jazz..
CraftyAndySpins (2)
I hope you come with my in my life's journey of a Fiber Artist as I get into my golden years and become , I hope a teacher of the craft.  Thanks for allowing me in your home.  Thanks for stopping by!

The Joy of Fiber

If you wonder what is this all about, is about testing, feeling different fibers.  I got this from WC Mercantile at Etsy , I have bought some great things from this lady, Stephanie, as a matter of fact my first learn to dye my own sock yarn kit was from her.
These wools are very great to touch and unless you feel them you would not know what you are getting into.
Now this lower part of this posting is dedicated to other fibers, non animal fibers.  Tricky is animal, but not from their hair, wool, but Milk Fiber .Can you believe it?.  It is very Soft, there will e a video later.
Today’s Milk fiber is environmentally friendly, superior in strength and has far better qualities than man-made fibers.

Milk fiber was invented in 1930’s in Italy and America to compete wool. The fiber known as ARALAC, Lanatil, Merinova all different brands for the same fiber manufactured from milk casein fell victim to their minor flaws and the war.Some of the advantages of milk fiber :

*  Milk fiber adopts continues graft copolymerization techniques. The producing process has no effect on environment and formaldehyde in the products is zero. So milk fiber can be considered as ‘green product’.

*  Milk fiber is a new synthetic fiber, which adopts milk protein as main material and high-technical process. Milk fiber has the advantages natural fiber combined with synthetic fiber. Milk fiber PH is 6.8 which is the same to human skin. Milk fiber contains seventeen amino-acids and natural anti-bacterial rate is above eighty percent. So milk fiber has sanitarian function.

*  Dyeing stuff for milk fiber is reactive, acid or cationic dyes. Milk fiber is made from milk casein, instead of fresh milk.

Here you have bamboo, carbonized on the left and regular bamboo on the right, very soft, but tricky to spin.
There are more pictures coming on later with my New toy, a gift to my 50 years of living on this planet and hopefully 50 more doing crafts and having fun.  Thanks for stopping by

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Alpaca Tweed


AlpacaTweed
Originally uploaded by Crafty Andy
I have been blessed with patience and determination, some say it is being stubborn, lol. This has helped me in the quest of having fun with yarn and wools and any fabric that I can spin into yarn. I have some of this fleece that was given to me by a friend and I am carding it to make rolags and from there I make yarn. I am hoping to make some exciting tweedy like yarn. I am also trying to create some dk weight worsted weight kind of yarn and so far am having success. It is easier than I thought. My biggest inspiration has been seeing Abby Franquemont spinning video and ready her book , "Respect The Spindle". I hope you follow my adventures in my craft and that you can come along with me in my search of fiber fun. Thanks for stopping by

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

St Patricks Baking 2010

Happy Saint Patricks Everyone. Some nice baked doughnuts or as some called them cake doughnuts with some nifty frosting. I make the cake batter with olive oil for extra good fats. SO here we go to a great Start of Saint Patricks 2010. Thanks for stopping by

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Doctor Phlox

Here you have the two elements of the Doctor Phlox. It has been plied, blocked-whacked, and dried. I manage to make 280 yards with 120 grams. Only with experience and lots of practice. I enjoy drop spindle and will be enjoying Wheel Spinning soon.
DoctorPhloxSkein (8)
This warn was a lot of fun to make, but I was very tired at the end. DId not like carbonized bamboo for spinning, the nearmere or nylon cashmere was lots of fun to work with.
DoctorPhloxSkein


I was able to spin 560 yards on this spindle at once and then ues a ball winder to make a center pulled ball.

DoctorPhloxSkein (8)

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Two Ply Dr. Phlox

This is the yarn before it got plied.  I was able to spin the whole 560 yards on this spindle, since it is a two ply, it became abour 280 something yards.  I have made a skein which is the picture you see below.  This picture below is before I put it in a bath of Eucalan wool Soap and some vinegar, then after that I will whack my yarn  and let it dry in the bathroom until a day or so.  I believe I may have enough for a pair of mittens , a hat or a small scarf.  I do not have enough for a pair of socks, but if I mix another yarn, it could be a lot of fun.
There will be more drop spindle spinning.  I need to practice with the drop spindle.  Every day is good for drop spindle , 15 minutes to 30 minutes a day.  I have some nifty Alpaca and some BFL to practice later on.  I hope you enjoy the yarn experienc that I am sharing and come by later on.  Thanks for stopping by.

Prada Holding a Skein


Holding aSkein (2)
Originally uploaded by Crafty Andy
Nothing like finding a shoe box from Prada to make your plying exciting! I found this box at a Thrift Store and I had to buy the shoe box. Just wanted to let you know Doctor Phlox is spun and is getting plyed or plied, one or the other, I also have taken my unspun wool out for some air and some picture taking, I am posting more pictures later on today, but for now, thanks for stopping by!

Monday, March 08, 2010

Hail in March 2010


Hail in March 2010
Originally uploaded by Crafty Andy
It was a very cool site, but dangerouus at the same time. Hail in San Francisco is not ver usual. I wanted to share this with you . I was spinning some yarn when it got cold and the rain drops were kind of noisy lol! Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, March 07, 2010

Klhoros Wollen Mutsen

KlhorosWollenMutsen (8)
Originally uploaded by Crafty Andy
This is done. I was so glad that I was abl;e to make this hat with the Superwash malabrigo worsted. It was not very hard to make, but the yarn is a bit splitty. Skacel hooks make a big difference when it comes to crocheting this item.
Would you believe that after finishing this hat this is the only yarn left over from the 200 yards or so.   Also this picture is the wrong side of the hat, the picture above with me modeling the hat has the right side showing. There will be a wash test for the hat when I get to do some laundry next week.  The yarn is fantasticly soft, I can not emphasize this more.  Super soft definitely carrying along the malabrigo tradition of silky , soft yarns.   This hat is made using  my Pattern Wollen Mutsen Sonnetto, a completely reversible hat,  Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, March 06, 2010

Carding WIP Mar2010 Fun


This is a new video posting directly from You Tube and I am very Happy to test this . I am working on another video for later on, let me see if I get my Works in Progress and we can post it tomorrow. I hope that this motivates you to dare to dream a bit and get into making your custom made yarn possible. Thanks for stopping by.

Friday, March 05, 2010

Khloros Hat Stage 1

Hi there and welcome to Stage 1 of the Wollen Mutsen Sonnetto done in malabrigo superwash.  One of the things that you to  have notice is the measuring tape!  Yes when I have reached the approximately length of about 7 inches, I know that I have completed the stage 1 of the hat according to the instructions.  I am using a Size 3.75 mm aka F hook, but more directly a 3.75mm.  This allows me to play around with the texture of the hat by deciding if I want to alternate hook sizes, sometimes you have to.  Crochet as much as kniting is not a black and white craft, you have to play with the greys once in a while.

This malabrigo superwas has more than one filament, but these Addi crochet Hooks are fantastic toi crochet with, smooth and fast.  Now I am in route to Stage two which is bringing the hat down the sides of my head.  I hope you enjoy the Journey of the Wollen Mutsen malabrigo superwash hat.  Thanks for stopping by.

Thursday, March 04, 2010

Khloros Hat WIP


KhlorosHatWIP
Originally uploaded by Crafty Andy
Khloros is the greek word for green.  What better way of doing a test with this yarn that working on one of my patterns that is made for Malabrigo yarn. I am very impressed with the softness of this yarn , it is definitely the malabrigo quality. The color is very rich and deep green. I do have more projects, but I have to go for now and continue on WIP that need attention. I do have some knitting projects that I am working on, but more than that I have some Hat Patterns that I am going to work on in the next few weeks. Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Khlôros Hat


KobolGreen
Originally uploaded by Crafty Andy
Khlôros Hat as in chlorophyle as in green. This yarn has a very deep color of green and it is super soft. No wonder it is a Malabrigo yarn. I am using my Wollen Mutsen Pattern to work with this yarn, as it is made specifically for Malabrigo yarns. You can still use any worsted weight yarn, but let me tell you that if you could touch the deliciousness of this super wash merino malabrigo yarn you will use no other yarn. So here is goes  for Crochet , I will be doing lots of crochet this month and some knitting. I hope that your experience at my blog is great. I did lose some comments, but not all, just a few , but you can go back m\and make comments on this you see there are none lol! This is my posting for tonight, before I retire to dream of cashmere and mohair and spinning drop spindles. Thanks for stopping by!

Boxers In Progress

I am testing my new program for comments as all my comments got deleted, not a big deal, sometimes CHange is starting over, so lets's see what happens here,please do post a comment.  Thanks for stopping by.

Monday, March 01, 2010

Tauron Boxers WWIP et more


TauronBoxersWIPMar0110
Originally uploaded by Crafty Andy
I am really enjoying the fact that I am making some cool boxers out of this yarn. I do like this yarn a lot, but specifically for the purpose of boxers. I do have some Crochet Projects , but I am not ready to start them until later this week. In the meantime I am sharing with you the progress I have made with this garment. I am about 5 inches away from starting to make the sides of the garment. I hope that you stay tuned to my blog to find out how they will turn out. It may be this week or maybe next week, depending on how motivated I find myself. Thanks for stopping by.

National Crochet Month 2010

The National Crochet Month starts with some Superwash Malabrigo to crochet with.    I am hoping to  work on My Wollen Mutsen Hat with this yarn and put it throught the washer and see how it stands the elements of water.  March  is in fact  my first official month for  Blog posting from  http://www.craftyandy.net/ what a riot.  I finally got my own website and it was easy as pie or maybe pies.  This month I am hoping to feature anywahere from 1 to 3 new Tapestry Crochet Hat Patterns.  I have been asked to maybe work on a Tapestry Crochet Hand Bag.  The bag may take longer than a hat, so I don't know what will March 2010 will bring yet, but certainly there will be Tapestry Crochet Patterns for publishing.
Here is a picture of my newest toys.  I really like this camera a lot.  It does not have all the bells and whistles of other cameras, but believe me it is a fun camera to work with.  I am hoping to experiment with my camera and show you the world through my lens in a different way. 
Life continues after Stitches West, in all honesty I  was not very impressed with the Event, I guess besides the fact of putting faces with yarns and stores, there was not a big sale promotion that would have made me purchase lots amount of yarn.  The biggest thrill for me was meeting people and getting to see yarn companies and the tools of the trade.  I hope that they continue every year and that I get to participate in some fashion as a volunteer.  There are some more news, but for now I have to keep quiet lol!  Thanks for stopping by!

Almost two years without blogging August 2020

Life can be a bowl of strawberries when cheries are not available.   It has been almost two years since I have been in this blog.  I have s...