Handspun yarn

I've been playing around with spinning yarn lately, and I ended up tripping over some 150's Merino fiber in a light purple color.

Have you ever felt 150's merino wool? It's softer than cashmere. I bought the fiber at A Verb For Keeping Warm and I'm going to take a dying class over there this weekend.

The shawl pattern is Haruni (check it out on ravelry here) and is my first attempt at lace. I wouldn't say it was easy for me, but the result is very pretty so I'm glad I tried it.

My friend Sharon started this project and I couldn't resist also trying it. Check out her version over at Knits are for Kids.

Not sure if there is any quilting on deck for this weekend, it will be a busy one. I'll do what I can to squeeze some in.

For those of you afraid of trying new things, I found this really cute poster with a quote about failing by Samuel Beckett:

Ever Tried
Ever Failed
No Matter
Try Again
Fail Again
Fail Better

Here's to failing better next time around! (I think that applies to my efforts to learn to knit.)

Liberty of London fabric for quilting

I'm as greedy as the next person when it comes to Liberty of London fabric and my collection that I'm building to make a quilt someday. I do share them with my mom though so we have a matching collection of our Liberty.

I would not say no to a fat quarter of each and every print Liberty of London has ever made in their entire long existence as a company. Their florals literally bowl me over. True Up blog recently did a nice post on how and where to get these fabrics.

Perhaps I have finally decided what to do with these fabrics, but then again, making a quilt with them would involve cutting them up.

If you were to make a quilt with Liberty of London fabrics, what pattern would you use?

Oh and for a visual treat, check out my beautiful sister's Catherine Wheel scarf - it's amazing! I am thinking of starting another one, really fun pattern to make.

More on the fiber/spinning convention next post - lots to say on that one.

Sarah Johnson Quilt - progress....and Conference of Northern California Handweavers

Literally piece by piece I'm working on the Sarah Johnson quilt (AKA wedding signature quilt) as much as time allows.

Other parts of life have been busy so it's a little slower going than maybe I would like, but moving in the forward direction is always good even if baby steps.

This weekend I'm heading off to my first yarn spinning convention. Who knew there were such things? I'm really excited since I've been spending time here and there with my drop spindle.

Conference of Northern California Handweavers is taking place in the Santa Clara convention center very close to my house.

My friend from spinning class is coming with me, so I'm really looking forward to checking out all the cool spinning wheels and fibers.

Don't worry, I'll take some photos for you.

Knitting 101 for Quilters: How to frog your project

My friend Sharon is making the most amazing knitted lace shawl.

I thought, gee, I'll make one too.

So I started it, and promptly got myself in HUGE trouble. Extra stitches galore. At the end of each row I would just knit all the 'extras' (is that an official knitting term?) together into one giant knitted tumor.

After continuing along in this manner for about 40 rows, I had a really interesting (read: Funky!) looking project.

So, I frogged it, and went back to my wedding signature quilt blocks.

Who knew that knitting would inspire me to quilt?! Ha! That's a good one.

I did re-start it though. Check out a finished version at Asplundid Knits.