the Akamai Knitter

I recently asked a supposedly cranky knitter to send me a sweater shaver as I haven’t been able to find one here in the tropics. (Haha!)  She did send me one and it’s a mighty fine specimen of a sweater shaver, but the box seemed a little big for it. When I opened the box I might have squealed a bit.

Why? Well, look at the loot!

Yes. I may have mentioned that I’m a fan of Hello Kitty. Cookie may have picked up on that fact.There also might have been more edible delights that may have been consumed before I could take a picture.

This self-proclaimed cranky knitter wasn’t through yet! I couldn’t believe my eyes. Look! More squeals! Malabrigo squeals even!

In the perfect colors too! I adore blue and lately I’ve been on a purple kick.  I wanted to cast on for a shawl (any shawl!)  as soon as I laid my eyes and felt this stuff. Cookie even offered to get me more if I so desired.

I’m so spoiled.

My question is this, how can someone this generous be so cranky? I think it’s all a front. She’s really just a big ol’ squishy. ;-)

In other news, I finished another needle woven necklace. This time in copper tones. I’m not sure I like it. Maybe I’m just not a copper person. Maybe I’m just my own worst critic. Bleh.

If you’re wondering, I haven’t given up the wire. I played with some last night and I have a bracelet in the rock tumbler. Hopefully I can share it with you all tomorrow.

I also did some spinning yesterday. Maybe a little too much spinning. I was really worried I overdid it, but my knee feels great today! Yay! I’ll try to be more careful in the future.

I got so obsessed with Dollhouse that I forgot myself.  I heart Joss Whedon. The man can do no wrong in my book.

Happy Thursday, everyone! Please excuse any incoherency on my part today. I got the brain fog bad!

Even though Hawaii doesn’t do the time change thingy, I’ve been a little confused by it. Everyone on the mainland is doing things an hour earlier, leaving me with the feeling that I’m going at a snail’s pace.

I’m also recovering from a bead show I went to this past weekend. No pictures of my purchases yet, but I was inspired to finish a project that has been in the works for awhile. I find it totally ridiculous that this wasn’t finished earlier.

This necklace is centered on the “dog tag” I made when I took a metal stamping class a few months ago. You can see where I made a boo-boo with the ‘l’. After I stamped the metal, I used a dapping block to turn the circle into a dome.

I also made another needle woven necklace for a custom order. It’s a little different from the one I made for myself as I added tiny Swarovski crystals to it once I was done.

As for my knee? I’m on oral Prednisone for 10 days. I’m not sure which day I’m on, but the knee is feeling good! I hope to get to spinning today since I went a little crazy and joined two spin alongs.

Okay, maybe that’s more then “a little” crazy.

I have more to share, but it’s Monday and I’m sleep deprived. I only have so much picture taking energy, ya know? So I’ll leave you with a  picture I took awhile back of Sammy and Scheyer, because cat pictures are always a good thing. :P

Happy Monday, everyone!

Against all advice, I have started spinning again. You see, my knee was feeling really good. So I wanted to test it out and see how it did.

For the first 20 minutes things were fine, but then the knee did the twingy thing and I had to rest it. Of course I didn’t want to stop spinning.

So I didn’t.* Instead I just used my right leg to treadle the wheel. This worked out better then I thought it would. The Suzie is really smooth spin, whether you treadle with both legs or not.

Soon I’ll have 3 bobbins ready to ply together**. Instead of plying on my Lendrum like I normally do, I might use my Majacraft Suzie. The Suzie seems to be easier to use as a single treadle wheel.

With all this single treadling going around, I’ve been browsing single treadle wheels. There’s the gorgeous Kromski Mazurka that the Evil Stacey has brought to my attention, the Ashford Traditional that I’d probably have to finish myself, or the Fricke S-160.

I know the Kromski and the Ashford are good wheels, but I haven’t heard much about the Fricke wheels. I like the price tag on it compared to the other two, but it also kind of makes me wonder if I’m getting an inferior wheel. So if anyone out there owns a Fricke or knows of someone who does,  do leave me some feedback. :)

Mostly I’m just hoping that my doctor will be able to fix my knee problems so I can go back to double treadling like I prefer to do. Then I can go back to dreaming about acquiring the Ladybug. ;-)

I see my doctor tomorrow (Thursday). Wish me luck!

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*I didn’t spin those two bobbins since yesterday. They were already done!

**I don’t know why my camera didn’t like the colors of the yarn on the bobbin. It just didn’t. The first photo is the more accurate color photo.

I was happily knitting away on my shawl until Saturday rolled around. That’s when I had lunch with a bunch of my beading friends. My friend Ann trotted out some really amazing needle-woven necklaces and instantly inspired me. I was too awestruck to get photos.

The needle-woven necklace had actually been calling me softly before this. My friend Helene had given me her instructions on it a couple of months ago. Elaine had given me an assortment of cord with which to get started. Ann was the catalyst.

My first attempt looks like a disaster. I wasn’t sure exactly how long I wanted the necklace, so I kept having to add thread. So I have all these thread ends hanging out like nobody’s business. It’s a complete mess.

I do have plans on cleaning it up though. There are a couple of close-up shots here.  Once I get all the ends tucked away and add a clasp, I’ll take better photos.

My second attempt is going much better. The beads make me happy and so does the color of the thread.

I’m not even sure if I’m using the right thread for this type of project. It’s really hard to get a consistent weave and it kills my hands if I work on it for too long.

This is a really labor intensive project. So while I will take breaks, I haven’t been doing anything but this for the past 2-3 days. Can you say “hyper-focused”?

I really don’t know if I’ll be able to sell necklaces like these. The beads are pricey and the cost of the labor would send the price up sky high.  I guess I’m just not even sure if there’s a market out there for this type of product.

I do think they’d make awesome presents. I could also downscale it to a bracelet. The main thing is I’m enjoying myself and I’m broadening my horizons.

To make up for the lack of knitting content, I give you a picture of Sammy partaking his weekend treat of papaya.  Yes. Papaya. The boy goes crazy over fruit.

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Also, Happy Girl’s Day!