Mandy Moore's Blog, page 4

WWW: Hudson Valley Yarn Crawl; Acts of Making; Knit in Public Day

The Hudson Valley Yarn Crawl (New York/Connecticut) begins June 8th. The Hudson Valley Yarn Trail supports local yarn shops, wool farms and fiber artists throughout the Hudson Valley Region.

Tomorrow, Thursday, June 6th, Nest, is launching its 25 Acts of Making Project. This project encourages people to unplug from their screens and reconnect with the act of making things by hand.

World Wide Knit in Public Day is this Saturday June 8th!

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Tiny Crochet Hooks Are My Favorite

Tiny hooks

 

I don’t crochet, but I have a thing for teeny tiny crochet hooks, the one that are about the size of a pencil lead.

These two I found at a thrift store (50¢), my favorite place for all kinds of craft supplies, don’t ask what else I bought that day. One had a 10 on it the other a 07. I’m not sure what they are for, thread crochet, maybe? I find them at estate sales too.

I use these tiny hooks for two things mostly, and I would recommend having a stash of them, they go missing because, well, they are really tiny, and they break.

 

 

Tiny hook= diz happiness

 

I use them for cleaning tools, my hand cards, and spots on my drum carder and wheels that I can’t reach, and where a a pair of tweezers are awkward to maneuver.

What I love them for the most is to help with dizzing fiber. They are perfect for getting started,

I’m always fumbly getting the fist bit of fiber through the hole in the diz and these tiny hooks are perfect for snagging just a little bit of fiber and drawing it through.

For me it makes dizzing quicker, it’s the spinning equivalent of a needle threader, and anything that gets me to the spinning part faster is my friend.

 

 

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WWW: Repair and Design Futures; Speech Record; Floral Weaving

Repair and Design Futures is an exhibit at the RISD Museum (Providence, RI, USA) through June 30, 2019. It investigates mending as material intervention, metaphor, and as a call to action.

Perhaps you remember the train delays scarf earlier this year? Sue Montgomery, a city councilor and borough mayor in Montreal (Canada) decided track when men and women speak in city council meetings. As expected, this project has garnered attention. If you’re looking for additional ideas, I recommend Knit the Sky by Lea Redmond (reviewed by Jillian in Knitty, issue 54 Winter 2015).

Whitney Crutchfield has a unique way of floral arranging, with weaving. [via Liz]

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Here’s What I’m Doing About Those Bluprint Questions

My Craftsy/ Bluprint class, it’s a good one!

Teachers who have classes on Craftsy, now Bluprint, got an email last week letting us know that when Bluprint switched over to a subscription model they made no provisions for students asking questions. They hoped that students would answer each others’ questions.

What really happened is that students asked teachers questions and posted photos of their projects and yarns, and they got no response. Questions and comments gathered for a year and last week the folks at Bluprint let us know about them, and found a way for us to see them. But had no way for us to answer them easily. To say we all freaked out is an understatement. There may have been bad words.

I am sorry, I wasn’t ignoring you!

I have a couple hundred questions, some teachers with multiple classes have thousands. If you look at the fine print for Bluprint as a subscriber it says that teachers may not answer their questions, but when you buy the class teachers are notified of questions and will answer. Teachers didn’t know that, and I’m not sure that most of our students did either.

Of course, I want to answer your questions and see your yarns, but what I am waiting for is Bluprint to come up with a way to easily work in the comments/questions section. Right now I can’t see the order that they came in or have any indication that a question has been answered.

Bluprint promises they are working on it. As soon as they give me a way to answer, you’ll hear back form me. Thank you for understanding!

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WWW: calming Twitch; programmable yarn; checking in with Jonah

While the site, Twitch, is known primarily for live-streaming video games, there is a creative side too. Gizmodo explored several Twitch streamers who focus on creativity. (Image: Screenshot of Bob Ross on Twitch)

As reported in The New York Times, Dr Matsumoto is investigating the mathematics and mechanics of knitting. (We shared Dr Matsumoto’s work earlier in March.). (Photo: Dr Elisabetta Matsumoto, center, with the graduate students Krishma Singal, left, and Danielle Skinner. Credit: Johnathon Kelso for The New York Times)

Prodigy crocheter Jonah is a fast rising star and still bringing us together with crochet. You can (attempt to) keep up with Jonah at JonahHands.com. (Photo: Jonah Larson crocheting while sitting on a couch)

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Washing Fleece – What Do You Use?

Finn Fleece

I bought two fleeces at Maryland Sheep and Wool, a Finn and a Corrie Cross. Now I have to decide how I want to wash them.

I originally wanted to compare two wool scours, Unicorn Power Scour and Kookaburra Scour.

Then I listened to the Modern Wool podcast on wool scouring, and I’m not sure that I shouldn’t just use Dawn or clothing detergent.

Then I went back and reread Sarah Swett’s blog post about scouring fleece (she uses Kookaburra), and I swayed that way again.

 

It’s a scour off!

 

Both of my fleeces are pretty middle of the road as far as staple and fineness so I feel like I can do some experimenting. My Finn fleece is about half the size of my Corrie X.

What I think I’m going to do is wash my Finn in Kookaburra (I like the idea of no rise), and split my Corrie in two and compare Unicorn and Kookaburra head to head.

That is, of course, until I ask all of you, how do you wash fleeces?

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www: sunshine; woollinn; weaving quarter

Perhaps you need some Sunshine. Yes, she did get a new jumper.

Happy Sunday, everyone! Here is little Sunshine, she’s finally got the hang of sucking the bottle & is coming on in leaps & bounds - quite literally! She’s still very skinny & feels the cold, hence the jumper just gives a bit of extra protection till she puts some fat on

Schacht’s 50th Anniversary Spin Along

Barry’s Jubilee on Polwarth/ tussah

 

 

For Schacht’s 50th Anniversary, Felicia Lo of Sweet Georgia Yarns created a colorway called Barry’s Jubilee. It’s 85% Polwarth/ 15% tussah, I know, such a dreamy blend.

As part of their 50th anniversary celebration the folks at Schacht are hosting a spin along during the month of June.

If you sign up for the spin along newsletter you’ll find out all about it. I’m in, and planning on spinning two different yarns with my braid.

 

 

 

 

Anniversary Matchless

 

 

Besides this fabu colorway, Schacht has several special anniversary products.

 

Everything from an anniversary cherry Matchless,cherry Baby and Mighty Wolf looms, to shuttles, a bag, hat, and an apron.

They’re also having a party on September 20th if you are anywhere near Boulder. I wish I was closer, I’d enter the shuttle race!

 

 

 

 

Dyed and natural shuttles

 

The anniversary wheel and loom are out of my budget this year, but I think I need one of the 9″ shuttles for my Cricket.

They have them in natural maple and dyed maple. I think the purple one needs a home with me.

 

 

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www: embroidered joy; the knitting pilgrim; knitted robot

This animated embroidery by Alexis Sugden is adorable. [via Kate]

My latest animation, all embroidered by hand!#animation #cat #embroidery pic.twitter.com/5ZjY3cc6yL

— Lex Sugden

Teaching at MDSW

My official badge

As you read this, I’m am probably driving home from teaching at Maryland Sheep & Wool, after taking a day to recharge with my daughter in Buffalo.

Yes, my car has a stash of Southern Tier beer and Polar nestled among the wool, and I did buy it at Wegmans.

It is rare that a teaching gig that doesn’t just meet all of my excited expectations, but exceeds them. Teaching at Maryland was crazy good!

It was one of those rare experiences where everything and everyone just clicked, students, the volunteers who run the show, the other teachers, and the festival itself.

 

 

One of my classes.

My students are so talented, they were so ready to learn new things, and wanting to step out of their comfort zones. That is a powerful combination in a classroom. I had more than one student, who wasn’t in any of my classes, tell me how fun they sounded. One student eavesdropping from across the hall said, “you are clearly passionate about what you teach”. It was a huge compliment.

 

The committees and volunteers that run Maryland Sheep and Wool go above and beyond to make it a great festival. They treat the teachers like honored guests, they clearly enjoy what they do and who they are working with, they are insanely organized, and they work pretty much around the clock while the festival is on. The joy and excitement that exudes from the festival is coming straight from the committees and volunteers that run it. I hope they get a whole week to rest and recharge.

Just one table at the teachers’ dinner.
Photo courtesy of amazing weaver, Liz Gipson.

 

I still can’t believe that I get to sit at the same table as Liz Gipson, Maggie Casey, Judith Mackenzie, and Nancy Bush. I feel lucky to have had the opportunity and the time to sit around and talk textiles at the teachers dinner, an event put on by the MDSW committees.

 

 

 

 

 

Shepherds Manor Creamery field trip.

 

One night several of the committee members took the teachers on a tour of a local sheep cheese dairy, Shepherds Manor Creamery.

It even included a cheese tasting. It was a great way to kick off the week.

Even though I’m tired, it’s a giddy type of tired. I certainly understand now what’s behind spinners, teachers, and vendors raving about Maryland Sheep & Wool. I hope I get to go back!

 

If you want to see what I bought (what budget?), it will be on my blog tomorrow.

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