Mandy Moore's Blog, page 8

WWW: computing & recording with textiles; steel wool; knit comfortably

The link between weaving and computing is well established. What if there was an embroidered computer? This is a working 8-bit universal electromechanical computer embroidered in gold!

Can you use yarn (containing steel fibers) to record and playback sounds? Yes!

Are you curious where your steel wool comes from?

2019 Teaching schedule

I’ve had a few emails asking where I’m teaching in 2019. There are a few that are still in the works, I’ll let you know about those as soon as I can.

Here’s a quick list of where and when I’m teaching:

February

22-24 – Iowa City Spinning Guild, Iowa City, Iowa

March

1-3 – Susan’s Fiber Shop Spinning Retreat, Deforest, Wisconsin
16 – Kalamazoo Fiber and Dye Studio, Kalamazoo, Michigan – Colorplay
17 – SPUN, Ann Arbor, Michigan – Yarn Detective

April 

9-13 – PLY Away, Kansas City , Missouri

May

1-3 – Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, West Friendship, Maryland

June

7-9- To Be Announced
27-30 – MAFA, Millersville, Pennsylvania

July

26-28 – Intermountain Weavers Conference, Durango, Colorado

September

7-8 – Shuttles, Spindles and Skeins, Boulder, Colorado

October

26-27 – WEBS, Northampton, Massachusetts

For the latest information check out my teaching calendar on my website.

 

For those spinners interested, tomorrow on my blog, as part of a commitment to promote POC fiber dyers, I’m starting (and will maintain) a list of POC dyers who dye beautiful fibers to spin.

 

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WWW: knitting as record, textile exhibit calendar, power your knitting

It’s a new calendar year and your thoughts may turn to starting a new year-long project. I love that a frustrated commuter knit her train delays into a scarf! There’s also the Tempestry project, knitting visual representations of changing temperatures over time. If you’re looking for additional ideas, I recommend Knit the Sky by Lea Redmond (reviewed by Jillian in Knitty, issue 54 Winter 2015).

Each week as I write these posts, I scour the internet to find interesting textile exhibits to share. I was delighted to discover this webpage that lists upcoming events around the globe!

In Tokyo, Japan before March 16, 2019? Make a plan to see Kilims: Rugs for Daily Use in the Villages of Afghanistan at the Iwatate Folk Textile Museum.

If you are visiting Bangkok, Thailand, the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles is showing A Royal Treasure: The Javanese Batik Collection of King Chulalongkorn of Siam.

Spending time in Oaxaca, Mexico? An exhibit about Coyuchi and White: Cotton Flowers is on display at the Museo Textil de Oaxaca through March 31, 2019.

Don’t forget the Tate Modern’s (London, England) exhibit of Anni Albers work closes on January 27th.

[Photo is Anni Albers Black White Yellow 1926, re-woven 1965 Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Everfast Fabrics Inc. and Edward C. Moore Jr. Gift, 1969 (69.134) © 2018 The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London]

It makes me happy when my interests combine to create new things. I love tiny things. I also love when my tools multi-task. Innovative smart textiles are appearing in more places. This tiny solar panel could charge a mobile phone! The possibilities for this innovation are very exciting.

The internet is a big place. It’s a challenge to find unique and interesting links week after week. Here’s where you can help!

Do you have some fiber-related news you’d like to see on the knittyBlog? Please fill out .

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3 Tips to Help Hit Your Spinning Goals

Lunchtime spindle spinning

Happy New Year!

The year is fresh and sassy and I want to do new things, all of the new things! Setting goals, intentions, habits is the easy part for me, it’s the sticking to them that’s tough.

Here are three things I’ve found that help me stick to my spinning (or otherwise) goals.

The right motivation. This is a big one for me, that took a while to learn. I used to try to motivate myself with other people and what they were spinning or excited about. ‘Everyone’ is spinning Down breeds or spinning to weave or spinning freshly combed top. I don’t want to feel left out, so I jump on board without deciding if I’m really enthusiastic or even interested in it. That dooms me to failure. Now I pick things that I’m enthusiastic and curious about. Right now I’m working on consistency on a spindle.

The right time. I pick a time or a trigger to spin. For me, it’s right after I eat lunch. That’s my worst time to get any computer or writing work done during the day, so now I spin for 10-30 (or more) minutes after I eat. I still spin at other times, but this is my daily spinning time.

The right setup. I will not spin regularly if I have to set up and take down my spinning area everyday. Or if I have to hunt for what I want to spin. I try to set up my week’s worth of spinning over the weekend and leave it set up.

These three tips are not just for spinning. I used the same thinking to get myself walking almost every day last year. I changed my motivation from ‘losing weight’ to having my stiff hips feel better, especially at night. My trigger is taking my son to school. His school is more than halfway between my house and the Planet Fitness where I walk on the treadmill. My setup is putting my gym clothes in the bathroom before I go to bed. I change into them when I get up in morning before making breakfasts and lunches.

I wish you a happy spinning year full of things you are enthusiastic about!

Let me know if you try these things and if they help your spinning

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WWW: animals in knit & crochet and emerging artists exhibit

When I need a visual pick-me-up, I often turn to the miniature crochet animals of the Su Ami family of knitters and crocheters (Vietnam). This fox is adorable!

Moving toward full-sized animals, the work of artist Michele Beevors (New Zealand) recently caught my eye. She is knitting a 4m-high subadult African giraffe skeleton from a specimen at the Otago Museum.

Her work reminded me of Ruth Marshal’s (Australia-America) big cats and Australian animals from a few years ago. (Marshall’s Ocelot #1 is pictured.)

The Burke Prize 2018, the future of craft (part 2) is on view through March 17, 2019 at the Museum of Arts and Design (New York, USA). It showcases emergent voices “grounded in one of the core materials of the studio craft movement—glass, fiber, clay, metal, or wood—in today’s interdisciplinary environment they are expanding the field by incorporating unexpected materials and creating conceptual dimension through performance and digital media. Their work is conscious of and engages with space and can be used as a tool of protest and sociopolitical commentary.” Including the work of Merritt Johnson whose Door between worlds (Animal), 2018 is of handwoven palm fiber. (via Jill)

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Back to the Basics

#clickwheelforever

My husband recently unearthed my old iPod and replaced the battery. It’s packed with old songs that I still like and all of the memories that go along with them.

What I really like about this iPod is that it’s connected to nothing, no phone, no internet, no notifications of any kind. It’s just me and the music.

 

 

 

BFL Singles

I’ve been in a little bit of spinning slump. I don’t have many deadlines right now and I’m not doing much spinning.

I’m still excited about spinning and I’m certainly still buying fiber. I want to spin all of my beautiful fiber.

I decided to try something that’s the spinning equivalent of my click wheel iPod.

 

 

Back to the BFL basics

There was a time when what I liked to spin the most was BFL, low-twist, singles. I spun A LOT of BFL singles, enough that I got sick of them and stopped.

I grabbed some BFL and spun, no pressure, just fun spinning. My hands remembered exactly what to make, and the yarn is chef-kiss fabulous.

I think there will be more BFL singles on my wheel.

Click wheels and BFL singles, I need to remember that sometimes I have to go back to the basics to move on.

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WWW: A Solar System Quilt from 1876; reviving the skill of engraving felt; loinloom festival

Completed in 1876, Ellen Harding Baker’s Solar System Quilt is stunning.

(It’s left me speechless.)

I apologize for missing sharing this before the event. The 5th International Loinloom Festival concluded on on December 7 in Diezephe, India. Plan now for next year!

Ancestral art of engraving felt revived thanks to a project by Iğdır University (Turkey).

Remember, if you have a link of interest for What’s What Wednesday, please share it!

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Holiday Gifts for Spinners

Still looking for gifts for your spinning family? Or do you still need to drop some big hints for gifts for yourself?

Here are a few ideas:

51 Yarns to Spin Before You Cast Off by Jacey Faulkner. Work your way through the spinning of 51 different yarns. It’s a fun ride and you won’t be the same spinner after you finish.

Raw Material: Working Wool in the West by Stephany Wilkes. A fascinating book that tells the story of the education of a sheep shearer, and the story of what it takes to make a sheep to needles, or sheep to factory yarn.

 

Electric Eel Wheel Mini 2. If this Thumbelina wheel appeals to you and you want to be part of the Kickstarter, there are only 9 more days to back the project.

A digital scale. I use my scale almost every day. I weigh fiber to blend or spin. I use it when I’m dividing onto storage bobbins, and use it to weigh dyes and fiber for dyeing. My scale cost less than $25 and it’s one of those tools I never lend out.

 

 

 

My self care includes hiding cookies from my family #win

Don’t forget to take care of yourself and play!

Last year I built myself a spinning basket full of the fiber I wanted to spin, and project bags of other crafts to do during the holiday down time. I even added my favorite box of cookies hidden in the fiber.

I like to plan fun times with my fiber group during, or even better, after the holiday rush. Some of the things we do together are, go to craft/fiber shows, have a batt making party, trade stash, and our favorite thing is to have a potluck, movie watching afternoon of crafting.

Take some time and treat yourself kindly, the craze and daze can be stressful.

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WWW: Yarn for Good Cause; residue of creativity; shapes and order

It’s the season of giving. Do you use yarn for your charitable work? Yarncanada.ca partnered with Bernat Yarn and Patons Yarn to give away a total of $2000 worth of yarn to 12 individuals and groups. The deadline to apply is December 31, 2018 and is is open to Canadians and Americans (sorry rest of the world!). Learn more and place your request at www.yarncanada.ca/for-good.

Both of these articles make me think of free-form crochet. From The New York Times, “This Is the Way the Paper Crumples” and this video by Steve Mould shows Intricate Patterns Created With Sound.

Do you track the residue of your creativity?

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Quick Gift Knitting from Stephen West

Colonnade

Back when Stephen West was still a new designer he did several wonderful designs for Knitty. I’ve knit two of his shawl designs out of handspun for gifts, they are both a weekend (or less ) knit.

I’ve made three Colonnade shawls from handspun. It’s 3.5 stitches to the inch, a design from one of the earlier days when bulky yarn was popular.

I never put the button on it because the shaping allows it to just sit and stay on your shoulders.

 

 

Groove

 

I’ve made two Groove shawls. The pattern calls for a DK yarn, but I used a yarn closer to a worsted for a bigger shawl. I love the floating cables! This is a great one to combine a variegated yarn with a natural.

 

 

 

 

 

Boneyard

Boneyard isn’t a Knitty pattern, but it’s a free pattern on Ravelry. This may have been on of Stephen’s very first patterns.

It is an excellent one to just knit until you have the size you want or you run out of yarn. It looks fantastic in handspun, in any combination of colors.

 

 

 

I hope your gift knitting and spinning is still at the enjoyable stage. There is plenty of time and many, many movies waiting on Netflix to keep you company as you knit the nights away.

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