Change as good as a rest

Of course a rest is pretty good as a rest, too.  I was able to take a couple of days off last week just ahead of a business trip.  I took the opportunity to wander through the back roads of Massachusetts and added 3 states to the number I've been in - now at 34 states. 

I find driving very, very relaxing and, of course, everything in that area is so close together that it's only a short drive to be in another state.  While I was driving, I had a little epiphany while I was driving as to how bobbins for lace could be constructed:

This was after I saw a lace bobbin in an antique shop marked at $120.  I haven't tried using them yet so I don't know how practical they are but I really like the possibilities they represent.

To make them, I cut a length of 16 gauge craft wire to about 8 inches.  I settled a wooden bead about halfway and folded the wire on either side of the bead to hold it tight.  After shaping the wire, I folded the ends in and then hid them inside another bead.  To add some rigidity to the wire, I took the bottom bead off and hammered the wire down the length on both side to avoid the piece arching.  Now it will be a little more durable.

I just need to try them out now to see how they handle or if they need to be adjusted.  I've already got a number of variations in mind.

The other things I worked on while I was away was a baby sweater.  I have a feeling it's going to be way too large for the baby I intended it for but it's been an exercise in design.  I started with a pattern I found in a magazine but once I got past the bodice, I've taken it a completely different direction and I'm really liking it.

It's not actually wonky  like this appears - it's on circular needles so it doesn't lie very flat.  The band becomes the sleeves and I may add a little cap on them but I like it the way it is.  The little green band under the braided cable band will have embroidered flowers around.  It's a cardigan and is being worked in Mandarin Petite, a very soft cotton yarn.  Now with the flounce working in this lacy pattern, I think it's going to be a really sweet little item.

I'm very, very tempted to work one for me.  I think I have some handspun that would be perfect for this pattern.  But first I want to get this one done and any design issues worked out before I start on a larger version.  I actually think working this pattern on larger needles with a heavier yarn will work really well and won't need much tweaking for the larger size.

That braided cable band will certainly need to be larger needles because this one took FOREVER!  Kind of like knitting edging for a shawl!

Back to Knitting

It feels like I haven't knitted anything for a year.  It hasn't been quite that long but it's true that I've been focusing on other things lately.  But visiting the lovely knit shops in Nashville last weekend, I got inspired to get started again.  I have a lovely California baby to knit for that hasn't had anything since the beginning so I found some beautiful Mandarin Petit, a cotton yarn, that I thought would be beautiful and bright.  But I couldn't decide on a pattern.

Here's what I finally came up with:

It's from the Lanas Stop Bebe Baby 0-3 Book #120.  It's a very cool multi-lingual book of baby patterns that I just couldn't pass up. Because I don't have that many baby patterns. That's my story, anyway.

So on to the sweater.  I'm doing the main body in this chartreuse green and I'm going to do the cable band in yellow and then use yellow buttons.  I think it will be ever so sweet and will work for her in California.  It's knit from the top down with the cable band worked side to side. Should go pretty quick, too.

A Day Out

Last weekend I took a trip to visit a friend.  It's been so cold around here do on my way back, I was so enjoying the rare warm day that I decided to doddle.  It was a perfect day for wandering off the beaten path and visiting some antique shops.  I've decided I need to start an antique shop blog, since I go to so many of them!

Anyway, I pulled into this little town in Kentucky but the first few shops I came across in their "historic" district were still shut.  Since I wasn't in the mood to wait around for them to open, I went a little further up the road to find a place to turn around, I came across a large shop that was open.  BINGO!

I wandered through and saw some interesting things until I came up to an area with a table that had a bunch of stuff on it.  Now, it's important to know that I usually power walk through these kinds of antique malls.  I'm pretty good at spotting things that might be of interest but mainly I just like to see what's there.

This time, though, I had to do a double take because there on the table, under a mile of dirt and grime, was a table loom.  I could see well enough to know that it was complete and sturdy.  Good bones.  This type of loom can run anywhere from $900-1,300 dollars purchased new and this one was a fraction of a fraction of that.  I didn't even have to offer the lady a lower price.  She volunteered that if I paid cash or check, she'd take 20% off the price.  There was no way in creation I could pass that up.  Deal!

I don't have any good photos of it with the pile of dirt but here's what it took to get it cleaned up:

I had brushes and cloths and furniture orange oil and canned air and screw drivers and more.  I spent almost 2 hours on the porch (where it was almost warm enough to sit on the porch for 2 hours) working on it, much to the confusion of my neighbors.  I'm still working on the reed and heddles but I'll finish those this afternoon. 

Just a note to say, I was thrilled that it came with a 15-dent reed, a size I don't have for any of my other looms.

Anyway, here are some pics of how it cleaned up.  I knew it was well made but I had no idea the wood would clean up this beautiful.

There are no company markings and as you look closely, you can tell it was all made by hand.  The only markings I found were some pencil markings on the back of the back support.  I can't read all of it and haven't got a good photo of it but the part that I can read says "William Workman."  A quick search didn't bring up anything about William Workman but I have access to some very knowledgeable people so I'll see if any of them are familiar with him.

I couldn't be more thrilled by this beautiful addition to my rapidly filling apartment.  Next time, I'll tell you the story of the half-bale of straw and the new bobbin lace pillow!

The Bug

I must have the spring cleaning bug because I'm finally getting things straightened up and cleared out (watch out Goodwill!).  As I was running around this morning, I was trying to think what to do with the little round table in my living room and it suddenly hit me.  Actually I tripped over it on the way to the kitchen. 

I had my beautiful antique wheel that didn't have a place to live.  He was just getting moved from pillar to post.  Was the base small enough to fit on the little round table?

Ha!  It does.  Add one of the vintage drawn work tablecloths I scored a while back and jibledy flippit, I've got the little spinning tableau I've always wanted.  Now all I need to do is figure out what fiber I'd like to display with it.  Although this wheel works and I will use it from time to time in demonstrations, mostly it's pretty and unique and I just want to be able to admire it and for it to feel welcome here. 

Now I can! (and it can)

p.s. - Do you love the little vase with the double pointed knitting needles?  It's a lovely little pot I bought from a potter at the Midwest Folk and Fiber Festival last year.  So sweet. And the picture behind it that you can't see very well because I haven't hung it yet, is a photocopy of a page from a January 18, 1868 Harper's Bazaar magazine.  It's a poem and illustration called, "The Stocking-Knitter."  Since the wheel is probably at least that old, it seemed fitting to display them together.

I think I'm going to like this

I don't know what I'll ever do with it but this was a fun, quick project.  I've got a couple more prickings picked out to work.  They're a little more involved than this one but this was really good practice.  It measures about 7 inches tall and 4 inches wide.  Maybe I should do a little grass and frame it.  That would be a very Victorian look, wouldn't it.

Randomness

Random thought #1 - I heard the most ironic statement today from our UPS delivery person.  He was telling someone that he'd been bumped from that particular route but they could just have it, he couldn't wait to get out of it.  This is the UPS guy that continually complains about the number of packages he has to deliver to our office.  Today when he was singing the same song, the irony hit me again.

Dude, you're a UPS delivery guy.  What did you think you were going to do when you were hired by UPS and they gave you a big brown truck?  Plant petunias?  Really?  I laughed all day long about that.

Random thought #2 - During the bobbin lace class a couple of weeks ago, one of the ladies had a book called "Bobbin Lace, A Contemporary Approach" by Brigita Fuhrmann.  I really liked the way it was laid out and the really good close-ups of the steps of each lace she was describing so I found it on Amazon. 

One of the types of lace I've been more and more interested in called Tape Lace.  It's the type of lace very common in Eastern Europe and Russia.  This book had wonderful descriptions of the various techniques used in tape laces. 

Here's the study from the book that puts together all the methods of turning corners and making sewings that she described so far in this section.  I'm really digging it.  I have no idea what I'm going to do with it but I'm digging it.

You can see how you just use a few bobbins (in this case 5 pairs) and you follow the outline of the graphic, joining and turning as you go.  The next thing to go into is the various fillers that are worked when the tapes don't run so close together.

There's just always too much to learn, isn't there?

Spania Dolina

Running away can do wonders for the mental state of a person.  It doesn't hurt when you are running to lace.  At the LACE meeting, the program was on a type of lace that originated in a Slovakian town called Spania Dolina.  The lace is what you would think of when you think of the beautiful folk costumes of Eastern Europe.  Here are some samples the teacher had:

Beautiful, isn't it?

Making the fans on the edge was the trickiest bit but the ladies who were helping us were very good at explaining what to do and we kept them hopping!

I only got a few of the fans finished by the end of the meeting so I had to come home and try to remember what I was doing.  I would work a section, realize it was wrong and take it out.  I won't tell you how many times that happened but let's just say, more than once and less than 105!

But I'm thrilled that I was finally able to get it finished.

I thought the yellow and white would be very springy, but a brighter color would probably looked a little more authentic.