TNNA Recap

This past weekend I found myself among many talented fiber-industry folks at TNNA.  It was an amazing experience to meet so many people that I admire so much (and, I have to admit- looking at all the new yarn and knitting products wasn't so bad either!).  I could go on for a while talking about all my excperiences there, but instead, I will leave you with a few photos. 

A couple photos were snagged from Knitterella's blog- follow the link to her recap!

KitchenAid... Not just for Bakers Anymore

Well, kind of.  I decided to go ahead with the hair-brained idea last night.

First Step: Choose Your Weapon

I figured the whatchamacallit on the right would get things done without getting little baby booties wrapped around it in the process.

Step 2: Get Together All your "Ingredients"

I started with about 3 cups of super hot water, a squirt of dish soap, and of course the booties.  From here the KitchenAid was turned on the lowest setting and locked down.  It splished, it splashed, water was everywhere.  I decided to check after five minutes: nothing.

I left the KitchenAid alone to do its work and check again after 20 minutes.  Felting was finally occurring, but things looked different than I expected.  It almost seemed that there was too much agitation.  The felted piece was thinner, flatter, and hairier than normal. I decided I would add more water.

You would have thought we had a flood in our kitchen, but then my genius of a husband reminded me that I actually have a splash guard for my KitchenAid... how did I forget?

So after an hour of the KitchenAid working hard (and a TON of shaping on my part), I ended up with these little buggers:

Yes, they still need a good trim and finishing- but they will work.  In a pinch, the KitchenAid came to the rescue once again.  Would I do it again?  Probably not!

KitchenAid to the Rescue?

This evening I have a little dilemma.  A couple months ago I talked to an online knitter friend about taking pictures of my felted baby booties on her daughter's feet.  The original plan was to wait until I needed to felt a load, and knit a pair up really quick.

Well, last night I realized that I would be seeing this person this weekend at TNNA.  I figured I should make a pair to bring with me so I wouldn't have to ship them out later.  So, this morning before work I threw some yarn on the needles and came up with these:

Now, the dilemma- I still don't have anything else ready for felting and would hate to run the whole washing machine just for this one little pair of booties.  That's where this comes in:

Before you start your mocking, it's not my idea- I've read about it in the wonderful blogosphere in the past.  Look here...see?!?  It worked for Kimberly, could it work for me?

So what do you think, should I (or maybe I should say the slippers) take the plunge?

Well, Hello There!

You may have noticed a brief absence on my part, and there was a reason for that.  I just got home from a week away in North Dakota to visit my sister and her family.

As a quick recap, there was a whole lot of this:

and this:

And probably more games of Hi Ho Cherry-O and Pretty, Pretty Princess than I have played in my entire lifetime!

Fortunately for me, there was also a bit of this:

              

Details on individual projects coming soon :)

Recruiting Back-up

There's a little project I want to get started on but I'm stuck before I've begun.  If there's one thing I've learned in the past 7 months of blogging it's that if I have a question, I now have a wealth of knowledge- my wonderful readers!  Again, I need help finding something which should be right up your alley.

I know many of you are very 'crafty' and have experience in many different craft venues, and today I want to know where you buy fabric.  I know there are a wealth of online fabric sources these days and I'm interested to hear which ones are the best.

More specifically, I would love some help finding a yellow and white fabric.  I like the modern lines of the imperial trellis pattern (see above) and the color to white ratio.

I like the Sunbrella fabric above, but am looking for more of a cotton quilting fabric. I like the colors in the swatch above, but would prefer the yellow being a little more vibrant.  I also want to steer clear of flowers and anything else too feminine.

This is more the colors I am looking for, but I would like to see more yellow than white.

Hopefully you have an idea of what I'm looking for, and maybe you fabric enthusiasts have seen something similar out there.  I won't limit it to just fabric.  If you are out shopping and notice some curtains or sheets that look like they might work, let me know where you find them.  So, this is your mission, if you choose to accept it.

Once the project is done there will of course be a fun reveal- but you'll just have to wait on that :)