BASKET WORKSHOP

I love coiled baskets! Saturday spent the entire day in a GLASG sponsored workshop with Nadine Spier. I had done yarn baskets years ago with my mom and have always wanted to learn how to make one with pine needles. I love this technique with the stone in the center--now I have some uses for some of the stones I have been hoarding over the years. The thread is coated with bees wax and when the basket is finished you use the hair dryer to melt it and what a wonderful smell.

This is a very small basket, about the size of the palm of my hand and most of it was done in the class. I finished it with just a little more work when I got home. Now I have to find some pine needles of the right size and get started on a larger version!

CATCH UP TIME

It's not that I haven't been working since Christmas, just way too busy to figure out the new camera. These photos are a real testament on how much more work I need to do to master the beast. The socks are one of this month's products. They were knit on my lovely needles made from recycled music instruments and with yarn from a Secret Pal, Kay.

I finally found the time to set the twist in the many spinning projects. These include some fiber I got at Torrance from Lorie Lawson and which I plan to use in a scarf pattern which is primarily short rows and will show off the yarn to the best advantage. Also included here is some merino and merino alpace that I got from Dizzy Ewe (sorry no web page yet), some Optim from Cameleon Color works (it's the pink in the middle) that I plan to knit into a poncho for the baby. The rest of the fiber will just have to wait for me to get inspired and to hopefully finish those two Noro sweaters that are hanging around.

The shawl was knit up with some merino/silk that I handpainted the roving and spun up last year. I am really happy with the way the short row pattern (short rows seem to be my new fascination--this one is from Knitty, "Lizard Ridge") and is going to the Handweaver's conference in March.

The yellow is my first ever woven project and was done on the new Kromski Harp ridgid heddle loom that I brought myself for Christmas. The weft was handspun using Crosspatch "Let's Party." I am busy spinning up some more Chameleon Colorworks that I want to weave using some tencel that I got at the Torrance Fiber event as the warp.