Showing posts with label diy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diy. Show all posts

Friday, September 12, 2008

Hang Ups

We all have our own little quirks and whatnots. I have finally figured out one of my hang ups. For some reason I can't get it out of my head that I can't blog unless I have pictures to post. Now I realize that this is ridiculous but for some reason that has been why I have been putting off posting.

So I am trying to get over it. I'll post pics when I have them and not worry about it in the meantime.

Projects I am working on:

The pukish/black colored socks for Andrew. Trust me the colors are totally him. I will be glad to be done with them because I feel like they are taking forever and I am getting tired of looking at them. He does have some pretty big feet though, so maybe that is why it feels like they are taking so long. Actually, I think I may have a pic of the first one finished...

Just a size refrence in the above photo the foot is 12" from heel to toe. This is not a HUGE foot, but since the only other socks I have made are for newborns and myself it is quite a departure size-wise.Everyone thank the reluctant foot model, my Husband, for posing in socks that make his teeth itch (Don't worry, he isn't the sort to wear handmade socks, or wool at all for that matter, the intended recipient however, is and will love them).

I am also working on a pair of Corsett gloves for Amber for Christmas...pics to come later.

The only other thing I have currently in the works is some handspun yarn...I am proud to say I have finished my first bit of spinning with a drop-spindle. I really really love it. The yarn came out to be about worsted weight, maybe slightly bulkier, is of course a single ply and sort-of a novelty yarn as it goes from thick to thin to thick, etc. (common for beggining spinners). I have hanked, washed and set the twist, now I just need to ball it up for use... Not sure what it will become yet, probably a scarf and/or hat. 120yds was the yield so I am not exactly sure what I can get out of that much yarn...at least a scarf though. I am also working on making some teddy bears...Here is a pic of the first one I made...since then I have gotten some much neater fabric to use: No eyes you say? I want them to be completely infant friendly so no buttons, etc. to be chewed on.

I have recently finished a hat to match the sweater for Abby,
And a pair of newborn sized socks for my neighbor's brand new baby:
Some other things...I am finishing off the roving I used for the blue yarn in a finer thread so I can attempt to teach myself plying and possibly get a pair of socks out of it (we'll see if I have enough...I have tiny feet...it helps).
Also I made a drop-spindle just to see if I could make one that functions and I want a lighter weight spindle for finer yarns:
Ta-Da! It works but the whorl needs to be heavier (stops spinning too soon and rather rapidly reverses direction)...I'll look to see what I can find at the store today that might do the trick, not sure if I'll be able to find what I am looking for as I had a hard enough time as it was finding the one I did (a toy car wheel purchased at a large chain craft store). The construction was easy...drill tiny hole in dowel end, insert tea-cup hook, slide dowel through wheel (the dowel and wheel are a perfect tight fit so there is none of that whorl sliding down business and no glue, etc. involved). Total cost was about $0.80.

In other construction news...I decided that instead of spending $17.00 on a niddy-noddy (for hanking yarn) I would make one:
That's nothin' but pvc pipe folks...5 lengths, two 't-joints' and 4 end-caps. Total cost: about $5.00. The beauty of having one of pvc is that I can set the twist without having to move the yarn off of the niddy noddy. My Darling can not escape the Engineer inside and has already brainstormed a way to put it on a stand so it will spin around as I wrap the yarn (similar to a swift).

Oh and I got some goodies too!

At the fair I got some of this beautiful roving. It is very pretty I think. I am eager to see how it spins up. I don't know enough yet about fiber to tell you anything more than it is wool and I think alpaca.
The other goody I got is some of this beautiful roving that is silk and something I can't remember. I got it at my LYS.That's about it for right now.

Monday, June 12, 2006

Floors

Well we have finally finished a project that has taken just about a month. We refinished our hardwood floors.
Soo...without further ado, here are some progression pics:

Dining Room - What we found under the carpet.


Living Room - What we found under the carpet.


Dining Room - After lots of sanding and filler and more sanding.


Living Room - After sanding filling, sanding again.


The Bedroom - After sanding and filling etc. These turned out to be Oak instead of Fur.


Dining Room - Done! (well we haven't quite taken the tape off yet but you get the idea).


Living Room - Done


Bedroom - Done (except for the trim).

Well there is the photo journey of the floors. It took a long time but we did it. I'll take some pics now that we have the trim put up and the quarter-round put on...I'll try to post those later this week.