Friday, May 17, 2013

What comes first? The project or the project bag?

Look, I'm blogging again LOL

Today was my first day of planned unemployment. I'm starting my new job next week but I'm enjoying the few days off.

The yarn I ordered for my Dad's sweater arrived yesterday but when I saw it....  Not what I thought. It looked more orange but in real life it was more brown. The one thing my dad asked was that the yarn wasn't brown or gray. So, I called Webs and ordered his other choice and will return the other yarn tomorrow.

Starting the project is exciting but learning to make the project bag that I will use to carry the WIP will be just as fun. Today was the trip to the fabric store to pick a pattern, then the fabric and notions.
 The aubergine linen rayon fabric on the top is going to be the outside of the bag. The pop of color is polyester taffeta for the lining and the black linen blend is the contrasting color to masculine up the bag just a skosh. 
 The pattern I chose was the one on the right with a minor mod to change the pocket flaps. It's hard to make a bag that won't look too much like a man purse but I'll try. 

Life is Good

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Fun Fiber and Imports from Sweden

Hi everyone, lots going on lately.

Lets start with I'm starting a new job soon. Same industry just a better company and they have a benefit package. The biggest difference is that I'll be driving a day cab and be home each night instead of the sleeper cab and being on the road for a couple days at a time.

School is going well, in fact I have 5 classes until the degree is finished. Trucking and online schooling sounds OK but you need a much higher level of commitment to stay on top of your work and work when you can. During the interview for my new job the hiring manager was impressed and when I said I was going to continue and get my Masters. He said that he would like to make room for me on his staff when I'm ready to find suitable work that applied to my degree.

I'm loving my wheel and wish I had more time to spin but I will make time. Last week when I was off for a few days I managed to photograph some of the recent fiber acquisitions. The few highlights are 7 ounces of processed Paco-Vicuna

 and a fleece from another Paco-Vicuna.

 The other big acquisition is one pound of Qiviut.

Other notables are camel, polwarth, rambouillet-yak blend, three colors of yak, CVM corri blend, and a 30 pound bump of Rambouillet. here is a link to enjoy more.

Next on the mental list is I'm in the planning stages of making my Dad a sweater. What sweater you ask? The Textured Argyle. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/textured-argyle-cardigan 

  I ordered Cascade 220 superwash from Webbs who has the yarn on sale through the end of the month. I sent my Dad an email with a link to Webb's and let him chose the color he wanted. He chose colorway Ginger but that looked brown in person so we went with Christmas red heather.



 This leads me to the next thing. Last month on Craigslist I found a Husqvarna. If this were the mid 70's I would have been coveting this.
The Husqvarna motorcycle. Popularized by many of the top European riders of the day and Malcom Smith. You may ask who is Malcom Smith? In 1971 the movie "On Any Sunday" featuring Mert Lawwill, Malcom Smith and Steve McQueen. Mert was a short track racer for Harley Davidson, Malcom was a legend in the motorcycle community and yes the real Steve McQueen was featured in the movie.


Mr Newman was a real stud in the day. He was shown on the cover of Sports Illustrated shirtless.







Malcom Smith opened a Motorcycle dealership in Riverside California that is like a museum for motorcycle fans like myself. He has a few of his bikes that he won certain races on display in amazing condition. I know by this time I've lost most of the knitters but for those of you who are still here there is a payoff.


I wish I had the money to buy a Husqvarna motorcycle but I was talking sewing machines. Why buy a sewing machine you ask? I want to sew and design but having a basic machine to learn on was first. The first project is to make a project bag for my Dad's sweater. 




It's a Romeo model, not top end but in great condition. Craigslist is wonderful when you look hard for the gems. Made in Sweden, now residing in Iowa. Now I get to find some "fun" fabric for the sweater project bag.

Life is Good