Fat and Crafty.com

My big problem with knitting is that I am miss instant gratification. I dont do a lot of project finishing, though I do do a fair amount of project starting and yarn buying. At one point I thought I’d turn the yarn buying thing into a hobby itself instead of trying to do “stuff” I’d just collect yarn.

When some one said “I just finished this great shawl” I could say “I have a great vintage alpaca for ’88″

That doesnt mean I’m not knitting. I have been working on mitered squares. At this point it takes me about an hour to do a square, and they are really well suited for doing while driving or riding the bus. They are almost instant gratification, and I look forward to doing something real with them. As they finish I’ll need to block them but in the meantime they seem very striking.

Its been a long time since I’ve done any soapmaking. And I’ll admit the inspiration here came from somewhere else. Soap popsicles made with melt and pour just seemed too increibly cute and with the right base and scent could be fun to use.
So I made some!

I know I overscented and overcolored them, the next batch will be more subtle. The base is the new base they sell at Zenith soap supple and I must say its improved over their last base. The only real weirdness? the color is oxidizing a bit
You can see it better in this picture here

Today Melissa, Phinnia and I wandered down to the Seattle Yarn and Fiber Expo. While the show was a little smaller this year then previous years it was still a lot of fun. I got to meet Megan of NotMartha fame. i was seduced by yarns from Angora Valley, and drooled over drop spindles from Crown Mountain farms.

The item that had me drooling was an old time sock machine. The folks from Angora Valley had a number of socks knit using their machine and not only were they pretty, but they were functional! As much as i like knitting socks they always seem a bit too loose and just not very sturdy. They examples the Angora Valley folks had done with their lace wing yarn were very sturdy and just very cool. The average machine sells for $1975. Not something I’ll be getting into any time soon.

All in all I picked up a little inspiration, a little bit of yarn that was gifted to me, and a desire to pick up spinning and do some needle felting. I still need to have a naked needle party and share out some of my yarn, I also need to get a new weighted hem for the ISM/USM and I need to try more advanced patterns.

Oh and next year? I’ll set aside some money for the classes at the expo, they seem to be the real draw.