Author: madgeface
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Poetry and NaNoWriPo
April is National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), which means it’s time for me to write a poem a day! Ha ha, not really, not this year anyway. Here are a few from a while ago that I haven’t shared before and two that are more recent. The featured image in this post is a pic…
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Baby Blanket Knitting Tips
Your friend announces that she’s pregnant and you’re a knitter: you know you want to make her something for the baby, but what? There are lots of options – a layette, booties, hats, bibs, mitts, and more. My go-to is a baby blanket. Blankets are useful and have a long life; they aren’t knit in…
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Embroidering with Hand Spun: Experience & Tips
Here’s where I am with my next embroidery project using my hand spun. This time around I’m intentionally spinning for embroidery rather than using hand spun yarn I had spun with knitting in mind. The red and pink of the flowers are what I started with and both yarns come from the same fleece I…
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Lace Knitting and Mistakes
Last year, I got two cakes of Wolle’s Yarn at Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival (SVFF). I had seen friends knit beautiful, color-changing shawls out of this yarn but didn’t have a plan of my own. More often than not, this is how I buy yarn: I fall in love and bring home a skein or…
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The Sky and Grass Handspun Sweater
Last January, I started to spin four braids of Wool for the Dame merino wool, three green and one blue. I started with the greens and decided to spin a giant true 3 ply, spinning straight from the braids. Unfortunately, I didn’t take pictures of the greens before spinning them; here they all are on…
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Patience
I started this embroidery project in 2016 or 2017 with the idea of doing something extra special with the materials and tools, which kind of accumulated over time. I’ve discovered that I work best this way, albeit extremely slowly. But what’s the rush? I name this project Patience only after considering calling it Meditation because…
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Alhambra
Way back in 2010ish my friend Alana was making Anne Hanson’s Alhambra, I think after a trip to Spain to see the castle itself. At the time, I was focused on other things, like learning how to spin, and then roller derby came along and I nearly stopped crafting 2011-2015, when I retired. But I…
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Tap, tap, tap … Is this thing on?
A week ago I gave notice at a job I spent the better part of a year trying to get. Why? There was a layoff and a reorganization that moved me under another manager, with much more than I could handle. More on why: I went from being responsible for documenting 2 products to 5…
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January-February 2020 Playlist
Right now I skip to Time by Angelo De Augustine in this playlist, but thought I’d share the whole thing because that’s what I was listening to up to about a week ago. Have a song you think I might like? Let me know in the comments! I love hearing new (and new-to-me) music! open.spotify.com/user/madgeface/playlist/2q1zBZxaFcbn39lHjS9nqi…
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Anti-Racist Books: Becoming Better
I don’t think you’re a racist, I think we live in a racist system that’s set up for white people. I recently wrote that to an old friend who had been called out as a racist on social media. I wanted to find some middle ground somehow so that he and the accuser could repair…