Category: craft
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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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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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Spinning: My Wheels
I started researching spinning wheels in the summer of 2009 and ended up buying a 1970s-era Ashford Traditional that had 2 bobbins and a really bad stain job. Researching wheels and all the options available was really overwhelming; I had no idea what to look for or the advantage or use of one thing over…
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Spinning: How I Started
In the fall of 2009, I joined a fairly new knitting group that met at a local Panera. As is often the case, many of them did more than knit and some crocheted. One woman was coming off a jag of cross stitching. A few had learned to spin and would bring their drop spindles…
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The Future of The Yarn Office
I know it’s been a while; I think of writing (and things to write about) and then I put it off. But today I made an important decision: I’m letting all my etsy listings expire and am closing down The Yarn Office on etsy (my studio space at home will forever be The Yarn Office).…
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Mending Jeans for (Social?) Justice: Part 2
I wrote earlier this week about mending jeans and the reBUTTal hashtag. Out of all my possible reBUTTals, I decided to embroider BELIEVE WOMEN on the back pocket of my current favorite jeans. After taking the pocket off the jeans, I wrote the words on the pocket with a marker that washes out in the…
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Mending Jeans for (Social?) Justice
One of my favorite pairs of jeans developed a hole where the top of right back pocket attaches. I kept wearing them. The hole got a little bigger and I just wore longer shirts. Finally, I heard them rip one day as I was getting out of the car to go grocery shopping. Thankfully, it…
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The Week October 23-29
Last week: Walk instead of going back to bed after I finish my morning coffee. Done for today – I took Lil for a walk on the W&OD trail (a rail trail) that runs through my neighborhood and all the way into DC. Done. Lil and I have walked every day since last Monday. Somedays…
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The Week October 16-22
So last week I flaked out on everything and spent a good part of the week in bed, either reading (I finished a bad steampunk novel and started The Essex Serpent) or sleeping. Spinzilla was fun but, as usual, I went all-in and by Saturday was ready for it to be over. My hip flexors…