Sunday, May 24, 2009
A New Blog
I have enjoyed posting to my blog here at Fibres For Ewe. However, I have decided to leave it and start a new one at TerrificFibers.blogspot.com. I hope you will come on over and chat with me there. This name is better suited for me, it matches my Ravelry name and business.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Portuguese Knitting at the Whiners Retreat
"Whiner's Retreat?," you ask, "What is that?" Well, in March, yes almost two months ago, my favorite spinning retreat took place in Tyler, TX. Several of us in the Texas Twisters spinning group didn't get to attend this year.
We weren't very happy about it either, we kept whining at spinning about not getting to go. Liz decided to host us at her home for the day on the Saturday of the weekend, so we could continue to whine. Instead we had a great time. We had lemon bars, cinnamon crumb cake, and coffee! Oh, yeah, we did eat some nutritious food too.
One of the things that we did, was to watch a DVD on Portuguese Knitting. It is an intriguing way to knit. Click on the link and you can see how it is done. The movements of your hands and wrists are different than in continental or American/English style of knitting. You use your left thumb to pass the yarn around the right hand needle. Once you get the process down and practiced it is a very quick way to knit. You don't have to tension the yarn through your fingers, the pin does that.
One option is to have a pin to put your yarn through, and that pin is what tensions your yarn. Notice in picture at top and in the second picture. You are seeing my hands in the top and Laurie is knitting in the second. If you don't have a pin that is OK, we didn't either. We used safety pins. But, you can also put the yarn around the back of your neck for tensioning.
Laurie caught on quickly to this, but I was a little slower. Actually, I felt like a knittingly challenged person that day! AND I have been knitting for about 48 years. I would think I had it down, but infact, I was purling and not knitting! I would try again and end up purling. I think if I had a real teacher there, I would've flunked the class or at least been given a dunce cap. :) Or maybe received an A for effort. It was a lot of fun, trying something new, and I will succeed in Portuguese Knitting, one day.
Out of our group of 6, only Laurie and I ventured into the world of Portuguese knitting that day. The others watched, laughed with us(about my confusion), and spun yarn.
Liz has Whippets. They are great dogs and they were at our retreat. If you notice, the minute we got up they took back their territory! :)
We decided, after all, that we had a great time and want to have another Saturday spin day. However, we all hope to be able to return to our favorite retreat next March. Yes, we still whine about missing Wildflower Retreat.
We weren't very happy about it either, we kept whining at spinning about not getting to go. Liz decided to host us at her home for the day on the Saturday of the weekend, so we could continue to whine. Instead we had a great time. We had lemon bars, cinnamon crumb cake, and coffee! Oh, yeah, we did eat some nutritious food too.One of the things that we did, was to watch a DVD on Portuguese Knitting. It is an intriguing way to knit. Click on the link and you can see how it is done. The movements of your hands and wrists are different than in continental or American/English style of knitting. You use your left thumb to pass the yarn around the right hand needle. Once you get the process down and practiced it is a very quick way to knit. You don't have to tension the yarn through your fingers, the pin does that.
One option is to have a pin to put your yarn through, and that pin is what tensions your yarn. Notice in picture at top and in the second picture. You are seeing my hands in the top and Laurie is knitting in the second. If you don't have a pin that is OK, we didn't either. We used safety pins. But, you can also put the yarn around the back of your neck for tensioning.Laurie caught on quickly to this, but I was a little slower. Actually, I felt like a knittingly challenged person that day! AND I have been knitting for about 48 years. I would think I had it down, but infact, I was purling and not knitting! I would try again and end up purling. I think if I had a real teacher there, I would've flunked the class or at least been given a dunce cap. :) Or maybe received an A for effort. It was a lot of fun, trying something new, and I will succeed in Portuguese Knitting, one day.
Out of our group of 6, only Laurie and I ventured into the world of Portuguese knitting that day. The others watched, laughed with us(about my confusion), and spun yarn.
Liz has Whippets. They are great dogs and they were at our retreat. If you notice, the minute we got up they took back their territory! :)
We decided, after all, that we had a great time and want to have another Saturday spin day. However, we all hope to be able to return to our favorite retreat next March. Yes, we still whine about missing Wildflower Retreat.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
DFW Fiberfest
On April 26, I went to the DFW Fiberfest. It has been held for several years now. They offer classes and they also have vendors there to sell their wares. I attended for the vendor end of the
show. The fiberfest started mainly as a knitter's event, but has also grown to encompass spinners.
I went and had a great time roaming around seeing folks I knew and chatting. I met up with some old friends that I haven't seen in years and it was great fun. I saw all kinds of tempting yarns and spinning fibers.
I did spend some money there, although, I was REALLY good. You see, I had just arranged my spinning and yarn stash, uh oh, so I knew how much I had. I am trying to use up some of what I have before I buy more.
So, even though I have about 10 sheep mugs, I found another one that I couldn't resist. Isn't it adorable? I met the potter who made the mug and she lives in the Houston area of TX. It is a wonderful mug and I just think the sheep is adorable. The potter has named her copyrighted sheep, Knitting Lagniappe. Lagniappe is a cajun(Louisiana) term and pronounced "lon yop' ". It means 'a small gift.'
We are drying out from 5 1/4 inches of rain that we received on Saturday night. Our ground is saturated. I am hoping my little seedlings in the garden will make it. They are a little scraggly looking, poor things. I keep telling them to be greatful for rain, we don't get that much and it is better for them than our water from the hose. They look at me and say, we may not get much, but why do we have to get it all in one night???? I told them that I didn't know. I haven't told them that we are to get more rain tonight. Shhhhhh. I don't want them to know. We'll just let them be surprised.
show. The fiberfest started mainly as a knitter's event, but has also grown to encompass spinners.I went and had a great time roaming around seeing folks I knew and chatting. I met up with some old friends that I haven't seen in years and it was great fun. I saw all kinds of tempting yarns and spinning fibers.
I did spend some money there, although, I was REALLY good. You see, I had just arranged my spinning and yarn stash, uh oh, so I knew how much I had. I am trying to use up some of what I have before I buy more.
So, even though I have about 10 sheep mugs, I found another one that I couldn't resist. Isn't it adorable? I met the potter who made the mug and she lives in the Houston area of TX. It is a wonderful mug and I just think the sheep is adorable. The potter has named her copyrighted sheep, Knitting Lagniappe. Lagniappe is a cajun(Louisiana) term and pronounced "lon yop' ". It means 'a small gift.'
We are drying out from 5 1/4 inches of rain that we received on Saturday night. Our ground is saturated. I am hoping my little seedlings in the garden will make it. They are a little scraggly looking, poor things. I keep telling them to be greatful for rain, we don't get that much and it is better for them than our water from the hose. They look at me and say, we may not get much, but why do we have to get it all in one night???? I told them that I didn't know. I haven't told them that we are to get more rain tonight. Shhhhhh. I don't want them to know. We'll just let them be surprised.
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