A failed Make Nine yarn project

I've had a basket of yarn butterflies, swatches and leftover yarn balls for several years. So, for my Make Nine "Yarn" project, I thought I would empty the basket, repurpose the leftovers and make something useful. How about crocheting a kitty bed for our pack of tuxedo kitties? 

Crocheted cat bed.

The plan for using and mixing the yarns

How to use this diversity of yarn weights, colors, fiber content and textures? If I held multiple strands together, it would equate to a bulky weight yarn. I would make sure I had one on-going yarn strand when a new yarn strand was attached. This would quickly use up many of these odds and ends.

A bulky yarn would also lend itself to a quick project. My size J crochet hook could accommodate multiple strands. And the various yarn textures and colors would merge and blur together to create a colorful, mosaic-like composition. 

Crocheting with multiple yarn stands together.

Starting at the center with a pairing of a boucle and a novelty yarn, the improvisational crochet process began. The miscellaneous little yarn balls began to disappear into the spiral base of the new kitty bed. I'm not sure that the increases (stitches) were equally spaced, but the bottom of the bed was fairly symmetrical and seemed to lay flat—the goal. The textured yarns disguised any inconsistencies. 

Crochet in the round.

Once the center was an ample size for a couple of cats (no measuring here), the next step was figuring out a way to build up the sides. The kitties like to feel protected and cozy in a nest-like structure. With a little trial and error and some strategic decreases, the sides began to take form. 

Finished crocheted cat bed.

Now, this kitty bed is not like the stuffed, store-bought ones that we put the quilts in. The yarn made it warm, but the bed is not very fluffy. I put it beside the other beds and no kitty went into it. 

Kitties in the store-bought beds.

I proceeded to make a quilted "mattress" from an old T-shirt to possibly entice its usage.

Cut from an old, worn T-shirt.

A "mattress" for the new cat bed.

Cat bed with cotton knit mattress.

Still not appealing to the kitties! Even Stan Leigh was sleeping beside the new bed... and dangerously close to falling off the chair!

Stan Leigh sleeping beside the bed... nearly falling off the chair.

A Make Nine Fail

The tuxedo kitties would rather pile up in twos in the other beds than to use this one. I'm not sure if they don't like the synthetic fibers in some of the yarns, if the bed is not cushy enough, or if it's too foreign to them...  no one wants to sit in it. ???  Any ideas? 

Stan Leigh is not interested in the new bed.

I'm happy the yarn leftovers were reduced, and were upcycled rather than thrown away. I enjoyed the crochet process, but the end result was not a functional cat bed nor satisfactory to the kitties.

Nonetheless, the effort was made... and I'm checking off this prompt on my Make Nine list.

Stitches South knitting and crochet expo

One of my best fiber art buds and I went to Stitches South this weekend. Woohoo! It was full of yarny goodness—sensuous fibers (one vendor booth had mink yarn!), mouthwatering colors, and this year, lots of beaded bling.

Here I am, wearing my "yarn fabrication" vest, outside the vendor mall
where they have the yarn sampling of yarns from 12 differenet suppliers. 

Betsy Hershberg's new book, Betsy Beads: Confessions of a Left-Brained Knitter, was a focal point at several vendor booths and expo presentations. 

Betsy Beads by Betsy Hershberg.

Other attractions at the expo (and a look into some of the latest trends) included:

• Drew Emborsky, "The Crochet Dude," was on site and buzzing around the show floor
• a booth in the vendor mall was dedicated to crochet
• lots of attendees were wearing amazing knitted shawls (lace, textures, stripes, pattern stitches, you name it...)
• several knitted shawl samples made up with Rosetti Polaris by Universal Yarn, a wool blend infused with sequin payees (the dazzling beauty of this yarn and these garments can only be experienced in person). Get a jump on holiday projects... all of the patterns for these samples were FREE ones from Universal.
• a return to some of the novelty yarns (Plume by Prism Yarns was heavenly!)

One of the vendors was wearing a great "recycled creation" that she graciously allowed me to photograph. Is this vest not ingenious? It's crocheted with pop-tops (you know, recycled from soda cans). The crochet was very fine and lacy but the aluminum pop tops gave the vest weight and drape.

I purchased a few "high density" items for my stash and got Betsy to sign a copy of her book for me.

Buttons from Gail Hughes Art Buttons and
a hank of blue sock yarn (on sale) for my Sky Scarf.

Sheri and I also splurged and got two To-Go orders of Limoncello Bread Pudding from Carrabba's. We brought it back to the hotel and indulged with a late night snack.

More Easter egg dying fun—with yarn

What other fun can you have with Easter egg dyes?? Try dying some yarn! It was so easy and the dyes were already mixed for the eggs. I used the good old standard PAAS dye kit. 

Wool yarn hand dyed with a PAAS egg coloring kit.

I experimented with some yarn that was handy—a white and a yellow, 100% wool, worsted weight. On-line resources did not recommend using this dye with plant fiber yarn (like cotton). Here are the results... lovely, springtime, jelly bean, cotton candy... Easter egg colors.

The small butterflies of yarn show the standard colors of the dye tablets—yellow, orange, pink, green, blue and purple. I did not do any color mixing. They look just like the eggs, yes?? The darker orange hank (second from the left) started off as a golden yellow yarn. The other three were white. All yarns were pre-soaked in a water/vinegar bath to get the correct pH. The dye was batched (fixed) with steam in the microwave.

What fun and soooo easy. So, run down to your local drug store, dollar store or grocery to pick up a couple PAAS dye kits at 50% off clearance prices.

Amazing artwear workshop

Members of the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild are well on their way to finishing exciting wearable art garments after our Yarn Fabrication workshop this past Saturday. The weather was sunny and mild, we had plenty of natural light pouring in through the front windows at the Senior Neighbors facility downtown, and everyone came with a creative spirit and an open mind to myriad yarn fabrication possibilities.

Layouts: color and embellishment options.

 

 

Stitching at the machines.

Upcoming guild meeting Show and Tells should be great! Thanks for attending my workshop. Your work is fabulous!

Vest Workshop this weekend

I'll be doing a vest workshop using my Yarn Fabrication technique this Saturday for the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild. The members of this group are very artistic, talented and imaginative. I'm looking forward to a day filled with creative energy, fiber and fun.

 Oh, and the weather forecast is predicting mild weather. (yay!)

Hand dyed yarn bundles

My quilt guild had a dye workshop. Along with fabric, I hand dyed some yarns: a cotton/rayon tape yarn (greens), a bamboo/cotton (blues/magenta), and a combed cotton (red-orange). Outside of a trip to a guild meeting for Show and Tell, they are snuggled up in little bundles for me to ponder over and pet until I find a perfect project for them (and the time to work on it).
They look like my little kitty--only sometimes she snores. Zzzzzz ...

Stitches Expo--Atlanta

After a 6 to midnight quilting party on Friday (which my business sponsored) and a full workday on Saturday, I was debating whether to attend the final day of the Stitches South Expo in Atlanta. I hadn't pre-registered, but on the other hand I didn't want to miss this opportunity when it was so close--in Atlanta. So, I bucked up and hit the road at 7:30 a.m.--and glad I did!

The Cobb Galleria is a good venue for this event--right off the highway, convenient (and free) parking, a short walk to the entrance, and a facility that is easy to navigate (the expo hall and classrooms were easy to find). There was a nice crowd for a Sunday morning. Yarn and fiber vendors and good representation of local and national yarn and knit shops filled the hall.

I chatted with Hal, the President of Universal Yarn. (A super nice guy.) He remembered our last meeting quite well and asked how things were going at the Studio. He briefed me on Universal's new yarns and upcoming colors. I also got to meet Jean Lux, Universal's marketing director, in person. We've had a few phone and e-mail conversations, so it was nice to put a face with her name.

I made my way through the isles of booths--browsing and drooling over the luscious yarns, inspiring books, knitted garments and accessories. Samples really sell product! Here is what came home with me. Alas, now to find the time to create something with these beauties . . .