Spinalcat's Crafty Adventures

Quick note of explanation- Thanks to the Read it and Weep Podcast and Violet Blue stoking my curiosity, I read Tim Ferriss's 4 Hour Body back in May and started the slow carb diet. I ended up adding in more healthy fats and leaving out beans at most meals after being influenced by a lot of paleo recipe blogs. I've had a ton (well, 33 lbs) of success and would highly recommend it to anybody. I'll probably write a post with more details and resources, but I wanted to get this recipe post out there while it's still the holiday season. I wanted to try a grain free Thanksgiving 1) because it would be interesting and perhaps challenging 2) to keep it low-ish carb (lower than traditional Thanksgiving, anyway) so I could enjoy the leftovers and 3) so I wouldn't feel super sick afterwards. I still do the 4HB style cheat day thing, but I often keep it wheat-free if I don't want to feel like crap all day. Bird- Herb Roasted Turkey Breast with Pan Gravy from Rachael

Here's my second woven scarf. This one is Cascade 220 for the warp and Noro Silk Garden for the weft. I think my selvedges are getting a lot better! I double stranded the edge warp threads and that plus a thicker yarn plus practice seems to have helped a lot. I had my eye on this lovely purple and gold Malabrigo Aquarella for a while, then I stumbled across the Capucine hat pattern shortly after I bought the yarn. Like many things I've been making lately, it's slightly ridiculous but I love it! The original pattern calls for bulky yarn but uses a size 8 needle. I used SpiderWomanKnits' modifications for a more typical size 11 needle as a starting point, but I found a couple of things unclear. This PDF by RosakaKnit has line-by-line instructions (the first page) that match what I did almost exactly. The only other change I made was a chain selvedge at the edges of the garter stitch section. The other day I was at work when I got a text that the heate

After I made the Noro clogs for myself, I felt our roommate John (UT MBA) was being left out! I didn't quite finish them in time for his birthday, but it was close. I had a tricky time figuring out how to needle felt the longhorns. I didn't quite trust myself to freehand with unspun fiber or yarn, or even with the kind of template you hold right over the work and sort of fold the loose edges in. I wanted to cut the shapes out from a sheet of felt, but most felt you find in shops is 100% synthetic. Beverly's carried some thick felted wool sheets from Nepal, but not in white. I didn't have much time, so I hand felted my own sheet of Merino felt and cut the appliques from that. John agrees that felted clogs are the best thing ever. I've been talking about learning to weave for a long time (yay, stashbusting!), and the right time finally came along when Yarnhunter wanted to sell her Knitter's Loom. Here's my first scarf ! I need more practice with my sel

It only took me a few days to jump on the Triana bandwagon when we started carrying it at Yarndogs this fall. It's one of the more interesting ruffle yarns I've seen, with an almost seaweed-like lacy texture. It also has a great feel and sheen. You use the same sort stabby technique as most other ruffle yarns. For my scarf , I striped 2 rows of solid black with 2 rows of the multicolor red. I used slightly more than half of each ball of yarn, and it took me about 4 hours. It is maybe a little silly and not so practical, but wearing it makes me laugh. It went great with my devil horns on Halloween. I was trying to decide which yarn to use for my own pair of felted clogs when we started carrying a new chunky striping Noro yarn called Hitsuji . I am a big Noro fan and I liked working with the yarn, but I think I would have liked shorter stripes for this project. Not all the colors showed up in each clog. I needle felted bits and pieces of the other colors onto the clogs afte

My biggest project of the late summer/fall so far. The book Knit, Swirl! has been a huge hit at Yarndogs since it came out. I knew right away I wanted to knit one but I waited until after Sock Summit to cast on. First, I tried Silk Garden Sock instead of Silk Garden Lite because I was in love with one of the colors . Robin from the shop did this and hers was gorgeous if a bit smaller than expected. It came out like a more typical jacket shape with smaller lapels that couldn't be worn as a hood. I already have 2 jackets with that silhouette, though. I really like the Baja hoodie surfer vibe with the hood. I promised myself this summer I'd take surfing lessons this fall, but moving got in the way of that. I plan on doing it next month, though! I'm already doing pushups to get ready. That's part of a whole 'nother blog post, though! I swatched and got gauge with the SGS, but when I started the jacket it didn't stripe! Robin's colorway only had about

Kathy wanted to know if I could take the concept from this little double knit coaster with her logo and turn it into something HUGE to hang outside the shop. So I did! And in time for Debbie Stoller's visit next month! It's a party for the Bust DIY Guide to Life book by Laurie Henzel and Debbie. Here's the info direct from the Princess herself- Register now at: http://bustprincessanimalparty.eventbrite.com Who better to create a Guide for Life than Debbie Stoller, Editor in Chief of BUST magazine and author of the Stitch & Bitch series) and Laurie Henzel, Creative Director of BUST. The book is stacked with the best ideas in DIY, health, beauty, fashion, cooking, finance, and way more. Debbie & Laurie will be signing the book, hobnobbing, and leading us in a project from the book--yup, Sno-Globes. Did we mention there's free booze? This event is FREE, with purchase of the book ($29.95, but you'll also leave with a custom sno-globe and a belly full o' bo

Early in the summer, Knitspiration Guild had an Amiga knitalong. Here's mine . We talked about how to adjust raglan shaping when necessary for a custom fit. I usually do pretty well with a standard shaping, so I didn't make any modifications in that section other than changing the kfb increases to mirrored M1 increases. It's a Knitty.com pattern by Mags Kandis. I wasn't super thrilled about it in the beginning, but I made a lot of changes to make it more similar to the Featherweight Cardigan from Knitbot (Hannah Fettig). I mostly set it aside during the build up to Sock Summit and I picked it up again in earnest on the way home. The thing that bugged me the most about the original was the rolled hem that seemed to ride up really badly in the back in the pattern photos. It was pretty cropped to begin with, too. I added waist shaping, made it significantly longer, and changed the rolled hem to a 1x1 rib. I added decreases to taper the sleeves more and changed the ro

How is it October already?? August and September got sucked up finding a new place to live, moving, and getting my business license in the new place (the hardest by far of the 3 cities I've been in up to this point). Here are the pics from the Knitspiration Guild dye day I hosted in September. It was great fun and I'm happy to say I should be able to host again in the spring. I know there were a fair number of people who couldn't make it this time. Click the photo to see the rest of the Flickr set.

You can find me + my yarns, fibers, and patterns + some other great stuff at Sock Summit booth 305 in Portland next weekend! I will have hard copies of my 2 brand new patterns- the previously-mentioned Vertebral Socks and the Dagon Cowl worked in my Silk Sock. The pattern for the cowl includes both a floppy version and a collar-like tapered version. As for the "other great stuff," I am super excited to have stitch markers from Decor Noir , project bags from Bad Amy Knits , and Sock Bug project bags from sockdiva ! I'm also going to have undyed versions of most of my yarns. So if you're curious about dyeing or want to get first pick before the fall Knitspiration Guild dye day, come on by and I'll be glad to refer you to dyeing resources.

I've been re-knitting some of my sock (and sock yarn-using) designs in my own yarns for my Sock Summit booth. This is my Damask Cable Socks pattern in a mostly-solid kettle dyed SW BFL. The BFL base I fell in love with around last December died in a fire (for reals), so this is a new one. It is on the thinner side, but works up nice on US 1.5 needles (which is what I normally use for socks). I might use a US 1 if I were designing something new for it. It has a nice tight twist and makes a great feeling fabric. I love BFL. I'm knitting up my Zombie Apocalypse Merino/nylon sock yarn (also SW) in my yet-to-be-released Vertebral Socks pattern. You might have seen the prototype I made in Colinette Jitterbug a few months ago. I'm looking for some help with a sample of my Dianthus Scarf (you don't have to finish the whole scarf before Sock Summit) and possibly Instar Hat . I could use a fresh Basic Self-Striping Sock in one of my striping MCN colorways. I've

I made this Ab Fab Throw as a present for Bryan's dad's wedding. Kim happens to have the same thing for red that I do. This is Morello Mash, one of their new colors. I'd link to the Colinette website, but it is just terrible. I saw the new colors in an ad in Yarn Market News and the URL is not findable by using their main site or Googling, so I lost it until a rep emailed it to the shop. This is something I'd been wanting to knit for years, and it was pretty fun. It actually went a lot quicker than I thought.

Asian Asymmetry is a top from Knit Kimono Too . I can't see myself wearing any of the kimono in the book, but there are several very cute tees and tanks! The book comes with a DVD, and I still have no idea what's on it. This top has fake overlapping fronts. It's really just a v neck with a narrow band of trim sewn on. Bryan thinks it looks very Starfleet. :P It is absolutely imperative that the top be on a mannequin or human when the neck trim is being pinned into place. It really won't sit right otherwise. I did some modifications on the body. I worked the first and last stitch in regular rib instead of twisted to make seaming easier. The body was written as an a-line shape, but I changed it to an hourglass shape. I made the body a little bit longer than called for. Some of this was due to a row gauge issue. The sleeves came out pretty wide, but it isn't really noticeable unless I point it out. I'd rather have them too big than too tight for somethin

Here are my handmade finds from the last month or so. No more bags this time! (I do have to confess that I bought one of the new Lantern Moon parachute bags from Yarndogs. I held out for a few days, but it's just so soft and squishable! And so many pockets! I always justify buying new knitting bags when I have a trip coming up.) Here's my miPattern Saver and magnetic Pattern Keepers from Slipped Stitch Studios . We recently started carrying her line at Yarndogs as well (lots of cute owls, sock monkeys, and sheep prints). This one was a custom request after I saw another product in her Etsy shop made up in this fabric, which is one of my all-time favorites! I got some of it at Natural Expressions bead/quilt shop in Los Gatos last fall. I haven't sewed anything out of it, but I've been using it as a tablecloth at fiber shows. I love the swift covers in the Slipped Stitch Studios shop. The only reason I haven't bought one is my swift is in almost constant use.

Here's the absolutely 100% finished photo of my Coquena the Llama ! It took me a while to do all the little finishing touches. The hat I made following the pattern was too big, but it was easy enough to remake it smaller trying it on the llama as I went. The little floppy pom poms/tassles are actually tiny crocheted balls with loop stitch on the outside that you cut afterwards. It's a lot faster than making traditional pom pons, at least the ones you can make with a non-hinged maker. I've updated my Ravelry project page with estimates of the yardage I actually used since the pattern doesn't give yardages. For many of the colors, I used just a couple of grams or less. And here is my finished Ella Crochet Scarf . It's a Knitwits pattern or kit. I love her stuff! We carry the kits at Yarndogs, but I wanted to try picking out my own colors to get just reds, pinks, and purples. I got the Tahki Cotton Classic (same yarn as the kits) at Purlescence. It takes so li

In February I used my evil enabling powers to spread the word about the Namaste Bitty Bag . This month, I've been doing a bit of shopping on Etsy. Tee hee. First up is a box bag from Bad Amy Knits - Bad Amy Knits had some fabric from the same collection as the fabric in my beloved bat project bag from The Silver Pumpkin . This doesn't quite capture my excitement. Let's try that again. She has trick or treating black cat fabric that matches my trick or treating bat bag. (She also had fabric that matches another knitting bag I own and fabric that matches a corset I own!) The box bag is super sturdy. I think there is interfacing between the layers of fabric. It's probably not even necessary to use point protectors on my needles, but I will anyway. Next up is 2 ladybug bags from Sock Diva - The adorable little one on the left is the Omiyagi Ladybug size. It's just a little too small for cramming a knitting project in, but it's perfect for keys, ID, and cell phone.

Coquena the Llama has been a pretty epic crochet project. So far she's gone from this to this to this The pattern has been very easy to follow, even for a not-very-experienced crocheter. I had a little bit of trouble with the hat. It came out too big when I followed the instructions, so I'm going to redo it to a custom size now that I've put the llama's head together. The loop stitch is actually very easy to do, but it eats up a ton of yarn! I'm using Mission Falls 136, a DK weight superwash Merino. My only big complaint about the pattern is it doesn't include yardage estimates. I've posted the amounts I used on Ravelry, but I haven't weighed partial skeins.

Normally I have a "rule" that I only buy fiber at Stitches West. My fiber stash is pretty big at this point, not to mention all the knitting and designing I should be doing with my own yarn in preparation for Sock Summit! I decided I would buy books this year. In the past, I've missed out on some of the stitch dictionaries I've wanted to buy. This year I snagged Omas Strickgeheimnisse and Twisted-Stitch Knitting from the Yarn Barn booth on Friday morning. Sunday during the lunch break from my lace designing class with Janel Laidman, I scored the last copy of The Haapsalu Shawl from the Village Spinning and Weaving Booth. I also got Heirloom Knitting there. I bought some handmade buttons similar to these at the Creatively Dyed booth. I think they are very Klimt-y. Here's the shawl I started in the lace design class. I need to keep going at least long enough to see if the way I shoehorned the stitch pattern into the triangle shape is going to look weird or no