#my second handspun is about to be posted too

[youcanthandelthetruth]

My first handspun piece! I learned so much and there's so much more still to know, I'm excited

[bookshelfdreams]

crafter's ask game: 🌟 🌈 💖

🌟 What is your favourite type of crafting (knitting, crocheting, sewing, embroidery, etc) and why?

ooh good question! tbh the answer is probably "whatever im doing right this very second". I love the process of making something, watching something take shape in my hands, and I love to try out things just because. love to learn how to do stuff. the craft itself is just the medium.

If there's a craft that sticks out for me tho, it's weaving. there's something transcendent about it, something that makes me feel grounded & connected to all the humans who came before me in a way other crafts don't. I wouldn't necessarily say it's my fave in that I prefer it above all else; but it's special.

🌈 Do you have certain colours you gravitate towards when creating?

idk do I? I think I prefer my colours somewhat toned down, not too fond of really bright, primary or secondary colours - jewel tones? is that the correct term? I like blues and greens, earth tones and berry colours. Don't really like working with black or white. when working w yarn, I prefer the slightly splotchy, irregular handspun/handdyed aesthetic or self-striping to solid colours. I want the yarn to look a little interesting.

💖 Which one of your creations are you the proudest? Show off!

thinking about this made me realize that I haven't made anything recently I am super in love with so I'm gonna post an old project: this lace shawl I made 3? years ago. I keep it draped over my living room door & it makes me really happy to see it every day. even did an outdoor photoshoot w it :)

I spun the yarn myself & also dyed the fibre.

[ladytemeraire]

Snapshot Sunday 5/19/19

Hi tumblies! It has been warm and lovely here this weekend, and even though I know the temps are going to dip down over the next few days I’m enjoying it while I can.

Yesterday I went to a local fiber festival and enjoyed some demonstrations of various crafts including knitting machines, weaving, spinning, and prepping/spinning/weaving flax into linen. Some pics: weaving handspun linen; prepped flax ready to be put on a distaff and spun; the owner of Those Yarn Rabbits spinning yarn straight from the bunny. (The bunny’s name is Josie and she’s approximately 80% fluff by volume.)

I really want that tiny little antique loom, not gonna lie, but I need another hobby like a fish needs a bicycle. (Ditto for angora bunnies.) There were also adorable tiny piggies outside the main barn:

They were wagging their tails like excited puppy dogs, which was entirely too precious.

I’m going to start putting the reading/book recs up top to give them a bit more visibility and then stick everything else under a cut.

Reading: I finished Calculated Contagion and Calculated Sabotage this week, which are books 2 and 3 of the Calculated series. There are four books in the series (3 novels and a prequel novella, which can be had for free in ebook form) and all of them are lovely cozy mysteries. The banter between the characters is utterly delightful, and I love the different settings and types of mysteries. (Disclaimer: I do personally know the author IRL; however, I would not recommend a book I didn’t enjoy or support, and I don’t get compensated for reviewing or recommending the books in any way.)

Knitting: Still chipping away at Jedi sock #2. Also wound up the yarn for the next pair of socks - I’m going to make Pamina in this yarn and colorway cuz I’m craving some tiny fiddly cables. For some reason all my green socks are a lighter jade or spring green - I don’t have a single pair in a dark forest color.

Spinning: Nope. Also I completely lost track of my weeks and missed the spinning guild meeting on Tuesday, argh. (We meet on the second Tuesday of the month, but my frazzled brain went “oh, this is the third calendar week, nothing to see here!” and skipped right over it. Note to self, make sure to mark it out at the beginning of the month.)

Writing: Honestly I don’t think I wrote anything this past week. I hate saying that, but part of the reason for making these posts is to keep myself accountable, so. Just gotta do better this next week.

Exercise: Struggling but still keeping up with the cardio (the early mornings this week were a huge struggle for some reason). Ordered a super basic FitBit to start tracking stuff so I can tell if I’m making progress or not.

...Honestly (and I’m trying to be very careful about phrasing this so please forgive me if I word something insensitively) I’m really struggling with my body image. I know a lot of this is just my own fault, letting myself get out of shape and gain weight, and even though I know gaining weight isn’t inherently bad or a moral failing I just don’t feel good about the way I look. And I know it took a while to get this way, so it’s going to take a while to change, but I still want to start seeing progress right the hell now.

Adulting: I got most of my herbs transplanted! Ended up needing more planters, oops, but that’s an easy problem to fix. Also got my hummingbird feeder up and cleaned a bunch of gunk out of the fishtank (and gave Doc Ock a stern talking-to about pulling his own weight).

Work has been kind of frustrating recently, just from the standpoint of feeling like I’m not making much progress and being pulled in a million different directions. There’s only so much I can do about that, but I still feel guilty on some level when I keep having to tell people “No, I haven’t worked on your thing yet because I’m still supporting this other project, I’ll get to it when I can.” Sigh.

Apartment is, if not much improved, still at the same level of unfucked. My goal for this week is to KonMari my clothes so I can take whatever I’m getting rid of home for my parents to donate. Next week I can focus on the last bits of unfucking that need to happen before my friend visits for the local art fair.

How has your week been? Did you get something accomplished? What do you want to do this week?