Muahahaha!

I finally figured out how to get my gadgets to show up in the correct spot!  *evil giggle*  Now you'll never get rid of me.  :)  I wonder if it's Google's way of making me download Chrome.  On similar news, I saw a progress bar on a knitting blog and decided I needed one.  Luckily there is a nice tutorial on how to make progress bars in blogger here.  So now I have a nifty little progress bar over there --->
As you can see over on the progress bar, I'm almost done with my first knitted scarf.  Hooray!  Here's a picture of the basic design:

I made it up myself. Not bad for my first knitting design, right?  Basic idea is you alternate 5 rows of knit with 1 row of purl.  Easy enough for even me to remember.  I'm pretty sure those are the numbers, I never actually counted the knit rows. I just knitted until I could see the 2 'rows' and then purled. It's starting to curl a little bit, so I'll definitely have to learn how to block soon.

Also, I finished my first scarf on Loomie but was stupid and let the warps fall back through to the backside of the loom...Basically I have to start over from the beginning and rewarp it.  Blah.  The scarf is a zig-zag twill pattern but you'll have to wait for a picture of it because it's in the other room and we are watching "Rose Red".  And I learned how to double weave on one of the table looms in the fibers studio. I wove a white fluffy blanket and it is amazing to touch.  I promise I'll post pictures of it soon too.  Unfortunately you can't touch it through a computer monitor, but if you know me you can come by and feel how soft it is.

So other than other random projects I've got started, I've been working on finishing up this last semester at school.  It will be so nice to be able to finally have time to really work on my projects and not just homework for class.  We'll see how long that lasts.  :)

Well, I'm going to finish up that knitting and finish watching the movie.
Until next time,
~Andromeda

Lacy Doilies

Last week I made doilies from a new pattern book I bought off the Joann's website. They were having a sale on books which doesn't happen very often, so I couldn't resist getting these pattern books:



Needless to say, I've started crocheting doilies like there was no tomorrow, but I accidentally used smaller thread than the book suggests. The stiches are tiny! I haven't had a chance to learn how to block and starch doilies yet, so the doilies are still a bit ruffled into whatever shape they like. That is going to have to be my first lesson once I get out of college. Anyways, here are the four doilies I made last week. :)

New Items

Hello Wall!
I've made a few new things recently and bought a floor loom! I'll post a few pictures of the loom once I finish warping it, but until then here are some recent items I've made:

Photos from this Weekend

So, Blogger won't let me post the edited version of my last post. Here are a few pictures of what I did this weekend:

The piece of hairpin lace.

Hairpin Lace & Other Happenings

So, I have learned the basics of hairpin lace for my project in Fibers class. I made what supposed to be a short scarf, but the process seems to cinch up a bit when you connect the strips. It is now a nifty little table runner.

(I'll edit this post to add a picture this weekend, but right now I'm in Foreign Language lab...bleah)

In other news, the socks I'm knitting for Mum's Christmas gift are almost finished. All I have to do is use Kitchener's stitch to close up the toe on the second sock. I wonder if it would be safe to post a picture of them on here without her seeing them. hmmm...do any of you guys know my mother, and would you promise not to show her the picture if I post it? (I'm assuming here that someone is reading this...which is probably a bad assumption.) I can't post a picture on facebook, because she might accidentally see it there. She doesn't have a blog though, so it should be fine as long as no on shows her. :)

Would anyone be interested if I post free patterns on here that I have written? I have a few written out, but I'm not sure how much interest there is out there for my stuff.

And now I can't think of anything else to say and I have 30 minutes left to waste in this 'lab'...

Until next time,
~Andromeda

Pippin Cat

Our kitten, Pippin, is crazy. She has two personalities: super sweet snuggle kitten, and bouncing off the walls getting into everything she can find. I suppose that's pretty normal for adolescent cats, but I haven't had that much experience living with indoor kittens. In either case, Pippin's stealing my husband! She woke Luke up every hour starting at 4:30 this morning until he got up and stayed downstairs with her. I'm hoping she'll grow out of it somewhat, but I'm not keeping my fingers crossed. Normally she looks something like this:


But this morning she looked like this:



She is inside the paper from the outside of a skein of yarn I was using yesterday! I guess it's a good thing I'm going to the studio today instead of trying to work here!

Well, I've got to get my yarn together before I head out. Until next time,
~Andromeda

Fall Break Procrastination

Today is the first day of fall break and I'm already bored. As procrastination is my main form of entertainment and I can't seem to get Bloons Tower Defense on ninjakiwi to work today, I decided to try blogging again. The ever intelligent Eric said I should talk about how I got started with fibers, so I suppose this post will be basic background.

Freshman year of college (fall of 2008) I found some rainbow yarn and a crochet hook in the lost and found at my favorite hangout, "The B". (Disclaimer: it had been in the lost in found for years according to the seniors I knew, so I wasn't stealing anyone's yarn.) I had some experience with fibers before that, basically just bracelets at camp and a little bit of counted cross stitch, so I was curious about learning more. I knew a few people who crocheted at the B and one of them (my future roommate, Bethany) showed me how to hold the hook and other basics. I practiced basic stitches for a bit before I made my first project: a rainbow armband for one of the B's residents, Luke. Remember that name, you'll hear it a lot since he is now my husband. :) I think he still has it somewhere around here...I wonder if I could find it and put a picture of my sad beginnings.

Anyways, Bethany let me borrow a pattern book of simple beanies to get me started on real projects and I went wild! If you ever meet some of my best friends from that year you will probably see one of the many hats I made out of the patterns in that book. Actually here's a picture of the one I kept for myself:

I'm a fast learner, or so I've been told. That year I made many hats, a few scarfs and eventually a baby blanket for my aunt. I continued my education with help from Bethany, Cindy (my mother-in-law), and many free patterns online.

Last fall I took a large step in fibers by taking a class offered in the art department here at school. That's where I got the nickname "Andromeda". A close friend in class couldn't remember how to spell my real name (Andrea) when he tagged me in a facebook photograph, but he knew how to spell Andromeda. Silly English major. From then on I was known as Andromeda in the fibers studio and I started using it as my artist name. That semester was the first time I made a commission piece for someone, a baby blanket made from yellow Boucle yarn. I'm pretty sure that was the first item I was paid for.

I've explored other ways of playing with fibers and have made up my own patterns. I can weave, tunisian crochet, do a bit of needle tatting, and can even knit socks! Monday I'm supposed to be learning shuttle tatting from a friend, and I suppose that catches you up to present day.

Now I'll get back to work.

Until next time,
~Andromeda