Thick Crust Pizza

Andrea blew into town for a lunch date and we hit pizza as it fills all needs.  Pieology now has thick crust pizza so I had to try it out.

It was tasty but I think I will stick to the thin crust.  The ratio of dough to toppings is not quite on parity.  The think crust is an extra dollar.

Lunch with the Gang

It has been quite a while since Grace, Yaling, and I went out for lunch.  We hit RakiRaki for some ramen.  I tried out the oxtail ramen which was pretty good except for the bamboo shoots which ended up in Yaling's bowl.

It was enough for another meal so I got a to go container.  The only issue was the tenderness of the largest piece of oxtail as it was not cooked enough and was pretty tough.  I had the last piece at home for dinner using a knife to cut out the meat.  Bailey got a good extra snack for dinner.

Afterwards, we went to Caffe Bene for dessert and Grace still had enough room for a ice cream waffle.

I made do with some strawberry ice cream.  We hung around for a while and caught up.

Dragon Quilt Progress

I also made progress on my dragon quilt.  I added the 2" border on the sides of the quilt to frame it.  I had to make a few adjustments and cut off some excess after the attachment but it makes a nice border.

It is always a challenge for me to sew when the quilt gets large.

Next up is also a new technique.  I'm going to cut the dragon border and sew it on all along the edges and then miter the corners to it will look like a continuous border.  I had to look up a few youtube videos and there are many of varying quality.

It will also be challenging to cut out the border and cross my fingers that there is enough fabric.  To make sure that the lines are even, I'm going to cut in a single line moving the fabric across.  The fabric comes with two borders separated by the colored squares on a black background.  I might be able to salvage that part for something else.

Block of the Month - February

After some thought and planning, I figured out how to finish the block of the month for February.  I had to label the triangles to get it right and even then, I had to un-sew a bit to finish.

The last of the February blocks dealt with the same look but in different angles. One solid block.

And two side of the same block.

The triangles will be connected to other pieces so they lay at an angle.  On to the March blocks next.

Block of the Week Progress

I continue my progress on the block of the week.  There was a little glitch in the updating on the web page that I had bookmarked so I missed last week's post.  I did a google search on the sewcial quilt and found the links to both last week and this week.

This one didn't get the frame.

This one was super easy.

Ladybug in the House

When I first thought about buying a wheel, the ladybug was on my list and I tried it out before I ended up buying the matchless.

Lots of years have passed and I still am tempted when I see one of these come up for sale.

I finally bit the bullet so to speak as a spinner is taking a break from spinning and it was a good deal for the wheel plus the fiber to come along.

I unpacked the box and with the wheel itself.

Came the motherlode of fibers.

The only thing that is missing the the brake band so I ordered one which I hope will be here by the weekend.  I also ordered a woolee winder for this wheel as well.  Treadling on it is super smooth and I can't wait to start spinning on her.

Sparks Field Trip

I did an overnight to Spark Nevada for some field work and I finally broke my red car streak.  Lack of cars from spring break gave me a lucky break as I got this car.

It was raining cats and dogs but the moon roof was cool.

But the back seat is a total joke.  My legs are pretty short but really there is no leg room for anyone riding in the backseat.

I never got it above 60 mph due to the rain but it is very heavy.

The work was successful and the officers at Sparks PD were awesome.  I saw this saying at the station - anger is the wind that blows out the light of intelligence.

The airport is a lot more modern than I remembered and they had cool wildlife settings.

On my way out of the airport, I saw these bombers all lined up.

Saori Adventure

I had an opportunity to go to a Saori studio and test out some looms and stayed for a class where I got to weave as well.

I had seen a Saori loom up for sale in Ravelry and had been intrigued by this method and loom since I saw it up on Oakland a few years back.  What really attracted me was the freeform color and texture and the amazing garments that were made out of the woven cloth.  I corresponded with the seller but couldn't quite make the deal as I had never really tried out the loom.

The closest studio is in Sherman Oaks so I was able to make an appointment to try out some looms to see if it would be a good fit and it turned out that there was a class starting and there was space for one more.

It is an ingenious method of swapping out warps without having to go to much effort so I selected a narrow warp for the class.

The loom was super easy to use and there were shelves of fiber, ribbon, and yarn to choose from.  I even found some green fun fur to play with (my favorite).  This is my end result at the end of class.

My loom mate had been working on her piece for 3 classes and pulled enough off for a show.

The walls were also covered by garments.

Lovely time spent with other weavers chatting and sharing.  I wish it was closer as I was the one who traveled the furthest, but one was from the OC and the other north of LA.  There was just so much imagination and inspiration.  I might head up again for another class.  The cost of class is $20/hour and the weight of your finished piece at the end if you take it off the loom.  You can continue to go and just swap out your warp.  Great fun.

Akerworks Customer Service

I purchased a kate from Akerworks at the end of last year and took it out for a test drive last weekend.  It is a very cool efficient piece of equipment but I noticed that one of the pegs had a line in the plastic which restricted the spinning of the bobbin a bit.

I went ahead and used another peg for plying so it didn't really matter.

I decided to contact Akerworks to see what I could do to fix the issue and they decided to send me a link to a video on how to change the peg and asked if I was comfortable doing that.  I agreed and they sent me a new peg for installation.  (It would have been costly to send my unit back for same replacement).

I got a nice note.

Here are the two pegs side by side.

Installation or operation was successful and the gimpy peg went back into the envelope for a return.

Awesome customer service.  I think I'm going to make a new fabric case for mine as the pouch that came with is a really snug fit.

Yarn Chicken

A little while back, I was looking for a pattern for a cowl but I saw this pattern for Miss Marple's Scarf and I thought it was cool with a keyhole.

I went through the stash and ended up using one of my Space Cadet yarn offerings.

It was a cool design with keyholes in both sides.  I missed changing the needle size on the second keyhole but I didn't go back to rip to reknit.

I played yarn chicken and ended up with very little yarn left.

I like the result.  The variegation of color is mild and the green really comes through.  Good timing for St. Patrick's Day.

All that is left is to weave in the ends.

Pi Day

This year, I experienced pi day.  I had joined the Pieology Pie Life program as it is my neighborhood pizza place and I got a coupon for a $3.14 pizza.

I decided to participate and I went after taking Bailey to the vet and while he snoozed in the car, I waited in line for an hour to get a pizza.  According to the owner, there was a line waiting when they opened at 11:00 and it was bad enough for them to have a sign on the door to use the other door since the line was so long.

This was when I got into line.

Not sure if it is worth it for a $5 discount on a pizza to spend an hour in line.

Craftsy Block of the Month 2017

I have this quilting bug now and when I saw the block of the month 2017 from craftsy, I really liked it.

The kit was also on sale so I succumbed and purchased it.

The January block is to make 2 of these.

And the rest of January is to put together the border blocks which I need 64 (paired together for 32 rectangles).

I made a color error on the first block as I used the light blue and medium blue instead of the medium blue and the dark blue.  I hope I will have enough for the rest.  It is hard to tell since the patterns are spaced out.  If necessary, I will substitute the blue for something else.  It seems so far that there is plenty of fabric.

Spinning Mojo is Back

I was recently asked to allow a prospective buyer to test out my mSpinner.  My mSpinner has been languishing in the closet for quite a long time so I agreed and pulled it out and set it up.

I wanted to test it out before she came over so I plied the green fiber singles I started spinning at Lori's get-together.

Still spins like a charm.

I set it up and I think Joan is sold as she first tested out the treadle wheels after we discussed mechanics and then she went on to the mSpinner.  She is on her way.

Caught Up on the Block of the Week

I was able to spend some time catching up to the current pattern on the block of the week quilt.

Next up is week 7 and I hope to keep current.

Block A Week Quilt-A-Long

While watching the KnitGirllls podcast, Leslie highlighted a sewcial bee sampler on Maureen Cracknell's website.

It looked fun and every wednesday, a pattern is released for a block.  There are 25 in all so I decided to partake.

I ended up stash diving and came up with the 4 main colors in batiks.

I went out and got a few more batiks which were 25% off at Beverly's to round out the colors.

I thought the sea turtles would be great as the backing and the purple for the sashing and binding.  I needed some color help from Peggy and she steered me to the aqua blue for the frames.

I didn't start this when it was announced so I'm a few weeks behind already, but I was able to get the first 3 blocks done.

No Naked Loom

The scarves came off the loom and I somehow mis-measured the warp as I had extra after finishing the two scarves.

So I just wove some more until I ran out and I figure I can sew the ends together for a cowl.

This is how much I had left over.

Next up are kitchen towels in dark colors.  After dressing the loom, this is the pattern I had.

Very little waste at the end of beaming.

All that is left is the tie on and back to weaving.