Hanukkah Cross Stitch Patterns, House Reno, Weaving & More

 I found several cross stitch patterns, there are many more, but these are some that I found on Etsy.

 This one is ready to start, it's called Peace & Light by Satsuma Street on Etsy:

Peace & Light

 

 

 

I haven't started it yet, but I plan to. I have all the called for threads. 

 

I have a Hanukkah needle minder from MadForMinders on Etsy:

 

 

Here's one from Demented Stitchers on Etsy:

 

Hanukkah Gnomes 

 

I have all the threads, but have not decided on a fabric. I'll be doing skin color conversions.

 

Here's another from Mkissa Creations on Etsy:

You Spin Me Right Round

 

 Next up is from The French Giraffe on Etsy:

Happy Hanukkah

 

 

This is another from Demented Stitchers:

 

Happy Hanukkah 

 

 

 This evening I found a new (to me) pattern from Khanna and Ilan on Etsy:

 

Hanukkah Menorah 

 

 

I'm waiting for a Hanukkah yarn kit from Dyetastic (on Etsy) called Eight Nights of Yarn... thanks to post office problems, the kit is not here yet, but it is what it is! I'm not upset about it because a lot of people are having issues with mail slowdowns. Tracking shows that it is nearby (in Fort Worth) and once it gets here, I'll post photos!

 

Knitting

 

Meanwhile, I've started the Haunted Shawl, which I'm calling the Haunted Hanukkah shawl.. designed by Leann of Forbidden Fiber... 

Here's my start:

I have 9 colors... the pattern calls for 13 (20 gram/87 yard skeins). I don't know if I'll buy the other 4 (hopefully from the same designer, JulieSpins on Etsy)... or dip into my stash. It depends on whether or not I have any leftover from Slipstravaganza, which is a fingering weight yarn, but it's not a singles yarn like this one.

 

Here's the whole set, plus there's one more not shown, it's a lime green that I had Julie add:

 

 I started with the one on the far right...

 

Here's Slipstravaganza: it's not up to date with my current progress, but it's the latest photo:

 

 

House Renovation:

 

I posted about buying a house on my other blog I bought the house in June, and in August, the roof was replaced. The upstairs ceiling collapsed in 2 rooms, and tomorrow, there will be workers doing the demolishing that is needed to be done, in preparation for new sheetrock, which will be followed by painting & then the boys will move upstairs. Once that happens, I'll be able to start setting up the downstairs room for a studio & move my big Hammett loom inside. I'll probably blog & maybe vlog about it as well...

I haven't decide if I'll give the loom some kind of spa treatment: a gentle sanding & some kind of new finish to protect the wood... I think I will!

 

Weaving Looms & Tools

As some of you may know, Jeff Johnson is no longer making looms and tools, but before he closed shop, he sent me a bunch of log looms, small inlay looms & shed sticks. He also sent me several shed stick blanks, which need to be sanded & finished.  We still need to buy a sander. I also have several 3/4" shed stick blanks from Jim Hokett... I am also hoping to buy some other tools so that I can learn to make looms...

I plan to put what I have on Etsy. They are on my website, Weaving Rainbow, just click on looms & tools. 

I'm also going to add Briggs & Little yarn Buy links back on the website as I found a provider! 

 

Until next time:

 

Stay Safe & Wear Your Mask In Public... 

 

 

 

 

Ta ta my pretties!! 

 

 

 

Update for YTZ

 For some reason, Ravelry isn't letting me upload photos.. maybe a glitch, so I'm trying here...

Renditions

addendum July 12, 2022: I added a couple more videos to this entry as they somehow didn't make it in. On Monday, March 31st (and some of Sunday, the 30th), I spent most of the day trying to get a tapestry ready for the ATA Renditions show.. originally I wasn't going to enter, but when I found out they weren't going to do a physical show, just an online show, I thought, hey, why not, and I started my tapestry on Sunday... crazy, right?? It's about 5" by 7" and I used a C. Cactus loom...

I wasn't sure what I was going to weave at first, I started out with some handspun singles, which I bundled into 3 strands, and started playing with some wedge-weave-style techniques. I decided to base the piece on the song Little Boxes by Malvina Reynolds...

Malvina Reynolds - Little Boxes

Little boxes on the hillside, Little boxes made of tickytacky
Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes all the same
There's a green one and a pink one and a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.

There's also a small section inspired by the Rolling Stones song "Paint It Black"...

I had trouble finishing the last few rows, and found out in my Ravelry Tapestry Weaving group that I should have woven a few rows from the top down to make it easier to get those last few rows in! I'll try that next time!

I ended up making a hem at the top...

More information about the tapestry:

Sett: 10 wpi
Warp: Jaggerspun wool warp
Weft: varying yarns, mostly handspun, some Jaggerspun Zephyr wool-silk/wool.

Some of the yellow was handspun on a spindle on the 31st... took 20 minutes. It had a LOT of live twist, even when I put 2 strands together, but seems to have settled well on the piece.

I did some wedge weave (for the hills and sky), and soumak for the top & bottom.

Some Little Boxes videos:

Rustic Log Looms!

We have new looms coming to the website soon! They are I-shaped, and come in 5 or 8 dent, in 3 different sizes: 4" by 6", 4" by 9" and 8" by 10". Custom sizes are available as well. Email me if you'd like one before I get them on the website.

The last photo has a weaving in progress with a 4" weaving needle. I'm using an emery board to hold a place for one shed... a shed stick, a double pointed knitting needle, a bamboo stick, popsicle stick, and other things would all work for this purpose. I like the emory board because it's light and can open the shed a little bit. I discovered it when I was on the plane last spring and realized that I didn't have any crochet hooks,shed sticks or bamboo sticks with me. The only thing I could find that would work for the purpose was an emery board! If I'm using a crochet hook, I don't need anything to change the shed she since I can pick the shed with either end of my crochet hook...

I've also been spinning in the Spin Off Mitt-along! 

I'm spinning using the POF (ply on the fly) method: I'm spinning the singles "Z" and chain plying "S".  I'll do another blog post about this soon!

I'll be starting another spindle for the other mitten. Stay tuned to find out what pattern I decide to use for my mittens!

Happy Weaving & spinning, etc.!