Hand Dyed Goodness

I was showing my mom how to dye fabric (silk to be specific) last weekend. We dabbled in a range of techniques including painting, dipping, dripping and some good old fashioned kettle dyeing. I even tested my hand at dyeing silk ribbon! So much fun!

I purchase my nekked silk (in scarf and ribbon form) and acid dyes from Dharma Trading Company (which has been one of my favorite supply sources since college...uh, a long time). I'm really loving the ribbon. I will definitely be dyeing more of that for weaving, knitting and crocheting projects. Fun!

Raffia Granny Rug

I know what you’re thinking…she reappears and then disappears again! Well, I do have good reasons for my latest absence. Firstly, Steve and I moved from our Westside apartment to a loft in Downtown LA. This was a huge adjustment, but I’m happy to report a positive and much needed change. In addition, virtually simultaneous to the move, I decided to take a new position at another firm after almost 13 years of working for the same company. Talk about turning one’s environment on its head! Okay, so the transition(s) was a bit trying, but I’ve come through all the change no worse for the wear. New job at a place that doesn’t really rank on the drama meter and a spectacular new space in which to live and work my creative fingers to the bone, a winning combo to be sure!

Studio stuff organized and easily accessible, I have begun working (needleworking that is) again. As such, what does one need when moving into a place with lots of wooden floor space? Rugs of course! So, I made one...

Sure, I could buy a rug or two (and I have), but I thought it would be really fun to carpet my naked floors with floor coverings made by my own hands.

As I already have several wool rugs, I wasn’t necessarily interested in making more woolen floor goodies. Nonetheless, I knew that I wanted my floor art to be fun, colorful, relatively lightweight and able to stand up to foot traffic.  Enter, synthetic raffia…

This stuff comes in a wide variety of colors, can be spot cleaned with water and a gentle detergent, takes the heat of an iron with no problem and will withstand a plethora of feet atop its worked surface. Oh, and it’s pretty nice to work with too!

Obviously, I’ll have to do a bit more experimenting, but so far I’m pretty happy with my raffia floor grannies...

New blog post on Regina Rioux!

I'm playin' with plastic!

New Pattern Available! Flower Power Shawl!

And so it begins...again...

A NEW MONSTER CROCHET PATTERN FOR YOU!

I'm so excited! I haven't published anything on my own for some time. However, I am breaking my no-patterns-for-you streak by offering what I am now calling the Flower Power Shawl (formerly That 70's Shawl) on both Ravelry and in my Etsy Store.

Come on, you know you want to make tons of these lovely flowered hexagons:

Me thinks that I need to make more of these and fashion them into a bedspread. How cool would that be???

Happy Friday everyone!

That 70s Shawl: The Second Movement

So, my original design went from this...

...to this...

This is what I was aiming for to begin with. I just didn't know it at the time!

 Big, bee-you-ti-ful 70's flowers encased in handy hexagon frames!

Thank you to my gorgeous offspring for modeling my newest creation. She's a doll!

Anyhow, I like this version of the shawl MUCH better than the first pass. I am especially fond of the overall shape of the wrap. It's difficult to tell in the pics above, but shaping looks like this:

This wrap looks just the way I had envisioned. So excited! Oh, I will be making this pattern available for sale both in my Etsy store and on Ravelry.

Happy Monday everyone!

Let's talk about painting...

Head over to my namesake blog to see what else is cooking over at ChezLinoleum.

That 70's Shawl: The First Movement

So, although I've been silent lately, I have, nonetheless, been creating. In fact, I am working on two eBooks filled cover to cover with quirky crochet patterns, loads of one-off patterns as well as lots of paintings and drawings (revisiting my existence as a visual artist). Literally, I am having a personal creative renaissance as I haven't been this productive in years (and that's saying something because I'm generally pretty productive, even during life's darkest times). At any rate, I realized that while enveloped in my creative fervor, I have simultaneously been depriving the world of my nutty design sensibilities due to my state of quiet. However, I just felt like I needed to sequester myself away for awhile in order to allow myself the freedom to make lots of stuff far from the eyes and opinions of others. This "girl in the crocheted bubble" state of being has been very different from my traditional processes of making, as I was trained in art school where pretty much everyone saw everything I made everyday. So, holding up in my yarn cave felt a bit strange, but "right" by the same token. Anyway, I have pushed the skeins out of the way and I'm ready to show you all what I've been working on. As such, I bring you all the first version of what has now morphed into three versions of this delightful retro accessory I'm calling "That 70's Shawl":

Basically, I've turned those iconic 70's flower stickers we (we as in those of us alive and kicking in the 1970's) used to see plastered across the sides of VW buses into crocheted motifs.

While I'm not completely unhappy with the final result of the motifs and subsequent shawl, I don't LOVE it. Why, inquiring minds would like to know, do I not LOVE it? Okay, for starters I am not a fan of flower motifs that connect on four sides. Call me crazy, but I'm into hexagons, man (woman and child)! Give me six sides to connect away any day!

Uh, yeah, moving on. Second, the green leaf-like motifs are fine, but again, I'm not IN LOVE. Third, the edging bugs me. Just bugs me. So, in the end I blocked this puppy and threw it on my photography pile, knowing that I would take another stab at this effort another time (which I have completed). Stay tuned for the Second Movement of That 70's Shawl. I am blocking and photographing tonight...

Happy New Year, Peeps!

Back to Blogging!

Are you longing for a crafty good time? Do you desire a little story-telling from a neurotic, middle-aged art chick with a penchant for all things yarn? Do you sit in your cube farm day after day wondering whether it's possible to engage your creative spirit while ferrying reams of paper across the top of your particle board desk and simultaneously yapping into a headset that has become a permanent part of your skull? Have you ever considered traveling sans roller board filled with clothing in favor of one chock full of strings and things?

Well peeps, you're in luck. All of these questions and then some will be considered over here.

I've hidden from you people long enough...

Changing It Up!

New blog, new post...

Designing Despite It All...

I am trying to keep my designer brain active while attempting to slog through my latest personal morass. (I don't want to get into the specifics of this right now, but I will probably share it eventually.) However, I did want to let you know that I do have two new crochet patterns available in the latest issue of Crochet Today mag...

Nothing like a cute little Wizard's Cape to turn my frown upside down! I really enjoyed creating this one. So much so that I even reproduced a larger one for myself after finishing the cape pictured above. (Come on, you all know I'll wear it.) Oh, and it's simple! Easy enough for a beginner. It's all done in single crochet. Stars and moon are appliques. Did I already mention that it's an easy peasy project???

Next up, the Bazaar Bag!

I really like designing bags. They are always challenging and don't take huge amounts of time to create (making these the perfect design projects for my current short attention span issue). The panels on this bag are worked up in two stages: the body and then the petals. It looks time consuming, but it actually works up pretty quickly. I love the way the finished product looks as well. I will probably tackle one for myself using a lighter weight yarn (the pattern in the mag calls for alpaca, which is a bit heavier than I like for a bag).

Anyway kids, that's my design scoop for now. I am working up the energy to post from time to time as I am working on several new patterns that I'd like to share with you. Things are just really messy right now, which seems to derail my ability to gather my thoughts into a coherent format. I am trying though...

Have a lovely weekend everyone! Your love and support is so important to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

The Status of Things

Another rough year here at ChezLinoleum. Keeping up with my blog is really next to impossible at this point. I am declaring this an official blog vacation. Don't know when or if I'll be back.

Thank you everyone for your wealth of kindness and support. You've been amazing.

More Homespun!

I've been doing a lot of spinning lately. I love this process. It's incredibly meditative, satisfyingly creative and well, who doesn't love a craft in which the by-product is yarn? Speaking of which, here's a bit of bamboo top...



This was my first experience spinning bamboo. It was a super easy spin! I loved the feel of it passing through my fingers and check out that sheen! More bamboo top purchases in my future to be sure.

Next up, another pulled silk sari single...



I love spinning this stuff too mostly due to the fact that pulled silk sari fiber is an inherently wacky spin. Easy to get a thick/thin single during the spin process.

Needless to say, my wheels are getting a workout!



Many more spools to ply and show. Stay tuned kids!

Have Yarn Will Travel

Winged Thing
Originally uploaded by ladylinoleum

Well kids, I embark on my first trip of the new year next week. Off to the colder climes of New York City. Aaahhh Manhattan, an environ in which I've spent a lot of time working and playing AND as a result, a locale that I've come to think of as my home away from home. Seriously, I average 1-2 weeks a month there at this point!

Needless to say, I also spend a lot of time flying around in a big metal tube, which I've come to terms with as it affords me relatively uninterrupted knit or crochet time. This, I love! Sitting in uncomfortable seats and trying to get the frakin' video system to run without a hitch, not so much. Nonetheless, I usually take comfort in knowing that my yarn, needles or hook will pretty much get me through any travel-related irritants no worse for the wear.

Aside from figuring out which project to take along with me on a journey (this can take hours, even days), I've gotten really good at toting my crafty gear around in a user-friendly, I'm-packed-in-like-a-sardine-seat-conditions-so-my-stuff-needs-to-be-easily-accessible kind of way...

First and foremost, I do NOT attempt to bring along a new project. Too many variables here from gauge to yarn amounts needed to sustain me for the trip to possible reference books needed if directions elude my poor little brain. Nope, unless it's already on needles or ready for immediate hook insertion, it ain't making it into my bag.

Second, WIP, yarn, and collateral supplies must fit into my Eagle Creek Pack-It Cube. If this stuff exceeds the confines of my zippered containment system (and I have the biggest one they offer) then this stuff gets to see me again when I return home from my journey.

Third, I have a small zippered pouch (fits inside the big cube) for stitch markers, tapestry needle, crochet hook (knitters, you should also have this with you at all times...makes picking up dropped stitches A BREEZE), smallest post-it notes I can procure from the cube farm, a small pair of scissors (or the Clover ninja star thread cutter), a pencil and/or a pen. Oh, and this little pouch is attached to a lanyard so that I can wear it around my neck during the flight. This way I don't drop anything and my supplies are easily accessible.

That's my patented Have-Yarn-Will-Travel system and trust me kids, it works. I do not have trouble going through security (even toting my little scissors), I can obtain my crafty cube easily out of my larger travel tote when crammed into my seat and I can easily manage my crafty implements when seated for the duration of my flight. Definitely makes for happy trails for this yarn obsessed Lady of the Linoleum!

New Yarn for a New Year!

365:6
Originally uploaded by ladylinoleum

Happy New Year kids!

Good news! I've been busy knitting, crocheting, spinning and weaving since the onset of Autumn. In fact, I now have a "photography pile" again. Oh yes, stacks of FOs waiting for their chance to shine on this little bloggy. I feel like I am finally moving beyond the nightmarish circumstances that have plagued my life during the last several years. It is with much happiness that I declare my creative mojo kicking in again. It's an amazing feeling and as a result you can expect some regular posts here again. Yay!

This week, I've got a few hanks of newly fashioned homespun to share with you. The black/white/gray colorway at the back of the photo is 100% wool and plied with a multi-sparkly thread. The reddish colorway at the front of the photo is a single spun from pulled silk sari fiber. That particular yarn is already project bound as I am finishing up another woven diamond shawl made entire of that stuff. Needless to say, I've got many more spools waiting to be plied or hanked-up for final processing. In fact, I spun approximately 1000 yards of yarn on New Year's Day. So excited to use these fibers in some of the 2011 projects that I have planned!

In addition to the "all things yarn" front, I am launching a new travel blog and I am participating in a photo a day project this year. Look for the first travel blog post later this week (I will link to it here) and well, you can check out my flickr for the 365 photos anytime. Looking forward to sharing a prosperous and productive 2011 with you all! Hugs all around!

My Last Lady Eleanor

This stole is the fifth version of the Lady Eleanor that I've made (modeled by my best girlfriend, Bri). The first version I knit using mostly my homespun. The second, third and fourth versions were knit with Noro as is the fifth version above.

Why did I make so many of these, inquiring minds want to know? Well, I taught several entrelac workshops last year. Each version of the stole represents one workshop taught, as I started a new one each time I began class, working the tiers along with my students. I found this method an effective way to teach the entrelac technique.



I finished this stole last winter, but was unable to block it until recently. You know, all that pesky chaotic life stuff got in the way. Anyhoo, I am happy to call this LAST Lady Eleanor done! She is now on her way to a new home and owner. I hope that she enjoys wearing it as much as I enjoyed making it!

Business Items...

Desire to wear a pie atop your head, but (i) you have no interest in crocheting one yourself, (ii) you don't know how to crochet and are patiently awaiting a knitting pattern from one, LadyLinoleum or (iii) you seriously just want a LadyLinoleum original. If you answered yes to any of the above then you're in luck! I have listed two Pie-rets for sale in my Etsy shop just in time for the holidays. I hope to make a few more, but honestly, I don't know if I'll be able to swing that before the holidays.

Wasn't aware that I had an Etsy shop, eh? Yes, I've had it for some time. I just haven't listed much in there over the years. Hopefully, this will be changing as the milk crate I like to call an apartment is just not big enough to house the enormous amount of items I've crocheted and knit since the inception of this blog. So, there will be more to come on the items for sale front.

Lastly, my thanks to everyone who has purchased a pattern from me directly. I'd also like to take a moment to apologize to those of you who found your order process less than satisfying. I have had HUGE problems with PayPal (especially in the last year or so) and have been unable to come up with an acceptable solution thus far. As such, I am determined to make one final effort to improve this situation by moving my patterns over to Ravelry. I plan to give it until the first of the year once everything has been moved over there. If that doesn't work, all patterns are coming off the interwebs. Most of you have been amazing with regard to this issue. I really appreciate your understanding and patience. Keep your fingers crossed...

As always, thanks for your support! Happy Monday everybody!

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

In the last five weeks I have been to New York twice and London once. Needless to say, all of this travel has complicated an already complex lifestyle and unfortunately it has also had a negative impact on my ability to knit, crochet, weave, spin, dye (haven't stoked up the dye pot in ages), sew, DESIGN and blog. I mean let's face it, my life has undergone the ultimate sea change: still divorcing (almost a two year process at this point); lost my home earlier this year, currently residing in a space the size of a milk crate; job responsibilities growing faster than I can keep up with (hence the constant travel); daughter on the verge of adulthood, squawking at me constantly; and there is always a silver lining...I find myself in an affair of the heart with an amazing man. Needless to say, keeping up with the tidal wave that is my life can be a bit challenging and trying to be creative despite these many perplexities has been a Sisyphean task.

Nevertheless, I am creating, albeit slowly and on a much smaller scale than in previous years, but create I continue to do. I haven't started much of anything new in the last several months for I am a creature of discipline if nothing else. As such, I am making a concerted effort to finish anything and everything that became stuck in stasis due to the great life upheaval of 2009-10. I make progress on these myriad WIPs while crisscrossing the country (the globe) in a flying tube, sitting in those ubiquitous vinyl seats gathered around airport gates, on my 60 minute lunch hours where yarn and not food has become the ultimate focus and if I'm awake enough to tackle anything else at the end of a workday, while sitting in my overstuffed chair in front of the television as I try desperately to watch all of the previously recorded programming on my DVR. Making has taken a backseat to moving at this point.

Now, I am nothing if not adaptable. I have gone through similar periods in my life where the act of making/creating was threatened by the stress of my daily responsibilities. However, making/creating is a very powerful force in my world and while it's daily importance has lessened to a certain degree as life happens, it has not disappeared completely. Further, I'm positive that my creative spirit will endure the current constraints as well as those that may occur in the future as I am an artist at the core of my being. Always have been. Always will be. I will make things because this is who I am. This is what I do. I just need to figure out how to navigate the current landscape and adapt my process accordingly. Not always easy to do, but definitely attainable.

So, in working through my current conundrum, I've come up with a few solutions that I will be actively pursuing going forward:

1. Finish all outstanding WIPs. Getting through these projects serves as a metaphor for closing the door on the past and readying myself for the future, thereby allowing me a clean slate to begin new work.
2. Notation, notation, notation. Time for me to begin recording my ideas and conceptions in a journal/notebook again. This has been a traditional part of my process that I have allowed to lapse over the last year. Time to dig out my notebook and return it to its proper place in my purse. Never leave home without my "spell book" and quill!
3. Smaller, lighter, faster. Size and portability are key when one is trying to create while trapped in a tube. I will try to fit all projects and accoutrement into the same carry-on size bag for every trip. Not only does this serve to simplify my packing, but it makes the project wrangling in a small space headache-free.
4. LadyLinoleum has a laptop and will promise to use it. Blogging IS possible to do from a big fluffy hotel bed while inhaling room service, at least this is what I'm told.

So peeps, you will be seeing quite a few changes 'round this here bloggy over the next several months, but I do promise that your Lady of the Linoleum will still attempt to entertain you with a cadre of smaller crazy creations, one-off patterns here and there, a bit of humor and wisdom as she sees fit and hopefully, myriad on-the-road crafting tips! As always, I thank you all for your continued comments, emails and support. Literally, you all are THE ONLY REASON that I'm still taking up residence in cyberspace. Big hugs all around!

Stay tuned kids!

Oktoberpretzelfesting

I absolutely love Autumn. For me, Autumn means lots of carding and spinning in the evenings, weaving while indulging in a bit of Syfy telly, knitting and crocheting as fast as my digits can move those needles and hooks. It also means lots of warm woolen sweaters and fun coats. Fall weather enables me to wear boots every day, should I so choose. In addition, it is also all about decorating and exposing my, uh, alter-ego(s) for the most wonderful of holidays, Halloween. For me, Autumn means a month of rigorous menu planning for Thanksgiving, a process I enjoy immensely. And, as soon as the daily degrees take their Autumnal dip into the 60s (hey, it's SoCal and that's cold to us) my baking books literally leap from their shelves, begging to be perused and used. Fall is fantastic!

Last weekend was the first weekend of the season to actually feel like Autumn. Saturday was cloudy and cool. As such, I had the urge to go get knee deep in baking flour. By noon, the dining room table was covered with oven-centric tomes and I settled upon a recipe that I've used many, many times...bagels. Whipped up a batch of dough shortly thereafter and was boiling and baking those glorious rings by evening. My peeps were none too happy to take the fresh, hot, crispy, chewy rounds of doughy goodness off of my hands. In fact, the entire batch was gone within hours.

Feeling the pressure to produce more carb-based foodstuffs for my loved ones, I went back to my baking manuals the next morning and decided on a recipe I had yet to try...Hot Buttered Pretzels. Mixed up a batch of dough in morning and after a day of Oktoberfesting, I worked up eight soft twisted lovelies for a stint in the oven. They were a bit malformed (I'll blame the copious amounts of beer I imbibed earlier that day for my lack of pretzel twisting ability), but no matter because they tasted better than any pretzel that can be obtained from your local mall. Shiny, salty, buttery goodness...


Got a shot of the only pretzel that actually looked like it was supposed to. The moral of the story? Don't drink and twist.

More Autumnal adventures to come!

Another Autumnal Diamond Shawl

You may remember the very first diamond shawl that I created. It was actually more of a rectangular stole, but it was the beginning of what has become a suite of shawls/wraps that sport diamonds as their primary motif. Oh and lest we forget, I use only scrap yarn to weave the diamonds for these over the shoulder pieces. It's my woven version of a granny square.

So, following on the heels of diamond shawl numero uno is yet another earthy delight...



This shawl is much larger than it's predecessor and almost resembles the tail feathers of a turkey when viewing it from the back...



Not unlike my past diamond shawls, I edged each motif with a crochet (sc) border and then assembled the pieces using crochet (sl st) as well. I am not a fan of sewing knitwear of any kind together. I always crochet my seams, be they sweater or shawl. I have found that my crocheted seams are not only stronger than the ones I have sewn, but they are also more uniform than their sewn counterparts. And I like uniform seams, kids. They make me very happy!



Lots of varied yarn weights exhibited in the newest version of this shawl as well.

More of these to come as I have a lot of odd ball stash to power through. Oh, different woven motif shapes are in the works as well. Loving my lap looms to be sure!

Yoga, My Personal Savior

You can find this non-craft-related post on my Tumblr blog should you be interested.