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5 September 2012

Yarn Along: Jupiter (and a shawl)

I knitted Jupiter.  :)
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While everyone is processing that...  ;)  Look!  A boy up my willow tree, wearing a pink tutu.  Aw.  :)
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And here is boy's mama, helping me photograph the shawl I am working on right now.  I'm a bit past halfway now.
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Meanwhile in the (overgrown) garden, dyed sock yarn is drying on the line, and a batik shopping bag too.  That's a boy up the tree again in the background.  There is always someone up the tree when I'm trying to take washing line pictures.
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I am really enjoying reading again.  Oh what a good sign that is.  I have rather a pile of books in fact.  My e-reader is currently displaying the cover of Neverwhere, because I'm on a Neil Gaiman kick.  In "real" paper books, it's non-fiction:
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Project-Based Homeschooling, by Lori Pickert, is brilliant.  Since I finished it, I have put up a noticeboard for the children to pin ideas and requests for materials and notes about their projects.  I am trying to make supplies more accessible without allowing the toddler free reign with so much mess.  How I wish for more living space right now!  Anyway, the book is inspiring and is helping me feel like I am doing enough, and giving me ideas for how to facilitate in new ways.

Hey look, more yarn!  Yeah I know.  Obsessed doesn't even begin to cover it.  ;)
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21 comments:

  1. It sounds to me like you are coming out of that tunnel?!! Your sense of humour shines through as does your yarn dyeing obsession and I can't think of a better one than seeing the fruits of your kitchen alchemy drying on the line!

    Hugs San xx

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    1. Thanks mama, yes, I definitely finished yesterday feeling a good deal brighter. :)

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  2. Love the notice board idea, simple yet effective!
    Neverwhere is one of my favourite books, Door is such a great heroine!
    Lisa.

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  3. Lovely to hear you sounding so much happier! One question... Do you have a batik cup type thing? Or are you using another product? It looks wonderful, and I have wanted to do batik for years and years, but never thought I could justify the equipment. Any tips you fancy sharing? Or are they trade secrets?

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    1. When I have done wax batik in the past I used the same cup I used for candle making, on the stove in a pan (also reserved for crafting only), and borrowed Emma's wax pen - but you have to work FAST and carry wax around the kitchen haha.

      Now I use PVA with a squeezy nozzle. When it's dry I add the dyes, and either microwave in a sealed plastic bag or put in the yarn steamer. I have a lot of dye-reserved equipment from the yarn already!

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  4. so many lovely things... especially little boys in trees, in tutus!! Oh and i am now off to purchase that book. sounds like a fabby one!

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  5. Beautiful knitting and how nice to have a great tree for climbing!

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    1. Willow is quick growing! I planted it as a teeny cutting from my mum's tree not long after we moved here seven years ago. It was climbable from its fifth summer. :) :) I hoped it would be, so that my daughter (then a baby) could have a real climbing tree. :)

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  6. Wow Jupiter? Your shawl looks great as well.

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    1. The shawl is Flying Geese. Very simple. :)

      I made up Jupiter based on something I saw on Ravelry, it's a felted ball made to have a balloon inside it. One of my crazy friends commissioned it!

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  7. thank you so much! i surfed in from laura’s blog — cheers me immensely to see you reading my book and enjoying it!

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    1. Oh you are welcome and thank you for writing it! :)

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  8. Your pink tutu'd boy would fit right in at my house! I love the shawl. And obsessive yarn purchases are always perfectly normal in my opinion ;)
    xx

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    1. He fits right in here too! He's my best friend's son, and lived here for a while. :)

      I dyed the sock yarn (and the yarn for Jupiter). A quick dye session here and there, and before you know it the dining table is buried in the stuff! But yarn purchases are alarmingly frequent too!

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  9. Lovely to hear you are feeling happier. I think I might have to get a copy of the project based home schooling book. I found Lori's blog this week and both you and Ginny are reading the book. It is loosely what we do here.

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  10. The book looks interesting, think I may need to add it to my amazon list!! Do you have a bit more info on dyeing with PVA, sounds fun!

    Alice x

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    1. Not tricky at all - just draw on with the pva, paint or pour your dye roughly where you want it, then heat to set - either microwave, steamer, or in a pinch, hair dryer (did this the other day because the glue wasn't entirely dry yet but I was impatient)! The glue washes out when you rinse excess dye off, with a bit of rubbing. xxx

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  11. Oooh, I never thought to knit the planets...we're going to do a study on space in a few months...perhaps I'll have to knit a solar system. ;) Your shawl looks lovely too! I'm happy to have found your blog through the link up, I'm sharing leg warmers this week. Happy knitting!

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    1. Lovely to meet you! Jupiter was a crazy commission from a crazy friend. :) When I started it I was thinking, "oh my goodness, what have I taken on?!!" but it ended up being quite fun. :)

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  12. I love that shawl. Looking forward to the day I actually make something for myself!! Thanks for sharing the link for the baby jumper- it looks like the absolute perfect pattern for me! xx m.

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Penny for your thoughts? :)