theraineysisters knitting and so much more

Happy Mother’s Day to all moms, aunties, friends of children, etc.!

Last post, I described my brief foray into jewelry making.  Today, I’m going to discuss my second fiber habit, crocheting.

I don’t crochet often, but really enjoy it when I do.  I like granny squares.  There.  I said it!  I made a granny square cowl a few years ago that I absolutely love.  I recently became smitten with these Granny Square Chickens.  Yep.  More chickens!  What is it with crafters and chickens these days??

Here is my first attempt.  You make two granny squares and then sew them together in a particular way to get the chicken shape.

I loved it and thought, hmmmm.  Should I try another color combo?

Liked it even better!  Then my friend, Christine, made one out of fingering weight yarn…so, I had to give it a go.

When I was making this one, I thought a pansy-themed chick would be cute…so, one more:

And that, my friends, is how I ended up with a basketful of chickens!

My girls will come over today and one has already expressed interest in a chicken.  I may have to make a replacement!!  I also made the basket.  Another crafting rabbit hole!!

ETA: Laura took chicken #2!!  The one with pink petals.  I’ll need to make a replacement.  Jena didn’t take one — her dog would eat it!

ETA2: The replacement chicken is done!

PS to Chloe: I had to laugh when you called this a herd of chickens instead of a flock!!  🙂

I have been interested in many crafts and handiwork my entire life.  I have dabbled in so many different things!  Oftentimes, I’ll do a little one-off project to try something out and move along.  Knitting stuck for some reason.  But even though I enjoy the other activities, they are usually fleeting.

Case in point.  Surly and I decided that our trip to Rhinebeck was fun, but too expensive to warrant another go.  So, we looked into a “local” event in Loveland, Colorado called Interweave Maker Festival that would mean no hotel or car rental fees.  Yay!  We wanted to take a class but couldn’t find a knitting class that suited us.  We decided to sign up for the “Chased and Knotted Cuff” taught by Anne Mitchell.  She said it was for beginners.  Hey!  We know nothing!!

The plan hit a small snag when Sally and hubby bought a vacation home in Tucson and would be there when the class was to take place.  It meant a lot of extra coordination and travel, but we made it work.

The class was great!  Sally and I ended up being the only real novices…everyone else had taken a class from Anne before.  Anne had everything set up for us.  We each had our own fully stocked workstation.

The bracelet started out as a pure silver strip of metal and two pure silver wires.  Pure silver is almost 100% silver whereas sterling silver is only 92%.  We found out what annealing is.  It was fun to learn new stuff!

Anne took us through it all step-by-step.  She would demonstrate and then we would do it ourselves.

Here the wire has been annealed, bent, and annealed again.  Then it was hammered flat.  We had to use a blowtorch and everything!!  The next picture shows it several steps later:

After this, a sterling silver cup was soldered on for the center stone and the bracelet bent into shape.  There was pickling and anodizing and whatever else she told us to do!!  Here are the results:

Sally’s Chased and Knotted Cuff

Susan’s Chased and Knotted Cuff

Yep.  We made those!  I still can’t believe it.  Yes, it cost 3 times what it would have cost to buy.  No, I am not going to become a jewelry maker.  BUT, it was really fun for a one-day experience!  I highly recommend thinking outside of the box and trying something new.  It was very interesting being so “green.”  I felt like some of the students I have in my knitting classes where the content is just out of their reach.

The next day we spent at the Maker Festival Market, which included both yarn and beads.  Then off to Tucson:

View of the mountains

Poolside

There are two cute yarn shops in Tucson, and we did some damage at Grandma’s Spinning Wheel!  I made this cute little Derecho when I got back, just in time for the warmer weather.  The yarn is Queensland Brighton Beach, color Orange Cup Coral.  It only took 3 skeins, but I had purchased six!  The extra has already been sold to a peep.

I’m not a huge fan of summer knitting but I LOVE this top.  The pattern is great.

PS to Susanne: You said it so well!  Thank you!