Katia

I finished up a weaving project a couple of weeks ago. It's a scarf I'm calling "Katia", after the yarn I used, "Katia Colibri". I knitted a shawl/scarf with this kind of yarn about a year ago but in another colorway. The results were beautiful! I saw on Ravelry that someone had woven with it and I knew instantly that I had to give it a try. The colors and texture changes in this yarn are fabulous and it's so much fun to see how it all comes together in the finished fabric. I wove it in a simple plain weave with 12 ends per inch and used three balls of yarn, 669 yards.


The thin parts of the yarn create some sheerness..


The thick sections of turqouise and lime green add softness, color and texture...


The finished scarf is 8" wide by 92" long, including 4" of fringe on each end...


It's plenty long enough to drape around the neck and shoulders nicely...


I'm really happy with how it turned out.


I love this yarn and have seen a couple of other colorways that I really like. I would love to play with this yarn more...but...rumor has it that it's been discontinued. That won't stop me from dreaming about it and watching for it whenever I visit yarn shops! :-)

Studio Progress

The craft studio that I started blogging about months ago has seen some progress this week! Yay! We finally got the "Inspiration Wall" hung last night. Whew! What a job! I laid everything out on the floor and decided on an arrangement that I liked. Transferring a 57" x 62" grouping onto the wall with all those pieces was a bit challenging. However, it turned out pretty much like I had imagined with the exception of a little space left over in the bottom right corner. But, that's ok. I'm sure I'll find something for that spot, someday.

I love my yarn shop sign at the top! The magnet and tack boards will work great to pin up inspirational photos, lists, etc. And, yes...I decided to add a clock. It just fits so well in that space and will be useful. I usually listen to NPR (National Public Radio) or listen to music while I'm working. That should disguise the tick, tock sound. :-)


I love how the galvanized metal on the magnet board goes so well with the metal of the chandellier.


Look at the bottom...it looks like a little acorn...


I used a simple frame that I painted black, scrapbooking paper and ribbon to create a little piece of art to fill in one of the spaces and bring a little more pattern and color to the grouping...


This is a corner on the other side of my studio. I have an old ladder that holds quilts, fabric, etc. This corner also holds my warping board, a quilt hoop, my purple dress form, and some metal baskets that work great for holding yarn, project bags, etc.


Black is one of the colors that ties the room together...on the frames, the legs of the work table, and the bookcases on another side of the room. We had some particle board/picure wood bookcases that my husband painted black. What a transformation!


I use the top to hold an ever growing and useful supply of baskets, lazy kates, and even a dress form and head.


The shelves are filled with all sorts of things. I have knit, crochet, weaving, painting, quilting and lots of other crafty types of books and patterns as well as paints and brushes, scrap booking and jewelry making supplies, beach glass, some dried flowers for making potpouri...


An antique "McCoy" hand vase that I use to hold some things I need often...


I store buttons, fabric yo-yo's, tiny craft scissors, etc in vintage canning jars...


Vintage trims...


My little cast iron sheep watches over it all...


It's a wonderful space to work in with lots of natural light all day long. I love the work table we got too. It's counter height which works great to stand at or sit with the tall chairs. I can even change the size of it to make a square with four chairs or large rectangle with up to six chairs.


This room also has a small walk-in closet. I use it to store more craft supplies on shelves and in storage tubs.

This room is almost complete. All that's left to do is to make some little shutters for two small, square windows and to sew curtains for the larger window. We've been enjoying it for months now. Now that we have this inspiration wall, I have a feeling that a lot more creativity will be happening in this room!