Lena Makes Stuff

Lena | 28 | she/her | main: @truthandshadow Hi, I'm Lena and I make stuff.

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

OP: Share beautiful and practical stitching techniques.(cr 随心意针线)

[darksunradiance]

Finished spinning this gorgeous "seaweed" yarn (60% seacell, 40% wool) and oh my god it's soooo smooth and silky and luxurious I can't wait to make something with it because it will feel amazing against my skin !!! I'm so happy with how it turned out it's a pretty fine weight yarn and I feel like it's very consistent and not over/underspun, my skill level is finally getting somewhere I'm proud of 🎉 been working on this one for a while, but now that it's off my wheel I get to start my other tdf spins hooray ~

[tweedlestrove]

Note on the text regarding the arrowhead stitch on page 27. This is a very pretty common basketry weave, and if you decide to use it please do not call it Native American "inspired" or "Indian design" basketry. There are hundreds of different tribes, with many of the designs specific to those tribes and to the regions. Purchase baskets from actual Indigenous owned stores instead instead of giving money to people who steal, stereotype, and monetize another's culture, or making "inspired" creations yourself that do the same.

I posted the link the other day to this book! from 1922, but wanted to do an image dump of it as well, so.... Incoming! unfortunately it let me post all but the last 2 pages on shellacking baskets and Dennison Manufacturing's advert for other books, which I've made into a separate post here! 👒 🦇 ~💜

[havinghorns]

Looking at some beautiful quilts by Michael James to cheer me up

[krakengoddess]

Happy pride.

Pattern: Hello Tourist by Wondrlanding. I used Woolstok Worsted in 10 colors for the main color, plus the white for the contrast color.

[auberginecrochet]

just finished this sweater in the middle of a heatwave (third wave woohoo...) !! probably my most ambitious knit so far, i honestly didnt think i had it in me lol but im so happy with the result despite the many mistakes and impecfection

Pattern is from the 1982 issue of the french magazine 100 idées, my grandmother actually knit it for my aunt back then!

[ofchaosgoddess]

Last night I started working on a hanging propagation station type deal for spindle storage, and I made some progress

But in thinking about the last 4 days of tdf and what I may be able to get done and what I want to get done, I think I need to put away the woodworking til next week and maximize the spinning time. Esp bc I have very time consuming leave the house obligations on saturday AND sunday this week (why did I do that to myself?)

[ofchaosgoddess]

okay just a couple more sanding passes and then my spindle storage station (draft 1) should be ready to oil and go up on the wall.

I have Several Improvements I want to make for draft 2 ofc (starting with: have capacity for more than 8 spindles)(also be able to store full spindles)(and just go to the makerspace and use the drill press omg why are you so stubborn)(etc) but I think draft 1 will be usable, i’m excited!

[ofchaosgoddess]

draft 1. Obviously lots of room for improvement but it works! The vertical spacing is actually quite good I think, I wouldn’t want the shelves any closer together. Horizontally, I certainly could fit 5 spindles on each shelf, especially the spindles with smaller whorls. Also I definitely need a rigid connection between the shelf units; cord is not the right solution on both practical and aesthetic grounds.

[ofchaosgoddess]

partner suggested replacing the cord with chain and I think that’s actually a great idea. It is stronger than the cord and easier to measure and attach but still has the like movement and lightness that I wanted. so that is definitely penciled in for draft 2

[ofchaosgoddess]

okay in trying to plan this out I do see why no one does this

[amymon-arachne]

Suggestion?

In this version, the spindles would be upside down to how you have them now, letting you put full spindles on them. The hole lets the top of the spindle shaft through while the divot gives the tip of the spindle somewhere to rest, so it doesn’t rattle around too much (think like a test tube rack).

Craft hooks means you don’t have to drill all the way through the wood, making the chain connectors possible.

Obviously you can create as many slots for spindles as you want, the shelves just need the hole/divot spacing offset.

This version uses three shelves instead of two, but it also allows you to reduce the vertical space needed because the spindle shaft pokes through to the level above. You can also add more shelves without taking up too much space.

[hometoursandotherstuff]

Came across this art installation, Liza Lou's Kitchen, at the Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC. It's a kitchen made of tiny glass beads, that artist Liza Lou did, taking 5 yrs. to complete, from 1991 - 1996.

My favorite part is the sink.

Details of a recipe book.

All the details in tiny glass beads.

Love the pie in the oven.

Love this so much.

No wonder it took 5 yrs.

https://whitney.org/collection/works/34855?

[stclements]

[amymon-arachne]

Was idly dreaming about advents and now I’ve apparently committed myself to a Lifelong Project.

This is fine. Ironically this is still cheaper than buying an advent.

Also calling it a lifelong project means zero deadlines. Apart from actual death I guess.

[amymon-arachne]

Damn it now I’m browsing the internet for breed study bundles.

There are a few that look amazing for bigger projects, but now I’m dreaming of building a material reference guide, and for that lots of tiny samples are the ideal way to go.

The goal here isn’t to write a book, there’s no way I’m qualified to do that. I’ve really only been spinning for… like a year. It’s basically just to have a binder full of fibre samples to touch.

[amymon-arachne]

Last December I was watching a lot of YouTube videos about knitting/spinning advent calendars and feeling kind of sad about missing out. Which is not something I tend to feel! I’m not really a FOMO kind of person! But it was definitely something I was feeling kind of intensely.

So I’ve been thinking on and off about how I would want to set up an advent for myself, because let’s face it, I’m not spending $200-350 on an advent. It’s early to be thinking about advents I know, but I wanted time to forget what exactly I purchased. I love the World of Wool breed sampler advent they’re doing, but shipping to Canada almost doubles the price. Maybe one day…

Option one was to buy 25g samples of 19 micron merino from my local dyer, and have my cousin pick out the colours so it’s a surprise. My coworker also suggested I could get the dyer to pick the colours for me. This option would be $48-100 before tax, depending on if I do 12 days or 25. Not bad, but I would be spinning the exact same fibre the entire time, just in different solid colours. Realistically I probably can’t spin 25g per day, so it’d likely be 12 days. Resulting yarn would be used for… colourwork? I guess?

Option two is what I’m leaning towards. This would be to buy a specialty fibres sampler pack, and then supplement from my stash and by buying other small quantities. This is looking to be about $100 before tax since I have a $25 coupon and I’m also pulling from stash, for 25 days of spinning 25g per day. If I don’t finish it all it’ll just carry over into Tour de Fleece. My goal with this would be to build up some material knowledge about different non-wool fibres (breed study will probably happen eventually but not anytime soon. I tried different breeds too early in my spinning journey and didn’t learn anything because I didn’t know what I was doing yet). For this I’d basically want to keep small samples of yarn spun from different fibres to have something to refer back to. Probably knit swatches, too.

Option 2 has no mystery involved, except maybe what order I spin them in, but it has a useful end result and more engaging process. Realistically it’ll carry over long after Christmas, but it’ll be a good learning experience.

[amymon-arachne]

Wait. Wait.

What if. For each 25g sample, I spun 20g straight and blended the remaining 5g with 15g of merino to create a 25/75 blend. That way I would have a sample of how each fibre behaves on its own and how it behaves blended with wool.

This takes it way beyond the scope of an advent of course, but. Low pressure long term project? Very very long term project?

[likitesplit]

Elodie Antoine

[amymon-arachne]

Last December I was watching a lot of YouTube videos about knitting/spinning advent calendars and feeling kind of sad about missing out. Which is not something I tend to feel! I’m not really a FOMO kind of person! But it was definitely something I was feeling kind of intensely.

So I’ve been thinking on and off about how I would want to set up an advent for myself, because let’s face it, I’m not spending $200-350 on an advent. It’s early to be thinking about advents I know, but I wanted time to forget what exactly I purchased. I love the World of Wool breed sampler advent they’re doing, but shipping to Canada almost doubles the price. Maybe one day…

Option one was to buy 25g samples of 19 micron merino from my local dyer, and have my cousin pick out the colours so it’s a surprise. My coworker also suggested I could get the dyer to pick the colours for me. This option would be $48-100 before tax, depending on if I do 12 days or 25. Not bad, but I would be spinning the exact same fibre the entire time, just in different solid colours. Realistically I probably can’t spin 25g per day, so it’d likely be 12 days. Resulting yarn would be used for… colourwork? I guess?

Option two is what I’m leaning towards. This would be to buy a specialty fibres sampler pack, and then supplement from my stash and by buying other small quantities. This is looking to be about $100 before tax since I have a $25 coupon and I’m also pulling from stash, for 25 days of spinning 25g per day. If I don’t finish it all it’ll just carry over into Tour de Fleece. My goal with this would be to build up some material knowledge about different non-wool fibres (breed study will probably happen eventually but not anytime soon. I tried different breeds too early in my spinning journey and didn’t learn anything because I didn’t know what I was doing yet). For this I’d basically want to keep small samples of yarn spun from different fibres to have something to refer back to. Probably knit swatches, too.

Option 2 has no mystery involved, except maybe what order I spin them in, but it has a useful end result and more engaging process. Realistically it’ll carry over long after Christmas, but it’ll be a good learning experience.

[amymon-arachne]

So. I haven’t used my Ashford Traditional since I finished the cotton candy yarn a few weeks ago during TDF. So of course I haven’t put a new bobbin on it, so the drive band has been sitting loose on the floor.

Well.

It turns out my cats have been chewing on it while I’m asleep or at work. They’ve chewed it into four pieces.

So the question is. Do I drop $40 on a new polycord drive band, or go back to using cotton which will need replacing more often but is cheap to replace.

[basaltbutch]

AFTER TWO MONTHS I AM FINALLY DONE WITH THE BACK OF THIS VEST. yes it is all embroidered. freehanded, drew a sketch on the vest with sharpie and then just went at it. i still have some stuff im doing on the front + another pocket to add and then im dying some linen and using that for the lining. may add a fish skeleton to the weird flap at the top.

[poetryincostume]

I’m still very slowly but steadily working through sampler after sampler with pleasing results. Also frustrating just bc I have so little time and so much fatigue.

This is one sampler from about 6 weeks ago that I think is particularly pretty, and a nice break from regular fans and footsides. There are some tensions issues; i’m working on that.

Pricking from Ulrike Voelcker Discover Torchon

Using Fil au Chinois 36/2