Cranking out socks

It sews!

2009-06-18T19:19:00.002-04:00

The machine is sewing nicely! It only took a half bottle of oil and a some love. It is lovely and
a joy to sew with. I am now looking at getting the belt to stay on without duct tape....

New Home sewing machine

2009-05-23T12:28:00.002-04:00

I found this old sewing machine at a yard sale. The guy said he had it for 20 years and kept his TV on it. So, off it went into the bed of the pickup truck! When we got it home we noticed fabric still under the presser foot, the drawers still had notions in it and the New Home box was still there with all the "stuff" it came with. It appears to have two newspaper heart templates and the date on it is Oct. 1966. It was almost like she just got up and just walked away. It can use a little love, but it was just so amazing to go through the drawers and see all the old 15 cent thread and stuff--I cant help but think that there is probably a lady looking down from heaven and glad that it isn't a TV stand anymore. So, now what??? Anyone know anything about it?? How old ect. I will clean it up and try to get it working. Oh, and I paid $10 for it.

Fall is here

2008-09-18T17:42:00.002-04:00

Fall is now here and I continue to do well. We welcomed Diesel, our new flemish bunny into our home and boy, has he made himself at home! He chases the cats, chases the dogs, chews on the dining room chair and watches Andy. He is big, about 19lbs now and is very smart, he is a joy to have here and we just adore him! Madison is now 18 months old, so far we have survived her puppyhood, she still chews but is old enough to be sneaky about it now! But, one "golden retriver" look at me and all is forgiven!
Socks are going well, Noro does not go through the machine well, so I have switched to the alpaca light and it makes lovely socks. I will begin making hunting socks soon as hunting season is quickly approaching here in western VA.

Spring

2008-03-31T10:12:00.003-04:00

It's finally spring here in VA. We are getting ready to welcome a baby Flemish giant bunny to our critter crew. I picked a fawn so he would match the golden retriever. He will be here soon and I hope him and Jack will become friends. This little guy will be very, very big. but they are very gentle and make wonderful pets.
We are making plans to attend Maryland Sheep and Wool, there are five of us going and we cant wait. I hope to find a knitting machine at the auction there. This weekend is the New York City trip to shop and see the play Hairspray. I have mapped out all the yarn stores!

Socks and more socks!

2008-03-01T06:22:00.003-05:00

I have been away from my blog for awhile. We survived Christmas, then it was my birthday and then I had surgery...but all is better now. I have been making socks and more socks. I have made some for my boss as well. (no raise yet). Nikki and I will be demonstrating the machine at the Blue Ridge Fiber Gathering meeting tomorrow in Forest VA. I hope I don't do something stupid like fall out of my chair in front of everyone.
I have some new fleece, working at getting them ready to carded and spun, they are picked and that is about all. I have to keep the process moving if I want to come home from Maryland Sheep and Wool with a new fleece! Keep on Crankin'

Madison and the Christmas tree

2007-12-18T20:32:00.000-05:00

It is quite the tag team effort going on to destroy the tree! One cat on each side, batting the stuff off, Madison chewing them up and the Shih Tzu-ZZ, opening the presents, opened three of them before I caught him. I hope he liked the speed stackers, maybe my nephew will let him play with them.
So, the tree now has a very cute little white fence around it. It is usually used to keep the bunnies out of trouble, but they loaned it to the Christmas tree. The the guinea pig Tank then chewed up the stocking hanging on the front of his cage. I hope Santa understands!

Autoknitter Sock Machine

2007-12-12T20:15:00.000-05:00

All is going great with the sock machine. Nikki came by and made a very impressive pair on her first try. She did great and made it look easy. I found that Knitpicks makes very nice and affordable sock yarn. With the speed the machine can make the socks pretty quick, I need lots of yarn so I ordered a bunch! On my way home from my dads house on Tuesday, I was able to stop at the Woolery in NC, nice store, went crazy in there of course. Got sock yarn, a fiber teaser, a 1lb bag of romney fleece and some bobbins for my friend. Picked up the new picker today, I have to go pick now. After Santa comes, I will have a new computer and will begin putting on pictures.
I can pass the name and number of the lady that sells the sock machines if anyone would like to contact her...email me at Laurah99@cox.net.
Happy first birthday Madison!!!
Our lives have been so interesting since you came to be a part of our family (I still have one pair of shoes to wear to work)
Merry Christmas, happy knitting, spinning and as always Crank on!!

Raverly

2007-12-05T19:15:00.000-05:00

Ravely is going good, I am in some groups and I have met some new friends. I really like the CSM group, we help each other and my socks look better everyday!
I am looking for a picker these days, doesn't seem to be too many around for sale. Our spinning/knitting group from Forrest had an auction, Nikki and I sold some stash and bought new stash. Bids started at $1.00, if no one else bid, it was yours. We each got a fleece for $1.oo. We will see how they turn out.
Madison turns one on Dec 12th, time has flown, she is a big girl now, but she still sleeps right beside me, which is fine, that way I know she isn't up chewing up my stuff, although we have lost many socks and three shoes to the midnight bandit.
Looking ahead to Maryland sheep and Wool, cant wait! There is a sock machine demonstration in the main tent...that will be fun.

Raverly

2007-11-25T19:15:00.000-05:00

I have joined Raverly, Nikki said it was cool and she put me on the list...she is right, it is cool.
I have found groups for the knitting machine, the RV knitters ( I used to have the cool magnet but Madison the eat everything puppy, chewed it up) I found a group of law enforcement people who knit and a group for the bond machine I also have. My name there is Sockmachinelady if you need to find me, my picture is Bailey, my bunny.
I love the CSM, or circular sock machine group, they are very helpful with some of the issues I have knitting on the very old machine.
I have been very good this year and have asked Santa for a new computer before this old one with
Windows 98 crashes, so I hope to have some pictures on my blog as soon as he stops buy :-)

Circular knitting machine

2007-11-08T18:57:00.000-05:00

My friend and I had a nice class....we are CSM knitters now! Our socks now have heels and toes.
I made one, my friend made the other one. This sock machine is so cool!

Antique circular knitting machine

2007-11-02T18:34:00.000-04:00

My friend and I have just returned from SAFF and fiber overload. We had a great time!
We both took classes, she took a dyeing class and a cast on class, I took The Shepard's Rug class and a loom class. We both learned new things and made new friends. We saw lots of great fiber and yarns, she did all the shopping though, I only bought one thing.......I got an Auto knitter CSM, or circular sock machine. We saw the lady using it and I was hooked! The perfect thing for the knitter who doesn't knit!!!! It now lives here with me, willed to my friend of course since she talked me into it, (not really, but a little peer pressure helps). Now all I have to do is figure out how to use it. I have spent many hours reading blogs of folks that have them, (Soxophone player guy, you rock)! It came with a class and my friend and I are NC bound in the morning to learn how to make a heel and toe. I enjoy making tubes, which is all I can do at this point, but they are nice tubes. If anyone has one and sees this blog, please let me know, as I am the only one I know so far. I will post pictures soon.
Next stop- Maryland Sheep and Wool in May!!!!

NoSo knit

2007-09-30T09:01:00.000-04:00

We had a lot of fun at NoSo, we got to meet very nice people and we had a great time being with each other. There was shopping for nice yarns, great door prizes, and goodies bags (that allowed for some interesting trading) but we all ended up with the colors we wanted, even my "wont knit for me friend", she ended up with two very pretty hand painted skeins with a little bargaining and a little cold hard cash. It was a fun day, new and old friends, talking and knitting, life is good. On to SAFF in a month!!!

SAFF

2007-08-31T18:18:00.001-04:00

I have been busy getting ready for the NoSo knit...my baby booties are made and done...
We are Asheville NC bound in late Oct.
I have signed up for the loom class at SAFF and changed my Joy of Socks class, I really couldn't
knit a sock anyway who am I fooling!! I changed it for The Shepard's Rug class, it is a class
that teaches how to braid roving, felt it and the sew it into a braided rug. The instructors
make beautiful rugs and I have been practicing...braiding roving is much harder than braiding hair because hair doesn't get 12 feet long! Of course, puppy Madison takes a break from chewing our stuff up to help me with the roving and running off with it. But hopefully the rug will be pretty when it is finished. It takes 4-5 lbs of roving to make one rug! I hope I don't have to get a sheep!
I have finished some felted bowls, will send one to the future Mustang slipper owner since she doesn't know what felting is.
We are also heading to NYC in Nov, and of course I have plotted my way to all the cool yarn shops!

NoSo knit

2007-08-18T20:13:00.000-04:00

NoSo knit stands for North South knit, it is an annual one day knit in for charity, and we also donate yarn to the Alderson WV women's prison knitting program. Admission is one knitted item (yikes), since the only thing I know how to make are slippers, I am making some felted slippers for my admission. The mustang slippers are on hold for the moment due to NoSo knit being in late Sept. I gotta start knitting now.
SAFF is coming up as well....looking forward to my Loom solutions class and my "Joy of socks" class...maybe I'll know how to make two things before too long! :-)

Mustang slippers

2007-07-18T20:01:00.000-04:00

The slippers are born! They are coming along, I have one almost half done, the lime green and black are quite the contrast, I hope it will soften up when felted. I have been looking for a unique finishing touch, I think I found it on eBay, cant say what it is as CA friend reads this blog. Anyway, have been busy, boomerang kid is back and enrolled in college now...I offered him my weaving/spinning room, aka his old bedroom back and he opted for the basement (whew..that was a close one, my weaving room could have been a goner)
I should have a picture of my Aunt Mae in her new slippers soon!

Slippers

2007-06-28T20:21:00.000-04:00

The slippers are finished and on the way to my
95 year old Aunt Mae....will let you know if she liked
them. I knitted them of Lambs pride colors Onyx and
Flannel Blue, together. I tried to put a solid blue stripe
in them, don't do this, the one strand shrunk more than the mixed
colors, I had to so some pretty creative stretching to get the
Ronald McDonald shoe shape out of them. Okay, so now I know.
I put a daisy button on the top of them.
Will post a picture soon...maybe she will model them for us.
The Mustang legend lime slippers are next!!!

Slippers

2007-06-20T20:01:00.000-04:00

The slippers are coming along....I think my friend was right! I can do it!
One day I hope to be as good a knitter as her.
My friend in CA wants a pair to match her Mustang.....I think that is cool!

Hokie Healing Project

2007-06-16T19:03:00.000-04:00

I went to the Hokie Healing Project sew together event today and helped 7 other ladies make a blanket for a shooting victims family. We had a great day, the finished blanket was lovely. When we arrived, we were given a bag that had 62 donated squares in it. We laid them out on the floor and arranged and re-arranged them till we were happy with the design and then started sewing, we each had a row, sewed them together, then started sewing the rows together. We had a wonderful blanket when we were done four hours later. All finished blankets were displayed in the hall area, they were beautiful.
I was glad to be part of something so meaningful, and I hope this blanket brings some comfort to the family who receives it. I will try to get a picture posted soon.....

Another pair of slippers are born

2007-06-08T18:44:00.001-04:00

I have decided to try to knit a pair of slippers all by myself. Yikes! I had a little cast on
help from my friend who refuses to enable me in my "doesn't know how to knit but still manages to make stuff" habit, you know who you are :-) So far so good, I have 8 rows done and there are still the same amout of stitches there! I find that knitting at our group meetings is easier by not having the kittens swinging on the yarn, but it is also more challenging due to my friend who wont "knit a row or two" for me, she makes me do it myself. Will keep you posted on the progess....

She liked them!!

2007-06-02T08:07:00.000-04:00

My step mom liked her new slippers...they fit just fine! Hope to get a picture posted soon!

Slippers

2007-06-01T10:13:00.000-04:00

We found out we have a new yarn shop opening in June and
I am very excited, we don't currently have a nice yarn store here.
I finished slippers for my step mom...picture will be coming soon.
Of course, someone else knitted them for me, amazing how many
folks I can get to enable my- "non knitter but still manages to make
stuff" habit! I have wonderful friends and stepmom. I put them together
and felted them, kinda hard when you are making slippers
that are two sizes smaller than you wear, so I borrowed
a foot tracing from one of my nurse buddies and it worked
out just fine. I just keep felting till they fit the tracing, then
I applied some spray rubber on the soles to make them
non-slip, it worked wonderfully...will keep you posted on
whether she likes them or not.

New Blogger

2007-05-28T20:35:00.000-04:00

I am new to blogging, so here goes........
It is the holiday weekend, and I stayed busy with the house and all
the pets, 3 dogs, 4 cats, 3 bunnies, guinea pig and hermit crab.
My newly purchased loom sits in my weaving room,
(used to be a kids room, but he moved to Knoxville).
My new loom is a McComber add-a-harness loom that needed a new home
and we found each other. It sits beside my Majacraft Rose spinning wheel
and my drum carder I got for Christmas. It is a very quiet room with only
a cat or two sometimes wandering in to keep me company. Nice room to think
in. Big closet and crates of yarn that, if I was real honest with myself, I know I will never use that much yarn. But who cares, there's always room for more yarn! The warping board hangs on the wall and all my handspun yarn hangs above my wheel, (just to torment the kitties).
It is a nice room, and it's all mine...that is pretty cool too!