Yarn Weights Explained (courtesy of Meg Swansen)

In her iconic book A Gathering of Lace, first published in 2000 and with a cast of 34 fiber artists, Meg Swansen explains the differences of yarn weights clear at the back of the book. Mind you, it took a few hours to get there since the lace projects are intriguing to review, but when I found the chart (copied above), this was a revelation to me.

For a long while, I thought a "DK" weight yarn was the abbreviation for "Double Knit". Thanks to a chart I found in the back of this delightful book, I learned the exact size and look of a DK weight yarn, as well as other sizes of yarns.

The chart pictured above can be found on page 165 of the book A Gathering of Lace. Here is the site where you can purchase it on Amazon.One more trick that I learned from this book is quoted from page 4 of the book:

When it comes to joining in a new ball of wool, the usual methods are not very satisfactory for lace knitting.. (but) splicing... when done done properly, ... is totally undetectable. If you have a 2-ply wool, separate the last few inches of the old skein into its individual plies and break off (do not cut) one ply several inches from the end. Repeat this procedure on the end of the new skein. Now overlap the two ends in your left palm, moisten your right palm (spit does work better than water) and rub your palms together briskly for 5 to 10 seconds...or until you can feel heat. You have fused the fibers and, because you broke off one of the plies on either end, the diameter of the wool remains constant.

Let me tell you, this method works! The fusion is invisible from either side of your knitting.

Here is a picture of a the Clair lace shawl (pattern can be found here), compliments of Vyonne Senecal on Ravelry, where this method of splicing yarns was applied yesterday as I was knitting a shawl with the new possum and wool fur from Dunedin, New Zealand.

About half way up the thirty rows of knitted lace shown in the picture, I had to splice together two balls of yarn. Using Swansen's technique of splicing yarn, there is absolutely no detection of where the splicing occurred.

This was an idea too good not to share!

Inspirational Stories for Publication

A fellow blogger and author recently put out a call for inspirational stories that she will compile and publish in the near future. This individual, Jena Isle, has the website GewGaw Writings. Here is her banner:Ms. Isle states in her blog the term "gewgaw" ...

... in this site means " bauble" - "baubles" of writing....an attempt to write poems, short stories, essays, quotations and what-nots...

She plans to put together twelve inspirational stories which she has garnered for a book she believes will be a good read for a wide audience.

The oral story I submitted last August to the National Public Radio Story Corps was one about a moral and medical decision which was made almost forty years ago that has had far reaching impact. You can read it here at Jena Isle's blog. If you scroll through her blog, all twelve stories she has chosen can also be read.

When she publishes, she will send each of the contributors one of these books. Thank you, Jena, for selecting this story as one of the twelve you believe worthy of publication. Best success on your book, as well.

Using Blingee Program for Glitter Graphics

Make custom Glitter Graphics

...just stumbled upon a free graphic program found at Blingee. An example of a blinged out picture is shown above. It is a free program and has dozens of graphics from which to choose.

These are the two main photographs shown below (but not blinged out) that I am using as inspiration to create a new oil painting that should be finished before the start of summer.

The lovely close-up picture of the pink and purple lily was taken by Kelly Sheimberg while on the New Zealand/Australia Scrabble cruise trip last month.

Thus far, two coats of underlying orange and yellow primer have been put on the canvas, and I hope to sketch out the lily and foliage by the end of the day. This painting will incorporate some of the newer water based oils readily available on the market. I'm thinking of jewel tones for the petals of the flower with lots of greens/blues for background foliage.

The first painting will be on a 11" x 14" canvas. By the start of summer, I would like to paint a similar lily in varying hues of pinks, reds and purples on a 36" x 48" canvas. Please contact me if you are interested in acquiring either of these original works.