Learning How to Leather Carve

I've always been impressed by many artists who have done some amazing leather tooling (i.e. leather carving). I've done some basic leatherworking over time, but I have never done any leather tooling, so I thought I might rectify that oversight.

The Internet is an amazing resource to look up nearly everything that you want to do. There are a ton of tutorials and videos on leather carving. I spent a little bit of time watching some Youtube videos and reading up on leather carving about some of the basics, basic tools, etc., that I would need.

The Tandy leather store was having a September sale, so I picked up a few things that I didn't have just so I could play with leather carving:

• A basic stamp set
  
  
• a couple of Craftaid Templates that would act as my design (so I could concentrate on just the carving portion) 
• scraps of veg-tanned leather for practice. 

After I got everything in place, I just started practicing with some simple basic designs. Here are two examples:

Here are a couple of the resources I looked at on the web. There are a lot, so I suggest doing a Google search on leather carving.

Sample resources:

• Tandy's instructional YouTube videos on Stamping & Carving: 
• http://amtgard.natkd.com/basic_leather_carving.htm 
• http://www.squidoo.com/Basic-Leather-Carving

Learning to Hand-Sew Leather

Things in my life are somewhat in flux, right now. Members of my family (both human and feline) are having serious medical issues, and the energy I have is being spent primarily on them instead of other things (like crafty goodness).  There are 'other' things eating up my energy, which I won't go into at the moment. However, I do have periods of downtime and keeping busy helps me take my mind off of various things, but I don't have the wherewithall to start anything new.

So, I took the opportunity to work on some of my UFOs (UN-Finished Objects) that I have lying around. These UFOs are of various crafting projects; some are knitting, crochet, sewing, and some are leather. In this case, I opted to work on a leather project where I had cut out the pieces some time ago, but haven't put together yet.

This project is a messenger bag using some oiled leather that I had left over from a previous project. The pieces are (left-to-right, top-to-bottom): inside pocket piece, front piece (with flap), outside pocket piece, back piece, and the one long piece in the middle is the bottom & sides of the bag.

Sewing leather is no different from sewing fabric, except it's a bit more labor intensive. You can use a sewing machine that can handle leather (like an industrial sewing machine) or you can hand-sew leather. In this case, I  needed more practice hand-sewing leather. Before I started sewing, I punched the D rings into the long side "strip" of the bag.

Then, it was a matter of punching holes in all of the leather pieces.

Afterwards, I threaded two needles with waxed nylon thread and started sewing. I started with a leather sewing awl, but found the tension better if I just used two needles. (Learn more about saddle stitching in this YouTube video.)

Here's the finished messenger bag from the side.

And here is a view from the top. I made a few mistakes here and there, including not giving enough of a "seam" allowance by punching the holes too close to the edge. Plus my stitch tension is a bit uneven, so it pulls in certain places. The bag is completely serviceable and will probably be gifted to my Eldest Nephew (as he was very jealous of his sister's messenger bag and wanted one for his own).

I still need to add the bag straps, but those are fairly easy to make.

Overall, however, it was a definite learning experience.  In order for me to get better hand sewing leather, I have to make leather projects to get better as it behaves very differently from fabric. I'll be making another bag soon, hopefully.

And here's your obligatory kitten photo! (They're getting huge and are a constant source of joy in my life)

Sheep Pigs

The problem with the Internets is that once you follow a really interesting link, you kinda want to do more research, which leads to more interesting links, etc...ad naseum...until you've found that you've wasted several hours doing "research".

Luckily, this only wasted about 15 minutes of my time, but it IS fiber related:

A friend posts this link about sheep-pigs. They really do look like sheep.

So, I google the sheep name, "Mangalitsa" & "spinning". Why? Because if pig looks like a sheep, then SOMEONE has got to at least tried and spin this fiber, right?

Which leads me to this page, along with the following comment

Here in Lincolnshire, England the wool of the Lincolnshire Curly pig was used in the 19th Century for spinning and then knitting into waistcoats for workers in the fields. The wool is not only warm but hydrophobic and we can speculate that,after getting caught in an English rain shower, all one needed to do was shake the waistcoat vigourously to get it dry. When carding the wool the bristles should be discarded. To make the wool easier to knit, by decreasing the risk of breaking, some longer fibres were often mixed in from e.g Lincolnshire long wool sheep. The Lincolnshire Curly Coat went extinct in 1972 but earlier in the 20th century they had been crosss bred with Mangalitzas which were very similar. Today we have reintroduced Curly Coated pigs, ie Mangalitzas, to Lincolnshire and have experimented with knitting up their wool. The small quantities available have necessitated small scale demonstrative pieces so far but we hope to do more in 2010. For those interested, we will post more details of our activities during the summer on our Blog at www.rectoryreserve.co.uk

So, of course, I have to go look at that particular URL, and they have only a little bit of information, but I found this one fascinating.

Records for the Lincoln Show of 1911 show that 123 Curly Coat pigs were entered with Class 25 having five entries for “three clean washed Lincolnshire Curly Coat

And, this is where I hit a dead end, because the website has not much more and googling Lincolnshire pigs leads me to nothing except pages about the extinct breed.

Now, this only makes me curioser on whether or not the fiber can be spun from the new breed of Lincoln-Mangalitizas woolly pig. I think I shall have to email the Rectory Reserve.

A Bit of History: Part III - Crochet History

This is the 2nd part of a 3-part post regarding a little bit of history on some knitting & crocheting as presented for the Nova Albion Steampunk Exhibition workshop on Fiber Arts. (Obviously, this is not a comprehensive history, but serves merely as a primer, and my time line *stops* at the Victorian era).

Part I: Victorian Fiber Arts -- can be found here.
Part II: Knitting History -- can be found here.

---

CROCHET HISTORY

The exact origins of crochet are unknown as there are no surviving examples. The first mention as *shepherd's knitting* from "The Memoirs of a Highland Lady by Elizabeth Grant" in 1812, and the earliest published crochet pattern was around the 1820s. It has been theorized that crochet might have started as early as the 1600's and originated around Arabia and parts of Asia.

Around the 1800s, crochet became a cottage industry, especially in Ireland, was an inexpensive substitute for lace. As crochet was a cheap copy of the the more expensive (and thus status symbol) of lace, it was branded as "common". However, Queen Victoria helped its reputation by purchasing Irish made crochet lace, and learned to crochet herself.

Crochet became a popular leisurely pursuit for ladies. There are a lot of patterns available for making everything from crocheted lace copies to clothing. Crochet hooks ranged from crude wood to ivory hooks.

REFERENCES, LINKS & SAMPLE PATTERNS

• "Crochet History & Technique" by Lisa Paludan"
• Wikipedia's Entry on Crochet
• "The Hook & the Book", The emergence of Crochet & Knitting in American Pop Culture (1800s)
• Victorian & Albert Museum:
• http://www.antiquepatternlibrary.org/completelist.htm
• FAN Bookmark:
• COG Necklace

A Bit of History: Part II - Knitting

This is the 2nd part of a 3-part post regarding a little bit of history on some knitting & crocheting as presented for the Nova Albion Steampunk Exhibition workshop on Fiber Arts. (Obviously, this is not a comprehensive history, but serves merely as a primer, and my time line *stops* at the Victorian era).

Part I can be found here.

---

KNITTING HISTORY

Knitting hasn't been around as long, as say, spinning or weaving. The word "to knit" wasn't added into English until the 1400s. There are knitted fragments, but it's hard to know if it was really "knitting". There are examples of "nalbinding" (cross between tatting, knitting, and crochet).

Socks are the oldest form of knitted garments found, especially tubular (in the round) knitting (Egyptian socks 1000CE - stockinette done in shades of white & indigo with Arabic decorations -- made out of COTTON.) In the Middle East, the materials available were cotton & silk ...not necessarily wool.) In the 1600s, Britain became the biggest producer of handknitted worseted stockings that were exported around the world (knitted on 4 needles)

The knit stitch is the earliest form. Purl stitches were verfied in usage in 1562, and were mostly used for decoration purposes (not for welts or ribbing)

Examples of early knitting:
• pillow 1275 in Spain.
• Gloves from 1200s.
• Paintings from 1350s show some form of knitting.
• V&A example of 16th c gloves knitted in Spain. (knitted in the round)
(You can see some of these at the V&A Museum pages)
• Carpets are often found as examples of handknitting in the 1500-1600s.

14th - 16th Century: A cottage industry of knitting appeared in about 1420s, which also heralded the start of wool knitting. Previously, knitting was done with whatever fibers were the most readily available -- cotton, silk, etc.

In medieval times, knitting was guild controlled craft, and was a mainstay of exported goods (14-15thc). Sailors knitted for the same reason we do today -- it's portable, small, and gave them something to do on their long trips. This also spread the art of knitting.

Industrial Revolution in the 18th century -- transformed knitting into an automated process. Hand knitters found it difficult to make a living, as automation made cloth & clothing cheaper. There were still a few cottage industries of knitting, specifically in Scotland and the Fair Isle sweaters.

However, by now, knitting was slowly turning into a leisurely pursuit.

1800s -- Knitting was considered a more leisurely pursuit, suitable for ladies to pursue. It was also suitable for helping to decorate clothing, as well as hide any alterations of various hand-me-down clothing (along with other trim from ribbonwork, crochet, etc). Amusingly enough, there were knitting techniques that mimic'd crochet (such as picot knitting!)

There were a lot of instructions & patterns as yarn makers & embroidery houses published books to highlight their products (which hasn't changed much from today's current yarn catalogs & websites). There were also a lot of books & magazines geared towards women and teaching them these fine arts (again, this hasn't changed much!)

In the mid 1800s, beaded knitting was introduced and became widely popular, esp. in America, where ladies knitted beaded handbags.

Around the 1870s, knitting was taught to both boys & girls as part of their education, as part of a "useful skills" curriculum in schools for the working classes

By mid 1890s, knitting was considered "passe", but was still encouraged as a leisurely pass time for ladies.

There are still a lot of surviving patterns & books the Victorian era that you can easily find in Libraries or Google Books

Links of Interest

• http://vintagestitchorama.blogspot.com/2006/06/free-patterns-by-severina.html
• My Google Book Shehttp://spobjects.blogspot.com/lf on Fiber Arts
• Sortie Hat
• The Historic Knitter forum on Ravelry
• Knitty.com's History 101
• A brief history timeline
  

(next post: Crochet History)

A Bit of History: Part I - Victorian Fiber Arts

I had actually put together a whole bunch of notes for the Nova Albion Fiber Arts panel. As I am a former teacher (and history buff), I decided that knowing a bit of history was a good starting point. (Obviously, this is not a comprehensive history, but serves merely as a primer, and my time line *stops* at the Victorian era).

This is a 3-part series. So, without further ado....

---

A Bit of History Fiber Arts....

Victorians loved their crafts, including:
• cross stitch
• embroidery
• knitting
• tatting/netting/knotting -- a form of lacework
• Braid lace
• applique work
• silk ribbon work
• also a lot of other Victorian crafts, including scrapbooking, decoupage, etc

(If you think scrapbooking or decoupage is a modern invention, then think again....)

The Victorians LOVED lavish decorations. Elaborate designs were popular and adding trim to everything was common. (Lace curtains, elaborate quilts, embroidered clothing, lace edged hankerchefs, decorated frames, etc). These trims also served to hide alterations for clothing -- when older styled clothes were re-cut for later fashions or altered down to fit smaller relatives.

Victorian girls & women were expected to be proficient in a number of activities and to have "useful leisures" (especially in the middle-to-upper classes). Many young girls (as young as 6 years old) would have done "samplers" to show off their needlework and knowledge of the alphabet. Women in lower classes were expected to know a lot of these arts in order to make a living as sewers or to just be able to repair/make their own clothing.

Links of Interest

• Victorian Embroidery & Crafts Website
• Victorian Crafts (ignore all of the ads; there are some interesting articles)

(next Post: Knitting History)

Nova Albion Steampunk Exhibition: FIBER!

This past weekend, I did a whole bunch of workshop panels at the Nova Albion Steampunk Exhibtion. I am *exhausted* from my weekend, but my inner teacher is rather pleased with the panels & presentations, and I received a lot of "thank yous" from the various folks who attended and learned a lot.

My panels involved:
- a sewing, pattern alterations/ modifications
- wardrobe on a budget
- fiber arts
- silicon molding & resin casting

The Fiber Arts workshop dealt with: knitting, crocheting, embroidery, & trim.
I had brought materials to teach any of the following:
- knitting,
- crochet
- embroidery
- silk flower ribbonwork

As Miss Kalendar was focusing on knitting, and another teacher was focusing on embroidery, I taught attendees:

0) A little bit on the history of crochet, knitting, and trim in the Victorian era.

1) create flowers out of ribbon for trim -- how to create your basic flower using various techniques & how to create shells. I had one student create a lovely hatband out of various ribbons and embellished said ribbons with ribbon flowers.

2) crochet basics -- which amazingly, a lot of knitters had thought very difficult! I taught the simple basics: single stitch, chain stitch, half double crochet, double crochet, etc...and how each stitch builds ontop of another.

As an added bonus, I even got the lovely Miss Kalendar to pick up the crochet hook after showing her my lovely Mortimer.



There was a lot of fiber arts at Nova Albion. Miss Kalendar hosted a Social Salon which featured a lot of fiber arts. I stopped by on several occasions and was pleased to see folks with their knitting projects and even one spinning wheel.

Spinner's Study: Alpaca & Merino

Alpaca

So, for Ravelympics, I was continuing my spinning study, on alpaca. Needless to say, I'm *STILL* working on finishing that 2 oz of alpaca. This is being spun on a Greensleeves 1.6 oz spindle. I'm not sure if what I have is suri or huacaya, but I had gotten it as part of my original box from Spunky Eclectic. It's a natural tan color.



Notes:
- the alpaca is oh-so-buttery soft. It's very well prepared roving.
- the staple length is very *long* = 5-8"
- there's very little crimp in a given lock, so it's not very elastic.

I'm currently spinning it at about a heavy fingering or sport weight, as it seems to lend itself better to that weight. And I'm really really enjoying spinning this fiber.

However, I definitely would like to ply this with merino to give it a little bit of elasticity. I have some pure alpaca yarns, and while I love the drape and the feel, I think it would be better (for me) to mix this in with wool.

Merino
From my Spinner Study box, I have 2 oz of white merino, which is being spun on a Deborah Doyle (Asciano) spindle (1.25 oz).



Can I just say that I am *really* liking merino?

Notes:
- lots and lots of crimp, which means that it's.....
- very very elastic. There is definite "sproing" in the spun yarn. I can easily see this being over spun.
- I am currently spinning this at a fingering weight because I want to ply it with the above alpaca, but I can definitely see spinning this a lot thinner (laceweight) just because of the fiber properties.

Some personal notes:
While I like merino, I'm not sure if this will become my "Go-To" fiber (or Desert Island fiber). I find that I'm preferring a little bit of a longer staple length for spinning purposes. This isn't to say that I won't spin merino, but I can easily see this being blended with other fiber types (like alpaca) just to mix things around a little bit.

Spreading the Evil

A few weeks ago, a good friend of mine (who beads) said she'd be interested in learning how to use a drop spindle. Her mother tried to teach her how to knit as a young girl & as an adult ...and each time it ended in frustrated tears...so she has no desire to learn knitting or crocheting. However, she *loves* fiber and thought that spinning might prove to be better for her, as she has watched me spin and loves the fibers that I make.

So, I got her a good inexpensive wood spindle from Stitches West (she was deathly afraid of dropping and breaking a spindle -- she saw my glass & resin spindles), and a pretty handpainted corriedale top. Plus I added "practice" fiber that I had left over from some dark BFL from my last spinning project.

Armed with Abby Franquemont's "Respect the Spindle" DVD and The Bellweather's book, "Productive Spindling", I went over and showed her the principles of parking & drafting, then left her alone while her hubby, DH, and I went off to dinner & a concert (as she was ill).

I came back with her spindle 1/2 full of what looked like a DK or worseted weight yarn. She said that she thinks she could really get into this, as it appeals to her Anal Retentiveness.....she can control every aspect of the twist (making her prefer worsted spinning over woolen).

So, I've done my part of spreading the evil....

The Golden Gate Fiber Institute's schedule of classes is up for their Summer Intensive. It's the one I *really* wanted to go to, as they had not only Judy McQuinn, but Abby Franquemont and Cat Bordhi on their teacher list.

However, having now read the class descriptions, the two I'm interested in, seem geared towards beginners and I'm not sure I want to shell out the nearly $900 for the 6-day retreat. (Plus, there's taking a full week off work...)

So, I opted instead to go to the Jared Flood Sweater Class in March.

Ah well. I'll check to see if Abby or Cat are going to be doing any other classes in the Bay Area while they are out here.

Continuing Looking at Wool Types & Micron Counts

Previously on another blog post, I was looking into micron counts and wool types in order to learn about "micron counts" and why they are or not important. I also wanted to research some of the wools that fall into the Fine/Medium/Long (Coarse) categories as suggested by the guidelines so that I would have a better idea when planning on projects on exactly what wool types would be best suited for it.

There are apparently two books on the subject of wool types that I need to acquire:The Knitter's Book of Wooland In Sheep's Clothing: A Handspinner's Guide to Wool.These have been recommended on the Ravelry boards by a multitude of people.

However, Ravelry and the general Internet has been a wealth of information. You just need to go to many sites and piece things together; and even then, you still have an incomplete picture.

But, here's what I've determined thus far in terms of wool (I'm not including things like silk and plant fibers):

Fine wools (16- 22 microns): most Alpacas, Merino, Cormo, Rambouillet, (some) BFL(x), fine shetland(x), camel, angora, possum, quiviut, cashmere, vicuna

Medium wools (22- 31 microns): Corriedale(x), Falkland(x), BFL(x), mohair(x), (inner) Icelandic(x), Shetland(x), Dorset, Cheviot, Jacob

Long wools (31- 36 microns):Romney(x), Wensleydale, Border Leiscter, Lincoln(x)

(X)s mark those wools I've already spun as part of my Spinning Study.

When correlated with the information from the previous post, it gives me an idea of what projects to use with different types of wool:

16-19 Fine worseted & intimate wear

19-23 Apparel, outerwear, quilt batting / felts

23-28 Sweaters, light upholstery coatings, fiberfill

28-32 Upholstery, tapestries, some carpets

32-38+ Carpets, industrial use.

Obviously, these are only guidelines. There's nothing preventing anyone from using one type of wool to make something out of the "category",

Steeking!

My little dishcloth project has been bound off then steeked. Yaay. It was actually really easy, once I bothered to fully read and comprehend the instructions from Eunny Knits.

Luckily, I used a contrasting purple yarn to crochet the steek stitches up both sides so I could see WTH I was doing.



Then I double checked to make sure I had the little ladder as shown in the instructions from Eunny. I had to undo my stitches at least once because I caught the wrong front loops at one point.

Then it was cutting that ladder!



Resulting in a steeked dischloth! So, now I'm relatively confident I can steek a bigger project with minimal fuss.

The two things I learned in this project:
1) the chart I designed does actually work. I have to tweak certain parts of it, but I feel relatively confident that I can put it on the intended project and have it work well.

2) steeking is relatively easy once you get past the "OMG, I'M GOING TO CUT MY STITCHES" phase of it.

Learning Projects

Since I'm a relatively new knitter, there's a lot of things I don't know how to do yet. What I've found that if I make something that teaches me a new technique, I get a finished product AND learn a new skill at the same time.

This is the reason that I am partial to dishcloths. They are relatively simple, require a relatively cheap form of yarn (cotton), and dischcloths are knit up quickly with minimal effort.

Currently, I am learning to do two different things on my dishcloth:
1) I am "testing" a chart of a design I created. I think it'll work, but it might need a bit of tweaking..

2) Steeking. I've heard a lot about it, and I *like* doing things in the round (I detest miles of purling as I have learned as I am currently knitting a cardigan "flat" and it seems to be taking forever!)

I originally learned of it, by listening to the Stitch It! Podcast when I first starting to knit. I was curious about it, but felt that I should probably learn the basics first. Now, it's time. :-)

So, I cast on the dishcloth in the round with a 3-border stitch using some generic cotton yarn I picked up at Joann's with a coupon. I'm about halfway through the discloth -- which is my sitting at the computer knitting because it's pretty brainless -- and I'm looking forward to steeking it!

I've found a good website on steeking, which I'll be making use of later: Eunny Knits on Steeking.

Oh, and after doing a bunch of Google searches, including a browse through Ravelry's Stitch It Podcast forums, the website is the one most often referred to when it comes to steeking.