Tag Archives: guinea pigs

Mini Posts, Off Topic

Archimedes and Sir Gawain

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I can’t show you anything I’m working on (happy December, guys!) so I thought I’d write a post about my guinea pigs.

If you recall, I have two of the little beasties. Both are furry, friendly, and possessed of an unfortunate penchant for nibbling on yarn.

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Archimedes J. Pig.

Archimedes, often referred to as the Arkenstone, is technically my significant other’s pig, although he (the pig) and I have a certain bond. He loves to sit and cuddle on my lap, and nuzzles and flops and purrs and is remarkably endearing with his crazy little feet dangling all over the place. But once back home with his cagemate Sir Gawain, he transforms into a grouchy little monster and hogs all the food. My boyfriend claims he’s an intellectual recluse, but I suspect he’s just a bit of a jerk.

Sir G, on the other hand, is my very own pig, and lives up to his namesake: he is bold and chivalrous and maybe a little less bright than Archimedes. He has a tendency to jump on top of or into things whether or not they are structurally sound, such as his hay rack. While not the cuddliest guinea pig, Sir G makes happy noises whenever he sees me coming, and enjoys “popcorning”, which is what they call it when a guinea pig suddenly jumps several inches straight up in the air, twitches crazily, and then zooms gleefully around his pen.

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If I hadn’t previously read about the phenomenon, I would have thought there was something terribly wrong with him.

So those are my furry friends. I’ll update you on everything else at the end of the month… if I make it that long.

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Craft, Hairpin Lace/Crochet, Inkle & Tablet, Knitting, Natural Dyeing, Uncategorized, Weaving

Cowling at the Moon

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I’m still down with the knitting bug. (This bout is lasting a while.) I made myself a cowl this week out of the yarn rescued from that ill-fated blue mitten:

I really like this pattern.

I grew up calling these “neckwarmers” and thinking of them as fairly hideous cold-weather necessities, but now I can see why they’re so popular in the knitting community. It took just a few days of here-and-there knitting time, and it’s a cozy, useful item. Meanwhile, the knit-along shawl is still knitting along.

This was supposed to be done by the end of September, but I’m, uh, reevaluating my goals.

Otherwise, small-loom weaving has been the norm around here lately. I need to squirrel away my yarn for the winter! Here’s the naturally dyed color gamp that I mentioned planning in my last post, woven on the resurrected table loom:

 

There’s enough warp left to weave a couple more of these.

I also set up the inkle loom for some tablet weaving. This was the first kind of weaving I learned, so it brings back fond memories, and the potential weave structures boggle my mind all the more now. I’m using a threaded-in draft from the Candace Crockett book that leaves some of the holes empty, producing interesting results. Photos to come!

Not much of note in the dyeing and spinning departments, though I picked up some indigo powder at Vermont Sheep & Wool, and I’ll be experimenting with that as soon as I get my hands on some washing soda. I’ve also been fiddling with some of my dyed wool on the spindle. But there’s another new project I’m excited about: learning to make hairpin lace! I got a secondhand Jenkins lace loom and am trying to get my hands used to a crochet hook.

I haven’t done much crochet of any kind before, but there are also a few non-lace patterns I’ve got my eye on. One is for a crocheted guinea pig, because of my new furry friends:

Meet the noble and dignified guinea piglets Archimedes and Sir Gawain!

It would be tough to  spin their fur, but otherwise, these little guys make the perfect pets: they sit tamely on your lap and make endearing noises while you knit. What could be better on a chilly autumn evening?