Fiber & Metals Artist
What a happy coincidence that I recently taught myself how to crochet, not to mention falling in love with the technique!
I incorporated a knitting needle gauge into the sock blocker design. I thought instead of choosing an arbitrary shape to provide ventilation, what if I could add a useful tool… and so it was born.
The blockers are available in my Etsy shop in small, medium and large sizes.
By popular request, there are several new drop spindle designs in
The drop spindle kit includes a WPI (wraps per inch) & diz combination tool, 1 ounce (28 g) of mulberry silk and 1/4 ounce (7 g) of blue crystal angelina fiber.
Mulberry silk comes from the Bombyx Mori silkworm and is also known as Bombyx Silk or Cultivated Silk. These silkworms are raised in captivity and fed exclusively on Mulberry leaves. Soft, smooth and lustrous with the ability to just suck up color in a dye bath. Beautiful when blended with other fibers such as wool, merino, camel, cashmere, yak or cotton. It spins to a luxurious yarn.
The drop spindles are also available individually.
It’s time to add some socks to the Tevas and Birkenstocks! The customary transition into full blown winter 
…
To help out with that I put together some yummy superwash merino sock yarn with my sock blockers. Now that’s a great combo (great deal too.)
Each kit comes with 2 skeins of yarn for a total of 386 yards.
Also included is a needle gauge just for sock knitters and it’s the perfect size for your notions bag. Sweet!
Put some heat on your feet.
Do you love all things Halloween?
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(¸.·´ (¸.·`¤ ** Here’s some magic you can use! ·:*¨¨*:·.
This 1.8 ounce spindle is a great medium weight for spinning DK/sport weight yarns. Made of cut acrylic and oak, it’s as much fun to watch the spindle as it is to create yarn… and it spins like a dream! Fly on over to 7 Yaks Design and check out the rest of the wicked fun!
The kit includes a Spinner’s Cauldron of Fibers:
1 ounce – Wicked Witch wool assortment
1/2 ounce – Carbonized Bamboo
1/4 ounce – Franken Monster Green Firestar
1/4 ounce – Sunset Red Firestar
1/4 ounce – Vampyrism Red Angelina
Included in your coffin:
Back in January of 2009 Grace contacted me through Ravelry and asked if I would consider designing gauntlet and mitten blockers. She had finished knitting Bella’s Mittens (free PDF pattern on the blog) and was having trouble blocking them properly. So I measured my hand and drew up a preliminary design to cut.
It never ceases to amaze me in the design process, where things that percolate in my brain, don’t seem to reach any logical ‘that’s not right’ conclusion. And it wasn’t just me, I was bouncing ideas off of a friend, and neither one of us saw it coming…
1st Mitten Blocker kna Dog Sweater Blocker
Once the design was cut we both just laughed, because what came out was about the size of a small dog body. Mind you I don’t have abnormally large hands, but something disengaged in the brain, as it sometimes does, even with 2 brains working on it. Waste not, want not – I shall call it the first ever Dog Sweater Blocker! Apparently there isn’t much of a demand for dog sweater blocking, so if you have a particular penchant to blocking, these are still available.
Design Process Round #2 – Next I decided to measure some of my finished knitted mittens and use those for a template. This was a much better idea and resulted in an improved product. I like to add functionality to my designs. My thought process constantly revolves around form and function, so instead of cutting an arbitrary shape, why not have it be something useful, with added value.
Mitten Blocker - Design Phase 2
This blocker design includes WPI gauges for the thumbs, a metric and US knitting needle gauge as well as a diz for spinning! These were a great hit among knitters who also spin. After these were out for a bit, I had a request from a customer who loved them but would like a version to narrow the cuff, because in the blocking process, that part of the mitten was being stretched – Duh! Another brain failure. It makes you wonder how the design process of the car went through the years.
Mitten Blocker with Narrow Cuff
Not everyone needs or wants all the extra doo-dads that came with this design, so I streamlined it and made a version of the mitten blockers that just has WPI gauges in the thumbs.
Mitten Blocker Featured in Interweave Knits Magazine
To complete Grace’s request for both mitten blockers and gauntlet blockers, I created a much longer version. These are wonderful for blocking wrist warmers too.
Gauntlet & Wrist Warmer Blockers
Nary a person in Cleveland remembers real spumoni because the family owned business that made the delectable dessert ceased business operations about 35 years ago. But, I remember, and no other spumoni will do!
I’ve spent years trying to find someone, anyone who still serves real spumoni, only to be disappointed each and every time when they bring me a bowl of the mixed up, whipped up stuff of ice cream cartons. Clearly, they just didn’t know there was a difference. How sad.
I recently found 2 great links that offer the hope of making your own real spumoni, and as crazy as this might be, it is very near and dear to my heart. Michelle, the Brown Eyed Baker, has wonderful recipes for making your own ice cream for the spumoni. If that’s too much, then Brian, at The Sac Chef, has incorporated ready made ice creams, and remembered the all important whipped cream layer, of authentic spumoni!
It brings me one step closer to cherished memories of my Grandmother and I going downtown to have lunch at the New York Spaghetti House. She mastered the Zen art of raising pasta with a fork, and compacting it neatly on a large spoon, with the stealth of a ninja. I sat in complete awe of the ease and perfection of her ability. I never inherited her dexterity, which suddenly leads me to the realization of why I failed at glass blowing, because it also requires the mastery of motor skills performed all at once too!
Mangia bene!
Well who would have thought a small thing like my design for a fiber group project, assigned the theme of ‘Wintery Mix’, would someday find its way into Vogue Knitting!
I am excited beyond words to be a part of a magazine that I have loved for years.
I was transformed into a little girl at the grocery store when I saw the magazine on the news stand.
Much like Charlie in Willy Wonka when he revealed the gold certificate, I felt a special glow inside when I turned the pages, and saw my red snowflake gauge for the first time!
It would be hard for Christmas morning to top the childlike wonder that I felt.
Special thanks to Faith Hale, Products Editor of Vogue Knitting, for contacting me!
If you like my designs, I would be thrilled to have you as a fan on Facebook. Please join me at 7 Yaks Design Fan Page .
Ceramics class last year
I’ve had an idea for a knitting needle holder on the burner for awhile now. It was one of those HOLY CRAP it’s so easy it’s stupid moments…and why hasn’t anyone else done it?!? Well, no one else has done it because it turns out, it’s more involved than it first appears.
I have been consulting with some plastic engineers with more automated technology know-how than I have at the moment. We’ve been going a couple rounds of this, that and another thing but in a few more weeks I will have that design wrapped up, along with more of an understanding of what’s possible – and you know what that means – creativity gone wild once I comprehend how I can further manipulate materials!
But in the meantime, I came up with this design! It all started with the bases. A non descript small pile of left-overs, with the protective paper still in place, at the local plastic manufacturing company where I up-cycle their scrap – Go Green 
Acrylic base from the plastic company
I had no idea what to do with them a year ago when I made the purchase but it was just begging to be taken home. Oh yeah, and crammed into my 2 car, completely un-usable garage, with the rest of the refugees. Did I mention there are a few out there that I can’t find? Ha, so it goes for the life of the artist! For now, I will have 4 of these for sale in my Etsy shop, watch for more when they surface.
It’s a known fact that in the summer the best ideas occur on the patio with a little libation…
The deliberations began about the design concept: How many needle sizes? How far apart? What about a space in the middle for smaller needles and stuff?
And did I mention my secret addiction to CAD programs and perfection? – such a geek! I don’t think I was a perfectionist at the start. I believe it was an acquired neurosis born out of my metals major at the Cleveland Institute of Art. Having survived my thesis show, and the trial by fire that the experience was, taught me just how far I can push myself – and this girl can haul ass! I think now I am some bizarre incarnation of Sheldon Cooper (Big Bang Theory) and pack rat artist.
There is an acrylic available that glows like neon when light is refracted through it. It’s the perfect material for showing off patterns and I have developed 3 different designs for the needle holder.
I couldn’t find a good place to add the 7 Yaks name to my design, so now there’s a nice surprise on the very bottom of the base. I’ve made a similar design available at Cafe Press with my new line of most awesome t-shirts!
McMorran Balance
Have you ever purchased an unknown quantity of yarn, or spun some for yourself, and then you’re not completely sure how much yarn is there? It’s easy to find out, by using a simple tool called a McMorran Balance. The balance is a scale that allows you to determine the yardage of a particular yarn. It consists of a rectangular plastic box and a balancing arm. The arm has been calibrated to calculate the yards per pound of a particular yarn once the length of the yarn has been trimmed to allow the arm to balance. It’s just that easy!
After that you’re on your way to easy math to figure out how much yarn is on your cone, skein or in the ball. Measure the length of yarn with a ruler or tape measure and then do the following:
Then weigh your yarn to see how many pounds or fractions of a pound you have (and then do a little additional math if necessary).
Once you know how many yards you have, if you don’t know the gauge of your yarn, that is easy to determine as well. Using a WPI (wraps per inch) gauge entails wrapping your yarn around a 1″ measuring device. I have been playing with designs for that too. One is a ‘studio model’ and the other is a portable ‘keychain model’.
Keychain WPI Gauge
Just because I think everyone needs a little Goth in their life – and something to make you smile for no particular reason – I made this WPI gauge and then sent some along to Queer Joe’s Men’s Knitting Retreat which is taking place this weekend in upstate NY. Have I ever mention how much I LOVE upstate NY? (read – one of these days I am going to have my house on a mountain there, just you wait and see!)
The Goth Gauge
To use either of these guides:
Wrap the yarn around the 1″ channel smoothly, with the yarn touching, but not too tight. Once you’ve wrapped, count your number of wraps per inch (or WPI).
WPI Standards:
18 or more wpi – Lace weight
16 wpi – Fingering weight
14 wpi – Sport weight
12 wpi – Worsted weight
10 wpi – Bulky
8 or less wpi – Very bulky
And you thought this was just knitting, no, no – clearly it’s engineering at its best! After you know how many yards of yarn and the WPI of your particular yarn, then you will know if you have enough to make a sweater size garment and maybe that’s what you were trying to accomplish all along.
Here’s a conversion chart for garments for children, or for garments other than the size mentioned in chart above.
I hope this helps to explain why your collection of knitting and spinning tools keeps growing – we need them all to get the job done!
Infringement of my original design.
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