wrapknot

spinning

2012-01-28T19:35:00.000-05:00

it seems that i've not been able to enjoy the process of spinning lately. guild meetings are a blur with activities, fiber friends, responsibilities, so when cc planned a spinning day i was ready.
i started getting ready last evening, remembering what it was that i was actually spinning and working with it again. i found the fiber, unearthed some bobbins and was ready to go.

it filled two bobbins and am energized to fill more. when i got home i separated the wool into 2 ounce balls so i could have a visual of how much more is left of my cape cod cranberry. i want to have it all spun and find a large chunk of time that i can devote to plying to improve my consistency.
then i''m looking forward to a hank of 'fiber-optix' wool.

finished projects

2012-01-20T12:31:00.000-05:00

having my nephew try on the gator was genius! i can't believe i actually thought that one through. i took it off the needles and put in on a piece of yarn, then wrapped it ( around an itunes card)he is a gigantically tall, skinny dude, so i was spot on thinking that it needed to be longer..... around 2 inches longer. i finished it up, and sent it on it's way to him. we had a rare sunny day here, so i was able to get a great shot of it relaxing on the pine tree.

the lala. knit, blocked and resting in the cold wintry sun. this baby is big. really big and i didn't realize until it was pinned and blocking on my queen size bed. the colors in this is just amazing, sandy's fiber is perfect for this pattern. i'm relived that my 'to-knit' list is empty.... well sort of. still have a bottle cardigan on the needles and a vest that is chugging along, but all my must knits are done. i'll enjoy the lull before the next 'must-do' strikes!

cause i'm just that stupid...

2012-01-10T19:31:00.000-05:00

my family chose many years ago to celebrate our 'family christmas' on martin luther king weekend. we have grown into such a large, unwieldy lot, that it just made sense to find a time without all the insanity of the holiday bustle to come together and enjoy. now, my mom is in her nineties, my sisters share a large age range, their children have children, and folks live out of state, so it is a huge deal to gather us all together. as is often the way, it is the estrogen owners that really make this tick. we plan the menu, choose the time, muster the troops and have passed down the glue to keep it together. this year there will be about thirty of us meeting in my big old house for an afternoon of food, drink and gifts.
the tradition has been for the ladies to craft their gift. back in the day, you crafted for everyone. when we were up to 15 gifts, we let that ~~craziness~~ tradition go and went to a simple name draw. we even added the option that while the gift had to be hand-crafted, it need not be by your hands. then there were the kids. they span in range from diapers to teenagers so we adopted the name draw for them.
anyone who has been reading knows that my name will be the happy owner of a wine cardigan. it was touch and go there for a bit as they were all being scooped up, but i saved an extra special one. i knit it with hand spun and used buttons from mom's button box. add in a lovely finger lakes wine and voila, gift!
here's where i went off the rails. the kid's name draw could have easily become a gift card exchange. in the true spirit of the season, i felt that we should try to mirror the ladies gift and craft at least a part of the gift. (it seems i was under the influence of a sassy merlot when i came upon this plan) the young lady we have will get a super yummy set of flannel pj's and a pair of hand-crafted earrings. so far, so good. the young lad, well young lad should say it all. i knuckled under and went the itunes route, but then learned that he has taken to the slopes, learning to ski. well, that was all the info i needed to decide that a neck warmer would be perfect. the family agreed, but what to knit it from? i searched, fondled, passed skeins around, debated about color and finally had to admit that i didn't have any yarn that would do. stop laughing! yes, there is un-tallied pounds of yarn, fiber, and so forth on the premises, but i needed something specific. so off i went to the yarn store today and found a lovely alpaca/wool blend in charcoal. ideal for a teen boy at a price point that won't break my heart if he hates it.

notice the use of my electronic device? i'm quite please with my leap into this century. if only it could knit it for me. by saturday.

La la licious

2012-01-09T19:19:00.001-05:00

Done. Finished. Completed.
I'm feeling pretty content with this project behind me. Well, almost. Tomorrow I want to get this baby blocked and drying. Since my bed is the only one large enough to hold it, I'll have to wait til I'm not in it!
I stayed fairly true to the pattern. I did add a two stitch edge, I think it gives a less 'Lacey' appearance which works with this yarn. I also kept the center stitch completely in st. Stitch. I also added and additional two rows of garter stitch to the end, two reasons. To use up the remainder of the yarn and to give the appearance of finale.
The yarn really made this sing. I was not jumping into this project with enthusiasm. I just couldn't get motivated to wrap my brain around even an attempt at creativity.
With that said, I couldn't be happier with my finished item!
I'm still not a shall wearer, but I might make an exception with this one.

a knitted thank-you

2012-01-06T19:45:00.000-05:00

my cousin is a marvelous stamper. her creations are beautiful and reflect not only her talent but her skill. i save every card she sends me in my 'special' card box. i can take them out for inspiration or just to enjoy. i keep a rotating collection on my kitchen windowsill to look at every day. i'm corny and sentimental that way. i love to have little bits and bobs around to remind me of the people in my life. there are those that i see often and not so often. linda is one of those special folks. i'll start admiring the card, then imagine her in her stamp space. i'll ponder why she chose those colors or that design, how she structured the project and then it will start me thinking about her. what her life is like, the people that she touches now and those from her past, the silly escapades we had growing up. the laughter we've shared, the silly, sweet, sad, goofy parts that make a family, a family.
she is my blog buddy. i don't always get her technical stuff, ( and heaven knows not many can get mine :) but it keeps us connected and i love that. she sent me a box full of stamp stuff and i needed to send her a thank-you. so i went with fiber. i love this pattern and will definitely be repeating it. the yarn is one that i have had for quite a while, one that i treated myself with and knew that it would get put to good use. the bright happy colors, just say linda to me. so when she is dog walking, sidewalk shoveling, dashing out to do errands, i'll be keeping her warm. and how cool is that?!

LaLa knit-a-long

2012-01-01T18:49:00.001-05:00

i've been late to the party on this one. my spinning guild chose to complete a knit-a-long for our fiber fest display. for my non-fiber relatives... a knit-a-long or KAL is where a group of folks choose a pattern and simultaneously knit the same thing. in this case, a pattern was chosen that provided a frame that folks could follow exactly or add their own personal creativity too.
i am not a shawl or wrap kind of dresser. i think they make me look shorter and i feel like i've got too much stuff on my frame. call me crazy, but that is my story. it has made getting on board with this project a challenge. i've bought fiber, debated spinning it, tried to talk myself into it and just slid into something else. i've sincerely contemplated variations of yarn, plying, yada, yada but still nothing.
just before the holidays i was in the basement, storing excess fiber to make room for the trim. i actually opened every bag and tote to see what i had lurking around. i started to sort out items for gifts, the guild auction and items to move into the spinning que.
one bag that i opened contained a february lady sweater that i had started, well i don't remember when. the yarn was handspun from sandy long fiber in my shades of greens. i think it was a wool and mohair blend, but really it's been so long i was stumped. i had a light bulb moment and knew that i would never finish this sweater. it was all wrong for me and i would never wear it. so i started ripping the blasted thing out. i located all the hanks of fiber and saw that i would have enough for the lala. i wrapped it on niddy-noddies and using my steamer (thanks neenee) it straightened out perfectly.
so with all that done, i just needed to slap this baby on a set of needles. it became my mission to start before year end and i just made it. super easy to knit, i will admit i'm enjoying our time together.

year's end

2011-12-31T20:55:00.000-05:00

as the year draw's to a close, i've been reflecting on all the fiberlicious fun i've had in 2011. the sweater that did not want to be spun was completed and worn. it was my very first handspun sweater and i love it. i met my spinning goal during the tour-de-fleece and have beautiful yarn waiting. there were wooly trips to maryland sheep and wool, rhinebeck, and new england fiber fest. and the fiber friends. my life is truly completed by my dear fiber friends. our common love binds us together and enriches my spirit in ways that i can not describe.
i'm sure that the new year will bring me adventures and projects and fibers and thrills. and i'll have my herd to share in the journey!

christmas socks

2011-12-24T09:11:00.000-05:00

at the spinning meeting last weekend, there was a spinner with handmade holiday socks. just plain socks, but knit with a holiday yarn. they were so festive and such a great project for a knitter. who doesn't need holiday socks on the holiday?
it bounced around in my brain that i never asked where she got the yarn, but with the internet i was sure i could find some. then the light bulb went off and i realized that this would be an awesome yarn that amythefibergoddess could create. so a few days later when she left a message, i wasn't surprised. i love that i have a cohort who mind-melds with me. the only hitch, was while i was thinking that amy would dye the yarn, she was thinking that we would buy the yarn.

with a little internet searching, the yarn was found and at my door in two days. so next year, holiday socks! ( even i'm not nutty enough to think i'd have them done this year )

fiber friend

2011-12-22T13:37:00.000-05:00

my dear fiber friend joan was unable to spin with us at the last guild meeting. she has surgery to repair torn stuff in her knee. so to brighten her day (and have an excuse to spin) cc and i shuffled off to buffalo. we stopped for sustenance and arrived early afternoon enjoying a fabulous day of spinning, chatting, and fibery fun. this is luna is enjoying her special spot under the tree. luna came to joan this fall and has settled into the rhythm of a lovely fiber dog. i was able to get two skeins plied....and even more bottle cardigans done.
as crazy as it seems, i'm still knitting cardigans. power knitting as they are being sold for holiday gifts and you know the holiday is like soon!!! i sent three off this morning and have yet another on the needles to finish. non-fiber people just have no clue.

what do you do for fun....

2011-12-17T20:26:00.000-05:00

on a saturday night?? why, decorate gingerbread houses of course!

our annual tradition continues. home made gingerbread baked into house-parts. edible frosting and candy.... the good stuff. it seems that this year the goal was to 'out-tacky' each other.
we were successful!

gno

2011-12-10T21:52:00.000-05:00

every few months, the gals in my family set a date to get together for dinner,shopping and most importantly a chance to catch up. really catch up. an opportunity to sit down without interruptions (kids, husbands, you know.... life) and talk about what is going on in our lives, challenges, work and plan events.
so tonight was our night. everyone met at my place. while we were waiting, the mail was delivered and in it was a package. not just any package, but one from my cousin. linda and i keep in touch with our blogs. she reads mine and i keep track of her on hers. i'll admit, she is a much better blogger. she highlights her stamping passion with generous dollops about her life. i tend to be too technical about fiber, yarn, patterns, blah, blah blah.
a bit ago she offered several of her stamp sets to anyone who wanted them. there were several sets that i didn't have that tickled the fancy of the stampers in my home. so, i commented and today this arrived....

a box full of goodies! extra special because they came from someone so special in my life. i'm eager to get into those stamps and get going.
thank you linda, i'm thrilled to have a part of you!

2011-12-02T09:52:00.000-05:00

even with a test knit, i still found pattern errors. forgot an entire row. i'd like to blame it on something other than my ineptitude, but i can't. i may have to do one more, entirely by the pattern and then be done. this cardigan is from my handspun, in fact it matches the sweater that i did this spring. i love everything about it, except the buttons. i'll have to do a button search at joann's and find some that look better.

since i'm done with these for the moment, i got spinning again. i had several bobbins that needed to be plied of fiber that i had taken for a spin before all the fall festivals. i love each one and i'm only sorry that i did not buy more. then i remembered that amythefibergoddess had pointed out how much i did actually purchase on the way home from rhinebeck, so i started spinning the bfl from miss bab's

i'm putting some thought into this. a bit thicker on the single, trying to not add tooooo much twist so that it stays light and lofty. i've got one bobbin done, so i'm off to a good start.

so, i'm not done yet

2011-11-25T16:32:00.000-05:00

putting away all the 'normal' stuff before getting out the holiday trim this week, i ran across these. i started this pair of mittens in march when i was on my mitten kick. i had run into the road block with the sweater, needed more fiber to spin into yarn to finish the sweater, but what to do with the mis-match yarn? well, make mitts of course. they were all done except for the thumbs. i really don't know how i let that happen. that is not like me to leave a project undone so close to the goal. my only thought is that i was waiting to get the wool to make the sweater yarn before i completed these. well, whatever the reason they are completed just in time for the balmy, warm november weather!
of course there was a smidge of yarn left. i can guess what your thinking..... another bottle cardigan. i refrained. i had packed all the needles and pattern away as we got the decorations out, so no way was i going down that road again.
until i read my email. a fiber friend would like the pattern. the one that's in my head. today i put it into the computer, and decided that i should knit it to make sure that it's correct.

i know i won't have enough yarn to finish, but i couldn't stop myself. it seems that the pattern is correct, at least i think it is. so it is going off with the understanding that the knitter has to use her judgement and be patient with my attempt at pattern writing.

saved!

2011-11-19T20:06:00.000-05:00

it seems that amythefibergoddess is truly my fibergoddess! i got so caught up in life that i neglected to ask her to rescue me ~~from~~ with my bottle cardigan dilema. not only does she read my blog, she answers my requests and brought a full skein of horsemint yarn to the guild meeting today. she rocks!

so after dinner (while enjoying a lovely glass of riesling) i finished the bottom of the cardigan. i used only a smidge (technical fiber talk :) of yarn to bring this to completion.

that's five completed cardigans. i'm stopping. really, no intervention needed here!

seriously????

2011-11-16T20:52:00.000-05:00

i made it all the way to the bottom and ran out of yarn. i have to repeat it, because i keep sitting here thinking that if i wait long enough, i'll have enough to finish. amy..... horsemint, worsted weight, scraps...... please??

not done yet

2011-11-14T19:57:00.000-05:00

so, i finished the last bottle cardigan just as i was running out of yarn. they are so very charming...

so i'm thinking about what i need to cast in next, when i discover this...

nope, not done yet!

date night...

2011-11-12T12:07:00.000-05:00

i've been gently (well, maybe not so gently) ~~begging~~ asking amythefibergoddess to guide me down the path of fiber dyeing. it just never seems to work out that we can hook up. so when i finished the miami beach shawl for her, she wanted to compensate me and all i wanted was a lesson in her dyeing kitchen. so last night, her herd was away and i was free so we had a date night!
i showed up at her door with two fleeces that i grabbed from the garage. now, here i will interject that i have a great partner, and while i was away at a fibery event all the summer furniture was stored for the winter. in the storage process all my washed, labeled fleeces were moved. so sadly i have no clue what fleece i grabbed, but it was a beauty. white, lustrous, long staple length.
the process was exact and more time consuming than difficult. the hardest part was choosing a color. or did i want several colors. would they blend together? clash? i had absolutely no idea. amy was a saint. i finally just said, 'you know me, pick!' she guided me to ~cape cod red (really, i sort of did that on my own) and mocha chino and golden pear. the idea is to have these carded together into roving.
so off we went, soaking the wool, heating pots, mixing dye solutions. i loved it!

as we were finishing the first batch, amy looks over at the grey fleece that i brought and exclaims 'lets do that too!' really? i'm there. so we went back to the color charts and debated what to over-dye this beautiful grey with. teal? not me. blue? i've done lots of blue recently. green? you can see how this was not going well. we finally came around to plum. it rocked! in fact amy was so happy she is considering it for one of her projects. we wrapped it up and i came home with several pillow-cases of colorful, wet wool.

and here it is! the november weather cooperated with a breeze, sunny day. left to right: plum, mocha chino, golden pear and cape cod cranberry.
next week i'll be sending it off to the mill. i couldn't be happier!

new england fiber festival

2011-11-09T09:18:00.000-05:00

way back in may when sandy long and i traveled to the maryland sheep and wool festival, she asked me if i would be her travel companion should she get into a new festival. she was considering applying for the new england fiber festival in springfield, massachusetts and knew that her 'regulars' might not be available to help. high on fiber fumes and happy to be on the road i enthusiastically agreed. i easily rationalized all the reasons it would be fun to do.... new festival, different venue, cool vendors, past our fest but before the holidays, and hey... why not? two weeks ago sandy get the call that she's in. she had already lined cc up to help, so i tagged along as extra labor. we set off on friday with two cars packed to the brim! it was a good thing we had that second car to carry our clothes, chairs and wine! we looked like clown cars traveling down the highway.
we arrived at the 'big e' late afternoon and got everything in place. the arena is a huge indoor complex that is clean, warm and extremely well run. we fell into bed that evening tired and excited. the next morning we fueled ourselves with starbucks and arrived to greet the festival goers. it was a slow but steady flow of attendees shopping. and shop they could with over 175 fiber folks selling yarn, fiber, and accessories.
sandy treated us to a great dinner out that evening

how can you go wrong with a micro-brewery drink and artichoke dip?
we finished the weekend with a short day on sunday, packing up and heading home by five. sandy registered for next year, so hopefully she'll need the tag-a-long labor again!
what did i buy? well, a huge hank of yarn and a wool jacket. pretty good on my new fiber diet!

bottle sweaters

2011-11-01T14:35:00.000-04:00

the original sweater is on the right and my 'copy' is on the left! recognise the buttons? they were the left overs from my sweater. quite handsome, don't you think?

in my typical fashion, i'm on a roll...... what else could you do while waiting for trick or treaters :)

remaking a gift

2011-10-29T19:09:00.000-04:00

amythefibergoddess gifted me with this awesome knitted gift. it meets two of my favorite things... knitting and wine! she found it in a local gift shop, and surprisingly is was actually hand knit. of course immediately i decided i needed to make one. we scoured ravelry to find a pattern and i ordered it. after i started knitting, i realized that it was so not going to work.

what to be done but cast on and try to replicate the pattern. i'm using size 10.5 dbp and nashua chunky yarn in a vine-y color. it is going great! i can't believe that i actually had the sense to bag the first one and apply myself to making a really nice one. hmmmmm, knitters maturity perhaps? so i put the entire project into my new knitting bowl, a gift to me and my bd this year.

rhinebeck

2011-10-16T19:29:00.001-04:00

i'm still reliving the glorious adventure that is my annual rhinebeck trip. i look forward to this, well from the time that i depart it. you can never count on the weather in october, rain, snow, sun, we've done it all. you can count on a fairgrounds full of vendors and fiber folk, with lots of fun to be had.
this year, sandy joined us in our travels. we leave friday morning for my sister's home in westchester county arriving late afternoon. we were greeted with hugs and dog snuffles (the best), and i got to finally meet her newest doggie, g-lee (such a sweet girl). we were treated like queens with drinks and snacks, then my bro-in-law arrived with bags of chinese food. wine was flowing, conversations going and knitting commenced. we chatted away the evening in fine comfort. we bid them farewell the next morning, and after a starbucks hit, were on the road by 7:45. we made great travel time and i've got the directions down to perfection. we parked near the gate and onto the grounds at 9:10.

sandy had some pottery to pick up, so after quickly completing that task, she went off to help cc with her wheel purchase. here she is with her new ashford joy.

joan and i shopped and fiber fondled until we met up with amythefibergoddess. she was quited delayed on the bus, so didn't get a full day in!

we still managed to pack a car with stuff. the weather was nice enough to let me wear my rhinebeck sweater through the day. i was petted and complimented by a few enthusiasts which is always a hoot.

this is our one brush with woolly greatness..... i kineared stephanie pearl-mcphee. amy, cc and i were sniffing soap in one of our favorite booths, when who should be soap sniffing as well but the yarn harlot ... in the flesh. i quickly snapped a shot of amy with the harlot just behind her!
exhausted, we were in the car at 5:00 and home by 11:00. it would seem that i won the most fiber purchased.... (thanks amy for adding that up ;) but cc spent the most money.

now for a winter full of spinning pleasures!!!

countdown to rhinebeck

2011-10-07T15:02:00.000-04:00

i'm a week away from traveling to new york sheep and wool festival. i just love this event. love it.
started scouring ravelry and their website to get my 'must see' list up to date. it dawned on me that i had purchased fibers at maryland this year and purposely set it aside to spin so i could get more if i needed it in october. strange, but it is october and the wool has yet to find it's way onto my wheel. moving that up on my to do list. so i need to get this....

plied so that i can ply this....

must get spinning!

finally done

2011-09-25T14:46:00.000-04:00

so that sweater that i started knitting from my handspun..... many, many months ago? it is finally finished. i had started the project, had an issue with the colors (caused by my careless spinning), had sandy make me more fiber, spun that up, knit the sleeves and there is sat. i put it together with the intention to wear it to the fiber fest, but that didn't work out. i finally blocked it and today i put the buttons on. i love it! i was anxious that there was still too much color variation, but i was assured by my harshest critics (that would be my family) that it is a winner!

i may just need to pack this baby to wear at rhinebeck.
so that left me without a huge project hanging over my head which meant i immediately cast one on. i decided that i was going to actually enter the second part of the handspinners basket category at the ffest. so the linden wrap is on the needles.

i'm excited to see how this works up. the pattern is interesting enough to keep my interest and it has elements of entralac, so we'll see how this goes.

fiber festival - day 2

2011-09-18T20:45:00.000-04:00

i had such a blast yesterday! the very best part was catching up with old friends! i chatted with several fiber folks that i haven't seen in years, and it was just like we had spoken the day before. fiber folks.... the best.
i made time to visit the skein & garment display where my prize winning items were. woohoo!
my entry for handspinners basket won first prize and i received the award for best handspinners basket.

this was the first fiber i had ever purchased from sandy long. shades of greens, beautifully prepared, i could hardly wait to get it home to spin it. in 2008. took me until this spring to get it onto my wheel. i saw a wrap that i loved and then re-discovered this fiber. my goal is to get it onto the needles soon (not in three more years)
i had also gone rummaging in the closet for one of those many hats i made last winter. i found one, steamed it and entered it. so when those winter winds blow, someone will be wearing a prize winning garment to shovel the drive!

as always the weekend passed much to quickly and i didn't get to see nearly enough. i'm already excited for next year.

fiber festival - day 1

2011-09-17T21:25:00.000-04:00

i finished the bazillion stitched 'miami wrap' for amythefibergoddess. it is amazingly beautiful! i know i sounded like a real grump as i slogged along on it, but it really wasn't that challenging and the final product is lovely.

today was the first day of the annual fingerlakes fiber festival. i went out to the grounds yesterday to set our guild display up. we had over forty folks participate in the exchange and almost all lent their garment to the display. the festival goers get their chance to vote on their favorite pair. it's always fun to see what ones tickle the fancy of our attendees.
with the departure of our current chairpersons, i decided to get myself more involved in the actual 'hands-on' work. i really felt that i should know what these dedicated gals do each and every year to make this festival so awesome. armed with a walkie-talkie and a vente dark-roast i started off the day with our leader. i answered questions, scolded drivers, filled in for no-show volunteers, and generally tried to be as useful as i could be. my nose is sun burnt and my body is tired, so i hope i met my goal.

there were lots of folks having a fibery good time! tomorrow the fun continues.....

short rows

2011-09-04T19:38:00.000-04:00

if ever you see that phrase in your knitting adventures, don't be fooled! it does not mean that the rows are short, it means that row you are working on is getting longer and will end in a shorter row that what you started with when you cast on a bazillion stitches!
it is all garter stitch and great for knitting, but i've got to tell you it is a long row....

this picture does show the subtle variation in the wool.... it is lovely. i'm super happy with the yarn, amy has another winner on her hands!
yesterday as i prepared to say good-bye to summer, i realized that i needed to get that fleece (purchased in may at msw) washed. i had wanted to wash and dye the locks, then hand card it. unfortunately i ran out of time in my life. it washed up beautifully and i had only a handful that was full of vegie material. i'm going to card that separately to see if i can get it out.

the very best part of having a hot tub is that it is a perfect place to dry wool. nice and warm on the underside, up off the ground and far away from sniffing doggies! i was really surprised at the color variety i have going on here. there is silver, brown, very dark brown and grey. it is bagged and to the garage for storage.
i found some cool knitting notions while out and about. i needed to use that 50% coupon at joanns and came home with these....

triangle stitch markers in xs-s-m. i had several coupons and traveled with shoppers. they are made by clover and are the same hard plastic as others, but i love the shape. i may need to cast on another large project, with lots of lace panels to try them out with :)

2011-09-02T21:37:00.000-04:00

today found me doing my annual 'spin at the fair' day. the new york state fair is fortunate to have a wool room, which is a small free-standing building across from the sheep barns, that houses all the things done with fiber. spinners spin, knitters knit, weavers weave.... well you get the just. volunteers come in daily for 4 hour shifts to demonstrate the art. today was my day! it's now becoming a tradition that the family tags along and has fun fair-going while i'm engaged, then we meet up and play for the rest of the day.

i was seated with three gals that i recognised from last year, and away we went. near the end of my shift, a dear man stood and watched the process tirelessly. he was so interested in the mechanics of the process, and picked up fine details that i struggled to explain. talk about being challenged! my fellow spinners jumped into the discussion and soon we were turning wheels around, taking bobbins off, and having a fine time with explaining all the gadgetry!

i was soon off to get my 25 cent milk (i can put away milk!) and then the $1 baked potato. i know it sounds like i'm beyond frugal, but they are my favorite fair items and worth every penny. i looked at baskets (passed them by, i'll wait until rhinebeck) and found another summer dress. (if i tell that i got it for $15, i'll really look like a cheap-skate :)

we made it to the sand sculpture. words are inadequate to express the simplicity and beauty of the tribute to the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

on to the next

2011-08-29T20:24:00.003-04:00

i'm happy to say that my sample knitting for nistock farms yarn is complete! the mittens were steamed, blocked, labeled and sent to robin. my goal was to have them done before i started back to my 'real job' and i made it with a few hours to spare. the mittens were so much fun, well the entire project was just too much fun, but with the cool nights, i'm thinking that i need to work on more of those hand-coverings. i still don't own a set of mitts. remember the hat issue from last year? well, mitt for me will soon be in order.

my other sample knitting is for amythefibergoddess. she loves me, i know she does. why else would she chose a pattern with a bazillion stitches and a jazillion rows to have ready for the festival in two weeks, if she didn't think i needed it? actually, after i got through the first round of lace, i'm starting to have fun. i even took it with me to work to settle my nerves :)

it is the miami beach shawl pattern in her kettle dyed worsted weight yarn. i'm knitting it a size us9 needles, so it is really cooking along. i have a suspicion that it is going to be huge when i block it, but she will surely find a wonderful way to drape it in her booth. the family thought i looked reptilian as i had it out for a photo shoot. again, can you tell they love me?

gifts given

2011-08-22T16:42:00.003-04:00

several years ago, when i was but a new, green knitter, i fell into the felted clog hole. i crafted these by the dozens (not an exaggeration) and many, many in my family have wooly love on their feet. one of the first that i did was for my niece. a sweet little gal with a summer birthday, i made them with grow room in her favorite colors. she wore them and wore them until she grew right out. her family would often joke that her slippers were the family favorite. by family favorite, i mean critter favorite. it seems that the family labradopes would search out these slippers for biters.if you have never loved a labrador, they are retrievers. nothing is better than carrying around a 'dead duck' in your mouth. since these are family pets, 'dead duck' aka: a biter, is usually a mitten, slipper or same sized object that they carry about.
i stopped to visit today and upon getting out of the car came across this....

the first beloved slipper. it seems that when i was told it was the family favorite, they really meant it. the dogs lug it around, the cat carries it about and here it is decorating the driveway.
it's a good thing she already got her replacement slippers or i would have thought twice! :)

sample delivery

2011-08-21T19:15:00.005-04:00

yesterday was delivery day for my samples. with the fiber festival just 4 short weeks away, i wanted robin to have time to play with these and decide how best to display them. to say she was thrilled would be a gross understatement! it was the perfect response for any knitter who has spent time belaboring the pattern choice, needle choice, yarn choice. i was completely unaware that robin is not a crazed knitter. (that would be me :)

i know she knits, i've seen the mittens that she's made. until yesterday i thought she did it easily. well, that is not the case. yes, she knits but she is not completely comfortable with the process. so she opened a bag of magic when she received the samples. here they are in all their glory...

and the final item made from nistock farms sport weight... lace mittens. one done, one to go!

the samples go on

2011-08-15T20:01:00.002-04:00

i am absolutely captivated with the 'cascade' baby sweater pattern. when i first chose this pattern it was solely on the cuteness factor. the series of leaves tumbling down the front were just irresistible. then i actually read the pattern and i'll admit that it was daunting. once i started however, it just flowed along. i was sad to come to the end.

completed with the buttons! and my next project? lace mittens!

tags - continued

2011-08-11T14:34:00.002-04:00

so, i took my tags to visit amythefibergoddess. she loved them! it is always so much fun to have another person get so enthusiastic about your project. makes you want to run right home and make more.

so, here they are. i used my 'good' paper from stampin'up to craft these. i chose natural, sage green and purple ( per her request) with the star sheep, hill sheep and knitting tags. her plan is to use these to label items in her booth at the fiber festival.

baby sweater #1 is finished. buttons on,a gentle steaming and it is dear.

sample knitting

2011-08-08T09:48:00.004-04:00

i finished knitting the eyelet baby. as i was telling the yarn owner, this sweater has had quite the adventures. it's been to seabreeze park, several wineries (i didn't let it taste a thing :) two parties and finally found itself done. i took it yesterday to try to find buttons, what a challenge that was. i elected to take my partner to help. we sometimes have different visions, but usually working together come to a consensus that yields a fabulous outcome. well, i wanted to cause bodily harm in the button aisle of joanns. it was painful, but we did find buttons for this little beauty. i'll get it blocked and then stitch them on.

i also started the next item, ~ rustic stripes hat, from the mittens & hats for yarn lovers book. amythefibergoddess had this out from the library and i found several must knits in it. the hat is charming, a perfect example of this bulky weight yarn and was a quick knit started and completed in a day (even with the button fiasco!)

preemie hats

2011-08-03T14:04:00.003-04:00

i realized that i never posted my complete quartet of preemie hats. here they are, residing on my wine tree in the garden enjoying some sunshine. the first i made was the purple/blue swirl in the back. i used sock yarn that i found with a coupon at joanns. it is charming how the swirls and colors work so well together. the next i completed was the girlie pink one on the left. again, coupon yarn in shades of pink with some white and green tossed in. since it was pink (and girlie) i made it in an eyelet version. the picture doesn't show it well, but it starts with light pink, moves to the deeper pinks, then ends in the white with green. i decided that i needed to concentrate on smaller sizes. the recommendation was a hat to fit on a lemon. really. so the two lavender hats are tiny and they do fit on a lemon :) on the left is the diamond version and the right is hearts.
i've taken a short hiatus to do my sample knitting, but i think i have to make another set. they were just so dear to knit.

sample knitting

2011-07-28T19:27:00.002-04:00

i can tell a true kindred spirit when that someone not only thinks like you, but starts to fill your needs before you even know you had them!
amythefibergoddess was chatting with another fiber friend(ff), when the ff mentioned that she had just received a huge shipment of yarn. it seems that she sent her wool off to the mill and had it made into yarn in four different types. left to right is cotswold yarn in worsted weight singles, 3 ply worsted, 3 ply sport and 2 ply bulky. it is stunning yarn. a beautiful shade of ivory with a sheen. it has a 'halo' effect to the yarn and almost appears fluffy. she has already had an experienced technical knitter/crocheter work gauge swatches, so i was offered the chance to play with it.
usually i don't like open ended directions, but for some reason this was a snap. within 12 hours of getting my hands on the yarn, i was on ravelry searching for patterns.

i went over my choices with amy and my patterns were given her stamp of approval. i wanted to make garments ( and given the time constraints they needed to be small) so that shoppers could see the yarn worked into stitches and fabric.
i'll start with the current project on the needles. i'm using the singles to make: eyelet yoke baby cardigan. this pattern has a variety of stitches and i think that will show off the versatility of this single. the only challenge is my inability to count. go figure!

the ride to paris!

2011-07-24T17:38:00.003-04:00

i made it! today under sunny skies, warm (and less humid) breezes, i finished the tour de fleece. i plied the six remaining bobbins of naked and my basket was full.
so, i've got 1 1/2 lbs of 'blue jeans' dyed cotswold from robin nistock. i purposely spun this lofty and it looks handspun which is what i was hoping for. this may become a sweater for my sister and since she doesn't read this blog, i'm okay! i have an additional 1/2 lb which i will spin up this week to give myself enough to work with. i don't think i can handle another 'i've run out of yarn' too soon.
the second batch is 20 ounces of blue face swirl from gayle's fiber art in the 'naked' colorway. this was lovely to spin. smooth and soft.... i'm envisioning a sweater with subtle cables.
i'm still feeling the spinning drive, so want to take advantage of that by doing some small stash amounts.

headed to paris

2011-07-23T21:49:00.003-04:00

i can't believe it.... but i think i'll make it! spent the day at the artisan's fair at autumn mist alpaca's. it was a much smaller event this year with only 8 vendors. the sun was hot, the breezes were hot, it was....hot. i was able to finish spinning all my fiber for this challenge. there are 6 bobbins to ply together, but it looks like a lovely ride into paris tomorrow.

joan and i took a tour of the fiber mill today. it was amazing to see all the steps up close and in action.

easily distracted

2011-07-21T08:27:00.003-04:00

a mom in our spinning guild asked for our help in creating preemie caps. her daughter was a preemie and spent 83 days in the NICU. her plan is to collect and donate 83 hats (one for each day her gal spent in the NICU) on the baby's birthday which just happens to be thanksgiving day. i was so easily pulled into this project. i love spending the time planning and knitting for someone who is going to appreciate the product. here is my first one. it is a swirl hat and the variegated yarn just worked so well with this pattern.

and not to be forgotten.... here is the remainder of my tour. i have all the blue jeans spun, ready to be plied. i have 8 ounces of naked to spin then it will need to be plied. by sunday. feeling the heat!!

staying the course

2011-07-17T08:52:00.003-04:00

one more week of the tour, and while i'm not panicked, i do need to stay on task. i made great progress at yesterday's guild meeting another beautiful day at - high bid farms- in brockport. bob & sue welcomed about 35 members to sit, spin, knit, and wander through gardens. i acquired the remaining fiber i need to complete my tour (thanks to robin) and it matches perfectly. i am always surprised that there can be so much deviation in color in the same batches. who knew? so i've got my work cut out for me....

rest day

2011-07-11T11:26:00.004-04:00

no, i'm not observing the tour rest day. if i'm going to stay on course, i've got to up my spinning game.

last night i finished filling bobbins with the blue jeans that i had. this is only a pound, so i can't do more until this saturday. i decided to ply the middle bobbins that i spun, leaving the first four to ply with the last four that i spin.

then i started the naked ~ blue face leister. wow, what a difference in fiber. i realize that all those wools are unique, but the coolest thing about this challenge is that i focuses me to be mindful in how and what i'm spinning. the blue i'm trying to have be lofty and soft as a possible sweater yarn. with the naked, it is spinning much faster and is so very sleek sliding onto the bobbins. once i get a few filled, i'll have to start plying. luckily tonight is the season premier for the closer. i can spend a solid hour with my friend brenda catching up.

back on track

2011-07-08T21:56:00.003-04:00

i have had the worst time getting started on this tour. i realized after i set my goal, that i was short a 1/2 lb of the 'blue jeans' fiber. i had purchase a pound at the shepard's market this year, only to find that i had 1 1/2 lbs sitting in the stash. well, i had already started spinning the smaller amount when i noticed that the colors don't match the other batch. topping it all off, i really can't get un-tired from all the vacation fun and get spinning (it appears that it has reached my brain)
so today, i took myself to task and ordered another 1/2 pound from robin nistock.
joan met me at the lake for an afternoon of concentrated spinning therapy. i'm happy to report that i have made up my lost time and finally, finally feel the thrill of the competition. it was also a hoot to have the neighbors see another spinning wheel on the break wall. they are the sweetest people and always comment on my spinning. hopefully this will confirm my tales of 'lots of people do this' and 'we have a really big fiber community'. i'm sure they believe me, but it does help cement my claims!

stage 2,3 & 4

2011-07-05T19:37:00.002-04:00

not alot to see for all my spinning efforts. i've got two bobbins full and will work tonight to add to that total. my goal seems achievable now, but that can all go down hill with the first flat tire :)
i took the wheel to the lake for the fourth to spin in the sun and enjoy those lake breezes. my family doesn't even blink when the wheel is the first thing out of the car and set up on the shore. even the neighbors comments have gone from 'what are you doing?' to ' now, what do you do with all the yarn you make' it seems that my education efforts have paid off and they actually understand that i end up with a viable, usable product.
yesterday was the first time i've had someone want to try their hand at it. my friend sat himself down on the stool and gave it a go. having been on many field trips to a local historical museum, he thought that he could show off. and he did! it wasn't pretty, and it was very twisty, but he did spin wool.

tour~stage 1

2011-07-02T20:39:00.003-04:00

the tour. stage 1. i have been doing alot of this...

and some of this.......

i even took my spinning wheel on vacation and every day i was spinning in the ocean breezes.

but today? today was travel day. return to the real world day. the stay-awake-while driving-day. i did not embrace the thrill of stage one today.

i did decide on my challenge. i have several 'lots' of fibers that i want for sweater yarn. i have 1& 1/2 pounds of nistock farms blue jeans and 20 ounces of naked fiber that i got in maryland. so that is my challenge. i will have enough yarn for 2 sweaters at the end of the tour. if my sleep deprived brain is adding correctly (and it may be hampered by my sun soaked, wine tainted day) that is 44 ounces of fantastical fiber.

let the spinning commence (probably tomorrow, i'm really to stupid tired to spin tonight :)

back to the fiber

2011-06-17T14:22:00.003-04:00

when i was in maryland, i went crazy in the ~gayle's art~ booth. i am captivated by her colorways, how they blend together and (most importantly) how they spin.
so i bought this random hank of 'show special' which was 4oz of a corriedale mix in colors that only i loved. i've been spinning it and anyone that walks by my wheel is also captivated by the bands of color.... even the naysayers! i had thought about plying it, then toyed with the notion of navajo plying, then decided i liked the singles. i've got an idea about what i want to do with it..... my vacation knitting :)

and the chemo caps. well, i'm still working on the continental knitting. i am so very slow that it is almost painful to watch. but as practice makes perfect, i will keep going. i decided to use up the scraps from my previous caps and thought these went together nicely. i've got another cast-on in more masculine shades with a more manly pattern that is making me learn to purl.

success

2011-06-11T18:35:00.004-04:00

this post is completely unrelated to fiber. a while ago, i decided that i needed to run a 5K and that i needed to accomplish this before i hit a landmark birthday. well, the birthday is approaching so it became apparent that i must get serious. now, i've never been a runner. never. i walk, and i can put the casual walker to shame, but running? my commitment to a goal is crazy-stupid. as i've proven with fiber, i just stick with it until the end.

starting in february i got serious. i got a recommendation for a training website, and was off. walk-run-walk, lengthening the time of the running piece and shortening the walks. i thought i was going to die. the time that i took to accomplish this was sad, really sad. but, i kept with it.by march i was able to run the entire way, staggering into the driveway thrilled that i got there. i kept at it, found great music to run to (eminem is my go to guy :) finally bought real running gear and saw my time improve.

today was goal day. i entered my first official 5K race. yikes. when i got there this morning there were all sorts of real runner-type folks. serious stuff. i got into the middle of the pack with my running companion and at the sound of the horn, we were off. i was so conditioned to my own rhythm that i kept a consistent pace. and i did it. ran the entire race and crossed that finish line. it was awesome.

i may have another in me :)

cupcakes

2011-06-10T16:21:00.005-04:00

ages ago, my dear sweet cousin asked me to make 'bridal shower cupcakes' i immediately agreed(wow, huge surprise there) and promptly forgot about them. life got full of stuff, as life will do, and i was certainly glad when she called to give me the flavors. chocolate cupcakes with butter cream frosting, the shower colors are purple and yellow. well, what to do? it seems that i have become way to invested in throwdown with bobbie flay. i refer to anyone who helps me as 'miriam and stephanie' and i have to analyze tiny details. not a good combination for someone with my already enhanced sense of compulsive isms!
so i researched cupcake baking, batters, tricks and hints finally deciding to stick with my tried-and-true recipe. i purchased white liners and tinted the frosting a delicate yellow, then accented them with purple hearts. i found sparkly purple card stock the i punched with a heart punch. i put them together on a silver twist tie the i cut in half.

how cute are they? 48 cupcakes and one special large cake with two hearts for the bride to be.

in fiber news.... i finally have the yarn for my sweater sleeves. now i just need to dig out the pattern and get knitting!

shepard's market

2011-05-21T20:43:00.003-04:00

this morning as i was sitting at the end of my drive, waiting to be retrieved by amythefibergoddess, i realized that if all the doomsday predictions came true, it was a good life that i was leading. my family is together, safe, healthy and happy. i hold all my siblings close to my heart. my friends are true, self-less and loved. and i have fiber. lots of fiber.

the sun (which hasn't been seen in days) was shining on us as we made our way to the 4th annual market. i was thrilled to not have any agenda to attend to, just spin and be amy's minion!

all the fiber peeps were there... chatting & spinning.

joan purchased the most amazing pelt from nistock farms, long curly heavy creamed colored locks. simply fabulous. being an honest friend, i encouraged her to purchase the one that i loved the best..... and then decided i needed one exactly like it. they are one of a kind.

so, i placed my order with robin for possibly next year. we spent the entire day sitting with it draped over our two spinning stools and i was in tactile heaven!

handcovering

2011-05-17T14:25:00.003-04:00

every time i looked at my ravelry page, i felt like a big slacker. no new projects started, still working on the arm-less sweater. it was depressing.
the reason was that all of my knitting focus was on the handcovering exchange. last fall, the guild started a handcovering exchange of fiber. it was to be kept top-secret so the recipient did not know who was working on their fiber. really, i couldn't even remember the fiber that i put in or who had my name and i was the facilitator of the project. but anyway, i acquired a bag of baby alpaca in a light brown. spun it very fine, in fact it was some of the nicest spinning i've done. then the pattern. knowing who would be wearing these mitts, i wanted them to be perfect. i checked out her ravelry page, watched what she had on her hands during the winter months, and found the pattern. the only pattern that would do.
this was about the time i wrecked my elbow, so the parts all sat together in my project bag waiting. i started knitting about mid-april knowing that i could just whip these babies up. well, i ended up knitting them six- s i x- times. the first was finished, and i was cruising on the second when i realized that i was going to run out of yarn. i ripped back to the beginning, removed some rows and reknit. i still was not going to have enough, so i ripped again and shortened the cuff. well, it seemed better so i ripped out the first and reknit it. as i was finishing the second mitt, i was literally felting pieces of yarn together to complete them. i wove in the last ends at 9:00 pm the night before the exchange. the next morning i learned that my recipient wasn't going to be there.
but the mittens are done!

fiber fumes!

2011-05-08T21:00:00.003-04:00

maryland was a blast! sadly, my travel companion has a back injury that mad the trip agony for her... but as a true fiber-addict she toughed it out (and had great drugs :)
the travel was wonderful, even when i got lost it was easily fixed (no thanks to gps.. just a good sense of direction)
the weather was sunny and comfortable, the crowds manageable and it was a fiber-fantastic time. we started in the barns, this gal is a merino from california whose fleece is delicious. these babies were winning in the show ring and also the fleece judging. next year i may just come home with the shirt off her back.

gayle's fiber art was my first and biggest hole. i left her a sizable financial donation for a ton of lovely fiber. her colorways are so beautiful and well dyed that once i got buying i was out of control.

and the fleece sale. yes, i did. a silver gray cormo mix is being split by joan and i. i'll post pics soon of all my finds, but for now..... happy mom's day!

because you may run out

2011-05-04T19:32:00.002-04:00

trying to get everything settled in my head and home before i venture off to maryland for the sheep and wool festival. this will be my third visit and i'm still feeling like a (well, i want to say virgin... but that's a bad 80"s reference and would really date me) newcomer. i've been scouring the website and ravelry adding vendors to my list. i even sorted through some fiber to make sure i don't do a color repeat. this is the reason that i need an ipad, but that's a different post.
so here is my travel fiber. sandy and i are going alone, so there's plenty of room to tote wheels and it is a fiber festival and she is the first travel companion i 've ever had who not only suggested it, but insisted that we should! it's gonna be a great trip. as i was standing there debating if i needed more, my partner asked 'don't you buy this stuff there?' well, yeah. but it just makes complete sense to travel with 8 ounces of spinnable fiber. never mind that it would probably take me days to spin all that, but you never know. it's going! now to work on clothes.

project hell

2011-05-03T19:25:00.002-04:00

this is my hand-covering exchange. it hates me. i am starting to hate it. we must get past this. quickly.
the guild has a fiber exchange program that we do in the fall and return at the may meeting that then becomes our display for the annual fiber festival. great idea, loads of fun.... unless you are me. i got my fiber spun right up, and after little debate chose the perfect project. i was deep into all my other mitten, hat and sweater knitting, so let it slide. then i wrecked my elbow. no knitting for three l o n g weeks. i started gradually and all was going well. until.
i knit the first mitten. it was a bit big, but i was willing to let it go. knit the second and saw that i was not going to have enough yarn. ripped it back and reknit it following the directions to make a smaller size. still ran out of yarn. ripped them both back to the fifth row, steamed the yarn to remove the wrinkles and i'm going again. same pattern modified for size ( and yarn amount) my elbow is not holding up well under the stress-knitting. it doesn't matter, these will be done. for next weekend's meeting.

on a happier note, i took the yarn winder for a spin (hah) with this beautiful yarn. it is falkland -i love the bounce and softness- in blueberry patch by spinning bunny. this is my second batch of falkland and i really enjoy it. since i'm headed to the maryland sheep and wool festival this weekend, i may just try to find some more there.

going down memory lane

2011-04-24T18:08:00.003-04:00

amythefibergoddess and i were chatting over coffee this week, when she showed me some pictures of her recent discovery. it seems she found a great wheel and skein winder that a neighbor had stored that belonged to his mother. following her death, he put them away thinking that maybe, someday, his kids might have an interest in wooly adventures and want grandma's things. time moves on and those beloved items start becoming a chore to move around, dust around and just have taking up your space. so he was looking to see if amy wanted them and how much they might be worth. i'm listening to the story and as she tells me his name, i complete it. stunned, her first question is how do i know him? well, our parents were great friends and we grew up together. this was a time when families would get together on a saturday evening, make a meal, play cards and have long conversations. kids would play outside, play games and not disturb the folks. there were no tv's, videos, dvd's and barely music. usually it was us playing the piano or guitar and singing like loons! i was at his wedding, his folks were at mine, and i was there at the grave site when his dad died. his mom followed a few years later, shortly after my eldest was born. over the years my folks would hear from him or stop in to visit, but i hadn't seen him in over a decade. egad, does that sound old! amy stood there and gave me his number, telling me that i was meant to have this wheel. she would just put it in storage and really? the fiber goddess was giving us a sign.

i gave him a call, and went over to see the items. we visited for two hours, just like i remember our folks doing. we met on a price, and i promised that they would stay with me for as long as i was around.

i know each and every time i wind a skein or spin on the wheel, carol will be with me.

color

2011-04-22T21:01:00.006-04:00

at our last guild meeting we were able to dye our handspun yarn. i have been eagerly awaiting this program..... even though i have the best dyers in the world for my friends, it was a piece of magic that i needed to own. i have patiently spun my two-ounce skeins, wound them each very loosely into yarn patties, and soaked them overnight.

we drained the excess water out of the yarn, then filled our microwavable containers with about an inch of water and added 2 tablespoons of vinegar,then the dye choices. kool-aid in a variety of color/flavors yielded a softer color, easter egg tablets were vibrant. i did both. (of course :) i used kool-aid in orange first, setting my yarn patty into the color bath. then they were rotated through the microwave, heating to just below boiling to prevent felting. when cool, you repeated the liquid adding another color. i went with a watermelon/strawberry. my second yarn patty you see here in vibrant yellow and orange. wowser! these colors are amazing!

i have no idea what i could possibly create from these yarns, but just looking at them makes me happy.... and sometimes that's enough!

spinning companion

2011-04-09T22:34:00.004-04:00

i usually find myself alone with my fiber in the evenings. everyone heads off to bed, or maybe to watch some tv, and i'm left sitting in my parlor with my wheel. it seems my littlest has decided that she likes to have this special time together. this is what my spinning has been like for the last several days. little miss etta rae has grown so huge that she can't fit around the wheel anymore. she really tries to do her best, but her body is just growing so fast and so big. and really, it is so hard to stand all this adorable.

stella maris

2011-04-05T14:19:00.004-04:00

last weekend was the spinning retreat held at camp stella maris. now, when i say 'camp' it brings to mind cabins, sleeping bags, outdoor fires. that's not what's happening here. located on a smaller lake, the wegman lodge (yes, i did mean that wegman) is luxurious with a lovely fire place, huge windows and decks, comfy beds and bathrooms.

we gathered on friday afternoon and the fibery adventures began. some folks spin, some knit, read about knitting and spinning, it's a very relaxed atmosphere. there were a multitude of projects ...

the time was unstructured with only two workshops offered, one in decoupage the other needle felting. i took the opportunity to pester a master knitter into teaching me continental knitting. i learned both knit and purl stitches and sadly hounded her all weekend to monitor my progress and correct my mistakes. she was such a good sport and i am definitely feeling confident in the process. good news is that my elbow allowed me to power spin all weekend, bad news is that it is still sensitive to knitting. must be the constant positioning, but i am trying to slowly ease back into it.

with all this yarn i'm contemplating entering it into the fiber festival spinners basket. i have a project in mind that this would be awesome for.

still not knitting

2011-03-29T09:19:00.003-04:00

but at least i can spin! i pulled out 4 oz of merino that i found last year at maryland in the grapevine colorway. it was dyed by gales art and i have several more of her rovings in different fibers that i want to get spun. her stuff is such a pleasure to spin. i debated on how to ply it and finally chose to keep the colors banded together by navajo plying (3 ply) it seems i need to keep those skills practiced because it was a train wreck at first. i had singles all tangled together and needed to enlist the help of my very tolerant partner. the finished yarn is loverly, soft and will someday be knit into something fabulous.

the biggest challenge in my knittless state is filling the waiting times. i finally pulled some of the books that have been sitting in my que and putting in extra walking time out in the cold. the last snow storm and the growing pup have really been a bad combination. her training has now been officially handed over to her dad, because at 61# (and still growing) she is a strong handful. but every so dear!

time out

2011-03-23T17:51:00.003-04:00

my fibery activities have been sidelined because of injury. it would seem that my elbow was not up to the feet of snow i shoveled and my growing young pup. it has been a little stiff and sore since the last snow clean, but the final straw was walking little miss rae. at eight months she is quite a handle full when we walk her. i must have endured one tooo many yanks, cause now i'm out.
i have been able to spin and that is keeping me from going into complete with drawl. i am also being smart and letting it rest/heal so that i can soon be back into my power knitting mode. and we live in hope that the snow will soon stop falling (just got 6 inches of slush).
so, i thought i update on allison's travels. allison is the gator bag that i crafted for my dear sister naughty. she accompanied us on our travels to boston, enjoying a macaroon in faneuil market.

some time with a soldier and of course, a lobster.

she is very social and seems to be having the time of her life.

where is that time going?

2011-03-13T20:06:00.003-04:00

my knitting projects have been lackluster lately, and today i realized that i hadn't posted anything in....well about a month.

i was frantically knitting a sweater to wear on our annual 'girls weekend' when i ran out of usable yarn at the sleeves. i have more fiber but had to realistically assess that fact that i could not spin, ply, wash, dry, knit, seam, block in seven days. there may have been a time when i would have scoffed at those time restraints and even seen it as a moral-building challenge. well, that ship has sailed

so i took the sleeve yarn and started a set of mittens. they will be scrumptious when finished. i took them along on our weekend and have just a bit left to finish them.

while i did not knit them in the city of boston, they got to tag along as i hoofed the freedom trail with my dragon-slaying cousin. we tried to pack all we could into the sunny day we had. the north church was a must see for me. then the inner harbor, charles river, charlestown and bunkerhill. being a freedom trail virgin, i didn't realize that you could enter and roam at most of these landmarks. so when kathie suggested we go to the top of the monument, i didn't see any reason not to climb 300 narrow, winding, concrete steps... that's why we are the dragon slayers!

i now have plenty of time to finish that yarn and get those sleeves done in time for the next fun adventure. we were housed and fed by my stampalious cousin linda. i remain pea-green at her talent and skill with all things stamp. she is quick and decisive with her projects and truly has a eye for putting patterns and colors together. her workstation is to-die-for. it got me thinking that one of my biggest difficulties with card making is hauling everything out, finding what i want, then putting it all away. we may have a trip to ikea in our future.

yarn store

2011-02-16T18:38:00.004-05:00

it seems that i'm finished (for now at least ) with hats. they are awesome and i may need to make one more, but not just yet. re-knitting the second one that i did, well it did me in.

mittens on the other hand :) are still going strong. i bartered one of the hats with amythefibergoddess for two skeins of her wool/alpaca blend. i'm using 3.25mm needles and will hopefully get the gauge and fabric i want. it's starting to warm up here, but i know that these babies will still get lots of wear. maybe even on my hands!

today i went to a yarn store. really. as i was strolling about, touching and fondling skeins of yarn it dawned on me that i had not been in a yarn store in..... i can't even remember. i shop online, at festivals and in amy's back porch, but not in an honest-to-goodness yarn store. it was fun. really fun. i found lots of new things, missed some of my old favorites and needed another hour. i did come out with a bag full of goodness. some berroco peruvia in charcoal for another vest, several skeins of boku just because i've always wanted to try it and today was my day. of course, the twenty percent sale was the motivator to get me in the door. i may just stop back again.

just can't stop

2011-02-02T19:31:00.003-05:00

i'm certain that there is some sort of deep seeded need that i'm fulfilling with my colorwork addiction. the upside is that i just can't stop. this is the latest object, a flap hat in colors to match those mittens. it is zipping right along and i couldn't be happier. each round, i anticipate what color will be next.... will this be the row with a pattern. madness, i say!

the downside is that i just can't stop seeing all those projects i want to do. at the skating rink yesterday, i commented on a friends hat. she is a world traveler and had gotten the hat in peru. next thing you know, she had taken it off and sent it with me to figure out the pattern. i literally took the hat off her head.

really, i've got to stop!

it's not all about the fiber..

2011-01-29T18:33:00.004-05:00

my spinning peeps came over for a day of fiber and fun. we haven't had a chance to play since we all were at joan's, so i threw out an invite. we did get some spinning in, but the major focus was getting joan acquainted with ravelry and sandy signed-up. the goal was met..... joan's raverly name is 'woolewespin' now really, how dear is that? sandy is longmeadowwool, which is perfect for her. we uploaded pictures, found patterns, made friends and just were to techie for words!

after lunch we got down to some serious spinning. i'm finally working on my exchange fiber and it is kicking my spinning ass. it is baby alpaca, soft as can be and making me actually think about my task. i've spun alpaca and wool (amythefibergoddess has delicious roving) that was pretty easy. i have to concentrate on what i'm doing with this and stay on task. this is probably why the bag has been sitting there since november...... mocking me. i know what i'm going to knit, so once i get this part done i'll be able to cruise right along. i just got season one of the closer, so tonight i'll settle in with a modest glass of Riesling and deputy chief johnson and try to get the second bobbin done.

here are the last pair of mittens. i'm still all about the colorwork and it seems i've got several more in me. i've got to pester amy for some time in her yarn. i love her colorways and think they would go great in this pattern.

knitted gifts

2011-01-17T14:04:00.004-05:00

i was finally able to let go of the mittens. yes, i made two pairs and i really have a third in me if i only had enough yarn. the recipient loved them and they fit like a, well...... mitten.

i found the hats & mittens tin at the christmas tree shoppe and knew that it would be the perfect container for this gift. i'm starting a new pattern, again with the fair-isle, so i'll see how those go.

on to the hats. this is the camo jester hat the i did for my nephew. how cute is he? i cast another on for his mom thinking they'd match, but she desired a plain hat. (talked her into the pom pom) i was so glad that she was honest with me (and that i had the good sense to ask her) about what she wanted. i love it when my knit-wear recipients give me direction. there is absolutely nothing worse than making the item of your dreams only to find out that it's their nightmare.

emptying the wheel

2011-01-10T14:22:00.004-05:00

now that we're into the new year, i decided i had better get spinning on my fiber exchange. i had a pattern in mind before the exchange and i am thrilled that the fiber i drew and the person who will be wearing my handiwork (totally pun intended). so, that means that i had to empty my bobbins. well, someone had been doing alot of spinning (i don't know how that happened) and it needed to be plied.

behold, yarn... and my puppy. she could not understand why mommy had put the no-no on the floor, right at her level. the red is roving i found at rhinebeck this year. it is long wool (vendor would not be more specific) in the most stunning shade of red. i loved the color and fell hard. the other is sandy long fiber that is beyond lovely. the singles were really spun well and since it's my wheel i can only surmise that i did the spinning. it really is better than i usually spin. now if i don't freak myself out and spin the rest as well.

mittens

2011-01-04T16:37:00.003-05:00

it seems i'm finally on a roll with these suckers. that's the thumb of the second mitten. they are truly beautiful! i struggled a bit having never actually done a full sized mitten. i've made a gazillion wee mittens, but none that would fit an adult. i was almost done with the first one when amythefibergoddess saw them and remarked that they seemed small. so small in fact that they would not fit the intended recipient. sooooo, i ripped them back to the cuff, went up a needle sized and loosened up. then i was nutty that they were going to still be too small. i kept trying them on, debating about re-knitting and driving everyone in my house crazy. they all started to run when they saw me put them on for fear i would ask their opinion. i kept going and today they are completed, blocked and drying on the register. i'm still thinking about whipping up another pair on the next larger needle size. the party isn't until next weekend (last christmas gathering) so i would have time to get them done.

ending the year

2010-12-31T17:21:00.005-05:00

joan invited a bunch of fiber gals to her home for lunch and ... fiber. there was knitting..

spinning....

even beading!i have not had much time to sit at my wheel and spin. anything. i fell in love again with my wooly addiction. i quickly spun several bobbins and came home eager to spin more. as i looked over my resolutions for last year, and one of them was to try different fibers. any kind of different fibers. i was moderately successful in making that happen. falkland, romney lamb, and even milk. i have several more to try next year. i also want to revisit some that i haven't spun in a while. try my hand at doing them with the skills that i have under my belt. so, onward to the new year.

holiday knitting

2010-12-26T13:56:00.004-05:00

yes, i know christmas was yesterday. thankfully my family does not celebrate until into the new year. with all the family and their families, it's easier and less chaotic to pick a weekend in january to claim as ours. we ladies draw names and present the lucky recipient with a hand-crafted gift. the caveat is that your hands don't have to craft it, just that someone does.

i've still had a bee in my bonnet to do another fair-isle project, so i chose to make spotted fair isle mittens from the '60 quick knits book'. i'm using stone edge fibers handpaint and black classic wool by patons. i'm having issues (of course, no project can be easy) with the copied chart. it was all the same muddy color. sooooo, i copied it on graph paper (which was a tedious task) and now i knit on!

gingerbread

2010-12-19T20:32:00.003-05:00

as if the holiday's weren't crazy enough, i make gingerbread houses. not the kind from the store sold in packs, but the real deal. i make the gingerbread from scratch ( betty crocker recipe is the best ) then i make each piece from a template i created. i can make 5 complete houses from a batch of dough.

then i assemble each house onto a cake board using homemade royal icing.

then the rest of the herd gets in on the action. i purchase lots of candy ( the good kind, m&m's, kisses, bells ) and we go to town making them up! delivery will be this week. each house is completely edible and the longer it lasts the more it tastes like a ginger snap. great with tea and just too much fun!

gifting

2010-12-16T14:20:00.003-05:00

i have truly been gifted with the most generous of friends. i could not even begin to list all of the wonderful qualities that they possess, but i will share that they bring untold joy to my life.
they also have exceptional gift-giving abilities.
stitch markers from joan. a not-so-much knitter, joan enlisted the help of her daughter to craft these. glass beads and felted balls in 'my colors' work great. they are currently on a christmas gift that i was comissioned to make in time for santa to bring.

amythefibergoddess surprised me with this amazing project bag. hand made by a fellow spinner, amy chose the fabric with me in mind. the batic fabric changes in color from the handles to pockets and the purple interior matches the one that she had made for herself. so we have semi-matching bags. i. love. it! now to fill it with a project, or maybe carry as a purse, or maybe just admire it!

done!

2010-12-12T19:26:00.003-05:00

i finished it! this was such a fun project, (here i go...) i'd love to do another! the steeking went extremely well. i chose to follow the pattern, (surprise) so i stitched in the button-bands first, the cut the center. i was once given great advice for steeking, add lots of stitches. i had 10 in the center, so when i was all done, i was able to trim off the excess.

i put the buttons in place and ran out the door to the guild meeting. such a great place to wear hand crafted goods! it was oohed and ahhed over, touched and admired. i was extremely relived that it fit (not that i didn't have plenty of takers if it hadn't) the only change i might make was to have it shorter. i'm not a real over-the-hip sweater person, but this one works. yeah!!

a close one

2010-12-08T12:19:00.002-05:00

yesterday i pulled out the cardigan to finish it. i started attaching the button bands, but had to stop mid-project to go to work. i left it on the kitchen counter to finish. well, when i arrived home late last night, i found my sweater on the floor, the yarn in tangles and two canines looking very guilty. i quickly scooped it up checking frantically for any tears, rips, chew spots. all seemed well, but i was less than pleased.
this morning i decided to get this done and give it a thorough look to make sure it had not been damaged. amazingly there was not a stitch out of place, but this is the one needle that was left. it has been gnawed on and it's two mates are missing.
so, lesson learned... never, ever leave knitting attached to wooden needles in the puppies reach!
i'm on to finish this.

hatapalooza

2010-12-07T08:54:00.003-05:00

winter has arrived here. lots of white fluffy stuff falling, lots of shoveling and now that we have a snow blower, well... a new snow moving toy.

as i got wrapped up yesterday in the dark, early hours, i reached for a hat. searched my cubby, no hat. i had to snatch one from another cubby. when i came back in, i went through the closet only to discover that i had no hat. no. hat. me, who always has some knitted project going has never made herself a hat. i decided to use handspun and this is gayle's art in the crayon box colorway. i spun it this summer after msw, and i love it. it is equally lovely to knit with.

i finished the adult jest hat for my honey. he has yet to make good on his promise to wear it, but here it is. this is such fun to make, that i might just do a few more! now i just need heads to put them on....

still at it

2010-11-29T12:06:00.003-05:00

i'm still chugging away on the sweater. i've actually finished all the truly hard, complicated stuff.... i just need to do the button bands. i was undecided how to approach them. the directions have you make separate bands, then attach them to the steeked edges. as much as i didn't want to go this route, you then pick up the remaining yoke stitches to finish. now, i could rework the pattern. do i really need to? so here is one completed band with the button-holes marked. i'll whip up another then cut this sucker.

since i needed a finger friendly knit that was portable, i started making jester hats. they are just like potato chips and i can't stop. the green one went to my 3 year old nephew (well, he's really a great nephew but that makes me sound like an old-lady-knitter) the second is for my honey. he assures me that he will wear it shoveling the drive. i'll get pics!

made it

2010-11-17T19:15:00.003-05:00

it took longer than it should... but here it is ~

the colorwork is completed. i've got to decide how i want to do the button bands and of course, steek it! amythefibergoddess wants to watch me cut this up, so we'll have to make a date. in the mean time, how shall i band this? i'll be pondering that one.

insane addiction

2010-11-14T19:00:00.003-05:00

so, i made it 24 hours before i was at it again. the immobilizer is really slowing me down, but i can not seem to stop! of course, i'm on the row with four (yes, four) colors at once.
it takes me about an hour to do a round. i knit for a bit..... uncramp....knit some more, repeat.
hopefully once i'm past this round things can pick up.

yes, i really do need a twelve-step program!!!

bump in the road

2010-11-12T20:48:00.003-05:00

i should have known. there i was getting all big-in-the-britches and bam! life bit me in the bottom.

since the weather was all nice and warm today, i decided to put the storm windows down. well, one of the windows in this old house decided to crack as i was encouraging it back down. my finger took the hit. lacerated a chunk right off the top. no bending, no water, no..... nothing for 10-14 days.

at least my tetnus is now up to date.

still captivated

2010-11-12T14:54:00.001-05:00

12 rows to go...... 173 stitches. will i wear it for thanksgiving?

spinning help

2010-11-09T08:33:00.003-05:00

i set the sweater aside last night to enjoy dancing with the stars. i'll admit it, i'm a fan. we've been watching this since the very first show and most seasons i enjoy the drama that unfolds. this year i find the stars most enjoyable and can tolerate the tv drama. it's also perfect to spin with!
so, i started plying and soon had a little helper. the pup is getting acquanted with the 'forbidden rooms' in the house. until now, she has only been in the kitchen. with the holidays approaching it was decided that she needs to get familiar with the entire downstairs.
she was very intrigued with the wheel. so far, so good.

she even matches my wheel with her foxy red self!

still captivated

2010-11-08T12:41:00.004-05:00

it'a like a drug..... i can't stop!

down to 211 stitches and half-way through the colorwork. i might be wearing this for thanksgiving.

colorwork

2010-11-04T14:07:00.004-04:00

i've been slowly chugging away on my cardigan. i finally attached sleeves to body, counted a bazillion times and still had an extra stitch. as a mature knitter i said '#^*' it, and knit it in with another stitch on the next row. with 286 stitches, who'll notice?

then came the fair-isling. i realized that the last time i embarked on a project like this i had a companion doing the same thing. it does make the process less painful when you're in it with another player. and yet, i knit onward.

here's my progress...

it took me a bit to remember how to hold the yarn, have it follow and tuck it into the stitches. i'm getting eager to see this completed.

rhinebeck

2010-10-19T11:22:00.004-04:00

what a weekend! i've been looking forward to the nys sheep and wool festival since, well..... as soon as i left last year. it did not disappoint!

joan, cc and i traveled on friday to stay the night with my sister. i've a standing reservation for this weekend and she accommodates us with style.

we were at the festival eager to go at 9:15am. we arrived to get parking next to the entrance gate and we took advantage to dump purchases throughout the day. i got tickets online, so we just stepped through the gate, no waiting! we all made purchases within the first 15 minutes!

cc bought yarn and i got roving from creatively dyed yarn. i'm eager to try ocean fiber (70%wool/30% seacell). joan wandered into the booth with the felted hats. how could she not get this? i admit that i nudged her (just a little) and she was in bliss the remainder of the day with her topper. amythefibergoddess came with the bus group, and then traveled home with us. we fell in love with the karakul sheep. interesting breed that i had not yet encountered.

of course, we visited every barn and building at least once and the item to have were the baskets. i purchased two small berry sized and amy had even more! i acquired roving from gale's art.... lots of fun colorways and some interesting new to me fibers. all totaled it seems that 2 lbs of fibery goodness made its way home with me. i still feel that i missed things, even though we closed the gates. i am already eagerly anticipating next year!!!!

allison on the go

2010-10-12T09:20:00.003-04:00

allsion is really doing it up! pedi-cab ride in San Fransisco, and there are rumors that she was spotted with several young sailors...... (it was fleet week). who better to appreciate a gator, than sea men!

moonstruck

2010-10-08T17:08:00.003-04:00

several years ago, i think it was my first visit to rhinebeck, i wandered into a booth filled the most gorgeous kits. sweaters, vests, blankets, they were stunning. here's where the story goes south.... i walked away. i checked the price, had sticker shock, and just left. as i thought more about it, i realized that they were very reasonably priced, and why would you want to go cheap on something that you would wear forever? life lessons.

sadly, they have never been back to rhinebeck. i search every year and still feel that pang of regret. the important part is that i learned my lesson. i keep a small fund for those types of finds and one just crossed my path. huge fan of 'blue moon fiber arts', huge. i've done lots of 'socks that rock' played with the roving and generally bemoaned the distance to the studio. since it is located in washington (state) it makes a road trip.... unlikely! so i content myself with the website, visits at fiber fests, and my current stash. a pattern was promoted several months ago and i fell in love. well, it was extreme lust, but hey, i'm flexible with my affections. then a promotion comes along and ...... it was mine!

moonstruck is a cardigan that i will be knitting in gaea ( organic merino ) colorway~grawk. can't wait to cast on!

allison

2010-10-06T10:37:00.004-04:00

remember the gator bag? created for my sister, naughty, it has become my best gift ever. she loves that darn thing. when it didn't win first place at the fiber fest, naughty took it as a personal insult (remind you, there were tons of awesome creations and i was thrilled that it was even in the top three).

so, naughty is on the road. with allison. i've started receiving the pictures of her travels. naughty is visiting california and took the bag onto the plane (refusing to check it in her luggage as allison would not do well in a small enclosed space like that)

here she is visiting the ginormous redwoods in northern california. go naughty!

what was i thinking....

2010-10-03T18:54:00.003-04:00

that making a princess costume would be a do-able project? at least i had the smarts (?) to cut it out today and really look at the instructions. yards, yards, yards of lace, a sparkly bodice and lined sleeves. with any luck, it will be large enough for a few years worth of wear.

the vest ~ fred's jazz vest in berroco peruvia worsted~ is moving right along. must be all the sitting time at lessons now that fall is here. i've even perfect the seam less jog! i know, i'll be the only one looking under his arm to see that smooth seam, but hey..... every fiber artist needs a small thrill!

catch up

2010-10-01T10:34:00.003-04:00

fall is such a wonderful adventure, and it always goes to fast. so, i'm playing catch-up today with my adventures from last weekend. amythefibergoddess decided that we needed to check out the knox farm fiber fest. i am always up for an adventure and since my partner would be knee deep in work it was a perfect time to skeedaddle!

the weather was brisk, and very windy when we arrived at the park. knox farm is a restored working farm that has become a lovely park. there are animals and barns and rolling hills to explore. the festival is small, easily doable in an hour. amy is sporting her first purchase, a lovely wrap hand knit from hand spun. what a find. we both went crazy at the witch booth. full of wooden creations celebrating all the holidays of this season.

we chatted with fiber friends then headed into the nearby village of east aurora for lunch. we went with a recommendation for a coffee house on the main street and our lunch was well worth the wait. veggie friendly for me and a carnivore's delight for amy, we were able to chat about guild stuff, fiber stuff and just relax. now i'm eager for rhinebeck!!!!

festival fun

2010-09-22T12:30:00.004-04:00

wow, the 2010 fiber festival came and went in a blur! i didn't even have the opportunity to savor the anticipation, plan my days or stress about the display. hmmm, wonder what that means? too much other life events dragging me down perhaps? regardless, i had an absolutely fabulous time and learned about me. how? well i had two very different shopping experiences and i loved them both!

first, the festival. set-up on friday went smooth as silk. amythefibergoddess and i had many hands helping and the display was lovely.

guild folks really came through providing us with 26 gators for the display. i have to tabulate the viewers choice winner, but there are lots of votes!

saturday's weather was truly festival perfect, sunny skies and mild temperatures. i spent 2 1/2 hours at the ticket booth with joan and it was a hoot! such fun greeting festival goers and wishing them well. my only purchase was 1 1/2 pounds of nistock farms roving in blue jeans. i was quite proud that i scurried into robin's booth and asked what she had. i love her roving, so ppleasurable to spin and work with. so now my stash is fuller and i'll have that to savor. naughty was thrilled to see allison in the skein and garment display sporting a ribbon. she won second place in the felted accessories category.

sunday was cold and drizzle kept falling from the sky. amy and i did a quick (super-quick) shop in one of the barns securing several bundles of roving from susan's spinning bunny. the colorways are all similar, but the fiber content varies - merino/tencel, polworth and falkland. i'm interested in seeing if my falkland fascination continues with this. we had time constraints, so we decided quickly and purchased fast. later joan and i spent our time strolling into every booth, chatting with vendors and really studying the fibers. i ordered some from jill draper (she'll bring it to rhinebeck) and while i was wandering around a vendor grabbed me to watch her booth (bathroom run) as i was sitting there, i realized that she was new to the festival. we looked at all her stuff and both ended up purchasing. would never have done that if i wasn't her temporary booth guardian!

and lastly, a fleece. not just any fleece a lamb fleece. the twin won grand champion, and since sandy is a dear, she sold this beauty. joan and i are going to split this which will be great. i'm trying not to count my raw fleece accumulations, but i'll be doing lots of washing this week!

wonderful weekend, can't wait to sink my fingers into all this cool stuff!

excitment is building

2010-09-14T14:20:00.003-04:00

saturday and sunday. fingerlakes fiber fest. yes, the excitement is growing here. i'm less overwhelmed this year, having done one festival as the guild leader. the display is clear in my brain and slowly working it's way to having all the parts completed. thank goodness for free, child labor!

amythefibergoddess will be selling these little gems in her booth this year.

last year she had the sock blocker keychain, so when she showed me this (and they come in different wood types) i offered to make the display. how cute is this?? i had the same red yarn in the stash left-over from some long ago pair of socks. can't even say why i held onto the two teeny, tiny balls that were left, but i did. the price of $5 is such a bargain as i saw them in the recent patternworks catalog for 5.99 + s/h. what great holiday gifts... i may need to get more

than one!

this is the next quick knit project that found it's way onto my needles last weekend. my dear partner wears the vests that i hand knit to work, and really frequently, so i decided to toss another one into the mix. mindless knitting....love it!

fair day

2010-09-04T18:34:00.003-04:00

i love the fair. just love it. i look forward to the four hours of dedicated spinning time in the wool center, listening to the sheep chatting across the way and seeing all those fair goers. it's also a hoot to meet new fiber peeps and learn stuff. i met two gals this year who were just delightful. both spinners, one gal has a flock of sheep and the other adopted a bottle baby. yep, just one sheep that lives with her sisters goats (she live in the village and can't keep him there) he is a lap lamb that is totally unaware that he is a sheep. a herd animal that should be roaming the hill and pastures. nope, he eats his grains and waits for his mom to come and cuddle him every day. i know, i know, i can't go getting any crazy-pants ideas that this could work for me. (but it soooo could :)

this is what i got spun.... two bobbins on the right are the falling leaves wool/mohair blend from steam valley fibers that i thought i hated. my first batch was very sticky, but washed up beautifully. the bobbin on the left is coopworth from maple ridge farm in eggplant. i didn't know i had this when i went stash diving. i wanted to give it a try before rhinebeck to make sure i loved it just in case i needed to get more. i'm extremely glad i got a pound. who knew i was that smart?

visitors

2010-08-26T14:15:00.004-04:00

my fiber friend joan paid me a visit. she brought along her daughter to play with fiber and see what all the fuss was about. we got her set up at the sink, wet felting bright colored roving into small balls. joan was excellent at this process..... mine were, well crap! she thinks it's all her play doh rolling that has provided her with such a skill. so, if you have small children, get them play doh rolllllllling.
after they had dried, we crafted them into wearable art.

behold....

how fun are those???? we're sending them to her to enjoy. love those fiber gals!

new to me

2010-08-23T15:07:00.003-04:00

saturday was the guild 25th anniversary picnic and since i'm the gal in charge (so to speak) i was anxious that it be a fun day with lots of food and fiber fun. it was. the facility was perfect for our needs and in spanking new condition. some folks gathered on the patio, many of us stayed in the great room and the community of spinners was a blast. we actually had an original member there who took us through the early years of the guild and then we progressed through the years to now. good times!
i also had a delivery of my new-to-me wheel. several weeks ago when we went to sandy's, she had an ashford traditional in her dining room that was needing a home. since it was spoken for, i bemoaned my luck as i would have given it a home. well...... it's now living with me! it's from the original owner, complete with extra bobbins, lazy kate, jumbo flyer and lots of extras.

it is an entirely different spinning experience (and really makes me appreciate my majacraft!) when i get the kinks worked out, i'm going to get the kids in motion.

here's my treat yarn from this years tour..... 4 oz of BFL from high bid farm in susies summer...

milestone

2010-08-13T16:32:00.003-04:00

twenty-seven years ago, i walked down an aisle in a long white dress and started on an amazing odyssey. who knew in 1983 that we would still be together, working our way through all sorts of adventures. i never really thought about how long we'd be together, and let's be honest at twenty-one ten years seems like a life time. choosing a partner is a formidable task and really it's a good thing that i was young. there is no way to know or learn how to make it work until you are in it!
so here we are. life is good. i just may have another twenty-seven in me!

the lady with the alligator purse

2010-08-04T19:46:00.006-04:00

my sister is naughty. really, that's what we call her and she revels in the fact that she alone is allowed to be .... naughty. she gleefully with take that last treat, make sure your kids visit mcdonalds, have ice cream for breakfast, hide your fleeces..... you get my drift. she also has a gator fascination. she has them in her bathroom, hiding in her gardens, always there for the unsuspecting person to happen upon them and be startled. if you scream it's all the better. several years ago i made her a gator scarf from a moorehouse merino kit. it was the most fabulous item to craft and she has it displayed in her bedroom.

so this year as her birthday approached, i knew that i needed to find just the right gift. since i get the weekly updates from moorehouse, i had my eye on another kit..... a felted purse. an alligator purse. it was easy to make, but i will admit that it was labor intensive. lots of scales to knit and form. there is a knitted lining inside so it is very usable. i had in the stash the best handles, but there was bloodshed attaching them.

i had found just after christmas, the board book of 'the lady with the alligator purse' and knew that would be the finishing touch in the gift. i put it on top of her gift bag, and she opened it first. she even read it aloud to all of us gathered. she read with glee as the story progressed and the lady was so naughty! at the end of the book, she reached into the gift bag and pulled out her purse. so, my naughty sister is now offically the lady with the alligator purse.

stage 20 ~ finish line

2010-07-25T16:57:00.003-04:00

the ride into paris was delightful! after the heat and humidity of yesterday, today's cooler temp and frisky breeze was a treat. here is my ride. 38 ounces of yarn.

yikes! it does seem like a lot of yarn. i'll need to estimate my yardage at some point.

the wool /alpaca will someday be knit into a garment for honey. i'm not in any rush :)

the purple wool/ mohair blend remained a challenge to the very end. i'm glad the i navajo plied it, keeping the colors intact. the yarn is thicker that i anticipated, but i'll let it live in the stash for a bit until it finds out what it wants to be.

but for now.... congratulations to me for a job well spun!

stage 19

2010-07-24T20:59:00.003-04:00

i made it! i can see paris as i cruise to the finish line. tomorrow will be all about pleasure, basking in the glow of my success and wearing the yellow jersey with pride.
today was spent at an artisans fair in the lovely finger lakes. it was HOT. really, beyond hot. i was there with amythefibergoddess as she sold her wares. i was able to sit back and finish plying that blasted wool/mohair blend. i did navajo ply it and i was very please with the end product. the yarn is thicker than i would have liked, but the colors flow together beautifully. here are my singles.....

and here is amy spinning her BFL and banana...... what a day!

stage 17 & 18

2010-07-23T21:38:00.002-04:00

i finally got back on track. i needed to have these five bobbins spun so that i could ply this weekend. the decision now is how to ply. the intriguing part of this fiber was the way that is was dyed. long bands of color, all shade of purple (i'll get better pic in the sunlight). so, do i two ply this merging the colors together in random ways, or navajo ply into a thicker yarn that keeps the color bands intact.
hmmm, may need more wine.

stage 14, 15, 16

2010-07-21T18:15:00.002-04:00

i've spun and plied all the wool alpaca blend from longmeadow farm. as i was plying away at this, i asked my dear partner if he still wanted a garment. from this yarn. as he was staring at the yarn and my hands are still numb from the plying i could feel my temper rising. time ticked on and just as i was ready to explode, he turns to me and states." i love it.... couldn't like it more" good answer.

i knew that i loved sandy's fiber, but having moved onto the next blend, my love is certain. i had 10 ounces of wool/mohair blend that i had kicking around in the stash for about a year. i loved the colors, so wanted to make sure i loved the fiber before festival season. that's one good thing about this challenge, it's forced me to start and finish fibers that i might not have stayed with. the purple roving is a pain. it's sticky and full of straw and slubs and it's not really a pleasure to spin. so..... onward i go!

stages 12 &13

2010-07-18T13:11:00.003-04:00

i know i said fiber pics today, but this is much better. i'm still spinning along, got alot of plying done and seem to be back on track to finish in time.
yesterday was the monthly guild meeting and we took a field trip to a member's farm.

i'm still wondering what the passers-by thought of a yard full of women and wheels! the gardens were lush and breathtaking....
best every spinning meeting!!

stage 9,10,11

2010-07-15T21:18:00.003-04:00

more of the same.... filling bobbins, trying to keep up the pace. the whole bobbin filling issue is a bummer. i find that i'm just into the roll of spinning a consistent single and bam....not an empty bobbin to be found. and i've looked.
this has been a big drain on my time... kayak camp! it is the coolest thing. held at a canal lock, they've turned the spillway into a whitewater rapids course. the five day program gets kayaker's in the water, familiar with the sport, and doing rapids.
sadly, i am not the participant.... eldest is. it's not really conducive to spinning

so i've been catching up on my knitting. fiber pics tomorrow.

stages 6, 7 & 8

2010-07-11T22:24:00.003-04:00

i've fallen slightly behind. my plan was to spin a 2 1/2 ounce ball a day. did the math, checked the schedule ..... all seemed fine.

i forgot about plying. seems that i ran out of bobbins on friday and had to start plying. thought i could catch up saturday, but went to a local arts festival for the day (had a fabulous time) then today, well even the pup knew where i was spending the day! i've almost made up the difference, but it looks like i'll need to ply again soon.