spinit

Spinning! and Knitting!

2012-01-25T22:46:00.000-05:00

Swirl Sweater. I love this yarn. Each round is close to (a little more than ) 500 stitches, so each round takes a while. The welts are 5 rounds each and I am on welt 6.

Topiary wrap

Close up

With the edge ribbing

It looks a lot better than I thought it would after the first half a pattern repeat. I am very pleased, and it feels so nice. Silk and cashmere will do that. ; )

Ravelry painting yarn. This first picture is some of the fibers I used for the second ply. The first ply was a solid medium blue. My inspiration painting was apparently painted in layers. I chose the medium blue as my base color, with "small brush strokes" of other colors over it.

What do you think?

I like it.

Finn fiber by Spunky Eclectic in the Acadia colorway, which is my current spinning project. It will be plied with white or blue (or both) fiber. I'll have to test things out before making a final decision.

Sad Ravens fan .... sigh

2012-01-24T13:17:00.003-05:00

They lost, and I am very sad about that. I really thought they could do it this year. But they did put up a good fight and that makes it a bit less painful. Sigh. I guess I will have to cheer the Giants on in the Superbowl. I have a brother who is a Giants fan and besides, how could I cheer for the team that beat mine anyway?

I haven't been feeling well - breathing problems brought on by the weather, exacerbating my respiratory illness and headaches, also brought on by weather changes, of which there have been way too many lately - and that is interfering with my life. I haven't been walking because not much exertion causes me to cough and wheeze a bit. I haven't been spinning because when my head hurts, I can't relax and spin the way it needs to be done. Knitting has been going on, though, because there is almost always something I can handle knitting. ; )

Topiary in Kathmandu is looking good. At first I didn't think the pattern would show off enough in this textured yarn. I kept going because I loved the way it felt and now I am glad I did. The pattern is still a bit hidden but not as much as I thought and it is going to feel soooo good when I wear it.

The Swirl sweater, knitted with Cascade Rustic is growing. It actually grew a lot during the football games on Sunday. It's mindless, boring knitting that goes well with other activities. I love how it feels and I think it will look great when finished.

The Jeweled Cowl gets a bit of attention now and then just because I enjoy it. I think it's about half completed but I haven't counted rows so I'm not sure.

Bob's sweater has been ignored in the last week but it hasn't been set aside. I'll get back to it soon.

I think I will be able to get back to the mawata mitts this weekend. The finger has finally healed enough that I can leave the bandaid off and I think I can keep the fibers out of the cut at this point. I'd love to get those finished soon so I can wear them if we get winter back. I also won a package of multi colored mawata (many different colorways in the same package) that I want to knit into a cowl. I like using mawata unspun for knitting. It's different. I draft as I knit rather than drafting lots of mawata (or should that be many?) and then knitting. It's a different rhythm.

Work is terrible right now. Everything is a mess because the offices of Cardiac Surgery and Cardiology are moving, together, to another building. Not only is the move itself interfering with work but after, work will be much harder. We will, of necessity, be less productive because we now have to go range among 4 buildings to get our work done. it's stupid and the administrators don't seem to give a d**m that they are making work that much harder for those of us who see patients in the hospital. No one has privacy or quiet to work in because it's all cubicles, no offices except for the attending doctors. The offices are 2 blocks from the hospital! Bleeping idiot administrators! Why aren't they moving out of the hospital?

Sorry. I get a bit wound up when I think of the stupidity of people who move others around as if they were inanimate objects.

Have a good day and I'll try to do the same.

Winter, you are confusing me

2012-01-17T15:06:00.001-05:00

I don't know whether to bundle up or open up! We have 20 degree days alternating with 50 degree days. I suppose I should be happy for the easy ones, but it is confusing. sigh.

I an knitting so many projects that I love right now that I am having a hard time making a decision as to what to knit each time I sit down. That's a good thing. I never feel as if I have to "make" myself knit on something to finish it. Actually, I'd like to skip work for a few days and really get into fiber.

I cast on my Swirl sweater. It's a pretty purple color with light grey trim. I really like it a lot. I am on the 3rd welt (it's worked from the outside towards the inside) but had to stop over the weekend. I cut my thumb up near the fingernail and purling hurt. a lot. So, since the next 5 rounds of about 500 stitches each were to be purl, I put that on hold. My finger is better now so I hope to get back to that soon. I don't have any pictures, yet.

I am still working on Bob's sweater. The pattern is interesting enough that it's not tiring to knit.

I put the Jeweled Cowl on hold because of the other projects I am working on, but last night I did a bit of that again. I love that cowl. I love beads on my knitting projects.

Carol gave me an interesting gift this year. She bought the pattern and yarn for a project (a pair of gloves) and we will spend time knitting (at least some of it) together. We swatched and knit the cuff this past weekend and will start our fist KAL session today. Fun. The yarn is two colorways of a Noro yarn that will make it look sort of like Fair Isle. Here are my colors - pretty, aren't they? The cuff is finished now and the patterned hand knitting has started, but just barely.

I plan to start knitting Topiary this week. Elizabeth asked me if I was interested in one of the KALs at our LYS and this was one of the ones I liked. I think it will be a cozy but elegant wrap. I haven't chosen the yarn yet. She hasn't made a choice yet, either.

The mawata mittens are on hold because of the cut on my finger and they will stay that way for a bit longer. The silk fibers will get caught in the bandaid or the cut and neither prospect sounds appealing to me. Same thing goes for the mawata scarf I was doing as practice for the mittens. It will get finished but not yet.

I still have 2 socks on the needles but they aren't going anywhere ....

Spinning - I want to do more spinning and I've been better at grabbing 5 minutes here and 10 minutes there. the end result is more spinning time and that's good. I am working on some Finn now that was a shipment from Spunky Eclectic's fiber club from several years ago. Blues, greens, some rose and white. I hope it will make a nice cowl since it feels so soft. I may ply it with something, but I have to see what more of it looks like spun up first. Next I'll get back to my grafton batt and finish that, then we'll see.

The weather has really caused a problem with my breathing recently, so my goal of walking almost every day isn't being met. I do plan to start again as soon as my breathing allows. That's the thing about goals - you can always get back to trying to meet them. ; )

I have been clearing out clutter in the house - old records and negatives from when DH and I ran a photography business. It's amazing how good I feel when I've cleared out a corner or few shelves. I'll be working on old magazines next. it will be hard to toss some of the crafty ones - you never know, right? But I am going to narrow it down to 3 or 4 magazines and keep those issues, get rid of the rest.

I have to get out to the local Joann store and buy buttons. I knitted a baby sweater for a friend and it's all done, way ahead of time, except for the buttons. This selection has to be fast - the shower is on Thursday!

Have a great day.

2012 Goals

2012-01-16T15:42:00.000-05:00

I can't really explain the reason for it, but I flop when I make resolutions (which just makes me more likely to fail at other resolutions) but do pretty well when I set goals for myself. Maybe resolutions feel more firm and therefore if I don't get there, I have failed as compared to goals that I strive to meet? I don't know, but there it is.

My goals for 2012 in no particular order are:

Improve my physical condition (at least for now that means walking as close to daily as I can make it)

Declutter - house, office, fiber and yarn stash, everything.

Knit more yarn than I buy (in other words, knit more from stash and less from the store, though I do want to support my LYS)

Spin more fiber than I buy

Learn something new in the fiber world. Maybe ply on the fly, maybe a new-to-me knitting technique, long draw, whatever.

Learn more about the candidates that will be controlling our lives for the next few years so that I make informed choices (limited though they may be)

Spend time with Bob doing both work and fun things. Savor such times.

Savor every minute with Mom and try to increase the number of minutes this year.

It's official

2012-01-13T13:45:00.001-05:00

I am over-committed. Fiber wise, work wise and home-wise.

Knitting first (as usual): I have on the needles
1. Bob's sweater, most of which still needs to be knit.
2. Jeweled cowl
3. Riff socks
4. SKYP socks
5. mawata mittens
6. Swirl sweater
Phew!

I have committed to:
1. gloves (it's a Christmas gift) KAL
2. a cowl per month
3. Topiary KAL

All of those are good projects and I want to make them. I have other things on the needles that I don't consider active projects, but that I'd like to get done at some point. I have to review those soon, frog what's not going to work for some reason and get going on the rest.

Spinning - on the wheel or spindle:
1. silk on spindle
2. grafton batt on wheel
3. masham on spindle
4. Icelandic on spindle

I have so much fiber still to be spun that it's beginning to embarrass me. It was all in one place right after Christmas and I couldn't believe it was all my fiber in those bags. Must get to work on it soon.

Work - I don't think I can even get into that. Suffice it to say that I will be working on cloning some time soon.

Home - I really want to de-clutter and re-organize. I have to get over my "let's save it in case", but how to strike a balance between that and wasting because in some cases "in case" happens is a puzzle to me. I made some progress over the weekend. I got rid of a lot of old business papers and photographs from our old photography business. There's more of that to go, but I think the worst is done.Yippee!

I want to exercise every day. I get home from work after 6 most days and, because I get up a little after 5 AM, go to bed by 10 PM. That's not a lot of time for dinner, dishes, exercise, spending time with DH and fiber time. Somehow I have to work that out.

I obviously have my work cut out for me. I had best get to it.

Have a good Purple Friday, and Go Ravens!!!!!!

I've joined the Knit, Swirl Group

2012-01-10T10:20:00.001-05:00

I made the commitment and bought the yarn. I swatched and measured. Some time this week I will be casting on over 650 stitches to begin the Shades of Gray Swirl sweater. I hope I get the book soon. I am sure it will help. ; )

I finished spinning and plying my North Ronaldsay fiber. You can clearly see the hairs vs the downy kind of fiber.

I found this to be a different kind of fiber than many others, and nice. It seems to have guard hairs and soft downy fiber all in one, but the hairs don't seem to irritate or poke. I had hoped for some fingerless mitts from this fiber but I am concerned that it won't hold up to that kind of wear, so now I am looking for another use.

Bob's sweater is moving along. I have to measure the length to see whether it's time for arms yet. I think not but I hate to waste knitting so I don't want to exceed the desired length.

I am knitting mawata mittens. The great cast on (for the Ravelery group) was Friday. I have started 3 times. This last try appears to have done the trick. I have the correct circumference for my wrist. Silk doesn't stretch much (if at all) so it's important to be pretty darn accurate. I love the colors and find the knitting to be addictive. These are the mawata I am knitting with:

and this is the start of the second attempt. The one after this was the right size. The bag in the background, BTW, was my gift from my Knitting Secret Santa. I love knitting bags and this one, with the sheep, is adorable. I don't know if you can see it, but there's a shamrock on the rump of the big black sheep near the top right of the picture.

I should be knitting more on Bob's sweater, but it shouldn't take long to finish these, so I alternate. The jeweled cowl has taken a back seat to the mitts and the sweater, but there's no rush there.

I blocked the Shaelyn shawl on Sunday. I love it and will have a hard time giving it away, I think.

We drove up to Manhattan on Saturday to see the Christmas tree on the last day it was lit. We were disappointed because, though the tree was lit, the other decorations in Rockefeller Center were already down and the light show had stopped. Next year we'll go earlier, like we usually do. OTOH, the weather was awesome! We didn't even need to wear gloves. We took our time walking around the area, looking in store windows and just enjoying the ambiance.

Sunday was filled with morning chores and afternoon football. I am so glad that the Broncos sent the Steelers home. : ))

Honka scarf finished!

2012-01-04T12:01:00.001-05:00

It's been 3 years and a few days since I cast on. I love the scarf, and I enjoyed knitting it but the next double knit project I make will not be patterned on both sides. I think I'll try for just a double knit fabric with one color on each side. I just think I'd like the next DK garment to take less time to knit. ; )

Anyway, it's one skein black cascade 220 and two skeins silk garden, knit on size 3 DPNs. I have to weave in the ends and block it before you see a finished photo.

That was the sum total of my fiber efforts last night. I decided to use the new year as my impetus to get walking again. Of course, that's just when Mother Nature decided to show us that it really is winter. It was very cold and hard to get out to walk last night, but I did it! By the time I walked, we ate and I did the dishes and took Bob for his fountain drink, I was tired and headed into bed. I finished off the scarf and then browsed Ravelry for a while before turning out the lights. I had been up since 4:30 AM.

Tonight I hope to spin another section of my grafton batt on the wheel before picking up the knitting. The knitting might be Bob's sweater or it might be the jeweled cowl .... not sure what will interest me tonight.

Have a good day.

Ravelry project

2012-01-02T11:06:00.002-05:00

I have been spinning for a specific Ravelry project. There is a design challenge in one of the groups that I was following. I wasn't participating but just following along, inspired by the creativity I saw there. I finally got up the nerve to post a comment on the fan page and was invited, along with a few others, to participate unofficially in the challenge. What fun it's been! A lot of thinking, planning, test spinning and a bit of fiber purchasing has been involved.

We were supposed to design a collection of three yarns - all inspired by a masterpiece painting of our choice. I chose this Cezanne painting - The great pine. It looks like a windy day, possibly stormy sky, which I love to see (as long as I am not out on the boat) LOL. The colors are very saturated. I love the feeling and the colors.

I took these two fibers (Gulf coast native, dyed by me)

(mystery wool, over dyed by me)

and spun them, one on the wheel and one on the spindle. I plied them together, two plies of the gulf coast native and one of the mystery wool to get this 3 ply yarn. This color is a bit lighter than the actual yarn.

Which, when knitted up, looks like this. This color is pretty accurate.

It bloomed in the wash and was heavier than I thought it would be. Being a 3 ply, it has great stitch definition and I like it best with large areas of stockinette and just a bit of cabling or texture.

Next, and here is where the purchasing came in, I took a selection of these locks

blended them on my hackle to get this

and spun them to get these yarns. These yarns represent the sky to me. This one a bit smoother, though fluffy and light, like clouds,

and this one, a bit more thick and thin also like the clouds in the sky.

Then, for the tree trunk and foreground of the painting, I took brown alapaca and some painted locks that I had drum carded at the spinning retreat last year

and spun it into an uneven singles.

I am not sure yet whether I will ply it on itself or whether I will comb some of the orange/gold locks and use that for the second ply. More sampling ahead.

Happy New Year

2012-01-02T11:01:00.000-05:00

I hope that this new year is more peaceful, healthy and happier for all than last year.

I was home for much of the week between Christmas and new year. I had been working hard to get all caught up so that I could spend as much time as possible at home this week and it worked out well.

I was able to do a lot of cleaning, some organizing and clearing out, spinning and knitting. I enjoyed spending time with DH as we worked together on some projects. Sigh. It was good. We spent New Years Eve at home as usual. Bob read, I spun, having joined a virtual spin in on Ravelry to spin in the new year. We watched the neighborhood fireworks at midnight and then snuggled into our bed.

New Year's Eve spin in. I didn't enjoy Dick Clark's show much but I really liked listening to the New York Philharmonic play.

Grafton Batt lace weight progress. Color is not accurate, but I'll try again.

I have new projects to report on and updates on ongoing works. I will be doing a KAL to make Mawata mittens in a few days. I decided to buy some dyed hankies in colors that I love. I forget what the name of this colorway is but I really like it a lot. It came from Wooliebullie on Etsy.

I had some un-dyed hankies, plus some that I had purchased previously that were languishing in my stash box. Melanie came over on Friday and we spent a fun afternoon dyeing silk hankies (mawata) for her and looking over her fiber related gifts. I am hoping for some pictures of her dyed hankies once they are dry.

The next day I decided to knit up the old, languishing hankies into a scarf to get a feel for them before knitting something that made size matter. I hated one of the colors in those hankies (possibly why they languished in my stash?) and decided to take care of that issue after being inspired by Melanie's creativity. I soaked them for several hours, pulled out the dyes we had used the day before and chose 2 colors. I applied dye mostly to the area with the color I didn't like but didn't worry if I got it on the nice purple that was there. I chose navy blue and dark green, poured them on and slid the pan into the oven. It was quite breezy so they had a good drying time outside for several hours, then, because I was impatient, I put them over the heat vent overnight and I had dry hankies to knit the next day. Here is my progress so far. The bright purple was there and the navy blue and green are covering the sort of reddish purple that I didn't care for.

I decided on a diagonal garter scarf - it's an easy project. I like the mawata knitted in stockinette more, but the garter made the increases and decreases necessary for this scarf design less noticeable.

I have pictures of my unblocked Shaelyn shawl to show you. It's a nice, comfortable size for over the shoulders (or on the lap) and may get a bit bigger with blocking, though I don't plant to pin it out stretched but to just pull it out and let it dry. It is very light weight, feels squishy and is very comfortable. It may or may not be a gift at some point. I haven't decided.

I enjoyed knitting this pattern and may knit it again. It might work well with some hand spun odds and ends. We'll see.

I am knitting the Jeweled Cowl using Posh Yarns Arabella and some seed beads. It took many attempts to get this right, mostly because I apparently had forgotten how to join for knitting in the round without twisting. Dummy me. Anyway, I got it started properly and was knitting merrily along. I looked it over, though and had to look REALLY hard for the beads. Out it came (again) and larger beads were purchased. I am moving along nicely now and I like it. Only one small section of the cowl has beads and the rest is stockinette in the round, so it's a nice project to knit on even when you don't have much energy or concentration.

The beads are still subtle but not hard to find.

I was working on Bob's textured sweater but admit to getting sidetracked over the holiday. I'll get back to work on it soon.

The double knit Honka scarf is almost complete. I will reach the end of the pattern repeat in about 10 rows. I then have to decide whether to knit until the yarn is gone (which will not be another full pattern repeat and so the scarf won't be symmetrical at each end) or to end the scarf with the end of this pattern repeat. There won't be much yarn left at that point, so that's probably what I will do. That means that there is another FO coming in a few days!

Happy New Year!

My Christmas loot

2011-12-27T20:50:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful holiday. We visited with family and good friends. We ate and drank (some, not a lot) and had a great time. Snow falling would have made it prettier, but not better.

I received a new soft buddy to sleep with. This is a tradition with my husband and I think he considers it a challenge to find the softest stuffed animal in the stores. Meet Lars. He's going to have a matching hat knitted for him soon, I think.

Steve and Cheryl know that I love turtles. This watering can will make me smile every time I use it.

This beautiful pice of fused glass is a lovely necklace.

This was my one knitting gift and a total surprise from younger son and his partner.

I had asked for a wireless mouse because I have grown to detest the tangle of wires on my desk. Now I have one for home and one for work. I am very pleased.

I received 2 pair of earrings and I love them both. Both are at least partly purple and that pleases me a lot, too.

Batter bowl. I have been wanting one for several years and Chris found it for me in ceramic rather than the plastic that is common but not as sturdy or nice to look at. I made pancakes for the family on Christmas morning. ; )

Isn't this a pretty tree ornament? I love the colors and shapes of a peacock feather and this adds the sequins and bird shape to make it work on the tree. I might have to look for teal lights and silver balls for next year .....

This is Bob's sweater. It is a texture pattern similar to one he had previously that he really liked. So far he likes it but it's hard for him to see, so he needs more patterning to be sure. It's actually further along than this now.

My current spinning. It's a fiber that I over dyed this past summer. I plan to ply it with the Gulf Coast Native that I have been spinning on my wheel for a three ply for a special Ravelry project. )That's for another post.)

I also got a diz and fiber puller in purple heart wood but didn't get a good picture today. I'll try again in the sunshine.

I love the care and thought that went into choosing these gifts. People really got into finding things that people really wanted since money was so tight. No one wanted to "waste" money on something the recipient didn't really like. I like it this way.

I hope you all had a good Christmas.

It's almost Christmas!

2011-12-23T08:22:00.000-05:00

I've been here, doing fine, just busy. Most everyone is at this time of year. I've been doing a lot of catch up at work and have things pretty well under control. My goal is to have everything up to date and organized by the second week of January, and I am well on the way.

The house is messy but decorations are up and the gifts are wrapped. DH does the food thing for the holidays and he has that under control. Later today and tomorrow will be a massive cleaning and putting away effort but it will be done in plenty of time and I'll watch the Ravens beat the Browns while doing it. ; )

I started Bob's sweater. It's a texture pattern - 5 blocks each of seed stitch, stockinette, reverse, stockinette and stockinette again, offset by 10 stitches for the next blocks. I think he'll like it and it's not bad to knit. I am knitting in the round and using stitch markers to separate the pattern repeats to make it a more auto-pilot kind of knitting. Round and round I go .....

The baby sweater needs about 1.5 inches of sleeve and some buttons. I haven't knitted on it in weeks. Laziness.

I am waiting for crochet hooks in tiny sizes to arrive. I started the knit the jeweled cowl, chose my yarn and beads and the beads don't fit on the crochet hooks I have at home : (
I placed and order for a 0.5 mm, 0.75 mm and 0.85 mm hooks. If those don't work I have to exchange the beads I have and that would not please me. Here's a picture of someone else's jeweled cowl. I love the beads but I also love the fact that the beads are only in a small section of the cowl. I think that makes it more versatile.

I am still trying to finish the Honka scarf. Concentration is not my thing lately, especially late in the evening when I get to sit and knit. Hopefully over this holiday weekend I can get more of that knitting done. I am still plugging away on the SKYP sock, too. I want to get past the heel (cuff down) and then plan to work harder on the Riff sock for Rob, too. I won't allow myself to knit on socks for me until these are finished. (gritting teeth) I have plans for my socks for this year, including a pair of Baltimore Ravens socks.

Happy Holidays and peace to all.

Shaelyn Finished!

2011-12-12T16:04:00.001-05:00

I bound off last night! I still have to weave in a few ends (not many) and block, but the kitting is complete and I love it. I am just not sure whether it will be mine or a gift to someone, but I love it anyway.

I cast on Rob's second Riff sock, blocked Brian's binary cable scarf, blocked the swatch for Bob's next sweater and knitted a bit on Brian's SKYP sock (the second). I didn't get any knitting done on the Honka scarf but I hope to do some of that this week.

I prepped and spun more of the pine green fiber that I started last week for the Ravelry challenge. I think that one more spinning session will give me enough of the main color. I can then spin some of the roving for the 3rd ply of my 3 ply piney yarn. I have fiber coming that will be blended for the sky colors in the painting, and I will use some of my brown BFL for the tree trunks.

The blue spruce tree in the back yard has been lit up for the first time for Christmas. We talk about it every year but it never gets done. This year we seem to be getting to things that we haven't in past years. Maybe it's the warmer weather making us less reluctant to be outdoors doing things that you can't wear gloves to do. ; )

Most of the Christmas gifts have been wrapped and are under the tree - that's a first, too. I have a few things on order, and a few more things that I have that go into gift bags rather than boxes with wrapping paper. I have not yet written out cards, though. Bad girl.

I am trying to hit the right balance between being active and productive and also giving my back the care that it requires right now. I was in pain most of the weekend because I got impatient and moved some heavy things by myself. Grrr.... When will I learn?! Thank goodness for ibuprofen!

Not much to report

2011-12-09T11:56:00.001-05:00

Why am I writing a post if I have not much to say? Because I feel like I should so that the one or two people who actually read my blog know that I am alive.

Do you remember Shaelyn? I finally decided to buy another skein of yarn and make it bigger. As soon as I decided on that plan of action., I bought the yarn and resumed knitting. That was obviously a sign that I felt that I made a good choice. The shawl sat untouched at the foot of my bed for quite a while before that, and at any time I could have ripped back and bound off. But I didn't do that. I apparently didn't realize that I had made a decision to buy more yarn. ; ) I knitted the last of the stockinette sections last night and will be starting the lace edging this weekend.

I did a bit of spinning sampling the other night for a Ravelry challenge that I am playing with. That was fun. I am pleased to discover that the Gulf Coast fiber that I had dyed because it had a yellow stain on it actually came out looking good and I will be happy to make something with it. The color variations look good in the singles, at least, and I think it will be better as a plied yarn. It's a sort of deep pine green with some lighter and darker spots.

This is a mystery wool that I over dyed because I didn't like the original colors. It will be plied with the above Gulf Coast fiber.

I hope to fit in some fiber playing time this weekend. I am actually hoping to do more spinning than knitting over the next few weeks. I have been bitten by the spinning bug again. I'll finish projects on the needles now but I am planning for more spinning for a few weeks.

Oh, I hope to post pictures of the finished Darkside cowl that I am knitting with my pansy purple polwarth handspun this weekend. It will be finished soon. It's soooo soft! I LOVE it.

That's it. Have a great weekend. Enjoy the holiday preparations.

Various and Sundry

2011-12-05T13:06:00.001-05:00

Well. The outside of the house is decorated for the holiday.

Most of the holiday gift shopping is completed. (no wrapping yet).

I baked cookies for the first time in over a year. Yum.

I finished knitting the coordinating scarf to go with the Binary Cable hat for Brian.

I finished the skirt of the baby sweater and need to work on the sleeves.

I started to knit the Darkside Cowl with my pansy purple handspun (just because it was so pretty and soft that I couldn't resist).

I hurt my back on Friday and spent most of Friday, Saturday and Sunday in bed or on the couch resting it. (It is entirely possible to knit while flat on your back in bed, BTW)

We have a tree and a wreath, but neither one is up yet.

We have a brand new refrigerator and it is huge! I love the fact that I don't have to get on my knees to get a can of soda. (top fridge, bottom freezer).

I wore my fibonacci sideways knitted vest on Friday. It looked good.

It's Monday and I made it to work. I am not sure how long my back will let me stay, but I am here.

No posed photos of Rob in his sweater due to my back spasms.

Despite the fact that my fiber stash is starting to take up more space than my yarn stash, and I have 2 washed but not prepped fleeces at home, I am craving a fresh fleece. I just don't get it! So far I have managed to resist, but I'm not sure how long I can be strong ....

We are going to visit Mom in NY next weekend. ; ) Haven't seen her since September, so this is very good.

Rob's Sweater

2011-11-28T08:56:00.001-05:00

It's finished!!!!! The yarn is Riverstone worsted by Louet. I used about 6.25 skeins, which is about 1275 yards and size 6 and 7 needles. I designed this sweater myself, with input from the recipient. ; )

It took only a few months (rather than years) to finish! I hope to have a modeled photo soon.

This is the plied Polwarth in purple pansy colors from Desigknit . That's right - I have a spinning FO, too, this weekend. ; )) I loved spinning this fiber, both for the softness and loft it has and for the colors, which kept me endlessly entranced. I would love to spin the other pansy Polwarth fiber I have right away ...... but I have to finish up another WIP first. The grafton batt is being spun into beautiful blue lace weight yarn and I am more than halfway there.

This will go into a bath today. I had thought about a 3 ply but I wanted enough yardage to make mitts or a hat or something and a 3 ply would have made the yardage too short, I think. That's OK. I love it.

; ))

The Honka scarf (double knit, on the needles for 3 years) is moving along nicely considering that I have to knit on it only when I can concentrate. This is not one of those knit while chatting types of projects. I have to count every stitch and double check the pattern each time I knit a row. I love it, but it takes time and attention. I am using black cascade 220 and silk garden. You can see both right and wrong sides in the photo below.

This is the baby sweater I am knitting for Sharon. Her doctor had better be correct about the gender. It would be hard to put this on a boy. I have another 2 inches to knit on the skirt and then the ruffle on the bottom. I haven't decided whether I will leave the sleeves short as in the pattern or make them long.

Brian's Binary Cable hat is finished, but I had a lot of yarn left. Since this is handspun, I didn't want to waste the remaining yarn. I decided to try a scarf. Brian had wanted a scarf to begin with but I was concerned about the itch factor (it really did feel itchy in a skein around the neck) so I convinced him to go with a hat. After knitting and washing, though, the yarn felt better so I decided to go for a coordinating (not matching) scarf.

I used the same rib pattern as in the hat, and used similar cables, but not in the sequence specified in the hat pattern. I love the way the colors shift in the scarf.

You can see the cables more in real life, though they are not really very noticeable. It's the thought that counts. ; )

I had no intentions of starting a new project right now (finishing mode here) but I needed a boating project and at least this is a small one. It won't be unfinished for long. We went on the boat on Saturday and had a wonderful time. The weather was great for this time of year, we had no traffic and, thank goodness, no mechanical mishaps similar to this one. We drove down to Southern Maryland, put the boat in the water and went striped bass (Rockfish in this area) hunting. I knitted while Bob fished. I had better luck with my knitting than he did fishing, but we had a good day on the boat together.

Yesterday we got the front yard cleaned up again (it's amazing how many leaves there were on those trees!) and put the Christmas lights in the tree and on the bushes. The two wooden reindeer came out to play this year, too, with a spot light on each. It looks awesome at night!

Most of my holiday shopping is finished. I have a few more things to get, mostly things I can (and will) order on line. Maybe we can get a tree today.

The Vest is finished

2011-11-25T20:51:00.001-05:00

The vest is finished. I am very please with both the look and the fit. Considering that this was a first - knitted sideways, designed by me garment, I am very pleased. The yarn is Domy heather in three shades of gray in a fibonacci stripe sequence. Here it is, pinned out for blocking.

Closer up view of the top and neckline:

Closer up view of the bottom edge, which I made wider than the other edges despite the torture of what seemed like endless tiny rows of garter stitch. ; )

Here is Brian's Binary Cable hat. It's a bit big for me but his head is bigger so I think it will be fine for him. this is handspun yarn, 2 different colorways plied together with a third, solid black. I like it a lot. I am going to try to design a scarf to go with it.

We are off now to go boating. I hope we have luck with the fishing and have a good weather day. Have a good day.

Happy Thanksgiving to all

2011-11-23T12:58:00.000-05:00

I do try to be thankful every day for the good things in my life, and I succeed most of the time. Thanksgiving day, tomorrow, was established especially to concentrate on those good things, though, and so I am going to be extra thankful tomorrow for:
1. My absolutely wonderful and loving husband. He has always taken care of and loved me and he continues to do so even though the taking care of part has become harder with his disappearing vision and hearing.
2. My sons.
3. My mother, who continues to be a great support system for me, listening when I need to vent, advising when I ask for it and just being there for me.
4. A job
5. A house to live in
6. Good friends
7. A country that, while it needs some (a lot) of change and compromise right now, is still a great place to live.

More FO's!!

2011-11-22T11:23:00.000-05:00

Whew! My needles are over heating! LOL. I finished the vest. I hope to block it over the holiday weekend. Brian's Binary Cable hat is also finished and will get blocked soon. I was nervous about the fit of the hat - with just the cast on and first few rows of ribbing I thought it would be huge. Then, once I started to cable, I thought it might be too snug. I'm not sure yet about the snug because Brian was not available for a try on, but it's not huge and I think it will be OK. Now I need to choose a pattern for some fingerless mitts to go with the hat.

I bound off Rob's sleeves last night despite a frogging session due to a too wide sleeve. Just a collar to go!

The baby gift sweater has grown just a little. I really concentrated on the other projects this weekend, and on spinning my purple pansy polwarth. There's just a little bit more of that soft, fluffy fiber to be spun.

I plan to try to work on a finishing period for spinning projects, too. I feel scattered. The polwarth will be finished first, then the Grafton Batts I was working on before I started to polwarth. When I finish plying the grafton batt turned lace weight (I HATE to ply, so I am going to have to bribe myself) I will finish spinning the California Red that I had started over the summer. I want to try to clear off my bobbins and spindles by the new year and somehow get more organised with my spinning projects. I want to plan more what I will spend my time on and what I will do with it when it's spun, even if that's to give it away or store for a future project.
Is this need to finish and organise a late mid life crisis? Am I turning over a new leaf? Or is this a temporary thing and I'll go back to my old ways in a month or so? I don't know but I am going with it for now because it makes me feel better about my life. Similar things are happening at home with the rest of my life, too, not just with knitting and spinning.

Dreaming ....

2011-11-17T14:37:00.000-05:00

The winter Twist Collective is up. I like so many of the projects in this issue! The one I like the best, though is Zosia . I like the fact that it looks comfy but fitted. I love the cables and the simplicity of the ribbing that sets off the cables. I like the color, too, though that is very subjective. I think it will look great with the buttons at least partway open, which is how I would wear it very often, but having that high collar there to fend off nasty winds is a wonderful option.

My favorite non-sweater pattern is Caliope, the short version. I can see those socks knitted in several different color combinations. You could easily choose shades of the same color or contrasting colors (as shown). Neutrals (black and white, shades of grey, brown and tan) would also work well. There are more that I like a lot, but those two stand out for me.

My vest now has a front edging. I hope to pick up stitches for the bottom edging soon - maybe over the weekend. I knitted a bit on Brian's binary cable hat, too. It's just about time to start decreasing for the crown. Tonight at knit night I plan to knit on the baby sweater. It's a good knitting and chatting project. After knit night I will be watching the football game on TV and that knitting will be Rob's sweater sleeves. I include what to knit with/around just about everything I do. ; )

Project Resurrection

2011-11-15T11:47:00.000-05:00

I am on a roll finishing up WIPs. This is very unusual for me - I do seem to finish 2 or 3 things close together but they are usually current projects that just end close together. This time I am actually enjoying pulling out these long term proejcts and getting them off the needles. I pulled out the sideways vest in fibonacci stripes over the weekend and added the edging around the arms. Last night I picked up some of the many stitches that will be needed to do the front edging. It will probably take several days, but that's OK. After all this time (3 years, I think) just having it out in the light of day making any progress is great! I think this vest will be finished by the end of the month (along with Rob's sweater. I haven't forgotten that and the sleeves grow a bit every day)

I was planning to take out a lace shawl next and work on finishing it, but I think I'll hold off on that. I just don't feel like knitting lace right now. After the vest I will work on the double knit Honka scarf that's been on the needles for at least 2 years.

I started the baby gift sweater and I like it. The color is good and the construction is easy. The sleeve stitches are on holders and I am working on the "skirt" part of it. I think the ruffles will take a while but the rest will be fast.

Today I leave work early to go get my root canal tooth filled. Finally! I had to take antibiotics last week for some pain in the tooth but it seems fine now. I plan to get in an exercise walk right after that, before dinner. After dinner I get to help DH put some cement patch/leveler on the downstairs bathroom floor so that the floor tile can be put down.

We shopped for a refrigerator over the weekend. (Still shopping, haven't bought yet) Does anyone have any input into brand for reliability? We are looking at Maytag, GE and Frigidaire. After reading reviews on line last night we eliminated Samsung from the mix and I've heard not great things about parts for LG, so we eliminated that brand, too. I am looking forward to a nice new French door fridge that will hopefully last at least half as long as our current fridge, which has been working well for over 30 years!!!!

The five (or 6) year afghan is complete!

2011-11-12T16:55:00.001-05:00

Rob's afghan had had many starts and stops. Lack of interest, heat, being angry at him for something, etc. The last 3 years it was my boat knitting. The pattern was easily memorized and it utilized worsted weight yarn. On a boat underway, that's important. I made it in stripes, not squares to cut down on the seaming. (very good decision on my part)

Last night I finished the last seam and wove in the last of the ends. Today it gets a soak (being dragged around on the boat, to and from the boat made some parts of it a bit soiled) and will be stretched out to dry. Whew! I feel so good about this .....

ETA photo above.

I settled on yarn and a pattern to knit for the baby gift I want to make. I love knitting with Mirasol Nuna, it's about the right weight and I found a color that I think the Mom will like. I plan to knit the Ruffles and Ridges baby sweater in Nuna yarn in Aqua. I'll search for buttons later. The color is actually a bit lighter than in this photo.

Finished Marsan watchcap. I love the swirl decreases.

This is the finished Canaletto Cowl. I love it.

It's long enough to wear doubled around my neck or even doubled around the neck with a third loop over the head.

This is my Polwarth spinning in progress. More spinning tonight, I hope.

This is my Black Welsh Mountain sample skein. You can see the fuzziness, and it's prickly rather than soft fuzzy. It will become an outdoor garment.

I've knitted about 4 inches of sleeve on each side of Rob's sweater and I completed the cabled rows on Brian's Binary cable hat. Next up - either a lace shawl or the sideways vest that needs an edging will be resurrected. Woohoo! On a finishing roll!

I am off to start the weekly laundry battle, shower and shop for flooring for the downstairs bathroom. Have a good day.

No pictures again

2011-11-10T11:58:00.002-05:00

Sorry - I have knitting and spinning progress but no pictures to show you. It's always dark when I get home these days.

I finished the Marsan cap! Well, OK, I do still have to weave in a few ends. It was getting late and I needed to get to sleep, but the knitting is done and some of the ends are woven in. I am going to have a big wooly soak session over the weekend and try to get everything (Marsan cap, Canaletto cowl, BWM skein) blocked in the sunshine.

I spent about 20 minutes last night spinning my Polwarth. The colors fascinate me as they slip though my fingers. I love the deep, saturated purples, with a bit of blue thrown in. Sigh of pleasure .... I am not sure what I will make with this yarn when it's spun but it will be something special.

I knitted further on the first sleeve of Rob's sweater and picked up the stitches for the other sleeve. I want to knit them pretty much together since I am not following a written pattern. Knitting them at the same time will increase the chances that they will be the same.

Tonight is knit night at my LYS so no seaming will happen. I'll probably knit on the sweater sleeves tonight and plan to sew that last seam on the afghan on Friday night. If that fails, I'll get it done Saturday. One way or another I will have another FO by the end of the weekend! I'd love to finish spinning the first braid of Polwarth over the weekend, too. I want to decide between 2 and 3 plies and get it plied. I am just a teeny bit anxious to knit with that yarn (to be). ; )

I am at a place right now where many of my projects are close to completion. I have a severe case of finishitits. Two nights in a row I have stayed up late to finish projects. I love it when this happens. I plan to resurrect a few WIPs next, in addition to starting on Bob's sweater. (He has to choose between the two swatches I made for him to decide on a stitch pattern.) Other than that I hope to pull out one of my lace shawl WIPs next, and the double knit scarf I've been working on for a few years and get them both finished. I'll really feel good once I finish those. I have a sideways knit vest that is mostly complete, that needs an edge treatment of some sort added to it. That will also come back out to play. Bob's sweater and possibly a baby gift are the only new projects I plan to start on for a while. Hopefully that resolution will hold until after the holidays, at least. We all know how suddenly a case of castonitis can attack, but I feel good about finishing these things, so my motivation is high. I want to clear out WIPs just like I want to clear other clutter from my house and my life. I am also looking forward to choosing a shawl pattern and some other patterns to knit with my handspun. Plans, hopes, goals and it's not even the new year yet! LOL.

The fog was amazing this morning on my drive to Baltimore! Thick fog on the water (and near by) makes sense but this fog was really thick 10 miles from the water. It stayed dense enough to slow everybody down almost all the way in to Baltimore (about a 35 mile drive for me). There is an elevated section of the highway just before I exit, and when I drove along that section I felt like nothing existed off the highway - nothing could be seen from there. Very weird.

Have a great day, all. Spend at least part of it doing something you enjoy doing.

Canaletto cowl is finished!

2011-11-09T12:18:00.000-05:00

I bound off late (for me) last night. I still have (4) ends to weave in and it needs a soak to settle things, but the knitting is complete. Yippee!

I started the Binary Cable hat for younger son. I thought it appropriate because he took computer classes a while ago and I thought he would have a computer based career. Not. But I hope he likes the hat anyway. Now if only I understood the whole binary thing so that I "got" what I was knitting .....

The Marsan cap is at the point of decreasing but I haven't had the time to settle into that yet. Soon, I hope.

I finished spinning and plying the sample skein of Black Welsh Mountain. Tonight it gets a bath. I will even knit a small swatch with it. I am pretty sure that I will be able to wear an outside garment made with this yarn despite being a coarse fiber. The garment is still to be decided since I have no idea at all how much yarn I will be able to spin from this fleece. I plan to comb it - that makes it the most spinable, and I can do that in bits and pieces or a lot at a time. Either way, I am relieved to find that I can spin this fiber into something that will be useful. I would have hated to waste it or just make do with a rug. If I knit a rug I want it to be my choice, not because I can't think of anything else to do with the yarn. ; )

What a weekend!

2011-11-07T14:09:00.000-05:00

This is Polwarth, from Erica at Desigknit. I started spinning this on Saturday (finally! I have been wanting to spin it for a while, but couldn't get to it). The main goal was to sample and decide what I wanted to do with it. This is a sample of the singles I tried, thinking that it would make a nice, fluffy soft singles for fulling and knitting a cowl, maybe.

It would be fluffy and make a nice cowl, I think, but I was afraid that the deep colors wouldn't show this way. I don't really have enough to spin, full and knit a sample and still have enough for a project (if the sample didn't work) so I went with the gut and tried thinner, planning to ply. This is a two ply sample, and I decided that I like that, and would try to add a bit more fiber and twist so I would end up with a nice worsted weight yarn.

Then I tried a 3 ply and I like that a lot, too. so, I am spinning (trying, at any rate) thicker than my default and planning on either a 2 or 3 ply.

I may decide to spin the other braid as a single (I think the colors are better for that) or I may decide to spin them the same and ply them together. I have time and I want to be happy with the look of this yarn, since I am so pleased with the hand.

I had a very productive day at home on Saturday: laundry, vacuuming, neatening up, spinning and knitting. I finally picked up the stitches for the first sleeve on Rob's sweater. Yippee!

Sunday was a boating day. I was not thrilled to be up at 6 AM on a day off, but the forecast was good .... and I am so glad I got up early. We had an awesome day on the water. The sun was shining (after the first couple of hours) and the winds were calm. We found birds (they frequently show you where the fish are) and the fish were biting. The fact that they were all little babies and had to be thrown back didn't bother us at all. We only caught one bird. I am becoming an expert as disentangling them from the line without getting bit. (I think they should be more thankful, but they don't agree. LOL) I knitted on Rob's sleeve, swatched for Bob's sweater and worked on a hat (that I think is too big and has to be frogged. Again.)

We returned to the dock a bit before 5:30 PM, in plenty of time to get home to watch the Ravens game. I backed the trailer to the ramp without too much back and forth, and got out so Bob could get his waders on to retrieve the boat. When Bob got in the Expediton to back the trailer further into the water it would. not. move. at. all.
The engine was running but no movement. No amount of troubleshooting regarding brakes, emergency brake, 4WD etc. was helping. I climbed under the vehicle and saw that something major and metal was rusted and twisted, obviously broken beyond a simple repair. It was connected to the rear axle which had moved to a position it was not supposed to be in. Gulp!

We contacted Boat US because we have a trailer tow package with them. Thank goodness! We had to wait for 3 hours but a tow truck came and put the Expediton on the flatbed. We then disconnected the trailer from our vehicle, put the trailer on the tow truck and backed it down to the water, because the boat was still in the water. We had prepped for travel while waiting, so we slipped the boat onto the trailer (thank goodness it went smoothly) and out it came. We went home in the tow truck, with the Expedition on the flatbed and the boat being trailered behind. The Expediton is sitting at Pep Boys waiting for parts (two control arms, a U joint and a yoke, for anyone who knows about such things) and repair. We hope they find nothing else broken when they go to repair the bleeping thing. Grrr.

We made it home just in time to watch the last 8 minutes or so of the Ravens' game. GO RAVENS!!!!!!

Seaming, not knitting

2011-11-02T15:58:00.000-04:00

I sewed a whole stripe of afghan to the rest of it last night. This (scroll down to the red, white and black on the floor)  is the afghan in question. That means I have one stripe to go and that makes me anxious to get it done. I'm like that when I near the finish of a project. Once I get close, all else falls by the wayside. It's almost like castonitis in it's urgency. I might just have to go home tonight and finish that 4 year (or more) project up.

I did do a little bit of knitting last night. Once I finished sewing the one stripe I had started previously, I realized that I wouldn't have time to get far on the next one and so I knitted on the Canaletto cowl for about 20 minutes before sleep. I love that project and might just be planning another, maybe using some handspun.  I was stuck in some bad traffic this morning during my commute, so I knitted while stopped on the highway, too. It all adds up. ; )

The Spinners Study group on Ravelry is studying Polwarth this month. That means that I have ~~an excuse~~ a reason to play with my new fiber (scroll down to the purple braids of fiber) from Erica at Desigknit . Check out her Etsy store - she sells beautiful handpainted yarns and fibers. I haven't decided what to do with my purple fiber yet - spin singles and full them, spin each colorway and ply together or spin each and chain ply. I will be sampling some, hopefully this weekend, trying to figure out what pleases me the most and what might be the most useful for knitting.  I haven't spun Polwarth yet and I'm anxious to see what it feels like.

I still haven't decided what to do about my Shaelyn shawl and the yarn amount. I think I'll try a bit of a steam blocking just to see how big it will be, then go from there. I'm tending towards ripping back to the last lace section rather than adding on.

Knitting progress October 2011

2011-10-31T11:26:00.002-04:00

This is Rob's sweater so far. I finally got the shoulder and side seams sewn and am ready to pick up stitches for the sleeves, which I plan to knit down from the shoulder to the cuff. Rob decided on plain sleeves (no cable) so that simplifies things. I hope to get sleeves (one, at least) going this week.

Here's a closer view of the cables. The color of this yarn is champagne. It looks much nicer in real life than it does in this photo.

Sock progress: One SKYP sock complete (the second has been started) and one Riff complete. I wanted to add length past where my original yarn would take me because my son likes longer cuffs. I found the darker yarn at my LYS and it really works. I am happy and so is he.

This is the fiber I purchased at Fancy tiger in Denver, CO last week. These colors are actually pretty accurate. It's shades of purple and some grey and a bit of white as well, and it's a merino/silk blend. 5 oz should let me do something nice, I think.

This is the hat I started when I needed another boat knitting project last week. It's called the Marsan Watchcap. I hope to get to the swirly decreases soon - that's what really attracted me to the pattern.
I am using a grey and white alpaca yarn and it feels really soft and warm. DH tried it on last night and it's a bit snug on him, so it may be a donation hat. I didn't care. I wanted to use the yarn in a simple project and this worked for me.

This is the Canaletto cowl in Araucania Rinihue. I love this project.

Well, that's the knitting progress. I spent some time combing (with my new, handmade by my brother combs) some Black Welsh Mountain that I washed earlier this year. I want to spin, ply and wash a sample or two so I can figure out what to do with this fiber. It's rather coarse and hairy, even combed. We'll see.

I finished knitting Rob's afghan last night. I have a lot of seaming in store despite having done some as I went along. The end is in sight, though, and I am proud of my self for persisting on this project rather than giving up because it took "a while" (like several years!!) It will be seamed in the next month or so and I will give it to him at Christmas, most likely. I suppose this means that I should pick up the Great American Aran Afghan that I started many years ago and finish that ......

Knitting projects progress

2011-10-27T12:29:00.000-04:00

One thing that traveling by plane does for a knitter (assuming that TSA does not have a problem with knitting needles. The ones I encountered, did not, thank goodness) is provide lots of knitting time. Waiting at the airport for the plane, waiting on the plane, during the flight are all good knitting times. Waiting to exit the plane doesn't work well - everyone is too anxious to get off and moving and bumping and things like that for knitting to be a safe activity.

While I was away (Sunday afternoon to Wednesday morning at about 1:30) I knitted on my Canaletto Cowl during the meetings and in my hotel room at night. I am just a bit over half way across and very happy with how it looks. I hope to get pictures over the weekend. I have been working on Rob's Riff socks. I felt that the yarn was going to run out before the sock was as long as I wanted it for his legs, so I looked for and found a sock yarn in a color that blends beautifully with the original yarn. I used that for the ribbed cuff so that I could knit the patterned section as long as I wanted it in the original yarn. It's a go. : )
The ribbing is complete except that I have to bind off. I didn't have a needle with me (TSA worries) so I just left the sewing of the cuff for home. I cast on and knitted a few inches of the second SKYP sock, too, and did some knitting on the hat I started last weekend as a boat knitting project. It's a simple K1tbl, P1 pattern in what feels like a very soft alpaca yarn. More info and pictures to come.

I hope to get pictures of the new fiber I purchased while in Colorado at the Fancy Tiger Yarn Store. It was 80 degrees that day! Two days later it snowed. More than 6 inches in Denver. I am glad that I got home before the storm hit.

My friend Cheryl has a birthday coming up. It's her 65th. I am not sure how she feels about that, but we will head down to Silver Springs to help her celebrate on Saturday. Now to find a gift .....

I feel like the Yarn Harlot

2011-10-26T16:47:00.000-04:00

Not that there are a lot of people reading my blog, but I am sitting at the airport (in Denver) waiting for my plane. ; )

I was in Denver for two days for a meeting/conference and am now heading home. I managed to fit in a yarn store stop whiloe I was there. I have 5 oz. of purple merino/silk fiber as a reminder of my trip back to the Mile High City (for the first time in about 28 years).

In person

2011-10-20T09:59:00.000-04:00

She's just as funny. Adding the facial expressions, tone of voice and laughter, listening to the Yarn Harlot read excerpts from her newest book was a great way to spend an evening. I had a great time. As usual, I got tongue tied in front of someone famous and didn't say half the things I meant to say. (that NEVER happens when I am with "regular" people. Just ask. If you can get a word in.) I did manage to remember to give Stephanie the little sheep pin I had brought for her. I and my autographed book are going to settle into bed tonight for a little reading. ; )

I am near the end of the Imperial Ranch Columbia yarn. (Shaelyn Shawl) I am near enough to the end of the yarn that I am in trouble, since I didn't bind off at the end of the last lace section and now I ~~think~~ know that I won't have enough yarn to do another stockinette and lace repeat plus the bind off. Decision time - do I buy another skein and finish it up after this last repeat (leaving me with lots of extra yarn) or do I rip back and bind off after the last lace repeat, wasting the yarn that's left. What do you advise?

Awesome stash enhancement

2011-10-19T07:44:00.001-04:00

Written last Friday:

I don't have much new, but what there is is great! A friend went back home to England for a visit with family. She did some checking and discovered that she wouldn't be all that far from the Collinette factory store in Wales and would be willing to make some purchases for others while on her day trip. Yippee! I love the colors of Jitterbug sock yarn. They are so awesome - deep and dramatic. I made a list with lots of alternatives and, due to the price difference there, was able to get more of it than I can afford here. So, I have 4 new skeins of Jitterbug in some really great colors. I'll post photos soon.

I haven't made a lot of knitting progress this week and no spinning progress at all. Shaelyn is the only project that has gotten any attention. I hope to change that over the weekend, which begins this afternoon at about 4 PM. Can you tell that I am ready for the work week to end? ; )

Goals for the weekend (since the weather does not look boating friendly):
Clean up the yard (the last of the garden stuff, rake leaves, put some outside furniture away)
Laundry (to be dried outside if the meteorologists aren't lying to us and we'll see sun again)
Dust and vacuum (it's getting bad)
Spin the rest (I hope) of the grafton batt
Spin more yak (drop spindle)
Seaming of Rob's afghan
Knitting on Rob's sweater. I am pretty sure I can finish the body and maybe even start one sleeve.

My tooth (root canal) has stopped hurting and I go to the dentist on Tuesday to get that finished up.

Bob has been busy downstairs. We had to replace the water heater, and as long as he was doing that, he decided to move it to a more convenient location. That involved taking down shelves, putting up sheetrock (he decided that he wanted real walls in the basement), taping, priming and painting, and then painting the floor under where the water heart will go. That corner is complete and he is now erecting the wall where the water heater was, and where the storage shelves will go. Soon that part of the basement will have to be emptied of everything not attached, swept and then painted. That has to be timed with laundry washing. Once that area is complete, we do the same thing on the other side of the room to complete the "makeover". All of this involves much grunting, some back pain and lots of organization and throwing things away, so it takes a while. It will be great .... if it ever gets done.

Edited on Wednesday morning:

I did get the laundry done and the garden cleaned out. That took most of Saturday. Sunday was a total loss as far as getting my list completed because I was woken up by a headache that made my head pound. I tried sinus meds, headache meds, resting in the sun, a hot, steamy shower - everything I could think of and ended up being in pain for most of the day. I was able to knit some and finished the body of Rob's sweater. I didn't attmept the seaming - that requires much concentration.

I also did some dyeing. There is no bending down or forceful work involved there (that kind of activity really increased the pounding in the head). I pulled out my Gulf Coast native fiber with the yolk stain, chose a blue (navy) and a green (resdada, I think) dye and dyed about half and half. I love the color combo. I haven't decided whether to spin each and then ply together or to just spin the colors together. It's finally dry and put away until I finish some of my other spinning projects in the works. I didn't do much spinning on the grafton batt but did get a bit done on Saturday night.

Those of you who know me know that I am a Ravens football fan and I usually yell, clap, stomp my feet and really get into the game. About a half hour into the game on Sunday I gave in and took good pain meds for the headache. I was finally pain free and able to enjoy the rest of the game. ; )

Since the weekend I have managed to finish the first sock of the SKYP socks. I hope to cast on the second sock later today. I also finished the Burberry cowl and grafted that together. The Shaelyn shawl is nearing completion (because I am nearing the end of the skein) and should be bound off over the weekend.

The root canal is finished. Now I have to go back to the regular dentist to have the tooth filled. WHY does it take 4 appointments with 2 dentists to get one problem fixed??? Don't they know or care that I have to work and these appointments force me to take time off? Grrrr

I have big plans for today, after work. I am going to B & N to the Yarn Harlot's book signing!!!! I'll be knitting on the second SKYP sock while I wait.

Spinning weekend

2011-10-12T12:25:00.000-04:00

The spinning retreat begins on Friday afternoon and ends on Sunday afternoon. It's not long enough. I had a great time.

I decided to stop at The Mannings on the way to Wilson College for the spinning weekend. I called ahead to verify that they had Lendrum bobbins in stock and when they said yes, I set up my route to take me past the store and then on to the college. I am proud of myself for thinking of a way to save the shipping on the bobbin purchase and still not make a special trip to the store (which is not in my neighborhood) to get the replacement bobbin. I usually don't plan that far ahead. I picked up some dyes and a bobbin for someone else who needed it and then got back on the road to the college.

Wilson College has a beautiful campus and at this time of year, with the trees turning red and brown and orange, it can be breathtaking. The drive went well and the trees all around provided me with lots to look at. I arrived, unpacked spinning and knitting stuff in the gathering room and then carted my personal belongings to the room. It's a basic dorm room, bathroom down the hall, and basic dorm food. Facilities are not why we go there.

We gathered and spun and chatted, catching up on events and families and whatever else we wanted to talk about. I don't see most of these people during the year - just at the retreat - so there is a lot for me to catch up on. The theme this year was silk, and we received our bag of goodies on Friday night. It included some tussah silk, some silk hankies, some silk noil and a few cocoons. All of the fiber was natural in color. On Saturday some of us tried dyeing the silk with Koolaid. I brought my tussah and hankies home to try my new Mother MacKenzie dyes on them but tried the koolaid on the silk noil. The colors are fine but I didn't have enough room in the bowls to get good coverage with the dye powder, so I will have to go back and add more koolaide now that I am home. There is way too much white on that fiber still. I hope to be able to blend it with some wool and get an interesting effect.

Everyone brings a snack for the goodie table, and one of the attractions of the weekend is to sample some of everything. More and more people are bringing healthy foods rather than just cakes and cookies, so it's not as bad as it sounds. ; ) There were some very yummy goodies on that table .....

The weather was so nice that many of us took our spinning and/or knitting outdoors on Saturday. There is a nice patio there that we made use of for a couple of hours, soaking up the sunshine and vitamin D. It was actually heat that drove me back inside after a while!

Show and tell was fun - people bring and talk about different projects they worked on over the last year. I am awed by the talent and interest in learning new things that is apparent in that group of experienced fiber people. Each person walked around for a while, checking out other people's projects and asking questions or asking for instructions. Everyone was free with help and information.

Sunday is always bittersweet - one more morning to spin and chat, have brunch, but then it's time to pack up and go home. : (

The drive home was great, too. No traffic hangups and great scenery to entertain my eyes while I listened to my audio book. I am sorry - I took absolutely no pictures while I was there despite having brought my camera.

What did I accomplish while I was there? It was a spinning weekend, after all. I finished spinning my first Grafton Batt and started the second. I sampled some other fibers that were there for us to play with, but none of them really did anything for me. I spun some silk hankies (that I had brought from home), switching from spindle to wheel spinning, and instructed others on how to draft silk hankies for spinning or knitting. I spun my silk (from home that I have been working on for a while) on the spindle outside on Saturday. I did some knitting on the new shawl and a bit on Rob's sweater, too. All in all, it was a great weekend. To top it off, Monday was a holiday!

Rob's cabled sweater

2011-10-11T08:00:00.000-04:00

I am very excited - I completed the arm scye shaping last night! I knit even to the shoulder now. The cables look good and the shaping didn't interfere with the cables at all. Yippee! I'll bring the sweater with me on the spinning retreat this weekend and hopefully get the front and back completed and maybe even pick up stitches for the sleeves. I have to decide which cable to put on the sleeve, though. I think a new one, not one from the front, but I am not sure sure yet.

I started yet another new project. The new shawl is Shaelyn (Rav link found here - better picture) . The match of yarn (Imperial Stock Ranch Tracie ) and the pattern please me a lot. The pattern is clear and easy, the yarn is an airy, woolly pleasure to knit. There will be warmth but little weight or bulk in this shawlette. The color is a soft, heathered blue.

This new project is the final new project for a while, though. No more casting on until I have a few FOs. I have apparently reached my internal limit on the number of WIPs I want to deal with. Before I start anything new, I want to finish knitting Rob's afghan, Rob's sweater and the first of two pairs of socks. I'd like to finish another project, too, but my goals have to be realistic and I'm not sure I can finish more than that without casting on something else. ; ) BTW, I specified the knitting of Rob's afghan, not the completion. There is still a good amount of seaming to be done there, despite having done quite a bit as I went along.

My cold is just about gone. My mouth is aching a bit after my root canal procedure (done yesterday). Ibuprofen is taking care of the discomfort for the most part. I actually have energy again! I have plans. House cleaning (the big, seasonal kind), rearranging the furniture, yard clean up and, of course, fiber plans. I've even done a little Christmas shopping already!

Spinning and knitting progress

2011-10-01T20:36:00.001-04:00

I am interspersing more Montauk photos as I go along with other news. Hope you don't mind.

I am feeling a bit better today. I got some spinning done tonight even after working my longest day this week. Early to bed again tonight, hoping to keep up the progress on shedding the cold.

This is my spinning status on the Grafton Batt. I have a bit more to spin from this first batt. It's lovely to spin.

I acquired more fiber recently. Bad girl. I couldn't resist, though. Erica at Designknit worked from a few photographs I sent her to come up with some pansy colorways. I just loved two of them, so .....

The colorways have been painted on Polwarth, which I have not spun yet. I just love these colors. I haven't decided yet how to spin them and whether to ply or make singles. I'll daydream and plan a bit more. It adds to the enjoyment, I think.

This is another bit of fiber waiting for me to get to it. This one is Falkland fiber.

Working on seaming my sweater, still. I have no idea why the picture loaded upside down.

One sleeve installed, the other one is halfway there.

I finally remembered to take a picture of Rob's afghan. There are two more stripes to be added to what is there now. I might do some seaming this weekend. I need to spread that chore out over time.

This is my first attempt as spinning yak. I spun it on my akha spindles, then plied it last night. Today I looked at it again and added more twist. It is still over spun, but better. I am spinning more of it and trying to add less twist to the singles. It is very soft even though it is over spun.

ooohhh I am so excited!

2011-10-01T20:32:00.000-04:00

I participated in a swap within the Ravelry Spinners Study group recently. I have been burned in swaps before, so I hesitated, but decided to give this one a try. Now I am very glad I did.

WOW! I really lucked out with my partner. Even the packaging was awesome, with coordinating ribbons. She sent some raw shetland and some shetland roving from her farm. I have never spun shetland before so this will be great fun for me.

I am already washing the raw shetland. giggle. I couldn't wait!

I got some notions and goodies - Godiva chocolates, highlighter tape in a color I hadn't seen before (I love this stuff and go through it a lot) soak wash samples and ChiaGoo Stainless Lace needles.

The fiber selection is great! Look at this green color - what a splash that silk will make with something deep and saturated.

Then we have the *so soft that I want to curl up in it* fiber in blue merino (the color is not accurate- it's a bit more teal than what I got despite several attempts in different lights to get it right) and white cria alpaca.

Look at this yarn - it's merino, silk and bamboo.

Here's a look at the fiber stash additions and

a look at the other goodies that added to my happiness. Thank you so much Nancy.

I hab a code in by nose

2011-09-30T21:10:00.000-04:00

Second day back to work and I woke up with a sore throat and headache. I tried to convince myself that it was allergies but by mid day I was pretty miserable. Dh went to the store and had Zicam waiting for me when I got home. I took 3000 mg of vitamin C and Zicam and went to bed. Idon't think that it actually makes the cold get better faster, despite what the label says, but the symptoms seem to be less when I take it, so I do. It's Thursday and I still don't feel well, but I was just gone for a few weeks so I am being dedicated and going in each day, trying to get caught up with the backlog that was waiting for me when I returned to work.

So, back to vaction. Thursday was predicted to be a windy afternoon. We decided to go out in the morning (I actually got up at 5:45 AM while on vacation to go fishing!!!!!!!!) and hope we got to fish for a few hours before the winds drove us in. I was so glad, since that was our big fish catching day. In addition, the weather was beautiful until evening, so we had a very nice day on the water.

The next day was rainy and windy as promised. I did some laundry and some shopping. (The fishing clothes were getting a bit ripe.) DH had a credit with one of the fishing boats and so decided to go out with them for night striped bass fishing. I posted those pictures previously. No fish for him on that trip, though.

Saturday was another stay on shore day, but on Sunday we got one more trip out on the boat, caught another bass. It was a bit sloppy but not too bad. It was getting pretty chilly at night at this point, so I was glad to come in at a decent hour.

Monday was pack up day, boat and clothes. We should have gotten packed the night before so we could go boating on Monday, but we didn't. It turned out to be a nice, sunny day on Monday which made it hard to get going. To be honest, it was still quite windy around the light house and on the water, but it looked and felt like a nice day to us, our last day of vaction. sigh. We finally headed west towards Mom's house after dinner.

Tuesday we spent just hanging out, spending time with Mom. She and I went to a fabric outlet place (they only have upholstery and curtain fabrics, not clothes making stuff) and rummaged through the remnants bins. I have some pillows that need refreshing. I got some really awesome fabric for pillow recovering for very little money. I can't wait to get to the sewing!

Wednesday was the trip home from NY. It rained off and on, so Bob and I traded off driving, depending on where we were, rain and light levels. It went pretty well over all.

Vacation pics part 1

2011-09-26T12:35:00.000-04:00

We started vacation by spotting these and other hot air balloons drifting by as we packed. I love to
watch hot air balloons. The colors of the balloons themselves, the thoughts and dreams of where one might go and what one might see while up there are powerful ..... Then I remember that I don't like heights, and the gas blower on those things is noisy - we could hear them on the ground - so it's not quite the peaceful trip it appears at first. Good daydreaming material, though. ; )

I have already posted the pictures of the first beach we went to on Long Island. It's a place called Shinnecock Inlet. It is very popular with fisherman and, during certain times, surfers. Our visit was during the time that hurricane Irene was off the coast and that was the cause of the waves that the surfers were enjoying.
We visited with Mom for 3 days before leaving for our actual vacation. We spent one day around Shinnecock. Mom got some moccasins for herself and I bought a pair for a baby gift. We spent one day just relaxing and catching up.

I was thrilled to find out that we could watch the Ravens season opener while there. We had planned to go to a sports bar to watch but didn't have to. What a spectacular win that was!

The next morning we drove out to Montauk, dropped the boat off, unloaded at the hotel and went back to put the boat in the water. We had picked up sandwiches to eat on the boat and headed out to fish the full moon. We each caught one striper that day, which was more than we had caught the entire week during last years vacation! We have pictures of those fish on a camera that actually has film and therefore has to be developed. That's a change! (I had forgotten my digital camera and the other one was in the boating bag. ) We came into the dock at about 1AM, got to bad about 3AM. Ugh.

The next day we went out again, in the late afternoon and into the evening and I caught another striper! It was great fun, and we had sunshine all of this time. At home in MD it was mostly grey and rainy so we appreciated the sun very much. We caught 2 bluefish as well, and brought one home, thinking we could catch more. We didn't. : (

Wednesday we went to visit with one of my brothers (I have 3) and his son at their campsite. Bob had a headache so we went back to the room so he could sleep for a while. I really enjoyed my knitting time. His headache persisted and I got a mild one also, so we stayed on shore that day.

More news and photos tomorrow (I hope. It's very busy at work trying to catch up on things that happened while I was away)

Home again

2011-09-23T12:57:00.000-04:00

We are home from vacation. I am sad. We had such a great time that I hated to leave. I'll be posting pics over the next few days.

We left in the rain and came home in the rain. Thank goodness NY had sunshine! We got back Wednesday night after dropping the boat at the marina and putting it back in the slip. The salt water has been washed out of the motor but we still have scrubbing to do elsewhere. Old fish and bait stink after a while. phew!

Pictures!

2011-09-16T20:39:00.002-04:00

Knitting first. This is the project that has gotten most of my attention lately. The sweater I am designing for eldest son is stockinette on the back and will have two cables on the front. Sleeves will most likely have a simple cable running down each one but that is still to be decided.

This is DH on our boat, about 2 miles from Montauk Point lighthouse with one of the striped bass he caught.

This is me, back at the dock at about midnight, with my bass hanging from the scale. Being out on the water always makes for a bad hair day but I was so happy that I caught a bass, I didn't care. Catching striped bass is no easy chore. Whenever I have hooked one, Iswear that I got caught on the bottom at first. It feels so solid and unmoving. You really have to fight and work to get a fish like that in the boat. As far as I am concerned, a limit of one per day is just fine. That's too much work for me to go through twice in a day. ; )

I haven't forgotten top spin. This is the yak that I am spinning on my akha spindle. It's sooo soft.

This bass is the biggest one I have ever caught! It's 40 inches long and I had trouble lifting it, as you can see. Besides, I hate to put my hand in the gills to hold it the way you are supposed to. ; )

Tonight DH is out on this boat fishing.

See? There he is in the green shirt furthest from the stern (back of the boat). He'll be back at midnight..

More tomorrow. I took lots of pictures tonight and some turned out great. I have to wait until I get home to post those. Data usage adds up fast when you are posting photos and despite advertising to the contrary, this hotel does not have free wifi. Drat.

So glad I got up early

2011-09-15T22:14:00.000-04:00

We had an awesome day on the water! We had great luck fishing. We brought home a 35 inch, a 38 inch and a 40 inch bass plus one bluefish just right for baking whole. Yum! Bob has a great recipe for baking bluefish!

The weather earlier today was beautiful. We enjoyed sun and the wind wasn't too bad. We came in after Bob noticed the sky in the direction of "home" was getting dark. We got rained on just before coming into the dock, but it let up shortly and we were able to clean and unload the boat and load the car in nice weather.

Since then things have deteriorated a lot. The winds are now 20 mph with gusts to 30 and it is raining with that. Ugh. The hotel room was freezing when we returned, but the heat is working now and though I am snuggled in bed with pjs and a sweatshirt on, it's warming up nicely. Eldest son, who was not able to join us here, sent a text saying that it was 45 degrees in MD! Brrrrrrrr.

I am making great progress on eldest sons sweater, though not as good on the afghan. I am busy fishing when on the boat. ; )

Pictures tomorrow - the camera is in the car and it's too nasty out there to go get it.

6AM

2011-09-15T06:03:00.002-04:00

It's 6AM, I am on vacation but I am up and dressed. What a good wife I am. ;) DH wanted to go fishing early since the winds (and therefore the waves) are supposed to pick up significantly later today. Off we go to try to catch more fish. Knitting and spinning update later.

Vacation!!!

2011-09-11T09:30:00.000-04:00

We are in NY at my mother's house. We saw the ocean yesterday so I feel like I am on vacation. We took Mom out all day, had both lunch and dinner out and enjoyed good food and good company. ; )

The dog in the picture above was a well behaved dog who wandered the beach but within sight of his owner, visited everyone and was just so friendly. We asked - he's a labradoodle and I want one. The surf was about 6-8 ft. and the surfers were loving it.

Rob's sweater is growing by leaps and bounds. I have had a good amount of car and chat knitting time, and since this is stockinette, it's perfect for this kind of situation. I am taking a picture daily with my cell phone and sending it to Rob to see. He was hoping to join us for a few days in Montauk but didn't get days off.

Almost there

2011-09-06T07:49:00.001-04:00

Vacation is close! I have one more day to work. I could have taken this whole week, but it will be good to get in the office and take care of a few last minute details that came up over the holiday weekend.

I have been loving spinning my Grafton batt into a nice deep blue (mostly) laceweight yarn (above) and I started spinning one of the September study group fibers. Yak is a lovely, soft, you just want to curl up in a nest of it fiber that is not as easy to spin as it is to fondle. ; ) The staple length is short, about 1 inch on my fiber, and that makes it a challenge for me to spin. I am using my akha spindle (finally cleared of the lumpy, bumpy but it's my first handspun cotton I spun for my TdF challenge) and I think it is working well. The spindle is feather light and I can use it as a drop spindle or spin horizontally, holding and twisting the spindle in my hand until I have some twist in the fiber. Then I can use the drop spindle method to add more twist. I have been using both methods, trying to see which works better for me. It's a fun challenge and the yak and spindle will be joining me in Montauk for vacation spinning.

The Leaf and Picot Cardigan is nearing completion. I know I've said that before, but really! I have sewn in one sleeve and sewn the sleeve closed. I have just started to sew in the other sleeve. The sleeve that is sewn in actually fits! I have one sleeve to insert, then both sweater side seams and one more sleeve seam to go. I can see the finish line .....

I really don't have enough projects on the needles. I am sure I don't. That is why I swatched for a new sweater. This one will be for eldest son and I am trying my own design. Hopefully it will work. (gulp) I have chosen ( with eldest sons input) two cables, to be placed on the left side of the chest and towards the center. The rest of the sweater, a pullover, will be stockinette. We plan on an inch or so of ribbing at the bottom and sleeves and a roll collar neckline. The yarn is Louet Riverstone worsted in Champagne. I think it will be a good vacation knit, being worsted weight and mostly stockinette. We eat in a lot of dim places and spend a lot of time in the expedition (named Elvira) in less than ideal lighting. I have a lace project for when concentration and good lighting is desirable and available.

It is a rainy day here in Maryland, but I am thankful that it is not worse, and that the liklihood of Katia visiting Montauk is lessening. Not gone, but lessening. ; )

Getting back to Normal

2011-08-31T22:08:00.000-04:00

The coolers are empty, the refrigerator is clean and re-filled. The lights seem to be staying on. Not as many roads are blocked for utility work, so I guess they are finally catching up, though the outage map still shows a lot more color than it should.

I made stewed tomatoes with many of the tomatoes I picked in a hurry right before the storm hit. Some of them went bad, but I saved quite a few more. I seasoned the tomatoes and plan to add them to store bought sauce over the winter. They are cooling now and will go into the freezer in a bit, This is the first time I have tried anything like this. I'm nervous. I hope we don't hate it.

I am off tomorrow because I have a "meet the new doctor" appointment in the morning. I will NOT try to drive into Baltimore later in the day with the Grand Prix road closures and limits on parking. I'm off on Friday due to the race but I think I'll do some work from home since we have power. I won't be as far behind when I get back that way.

I plan to spin more of that yummy Grafton batt tomorrow, and finish sewing down the edging of my cardigan. Tomorrow is knit night at the LYS and the last pre-season Ravens game, so I'll go to visit with friends at the store (the last time for 3 weeks) and then watch the recorded game. I don't know how exciting it will be since they don't expect to play many of the starters, but I can zip through the bad parts when I don't watch it live. ; )

Further North

2011-08-31T08:35:00.001-04:00

My thoughts are with those further north of Maryland (and south in VA, too) who are dealing with a much worse situation than power outages, though no power makes things even harder. Houses and towns destroyed or seriously damaged, limited access by road, the list goes on. I just don't even know what to say about what they are going through up there.

Our power was back by the time I got home last night but we ate out anyway. I knitted a few Rock Island edging repeats and turned out the lights at 9:30. At 10 PM the phone rang. That's usually not a good sign, but in this case it was a friend from Colorado touching base. I think it's been 5 years or more since we've spoken with him. It was good to talk with him, though I feel really old now. He started having children much later than Bob and I but 2 of his are in college and the youngest, twins, are seniors in high school. Oh, my. I can remember, on a trip back to Colorado from Texas to visit, holding his first born infant. I think my kids were 5 and 8 at the time, so I really enjoyed cuddling a baby, especially one I could give back when it got cranky. ; )

I spent about 20 minutes spinning my lace weight from the Grafton batt when I got home yesterday. I am still entranced with it and find my self very happy to take my time and get it right. I hope to have time to post photos today or tomorrow if the power stays on.

It's back!

2011-08-30T14:47:00.001-04:00

We have electricity again. The power returned last night at about 11 PM. One by one the generators in the neighborhood shut down and we had quiet for the first time in days. ahhhhhh

McDonald's was very popular for the last few days - people would sit and use the wi-fi and charge their cell phones and other electronic devices. We joined that group twice. I didn't mind the lack of internet service as much as the low cell phone battery. Of course, once I returned to work I had all the internet service I needed.

I completed a few more edging repeats on the Rock Island Shawl

and sewed another inch of edging down on my cardigan,

but I was really too tired to concentrate much. I'm still tired. I plan to go to bed early tonight. We're getting supper out and then I have to go through the fridge and decide what to keep and what to toss. I hope TS Katia does not decide to follow the same path as Irene.

I am hoping for a nice long weekend, some relaxing boat time and some quality packing for vacation time. Well, maybe not packing yet but gathering of supplies and checking lists, etc.

D**n! We just lost power at home again. I'm gonna go cry.

Baltimore Gas and Electric, where are you??????

2011-08-29T14:18:00.001-04:00

We are still without power. It's not a life threatening thing but without some hint of when it might return, we can't make appropriate plans. If, for instance, it will be Thursday, we might go find a generator or just choose to empty the fridge and throw away all of the food. If it will be today, we'll hunt for more ice and try to hang in there. I might even search for a hotel that has power and get a room so that we can all shower in hot water if it will be a few more days.

Oh, and those of you who have generators running 24 hours/day - take pity on those who don't and shut the bleeping things off for a least a little while overnight so we can sleep! Sorry. I am somewhat sleep deprived and the noise of the generators is driving me up a wall.

I made progress on the edging of my sweater. I sat in the sunshine yesterday and, after trying and rejecting several methods, have settled on sewing the live stitches down to the sweater a couple of rows in. When I sewed it closer to the picked up stitches, the picot didn't turn at the right point and you couldn't really see it. The method I chose, while not exactly correct, lets the *K2T, yo row be at the turning point so that you can actually see the picot. ; ) I got almost halfway around before I moved on to actual knitting for a while. Once it was dark, no amount of flashlight or candle lighting could illuminate the stitches well enough for me to continue. If we still have no power tonight, I'll go sit at McDs for a while, charge up my electronics and sew the rest of the stitches down. Pictures may be added if we get power back.

I started spinning a Grafton fiber batt yesterday - Corriedale, I think and it is gorgeous shades of blues and teals.

I played with it for a bit and decided that I really like it thin and will spin lace weight for a shawl. It looks really good as a lace weight (I'm getting better at spinning thin) and I like the feel of it, too. I haven't chosen the pattern yet but once I spin 1 skein of it and can see how the colors work in the final yarn, I'll decide.

I finished spinning the last of my corriedale pencil roving yesterday but since I still can't find the blasted first, full bobbin, I am holding off on plying. I would really like to make the 3 ply I had in mind at the start. I keep hoping that it will turn up.

I think maybe I have a black (or at least dark grey) cloud hanging over my head just recently. Have you noticed the trend? Earthquake, lost items, hurricane, lost power, car repairs, boat repairs galore this summer ...... Nothing life threatening, but very disruptive.

Still a little over 30,000 outages in my county - down 2000 in the last couple of hours. Not very encouraging ......

We made it!

2011-08-28T15:31:00.000-04:00

The hurricane was no where near as bad as predicted, thank goodness. We are without electricity, have been since 5 am or so and that's a PIA but no damage to the house or boat. I've been spinning and getting ready to knit now. We'll be cooking on the gas grill tonight. What I will do about a shower in the morning I don't know.

I spoke with my mother several times and she is fine. No power there, either, but her house is intact and that's the most important part.

So far, so good

2011-08-27T22:28:00.000-04:00

The winds are just starting to pick up and the rain is getting heavier. Our winds are near 20 with gusts to 35 or so, according to the weather channel site. The lights are starting to flicker so DH just went out to get the car battery from my car to use to power the sump pump if electricity goes out. No basement flooding allowed.

Stay safe.

Ready for Irene

2011-08-27T16:34:00.000-04:00

The patio furniture is tied down, the trash cans and other outdoor stuff is in the shed. The boat is out of the water and we went to the marina this morning to put the cover on and retrieve my car. We left it there last night after coming in from an absolutly gorgeous late afternoon and evening on the water.

The Chesapeake Bay was so calm you could see your reflection in it - truly the calm before the storm. We stayed out until about 8 PM then pulled the boat. It is in the parking lot now but it was darker than we thought (probably due to cloud cover, which had already moved in from the hurricane) and Bob couldn't see very well. He's the securer and knot person, so we went back this morning to secure the cover on the boat and bring my car home. It is a bitty thing and even only 3 feet of storm surge would have it's engine submurged if we left it there.

We got home and finished up home prep. Everything that might be movable by 50 mph wind is in side or tied down. I am getting ready to sit down for some spinning and DH just went back to bed. He got up at 5 AM to go to Home Depot to try for a generator. He got there in time, but the generators they got in this morning were the big, expensive ones and he decided (very wisely) to not spend $1250 on a generator that we will use maybe once very 5 years.

I expect that we will not sleep well tonight. We won't be nervous but the wind and rain will most likely be noisy enough to prevent good sleep. We have batteries and ice and food so we are as ready as we can be. Good luck to all of you who will be affected by the storm, especially those on the coast. Be careful. Homes and belongings can be replaced. Lives cannot.

Hurricane prep

2011-08-26T10:36:00.000-04:00

I just sent my brother (the one who lives with our 79 year old mother) a "big sister" note of suggestions for preparing the house. He'll probably roll his eyes and have everything already done, but that's OK. You never know when you might jog someone's memory or brain and give them a useful idea.

We are making plans ourselves, with the boat being the biggest issue. Hauling it out of the water is a no brainer. The questions regarding where to keep it for the duration and how to cover it (the bimini top, which has a zip on aft cover) will most likely not be as easily settled. I am pretty sure we will leave it in the parking lot at the marina, but the covering will be a play it by ear last minute thing, as we see how well we can secure a tarp or other cover over the dash, which is the most sensitive area as far as rain damage.

I am looking forward to a nice knitting and spinning session Saturday night and Sunday, when we experience the worst of the storm. I really hope we don't loose electricity for long, but expect at least 24 hours or so. A cooler and some ice will take care of food for a while, but not longer than 2 days, and ice will become scareme. Fingers are crossed.

Twist Collective has some really great patterns in this issue. I have a list of about 6 that I really like, and seriously plan to knit at least two. Eadon is my favorite and I think I can use some stash yarn to knit it. I also love the hat and mitten set and this sweater. Go check it out.

Earthquakes and hurricanes Oh My!

2011-08-26T07:40:00.000-04:00

We got through one without any problems and are old hands at preparing for the other after having lived in the Houston area for 10 years. If the track doesn't change (which it well might - those hurricanes aren't all that predicatble several days in advance) it will come close enough to us to cause some wind probems but mostly tide and flood problems for the marina. The boat will be coming out of the water tomorrow (we are expecting some storms today with windy conditions that make it hard for one person to get the boat on the trailer) and will wait out the storm sitting safely in the parking lot. We have our canned goods, flashlights, batteries, books and knitting and spinning projects ready. ; )

I used wool combs last night! Melanie came over and demonstrated combing wool with her combs, then let me try it. I have been using dog combs with very limited sucess and was convinced that combing was not for me. I am sold, though, on using combs now (for the right fiber). I'm going to see whether my brother will make a set for me. I have to buy a diz, though. That really made a difference.

I have misplaced a bobbin full of spun singles. Before I lent my wheel to Angela I set that bobbin aside - I wasn't ready to ply and she certainly couldn't use it since it was full. I have no idea where I put it. I'll be tearing the house apart over the weekend looking for it. I have another bobbin full and have started the third. I want to make that 3 ply yarn .....

I got some ideas about how to tackle the problem with my Leaf and Picot Cardigan. I was stuck on the front edging. I have the stitches (almost 300) picked up, the edging knitted and now I have to sew the live stitches down to the sweater, trying to match the live stitches to the corresponding picked up stitches. I made 2 attempts and felt frustrated because I coudn't see the corresponding picked up stitches. I asked for help on Ravelry and got 3 or 4 suggestions that sound helpful, so I will give that a try, maybe tonight at knit night at the LYS.

Rock Island Shawl edging is growing slowly. I have completed 35 of 71 repeats of the edging. I hope to get that number up significantly over the weekend, especailly since we'll be house bound for at least part of it. I need to have eldest son try on the Skyp socks for length - I think it's toe time. I finally ripped back the heel on Riff to fix my mistake on the patterning (thanks to the designer who responded promptly to my questions) and re-knitted. I am still 2 rows off (from matching the pattern front and back) but decided to make it work. My son will certaily never see the mistake. ; )

Good things

2011-08-20T10:04:00.001-04:00

The Ravens won! The first half of the game was better than the second half, though they pulled it out in the last half of the last quarter, but over all I am pleased. Progress.

I plied my mohair last night after finishing spinning the last of the locks. Below you see the flicked locks and my singles on the spindle.

Singles up close with a quarter for scale. (that's the only coin DH had in his pocket at the time and dinner was ready) ; )

This is the plied yarn. I haven't measured the yardage yet. Quarter added for the same scale as the singles photo.

Plied yarn again. It's much softer than I thought it would be. I could wear this - maybe not at my neck, but most other places. That's a surprise. I haven't washed it yet.

We are going out on the boat today and I have my projects packed. I'll be working on spinning silk and spinning Masham on my spindles. I'll be knitting on Rob's afghan and the Eliina Shawl. Both of those can be knitted without much looking at my work so I don't get nauseated on the boat (sort of like reading in the car for some people)

Rob's afghan, BTW, is the Cashmere Earthtones afghan from Gorgeous Knitted Afghans. I can't find a link for it anywhere, though. It is knitted in squares (really rectangles) with each square having one cable that runs left to right or right to left so that the cable zigzags the length of the afghan. I am knitting the squares one after the other with no bind off, so I am knitting stripes of the pattern. There's less sewing that way. I am 1.5 stripes (out of 8) away from the finish line.

Heading off to the library now, then packing for the boat trip (food and such - it's not an over night). Have a great day.

Foiled. Drat!

2011-08-19T12:07:00.000-04:00

I tried, I really did. Despite coming home and battling with customer support for an hour (after an 11 hour work day plus commute time) to get access to my email, I sat down to work on the sweater. I was unable to get my sweater edging finished. I looked it over, re-read the instructions, and just can't figure out how to do what they say. I am supposed to put my live stitches on waste yarn, then sew those live stitches to the picked up stitches on the inside to fasten the edging. I can't see, on the wrong side, exactly where those first picked up stitches are to join them with the live stitches. I tried to pick up the matching wrong side stitches to do a 3 needle bind off and that didn't work. I tried to just hook the sewing needle through the correct wrong side stitch and can't find them. I am afraid that I will end up with a bunched up lumpy edging. I will try again tomorrow and hope inspiration strikes me.

I signed up for a swap in the Spinners Study group on Ravelry. We don't get matched until September 1 so I'm chomping at the bit, ready to get started researching my partner and what she might like to get. We each completed a questionnaire specifying our likes and dislikes, allergies, etc. I am, of course, ready to be surprised myself, but I am, honestly, more excited to play detective and please another spinner with something they will really love to spin.

Tonight is the second pre-season Ravens game. I have my knitting project (Rob's afghan) sitting on the couch waiting for me. ; ) I have to make sure that there is some chocolate and some pretzels or chips or something available for munchies. I will also try to finish spinning my blue mohair locks and to get a picture to post. I'm pretty proud of the fineness of this yarn.

Happy Friday, everyone!

278 stitches picked up

2011-08-18T21:00:00.000-04:00

Wow! I had only 2 extra stitches, they don't mess up the stitch pattern for the picot edge and there are no gaps or puckers in the edging, so I am a happy camper. It took some time and several rips and re-knits to get it right. I've passed the picot turning row and expect to finish the knitting tonight, though I have to then fasten all of those picked up stitches with the last row rather than just bind off and that will take a while.

Here's a view of Riff at the heel turn.

And this is Skyp, still unknown future owner. I'm near the toe, now.

I did a bit more spindle spinning last night on the blue mohair. It's so nice to spin! I have more locks that I can spin, in different colors, but I think I'll put the spindle to use in finishing up another project (already started) first, then play with more mohair later. I wonder if it can be used as a carry along with other sock yarn to strengthen the heel and toe area. There are so many different colors of mohair locks available, I should be able to buy a selection and match or coordinate with just about any sock yarn. I have dyes, so I could do my own, but it's easier to pick them out of a bin. ; ) Maybe I'll play with that on some of my upcoming sock projects, and try singles and 2 ply (one in each foot) to see which works better.

The garden is starting to produce tomatoes regularly. I think I'm going to try baking, then freezing some. I don't make sauce from scratch but I am not against the idea of improving on store bought. We have 2 watermelons growing, too (usually we just get vines and tiny fruits that are mostly rind) and they look like they will be good size. I hope the taste is as good as it looks on the outside.

Blocked

2011-08-15T21:42:00.000-04:00

Finally! The sweater pieces and the shawls are blocked. I also washed the Romney skeins since the spinning and plying are finished. I have just under 100 yards of a worsted weight 3 ply yarn. Not sure yet about the use, but something will come to me. I was surprised to be able to get the shawls dried (mostly) outside yesterday. I thought we'd have rain all day. I got 2 loads of laundry hung on the line, too, but had to finish them in the drier - too much humidity in the air. 15 minutes is better than 45 minutes of drier time, so it's still a help.

There was a discussion going on Ravelry recently regarding superwash wool and whether it felts. (Apparently sometimes it does). The mention of driers brought out the fact that a lot of European households don't have driers, and those people were surprised to hear that most American homes do, and a lot of Americans couldn't imagine life without a clothes drier. That went on to a discussion about Home Owner Associations and how a lot of HOAs don't allow clothes lines (and a lot of other things). Health issues were mentioned (one person said that her kids allergies were much worse when she dried linens on the line) and energy conservation as well as the difficulties (or near impossibility, in some cases) of using a clothes line. For instance, if you live where there is 4 feet of snow on the ground or the humidity would keep clothes from drying totally at all. Very interesting.

I hope to get at least one seam per evening sewed on my sweater. Wearability is in sight!

Pogona is finished. Very interesting construction and I am pretty sure I'll knit another of West's designs. I'm not sure whether I'll keep this one or gift it.

Cladonia is finished and I love it. I might gift this one, too, but I am not sure I can part with it. OTOH, I can knit another .....

It's time to start planning vacation knitting. I can't decide whether I want to take a few smaller projects along or start a sweater. If I decide to start the sweater, I have to settle on which one, swatch, block, measure, etc. so that I'm prepared with the appropriate supplies before leaving. If I choose several smaller projects, I have to gather those and all of the necessary needles and markers, etc. too, so planning is important. There used to be a knitting shop in Montauk, which gave me a safety net, but it's closed now so it would be a considerable drive to get to another one if I forgot something important. Planning is the key. I always have my knitting and spinning projects packed before my clothes. One must have priorities. ; )

There's been a lot of rain here just recently, which we can use but the Midwest needs desperately. I can't even imagine what they are going through. July here was difficult enough. They had it harder and are still dealing with the drought and high temps.

I judged knitting at the Montgomery County Fair on Saturday. This was my third year doing it, and in general, I enjoy it. I like to give feedback to the knitters so they know their strengths and weaknesses, especially since I really appreciate those comments when I enter a competition. It can sometimes be hard to work with another person who has different criteria that you do, but it also widens your outlook on things. We were judging for over 6 hours, though, and that was a long day (without lunch). It was tough near the end when the really big decisions had to be made. I think we made the right one, though, on the Grand Champion.

Speaking of competition, I am going to try to get myself and my projects to gather this week and see about entering some in the state fair. Usually we are on vacation at the end of the fair, so I have no way to get my projects back, which prevents me from entering. This year we'll still be here on the day the projects have to be picked up. I have a few things that I feel are appropriate to enter, though I suspect none will win ribbons. It's hard to win ribbons at the state fair. I'll get the input on them and be happy.

Cucumbers. We are producing cukes like crazy! Fortunately I have been able to give them away. I am not a kitchen person, so the idea of pickling or something does not interest me at all. I might freeze a few tomatoes, though, for additions to sauce. The tomatoes are finally doing better and we are able to pick and eat some of them. We ate the 3 ears of corn that were produced in the garden. It was very tasty and tender. It's a shame no more seeds sprouted, despite re-seeding. I am ready to give up the garden and turn it back into grass, but Bob wants to try again next year. I don't think we've gotten enough out of it to justify our work and $$$. We'll see. He really does the hard work, so if he just wants me to plant seeds and plants and then harvest, I'll go for that. We'll try bush beans instead of pole beans next year. Our green beans have been very stringy and tough, no matter if I pick them early or not. The tomatoes are yummy this year, though - an improvement over last year.

Cotswold spinning

2011-08-12T10:48:00.000-04:00

I mentioned once before that thanks to Melanie, I have some Cotswold locks to play with for this month's spinners study group. They are bright orange, which is a color I don't normally choose but since this is sampling and I won't be wearing it, the orange was bright and cheerful. I was going to comb a couple of locks, then spin, flick a couple and spin and then card a couple and spin. I quickly realized that I wouldn't have enough to spin and ply that way, so I narrowed it down to combing (with dog combs) and flicking. I spun each preparation, then wound into a center pull ball and plied from that.

I need a lesson (or 4) in combing, apparently. I most certainly did not end up with nice smooth fiber the way I see it happen on the videos. I am not sure what I do wrong, but it's something. Regardless, I had a fluff ball of fiber in my hands. I spindle spun it for a lace weight, both because it seems like that's a good use for this fiber and because I wanted as much length from it as possible. The combed locks retained their deep orange color but spun nicely into a lace weight.

The other locks were prepped by flicking each end until smooth. There wasn't much waste, but some was removed. I felt like I spun this flicked preparation much finer than the previous combed prep, but when it was plied, it seemed that the final yarns were about the same. I enjoyed the spinning process much more with the flicked fiber. This preparation yielded a less intense color in the final yarn, but I think I had more undyed fiber in the second batch by accident. It seems that I really enjoy spinning long wools but usally the itch factor has me hesitating because I don't know that I would wear the end result. I suppose I could get some just for spinning and the resulting yarn would be for looks and enjoyment only .... Somehow the practical part of me won't let me do that.

The Romney spinning is finished but I didn't have a chance to ply it. Maybe I can do that while watching the Ravens first pre-season game tonight. ; ) I did spend some time spinning more of that wonderful California Red fiber. It's so much fun!

I completed 2 or 3 more pattern repeats on the edging of the Rock Island Shawl. I have completed 15 of the necessary 71 repeats. Slow but steady progress.

The SKYP sock (the first) is at the heel flap (top down construction) and the Riff sock (the first) is at the heel gusset (toe up construction).

No blocking done yet. Sigh.

DH and eldest son are heading out on the boat today for some fishing. It would be so cool if they could bring home dinner.

ETA they did bring home dinner! One baked striped bass for dinner on Friday!

Busy Weekend

2011-08-08T13:09:00.001-04:00

I have never been to an NFL game despite being a big football fan. I still haven't been to a game, but at least I have now been inside the stadium. The Baltimore Ravens had a practice that the public was invited to attend at the Ravens stadium. DH and I decided to go. I was surprised that I wasn't overwhelmed with the size of the place - I had expected it to look bigger. I loved being, there, though, and seeing what the fans see during the games. Seeing the players in person, though not up close and personal, was very cool, also. We spent 2 hours there, then made our way home. The rest of the day was spent on household chores - laundry, lawn mowing, etc.

I did a lot of seam sewing on eldest son's afghan. It's the perfect thing to work on when you have little energy and it's hot and muggy outside. I have about 4 more feet of seam to sew and all that has been knitted will be sewn together. I have 2 squares knitted of the 12 more to go to complete the afghan. This has been years in the knitting but I am trying to finish it this year.

I spun a good amount of the remaining Romney fiber on Friday and Saturday, so I think I can finish the spinning in another day or two. I thought I would get more spinning done on the boat on Sunday, but the humidity was just horrible and made spinning very difficult. Even the cotton just wouldn't draft and wool wanted to cling to my skin.

I have a shawl that I've been working on intermittently for a while that went into time out due to a mistake that I found I could not drop down and fix. I brought that with me on the boat, got it ripped back and all of the stitches back on the needle. It is now ready to be knitted on again, and hopefully finished this summer. It's 10 rows of stockinette, a row of K2 tog, yo across the row, etc. until you reach a set number of stitches. then there is a lace edging. It will be very pretty once completed .....

Riff and Skyp (socks) are both progressing. The Rock Island Shawl edging grows one repeat at a time. Very slow progress there, but I am trying to avoid letting the new kid on the block take over my knitting time. I really want to finish up some of these other projects.

No blocking happened over the weekend. The weather was drippy and humid and just not cooperative even when we were at home.

We went out on the boat on Sunday - the motor cooperated and started when we needed it to. Yippee! We had lots of fun catching lots of fish. Even though none were big enough to take home for dinner, just bringing them into the boat was fun enough. The sunset was beautiful and we swam and laughed and relaxed.

Now it's Monday and I am back at work. I plan to work hard over the next few weeks to whip things into shape (as much as possible) because in one month I will be on vacation for almost 3 weeks! I can't wait!

Sweater Knitting Finished! and other stuff

2011-08-08T12:08:00.001-04:00

The cardigan knitting is finished!!!!!!
I bound off after measuring 3 times last night at the LYS. Blocking and sewing are up next. : ))

We caulked the repaired rub rail on the boat Tuesday. I got home from work a bit late but then got the good news that I did not have to appear for jury duty on Wednesday. I ate a wonderful dinner, helped with the caulking, then settled in bed to knit on the sweater. I also caught eldest son while sitting still (actually, he was still eating dinner) and measured his foot and leg so that I can work on his socks. I saved the measurements on my I pad for future use, too. He's getting the Riff socks when complete. I also started another pair of socks. That's his fault, not mine. that's my story and I'm sticking to it. : ) He didn't give me the measurement that I needed (I have to start the heel gusset 5 inches before the end of the foot and had no foot length) in time and I had nothing to knit (nothing simple, that is) while traveling to and from work. I cast on the Skyp socks from Knitty.com. I am not sure who will receive those, but I'm knitting them anyway. All of the men in my family have similar, if not the same, size feet. I am using thinner yarn that what is called for in the pattern, so I may have to rip and start again, but we'll see.

We had a fun group at the LYS last night. Lots of laughing, some teaching and rescuing of projects and fiber talk. The projects were varied - stuffed animal, several socks, my sweater, which I bound off while there and two other sweaters. It's so cool to watch the progress of others and to be inspired by their ideas.

Melanie and I chatted about breeds and spinning and answered some questions about both. I now have some Cotswold locks to sample and a bit of merino to sample, thanks to Melanie. The crimp in that is amazing! I ordered some Scotch Mule fiber from an Etsy vendor which I will share with her. I've been wanting to sample that for a while after reading about the breeding, etc. and finally decided to look for and buy some. It should be here soon.

I got my Romney singles plied and have started spinning the last batch of Romney. It's been slow going because I wanted to finish my sweater and I started the edging for the Rock Island Shawl KAL for Seasons of Lace. I do one (usually) pattern repeat of the edging per night so that I don't get obsessed with the new project and I can keep up with other projects already on the needles. This weekend I hope to get some blocking done - Cladonia, Pogona, and the cardigan pieces.

I'll spin more this weekend, too. I really want to get back to spinning that California Red on my wheel and maybe finish up the Romney spinning so I can ply next week. I also have a bit more fleece to wash and this might be a good time to get that done. I'd like to store it for later spinning and would feel better about that if it was clean. Sounds a lot like I plan to do nothing but fiber activities this weekend, doesn't it? Too bad we won't be on the boat to do it. Laundry and cleaning will get done in between the important things. ; )

It's a Frying Friday

2011-08-05T09:50:00.000-04:00

Very hot and humid today - I almost hate to leave work because I know it's a lot cooler here than at home, especially if B,G & E has to cycle the AC on those of us signed up with Peak Rewards. Peak Rewards is a program that you voluntarily sign up for. You get money back on your bill for participating, but risk having your AC cycled off during peak electricity usage times. We signed up for 75%, so our AC doesn't go off totally but the house does get quite warm. They rarely do this, but last Friday they did and people howled and yelled. Houses got as hot as up in the 90s and didn't cool off until late. We were uncomfortable but OK and will stay in the program. Other people didn't feel the same. I guess they were fine with getting money back but didn't want to deal with the consequences. In all fairness, I think that in some cases the utility company didn't do a great job in explaining the program. I think a lot of people just didn't like it when they activated it. Yesterday B,G & E said publicly that they didn't expect to have to implement the cycling today. We'll see.

My new sock project is a joy to work on. It's not boring but it is a pretty easy pattern to memorize, with just an occasional check of the chart. Eldest son likes it and I like knitting it. Pictures soon.

I have started the V neck shaping on my sweater! Not far to go now!

Boat work instead of boating will be happening this weekend, I think. We have to repair damage and replace a missing part. (I am so glad that DH lost the part rather than me)

Laundry, spinning, boat work and knitting are on the agenda for this weekend. Maybe some house cleaning, too. I hope to get at least one of my shawls blocked and finished pictures taken.

I have to go for jury duty this coming Wednesday. I hope I am not chosen (because I am busy at work) but will not lie to get out of it.

Sizzlin' summertime

2011-07-27T20:51:00.001-04:00

I am not going to complain about the heat because I do have central AC. Thank goodness.

I've been busy at work, putting in a few more, irregular hours than usual. That has impacted things on the home front, also. Some days I get home after 8 PM and just don't have the energy to accomplish anything else, even spinning and/or knitting. Work is good, it's more interesting being busy, but does get in the way of other things. ; )

I didn't get to finish spinning my Romney fiber, but I have another 3 spindles full to ply when I can sit in front of the wheel. I can't wait to see what the total yardage is so I can plan a fall project.

I chose to spin on my new akha spindle with cotton for my TdF challenge. I watched a couple of videos on spinning cotton, and a few on using an akha, then got to work. I need practise. Really. However, I did produce a cotton singles and am working on more, to try to ply. There really isn't a lot of info available on spinning using that type of spindle, but I think I did OK for a beginner. I found it to be an enjoyable way to spin.

I finished two knitting projects in the last couple of days - Pogona was bound off last night and Cladonia was bound off the day before! Neither one has been blocked yet, but the knitting is done!

No completed and blocked pictures yet, but at least you can see the colors and a good part of the lace edging of Cladonia.

I still have half of the fronts of my sweater to knit, and that is now highest on my priority list. However, (you knew there would be a however, didn't you?) I need a small, portable project for walking, so I started a sock. Eldest son loves music, and Knitty.com had a pattern called Riff that I thought would be just right for him. I have less than an inch of toe knitted but am not in a rush. This is truly a travel project for me.

Once I finish the sweater I plan to go back to the Curved Shawl with Diamond Edging from Victorian Lace Today and work on it until it is complete. I will get that shawl off the needles and onto my shoulders this summer. When I need simpler knitting (and sometimes I do have that need) I will work on Rob's afghan and try to get that done this summer also.

I signed up for the Seasons of Lace KAL this summer. The shawl that was voted on is Jared Flood's Rock Island. I was not being very realistic about my available knitting time at that time. I like it, but am hesitant to start another shawl until the current one is complete. OTOH, this one should be faster and provide a nice break from the other, due to the garter section. Hmmm .... what to do ......

We went to Bass Pro Shops last night so that DH could choose his new fishing rod and reel that he wanted for his birthday gift from my mother, me and eldest son. He took several hours - this from a man who (usually) has a list, finds what he needs and is out of the store in a flash. I asked him if it was sorta like MDSW for me and he laughed and agreed. He made his choices and I think he's very happy. Tonight we find eye glass frames for him and then I get to spend some time knitting.

Weekend on the boat

2011-07-27T20:22:00.000-04:00

We made it! We got things done, got packed, fit the necessities in the boat and spent Saturday and Sunday on the boat. While it was more windy than predicted (and than we had hoped for) we decided to stay out and were glad we did. We did some fishing and some sightseeing.

I did lots of knitting, a little spinning and we just chatted and relaxed. Due to the wind and therefore rough water, the project I worked on most was Rob's afghan. The other projects I brought required more looking down to see my work than I was comfortable doing with all the rocking the boat was doing. Seasickness is not fun at all.

I hope to repeat this activity once more this year, but we'll see how the weather behaves. I am not interested in roasting myself day and night.

Yarn and Fiber Dyeing Day Photos

2011-07-15T18:00:00.001-04:00

I hosted a dyeing day at my house over the weekend. It was much hotter than I would have liked, but we had some artistic people creating beautiful yarn and fiber. Here are some photos. I am sorry about the sideways photos. There was a problem somewhere.

Dip dyed fiber

Hand painted yarn

Yarn in a crock pot, dye powder sprinkled over it to over dye the pink I didn't like.

Falkland fiber painted with Easter egg dye. Not a success. It's too pastel.

Hand painted fiber

This is a twist yarn with one ply that takes the dye differently than the rest. it will be a sweater for me at some point, but I have to over dye it - the 4 skeins are not close to the same color.

Cladonia progress - I finished the body of the shawl, so it's time to start the lace edging. I will use the main color for the edging, then may do the picot bind off in that or the contrasting color. I haven't decided yet. I am excited to have reached this point, though.

I bound off the sock!!!! FO alert!!! yippee! I finished the Calendula socks, including weaving in ends. They need a good soak and then will get packed up and sent off. Now I have to concentrate on the fronts of my sweater. I really want to finish it by the end of the month.

It's FRIDAY

2011-07-15T11:10:00.000-04:00

I am so ready for Friday this week. I'm always ready for Friday but this week the feeling is much stronger. I haven't had a bad week, just a busy, stressful one. I think I've dealt with things well enough, but I was at work until late (7 PM one night and 9 PM another) twice and dealt with some unusual tasks. I can't wait to relax, knit and spin and spend time with DH.

Tonight we will try to accomplish necessary chores. Tomorrow we plan to go boating and, if the weather holds, to spend the night on the boat. We haven't done that for 2 years and I'm really looking forward to it. It's so peaceful out on the water at night. I love to look up at the stars (which are easier to see on the Bay, away from city and town lights), listen to the waves lap against the hull, talk, spin and knit (me), read (him) and relax. We'll anchor in an out of the way place and settle in for the night. In the morning DH will likely get up before me - he wants to try some early morning fishing. That's OK. I can take my time waking up while he does his thing. We'll stay out until we get too hot or too hungry and then come back to the marina whenever we're ready.

I'll knit on eldest son's afghan and the lace edging on the Cladonia Shawl, maybe the cardigan, too. I'll bring my drop spindles and work on spinning Romney and silk (separately, not on the same spindle). My Pagona shawl is at the point (by the measurements) for the edge and bind off but I still have yarn and so I'll make it bigger. Once I tire of knitting on it, I'll bind off. ; ) I'll also work on swatching with my newly purchased linen yarn. I am considering designing a lace tunic top, so I'm playing with needle sizes and lace patterns.

Have a great weekend.

Dedication

2011-07-12T20:33:00.000-04:00

Here's proof that I am dedicated to my TdF efforts. Spindling on a boat can be challenging. The waves and wakes that day were not as bad as they are other days, so I was able to stand and use my drop spindle. That is my silk that I am spinning, bought for me as a birthday gift last year. I love spinning it, but I am working hard to keep it an even (as even as I can spin) lace weight, plus I have other projects, so it's taking a while.

That's the Chesapeake Bay and the starboard aft section of the boat in the picture.

This is the fiber and the spindle I am using for the silk. Pretty, isn't it?

This is the first skein of spun silk yarn. it's funny how it looks green sometimes and blue other times, but I really like it.

This is Romney fiber, obtained raw and scoured by me. This is my first 3 ply worsted weight skein, spindle spun and plied on my wheel.

Romney fiber on the spindle - today's spinning.

This is a photo of some of the scoured locks, which I flicked open and I am spinning directly from those locks. I am not separating the colors but spinning them all together for a wonderful heathered yarn.

A close up of the finished skein.

This is some of the dark grey, almost black Icelandic fiber that I am spinning. I hope that this will be a contrasting edging to a shawl that I will knit with the lighter grey yarn I am spinning.

Lighter color Icelandic laceweight yarn. It's probably closer to fingering, and I think it will bloom, but I am happy with it.

Knitting projects - I am knitting in addition to spinning. This is a terrible picture of my Cladonia Shawl. The colors just wouldn't work. I'll try again on a sunny day, earlier in the day. The main color is a deep tonal blue and the contrasting color stripes have that same blue plus grey, black and almost a little purple. Most of the shawl is stockinette, with a nice lace edging to be knitted at the end. I like this pattern and it's well written. I am doing it as a part of a KAL on Ravelry for Through the Loops patterns.

This is my lace shawl from Victorian Lace Today. It doesn't look different, but it's bigger. Take my word for it.

This is the yarn I am using - Cinnamon's Dyepot. It's beautiful, isn't it?

One more picture of my spindle spun 3 ply worsted weight Romney skein. It's only about 45 yards, but it takes a lot of fiber to make a 3 ply, and I spun it on the drop spindle, so i am actually pleased with the yardage. It's soaking right now after it's bath.

Some time later this week I'll share pictures from the dyeing day at my house on Sunday. Lots of fun, very hot and lots of creativity here.

No Touring Yesterday

2011-07-08T13:52:00.000-04:00

Somehow, between working, eating, going to knit nite at the LYS, trying to get my apps (and the contents thereof) back on the I Pad (lost after a restore)(not successful and I'm aggravated. There were lots of knitting patterns on there in addition to the books we've bought) and sleep I did not manage to spin at all yesterday. I'll have to spin on one of the other rest days to "atone". ; )

I knit some on Cladonia and 2 rows on the cardigan during the time at the LYS but that's it as far as my fiber efforts yesterday. I did manage to get my pictures off the camera and onto the computer, so now I have to work at getting them on the blog and taking daily pictures of my spinning.

TGIF. Have a great weekend.

Tour de Fleece and recovery

2011-07-07T12:52:00.002-04:00

I am not 100% yet but I am much improved. I no longer feel like I have to sit and rest after everything I do. ; )

The TdF has started and I am doing well with my spindle spinning. Having the first few days fall on a holiday weekend helped. I have 2 plus spindles full of Romney singles and hope to be plying soon.I don't know what kind of yardage I'll get but I think I'll like the yarn. I am shooting for a 3 ply worsted weight. When the Romney is spun, since I didn't really set specific fiber goals, I'll most likely pick up the Icelandic again. I plied my singles on the first day of the TdF and I really like the yarn. I am anxious to make more. The darker color Icelandic is more felted and less airy but I've worked out a way to work with it and I believe I'll be happy with the contrasting colors for the shawl.

I will be getting my wheel back on Sunday so I have given thought to what to wheel spin for the TdF despite not setting any official goals. I would like to finish up some projects, so I'll go back to the pencil roving I was working on when the wheel left for it's visit. If I manage to finish that spinning and ply it before the end of the tour, I have some new Falkland fiber in pretty sea colors that I'd like to spin .....

I started knitting Cladonia over the weekend. There is a Ravelry group KAL for any Through the Loops shawl and I like a lot of her patterns. We will ignore, for the time being, that I have "a few" other shawls, big and small, on the needles. This is it - when I finish Cladonia I am going back to my WIPs. I am very ready for some FOs to talk about.

Speaking of FOs, my cardigan is nearing that stage. Both fronts have been started and I have about 5-6 inches knit. Soon I will start shaping. Hopefully I won't have too many frogging sessions due to not getting the shaping in pattern correct. Once the fronts are complete, it's time to assemble the sweater!

We ate a home grown strawberry the other day and I had a bowl full of blueberries from my garden for the first time!!!
The veggies are not as lush as I would like but I have seen some green tomatoes and I will be able to pick cucumbers in the next couple of days.

ETA I thought I would have photos to post but didn't have time to find the camera, upload the photos and upload them to the blog. Sorry. I really am working on fibery things.

Bronchitis

2011-06-28T13:52:00.000-04:00

At least I know why I feel like garbage. I am on antibiotics but this is not a quick recovery illness. I won't go into details. Just Ugh.

I have been knitting. The back of the cardigan is complete and I've cast on both fronts, completed the picot edging and am ready to start knitting in pattern. (I also fixed the sleeve error I had discovered after I cast off.) The Calendula sock (that I have been ignoring) is now complete except for 2.5 inches or so of ribbing. The lace shawl is creeping along. I have to be careful when I knit on that - when I don't feel well, mistakes happen and I spend more time ripping that I spent knitting. Ask me how I found that out. : (
I also knitted several more squares for the blankets to go to charity. I want to try to knit as close to a half blanket myself as I can get in the time allotted.

Spinning the Icelandic is so nice .... I am now plying. Plying on the wheel is so much faster, but my wheel is on loan, so .... I am plying a bit at a time on the Turkish spindle. Tour de Fleece starts soon, and my Romney is ready. I'd like to get the plying done so I can start on the next batch of Icelandic with clear spindles, but I don't think that will happen by the start of the TdF. Well, the tour lasts a few weeks. I'll have time.

I'll be getting my wheel back in about 2 weeks. Angela and I went shopping for a wheel for her. She hopes to replace mine with one that she owns with no gap in the spinning. Boy, she has the spinning bug bad! ; ))

Do you have plans for Independence Day weekend? I am not sure what we will do but I hope to feel better, whatever we settle on, so that I can enjoy.

I've fallen in love ....

2011-06-21T14:56:00.001-04:00

with a new pattern. It's a Sivia Harding pattern, and that doesn't surprise me. I love a lot of her patterns. This one is a glove pattern and that does surprise me. It's summer. It's hot out. The last thing I need right now is a pair of wool gloves, but there you go. Illogical knitting urges. I plan to get the pattern, check the stash for appropriate yarn, then go buy some beads and have it ready to go for a vacation knit. We'll see whether I stick to that timetable or not. ; )

I took a few photos of my resurrected lace project - the Curved shawl with Diamond edging. This first photo is just relaxed on the deck to show the amount of shawl I have knitted (which is much larger than it was about 3 weeks ago).

This is a stretched out lace photo attempt to show the lace pattern, which is really quite pretty. I was not feeling well enough to get out pins and a board to take proper photos with.

I also took a few photos of my Pogona shawl. I pick up this shawl when I want something light and easy to knit on. I've knitted 9 inches (length) in the center (pictured below), and have to go to 14 inches for the next step.

There are increase stockinette sections alternating with reverse stockinette sections, and you add the increase sections at different time points. The shawl is supposed to sit nicely on the neck and shoulders. I'll let you know. Meanwhile, it's an enjoyable knit.

I am trying to finish off the last few inches of the Calendula sock for Sharon but not having a lot of luck. I keep going back to the cardigan I am knitting for myself. I have about 3 more inches to knit even, then I start arm scye shaping on the back of the sweater. The sleeves are already knit. : ))

Spinning efforts center around spinning this wonderful Icelandic fiber.

I had been aiming for lace weight but it will really be more of a fingering or sock weight yarn than lace, but that's OK. I love it. (There is my little sample skein in the bottom of the picture, just below the spindle)
I have the lighter grey, pictured in this photograph, and a dark, charcoal grey in a lesser amount that I will spin to use as a contrasting edging. I think. I don't know final yardage, and I haven't chosen a pattern yet, so it's possible it will be striped, but I think edging. ; )

Sunday was Father's Day. Bob and I thought of our dads often through the day. They are both gone now but still very much with us in our hearts. On Saturday we went with younger son and his partner Chris and Chris's dad out on his dad's boat. We had a nice time socializing and swimming to cool off. On Sunday Bob and I went out on our boat. I was sick, (actually, I felt like crap) so this was truly a sign of love on my part. Bob wanted to go so much, I didn't have the heart to tell him that I just wanted to go to bed. So we went, and had as nice a time as possible. He caught a few little perch and we found a new fishing spot to try next time.

Eldest son got a new-to-him used car yesterday. The guy was a real a**hole - misleading us (and not correcting the mis-information at several time points when it would have been very appropriate) about the inspection status, which is a big deal in Maryland. You cannot register a car until it has passed a very thorough inspection, which usually means some expensive repairs. I wanted to ditch the while thing but I was out-voted. The car is a Nissan Altima, 2000, and in outwardly pretty good condition. We'll see what the mechanics say at time of inspection.

The Seasons of Lace Summer 2011 voting should be completed today. I'll be heading over there a little later to see which shawl was voted in for the KAL this summer. I have already resurrected one of my WIPs (see above) but will knit the KAL shawl, too. Seeing the nominations also brought to my attention some shawl patterns that I had not noticed before, and I will be knitting Jared Flood's Juneberry for sure, with or without a KAL, in some yummy brown alpaca I've been hoarding for several years. I bought it the first year that Stitches was in Baltimore, so that's been hanging out in my stash for a while. I have two 500 yards skeins of it, so there's the potential for more alpaca goodies ...... in the fall. No alpaca knitting in the summer for me.

I plan to take part in this year's Tour de Fleece. I have not yet settled on all of my goals. For the Spinners Study group, I will take on challenge # 1 " To spin and present your findings on the fiber of a breed of sheep (or species) you have never before worked with. Any breed, whether it has been studied in the group previously or not. It just needs to be new to you! (This could include processing and spinning a type of fleece you have never before processed as well.) "
I have some Romney from Melanie that I washed last week. I can prep and spin that since I have never knowingly spun Romney before. For the Spindlers group, we set our own goals, other than to spin on a spindle. I may just keep up with spindle spinning the Icelandic for that group challenge, maybe a minimum amount per day. That will help with my divided spinning attention and allow me to make progress on a WIP. ; )
I was considering spinning some cotton that I have at home on the two new akha spindles I just bought as my difficult challenge on the special challenge day. Maybe .... We'll see how my energy and frustration level is at that time.
If I get my wheel back (on loan) in time, I may try to finish up spinning the Corriedale pencil roving I had started a few months ago. I need to spin part of one more bobbin, probably another whole one, then ply it. I have N plied one bobbin already. That will be a secondary goal, though, and I may well not get there. That's OK. The spinning doesn't end with the TdF.

Happy First day of Summer 2011.

Knitting Lace

2011-06-14T13:49:00.001-04:00

I'm back in lace knitting mode! Yippee! My shawls can stop being WIPs and become FOs (in time). I decided to sign up for the Summer 2011 Seasons of Lace blog. I hoped I would find inspiration and encouragement there for my efforts to re-enter the lace knitting world. ; )

I plan to knit one of the two shawls voted in for this season and to resurrect a WIP. The voting is still ongoing (the voting ends June 20) but I started on the resurrection project and it's working. The Curved Shawl with Diamond Edging has been resurrected first (mostly because the frogging is already done so I just have to knit now. The Laminara shawl still has to be frogged and I am not quite ready for that yet. Figuring out where I am is a daunting thought). It gets wider as I progress and according to the instructions I have to have 50 (6) stitch repeats in a row to be ready to knit the edging. I have 27 now, so there's a lot of knitting to go. I'm getting the hang of things, though and moving faster than I had been before.

We made it out on the boat on Sunday! First time for me this season (due to repeated mechanical difficulties) and only the second for Bob - that's very unusual for us. We are usually one of the first boats in the water and Bob is normally an early in the season fisherman. He was working ont he basement bath reno, though ....

We had a wonderful day, swam to cool off and enjoyed just being out on the bay. Our evening on the bay was foiled, though, by the warning we heard on the radio - tornado warning for our county! tracking in our direction. I have lots of faith in DH's captaining abilities but a tornado?! Not. We made it across the bay in record time and arrived at the marina in time to get the boat closed up. The skies looked scary but all we had was thunder, lightning and rain - no high winds or signs of a tornado (thank goodness). Everyone in our area was safe, even the people in canoes and kayaks.

While on the boat I knitted on Rob's afghan, which is my usual boat knitting project. I hope to finish it this boating season. I am on the 5th of 8 strips of knitting. I knitted the squares connected, in strips instead of squares to cut down on sewing, and I've sewn 3 of the strips together.

My Pogona scarf is growing slowly. I am not making a big push on this but it's a small project that does not require a lot of stitch manipulation or counting, so it's a portable project and enjoyable.

Bob's socks are finished and stored until cold weather hits. The Calendula socks that I am knitting for a friend are about 4 inches or so from being finished. I need to get on that. The Leaf and Picot cardigan is growing also - I have 9-10 inches for the back done and at 14 inches I start arm scye shaping. I haven't even felt a twinge of cast-on-itis, thank the knitting gods. ; )

Spinning - I wish I could spin more each day. Between work, household stuff and a shoulder that starts aching after a while (because I can't seem to remember to keep my arm below shoulder height), I am limited to about 15 minutes or so of spindle spinning per day. I love spinning the Icelandic. The North Ronaldsay

is a bit more challenging, but I'm getting there. I even spun on the boat!

Angela is loving having the use of my spinning wheel. I think we have another spinner in our midst. We might have to start a spinning guild/group. ; )

The veggie garden is doing OK. I need to plant more corn and green bean seeds - only some of the seeds I planted have come up. That might be because I used last year's seeds or for some other reasons but I plan to buy fresh corn, green bean and sunflower seeds this week and get them planted. The tomato

, cuke, watermelon , green beans

and asparagus

that were planted previously are all loving the sun and hot weather we've been having. I planted a raspberry bush, too, but that will not produce until next year. I am tending it carefully because I really want fresh berries in my cereal next year. The blueberry bushes that we planted a few years ago don't do much.

Eldest son's car died. It's a mechanical problem that would be too expensive to fix on a car in the condition his is in. He is now in the market for a used car in good condition and meanwhile DH drives him to work or he uses my car on the weekends. It's weird looking out the window and not seeing his (or any) car in front of the house. It's just another of the mechanical issues we've had to deal with in the past year or so that has been expensive and not possible to avoid. As a result of those issues, I have cancelled my campground reservation for Rhinebeck and have now started to plan for next year. I'll have more time to save more $$, right?

Have a great day wherever you are.

Saroyan is bound off!

2011-06-07T12:54:00.000-04:00

I still have to weave in the ends and block, but the knitting is done and there aren't many ends to weave. Now I can go back to knitting the back of the cardigan. Yippee!

So much better

2011-06-06T13:46:00.001-04:00

Last week was a rough one for me - not feeling well and things (like the boat motor) not working. It's over, though and I feel much better. We had a great weekend despite spending a lot of it working on the boat motor. Thank goodness it is now in the driveway at the house - makes things much easier to do and allows me to tend to other things between motor testing.

My spinning wheel has been loaned out - I plan on a month or so, so I am limited to spindle spinning. I like the limitation, though, as I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with all that I am trying to do. I did some thinking yesterday and have come up with a Plan. ; ) I am going to concentrate on spinning my Icelandic fiber into (I hope) a lace weight yarn. This project is spindle spinning, though once I get the wheel back I'll ply it on the wheel, I think. I am nowhere near being ready to ply, so all is well. When I feel the need for a change, I will work on the silk spinning, also spindle work and also a WIP.

Knitting project wise, I've been working hard on Saroyan, which will be finished by the end of the week. I plan to get back to work on my sweater knitting once Saroyan is finished, and to finish up the two socks on the needles (finally). I have registered for the Season of Lace Summer this year and plan to participate in the KAL shawl project, plus make use of the Project Resurrection KAL to get me back on track with one of the three lace shawls I have on the needles. I am really excited about this! If all goes well, I'll have 2 or 3 finished lace shawls by the fall.

I am going to observe and encourage the spinning testing and challenge events going on at Ravelry in the spinning groups that I belong to but not participate (with the exception of the Tour de fleece) - I want to get caught up and have some finished projects to feel good about. I've gotten too scattered and right now it's not feeling good. I hope to finish, by the fall, the Icelandic spinning, maybe half of the remaining silk spinning, the cardigan knitting and two shawls. That would be awesome, and that's my goal.

If I ever get my camera back from younger son, I plan to post pictures of where things are now and then progress pictures one a month. Lace just doesn't grow fast enough to post photos more often than that. LOL. It's the same with spinning - one spindle full looks pretty much like the previous one, though I do have two colors of Icelandic to spin.

Some times I want to work on fiber but don't feel like knitting or spinning, so that's when I pull out the tools and work on prepping fiber that I've washed. Right now I am working on the Jacob, and will work on that until it's done. The fiber prep really has to be done outside - I don't want all of that vm to float around the house or get ground into my carpet. When the weather is pleasant, I really enjoy sitting out on the deck combing or carding or whatever. It's a different zone to get into but therapeutic in it's own way. The Jacob is less therapeutic and more frustrating than the BFL because of the quality of the fleece, but it's still fiber. : )
I am determined to finish this and use what I can from the fleece. Lesson learned. Next up will be at least some of the Black Welsh Mountain because I want to see what type of fiber I can get from it and figure out what I want to do with it. I hope it's going to work for a vest (outdoor type) if not a sweater. Then I'll move on to the BFL. I am not even menitoning the Scottish Blackface (unwashed at this point) or the Gulf Coast Native (will be arriving on Thursday) that I haven't touched. Oh, yes, and the Romney that I am getting from Melanie in exchange for some of my BFL. NO MORE FIBER, LINDA. (not until Rhinebeck, anyway. giggle)

Hot!!!

2011-05-31T12:06:00.000-04:00

Memorial Day weekend is the traditional start of summer. We rarely, however, start summer with temps near 100. Wow! It was a very hot weekend, and the hot weather hasn't ended with the holiday weekend.

We tried to go boating on Saturday and again the motor caused problems. Last time the motor over heated. This time we didn't even leave the dock - we never got the motor started. We worked on it for about 7 hours before giving up, went back the next day and put in another 4 hours or so. Still no progress. Currently we have no spark getting to the motor. Cause unknown. There's a fuel supply problem, too, but the important part is the no spark at the spark plug. Ugh.

I washed just about all of the 7 lbs of BFL raw fleece. There is a bag that I forgot about - maybe 3-4 oz that still needs to be scoured, but the rest is done. Whew! That's a lot of work! Lots of vm showered the deck and the yard as I vigorously shook the fleece at each step. There's still more to get rid of, but it actually comes out fairly easily. I am feeling overwhelmed right now with fleeces and parts of fleeces all over the living room. I think I will pack away the Black Welsh Mountain and the Jacob (disaster) fleece for a while, and concentrate on spinning projects already in the works (North Ronaldsay and Icelandic) and prepping the BFL fiber for spinning. I want to do as much of that prep as I can outdoors since it's so messy.

I am planning to participate in the Tour de Fleece again this year, and I think it will be a spindle effort only this year. I am planning to lend my wheel to a friend for a while, and I've realy been into spindle spinning recently. I have to settle on a challenge and make sure my supplies are ready. I need to work with a fiber that I have not yet spun and set some other, personal, goal. I am considering learning "ply on the fly" as my personal challenge. I had planned to work on a cabled yarn (on the wheel) as my challenge, but right now that doesn't interest me. The spindles have me captured. I want two more!

Knitting progress - the cardigan has not grown at all. I am really concentrating on knitting Saroyan for my co-worker, and until that's done, I am not knitting on the sweater. I did start that other shawl while in NY last weekend, and I knit on that intermittently, when I need a break from Saroyan. I am not a good monagamous knitter. I haven't touched a sock in a few weeks. That needs to change, because I am near the end on both, but knitting is my hobby and not a job or assignment, so I am going with the flow, other than finishing up the gift scarf.

I planted seeds in the veggie garden yesterday. The plants already planted are doing well. We have tomato, cuke, green beans, watermelon, green pepper and potato plants. I added seeds for more green beans, corn and sunflower seeds, plus I transplanted the asparagus to the garden from the railing box I had started them in. DH set up an impulse sprinkler to use this year for the garden since we had problms with uneven coverage with the soaker hoses last year. I plan to move the lettuce plants to a shady spot now that it's hot out (now there's an understatement!) and plant more petunias in those pots. The petunias are loving this hot weather.

I think I spent too much time in the heat over the weekend and I am not used to it at all. I don't feel well today - very weak and tired (not sleepy, just no energy) and a bit of a headache and nausea. I am trying to hydrate myself, but that's tough when nauseated. I think I will work an abbreviated day and head home to rest. Inside. In the AC. I work in the AC but they frown on finding people lying on the floor resting instead of working. Funny, isn't it? LOL

Weekend Away

2011-05-31T11:25:00.000-04:00

We spent last weekend (not Memorial Day weekend) in NY, on Long Island visiting with Mom, mostly. We ate out a couple of times, talked a lot, and on Saturday (the only day with decent weather for part of the time) we went to a fiber festival!
We had planned to go to the Arboretum to see the spring plants, flowers and the ospreys that nest there. Mom found something in the paper, though, about an Alpaca Fiber Festival at this museum farm.
We had a great time. They had vendors carrying lots of fiber related stuff: fiber to spin in various forms, yarn, weaving, rug hooking, sewing stuff. They had alpacas, llamas, angora bunnies (which Mom was very tempted by), sheep and some goats. They had dog agility, llama agility and shepherding demos as well as weaving, dyeing with natural dyes, spinning (including flax and spinning on a great wheel), knitting and I am sure that I forgot something.

I was so good .... I couldn't go home without anything new, but I limited my purchases to some stitch markers, a braid (4 oz) of Polworth in blues and grays and a one ounce bag of a blend of merino/yak/mulberry silk. Yum.

We had no downpours or severe storms but had lots of drizzly, misty, cloudy weather and it never got out of the 60's. If we had stayed in MD we would have had little rain and temps in the 70's and just into the 80's. Imagine the shock to our systems when we got back and dealt with 80-90 degree temps since then!

Bob went to go fishing and to retrieve his half a fishing rod that he had left on the boat during our last fishing debacle. It was a no-go. They had told him they had it and would hold it, but there was no sign of his fishing rod, which he had made 30 something years ago. I feel very bad for him. I think I'll send an email.

I started on the back of my cardigan and have the picot cast on and 1.5 pattern repeats done. I also made huge progress on Saroyan, which I have decided to push to get finished. A friend lost her 20 year old grandson 2 weeks ago and she needs a hug. This will be it.

Despite my intentions, no spinning was done over the weekend. I did show Mom my raw BFL fleece (part of it, not all of it) and she is fascinated. I'll have to keep her informed of the progress, maybe send her a lock at each stage.

The drive there and back was pretty good but I think the travel time of year has begun and we'll have to plan to avoid Sunday traffic for the summer.

I've taken pictures, but on eldest son's camera and he can't find the cord that will allow me to download the pictures to the computer .....

I took pictures but ....

2011-05-19T10:34:00.000-04:00

I didn't have time to upload them. The computer was not cooperating, DH needed it for something important and I was doing laundry in preparation for the trip to NY. By the time it was ready, I wasn't. Sorry. I am not likely to get them uploaded now until we come back because tonight is knitting at the LYS and then ironing and packing when I get home, then bed. We hope to leave early in the AM to be able to have most of the day in NY.

I did a bit of North Ronaldsay spinning last night but mostly I concentrated on finishing the sleeves of my cardigan. Success! I can now cast on the back section.

Eldest son found another robins's nest yesterday. We had no idea that there was one in the bush right next to the front door. The babies in it are pretty big - I think it must be close to *flying day*. It is very cool to be hosts to new birds.

The new scarf is coming along well. I have knitted about 2 inches of the 3 inches required for the next step in the construction of this shawl. I was so anxious to get started on it yesterday that I neglected to read the instructions fully and had no stitch markers with me when I needed them. Paper clips sufficed while at work, but I was glad to switch to markers once I got home. Markers are easier to slip along, and the scarf looks more normal on the needles. I already get strange looks as I knit and walk to work.

I tried to flick some of the BFL locks while sitting in the kitchen waiting for dinner to be ready last night. (I have mentioned that I am lucky enough to have a husband who does all of the cooking, right?) Just setting the fiber on the table left behind a coating of vm that made me quickly decide not to do that inside any more, unless I have a huge tarp or something under me. The good news is that it comes out easily. I may bring the cold soaked batch of fiber with me to Mom's house so I can sit on her deck and flick card while we talk. Then I will be ready to wash when I get back.
On the other hand, while the fiber is cleaner, it is not clean and I 'm not sure DH will appreciate driving for 5 hours with that scent in the vehicle ..... maybe I'll leave it home. Compromise leads to harmony and a long marriage .....

Startitis?

2011-05-18T13:54:00.000-04:00

I have a new project - Pogoda. It is a scarf with a non-typical construction. I first read about it on the Keyboard Biologist blog, I mentioned in my previous post. Last night I was pondering knitting projects for my visit to Mom's house this weekend. They need to be simple because we talk a lot when I am there and I can't pay all that much attention to a pattern. I just didn't have much in that area going on. I remembered the downloaded book, pulled it out and looked up the yardage for the Pogoda scarf, and found something very nice in my stash. I worked a small gauge swatch just to be sure I will like the resulting fabric and cast on this morning. So far, so good.

My BFL cold soaked fleece section is drying at home. I wasn't sure if it could go straight into hot water from the cold, though I thought it could. I really don't have time to scour that much fleece before departure time on Friday. I decided to dry it first, then I won't have to worry about mold or other nasties. Tonight I will either wash a bit of the soaked fiber or do some flicking so that it will be ready to scour when I get back. I plan to do a bit of each to evaluate the best method.

I spindle spun some of the Icelandic last night. It's looking pretty good. I'll be bringing that with me to Mom's, along with the North Ronaldsay for spindle spinning, and hope to make some good progress on both. My sweater and Sharon's sock will also come along. I like variety. ; ))

It's rainy and disgusting weather outside but I don't dare complain. I am not displaced from my house due to flood waters or nuclear accidents or tornadoes (that spelling does not look right but I looked it up ...) or ......

Have a good day.

Monday Morning Blues

2011-05-17T15:59:00.001-04:00

Nothing in particular causing the blues. it's just a general "I wish the weekend was longer " kind of thing. I want more fiber time than I get on weekdays. I know, it could be so much worse. I'll shut up now.

A batch of BFL is getting a cold soak right now (actually since yesterday afternoon) and I'll change the water when I get home. I am hoping to get rid of most of the yuck factor with cold rather than hot water. The water was *really* dirty yesterday after only a few minutes of soaking. I am going to wear gloves to change the water. ; )

I cleaned my little sample bags of fiber yesterday and both should be dry by tonight. I'll try to get some pictures and do a test flick and spin soon.

I spent about 2 hours flicking Jacob fleece yesterday. I estimate that almost half is going in the garden as mulch. I could be overly particular, but I don't think so.

The North Ronaldsay fiber is spinning up nicely. I fulled a singles last night (it should be dry by today) to see if I liked that yarn, and I will keep spinning for the 3 ply I originally had in mind. Then I'll see which I like more for the project.

The Icelandic fiber is calling to me - it's such and easy and pleasurable spinning project. I could easily spin nothing but that right now. I have other things to work on, though, including my knitting. I finally sat down and figured out the problem on my sleeve caps for the cardigan from IK, fixed it and got back on track. Now I am just knitting along, trying to get back to where I was when I noticed the problem. I still haven't done the bind off of Bob's sock, but I did turn the heel of the second Calendula sock for Sharon. It's cable pattern time! Yippee!

Lace. I want to knit lace. When these socks are completed, I plan to knit the cardigan and lace. I want to get those WIP shawls off the needles and onto my shoulders and there are a few new ones I have in mind. ... summer is usually good lace kntting time. I hope it will be this year, too. The lace shawls that I have started in the last 2 years have all hit snags and sit pretty much neglected.

I was reading the Keyboard Biologist's blog and saw a scarf pattern that I love. She loved it, too, and whipped it out in a short period of time. It doesn't take a lot of yarn (none of the patterns in the book do) and I like that. I have a good amount of yarn in amounts not large enough to knit a full shawl. I bought the whole book because I can see some gifts in there for my famliy and friends. It is safely stored on my I pad, convenient whenver I need yardage info. ; )

MDSW 2011

2011-05-13T19:54:00.000-04:00

I had such an awesome time on Sunday. It was a wonderful way to spend Mother's Day. I went with Melanie to the sheep and wool festival. This was the first time in many years that I attended only 1 day of the 2 and I had mixed feelings. I was nervous that I wouldn't have enough time but knew that I was going to NYSW in October and so would have a "second chance". The weather was perfect and the crowds were sparse (great for shoppers but I imagine the vendors were not so happy. OTOH, I read somewhere that the purchases tended to be larger so maybe they made out OK) I did not purchase any yarn, and that's a first for me. I did get a spindle, a shawl pattern and fiber.

Here's my spindle. it's a Driftwood spindle and is much lighter than it looks. It might actually be too light for what I had in mind, but I can always spin something different on it.

Jacob roving from Wind and Willow Farm.

Next we have 4 oz. of Wensleydale and BFL roving from Feederbrook Farm. I have no idea what I will do with this but love the two fibers, so I thought I would try a blend.
I bought a couple of $1.00 sample bags of fiber I have not tried before. These are raw fiber bags. Apparently now that I have started with raw fiber I just can't escape it. The first one is Lincoln X Merino.

Look at those locks! And that color is so deep.

The next one is Lincoln.

This bag is much more dirty. It might go into the trash after washing if it doesn't get much cleaner. Even I have my limits.

The Spindlers group on Ravelry theme for the month is Time Travel. I had the idea to spin up something reminiscent of the Diana Gabaldon books about Jamie and Claire and so decided to spin a Scottish (preferably) or British breed in a natural color and make a pair of fingerless mitts, which I can totally see them wearing. I made a list of possibilities and headed straight for Spirit Trail Fiberworks. Sure enough, they had some North Ronaldsay fiber and I purchased 5 ounces.

I plan a 3 ply yarn and hope to dye some of it for a small colorwork pattern on the mitts. Apparently this fiber felts easily so I will spin first, then dye. It feels very soft and downy - not at all what I was expecting. Somehow I thought that a sheep who eats mostly seaweed and endures Scottish weather near the sea would have a fairly coarse fiber.

I bought a shawl pattern but I can't find it right now. I bought the Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook, had it autographed by both authors at the book signing! Yippee! And I bought a fleece.

Melanie and I were both "not going to buy a fleece" but we wanted to study the fleeces, see what to expect in a fleece since we have very little experience with them, and thought that only good fleeces would be seen there. We studied and fingered on our own, but they have volunteers there who were very free with their expertise and advice. It was really great! We learned a lot, really. We had just come from a booth where we were tempted by a nice Romney fleece that we were considering sharing (due to cost). Melanie really wanted Romney and we were very happy with the color. We found a fleece, though, in the fleece sale area of the fair that Melanie liked a lot. She got the opinion of one of the women there who had experience as a judge and snapped it up. The woman was really nice, and realistic. She showed us the goods and bads of several fleeces and pointed out that a flaw should not automatically eliminate a fleece from purchase, but should make you think and weigh the pros and cons. There was one fleece there, for instance, that had a break in the locks near the tip. She would have considered purchasing that fleece and taking those tips off - the rest of the fleece was in good condition. Anyway ...... I went back twice but didn't fall in love with anything.

We were winding down, getting ready to leave but hadn't seen a few of the barns on the other side of the "main street" and that's where I found my fleece. It's Blue Faced Leicester, had quite a bit of vm in it and that's why a very soft 7 lb fleece was only $40.00. I took it home.

That bench in the back ground of the picture below is, for purposes of scale, about 4-5 feet long.

Clearly defined locks

Seven pounds is alot of fiber! I know that it will loose "weight" when washed, but that's still a lot of fiber.

The staple length is pretty consistent in what I have explored so far, but I haven't really skirted it yet. It was too late last night.

I have washed a few locks. The first few I washed had lots of vm and I was a little worried. It came out fairly easily, though - it was mostly in the tips and not throughout the lock - and I felt better. Last night after work I spread it out on the deck. You can see how big it is. I didn't even try to do any skirting because it was too dark to see that well, but I picked a few more locks from various places. The staple length seems to be fairly consistent at about 4 inches. I experimented with a few different ways of cleaning it (flick first, then wash, wash, then flick, cold soak before wash, etc.) and will see what they look like after work today. I love this fleece.

The last purchase I made was actually a Christmas gift for youngest son and his partner. I am pretty sure that he would not be caught dead reading his mother's knitting blog, so I think I'm safe posting this here.

All in all, it was a perfect Mother's Day and MDSW festival.

Spring growth

2011-05-06T18:28:00.000-04:00

This is the fresh spring growth on the Birds Nest pine that grows in front of the front door, next to the pond. That color is so awesome. The bush itself shelters small creatures all year round.

Peony buds are getting bigger. It's time to stake the plants.

Healthy Hosta. We quite a few of them growing under the hemlock tree. I love the leaves, cut off the flower stalks every year.

Dogwoods - pink and white, growing next to each other in the front yard.

Japanese Maple: every year Bob says "I think we lost it" and very year it comes in beautifully. I love the foliage - that's my think, actually, when choosing plants. I don't worry about flowers as much as the foliage because it is around a lot longer than the flower. Annuals are where we choose our flower color.

This is a holly bush, one of three we planted in the back yard. Eventually they will hide the ugly fence the neighbor put in and our view of his yard, too

These are the "buds" on the blueberry bush. We had three, are down to one that can actually be called a bush. The other remaining one is a stalk with a few tentative leaves on it. Darn it. I want blueberries.

I cheated. this is growing in our neighbors yard. I don't know what it is, but I love it. ; ))

Lettuce

Red leaf lettuce

We have had both added to our salads and I love having some homegrown food on the table already.

I don't remember what this flower is, but it was cheerful. It's one of the 8 plants younger son and his partner gave me for my birthday, Easter and Mother's Day. The others include Salvia, 2 types of Sedum and a grass.

Have a good day and enjoy your spring.

Major hitch in the boating plans for the year

2011-05-05T11:00:00.002-04:00

The lower unit of the outboard motor has been dissected. The water pump was examined. It is dead. Melted, falling to pieces. The shaft wiggles. It is not supposed to do that. When the shaft is turned by hand, it bumps along instead of turning smoothly. Major $$$$$ and time. UGH. Terrible news. I don't think we can get a refund on the $$ we paid for the slip at the marina this year, which will be wasted money most likely.

I didn't complete my full "dose" of Wensleydale spinning last night due to assisting with the diagnosis above. Then I got a migraine. I'd blame it on the stress, and that probably did worsen it, but I have to admit that it started on the drive home from work. No knitting was done as a result.

I suppose I could get a second job since we won't be boating.

We've had better days. It's not life-threatening - I do have that in perspective - but it's heartbreaking, especially for Bob, who has limited eyesight time remaining.

The Robin

2011-05-04T13:27:00.000-04:00

I quietly snuck into the storage area under our deck last night with my camera. I waited patiently for the adult birds to decide that a) I wasn't there or b) that I was harmless. While I waited, there was no sound or sight of the babies. They are well trained.

Eventually my patience was rewarded.

As soon as my flash went off, the adult bird flew away, but the babies had a hard time giving up on the food that had been so close ....

Still waiting ......

I didn't want to hold up dinner time any longer, so I scooted on out of there and let them eat. Those adults must be so exhausted by the time the fledglings fly away! It's just a constant back and forth with one or the other adult bringing worms (they love the fact that we just tilled the garden!) or bugs or whatever else is a yummy tidbit for a baby bird.

I got my "daily dose" of Wensleydale spun last night! It's getting close to plying time. If it wasn't for the fact that I am anxious to start on the next fiber, I would not be rushing this. I am really enjoying spinning the Wensleydale. I might just have to look into a fleece. Someday. After I see what I think of it knitted up.
MDSW this weekend! Come on, weekend!

I can't wait until the weekend

2011-05-03T09:52:00.000-04:00

No pictures, but I spun a decent amount of Wensleydale last evening. I didn't get home until 7 PM, then we ate and watched one of the the special shows last night about Bin Laden's death. Then we went outside and tried to trace the water lines on the boat motor, trying to figure out why the motor is overheating. We suspect it's bad news. We've already tried the easy, not expensive things to fix. : ((

The baby robins are ugly/cute, poking their mouths out of the nest, looking for food. I think there are 3 adults feeding them, though that's hard to say for certain. Those birds just don't look very different from each other. Our cat hasn't quite figured out that there is a nest right under her feet as she crouches on the upper deck, watching the adults fly from a tree or fence in her direction. She can't get to the nest even if she figures it out, but it is funny watching her get all excited, having spotted a bird nearby, getting ready to pounce as it flies towards her, then looking a bit puzzled as it disappears from her site (as it flies under the deck) to the storage area where the nest is.

I am really looking forward to the weekend, so this week is creeping by. I try not to always live for the weekends - there just aren't enough of them - but this week that is tough. The weather looks good so far for planting the garden on Saturday and for MDSW on Sunday. I hope to come home tired, having seen and learned a lot, but not much poorer. ; )

Both socks that are on the needles are making slow progress. I work on the ribbing of Bob's sock in the car (at lights) and on Sharon's sock while walking to and from work or if I have to wait at an appointment somewhere. It adds up surprisingly fast. Bob's sock should be finished in a week or so at this rate.

That's it on the fiber front. Maybe tomorrow I can have some pictures of baby robins to show you. Have a great day.

Ooohhh, my aching back

2011-05-02T21:18:00.001-04:00

We weeded and tilled the veggie garden over the weekend. We have clay soil in this area, and it was still rather muddy, making it cling to the tines of the tiller and soooo heavy and hard to remove. In the tilled areas, our feet sunk into the muck and were hard to pull out. Ugh. Thank goodness that's done for this year. I am sore, but Bob did the worst of the work. I can only imagine what he feels like today. (We haven't had a chance to chat yet.)

Some of my Jacob fleece found it's way into the garden as mulch ....

I did some spindle spinning over the weekend. I concentrated on the Wensleydale because I want to finish that before I start on the Icelandic, which is one of the fibers the study group is working on this month. I have only about 1.5 to 2 oz. to go and I think I can finish it up this week if I don't do other spinning. Then I can ply it on the wheel (that worked very well when I did it last time) and free up those spindles for the Icelandic. My sample skein feels very nice pre-washing. I'll spin the lighter color first, then the darker color gray.

I think I will try to spin a little sample skein of my Jacob fleece, too. I'd like to see what I will end up with after my hard work prepping this fiber.

Maryland Sheep and Wool festival is this coming weekend. I usually attend both days, but I will go only one day this year, in an attempt to save money for going to Rhinebeck in NY in the fall. It also happens to be Mother's Day this Sunday, so that is the perfect fun thing for me to do for Mother's Day. ; ))

On Saturday, and maybe an evening or two this week, I plan to plant the veggie garden. We will try a different method of weed control and watering this year and hope to stay ahead of the weeds and get more even coverage of the water.

The sleeve caps of my Leaf and Picot Cardigan are almost complete. Next up is the back.

Oh, and this year's Robin nest is not just under the upper deck but more cozily situated. I hope Bob doesn't need his extension ladder any time soon.

Shhhhh. There are baby birds in that nest today!

Spinning night

2011-05-01T09:44:00.001-04:00

I hosted a spinning gathering at my house on Friday night. There are a few us of that meet at the LYS on Thursdays who also spin. We thought it would be fun to get together just for spinning and talk about spinning. My living room is not all that big, but 4 of us had enough room to spin and show off our treasures. It was a good idea, I think and I hope we can get together again.

One of the fibers being studied in May for the Spinners Study group is Icelandic. I have been saving some Icelandic fiber that I purchased at Rhinebeck the last time I went there, and this is the perfect time to spin it, I think. I did a little test skein yesterday that I will wash today. It will give me an idea of what I might need to adjust. There is a shawl I have in mind that I hope to use this yarn for. It is called Whippoorwill. I have a light and dark grey to use and I think it will look great.

I spindle spun some more of my Wensleydale yesterday. I also knitted on the cardigan sleeves. I have started the sleeve cap shaping!

I weeded the garden, washed and dried clothes and spent some time looking at photos of the royal wedding. I hope you had a good day.

Shaking, shaking, shaking

2011-04-30T11:09:00.000-04:00

The most frequently repeated comment/suggestion/hint I have gotten about the vm found in Madeline, the Jacob fleece (other than cry or mulch the garden) has been to shake it. A lot. I put some in the dryer on air - didn't do much but I think I'll try it with more fiber in the dryer now that I know that it won't felt it. Maybe more volume in there will help it tumble better. I put some in a lingerie bag, leaned out over the railing on the deck and shook it, smacked it against the railing, shook some more and while you can see little flakes of things falling, it does not make an appreciable difference. There is still too much vm in the fiber for my use.

I tried using dog combs - that fluffs it up and helps the stuff fall out, but with dog combs it will take me a year to get this stuff clean enough to want to use it. I'll probably have about half the fleece left by that time - the rest will go out in waste. Unless, of course, I get tired of it and all of it goes in the garden.

The Black Welsh Mountain fleece looks to be in much better shape. Of course, it was coated and now I really understand what a difference it makes. I hope to start spinning some of that soon. I am looking forward to doing a lot of experimenting to see what works best and what kinds of choices I have regarding plies and spinning methods.

I have both sleeves (leaf and picot cardigan) on the same needle now. I have a half inch of knitting and then start sleeve cap shaping! I am still enjoying the knitting. ; )

Bob's socks are at the point where I will change from 3 x 3 ribbing to 2 x 2 ribbing for the cuff! Yippee! In honor of that, I cast on the second sock for Sharon - Calendula sock. Soon I will be down to one sock on the needles again.

Fleece Scouring

2011-04-25T13:12:00.000-04:00

I have been a busy girl, scouring my fleeces so that I can get to play with them. Both are actually now washed and are either dry or drying on racks in my house (the weather didn't cooperate for outdoor drying). Clematis, the Black Welsh Mountain fleece, is in pretty good shape, I think. I still have some scurf to deal with but it is otherwise a clean fleece. Madeline, the Jacob fleece, is another story.

The Jacob fleece is full of vm. I don't mean just hay or grass, which I could pretty easily pick out. It is the seeds and other tiny bits in there that have me worried. I plan to try to shake the fleece out, in sections, outdoors and get rid of what I can in that way. I have been reading, and I think that combs are the way to go to clean fiber like this, but I don't own any and can't really afford to buy them. I found plans on line to make a set of combs, but DH is busy right now and won't be able to get to that for a while. I read about someone putting a dry alpaca fleece in the dryer on air and getting rid of vm that way, but I am not sure about that plan. I can certainly try a small bit to see if it works. I will not buy another fleece that has not been coated.

Thursday last, I went into work but came home early due to not feeling well. I had planned to work from home on Friday and it's good thing. If I had to make the drive, I would have stayed home sick anyway. I wasn't deathly ill, just headachy, slightly nauseated and feeling washed out and weak. I stayed home from knitting night at the LYS too.

Saturday we got some stuff done in the morning and then headed down to Silver Spring to have dinner with friends. They treated us to a wonderful meal, good wine and great conversation. It was also our wedding anniversary - 34 years! On Sunday we decided to try going out on the boat. The forecast was for possible thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening, so we weren't sure how long we could be out, but decided to give it a try. We were home in plenty of time - the boat motor overheated and we actually spent the day at the marina working on the motor. Oh, well. It was a beautiful day and we were together. It appears to have been a pretty inexpensive and easy thing to fix, so that's good news, too. I finished scouring the Jacob fleece once we returned home, and watched the thunderstorms roll over us from the safety of the house.

The sleeves for the leaf and picot cardigan are about half complete, maybe a little less, and I am enjoying the knitting. I wove in some of the ends on the vest last night, in preparation for blocking and sewing the shoulder seams, too, before getting to sleep.

All in all, not a bad weekend at all. Friday evening will be a spinning gathering at my house and, hopefully, a trip on the boat.

I hope you enjoyed your Easter.

A contest

2011-04-25T12:43:00.000-04:00

Go visit the Sheep Gal blog, check out her adorable new lambs and enter a contest.

Happy Easter.

Raw Fleece

2011-04-22T23:18:00.001-04:00

I am getting an education. I am learning just how dirty sheep can be and how much work goes into making clean fiber available for me to spin.

I have two raw fleeces to clean and prep. One, as I have mentioned before, is Clematis, a Black Welsh Mountain - a beautiful deep black color. The other is Madeline, a Jacob fleece that includes white, brown and black all in one fleece. I'm doing pretty well getting the grease and dirt out, actually. I have a system and it's working well. The VM, on the other hand, especially in the Jacob, is going to be a big undertaking, I think. The scurf, a dandruff kind of thing may actually be more of an issue. I did find that shaking the clean fleece vigorously helps a lot of it fall out, but I am going to have to decide whether to toss some of the fleece or just live with the scurf in the yarn. It is not intended as a next to the skin fiber, so I may just deal with it.

The weather is not being very cooperative with my washing efforts. I washed 3 batches of wool today and put them outside to dry. Within an hour it was drizzling enough to get them wet again. It's chilly enough that the heat came on in the house and helped dry them, but I would like to get most of the fiber dried outdoors. The more wind the better.

The sleeves of the leaf and picot cardigan are coming along nicely. I find that I have to check the pattern for most rows but then knit the row without having to watch each stitch, so it is a pretty relaxing knit.

Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary. Bob and I will have been married for 34 years. I am happy to report that we are still happy and glad to spend time together. We will be having dinner with friends. If the weather cooperates, we'll go out on the boat for the first time this season on Sunday. After Easter baskets. Yum. Chocolate!

Have a good holiday.

Good news and Bad news

2011-04-18T15:54:00.000-04:00

It's a mixed bag in fiber land here in Maryland. I love the buttons that I chose for Slinky Ribs I had planned to wear it one day last week, but ..... It doesn't fit. The sleeves are perfect but the body of the sweater is too long in the arm/chest area. The neck line of the sweater, which is supposed to be low, hangs below the bust line and looks horrible. What this means, since the sleeves are picked up and knitted down from the shoulder, is that I have to rip back both sleeves and the top of the sweater down to where I started the neck opening and make that whole section shorter. My guess is that my row gauge was way off. I don't usually look at that because I can never get both row and stitch gauge correct with the same needles and stitch gauge is more important. In most cases. Obviously not more important in the this case, but equally important. I plan to put it away until I am less angry about the whole thing and then rip it out and re-knit. I will fix it, just not now.

There is also a shawl, knitted in cotton/rayon, that I've been working on for a while. I discovered an error about 15 rows back. I'll fix that, too, but not right now. Frustration!

The good news is that I finished knitting the body of the vest and will begin the edging soon. I plan to block the vest first, sew the shoulders closed and then knit the edging, which has been narrowed down to either garter stitch or I cord. I hope to block the vest and Mom's hat one evening this week.

The other good thing is that I started knitting the IK cover sweater last night. It's the Leaf and Picot cardigan . I am using Silky Wool in blue. I've decided to knit the sleeves first, and I am knitting both at the same time on separate needles. I am alternating between needles/sleeves to keep them both at approximately the same place. I will plan to knit the back next, and the two fronts at the same time. For a change of pace I plan to knit the sweater as instructed in the pattern rather than change things around, knit in the round or knit the sleeves from the top down. I like the sweater just the way it is and seaming doesn't really bother me. Both sleeves are past the picot edging and about 1 pattern repeat into the lace.

In order to actually finish projects in a timely manner, I plan to concentrate knitting on the vest edging, the new sweater, a sock and the Saroyan scarf. I am hoping that not allowing myself to get sidetracked with other patterns will allow me to finish the vest by the end of May and the sweater by the end of June/early July.

Wind kept me from being able to skirt my fleece yesterday. I am hopeful that one day this week I will be able to do it when I get home from work, and then start the washing. I am sorta tempted to just wash the whole thing, but I am just getting impatient. Sigh. I'll be good.

I left work early on Friday so I could have some sunny outdoor time. I was able to do some weeding, dig out the boxes that the strawberries are growing in (from under the mound of mulch we covered them with last fall for protection from freezing) and place them on the deck. I also helped DH with some boat prep and just generally enjoyed being outside in pleasant weather. On Saturday, while it stormed, I worked from home to make up the time. That worked out very well.

Despite the soggy ground, I got in some weeding yesterday. I only spent about 15 minutes weeding because I've had so much trouble with my back in the last 2 months. I don't want to ruin the progress I've made with over-doing. If I can get out there 3-4 days per week and do that 15 minutes of weeding, I will get it done and not be miserable.
ETA I just got back from physical therapy and I was strongly advised not to vacuum in the house and not to exceed the 15 minute limit on weeding/gardening. The first will be much easier to do than the second.

DH is putting the boat in the water today. We had hoped to do it together yesterday, but the winds were not favorable. There's no point in making things harder for yourself. I wish I could be there with him. Darn this working for a living. : ((

I did some spindle spinning (Wensleydale) over the weekend and plied a bit more of the silk. I think one more plying session will finish off the silk that has been spun so that I can get back to the spinning of the remaining fiber. I am sure that I won't have the chance to spin tonight but maybe a few minutes each night this week ....

Ressurection of the UFO

2011-04-16T18:33:00.000-04:00

I have, so far, avoided casting on the new sweater. Here's the yarn - isn't it great?

I am very proud of myself, because I ususally succumb very quickly despite the best of intentions once I bring new yarn or a pattern into the house. Instead I resurrected an old friend - a vest I was knitting, cast on in 2009. I am using fibonacci striping sequence and knitting it side to side so the stripes are vertical.
I had knit the left front and most of the back previously, then either got tired of it or the weather got too warm. It's back in the realm of WIP now, and I have knitted about 10 inches on it over the weekend. It is fingering weight yarn so that's an accomplishment. LOL I have another half inch or so and then it's time to make the decreases for the V neck front of the vest. I have not yet decided on an edging, but right now I am tending towards I cord.

I finally bought buttons and sewed them to the Slinky Ribs top, so that is officially and completely a finished project. Maybe I'll get to wear it this week.

Before I started to hurt I managed to get some photos of the linen stitch scarf I am working on intermittently. This will be a holiday gift and so there's no rush.

I knitted a lot (see above) over the weekend. I also managed to get some plying (silk) done and a little bit of spinning (Wensleydale). It was a rather depressing weekend, what with the grey skies, and I was sore from over-doing a bit on Saturday. In addition to the above knitting, I was reading - almost non-stop. I have loved the Earth's Children series of books by Jean Auel and I found the latest, and last (I am sorry to say) book on sale at BJs. I snapped it up on Friday and finished it yesterday! Those are thick books, but I couldn't seem to slow down. I'll go back in a month or so and re-read so that I catch more of the details. I did catch a few errors? or changes - things that the author referred to in the new book that were different than in the previous ones, but they were pretty minor. I am so sad that the series is over, but I enjoyed them tremendously.

I was home from work Monday with a very bad migraine and so didn't make much progress on anything. I sat outside for about an hour late in the day, once my eyes would tolerate that much brightness and I didn't feel so sick every thime I moved my head. It was, I think, a beautiful day - in the 80s and sunny most of the day but I had the blinds and curtains pulled all day. I hate migraines.

Weather and children permitting (her children, not mine), this Saturday Melanie will be coming over to help me skirt my fleece. I can then get to work washing it and figuring out what the heck I am going to do with it. ; )
I am ready to get washing, though I doubt I'll spin more than a sample or two right away. I have other spinning to finish/catch up on. I want to finish the corriedale pencil roving on the wheel and I want to finish the Wensleydale and silk on the spindles. I have some Icelandic that I'd love to spin up and I think it will do best on a spindle but I'm not sure about the weight and which spindles I should use.

Happy spring.

Signs of Spring

2011-04-07T11:53:00.000-04:00

The first signs of leaves on the barberry plant in the front garden - this plant is very stickery and sharp but beautiful in 3 out of 4 seasons (just bare branches in winter) so I won't let DH get rid of it. ; )
Forsythia bushes at their best.

Sedum, Autumn Joy peeking out from amoung the rocks, old leaves and the old staulks from last year.

Grape hyacinth, I think, peeking out from under an evergreen that is much bigger than we thought it would be ......

I love the signs of spring. ; )

Spinning in Spring

2011-04-06T09:10:00.001-04:00

I love spinning this Wensleydale fiber. I love the colors and the silky feel of the fiber itself. I still have about 3 oz. to spin because my spinning time is limited by my back pain. I alternate between this spindle spinning

this wheel spinning (Corriedale pencil roving, 8 oz.)

(I plan to Navajo ply this to preserve the colors)

And this silk plying.

Isn't the color beautiful!

This last photo is some alpaca I tried to spin long draw or some variation of it, and incorporate mohair locks randomly into the alpaca. I love the way this feels - soft and squishy - but I don't like the locks added. I'll do more of this without the addition of the locks, and try to find another use for them. The color, BTW, is much lighter than in real life - the sun was very strong. The brown is much deeper and the red is very bright and stands out from the deep brown.

I'll be working on my technique, too, since it leaves a lot to be desired. (that's an understatement!) I think I'll search for some videos to watch to help me out, and I need to get used to making adjustments on my wheel. I've fallen into a rut.

There is so much spinning I want to be doing. It's really frustrating that after a while (we are talking 15 minutes or so, not 4 hours) I get a lot of pain in my back and have to stop. I have the above spinning to finish, I have 8 oz. of Finn fiber to play with, more alpaca in different colors, several braids and bumps of dyed fibers purchased previously and a Black Welsh Mountian fleece arriving today. I also have a pound or more each of several other dyed fibers I purchased in years past that I really like and would like to spin up. I belong to a few study groups on Ravelry and would like to participate in some of thise group studies.

I am being good about doing my exercises as ordered and am feeling much better. HOWEVER I know that it will be easy for me to overdo once I feel better, so I am watching the clock and limiting my spinning time carefully. There is life - work and house and garden - to take care of, and that really has to have a higher priority. I think. ;)

Have a great day.

Knitting

2011-04-04T21:04:00.000-04:00

I hate Blogger! It's free, so do I have the right to complain that it just ate my carefully written post that included all sorts of good info and links? D**m blogger.

On to interesting things:

We were sitting, knitting and chatting away at our LYS last Thursday night when Angela came in. She was all excited about a pattern she was going to knit - the Saroyan scarf. She said that her mother had knitted it, it was a fast knit and it looks much better in person than in any photos she had seen. I had that pattern in my queue already, so it didn't take much of a push for me to decide to knit it. Several others in the group decided to knit that pattern too, so we have an informal KAL going. Below you see the beginnings of my scarf, though I just finished ripping it out. I started again with a smaller needle. I thought the version below was a little too open. I am not sure if I will keep it or gift it, but it will feel great against the neck. The yarn is Mirasol Nuna and it glows.

This heartbreaking scene is one of my Thelonius socks. Both have holes in the toes. This is my absolute favorite pair of socks, and I really am upset. I will find the yarn and try to mend them, but plan to knit another pair once this self imposed year of "knitting man socks" is over. I'll choose yarn with nylon in it - the yarn below is just merino and obviously not strong enough for the use of my socks.

What you see here is the first of Sharon's socks. I am knitting the Calendula socks with Marks and Katten Fame Trend. I am concerned about the durability of this yarn, too, and it does not frog well. I love the pattern, though, and plan to make a pair for myself next year. I added ribbing to Sharon's socks to make them fit easier, leaving a 10 stitch stockinette panel on each side of the cable with the ribbing going the rest of the way around and I'll do that for mine, also.

Last year, before Christmas, I started knitting the Keelin Cap for my mother. When she visited for the holiday she tried it on and it was, as I suspected, way too big. I ripped back and was going to eliminate a pattern repeat to make it smaller. I emailed the designer to verify that I had gotten the stitch count correct, but she advised me not to do that - it would make things look out of proportion.

I decided to try using smaller needles and went down 2 sizes. I think it's working. This second photo is closer to the real color, and Mom likes it a lot, so I am glad that the needle sizing is doing the trick. The pattern is easy to follow and a fun knit. I have 3 of 4 pattern repeats (before decreasing begins) completed, so I think I can have the hat completed by the weekend.

This is my gauge swatch for my new sweater. I really like the Leaf and Picot cardigan on the cover of Interweave Knits. I resisted buying new yarn for the Saroyan scarf by choosing this yarn for the sweater.
This is Silky Wool, and I bought 8 skeins in a denim-y blue color. I swatched in the leftover yarn (teal) from my Slinky Ribs sweater (no, it does not yet have buttons on it. I had them in hand at the store but got side tracked). I like the swatch on the right more. That was knit on size 5 needles, the one on the left on size 6. I will swatch with 4s just to be sure, but I think I'll go with the 5s.
These are washed swatches.

My hand spun wrap is finished! I had these bits and pieces, didn't want to waste them, didn't quite know what to do with them. I don't care for the patchwork look. I settled on a stitch pattern that, I think, allows each different yarn, the color, the weight, the texture, to shine.
The pattern is a variation of feather and fan with a cable thrown in every 8 rows. I love cables. ; )

This is the blocked photo. I just stretched it out on the deck - no pins or wires - and let the sun dry it. I am going to enjoy snuggling into this on those cool summer evenings.

It's on the way

2011-03-31T12:21:00.005-04:00

My fleece, that is. I received a notice that the Black Welsh Mountain fleece that I requested has been shipped. The post on Ravelry about it from the breeder was not encouraging - more scurf (sheep dandruff) and second cuts than usual. Hmmm. Well, at the worst I have purchased some expensive mulch for the garden and learned not to buy fleece over the internet. Hopefully it will be better than that. I am ready. I have my Unicorn Power Scour and Rinse, I have a plan and a ready and willing assistant. (DH - Isn't he the best?!)

I have decided that my handspun wrap/lap robe will be a wrap and it's almost complete. I am knitting the last color I will add and have most of a pattern repeat (7 rows) to go. I am going to hunt up some patterns for small projects to knit with at least some of the remaining handspun - some of it was very nice to knit with. The rest (short lengths or whatever) will probably make it into a lap robe next year.

I hope to get to work finishing some of my winter projects over the next few weeks. I'd like to get Mom's hat re-knitted and finish up the striped vest that I haven't looked at yet. I need buttons for the Slinky ribs sweater (I plan to buy those tonight) and put that to use. Rob's blanket will be a boating project again this year and I expect to finish it this summer. I have 2 pairs of socks going and both pairs are at least half completed (as in at least one sock complete). I still have 3 shawls on the needles, but lace makes a great summer knitting project, so I have hope that at least 2 of those shawls will get completed over the summer.

I've been spinning my Wensleydale for a little while each day. I am limited by my back problems as far as how long I can spin each day. Spinning is supposed to be fun, not painful, so I am trying to be good. On the days that I don't spin the Wensleydale, I spend a few minutes plying my silk. I did some wheel spinning over the weekend, but that, too is limited. I have some beautifully dyed correidale pencil roving on the wheel. I've never spun from pencil roving before. I was actually tempted to knit with it unspun, but since I don't like myself in chunky knits, I resisted. I am planning on a worsted weight 3 ply yarn, no specific project in mind. I just like the look and feel of the 3 ply more than 2 ply when I tested it.

Interweave Knits spring issue includes a sweater pattern that I like a lot. It just looks like something that I would wear often. I refer to the cover sweater, the Leaf and Picot Cardigan. I was trying to convince myself that I can handle the calculations necessary to make it in some stash yarn that is fingering weight ..... I think I'll buy something in the right gauge, though, so I can relax and enjoy the knitting process more. I saw on Ravelry that someone is making it with Silky Wool. That sound good to me, if I can get gauge. Decisions, decisions, decisions .....

I hope to get some photos this weekend of our gutted downstairs bath, my current knitting/spinning projects and maybe more signs of spring.

Maryland Sheep and Wool festival classes are posted.
I made my reservation for my cabin for Rhinebeck. I can't wait!

Some good news - the expensive repairs on my car worked. Also, the fishing trip that Bob was supposed to go on (that was missed due to car trouble) is not a total wash. The company has agreed to let him fish another time - essentially a "store credit". Yippee! Mom's second cataract surgery went better than the first, and she's feeling pretty good. She has 3 more weeks of eye drops to go. giggle.

Snow in the Spring

2011-03-22T14:15:00.003-04:00

Spring is here!

It’s crazy and wonderful and I love it! On Monday morning, I was up in New York, on Long Island, visiting with my mother. We were actually supposed to have been home already (I should have been at work) but we had car issues and could not get home until Monday evening. Grrrr. Ruined most of the weekend, blast it.

Anyway, we had heard on the weather report the night before that there might be some snow in the mix in the AM. My brother assured us that only north and west of the city would see any snow. Boy was he wrong! Not that there was any accumulation, but there were huge flakes falling for about 30 minutes. Very pretty and it didn’t cause any problems, so we could relax and enjoy. By the time we arrived home on Monday evening, we had shed layers and had no need for jackets – that was much better. ;))

We went to Long Island so I could spend time with Mom and Bob could go cod fishing. He’s been planning this trip since our last trip to NY when the winds were too high for him to go. He was packed and prepped, we got to NY on Friday, visited with Mom and had a nice dinner, then drove out to Montauk (where the boat is docked) before 1 PM when it was due in from the previous nights’ trip. No boat. We looked around, came back, still no boat. We asked, they said the boat would be in around 2, ate lunch and came back, still no boat. Finally, around 3 PM it arrived. Bob got to reserve his place on the boat with a fishing rod and off we went to check in to the motel we were staying at.

We hung out and enjoyed the sun for a while. Then Bob settled in for a nap and Mom and I went to eat. The battery warning light had come on the dash during the day, but the gauges seemed to be OK, so off we went. After dinner, though, the battery gauge went down fast as I drove. We went straight back to the hotel. Bob was still sleeping. I was supposed to get him up about 10:30 to get ready to leave for the boat, which left the dock at 1 AM. He couldn’t go. We agonized over it, but not knowing how or when we would get back home, knowing that the next day was Sunday and nothing was open, and lots of other details made him decide he had to skip the PREPAID trip.

We slept, got up in the morning and did more agonizing. The guess was that the alternator was shot. How far could we get on what battery power remained? What damage might we do if we pushed it too far? What other choices did we have?

We left Montauk and drove to the Kmart in Bridgehampton - a very stressful 22 miles. We made it. Just. The car died as I put it in park in the parking lot. Bob bought 2 car batteries and we drove back to Mom’s house. From there we made phone calls, agonized more about whether Bob should try (remember, he’s legally blind) to install the alternator himself or have someone do it. We had it replaced by the repair shop because if he had tried and been unsuccessful, we would have had to tow the vehicle to the repair place. They fixed it but not until Monday, so I missed work and a meeting that I am expected to attend. We got home so late that we missed joining younger son and his partner for a birthday celebration, too. I’d like to set that blasted vehicle on fire or blow it up!!!

On a more cheerful note, I have been knitting on my handspun wrap and really enjoying choosing colors and knitting with yarn I spun myself. I’ll try to get pictures this weekend. I have also been knitting on the Eliina shawl and the two socks I have on the needles. I didn’t get spinning done this weekend – that was part of some ruined plans, too. I had planned to spin while on the beach, soaking in the sun ……

I have been researching what to do with my fleece when it arrives. I plan to order some Unicorn Power Scour and rinse. I’ll do a cold soak outside, let it dry and pull it apart to shed as much VM as possible. I’ll also evaluate it to see how much hot water washing it will take. The hot water washing will take place in the kitchen sink, near the stove where I can supplement the hot tap water as needed. I am hoping that one wash and two rinses will do the trick. According to my reading, this is not supposed to be a greasy fleece. I’ll do one small batch first to test my system, then try to do the rest in just two batches. I’m not sure if I will buy tulle to dry it in outside or use cheesecloth (to keep it from blowing away or being stollen by critters but still let air flow through). We have a nice big deck and clothes line to use for drying purposes. Then I have to figure out how to spin it. Brush with dog brushes? Use as is? I don’t own tools for fiber prepping, so I have to improvise or make do. What an adventure! I can’t believe some people go to fiber festivals and come home with 5 or more fleeces at once!

That’s all for now. I hope you are all enjoying spring and savoring your health and homes, especially after the devastation in Japan.

Japan

2011-03-11T09:41:00.001-05:00

My heart and thoughts go out to those affected by the earthquake and tsunami. What a disaster!

I confessed

2011-03-09T11:23:00.002-05:00

I finally got up the nerve to break the news about my "slip" to DH. I told him the whole story - how it came about that I am expecting 2-2.5 lbs of raw wool to be delivered and how I feel about it. He laughed! He just laughed and told me that I should get my mother in on the washing since she had agreed that I should experience the "entire process". I think I will. ; ))

Meanwhile, I didn't have a chance to spin last night. I knitted, though, on the Calendula sock for Sharon. I had to rip back to before the gusset yesterday since the sock was just a bit too long. I want these socks to fit properly, so .....

That's all for now. I think I'll stop at the store on the way home from work and buy a few mesh laundry bags in preparation for my delivery. Gulp.

Spinning and fiber craze

2011-03-07T15:29:00.005-05:00

It seems, right now, that I can't get enough of spinning and fiber. Don't get me wrong - I have plenty of fiber - but I can't stop buying it. I belong to several groups on Ravelry that encourage experimentation with and learning about different breeds of sheep and their wool/yarn. I read about these breeds, decide I have to have some and .....

It hasn't been very long since I recieved some Finn, Falkland and White Welsh Mountain fiber to spin. I told DH that I was through buying fiber for at least 6 months. Then something came over me.

The latest slip is one I have always said that I would NEVER do - I bought raw wool. I can't explain it. I will have, some time in the end of March/early April, some raw Black Welsh Mountain fiber delivered to my house. It seemed like a good idea at the time but now I am wondering what the h**l I'm going to do with it. Help!

I spun some of my Masham on the drop spindle, some silk on the drop spindle (I thought I had spun enough to ply but the bobbins were not clsoe enough in weight) and some dark alpaca with some dyed mohair locks on the wheel. I was trying to accomplish a more woolen spin and playing around with long draw on the wheel. I am far from long draw but I think I am getting a more woolen yarn. I'll know more when I get it off the bobbin. It's fun, though, experimenting.

My back has been giving me problems lately. It started right around the time I visited Mom in NY. I thought I was making progress on getting better. Twice last week, though, I had some pretty bad muscle spasms. Saturday I decided that life goes on and I did the vacuuming. *Big* mistake. DH was trying to massage the spasms and it hurt so much that I was in tears. I had been putting off PT thinking that time and patience would take care of things, but after Saturday's pain, I decided that I couldn't wait longer. I called for a PT appointment this morning and, of course, no one can see me until next Wednesday. Wouldn't you know it. Grrrr. Well, I have meds and a TENS unit, and I'll be using those as needed. Yes, I am doing some stretching each day and some light exercises. But it hurts towards the mid afternoon.

Knitting progress? A few rows knitting on the lace shawl (I feel good about that), the toe cast on for the second DH sock and the heel gusset is in the works on the Calendula socks for Sharon. It's hard to knit when lying flat on your back or I would have had more knitting done.

We (DH and I) did copper pipe joint soldering on Sunday and got it right the first time! No leaks! The sink and the toilet in the downstairs bathroom are both being moved in our re-do, requiring the moving of the pipes. The room is a mess right now but should look pretty good and be more functional when we are finished. DH is doing most of the work, and with his vision problems, things take longer than usual, but it's getting done. Thank goodness I married a handy man.

We had snow overnight! It was just a bit, but I was shocked to find snow on my car this morning at 8 AM. Then I read the Yarn Harlot's blog and I no longer feel bad.