Yarn Tails

Ooh, Shiny Things...

2012-01-28T21:55:00.000-05:00

Some days I swear I have ADD, or maybe months... It's been quite some time since I blogged, mostly because there is a certain sameness to my days: work elsewhere, work in my mill, get further behind on housework, life is pretty good actually.

Today, I had good intentions of finishing the laundry from last week, doing this week's laundry, picking up/dusting living room and dining room, vacuuming, cleaning both bathrooms and tidying up the kitchen. What actually happened in the housekeeping department? Only 2 loads of laundry done, 1 in dryer, another in washer, set up Roomba in living room, sort of tidied up kitchen (already can't tell), dusted (sort of) the living room.

What else did I do? When picking up, I actually put away some yarn that I won at last week's auction at our spinning guild. However, one item I won was a bag of yarn that needed some TLC. Of course, doing that was preferable to housework. Off and on, that kept me busy for quite some time.

Then I got distracted from that when the doorbell rang. It was our intrepid (and tiny) postal worker. She had left a box for me. Must. Open. Now. It was from Interweave. I had finally made up my mind to replace my old paper issues of Spin-Off with DVDs and they went on sale last week. I didn't think that I would be a fan of reading them on the computer, but I am hooked: instant page turning, the Table of Contents is all linked, just click and go right to where you want, zoom in/out, etc. I may even try doing electronic subscription next year.

I've often said that I am the world's most distractible housekeeper and today just added more proof to that claim.

Mitting Knittens

2011-12-01T23:42:00.000-05:00

Here it is, that time of year again, when I knit mittens. I seem to have gotten into the tradition of knitting a pair of mittens for the neighbor kids every year. They're still young, so they don't take too long. This year's mittens are featuring the dyed yarn created when I presented a workshop on Dying with Easter Egg Dyes (or Kool-Aid) earlier this year at guild. In a nutshell, you wind the yarn into a loose "cake" using a ball winder, soak it in water, squeeze out excess, place in your dye bath and microwave it (1 or 2 minutes at a time, 2 or 3 cycles). Dye bath is quite shallow and only comes up to just below half way up the the "cake". When done, let cool enough to handle, squeeze out extra liquid, flip over the "cake" and repeat with a different color dye. It's great fun and creates such random patterns when knitted.

The other knitting project is a pair of silk mittens, knitted straight from the mawata (a la Yarn Harlot). This time, I'm using Elizabeth Zimmermann's Mitered Mittens from Knitter's Almanac (a book that needs to be in every knitter's library). Slow start on these while I figured out what needles were going to work best (metal dpn's).

Those of us who follow the Yarn Harlot have read that she is pretty sure that knitting is possibly addictive. I believe her. Not only that, but I seem to require a very high fiber diet. If there isn't a goodly amount in a given day, I'm edgy. Good thing I've got lovely customers to keep me happy!

I hope to finish up spinning for our guild's Lala Shawl knitalong. I have over half the yarn spun and am so pleased with it. Hopefully, now that I'm getting a bit of balance to my days, I'll finish up the spinning by the end of the week.

This is Daisy after being with us for close to 6 months. She is a pretty nice cat...friendly without being needy, likes to be near you but not on you and purrs a lot. Daisy's fur has pretty much grown back on her ears and even her nose is furrier. Our vet wasn't sure if that would grow back or not. Her coat is thick and even and she's put on a fair amount of weight. We do, however, call her a walking hairball...I swear you can watch the fur fall off her as she walks around...kind of like Pig Pen from Charlie Brown.

One month in...

2011-11-13T22:19:00.000-05:00

Here I am, one month in of being in business. What can I say? I'm working hard, learning more every day, and am pretty sure that I'm crazy.

Since it's November, some thanks are in order:
--Many thanks to my growing list of customers. Your bags of fiber are kind of like presents to me: I get to open them up, play with them and then happily give them back for you to enjoy.
--Enormous thanks to Mom, who believed in me
--Enormous thanks to my husband, who growled a lot, did the construction work, believes in me and is really sad that he can't park his truck in the garage anymore.
--Many thanks to my daughter, the accountant, who still thinks I'm crazy

Things I've learned over the last month:
--Label every bag, every tray, every bin. No mix-ups have occurred, but as the number of in-process orders has grown, I can see where that would be a real possibility.
--Fine wools and exotic fibers take time to work with. Settle down, relax and enjoy the loveliness of the final product.
--Even better, enjoy that product and learn to stagger the in-process fiber so that I can work on something else at the same time.
--Order form needs to be redesigned, no flow to it (but this is mostly done).
--Need to finish flyers (again, mostly done). Decided to make them "rack card" size (approx. 3-1/4" x 8-1/4") with pricing structure, contact info. and such on it.
--Need to set up web page. Must. call. Frontier. New computer has templates built in. Hopefully can just upload and be done!

--My stash was already extensive. The front hall closet is entirely full of a lovely variety of fibers. This is the additional stash created by purchasing fleeces to practice with. Yep, 30 pounds of wool roving in various colors.
--A dog crate makes a pretty good "wool safe" and protects it from my small, naughty, fluff loving dog.
--Sweep often. Dust bunnies are an understatement.

How did it get to be Halloween already?

2011-10-30T22:32:00.000-04:00

My, how time flies around here. I have no idea what has happened to the last few months. Mother nature has finally decided to treat us to typical fall weather...rainy, windy, chilly and the possibility of some snowflakes over the next few days (not supposed to add up to anything, but who knows?)

About a month ago, these pheasant were visiting us almost every day. We haven't seen any pheasant around here for 20 years. A couple of them were showing off for the ladies!

On Facebook, there's been a picture of drunken pumpkins making the rounds. Well, I couldn't resist. Stopped at a farmstand, got 3 pumpkins, carved them, gathered up some empties and set off to our daughter's house. She wasn't home at the time and was greeted with this sight when she finally rolled in:

Just like FB said, do not trust your pumpkins!

To ensure that we do not get too settled into a routine of work-for-someone-else, be self-employed, holidays are looming, dust buffalo are roaming the house under their own power and all the other day-to-day stuff, we are now foster parents to Molly, a lovely Airedale whose owners have to move. I suspect that she will be staying here. There have been no issues with Daisy, the cat. Disputes have been minimal with Magic over toys and those are getting less frequent and less hostile sounding, so I guess they are working that out. Otherwise, they get along great and spend a lot of time following each other around the house.

I've got quite the following when they all decide that it's time to follow Momma!

It's Not Work

2011-10-26T21:48:00.000-04:00

Many times, at previous employers, we would often get dragged into yet another program-of-the-day, leadership workshop, attitude adjustment workshop, time management, aren't-we-wonderful-presentation, etc. You see, training was important, didn't matter what the training was for, just that you went. At many of those, I would hear something along the lines of "If you love your work, it's not work anymore." Right. Are they on crack? Work isn't called work because it's fun, but because it's something you have to do. It's part of being grown-up and self-supporting.

Over the past few weeks, I have found that those "experts" weren't on anything. If you love what you do, it's not work anymore. Really! I can't wait to get out to my garage and mess with fiber. Doesn't matter to me if it's mine or a customer's. All of it makes me happy.

If it's a fleece that I've picked out for either it's good qualities or it's bad qualities, I'm really into seeing what it becomes on it's way out of the carder. Yes, in addition to some truly lovely fleeces in my stash, I deliberately got some undesireable ones to practice on. Like this one...dirty, stained tips, lots of VM, old, dry and a fine wool. It's surprising how nice the finished roving is...still has some VM but suitable for some projects (maybe one of those Shepherd's Rugs?).

Customer's fibers are even more fun in a way...they're full of surprises...I just don't know what I'm going to find when I open up that bag. These surprises run the range from premium fiber to lower quality, strong fleeces to weak ones (that break), fine fiber to coarse, lots of VM to none at all, natural colors to wildly dyed and sometimes all in one bag.

This is a customer's fleece after being picked. Next time I'll put something in there for scale. Believe you me, 5 pounds of wool fluffs an amazing amount! That pile is about 5 feet x 6 feet x 2-1/2 feet deep. This was 2 different gray wools blended in the picker, then carded; the roving is really nice.

I'm looking forward to seeing what the next bag contains...bring it on!

Trust My Instincts

2011-10-17T22:36:00.000-04:00

This last week reminded me that I should listen to that little voice much more often, at least as far as textiles are concerned.

Listen Up #1: My latest traveling sock has had pattern issues. It's one of those self-striping yarns in a somewhat subdued colorway (navy & gray mostly), so I set about finding a pattern that offered a little bit of patterning without being ridiculous to remember. I am now on my 4th try. The first two contained double decreases, which, while are a nice look, are kind of a pain on a traveling sock. Ripped out both of those starts. The third try was a pattern from an online source, which said to *K2tog, K2, yo, K6*, repeat and do every row. Well, while nice, it was making quite the ridge in the sock. Right along, I kept wondering why isn't there a plain row in between the pattern rows? I would read the pattern again, still the same. I finally came to my senses, tried it with a plain row and was much more satisfied. Frogged it yet again, and now it's clearly working out.

Listen Up #2: While stash diving to find already washed fiber to run through the picker, then the carder, I came across some what looked like really nice white wool. A mystery wool and really clean. I handled it, squooshed it and thought it seemed a bit dry, but went ahead with picking and carding anyway. Picking did not really show up any problems, but carding sure did. I should of gotten to know this wool a bit better (like checking for weakness) as it "broke" while carding. That was quite the mess of a huge number of little nepps and very little fiber that didn't break...looked more like snow than fluff. Arghhh! That earned me a couple of hours of serious cleaning time on the carder.

Listen Up #3 (where I actually listened): Another batch of fine white wool: this one was a give away at guild a couple of years ago by someone who was destashing. The tips were still stained, full of veggie matter and quite dry. I gave it another wash, which helped the dryness and got rid of some more dirt. Picking went just fine and when it came time to card, I checked for any weakness (seemed good). Really looked at the fleece, definitely on the fine side (likely a merino cross), so slowed down the feed and take off a lot. Son-of-a-gun, the roving coming off looks really nice (other than the previously mentioned VM...less of it, but still a fair amount). Then I got to thinking, gee, it looks really good, should I try speeding it up in the interest of time savings? At that point, the little voice said, "NO! Leave it be. It's fine just the way it is."

In the "practice pile" of wool, there are two fine fleeces of known heritage. One is a merino and the other is a CVM/Romeldale cross. After this last batch, I'm feeling more confident that they will come off looking very nice...now that I've had it proven to me that the little voice has really good instincts when it comes to fiber and textiles.

Update on the practice pile...the CVM/Romeldale cross is just lucious. I can hardly wait to show it to Amy, that particular sheep's shepherd. The merino? I decided that it should probably be washed a couple more times, but tried a handful anyway to verify. Good decision...noiled up right away.

PS: As far as "Am I open yet?", I'll say "Yes, Acorn Works is ready to go.", although there are a few loose ends that need tying up (things like a flyer and a website). I imagine any start-up has those!

Summertime Visitors

2011-07-27T19:45:00.000-04:00

Remember how I blogged about there being a ridiculous amount of rain a few months ago? Well, now we haven't had any rain to speak of for the last month and a half or so. I suppose it's too much to ask for something in-between? At least it's good pool weather.

While hubby worked on the garage last Sunday, I cut the ~~lawn~~ ~~weeds~~ shrubbery that had managed to grow despite the weather. The wild life like it either way...2 fawns are already getting used to our yard being a destination and this attractive-looking (and also smelly) varmint has also put us on the "list". We were very glad Magic was already in the house!

Tonight, I was planning on taking my spinning wheel out on the patio and enjoying a very nice evening. However, the skunk is back. In a way, it's kind of funny. You see, my daughter was out front with both her dog and mine when I went out to hang out, too. At that point, I just quietly called for the dogs to come in (they did) and DD just looked at me in bewilderment. I suggested she turn around so that she could see the skunk that was about 40 feet behind her. I'm half thinking that maybe I should call one of those nuisance wildlife trappers to come take it away.

Speaking of the garage, the walls are done (insulated, drywalled and painted). This weeks hubby-do list includes running gas line for heat and water lines for the washing area. Equipment is slated to arrive around the end of August. I have much paperwork and preparation to do!

I'm Still Here!

2011-07-09T13:13:00.000-04:00

It's been the usual spring/early summer busy around here. However, I just haven't quite gotten the routine down yet. After being out of work for two years, I'm out of practice for squeezing in tasks and chores wherever I can.

Don brought home pounds of pure beeswax. I thought about selling/giving it away as it, but it had darkened with age, so thought my chances would be better if I made candles. I have a rather large collection of jello molds that I like to use for molding soap, so just used those, drilled the hole for the wick & threaded it through. Of course, what seemed to me a small project turned out to be a much longer duration...*melt wax, oil mold, pour wax, cool overnight, unmold, find that about 20% stuck to the mold*, repeat from * to * until sick of process. I much prefer soap!

Meg continues to work with her baby, Sugar. Every time I see them together, there is something else that has improved: This show was all about how much calmer and relaxed Meg was, which translated to a much calmer Sugar (even if she didn't perform as well as she should have). Considering that this is the second day of a two-day show, being stalled in a strange place and all that waiting around until it's your turn, they did OK.

This is the year of the rescue critters. Magic is just turning out to be a charming little dog. She just wants to please me and Don. Maybe me a little more...gotta say, that's kind of gratifying, if a little small-minded of me. I mentioned that I would really like to have a cat around. I just like them. Don, not so much; he likes other peoples cats. Despite that, he pointed out a cat that was on the website for the city shelter. Not only did she seem to fit our desired cat-specs (female, not a kitten, not geriatric, spayed, preferably declawed), and the price was right as cat adoptions were free. I wasn't going to argue, so off I went right after work one day and picked up Daisy.

Again, we seem to have gotten lucky in rescue land. Not only does she meet all the above cat-specs, but she is affectionate without being too needy, even tempered, does not crowd the door to get out and she and Magic get along (a non-event). I'm guessing her reason for being at the shelter is perhaps neglect (rather than abuse), her lovely fur is patchy from matt removal and she's on the thin/undermuscled side. Daisy is going to be one gorgeous cat in no time at all!

Magic says: "What is that cat doing?!?!?"

Same old, same old...

2011-05-17T21:31:00.000-04:00

Well, it's back to raining so much that the snails have had enough. The local creeks are high and overflowing. I'm only thankful that we haven't got the problems of the scale that people up and down the Mississippi and in Manitoba have had this spring.

The weather service says we had an inch of rain, but let me just say that an inch of rain does not look like this. This is Black Creek in the village and that is a spillway, not a ripple. I know as a kid, that spillway was way over my head, so I'm guessing it's about 10-12 feet tall.

Our road is still above water and let's just hope it stays that way. There is yet more rain predicted for the the few days, so that could change.

Earlier this evening, we had a visitation from a laundry demon.

I supposed I should be more concerned, but then I've always been a kind of haphazard housekeeper. Besides, it's mostly the hubby's stuff anyway.

What a difference a month makes!

2011-05-13T20:46:00.000-04:00

Last post I was kind of whining about the weather, it really was a long stretch of beastly. Really now, when you start getting snails on the windows on the second floor of the house, there has been enough rain!

This week, however, it's definitely spring. In the last few weeks there have been many, many changes around here.

We've gone from no leaves, to wee baby leaves, to fully leafed out trees.

Best. flower. ever. Daffodils are great, they grow around here and nothing eats them. Best of all, they are just so cheery to see in the spring.

Spring has brought some other hugely good news around here. First off, I finally got a job. You have no idea just how much this takes the pressure off. I am an information technologist for a local non-profit and do a bit of everything from computer maintenance/troubleshooting, translating between the real geeks and the people I work with, to regular admin-type stuff. I'll also be learning how to be the webmistress of their site, so that will be something new to me.

Other good news, well, the day before this job was offered to me, hubby and I went off to Canada where we not only had a big dish of poutine, but put down a deposit on a carder and a picker. Yes, that's right, the mill project is a go! There is much to be done between now and when the equipment is ready...insulate the garage, a bit of wiring, some plumbing and a million other things that will need sorting out.

I'd best take some "zoom" lessons from Magic!

Enough Already!

2011-04-18T20:47:00.000-04:00

This last winter was a long one; there were no big storms to entertain and challenge us, just boring, unending precipitation, usually frozen. Today, it's snowing again. Not sticking really, but enough to be really discouraging. Enough already!

Magic is showing signs of settling in well and even starting to play a little. We've brushed off our obedience training and have started to train her to the invisible fence. She seems to pay attention to it pretty well, but we haven't tested her off leash yet. We need to work on "Come" and that's a hard one to learn. I'm not above using bribery, so just a matter of finding the bestest-treat-in-the-entire-world.

We've also learned a couple of things about Magic...she is bird crazy. Totally nuts for them. Will attempt to climb trees. She feels the same way about rabbits. The training directions for the fence say to create a distraction that will really test your dog. I'm trying to figure out how to get the birds and bunnies to cooperate. So far, they are not placing themselves in just the right spot and staying there.

Since the weather was just so dank the last few days, I decided it was time to put together the loom I bought over a year ago. It's a much bigger loom than my LeClerc 24-inch Dorothy. It is a 4-Harness Studio Art loom made by Newcomb Loom with a 42" max weaving width. The interesting part of this project is that I had no directions; only a couple of pictures from the internet. Trust me, it was something like crossing tinker toys, lincoln logs and tetris, while at the same time not sure if you really have all the pieces or not.

The good news is that, yes, I had all the pieces (except for one nut, replacement easily found in DH's stash) and I seem to have gotten it all put together properly. I'm washing the apron, have taken off the old warp and am seriously contemplating getting new heddles. The ones on there now are the flat style and are just full of lint from the mohair that the previous weaver liked. Never mind that they're full of fuzz, I'm not sure that I like them at all as they seem to catch on each other and bend very easily. Any one have an opinion on wire, flat or string? This loom will be used primarily for rag rugs and saddle pads, although I wouldn't rule out other textiles.

Even More Deer and Magic

2011-03-27T19:56:00.000-04:00

I think (and we'll say it very, very quietly) that maybe the worst of winter is over. Mud season has commenced. One thing that hasn't changed is that we still seem to be a destination for a small herd of deer. The other day there were 6 way in the back. Yesterday, there were 5 in the front yard. They were so close that I couldn't get a picture of all of them at once.

Even though it has not been long since we had to say goodbye to Gypsy, we just couldn't stand it and commenced looking for a new dog. This is Magic. She originally came from a shelter in Kentucky and has been fostered up here for a almost 3 weeks. She's supposed to be a 2-year-old, 42-lb. cattle dog mix and that seems as good as any other guess, maybe a bit of boxer? Magic is a bit cautious and timid right now, but then who can blame her with all the changes in her life? She is warming up quickly to us and is showing signs of wanting to please us. We'll be spending quite a lot of time obedience training her (she just doesn't know much) and what an invisible fence is. Magic does seem to be quite smart, so neither will be much of an effort, I'm thinking.

Gypsy

2011-03-21T15:22:00.000-04:00

Gypsy made it possible for me to survive some very difficult times. She was a gentle soul right to the very end.

Rest in peace, dear Gypsy.

Oh Deer!

2011-02-24T13:21:00.000-05:00

We live in "outer-suburbia" and have a 5 acre lot. Every year, we notice that traffic in our little world has increased. It has become apparent that we are a destination, even a rendezvous (depending on the time of year). Until the snow gets deep, the critters just run up the bank by the road out front. As the snow gets deeper, they just use our driveway, like any other visitor.

Now that I'm outside at night to take Gypsy out, I get to hear/see all kinds of critters. Depending on the time of day, we can see deer, rabbits, skunks, possums, fox, hawks, owls and even coyotes. Only once have I seen a coyote, but we hear them often...really spooky sounding, too! Some mornings, after a fresh snow, it looks like there was some sort of party out there with the number of tracks criss-crossing the snow, mostly bunny and deer tracks.

Our larger visitors, white-tailed deer, can often been seen during the day and almost always hear them crunching through the snow at night. One day there was a group of 6 grazing out back. A few days later, this single buck was just behind the trailer, near our firewood storage.

Clearly, he still has both his antlers. Just a few days prior to that, I found this rack, sticking out of the snow, near the turnaround in our driveway. Deer naturally shed their antlers this time of year. It's a good-sized one, 4 points and weighs almost 1-1/2 pounds.

I think I'll be figuring out how to make a basket out of it.

Finished Objects!

2011-02-15T14:15:00.000-05:00

You wouldn't think that I would be this busy just after the holidays and in the full winter gloom that we get around here. Usually, like many, I just want to semi-hibernate: stay inside and warm. Kind of like Gypsy. A bit of news on Gypsy, she, very suddenly, has gone blind. Other than confused, she is in good health and we are learning how to be seeing-eye-people.

Be warned, this is a picture heavy post.

Remember all those felted mittens that I wanted to get done before starting anything else? Well, I did do them first, so there! Good thing as this winter has been an old-fashioned one: cold and persistently snowy.

DD purchased her own home last year, so, after reuniting her with her belongings, I've painted her room and moved some of my toys in there. I have a small loom to put in there and come spring, will assemble the large loom that is in storage.

The drum carder, swift and ball winder can all stay set up and ready to use and there's still space left on that table to sit and work on projects. There's room for my finished goods, room for the wardrobe (contains various crafty items in bins), a place to hang the tower of yarn (gotta love Ikea) that contains sock yarn, alpaca, novelties, special stuff and a even a spot for those leftovers. There's a big closet that has shelves and a dresser in it for even more storage. It's actually taking a bit to move into so much space as I want things to go where it makes the most sense.

There is room for the spinning wheels (all 2 of them) for when they're not in active use. Keeping the living room as clear as possible for Gypsy is a must do and is going to help me stay more organized.

So what do I do after knitting and felting 5 pair of mittens? Lace, of course! This is the Diamond Fantasy Scarf (designer Sivia Harding) that I've ~~lusted~~ wanted to knit for ages. By chance, I won some Claudia Handpaints yarn at knitting guild in December and found the pattern that I had gotten awhile ago. I must say, this was one of the easiest lace knits I've ever done. Another nice thing is that you knit the border on at the same time as the rest, so when you cast off, you're done (other than blocking).

Also instigated by knitting guild are the 2 projects on the right: Flower Power Elephant (Ravelry) and Pyramid Project Bag (Knitting Daily). There was an unloved yarn swap in January and I was the recipient of a ball of bright blue mohair. Bah! I'm not a big fan of knitting with mohair. However, February brought a contest of finished items from that unloved yarn and the little elephant won a bag of goodies for me. There was a journal, a calendar, some yarn, a goofy ball and even a little light to put on your finger so that you can knit in the dark.

OK, the cat mittens were actually done last year, but they just got their picture taken the other day. I showed them to my neighbor, along with another pattern from the same designer. She called after Christmas and wanted a pair of the lucky horse mittens. Glad to oblige. Another good thing from Ravelry: Being able to get terrific patterns from terrific designers like Jorid Linvik. Do check out her other patterns. Seriously, I think I must get the zebra pattern, maybe more.

The cat mittens are handspun, gray from Crik and blue from Bob G. The horse mittens are alpaca (white) and wool (brown/red) commercial yarns.

Hmmm, what next, you ask? Well, I fell in love with the Yarn Harlot's silk mittens. Lo and behold, stash diving came up with a nice blue & yellow package of silk mawata. Perfect! Pictures will be reserved for another post. Now then, now that we're all caught up, I'm going to go play with some silk!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T11:24:00.000-05:00

How 'bout that...managed to get through another year. For the most part, this last year of kind of benign, but, to be honest, there was lots of not-good stuff over the last decade. Enough of the past, except to show that I actually get some stuff done around here.

Mittens were knitted (and even mailed) in time for Christmas.

These are socks for Mom. EZ's moccasin socks...look wonky, fit great and are fun to knit.

There are a bunch of mittens still to be finished (none for the holidays). 3 pair of felted mittens (1 grown up, 2 kids), all in some stage of doneness. My plan is to get these done before starting anything else.

I have lots of plans and ideas for projects for 2011. I think my resolution ought to be to try and be more productive!

Be-Weave It

2010-12-04T13:53:00.000-05:00

OK, so I stole the title from Handwoven's e-newsletter. Anyway, I've been weaving and knitting. Much delayed projects that assorted activities conspired together to eat up time that I should have spent at the loom.

The blue and white runner is almost 60 inches long with plain fringe. The green and gold runner is 48 inches long with twisted/knotted fringe. Both are commissioned pieces. How 'bout that? Who would have thought that someone would order handmade stuff from me?

She also bought the green scarf that was done earlier this year. Love it and am glad that I have more yarn to make more of them.

I've also been knitting many mittens to be felted: 3 down, 2 to go. One pair was supposed to be for an adult, but felted a bit on the small side, so I'll just knit them again using the next size up. Good thing there are children next door! No pics of them yet as none of them have cuffs, not the best look for a mitten.

I've also got a few more projects to knit for Christmas presents. Not entirely sure they will all get done, but we'll see.

I have all the decorating to do, but that actually goes pretty quickly. A fair amount of shopping is done; need to do some online and then a few stocking stuffers. Not bad for the first week in December...how about you?

Spin This!

2010-10-04T23:33:00.000-04:00

I dare you.

It's a Grape Day in the Neighborhood...

2010-09-28T22:07:00.000-04:00

Last post was all about the peaches. This post is all about the grapes. DD has mostly green grapes, but has a few Concords, which we used for the pie filling. Granted, the picture does not show the full extent of our madness: 7 qts. pears (OK not grapes, but I'm including them anyway), 30 qts. grape juice, 10 qts. grape pie filling and 15 pints of grape jelly. I'm happy to say that there are no more grapes. However, there are many, many apple trees and the first bushel is already in the garage waiting for me.

September is the month that our guild sponsors the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival. I was really quite restrained this year: one Corriedale fleece (already washed), 4 rovings, a couple of patterns, some honey and some beeswax candles.

Just so I don't have to find a home right now for my acquisitions, the indigo dyed wool is spun, the lime mohair/shetland blend and the brown shetland/mohair blend are both partially spun.

I finally decided to get a picker for myself; a box picker that should be coming in the mail this week. I will, of course, blog about it.

The skein & garment competition (which I coordinate) was as stunning as ever. Our members and area fiber artists are truly talented and it is a pleasure to get to see their entries every year!

I'm still debating on whether or not to go to Rhinebeck this year. I really don't need a thing, so it might be fun just to go rummaging about. The only problem is that the bus leaves very, very early (like 5 am and it's an hour's drive just to get to the bus).

Recently, we tried something new: giant puffball. They're OK, lightly mushroomy tasting and quite soft in texture. This is one of 3 that we found and is about 12 inches across and about 8 inches tall. Take it as you will, one way it's kind of heart-shaped and the other way is more of a full-moon shape.

I'm Peachless, Just Peachless

2010-08-31T00:46:00.000-04:00

The town is doing a bit of maintenance on a nearby road. While I appreciate the warning about loose gravel, I'm amused by the placement of the signs. I know that I don't really need to be told not to pass while only about 50 feet from a stop sign, not to mention that you will run out of road shortly after that.

The last few weeks have been all about peaches. Many, many peaches. DD has about a dozen peach trees on her new property, so there has been much picking and processing. We have done frozen peaches, peach jam, peach butter, peach syrup, peach bread and peach crisp. For something completely different, 4 loaves of zucchini bread were baked today.

I can honestly say that I am very glad that peach season is over. There are no more peaches on those trees. Being peachless is a good thing right now.

I'm Melting...

2010-08-04T12:55:00.000-04:00

Wow, it has certainly been a very warm, very humid summer this year. It's about 90F with a humidity around 70%. It's so hazy that it almost looks foggy. The dogs have retired to the basement where at least the floor is a little cooler and the cats have melted.

I am not even going to attempt anything more strenuous outside other than dipping in the pool (water temperature is a balmy 87F). This is a welcome break from the yardwork. I'm going to try to get enough fans near my loom to weave for awhile today.

There has been minimal spinning as I just don't want to even touch wool when it's this warm. I have, however, been knitting. Not knitting anything hugely exciting: dishcloths and swiffer covers. I'm stocking up on these as they've been selling well. I'm also almost out of catnip mice, so will spend an evening making more.

Other news is that I'm going to participate in a arts show for the first time this month. Last year, it was billed as the Recession Art Show, so my inexpensive bits & pieces should go over well. DH has a bunch of Victorian end tables that we'll take. They are so reasonably priced and nice looking. When I look at what we're taking, it seems that we are actually a bit on the trendy side...used, but fabulous furniture, repurposed materials into pet toys and cotton accessories made from US & Canadian yarns. Hmph, how did that happen?

WWKiP Day

2010-06-12T19:53:00.000-04:00

For the first time ever, I actually remembered that it was Worldwide Knit in Public Day. Not only is it WWKiP Day, but it appears to have grown to 9 days. I'm sure there are many stories behind that. Some of them probably involve knitters having no real sense of how long it really takes to knit something.

I think that sitting in the back of hubby's pickup, keeping daughter's dog company and me out of the way counts. We had all been drafted to help load up auction purchases. Luckily enough, I got to spend a fair amount of quality time with this summer's traveling sock...started out close to where I wanted for leg length and wound up well into the gusset.

Also learned something...when you knit on 11" circs and forget to grab a couple of dps to work the heel, it is quite possible to knit the flap and turn the heel with all stitches on the circs. I thought about setting aside the top stitches on a string, but realized that I was also without a crochet hook. Slightly awkward, but definitely doable.

Clearly, I need to do some restocking of the necessities!

Freight Trains

2010-05-16T23:40:00.004-04:00

Saturday was our regular meeting day for the spinning guild (Genesee Valley Handspinners Guild) and is something I always look forward to. Of course, I was running a bit behind and got behinder as I was stopped at a RR crossing for a 10-minute long train. Would have been easier to wait if I had gotten around to starting another travel sock or if Tim Horton's were on this side of the tracks, not the other. Finally got on my way, stopped at Tim Horton's and there despite many fey maneuvers by other drivers on the expressway.

When I went to leave, a friend said that I might just want to check one of my tires. I did and it was close to flat. I drove down the street far enough to get some air in it (which is when I found the rather large screw in it) and made some phone calls. The air l put in lasted as far as the repair shop where the time estimate went from an over 2 hour wait time, to one hour to now. Yeah, I wandered off and bought the crew some cookies. I was real happy with that as I had a hot date with another freight train.

That train was the Freight Train Tour that had 3 really great performers: Chris Young

Josh Turner (gotta love that low, low voice!)

And last, and definitely tallest,Alan Jackson

The people watching was almost as entertaining as the concert itself.

What a great evening...out with the hubby, daughter, her boyfriend, cold beer and some of the best country music you'll ever hear!

How did that happen?

2010-04-10T18:21:00.000-04:00

I don't really know where the time went. It really doesn't seem that long ago that my girl baby came into this world.

It seems like I've been one step behind her (and often confused) ever since. Meg has always chosen her own path with great determination and often finds success down that path. Sometimes not, but she learns from it and moves on.

Most days, I'm still confused. Where did this smart, funny, gorgeous, competent and responsible young lady come from? Most of all, how on earth did she get to be 25 years old tomorrow?

The Finish Line!

2010-03-15T12:10:00.000-04:00

There have been a number of projects around here, but I'm happy to say that I can cross a whole bunch off my list.

Finish painting the hallway, laundry area and bathroom: Done
Wash & mend Sugar's blankets (DD's horse): Done
Reinforce seams on Mom's PJ's: Done
Scrape finish off 8 drawer oak file cabinet (1st step to repair/refinish by Hubby): Done
Traveling socks from last year: Done (SSS had set in, but I was really getting tired of the same old carry-around project.)
2 scarves planned, woven, off the loom and look like what I intended: Done

and, last, but not least,

Skew Socks for Knitting Olympics: Done (A week late, but still done.)

In my defense, may I offer the following:

Painting: Something else always seemed to get a higher priority. By the way, if you paint inside in the winter, the paint dries so quickly that you can immediately start on the second coat...went much faster. I can't tell you how pleased I am to be done.
Mending horse blankets: Must wash first and it takes days for them to dry this time of year. They have to dry outside as I really don't want the house smelling like a barn. It's a good smell; it just has it's place. There's already another to do...horses sure are tough on their wardrobe!
Scraping finish: It's a dirty job and the basement is kind of cold, so it tends to get towards the bottom of the list. Good thing is that there have been a few nice days so I've moved outside, weather permitting.
Weaving: A highly addictive activity
Second Sock Syndrome: I have developed a nasty case of it. The traveling socks have been languishing in my purse since last summer, getting a couple of rows done at a time. The Skew Socks for the Knitting Olympics fell prey to SSS and over-confidence...I have a week to knit one sock...no problem!
Wii: DD wanted me to go along on a couple of excursions that I couldn't really knit during (it was dark). She was after a Wii console, which turns out to be a bit more difficult to obtain than one would think. She was also successful...how do you say no to "Play with me, Mommy!" (even if she is 24)?
Late winter snowstorm consisting of heavy, heavy wet snow. Broke down and shoveled path up the stairs for our Gypsy. Even after all the rain over the last few days, there are still remnants of snow. And now it is mud season. Gypsy really doesn't like playing "dunk the foot in bucket until clean".

In addition, I answered an ad on craigslist for some pencil roving. I love this stuff to knit with as the garments are just as light as a feather. When I got there, I found that there was 6-1/2 pounds of the stuff in three colors (white, light gray, dark gray). He also had a set of hand cards, a metal clamp-on Nilus LeClerc Swift and a ball winder. Yep, all of it went into the truck. Looks like a pretty good reward to me!

2010 Winter Knitting Olympics

2010-02-11T16:09:00.000-05:00

Our Yarn Harlot is at it again, but this time she has help. Good thing, keeping track of this sort of thing is monumental!

I wasn't really paying much attention to the fact that time was running out for me to choose, if I was going to choose, a project for this year's Olympics.

Today, when checking out Winter Knitty's surprise patterns, I found one for Skew Socks.

They will be perfect for the Olympics. Socks for winter, strange socks that offer many opportunities to become a better instruction reader and that also support Stephanie's idea of creating one's own sock club.

All I need to do now is to go stash diving and choose a yarn!

I'm Still Here...

2010-02-09T19:32:00.000-05:00

I still don't know where the days go. They just run one into the other; each one much like the other. That actually sounds kind of depressing, doesn't it? Well, I'm not depressed, just trying to become a bit more efficient and effective.

My only New Year's Resolution was to make myself To Do lists so that time didn't just waste away. It is working, but this is the first time I actually thought to put "blog" on the list.

It's winter here in western New York state, so that does involve a lot of gray and snow occurring at pretty regular intervals. No storms, just an inch or two or three at a time. February may be the shortest month in days, but the longest for those of us in the north. Even tough-girl Gypsy has decided that a coat is not a bad thing when the wind gets to howling.

There has been some business planning, end-of-year paper arranging, errand running, spinning, weaving and knitting. Actually a fair bit of all of those.

Knitting projects have ranged from mittens (lots of mittens/mitts) this year, a shrug and a vest.

These are a pair of mittens for SIL...the final project in the hat/scarf/mitten series. Next year, I'll actually have to think of something for a Christmas gift! Wouldn't you know it, she was just ecstatic over mittens...said that she could stop darning the ones I knitted for her years ago. I reminded her that all she had to do was ask and there would be mittens for Christmas.

I've even finished our guild's exchange project for this year. This year we exchanged fiber to spin, then knit into a gaiter/neckwarmer. A new twist for this year is that we know who we are creating the gaiter for. This helped me quite a bit to decide on a style that would work for the recipient. Can't show a picture as there is a chance that they would read this post.

Weaving is still quite new to me, but I still think that it's magic. I wove these table runners/dresser scarves recently. I'm quite pleased with how they came out. This one is an overshot pattern, the others were point twills. Currently, I have a more complicated (at least to me) project on the loom that is almost done. It is a 3/1 reversible twill. I made many, many mistakes, but learned much (including how to fix mistakes) along the way. I think it will be a computer case (likely to show up on Etsy).

A few years ago, I purchased a Border Leicester lamb fleece at Rhinebeck. Well, it's finally yarn. 14 skeins, just over 3 pounds of 2-ply, light worsted weight. Some of it is destined for one of those sweaters from Knitter's Arans & Celtics. No, I have not decided which one...there are many in the running!

I may even wait a bit to knit it up. Our Fiber Fest has an entry where you spin a pound or more of yarn, describe the project and display nicely as the first year's entry. The next year's entry is to have a finished item. We'll see. I do have 2 sweaters in the queue that the yarn is ready and one that I've just started to spin up.

A bit of felting has happened in between larger projects. My SIL's dog got skunked just before Christmas, so what better way to commemorate the event that to needlefelt a skunk?

I've also needlefelted a little something for Valentine's Day. Mini-garlands that are just plain cute (and available on Etsy).

On that note, Happy Valentine's Day to all of you that still had faith that I was lurking around the blogosphere somewhere!

November is Variable

2009-11-12T11:14:00.000-05:00

It really shouldn't be a surprise to me, but here it is, early November, and I have started the first second daytime fire to warm up the house. For quite awhile at the beginning/end of the heating season, we can get away with just a fire in the evening to take the chill off. I was on my way home today last week and ran smack dab into the first snow squall of the season. It was pretty impressive considering that it was about a 70/30 mix with rain; even so, the road was slushy and snow accumulating at the grass line in a matter of minutes.

The pumpkins sold really well and now we're moving on to other fall-themed objects. The Canadian geese turned out quite well (and can be found in my Etsy shop). I'm working on a turkey, but need to figure out a better way to do the tail before it's ready for prime time.

There has been much knitting. Mittens for a grown-up neighbor, mittens for the wee ones next door and fingerless mitts for the shop where I have stuff consigned.

I have begun thinking of what to do about Christmas gifts and must get cracking on those. There's a pair of mittens on the knitting list and will probably weave something (like placemats or table runners maybe).

Hmm, must finish posts in a more timely manner. They say if you wait a bit, the weather will change around here. They're right. Ever since that ugly, slushy day we have been enjoying Indian Summer weather. Some days are better than others...yesterday I pulled my "Cheeto" chair out into the sun and out of the wind. Nice comfy spot to knit a bit!

Mornings are still quite chilly. This morning I noticed that there had been some hoar frost. I just love the way it looks, so popped outside before I had even had my first cup of tea. It is such a fleeting occurrence and it was melting off as I took pictures.

Another thing I noticed? Well, Bambi has been busy. Not the kitty. I guess I'll see if hanging a bar of soap will deter the big lug before he does any more damage. Darn things are a real nuisance around here!

Frosty Start

2009-10-12T14:37:00.004-04:00

We had a very frosty start to the day. Actually, it was not our first frost. The tomatoes, squash & eggplant had already had enough.

We have made a concerted effort to pick up after our garage sales and have taken even more off to Salvation Army. Some horse stuff sold at a tack sale last weekend and I have sucked it up and started listing on ebay again. The first items have only been listed for a few hours and there are already people looking. No bids yet, but that often does not happen until towards the end of the listing.

The pumpkin factory is going strong. The shop in Leroy took my entire

stock of them and would also like some geese. A friend placed an order for a pumpkin and I'll be making a bunch to take to spinning guild this coming weekend. 50 of our guild members will be bussing it to Rhinebeck, but there will still be many attending our regular meeting.

A farm stand down the street from us really puts on a show at Halloween and I couldn't resist taking some pictures.

Pumpkins, Lots of Pumpkins

2009-10-06T22:35:00.004-04:00

Here it is, another October. It's an iffy month around here. It can range from absolutely perfect shiny, brilliant fall days to weather we would rather not talk about. I haven't been terribly observant and noticed the other day that we have, indeed, had a mild frost (probably the end of September) so the tomatoes are pretty much done. The peppers are up by the house, so while a bit unhappy, are still OK.

Our Finger Lakes Fiber Festival was probably one of the best ever. Every year, we try to smooth over any bumps in the road from the previous year and it's really starting to show. Our skein and garment competition is a fabulous display. And I'm not just saying that because I'm the coordinator...see for yourself:

It's a really nice festival, so if you haven't been yet, make sure you block off next year's calendar (3rd weekend in September).

We also had a garage sale and sold a few things. As it was set up, we even had it over two weekends. The second weekend, it occurred to me that it was October after all, so I needle-felted some jack-o-lanterns and one goose. None of them sold at our sale, but 5 pumpkins and 1 goose sold tonight at our local spinning group.

This is a good thing. However, I need to make a bunch more as my Mom arranged for me to meet with a gift shop owner to show her some of my products, so I will need to make some more by Friday. There is also a horse equipment swap-n-shop on Saturday that I would like to have some of them available for. And also our regular spinning guild meeting on the 3rd Saturday of the month... I guess I'll be making lots of pumpkins!

16 Ways to Tell That Fall is Coming

2009-09-10T12:24:00.007-04:00

1. The pool is very, very refreshing (a balmy 68 F a few days ago). How did I know? Well, I was quite warm from doing a bit of gardening and decided that a dip was a good idea. That may have been the last dip of the season.

2. I'm thinking that my newly-painted Adirondack chair needs to move into the sun, instead of the shade. Rather than tangerine, I'll call it pumpkin.

3. The trees lose that vibrant green color...it gets kind of flat and muted. There are even a few early birds that are starting to turn color, especially south of here in the hills.

4. The sun goes down much earlier. For some reason, this comes as a surprise to me every year.

5. There's not as many song birds around. Just crows, the flock (a huge number of starlings that make one think of the "The Birds") and Canadian geese (lots of those milling around).

6. You haven't seen a lightning bug in quite a few weeks.

7. When you cut the grass, it smells like fall.

8. The show season is winding down. I was both a bad mom and a bad blogger today as I totally forgot to bring a camera to watch DD compete in goat tying for the first time. I had no idea that my daughter could fling and tie up a goat that neatly (and come in 4th of 8).

9. You wonder where you put your sweaters.

10. You wonder where you put your long pants.

11. You wonder where you put your socks. Or for that matter, your shoes.

12. You start stash diving for larger projects...spinning or knitting, doesn't matter as long as it's warm and woolly. Unless, of course, you just finished something large. In that case, may I suggest mittens, a hat or socks?

13. You start thinking about cooking again. Things like bread, lasagna, pot roast and pies.

14. The cats decide that helping you with anything woolly is the most important part of their day.

15. When the Yarn Harlot says she's looking for a mitten pattern, you drop everything and look for one. I didn't find one that I thought was just what she was looking for, but I did find Cats and Horses. Ahh, the wonders of the interwebs and instant gratification. Other than stash diving, I'm good to go!

16. The Finger Lakes Fiber Festival is 6 days away, September 19 & 20 in Hemlock, NY. It's a very nice festival and I'm not just saying that because I help organize it. We have over 80 vendors (with wonderous products to keep you busy and inspired), excellent food vendors, a growing Farmer's Market, workshops and competitions for fleeces, skeins & garments. You can see it all in one day, but two is better!

Summer's Here!

2009-08-19T21:04:00.006-04:00

Finally, summer got here. A little on the over-achieving side, but I'll deal with it. Of course, we've been quite busy, like most of us get in the summer.

The other day, I was behind a dump truck. Has anyone else thought that this sign is one of the dumbest signs ever to have on the back of a truck? You can only see one of these signs if you

are following the truck. What am I supposed to do? Turn around and go the other way?

Last Sunday, DD showed at Erie Co

unty Fair outside of Buffalo, NY. This fair has been right up there competing with being the largest fair in the United States (including state fairs).

I had heard that it was better than NYS Fair and you know what, it is. The grounds are clean and well organized, they have maps, there are exhibits, there are cheesy midway shows, there is a midway, animals, etc...way too much to see in one 95 degree day. Yes, it was hot. Very hot. Despite the heat, DD and Sugar did very, very well: 4 2nds, 1 3rd, 2 4th, 1 5th. They showed English, Western and Games, so were busy all day long.

I've been helping hubby on a job site. My job...stripping wallpaper. The interesting turn of events is that we used to own the house. Yes, I am stripping the wallpaper that I put up over 25 years ago. Let me tell you...always, always size the walls. It sure has made the job move right along. I must say that I did a pretty good job hanging it, too. Other than places where it had been much abused by the interim owner, it's still on the walls.

As far as future fiber biz is concerned, progress is slow. It's summer and many people that I need help from are on vacation and/or very busy. As much as I want to go faster, I'll just keep plugging along on the planning end and just keep on calling people until they answer!

I've gotten some very good feedback on the survey and I thank everyone who's participated. It's still active on Survey Monkey, so Click Here to take survey.

As summer is winding down, I'm sure some of you are thinking that school starts (or even has started in some areas) soon. So, how about an "Ivy League Cat"?

New Stash Management

2009-07-17T20:41:00.004-04:00

We had been using a large (very large) carpenter's toolbox as a coffee table. To be honest, it was a little too big for the space. A fabulous piece of workmanship, but very large. It looks better at the end of our bed.

DH brought home another carpenter's tool box that was just the right size, so I claimed it as our new coffee table. It is gorgeous (now that he's worked his magic on it), made from maple and mahogany and is just right as far as scale.

Not only that, but the trays in it are just ideal for such things as needlework tools, needles and a whole bunch of yarn! The contents of one plastic bin (and I usually get the ones with the attached lids), just covers the bottom

of this chest. There is much more room available in this one for future expansion.

I had offered the inside of the other one to DD for off-season storage, but since she hasn't taken advantage of the offer, I believe I'll just fill that one up, too!

On a completely different note, DH and I were off gallivanting the other day and passed by one of those new windmills that there has been much controversy over. Mostly the "not-in-my-backyard" variety. I had always wanted to get close enough to one to hear just how much noise they really make. We could park directly under this one. There was a nice breeze yesterday so it was operating. Let me tell you this, you could barely hear a slight swish that most any other noise masked (like a passing car or even the sound of the breeze through nearby greenery). As far as birds flying into them, well, let's face it, birds fly into houses all the time (and they don't move) and I bet they fly into trees, cliffs and other natural obstacles, too. For that matter, so do people...ever notice how there is often a rash of incidents that involve people walking, bicycling and driving into buildings? Are these buildings leaping out in front of them? Am I missing something (besides buildings)?

Note: Amy asked where to find carpenter's tool boxes. Please send me your email address and I'll ask DH if he has any similar pieces. dseelyATfrontiernetDOTnet

Busy, Busy, Busy

2009-07-13T13:41:00.005-04:00

Summer is always a busy time for all of us, including me. Besides the so-far-unsuccessful job hunt, I've been trying to catch up on various loose ends and UFO's around the homestead and even succeeded in some cases.

Mom took me on a short bus trip over the 4th of July

holiday to the Hudson River valley. The highlight of the trip was the boat ride down the Hudson and mooring in the river to watch the Macy's fireworks. There were just no better seats to be had...there was nothing between our boat and the fireworks but the Coast Guard.

Outside stuff is underway for the season. Various projects are in process or in maintenance mode:

--Like weeding (it never ends, especially with all the rain we've had)

--Keeping the pool clean enough to use in between previously mentioned rain showers

--Getting some much neglected gardens beaten into submission (also in between the rain showers).

--Being a horse show Mom...actually I'm more of a fence post, but it's nice to be needed.

Actually, the rain usually comes in deluges; we have l

iterally had a stream running through our back 40 quite often this summer. Thanks to some raised beds that DH put in last year, the veggies are not drowning and are growing, well, like weeds!

The inside stuff list actually has some things completed:

--The floor in my sewing room/office has been tiled (to match the kitchen floor).

--Everything is pretty much back in the sewing room (no small feat there)

--I have boxes of stuff marked and ready to go to the flea market with a friend, or sell on craigslist or ebay (or maybe even having a garage sale? eek!)

Inside stuff that's partly done:

--DD's western show shirt (needs final fitting, collar, cuffs & bling)

--Business plan

Business plan, you say? Yes, even though the economy is pretty shaky, I'm looking (seriously) into starting up my own fiber processing mill. I have an appointment this week with an advisor; it's amazing what help is out there for the asking. I've got my plan to the "needs editing" point. There's a good chance that we (need DH for advice) will be visiting some mills later this week to see different manufacturer's equipment in operation.

If you'd like to participate in the planning, I've created a little survey that will help me determine my future customers' needs. It's at Click Here to take survey (it's on Survey Monkey). Thanks, in advance, for your help!

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T22:33:00.003-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to all of you out there who qualify!

I took Mom some lilacs earlier today. Lilacs are really big around here and the Lilac Festival is in full swing in the city.

I also made her up another tea cozy. According to Tea Cozies, "A naked teapot will never do!" This book is just full of patterns that will make you laugh out loud. There's probably going to be more of them coming off the needles, they're just that fun to do up.

There has been some time spent with the spinning wheel(s), too. I finished the latest batch of samples, washed and labeled them. Old dogs can be taught new tricks...labeling your skeins with what they are and when you spun them really does make life much easier when it comes time to actually use them in a project.

Our spinning guild, Genesee Valley Handspinner's Guild, had a 2-part program the last few months: making our own chair pads from The Shepherd's Rug. I finally finished mine up tonight. I was unable to be there for the how to braid workshop, so my braids were a bit on the small side after felting. The plus side of that is that I had lots and lots of braid, so I made two chair pads, then sewed them together around the edge. When I got done, it occurred to me that I had just made a high-end sit-upon. Those of you who were girl scouts will remember making those.

Last night, I couldn't resist taking this picture. As you can see, it was excitement plus around here; from the left are Bubba, Gypsy and Smokey. Not pictured are the napping elsewhere Trouble and Sadie.

New Beginnings

2009-04-24T21:03:00.007-04:00

Spring has finally sprung around here. I sincerely hope that I will not see another snowflake until at least October! It's supposed to be quite warm this weekend, up around 80F. The day the leaves all come out on the trees is always amazing to me. One day, trees are all bare branches and the next they're covered in fresh green leaves. Maybe that will happen this weekend.

Yesterday, I visited a friend of mine. Her guard llama kept an eye on me while I fed this little guy. His name is Homer. I'd never fed a lamb before. He went right to it and very efficiently emptied his bottle. Every time I think of his little tail wiggling at the speed of light, I have to smile.

Here are some of his pasture mates. Linda's sheep are all Shetlands and she is a very good shepherd. The wool from them is just a delight to spin!

The pillows that were started the other day are finished. Cutting my first real project off my own loom was pretty cool. They are a bit smaller than I thought they would be; I still need to work on my planning skills for weaving projects.

There is an antique show this weekend, so I'm hoping that at least some of them will go home with someone else and some green will come home in my pocket!

Note: Very slow at the antique show, but all of these attractive pillows are available on my brand new Etsy shop...link is on the left.

Finished Stuff

2009-04-20T00:05:00.004-04:00

Hopefully, I'm getting past the deadly combination of "I have lots of time to do ______", "There's always tomorrow to get _____ done.", "I should probably do _____ instead." Pick your phrase/excuse; they're all about the same.

Finishing items on the to-do list is rather rewarding, especially if there are few fun items on it. DH, DD and I have gotten quite a few tasks done at my Mom's new (and old) home. I've been helping DH with some of his jobs and getting a bit of a start on outside clean up on nice days.

It's supposed to be rainy/chilly tomorrow, so I'll do the normal job hunt thing first, then I'll see about getting some seeds started. It's a little late, but only by about a week.

The weaving class ended last week (sigh). The teacher, Joyce, was just wonderful. The perfect combination of knowledge, encouragement and teaching skills. My first project were some mug rugs.

Another project that had been hanging around for awhile was to do something with a friend's horse's mane. Yikes! The stuff is not a pleasure to spin. Even combed, it is coarse and it doesn't really want to be spun. Bits stick out and are quite prickly. I stuck with it long enough for a small skein of singles that I steamed to set the twist. Then I used a Weavette loom to come up with a small square. That and some stash fabric adds up to a small purse.

There is a small antique show next weekend, so I thought I would see if some handwoven pillows would go over well. I've got the loom all warped and part of one done. All of the yarn is Kitchen Cotton out of stash. Might as well use that to test the waters.

A Belated Easter

2009-04-13T19:04:00.004-04:00

I don't know what it is lately (and can't even blame it on the job upheaval). I just can't seem to get around to posting regularly anymore. There is a routine, of sorts, around here. I spend the morning job hunting, applying and following up on any leads.

The rest of the day is spent at various activities that often include helping my DH out with his jobs, some sort of fibery stuff (carding, spinning, knitting, weaving, even a bit of sewing), outside stuff (if nice enough to be out...spring is dawdling, at least as far as warmer temperatures are concerned) and even, occasionally, a bit of housekeeping.

My DD suggested that I should consider some self-employment of some kind and I find the idea really quite interesting. I've been giving quite a few ideas some thought and there are some that are coming to the top. I'm thinking that 2 or 3 of these would work out...simultaneously, too. None of them would be a big enough "bang" to cover household expenses by itself, but added up, they might just work out. Still mulling over the possibilities.

At any rate, Happy Belated Easter to all of you from the Easter Beaster!

One guppy got a lot bigger!

2009-03-18T13:11:00.006-04:00

In many areas, things are working out pretty good. Some are fun, some not so much.

A bit ago, we had quite the thaw, followed by some pretty chilly nights. This gave me the opportunity to take some pictures of ice stuck to the landscape at a level much higher than the current level of the water. I don't know why, but I always think that's kind of neat. The geese? I suspect that they are local birds, or at least ones that don't go far from the area. Earlier this week, I saw some really, really big flocks of geese heading north, so that's a pretty good sign of spring to come.

Not so much includes paying the bills, getting those medical appointments that you need done (and don't want to do) scheduled and gone to, filing income taxes, cleaning, etc.

The really big guppy? Well, I got let go from my job a few weeks ago. Quite suddenly and unexpectedly. Not sure which is worse, knowing beforehand that you're on the block or no warning at all. I spend the mornings job hunting: searching postings and following up on previous applications. No responses as yet. I may need to rethink the kinds of jobs that I am applying for and also get signed up with a few temp. agencies.

Fun stuff includes learning to weave, stash diving for spinning fiber, and knitting. My hubby found the loom last year and it came home with us. I had a friend go over it and she let me know what I needed to start weaving and strongly suggested that I take a class. I listened up and started the class a few weeks ago. Hubby made me a few weaving tools and some shuttles, so I can practice at home, too.

I've found that spending a fair amount of time with

fiber is helping me cope. I think that it has something to do with knowing that I can do something well and actually doing it, rather than beating myself up over things that I have no control over. I figure it's way cheaper than therapy!

Nibbled by Guppies

2009-02-02T19:17:00.004-05:00

My Mom has a saying that includes "getting nibbled to death by guppies". That pretty much covers the last few months. For some reason, I was absolutely exhausted for November & December. I'm chalking it up to the "change" and am doing much better. So much so that I've signed up for an aerobics class (free).

Winter is always kind of a drag, and this one is an old-fashioned endurance event so far. The weather folk tell us that it has snowed 28 of 31 days in January. December was not any better. Gypsy is sure that there is life under the snow and she is determined to find it!

As a reminder, do back up your computers regularly. I was slapped upside the head with the main reason why we should do that a week ago...the hard drive died and nothing could be recovered. The good news out of all that? It was under warranty (extended) and I have a one-button back-up system now. I was also happy to find that, since I am prone to not erasing cards until I have to, I have many of the pictures taken over the last few years.

Getting back to that totally tired thing the end of last year...I totally forgot about getting my car inspected. Let's just say that the very nice State Trooper let me know that he would give me a ticket for that. Could've been worse as he really could have handed me a ticket for not being as close to the speed limit as I should have been. I have an appointment on Thursday to get that oversight taken care of. The ticket I can do online as soon as it's been uploaded.

Throughout it all, I have gotten back to spinning and knitting. One project was to finish up a blanket for a friend in exchange for some fiber. The cats, of course, just loved that project. Thank goodness it was big enough to accommodate both Bubba and knitting on it at the same time. The pattern was such that it was perfect for retraining my left hand to carry the yarn while purling. I could knit continental style, but always had trouble purling. I think I've got it now. Since that was a big project, I'm concentrating on some smaller ones for now.

There have, of course, been many other little guppies, but no need to bore y'all with them. They have been dealt with as they swam by and I'm pretty sure that I see the end of that school of fishies!

Christmas Greetings

2008-12-21T15:31:00.003-05:00

Still here, just really, really time-challenged lately. I just can't seem to get both enough time and enough amibition to actually do something with it. I've actually gotten a few things knitted and some spinning done (there are, at least, pictures somewhere), but this is much more fun for the day.

Gypsy said this was what she wanted to share with her blog friends, so here you go:

Big Foot at the Beach

2008-11-10T22:09:00.003-05:00

This last weekend was pretty darn good. My local spinning/knitting group had a potluck up at Hamlin Beach State Park. It's late enough in the year, that they no longer charge an entrance fee. The lodges are really nice, too; they are made almost completely of cut stone. The one we had had two fireplaces at each end, so we were quite comfortable as the day got colder.

Gypsy loves this park. I'm really not sure what she likes most...sand, water, waves, seagulls, geese, leaves and just plain wandering about.

Just in time for colder weather to set in, I finished the mittens for the kids next door. I'm thinking that the snowmen may be a bit too large, but then I took the tracing of his hands back in July, so they may not be as big as I think.

Meg surprised me by creating this fabulous centerpiece for the table. I think she did a terrific job and I sure hope that I can get her to do it again for other holidays/seasons!

It's Howl-ween!

2008-10-30T19:52:00.005-04:00

Gypsy here. Mommy sed I could blog 'cause it be Howl-ween and I wore hat fur long 'nuff fur her to get picture. My peoples calls me devil-dog and not just at Howl-ween.

My fur-friends got dressed, too. I don't think any of dem like it much.

Bubba be resigned.

Trouble be mad.

Sadie thinks she tough dog, so don't like frilly. Peoples called her Stinkerbelle. Hee, hee, that funny!

I big girl & know there be cookie if I good. Not the people cuppy-cakes, but still a cookie.

These aren't our punkins, but they sure are pretty neat. Mommy sez they really big and I could fit right inside them.

Mommy gets her punkin out & plugs it in and gets candy for little peoples (at least that's what she sez). I sure wish little peoples would come tricks n treats, cuz it would be fun to kissy-face them!

Pssst! Mommy sez I can enter contest at Baa Baa Blacksheep, Bear's Mommy told us 'bout it. Me thinks I have 2 new friends!

Treasures from the Hudson Valley

2008-10-22T20:44:00.003-04:00

OK, so I could have just said that Rhinebeck was terrific (it was), the bus trip long (it was), but let's just go with the wonderful highlights of the day.

--No responsibilities to "run" anything. Very nice...as I'm part of a guild that puts on a pretty darn good Fiber Fest, I can really appreciate someone else's efforts.

--Meeting Jane of Quiddity. She is one of those people that I immediately like. I'm thinking that might of been kind of inevitable considering the amount of like interests we have. The only problem is that she lives in Georgia there won't be that many opportunities to visit. No picture, sorry, bad blogger.

--Meeting Franklin. He is absolutely as charming as can be. Again, someone that I immediately felt could be a very good friend. Sigh, at least Chicago is closer than Georgia. Dolores was no where in sight, so he seemed pretty relaxed.

--Snagging a copy of It Itches and having it signed by Franklin. It's good, very good. Get yourself a copy!

--Shopping. I really hadn't planned on buying much of anything. The only item that I was kind of (but could wait for a nice one) looking for was a white fleece. In my continuing effort to visit my stash, often, I discovered that there was a distinct shortage of nice white wool.

On top of the black sheep, which is a felted pouch, suitable for notions and such like, is a lock of Border Leicester 6mo. lamb clip. It's long, shiny, and very white...nice find. It's already washed and might even be dry enough to card.

Other treasures included some green wool yarn (on sale, probably destined to be a vest), Trekking sock yarn, Araucania sock yarn and another ball of lace weight from Galena's booth. I still haven't knit up anything with the first ball, as I'm still searching for the right pattern for it. This one should be a bit easier as there are fewer colors in it.

Since the weather has turned to typical, ugly fall cold/windy/rainy/slushy/dank, I figured I would use my new mug, also purchased at Rhinebeck. You know what, ladies? If you use one of those fancy hot cocoa mixes, with milk and add some Screech, it tastes like you're drinking one of those rum balls that appear around the holidays. Takes the chill right off!

Lene, you have a lot to answer for...

2008-10-11T17:54:00.003-04:00

One of my favorite blogging friends is Lene. No, let's just correct that. She has moved out of the "I sure wish I could meet this person group" to "Must get together with Lene while in Toronto". We've met a few times over lunch/coffee and I enjoy every minute of our visits.

What has she got to answer for? Well, not for making me think of life/living from a very different viewpoint than mine...that's definitely a highlight.

Not for living a bit too far away to visit regularly...I could easily just suck it up and drive to TO for a day-trip.

She tagged me on a book challenge. I know, it was way back in June. To be fair, I really didn't forget about it, but as time went by, a bit of guilt set in. Eventually, I went back and scanned through all of Lene's posts until I found it:
Pick up the nearest book.
Open on page 123.
Find the fifth sentence.
Post the next three sentences.
Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

Since, at the time, George Carlin had recently passed away, I thought that using his book would be a great choice. Still is. Braindroppings, by George Carlin.

Page 123: For instance, imagine the crap we'll have to endure on TV when Bob Hope dies. First of all, they'll show clips from all his old road movies with Bing Crosby, and you can bet that some news anchor asshole will turn to the pile of clothing next to him and say, "Well, Tami, I imagine Bob's on the Road to Heaven now."

Kind of spooky, isn't it?

As far as tagging, I'll tag Mom (who doesn't really have to tag anyone, just have fun with it), Deb, Jane, Linda G. and Denise.

OK, guilt-trip over...yippee!

Oh, and another thing that I'm blaming on you...the compulsion to check LOLcats and dogs every. single. day.

Busy, Very Busy

2008-10-10T20:47:00.004-04:00

The Finger Lakes Fiber Festival has come and gone for another year. There were many fine vendors with many equally fine temptations. I succumbed to only a few items: some hand-dyed roving from Cloverleaf Farm, some cotton/linen/rayon yarn, a ball of sock yarn, a new belt for my spinning wheel, some alpaca yarn and, of course, kettle corn.

I have one of the best jobs of the festival: coordinator of the Skein & Garment Competition. This allows me the opportunity to check out everyone's entries and thoroughly enjoy them during judging and setup. This year, our entrants outdid themselves...92 skeins, 62 finished garments and 15 basket entries.

A few weeks ago, Deb (of Not Pretty to Watch) chose me to receive one of these:

Now I get to send along the ribbon to 4 of my favorites. It was definitely not an easy task to just pick four. In no particular order: Quiddity, Yarn Harlot, The Seated View and The Panopticon. All the these fine writers/bloggers are people I would adore to live closer to, just so we could sit and visit whenever possible. Since that's not feasible, at least we can drop in on each other's blogs.

October brings many things around here. We've had a pretty hard frost, Indian summer is upon us for the next few days, Farmer's Markets are full of fresh produce and Rhinebeck is fast approaching. Our spinning guild is renting a bus. It leaves our area at 4:30 in the morning for the trek to Rhinebeck. Gak...I can only hope that someone will wake me when we get there!

Unusual?

2008-09-14T20:24:00.003-04:00

It's starting to get a bit breezy outside as what's left of Ike is passing through tonight and early tomorrow. We don't get much in the way of hurricanes as we're too far inland, usually just wind and rain. It did, however, get up to 97 F this afternoon. Definitely unusual for mid-September. Gypsy and Bubba were ready to melt, as were we. Neither one of us has had the chance to get a new winter cover for the pool, so we did have what is likely the last dip of the year. Very refreshing, as the the water has dipped down to 68 F.

Earlier this evening, I wandered out to my veggie garden. We were quite late getting plants in the ground this year, but we do have some truly frightening tomato plants that are taller than I am...they were pushing 6 feet, but kind of slumped over as they ran out of support. There really haven't been huge amounts of fruit, but I found this mighty speciman this evening. Pretty much as frightening as the plants!

In the spinning department, I finally finished spinning a pound of recycled denim cotton. Believe you me, a pound is a lot of cotton for someone who is very used to wool and other animal fibers (and is very much looking forward to getting back to them). I'm now plying it up into a fairly nice, 3-ply. You'll notice that I have a furry little helper.

Unusual stuff all around: weather, veggies and cotton.

Gypsy Blogs (Again)

2008-09-07T21:28:00.003-04:00

Gypsy here again. I guess Mommy thinks I big girl now and can blog more. I got to go for a ride in the car-car today. First place we stopped was the barn where Big-People-Sister goes (and she takes Sadie with her). Fun place. Lots of very good smells. All the kitties puff up really, really big when I say hello. There were even lots of those really big puppies with the long tails.

Then we all got in Mommy's car and went for another ride...to the beach!

My peoples even let me off leash in a public (kind of) place today. We were the only ones on the beach. Maybe that had something to do with the rain.

Daddy threw sticks for us and I got most of them. Sadie too chicken to go in wavy water. I big girl and went after them if not too far out. Is OK, if you wait, they come to you.

Hey Bear...do your peoples take you to beach, too?

Diane here...yes, our family went to the beach, wandered about and had a picnic lunch...all in the rain. Even though it was more than a bit damp, involved two very wet, very happy dogs, it was definitely a pretty pleasant way to spend an afternoon!

Summer's Winding Down

2008-09-04T22:40:00.003-04:00

Gypsy here...Mommy be busy with fluffy stuff so I do blog.

This summer my big-people-sister brought homes a little blonde brat-dog. She kind of OK, but be really pushy. Now the kitties like me better. Really now, do you have to that just for belly-rubs?

It fun to play ball with big-people-sister, Daddy & Sadie. We be tough on balls, this is #6 so far. We makes them pop or I chews them up (them handles on jolly ball not last long at all).

Another good thing is that shortie can't get up on my new couch. My peoples got me new one that matches me really good!

The Wheels on the Bus Go 'Round & 'Round...

2008-08-07T11:25:00.010-04:00

Mom and I went on a bus trip to Maine last week. I'm here to tell you that if you have 2 seats next to each other, you can, indeed, spin all the way to Maine (and back again).

It is somewhere in the neighborhood of a 9-10 hour trip from the Rochester, NY area, not to mention the couple of hours from Portland to Bar Harbor area. I probably should have been drinking something stronger than blueberry soda; it was very, very good even so.

By the time we pulled back into town, plying had commenced and two more bobbins had been filled.

Lest you think that I never, ever looked up from my wheel, we saw many Maine sights:

Portland Head Lighthouse (in the fog, with foghorns going off):
It was not lit as it had been struck by lightening the night before (a bit ironic?)

Lobsters, lots of them. I had 3 meals strongly featuring the beasties.

I wonder if any of them were caught by these folk?

We also took a cruise and saw, besides many lobstermen, seals, eider ducks and eagles.

Maine is definitely a place I would go to again. Even though I was unable to find any open yarn shops, there were signs that wool-centric people live there:

July has melted away...

2008-07-28T20:34:00.002-04:00

It continues to astound me at how fast time goes by. Yeah, I'm a bit of a slow study. At any rate, the living has been painted, carpet is ordered and due to be installed this week, the gardens need weeding (again), Gypsy is happily spending time under her tree (when not in the basement with her own personal fan), spinning and knitting projects are in slow motion and now I need to pack to go off with Mom on a bus trip to Maine. There are pictures, but they're still on the camera. Must. get. it. together.

Happy 4th and 1st (and any other day you care to celebrate)

2008-07-07T00:04:00.004-04:00

Well, it's the end of the 4th of July weekend here in the US. I'm thinking maybe North America should just close down and be happy for the entire week. Canada celebrates on July 1st and the US on the 4th.

In my travels today, I saw this unique "flag pole". There are no tricks of perspective here; I took the picture from the side of road. The flag is huge; it's a full-size fire truck and a fairly large barn.

Originally, I planned on writing a post about how I've managed to get quite a few projects done in spare moments here and there. There has been a fair amount of spinning and knitting. There are even pictures. There will be even more spinning over the next month as I figure out what I'll going to spin up for the Tour de Fleece. I'll be a late starter as I have yet to go stash diving to see what strikes my fancy.

This 4th of July weekend has been filled with many activities. There was so much other stuff that it took me all weekend to graft the final seam on a pair of sideways gloves.

Here's a really big thing: DH finished up a custom-made entertainment center for a client. They do really plan on getting a larger TV. It breaks down into six pieces that was still a challenge to get on the truck to deliver. It just as much of a challenge getting it off the truck, too. No doubt about it, he does really, really good work!

The cats have been helping us choose what to about our living room/dining room. Our carpet has needed replacement for years and I am heartily sick of builder's white on the walls. I think we've settled on a carpet choice. Yes, it is the carpet that the cats have chosen, just a different color than the ones they are laying on. Paint choices have been narrowed down and need to be looked at (again) during the day.

And now, because it's summer and the opportunity is just too good to miss: Here are some "Daisy Ducks"!

Exceptional Randomness

2008-06-15T22:23:00.006-04:00

I'm going to blame my lack of blogging on backlash from our daughter's graduation, subsequent party (including frantic house & yard cleaning and, yes, it rained again), very hot weather, a birthday (mine...makes me feel old) and Father's Day. That's my excuse(s) and I'm sticking to it!

On to some randomness...a blimp. Does anyone else think that blimp is a really funny word?

And a bunny, that Bubba has just noticed. Both of them had been within sight of each other for quite some time, each looking in the opposite direction. That just doesn't demonstrate good predator/prey behavior, does it?

Gypsy has discovered a new hiding place. May I present tree-dog? (Please excuse the window glare.)

Throughout it all, I've actually gotten quite a bit of spinning and knitting in. There are even finished objects, but I can save those for another entry.

And, finally, I can say that a lantern just doesn't give off enough light to do the beaded picot bind-off on Knitty's Ice Queen. Knitting has resumed now that the power is back on.

110% Chance of Rain

2008-05-17T20:05:00.003-04:00

It was chilly, rainy, very rainy, a bit thundery and windy enough to turn many umbrellas inside out for a few hours earlier today. It was unpleasant enough that college presidents and politicians reduced their speeches to "Congratulations!".

Why were we out in weather like that? Well, we had a very, very good reason, because, somewhere in this throng is my daughter.

Today, she graduated from SUNY Brockport with a Bachelor's in Accounting. There are not enough words to say just how proud we are of her!

Wow Update

2008-05-14T23:54:00.002-04:00

The Scooba will also need a name. For some reason, I think both Roomba and Scooba are male. The little robot works really well, at least as well as the big floor scrubber, and much easier on me! Multitasking at it's finest...vacuuming the bedroom (Roomba), washing the kitchen floor (Scooba), and making my lunch for tomorrow, dinner & dessert for tonight...all at once!

I'll have to pace myself...one could really wear out one's pointy finger.

Wow!

2008-05-13T22:34:00.003-04:00

As I may have mentioned before, I am a real sucker for gadgets. It amuses me and makes me very happy when said gadgets work as advertised.

This last weekend, we finished opening the pool. It is early, but Mother Nature lent a hand earlier in the year and shredded the winter cover. Yes, there was a gadget involved...a leaf vacuum that operates with a water hose (rather than the pool filter). I've gotta say, it worked quite well and sucked up all the leaves in less than 15 minutes. Way, way easier than trying to pick the things off the bottom of the pool with a skimmer net or, if one is up to it, actually getting in the pool and picking them off the bottom!

Today, I was surprised to see that Mom had stopped by for a visit. A nice surprise all by herself, but she brought early birthday presents. May I present my new, fabulously wonderful, best. toy. ever: a Roomba vacuum. Let me tell you, this baby really works. It just be-bops around the room, bouncing off obstacles and doing a really good job of vacuuming. It does, however, drive the cats nuts. The cats do not realize that there is another fun feature: a command center (fancy name for a remote)...this can only result in much fun at their expense!

Not only did Mom bring Roomba (which clearly needs a good name...any suggestions?), she brought his brother: Scooba. He needs to charge overnight before using the first time. I will, of course, let everyone know the results of his first run about the floor.

All I can say is: Mom...you rock!

I've Been Tagged

2008-05-09T22:03:00.003-04:00

From Deb, at "Not Pretty to Watch"

Relationship meme
1. Where did you meet? High School...he looked like a keeper
2. How long did you date? 7 years, then finally got around to getting hitched and it will be 28 years worth of always-worth-it marriage!
3. How old is he? 49, I'm another "cradle snatcher" as I'm all of 3 months older than he is.
4. Who eats more? Him.
5. Who said “I love you” first? You know, I really don't remember, but probably him.
6. Who is taller? He is 6 foot 2. I am the 2nd shortest in my family at 5'6"
7. Who sings better? Neither one of us has a musical bone in our bodies
8. Who is smarter? We're both smart in our own departments. He can design the most gorgeous furniture and build it. Me, I seem to have developed a knack for computers (mostly software)
9.Whose temper is worse? I was going to say a tie, but I think mine can be worse.
10. Who does the laundry? I'm the laundress
11. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me...I called dibs on closest to the bathroom!
12. Who pays the bills? Me, but we have another account that he uses for the furniture stuff.
13. Who cooks dinner? Me again and I do the grilling (all year 'round too). I'm sure that it looks pretty silly when I'm out there in the snow!
14. Who drives when you are together? He does, but that way I can knit. Although I'm thinking I should take over city driving when needed; he gets so frustrated with it.
15. Who is more stubborn? Me, no him, me...oh let's call it a tie!
16. Who kissed whom first? He kissed me.
17. Who is the first to admit to being wrong? This goes back to the stubborn thing again, let's call it a tie again.
18. Whose parents do you see the most? My mom.
19. Who proposed? He did.
20. What’s his best physical attribute? Legs...he has great legs, also arms, and hands.
21. Who has more friends? Hmm--ditto--we both have a lot of acquaintances, but few friends.
22. What are you most proud of him for? For designing, planning and being the contractor to build our house. Then he proceeded to build things like cabinets in the bathroom and laundry, a fabulous entertainment center and even my spinning wheel!
23. Who has more siblings? He does with 2 sisters; I'm an only brat!
24. Who wears the pants in the family? Both of us, except when it's summer, then we wear shorts.

OK, Deb, happy now?

Let's see now...who to tag? How about Mouse and Denise?

Weekends

2008-04-27T23:29:00.006-04:00

Weekends can be really wonderous events. I've even had two great ones in a row.

Last weekend was our 3rd annual spinning retreat at Stella Maris on Conesus Lake. We have been truly blessed with first-rate spring weather every time. My weekend spinning project was to spend some time spinning up all those small samples of different sheep breeds and other fibers that have been populating my stash. I put a really big dent in that pile, so that mission is close to being accomplished. During the weekend, I found out something really good about a fellow spinner...not only is she a fabulous spinner, felter and photographer, she makes the best. ever. pina. coladas!

Yesterday was filled with a bit of gardening and getting the pool cover (or what was left of it) off the pool. Since the cover got torn up in a wind storm back in January, we really need to open the pool earlier than usual...before it gets all green and ugly.

Today was "Same Ol' Days" (really called Old Fashioned Days) at a farm just south of here. The local draft horse association gets out their teams and equipment. It's also a good opportunity to catch up with folks you haven't seen all winter. Many people (including us) bring their dogs, so they get to have a bit of fun, too.

There were alpacas, sheep & lambs, mares & foals, horses, arts & crafts, and a whole variety of food (ice cream and kettle corn topping my list).

Sorry, the battery went dead the other night and I decided to follow it and went to bed. Latest weather oddity...it was 85 F here on Saturday; two days later it is now 43 F...going from shorts to mittens in that short amount of time, without traveling anywhere, is just wrong!

Promises, promises...

2008-04-16T12:45:00.003-04:00

I kind of promised myself that I would really, really try to post at least once a week, preferably twice. So much for that plan.

At any rate, I'm on spring break right now. I really like the time off I get on this job; the only drawback is that the breaks aren't paid. Other than the bit of snow in the air over the weekend, the weather is actually acting a bit like spring. I even saw these (and there were 4 of them) wild turkeys on my way home the other day. It's amazing at just how fast they fade into the brush.

The sun is shining and I ought to be tidying up the great outdoors while Gypsy is off at the groomer's getting her summer "do".

What am I doing instead? Well, blogging and taking pictures, of course! Daffodils have got to be one of my very favorite flowers and this one is certainly enjoying it's patch of sun.

Hyacinths are in my top 10 favs. These ones are very, very blue (as is the yarn). I just finished up spinning this. It's a mystery wool dyed by my friend, Joan, that found it's way into my stash during her moving sale. I'm thinking that I may knit up a pair of sideways gloves.

Other knitting projects on the needles include the latest traveling sock that so desperately wanted to go to Toronto for the Yarn Harlot's book launch and a lace vest that's well on it's way to doneness.

These swatches are for the Colorado Lynn sweater that I fell in love with a few months back. I'm going with the green plied onto white as I think the green shows up better.

Later this day...Gypsy is back from the groomer's and looks like an Airedale again. To be honest, she looked like a scrofulous, black and tan sheep. Much better now; it's really like having two dogs...the difference is that much.

Here she is destroying yet another toy. Clearly, it takes much too long to roll the toy around to get the treats out. Gypsy takes the more direct route and just chews through it.

This coming weekend is our spinning guild's now-annual retreat. I'll try (but no guarantees) to be a good blogger and take pics.

Sock Picture Scavenger Hunt

2008-03-30T18:16:00.008-04:00

Even though my just begun sock cannot make it to Toronto for the Yarn Harlot's Sock Picture Scavenger Hunt, I thought I'd take a few pictures on this side of the lake (Lake Ontario) anyway.

The sock started out the day gazing wistfully across Lake Ontario, wishing he could swim.

Maple syrup is very big here in New York State. Our state tree is actually the Sugar Maple. To celebrate, this last weeked was Maple Weekend, so we checked out a sap bucket and went to a pancake breakfast.

On our travels, we tried to match some of the items on Stephanie's list. It wasn't easy, but we did come close on a few.

"With one of TO's finest"...nope. "Mounted"...nope. Miniature horse...yep.

"at St. Lawrence Market"...nope. "With eggplant sandwich"...nope. How about with peameal or bacon...sort of...meet Lula.

"With the geese at Eaton Centre"...nope. "With actual Canadian Geese"...yep. The sock was within 12-15 feet (4-5 meters).

"At a Tim Horton's, with a maple-glazed donut, held by a Tim's employee"...yep.

And finally: "With a beer"...nope. With Screech...yep. (Thank you, Mom!)

Things That Never End

2008-03-28T20:30:00.003-04:00

Yes, folks the theme today is things that never end...

First item, theme music:

Second item, these socks.

To be honest, they are finished. Finally. Through no fault of the sock pattern, gage, yarn, or stitch pattern, I managed to make almost every mistake in the book on this pair...including ignoring the fact that they were just too small (knitted an entire sock on that premise). I also managed to mess up the toe once, the stitch pattern a couple of times, tried to redesign said stitch pattern to make it bigger. I think I may have actually knitted something like 4 or 5 socks by the time I was done with these.

For those of you interested, it is Cat Bordhi's toe-up Foxglove sock, using the Dragon Skin stitch pattern from A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns (Barbara G. Walker) and from Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Peacock.

Something I discovered along the way...Cat's 2-circular needle method allows you to use US 2's on the sole and US 3's on the top.

Third item, winter:

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2008-03-16T21:26:00.002-04:00

Here it is, St. Paddy's Day about to be. With a little luck, I'll get to the store tomorrow after work and see if they have any corned beef. It just doesn't seem right without it. Besides, it's the only day my family lets me have cabbage without whining hugely.

For now now, I'm settling for a loaf of soda bread, made with all white flour, as I was not feeling like digging around the freezer for the whole wheat flour.

The good news is that I actually finished (or almost finished) the sweater just in time to wear for the holiday. The only thing left to do is to sew on some hem tape to cover the raw edge from the steek. I tried to roll the edge under and stitch it down, but that made the white floats pop out on the edge. Not a good look. I'll do that tomorrow evening.

It's also still a bit damp from blocking, but as long as Bubba leaves it alone, it should be dry by morning. That cat is just in love with this sweater. I had to arrange/rearrange knitting and cat innumerable times.

Blizzard? No.

2008-03-09T22:53:00.005-04:00

Well, we finally had a good, old-fashioned snow storm this weekend. Of course, the weather folk were all up in arms over it. It was a storm, even included thunder-sleet and added up to about 16 inches worth of snow.

I did what all reasonable northerners do...stocked up on milk, bread and cocoa krispies. Since there are currently 3 active knitting projects and at least one spinning project, I wasn't going to get bored.

Today, DH cleaned out the driveway with the snowball machine. If you look closely, you can see that Gypsy is impatiently waiting for said snowball machine to get in in range for her.

A couple of weeks ago, I was tipped off to a sale on Lopi-Lite at a LYS. I rummaged about and found some grassy green (9 balls) and some blue (6 balls). I also found, much to my delight, an issue of Knit n Style that I was hunting for. I seriously covet the cover sweater...must visit stash for something suitable to spin.

My friend at work had the perfect pattern. That is the beginning of the yoke. It is pretty much a Lopi-Lite pattern, but I knit up a swatch and wound up reworking the numbers to match my size better (thank you EZ).

Yes, those are Knit Picks Options Harmony Wood needles. I love them to no end; they are smooth, just the right pointiness, the cables are flexible and they are just plain pretty. Thank you, Mom...great Christmas present, that.

I'm hoping to finish it before St. Patrick's Day, as it really is the perfect color. However, Bubba is slowing progress down a bit.

Fired, with cause

2008-03-02T17:53:00.003-05:00

Fired.

Cause:

What I did on my winter vacation.

2008-02-23T14:39:00.001-05:00

Many schools in this area have had a winter break this last week. That means that I got a week off and other than the not-paid part, yippee!

Lest you think I was a complete slacker, I did spend quite a bit of time with my spinning wheel, a bit of organizing and other stuff.

Let's start with my little Hitchhiker. Other than deciding what do to with the knobs for the orifice hook and tensioner, he is done. OK, I actually finished up last week, but no pictures til now. As far as the knobs, there are many options...leave them as finished wood, paint them, cover them with beads or, my personal favorite (at the moment) is to find someone who likes to mess with glass and have 2 knobs made.

The living room got dusted (or more accurately, undusted). There was a really good coat on everything. My excuse(s): my DH, the furniture maker, has his shop in the basement, we heat with wood and, lastly, I am an easily distracted housekeeper.

Along the way, I consolidated the angora stash. I keep most of it in 3-lb coffee cans. Yep, I'm pretty sure that I have enough angora to last me a lifetime. I also found temporary homes for the bins that I previously filled with stash overflow. Who am I kidding? Those bins will be in their temporary homes for quite some time.

I finished up the CVM (at least what I think is CVM) and dyed it a nice cranberry red. The small skein is the original color. It's slated to become a lace vest.

The small, bluish skein is Cotswold that I got at our spinning guild's Christmas fiber exchange this last year. It's very easy to spin quite fine and, hopefully, I got it fine enough. The intent is to knit up one of the "Ice Queens" from Knitty.

Also on their way to becoming something else are various fleece samples. One of our guild members has organized a fleece study for us. For minimal expense, we get approx. 2 oz. bags of various sheep breeds to wash, process & spin. This particular batch includes Ramboullet, Romey, Corriedale, Karakul, Polworth, and Leicester Longwool.

In my stash, there has been this nifty net storage unit from Ikea. I originally picked it up for my daughter to use, but she said she didn't have room for it. I'm glad she didn't have room, as it makes a dandy drying space for fleece and would likely make wonderful yarn storage, too. Yet another reason for a road trip as the nearest Ikea is in Missasauga, Ont.

Snow Day!

2008-02-11T23:12:00.000-05:00

More accurately, really, really cold and windy day. But who cares, same result...one gets a surprise day off.

Of course, first I went back to bed. After getting up at a reasonable hour, I read the paper, had a chunk of homemade coffee cake and then contemplated what else to occupy myself with.

I continued to work on my Hitchhiker wheel. I decided that it was about time that I got some finish on it. The parts that have been stained look really good. The parts that are to be painted are also looking pretty good, but I think I want them a darker shade. I'll go out tomorrow and get some darker colored paint.

I spun a bit. Yes, I have more than one spinning wheel. Funny thing, when I started spinning, I could not imagine why you would want more than one wheel. There are now 5 spinning wheels and a few drop spindles around here. Hmmm, future blog material.

I knit a bit on the forever socks. There is an entire blog likely to be written on just how many ways I managed to screw them up before finding my way.

Are there any pictures of the above. Not yet.

Noses?

2008-02-05T16:05:00.000-05:00

Well, we've had some crummy weather lately. Last week brought snow, ice, sleet, rain, back to ice, then snow again (yes, that was all in one day). That's supposed to happen again tonight. Wonderful.

In the interest of being somewhat creative, I tried taking some pictures at night, outside. Interesting, as the LCD on the camera back just shows black, so you really are in point & shoot blindly land. If you don't press the shutter all the way, the flash will go off to show you what you might get.

Gypsy likes snow. She especially likes it when you throw snowballs at her to catch. It is surprisingly difficult to take a picture of that, in the dark, when you're also the one throwing snowballs.

Gypsy's nose is very large and just fine. Mine, not so good. At least the meds have finally kicked in to evict the darn bugs that took up residence for the last few weeks.

I've gotten a bit of spinning done...I found this in my stash and I have a really good vest pattern to try with it. I'm also planning on dying it as I've already got a couple of vests in this color range. Pretty neat the way it was put up. I think it might be CVM; a friend is going to check her much better organized stash to see if she's got the same stuff, maybe even with a label.

Now for some late-breaking fun news. Last night, while DH was surfing, he saw a local ad for a loom. I sent off an email saying that I was interested and what did he want to trade for it or how much. He didn't know how much and I know so little about looms that I really shouldn't consider buying a used one. Well, $50 later, I now own this: a Nilus LeClerc, 4-harness table loom, including floor stand. Other than a pin missing on the front, everything seems to be there and in quite good condition.

I always regarded weaving as a retirement project and that the right loom would show up for me eventually. Since I'm not ready to retire, I guess I have to move weaving up the project list.

Chill Chasers

2008-01-27T22:27:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year again. The time of year that brings day after day after day of gray, often accompanied by nuisance snow. Nuisance snow is any snow that amounts to less than 6 inches in any day. Just enough to make things a bit slippy, but not enough to get out the shovel.

Gypsy looks a bit sad in this picture, but she's actually gloating over getting to snuggle (and warm up her nose) in Mommy's blanket.

With that in mind, here's a few items to chase away the grays:

Clear boots (or almost clear). How can you not get a charge out of something that lets you show of your socks?

Cookies...these cheerful-looking little numbers have got it all: graham cracker crumbs, sweetened condensed milk, mini m&ms and dark chocolate chips. Yummy!

And, to top it off, Deb, of Not Pretty to Watch, is having a contest. Go check it out. I already sent in my entry. Things that have been
know to amuse me are:

Turning the digital clock upside-down in one of the classrooms. It's pretty funny to see how many even notice it, then think that the clock is broken, finally, someone will figure out that it's upside down.
In my old job, one of the guys had a stuffed duck (taxidermied, not roasted) in his cubicle. When he was out, I would move the the duck to another spot in his office. Drove him nuts.

I'm having a knitting problem right now. The problem is that I have started this pair of socks so many times that there should be 3 pair of socks done by now. First, I thought I had too many stitches, then I had too few (did a whole sock with too few...delusional, I know), added more stitches, foot was fine, leg still seemed to small, started over, now have something that seems to be working out. Hopefully, the knitting gods are done with me for this project and they'll just work out this time!

If you don't like the weather...

2008-01-16T20:52:00.000-05:00

We have a saying around here: If you don't like the weather, wait a few minutes, it'll change.

This is our thermometer from a week ago, 6:30 am. Is that unbelievable or what? A more normal temperature for this time of year would be 6, not 64 F!

Like I said, wait, it'll change. 75 mph winds brought winter back to us. Not severely, just more normal temps and a bit of snow. To be honest, it was almost a relief, that kind of weather in January just isn't right. We didn't have any damage to our home, but many others in the area did (and lost trees). We were only inconvenienced for about 12 hours with no electric...just long enough that you decide that it is time to haul out the generator before it gets dark, which is, of course, when the electric magically comes back on!

Good thing that Gypsy got her "winter do" at the groomer's, not the "summer do" that the thermometer said she should get.

The other day, when I probably should have been doing the housework/laundry thing, I decided that I had had about enough of using those little soap bars from hotels. You know the ones, small, brittle and don't last long. Mom and I had gone on vacation last year and we picked them up all over the place. I decided that it was time to biggify them by milling them into larger bars of soap. This is clearly only a reasonable option if you happen to have quite a few pounds of homemade soap, ready to mill, in your freezer (doesn't everybody?).

I chopped up the white/off white bars into one bowl and the colored soaps into another bowl. Then I melted some plain soap with a bit of water; colored chips got added to the white soap and white chips got added to the brown (made brown with cinnamon).

Look pretty good, don't they? I wouldn't recommend snacking on them , though.

There has been actual spinning and a small amount of knitting done around here. The vest is an EZ Ribwarmer. I finished it quite awhile ago and just started wearing it without getting a picture. The blue yarn is superwash wool, dyed by my friend, Linda, of High Bid Farms. The white is Navajo-Churro that I picked up last fall.

I has Toy!

2008-01-06T19:43:00.001-05:00

What dis?

Sandy Claws bring toy!

Me tuff on me toys

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T20:12:00.000-05:00

It's been quite a year, but we made it, so let's review a bit.

This was a year that I had to work really hard looking for a job. Being laid off from Kodak was probably one of the best things to happen to me...I'm much healthier and happier without the big yellow box. However, looking for a job is really, really grim. There's nothing like it for knocking an all-ready-shaky self-esteem right down.

Things are currently looking up. I've found a job as a computer support assistant at the local school. The job is actually fun (never thought I'd say that), the people are great, benefits are great, the commute is minimal. The only downside is that the hourly rate could be higher, but we will learn to cope with that.

DH is having quite the year. He is a furniture maker and has gotten popular enough in the area that he actually has a queue. It was time to upgrade a piece of equipment, so last week, this rather large planer came to stay. DH drove to Pennsylvania to get it (saves on shipping) and the neighbor helped to move it off the truck and into the basement. I'm telling y'all...the only difference between men and boys really is the size of their toys!

As must happen, the Christmas decorations have been put away. Bubba helped.

It came to my attention (as I decorated around it) that there was a growing pile in the corner of the dining room. This pile included many totes and interesting bags all filled with fiber, store-bought yarn and handspun yarn. Since this is the time of year when storage bins come on sale, off I went to get a few more. For some reason, I thought that visiting my stash and putting the new stuff into bins would magically make it all fit into the already stuffed closet and cupboard. Once again, I was wrong.

Now I have a couple of bins and a giant zip-top bag in my dining room. Speaking of the giant zip-top bag, those things rock! That one has a little over 2 pounds of wool roving in it and it is not overly packed.

The next step was to figure out where the boxed/bagged fiber and yarn can go. Remember that garage project from this last summer? Yep, there is some available shelf space out there for quite a few bins.

I hate to say it, but it's pretty clear that not only do I have to go on a food diet, but also a low fiber diet, too. Does spinning count as exercise?

The Aftermath

2007-12-27T13:15:00.000-05:00

We have survived another yet another Christmas. All the cookies that were going to be baked, were. The roast beast came out just perfect (thanks to Paula Deen). Presents even got wrapped. Bubba is quite ready to help unwrap.

We have even done the mad dash for the sale gift wrap/tags/bows event for this year. Every few years, we do this to pad out the selection for the following year. I think we're good for 2, 3, maybe even 4 years. In our defense, we did get some storage boxes as it is, once again, time to review the stash (fiber & yarn). I had a few accidents at yarn/fiber shop closing sales. I know, it's sad that they are closing, but at least I'll have some memories.

The kitties are fond of their new toy: a cardboard lounger that can be sprinkled with catnip (thanks for the tip, Crazy Aunt Purl). Both cats are furry little junkies when it comes to the 'nip. Trouble is not sharing. Yes, there have been cat-spats over ownership.

All knitting was finished when it needed to be. These are mittens for the small neighbors. They didn't need to be done before Christmas. I knitted up a pair of fingerless mitts for Mom (I did get the hint!), but the card that was in the camera at the time appears to have gone south. Oh well, it happens to us all. Luckily, I had just transferred pics to the computer, so I think that may be the only one that I don't have.

The kitties were extremely helpful when it came to decorating. This is Trouble trying to be subtle about snatching a bow. Her brother, Bubba, had previously decided that there were some issues on ornament placement and removed two (but only two) ornaments off the tree. I guess they were in his way.

You know how, every Christmas, there's that one present that's a hit? Well, this year, my aunt gave DH a small flashlight/laser pointer. The cats go crazy chasing the pointer light (yes, we're quite careful about their eyes). Even the dog will chase the foolish thing. See the little red spot? The cats have been known to get brave enough to pounce on the dog to get at the light.

I'm Back...

2007-12-14T22:13:00.001-05:00

Time just flies by when you're having fun, doesn't it? Earlier this month, I took a civil service exam for my new job and I'm pretty sure that I did well. All that studying sure took a big chunk of time away from blogging, knitting and spinning. I feel like I can settle in more permanently at work now.

Uncharacteristically, I chose to limit the holiday knitting and baking, so I've actually been successful on both fronts. Gifts for one SIL/BIL have already been knitted and shipped. A hat for a grab bag gift for my spinning group is done, a pair of mitts for my other SIL is done and a scarf for my aunt is also done. Not only done, but wrapped, packed and ready to be dropped off at the Post Office in the morning.

This year, I decided to make apple pies for the "friends & neighbor gifts". Sounds daunting, but in my youth, 4-H used to sponsor an apple pie contest which required participants to be able to make a pie in 30 minutes or less. Believe you me, all that practice has finally paid off. Last Sunday, 9 pies were created & baked in an afternoon. I have a few more to do, but I ran out of apples.

Only one batch of cookies have been made (and some stashed for munching on Christmas), but there is likely to be much time available for that sort of thing this weekend. The weather folk are saying that we are in for it...16 to 20 inches of snow on Sunday with high winds to go with.

Luckily, the previously mentioned blizzard isn't supposed to start until Saturday night. Our spinning guild is having our annual fiber gift exchange tomorrow and that is something I don't want to miss! My contribution is wool (out of the stash, maybe merino), dyed in Christmas colors and just a bit of glitz.

Speaking of stash...getting at that white wool created involved a bit of stash tossing. I'm actually kind of impressed that I can get all that into one closet. OK, so there's a bit of a heap in the corner of the dining room, but I can deal with that after the holidays, right?

Thanksgiving Eve

2007-11-21T20:56:00.001-05:00

Another year has passed and it's time, once again, to do battle in our own personal "Kitchen Stadium". OK, it's really not that dramatic. I've cut down a lot as far as cooking huge amounts of food and desserts for the feast day and what I do do is very easy.

I am, however, going to smoke a turkey again this year. I'm all set, the smoker has been moved to the porch, the turkey is soaking in brine and the chips are soaking in water. Normally, we would keep the smoker on the patio, but it's raining and that is supposed to change to snow. Around midnight-ish, I'll set it up and plug it in.

Christmas knitting is actually going reasonably well. A scarf for my BIL and a hat for SIL are done (and even shipped off today). Another hat for a gift exchange with my spinning group is done, and I've started a pair of fingerless mitts for my other SIL. Other knitting intentions are a shawlette or scarf for my aunt, yet another hat for DD and something for my Mom. Mom, not only am I not mentioning what may be knitted for you, but I'm not even sure what it might be yet! Suggestions are welcome.

Behold, the hat. This is our Yarn Harlot's Unoriginal Hat, or more accurately, two of them. The white is wool/angora, the red is alpaca/silk. I am not a particularly fast knitter and even I can knit one in an evening.

Among the usual things we give thanks for on this holiday (like family, friends, etc.), I'm thanking Stephanie for taking a whole bunch of Christmas knitting pressure off my plate!

Stash Enhancement

2007-11-14T19:30:00.000-05:00

It must of been something in the air. The cooler (finally), more autumn-like air, the last of the leaves turning, even a few snow flurries about, I'm not sure sure. I was really quite a good girl at our Fiber Fest in September and really didn't come home with much.

This last weekend, I fell off the wagon, badly. First I went to my friend, Joan's, sale at her shop, Cloverleaf Farms. She's moving, so she put everything on sale at 20% off. Before I knew it, I had some hand-dyed BFL (Blue-Faced Leicester) and some Wensleydale. Also some wonderful "bits" from her mixed bin. Some merino/silk blend in a nifty green colorway. Bubba reviews and approves of my choices.

I'm very happy for Joan. She made it to retirement from of our area's employers (no mean feat, that!) and is moving to the Asheville, NC area. I'm also a bit sad, as she won't be down the street for me to visit (and get a colorful fiber fix) at a moment's notice. I'm going to miss her, a lot, but I do see a road trip in the future.

Next I was off to another friend's place, Wild Iris Alpacas. He is also planning on moving, so other fine goodies leaped into my hands. 14 balls of alpaca/silk blend in colors that I just love and a pound of washed Corriedale. Yep, it is every bit as white, shiny and crimpy as the picture shows.

Ray, however, may be moving closer to me...perhaps he ought to check out Joan's house?

I want to drop what I'm spinning immediately. Which is a really lovely, hand-dyed blue superwash from High Bid Farms...yet another friend...I am so lucky!

Furnace Game

2007-11-03T22:00:00.000-04:00

The Yarn Harlot has already written a few times about the Furnace Wars that her family participates in (some of them unwillingly, I'm sure).

We have our own, much milder version, called the Furnace Game, in which we see just how long it is until the furnace comes on. This does not count the once yearly operation check to make sure that it is, indeed, working. You see, we generally heat with wood and the furnace is merely a backup system. We have completed two full heating seasons without having it come on at all. Most years we make it until around the end of January or so before it is just so cold outside that the furnace kicks on a few times overnight. We have heated with wood for so long that we almost sleepwalk to the stove, add a chunk of wood and toddle back to bed without completely waking up.

Due to the freakishly warm autumn season this year, we have not even had a fire in the wood stove until tonight. I will admit that it's been a wee bit chilly a time or two, but nothing some wool couldn't fix.

I'm pretty sure that Bubba is thinking "It's about time! I don't know why you non-furry folk didn't do this sooner, like weeks ago."

Neighborhood Critters

2007-10-30T20:45:00.000-04:00

We finally had our first frost of the year yesterday morning; it is quite late this year. Just that bit of frost finally made it feel much more seasonable and fall-like. Last year, we had already had a fair bit of snow by this time.

There is much wildlife around here and we have gotten used to most of them. Some are really nice looking, like deer. Some are just stinky, like skunk. Some are a little worry-some, like coyote and fox. Some are more worry-some, like cougars (which, thankfully, we haven't heard about lately). The latest beast to wander into the area is black bear. There have been numerous sitings in the area all summer, but now one was reported hit by a car just a mile and a half away. It seems they are tough: the bear walked away, the car was towed. I wonder just what our Gypsy was barking at a bit ago? Deer? or something bigger?

Then again, perhaps it was something that looked more like this: the bat-cat!

Happy Halloween!

October?

2007-10-21T20:03:00.000-04:00

Our unseasonable stretch of warm weather continues. Today was 80F. This is not usual around here. More usual is what happened last year (Friday the 13th). It seems odd to be knitting outside in the warm sunshine.

Last month was our Finger Lakes Fiber Festival and I realized that I forgot to show my stash enhancement from that weekend. I'm quite surprised at my restraint. The gray and red yarn is Jamieson's, there is Noro and all were a steal at $2 each. Quite some time ago, I had seen these clear boots and thought they were just neat (however, a bit pricey), another steal at $9. The green yarn is hand-dyed and for a special project. The vest/sweater pattern, called Raveneli, looks like a really good pattern to use with handspun (check out their cursor on the home page). I also picked up half a pound of Navajo-Churro roving. Every year, I get something that I haven't spun before.

I am still completely in love with Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters. So far, I've completed one pair of Ocean Toes socks and was so impressed with the fit, that I immediately cast on another pair from the book: Fountain Foxgloves. This is the first pair of toe up socks that I have been completely satisfied with the fit.

I am a haphazard housekeeper. I can always come up with something else to do that is ever so much more interesting to do. I think it's because of things like this. Even when I do try, things like this happen.

Columbus Day

2007-10-08T20:18:00.000-04:00

Today was Columbus Day here in in the States. For the first time since grade school, I had the day off (another distinct advantage of working for a school district).

I must say that I had a pretty good day. Since it is still uncharacteristically warm around here (I think it topped out around 85F or so today), I gave our dog a bath and aired out a wool blanket (for use when cold weather does return). Deciding that was enough work for a holiday, I spent a good portion of the day here:

I made myself some iced coffee and settled down to knit my first pair of socks from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters-Book One. Cat's mind works in many wonderous ways and this is another winner of a book as far as I'm concerned. I was quite skeptical that the new construction method would fit well, but went ahead and started Ocean Toes. I have one sock done and it fits fabulously well. I'm up to turning the heel on the second sock. In fact, it fits so well, that my next pair is going to be one of the toe-up designs. I hope that they fit as well, as I have not been impressed with the way the standard toe-up socks fit my feet.

As mentioned above, the weather has been unusually warm and summer-like in our region. This Saturday Sky picture looks more like summer to me, rather than the first week of October.

Saturday Night Sky

2007-09-29T22:07:00.000-04:00

Gypsy here...Mommy left the 'puter where I can reach.

Me likes to play in the dark. There be lots of good smells and sounds at night.

Sometimes my people burn stuff. They call it cleaning up. I don't get it.

This time they had treats. Those I get.

2007 Finger Lakes Fiber Fest

2007-09-20T20:08:00.001-04:00

Last weekend was our 13th Finger Lakes Fiber Festival. Saturday was a classic fall day: blustery, cold, windy and rainy at times. We were all quite happy to see the sun come up in a clear, blue sky on Sunday.

As usual, it was fun, terrific shopping and more hectic than usual as it was the first year that I coordinated the Skein & Garment Competition. Of course, I was a bad blogger and forgot all about taking a picture of the display.

I did, however, remember that I had a camera and took pictures of a few other things. The world's largest sock came to visit. That's me in the middle. I had heard of this project from Jane at Quiddity. It's getting larger and I am wondering quite how they're going to manage turning the heel.

I didn't take any pictures of prepared fiber, but opted out for the original packaging. This is one of my friend's Shetland sheep taken Sunday afternoon. I believe that sheep has had enough of camping and wants to go home.

Alpacas are just plain adorable. The one on the right must of had a bit of an itchy spot (not to mention a bumper sticker).

The llama at the top was quite sure that none of us were to be trusted and should all be watched very carefully! He's probably right.

Of course, what festival is complete without at least a little junk food? Funnel cake and Diet Coke (it evens out).

Finger Lakes Fiber Arts Festival

2007-09-14T17:09:00.000-04:00

The waiting is over! This weekend, September 15-16, is our annual Finger Lakes Fiber Arts Festival.

If it's not too cold at night, I'll be staying the whole weekend.

Do come out and play!

Busy Gypsy

2007-09-12T22:35:00.000-04:00

Mommy in shower, so me took 'puter. Daddy ride big toy and it fun. Me play in dirt, help dig, watch Daddy, sniff smells, dig more, bite rocks, kiss Daddy, sniff more, play more, dig more, watch more...

Me happy.

Sleepy girl. Go bed now.

PS: Bear, wish you could come play with us!

Reality Shows

2007-09-10T21:35:00.000-04:00

Quite some time ago, Lene asked me if I watched any of the reality shows that are cropping up all over TV. I said that I didn't and really had no interest in them, either.

However, as time goes by, I have changed my mind, a bit, and do watch a few of them. Here are my most-often watched:

Design Star on HGTV: I rather like a show that insists on some kind of talent that the competitor's have skill in. This season's show had an assortment of interesting characters, all of which were talented designers. They're down to selecting the winner this coming Sunday evening.

Ice Road Truckers on the History Channel: What's not to love about this one? These guys are modern day cowboys (and probably certifiably nuts). Every winter, when the ice gets thick enough north of Yellowknife (Northwest Territories, Canada), a road is built across numerous frozen lakes to move cargo/supplies to isolated mines. This one's all over for the season except for the reruns.

And last, but not least, Ty Murray's Celebrity Bull Riding Challenge on CMT: I really, really like rodeo. One of my favorite things to do is to watch rodeo (in person, upwind to stay out of the dust). There is no "probably nuts" about these guys, they are definitely insane. They have collected an assortment of celebrities who learn to ride a bull. Friday night is the last show. Sigh.

Honorable mention actually goes to Dallas Cheerleaders, Making the Team, also on CMT. I really don't know why I get sucked into this one. I never had any interest in cheerleading and was definitely not part of the sports-inclined group in high school or college. I find the first few episodes the most entertaining to watch as they weed out individuals who really had no business auditioning to begin with. They do keep my interest as an effort is made every week to explain how selections are made.

Pretty odd selection, isn't it?

Gypsy Blogs

2007-09-08T12:21:00.000-04:00

Hi! Mommy been really busy with that fiber stuff, so I take over today. Don't know why she like it, it not interesting after she wash it.

My peoples took me for hair cut. Good, too hot for me 'round here. Too hot to chase kitties, even. I made me a hole and pretended to guard. Me likes this tree, too.

Oops, I've got to make sure the laptop is out of reach, I guess. Gypsy's not kidding, it's been really hot, like 95F hot. I like summer quite a bit, but that kind of hot tires a body out. My new job is just great so far; however, there is no AC in most areas of the schools.

Fiber news? Well, we got all the entries for the Finger Lakes Fib er Arts Festival Skein & Garment Competition all organized and judged last night. Trouble (the cat) was not judged; however she did supervise. Many thanks to our judge Freda and my helpers Erica, Kris and Cheryl!

Labor Day

2007-09-03T21:34:00.000-04:00

Today was Labor Day here in the US. My daughter and I did what many people do: not a darn thing productive. We did go do a bit of shopping (which is what many others do also...prime school shopping). To recognize Labor Day, I have the following:

I finished (mostly) my last, long abandoned project. There was much labor involved, or at least much plain stockinette. I had thought that the nightie from Mason-Dixon Knitting was pretty neat. I still think so. However, the yarn I chose to substitute was not a good choice. As soon as it was cast off, the thing grew to ginormous proportions around. It will be ripped out. Perhaps the yarn would make a good tank or shell. We'll decide later on that.

This is my car. I took it on a date Friday afternoon. I took it through the car wash, then had them do the windows, vacuum, shampoo the carpet and seats and polish up all the vinyl bits. It looks fantastic. Why should I do all this? Well, it was to celebrate making the very last payment: it's mine, mine, all mine!

The best news is that I have a brand-new job. I start tomorrow as a Computer Support Assistant at the local school district. Hopefully, I haven't forgotten everything over the last year of job hunting and can actually address issues as they come up. There isn't much time to "warm-up" as the school year starts Wednesday. I'm looking forward to doing this kind of work again, having an 8-minute commute and health insurance.

Shamless Plug: Finger Lakes Fiber Arts Festival is approaching quickly...Sept. 15-16 in Hemlock, NY. Great fun, inexpensive to get in, fabulous vendors and we want you to join us!

Finished Objects

2007-08-28T20:35:00.000-04:00

Wow, it's been quite some time since I posted, hasn't it? It's been busy around here, mostly with stuff that is of no interest whatsoever (like work). There is some interesting news that I'll share soon. However, I have managed to catch a case of "finishitis", which isn't a bad thing. DD continues to do well showing and barrel racing, which has created some really good chunks of prime knitting time.

I finally found a button for the felted sunburst sling bag from earlier this year. Also got to the point on the cotton bag that I had knit enough and declared it done. The cotton bag is based on "Folds of Function" from Folk Bags, I just made it bigger and lined it with some fabric from the stash.

There are also finished socks. This summer's traveling socks are done, as are the reticulated socks from Sensational Knitted Socks.

I've even gotten back to the Mason-Dixon Nightie that I started ages ago. We'll just see how that case of finishitus holds up. If I can just get to the lace edging (and not start anything new until I finish it), I'll be all set!

In my travels (and I really haven't been getting out much at all lately), I found that someone had been "flamingoed". Don't you just love the baby flamingos? What a neat thing to do!

Random Wednesday

2007-08-08T20:55:00.000-04:00

We are back into a hot weather pattern again. Good for pool dipping, not so good if you think you're going to get some weeds yanked out of the ground (they just break off). I'd really like to know why everything, except the weeds, stops growing? At least it's been raining a bit, good for growing things; however, those showers do add to the humidity level.

This pic's a bit hazy (taken through a window screen and above mentioned humidity). These two babies were out romping about in the front yard this morning. Much better than last night's hidden (but the nose knows) visitor. The house, again, smells much like skunk. Sigh.

Last Sunday's outside project was truck landscaping. What is truck landscaping, you ask? It's great fun. You wrap a chain around the base of the offending shrubbery/small tree, attach it to the hitch of the truck, and drive off (slowly). Generally, the flora either gets yanked out completely or breaks off below ground level. No shovels, not much effort and no large excavations (or even holes to speak of). Trust me: It. Never. Gets. Old.

I've starting second socks for both pair that I started knitting on a few months ago, turning the heel on one and still on the leg on the other. The tote I was working on decided that it's a purse, funny how projects evolve.

I made a dash for the fabric store the other night and got both brass & nickel grommets for the purse. Tonight, I had the lining sewn in, the strap almost done (just need a final length check), had decided on brass and was ready to hammer. However, I discovered that I needed a larger punch to install those grommets. I guess that means another trip, just not tonight, I'm not in the mood.

It seemed to me that I might be running a bit close on the solid color for the reticulated socks, so I went to see if KnitPicks still carried that color. They do, definitely a different dye lot, but if I need it, I'll be prepared. Of course, while finding that yarn, other stuff fell into my "Stash" (truly inspired name for their shopping cart). Things like some Peruvian Highlands Wool and 2 books (Selbuvotter and Felt It!), because, after all, one has to take advantage of free shipping, doesn't one?

The fabulous news for this week? One of my spinning and knitting friends got the news that she is now lymphoma-free! How did we celebrate? With dinner, ice cream and spinning, of course.

End-of-the-Month Stuff

2007-07-31T20:40:00.001-04:00

It's that time of month, again, to pay the bills. It is made much easier to bear when you get to sit out on the patio. I've decided that I do like the new paint job on the table. The chairs are exactly what I like in a patio chair...reasonably light weight, nice looking and they fold.

We seem to be in a bit of a hot spell. We don't do that humidex thing that my friends to the north do. It is expected to range from 90-95 F each day this week (32-35 C) and is quite sticky. Very good weather for pool dipping. I'm thinking that later this week, we might just pack a picnic dinner and go up to Lake Ontario with Gypsy to see how she feels about a really big pool.

The FOs previously mentioned got to their destination: Lene's Mor. You'll need a hint for these, they are toe warmers, meant to go over the end of her casts. Of course, silliness soon invaded this project, resulting in pointy elf toes with bells. I can't believe I actually got DH to model one of them!

A few weeks ago, our electric went out for quite a few hours one Saturday. Obviously, the front porch, knitting, was the place to be. I often look about when knitting and decided the view, through the bushes, of the lavendar was a doable picture. If you look close, you might even find some bumblebees getting some lunch.

Random Thursday (almost)

2007-07-25T22:53:00.000-04:00

Like many others in our blog world, time just keeps slipping away on me lately. I've been busy, but with nothing of much note, so it's definitely time for a random posting.

Bubba, our blog spokes-kitty, has definitely recovered from his injury. It is truly amazing how quickly he has learned to accommodate 3 legs. He jumps down easily, jumps up to about 3 feet easily and actually runs pretty fast. Interesting item...his skin is actually striped (as he is) and where the incision was is growing in quite a bit darker; it looks like someone took a marker and drew on him. In tempting him with goodies, like this one (the flavor name cracks me up), I have created a monster. Bubba must have his "delights" every day!

There has been knitting, a bit here, a bit there. There are two single socks (from separate pairs), a partially finished purse/tote (needs handles and a lining) and a few others that we don't need to mention. The only project that I've actually finished lately is a project for Lene's Mor. There are pictures, but you'll just have to wait until the package gets there. Lene, a smallish box has been shipped, Priority Mail, a week ago, so she should get it shortly (depends on customs).

I'm still very happy with our garage project. It is done, and I'm getting much satisfaction from having it all tidied up, cleaned up and freshly painted. It is so much brighter and I know that I will appreciate that come winter. As many of you know, garages collect many items that probably should have gone in the trash right away. I guess some things just have to get some age on them before they move on!

Up until last week, it has rained very, very little around here. Remember Erma Bombeck's The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank? Not true. It burns out there first; it is, however, quite green over the leach field (the only green spot in our entire lawn). I was reminded recently of how to get it to rain...hang your laundry outside and leave your hubby in charge. Works every time (or at least the last couple of weeks)!

DD continues to show this year, games and Western. I think she looks really, really good and is gaining more confidence with every show.

Many others have shown off our boo-boos lately, like Scout. I think we're just trying to distract everyone from our lack of progress.

You would think we "grown-ups" would know better by now? Apparently not. Here is the number one reason why one should wear at least sneakers around the horses. The good news? It's all show...never did hurt to speak of.

Summer Projects

2007-07-03T21:10:00.000-04:00

Early summer brings many high hopes of gardens, outside projects, and, hopefully, much time to knit smallish projects. This year is no exception in that I have many, many projects that want doing.

We started out the growing season literally under water (or at least part of the back yard was). Since then, we've had so little rain that the ground is literally like concrete. Even the well-established perennials are looking a little sorry. Luckily, I can lower my standards pretty quickly so I am only pulling large, ugly weeds. As far as green, growing things, the only things that really need regular watering are the peppers, tomatoes and a couple of pots on the patio.

The large summer project was getting the garage organized. I'm happy to say that it is done. All walls are painted, have pegboard installed, the floor is painted, everything has been sorted, put away and our vehicles are back in the garage. The only item that needs doing is to paint the people door. My arm/hand needs a break from painting, so it can wait a week or so.

We've been looking for a couple of years for outside chairs as our old ones were getting a bit ratty-looking. After awhile, the darn things just will not clean up properly. DH finally found some folding chairs, which we wanted badly (much easier to store in winter). They're a nice brown fabric type. However, this meant that the picnic table was now the wrong color (it was blue) and so was the umbrella (it was kind of gray & blue). More paint to the rescue...the table has been painted and the top "fauxed". The umbrella even got a few coats of paint.

I'm still so angry that I could put the responsible someone's leg in a trap just so they know what they do. I really don't object to people hunting and fishing if they do so responsibly. I do, however, really object to trapping. Our blog "spokes kitty", Bubba, had a run-in with a trap recently. He has recovered nicely, although is now short a back leg. It's a really quite amazing how quickly he has adapted. I will refrain from taking pictures until his fur has grown back a bit more. I really do try to respect our critters dignity, although it is mighty hard some days!

The show season is fully underway. DD rode in her first equitation/pleasure show last month and did quite well. It was also Sugar's first show. She placed 5th in two classes.

She continues to barrel race and pole bend. The evening I took this picture, it was quite warm and humid. Nobody was moving that quickly!

As far as knitting and spinning goes, there has been little progress on much of anything. Some progress, just not much. I've spun a bit more white superwash for a future project. I've knitted a bit on the latest traveling sock (almost to the toe on the first one), turned the heel on the reticulated socks and plug away at knitting a tote bag.

Since it appears that we're just not going to get much rain this year, which cuts way down on gardening chores, it's looking like there will be more knitting time available. I should start making some real progress on all those started projects...

Coincidence?

2007-07-01T23:23:00.001-04:00

Last Friday, many of us snorted coffee and got much glee out of Stephanie's recent go-round with her local squirrels, including me. In her defense, I have noticed that the squirrels in Toronto are really quite bold.

When I got home Friday night, I settled down to read the paper and found this cartoon:

Coincidence? I think not.

I'm really still around

2007-06-24T22:11:00.000-04:00

I've been pretty busy lately, what with returning to the work world (as a temp for now), continuing job search for something permanent (and close to home), spring outside chores and finishing up in the garage. How did I ever manage to get anything done before?

About all I can say is that the garage is almost done...pictures to come shortly, I promise!

She knits...not much

2007-05-30T20:42:00.000-04:00

It sure has been awhile, but I really am still here. The new job keeps me quite busy and, unfortunately, has a not great commute that goes with it. Actually, in the morning, it takes me about 15 minutes to get there; however, then add about 20 minutes walking time to get from the parking lot to my office. I don't mind when it's nice out. At the end of the day, it's the pits. The traffic is beastly, so add to the morning drive/walk time with stuck-in-traffic time of usually 20 minutes or so. No reason for it other than poor roadway planning. I would take the bus, but so far, it's just not feasible.

Memorial Day weekend is the US's unofficial start to summer. The week before was quite cool and so was much of the weekend (but it was nice and sunny). This week is warming up quite nicely. I'm quite glad that we opened the pool early, because now it is up to 81 degrees, so there is no fear of turning into an iceberg. The peppers and tomatoes are planted and looking good so far.

Summer does bring many nice things. I have discovered that the wireless network goes as far as the patio. Now I can both blog and knit out there! Not much knitting has been happening, but I'm making progress. I've changed the heel (many times) and am actually going to think about what stitch pattern that I would really like on the sole before I start.

Aren't these just the coolest flowers? I think they look like something from an alien planet from far, far away. I have one purple and another in white. The centers of these things really are very, very blue (and darker than the pics).

Time Flies

2007-05-20T20:10:00.000-04:00

We've all heard that you get more done when you have less time to do it in. I believe that's true. I managed to get through my first week back at a regular job. Honestly, the week just flew right by; before I knew it, it was Friday afternoon.

Progress has been made on this year's "get your act together" project, a.k.a reaming out the garage. One wall is complete and I'm really quite pleased with how it looks. I'm even more pleased at how much brighter the garage appears. We will be moving on to the adjoining wall/corner and then on to painting half the floor. This is definitely a job to be done in parts.

The wisteria appears to be over it's pouting (it really hasn't bloomed well over the past couple of years) and is putting on a very nice show. The weather turned cool this last week, so the flowers are lasting quite awhile.

As far as knitting is concerned, I've started two different pairs of socks at once. The Meilenweit on the left has only the ribbing done as I haven't quite decided on the pattern yet. The bit done on the right is one of Charlotte Schurch's tessellated patterns from Sensational Knitted Socks (actually, it's going to be the one on the cover). The blue yarn is KnitPicks and the orange is Trekking.

Bubba is sure that he likes any activity that includes a cuddle. All this upheaval this week has clearly tuckered him out.

Escargo-away

2007-05-10T19:51:00.000-04:00

Our sunny streak took a temporary break this morning with some showers and a bit of thunder. That's OK because we needed just a wee bit of moisture to keep our clay-based dirt from turning to concrete.

When the showers stopped, my front walk was just covered with snails. At least their shells make them more attractive than their cousins, slugs. There are seven of the darn things in this picture. You'd think that with that high a snail population, that I would have a real problem with them damaging plants, but either they don't eat much or I'm not that fussy a gardener (probably both).

It seemed like it was time to open up the pool for the summer. This year, I managed it all by myself as DH is out of town for a few days. Setting up the pump, filter and chlorinator was quite a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. There are a couple of minor leaks, but nothing to be overly concerned about. We may or may not fix them this year. What I'm even more pleased about is putting in the pavers you see here. I have been annoyed at having the hoses dragging in the grass since we put the pool in. Most years I just ignore it; this year, I got busy and put in the pavers that were released from their temporary duty in another project.

The pool still needs a serious vacuuming, but other than that, it's open for business. Bear in mind, though, that the water is a balmy 60 degrees. Thank goodness for solar covers; I'll get that out tomorrow.

I started a new sock, but am not sure if I'm happy with it. It's the Pomatomus sock from Knitty. I like the pattern, but I'm having trouble with it, probably due to yarn choice. I think I'll just choose another pattern for this yarn and go stash-diving to find something lighter weight for the Pomatomus socks.

Finally

2007-05-09T23:35:00.000-04:00

The pictures on yesterday's post were taken in other people's yards (except for Bubba). Today, I'll show you some of what's blooming in mine.

We have a few flowering trees, Bradford Pear, Flowering Plum and a Weeping Cherry. This year is quite the exceptional year. Usually, we get to enjoy the flowers for approximately 30 minutes or so before a heavy wind/rain storm moves through and completely washes away the display. Good news for wisteria lovers...our wisteria seems to be done pouting and is clearly planning a very nice flower display in the near future.

Today was another delightful day. I would even call it summer-like. This spurred me on to get started on some more outdoor chores. I've removed the milk jugs and water tubes that were weighing down the pool cover and started skimming leaves off the cover. At the side of our pool is a space between where the pump/filter goes and the pool. Today I dug it out and put some pavers in that space. It has always annoyed me to have the grass all unkempt because the hoses have to be there. Problem solved. Tomorrow, I'm going to finish skimming leaves, yank the cover, start topping it off and attempt to set up the pump/filter. I like to get the pool set up and ready a bit early so that it has time to get balanced and warm up for the season.

The pets kept tabs on me. They seem to think that I need constant supervision or something. Trouble, our other cat, checked on my progress a few times. Gypsy helped with excavation by moving chunks of sod around the area. Bubba? Well Bubba is just a camera hog.

And, last, but definitely not least, today's title is referring to the good news that I have a start date (Monday) for a new job. It's been an interesting (to say the least) journey, but I have a feeling that I've found a new "work home".

Spring has (finally) Sprung

2007-05-08T21:34:00.000-04:00

Like many in the north, winter seemed extra long to me this year. It was a mild start, but then it just dragged on and on and on...well, you get the picture. Actually, you did get pictures of my poor, snow-flattened daffodils.

I've been promising blog friends that I would post pictures of some of the trees when they finally flowered. It was quite cool the last few weeks (but no snow), so they were delayed a bit. This week it has finally warmed up and everything is just busting out in flowers and leaves.

Cherry trees are in full flower, like this huge weeping one that I saw on my travels. When you get into more populated areas and also closer to Lake Ontario, it's sheltered enough for magnolias. Not a tree for me, it's too wide open and brutal in the winter in my yard.

As a kid, my neighbor and I used to scour the woods looking for trilliums every spring. We left them be, as they were on the endangered list back then. I found this big patch in a yard the other day and they really brought back some memories.

Flowers are a definite sign that spring has finally arrived, but, for me, not much says spring more than the brand-new leaves on a maple tree and a cat clearly enjoying the warm sunshine.

Note: There has been actual knitting and spinning. The second sock of the ridged wave pair is done, no need for a picture, it looks the same as the first one. I'm also well started on spinning up some white for a vest, also not riveting picture material.

2nd GVHG Fiber Weekend

2007-04-24T22:03:00.000-04:00

During my travels the end of last week, I came up over a hill and saw these sheep. There were hundreds of them scattered about the pasture. I figured it was just a hint of good things to come.

This last weekend was our 2nd GVHG Fiber Retreat weekend at Stella Maris Camp on Conesus Lake. There are not many better ways to spend a weekend than with great friends, great fiber and great food/drink.

One camper was so excited/distracted that she left her home like this. Good thing the weather was even better than predicted, highs in the low 80's, sunny and just perfect, no shoes needed!

She did remember the important stuff...spinning wheel, fiber and snacks.

Most of us spent the days on the deck overlooking the lake. This last weekend was the first really nice, warm weekend since sometime last September or so. Since it snowed last weekend, we were all super-ready to enjoy basking in the sun. Besides, sun-warmed fleece spins ever so nicely.

Sunsets over water are just phenomenal. The colors and reflections are endlessly fascinating to me.

Does this look like a skein of yarn to you? I think I'll just try the technique that Cara's been using to choose colors.

Is this better? I see at least two different skeins...one of the sky and one of the water or maybe this is the time to try making my own self-striping yarn. Either way, I think it's time to make one of those warping boards that Scout wrote about and open up some dye!

Gotta Go!

2007-04-20T14:37:00.000-04:00

No pics today. I'm off to Conesus Lake for a spinning guild retreat. How can you go wrong: a bunch of friends, good stuff to eat, much to drink and it's supposed to get up to 70 F and sunny all weekend?

Hope all of you have just as good a weekend!