Have Ewe Any Wool?

Separate

2012-02-04T19:26:00.000-08:00

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I knitted up this cute little fellow as an entry for Nerd Wars on Ravelry. He was inspired by the mnemonic I learned in 9th grade that helps me spell "separate" correctly. My English teacher taught us this mnemonic phrase:

"Separate has 'a rat' in the middle."

I also remember the following helpful phrase...from the same class:

"All right is two words....just like all wrong."

The pattern I used is "Rat" from Lily Sugar 'n Cream. It's an easy knit...and a lot of fun. I was amazed at how many people find a knitted rat "cute"....but are disgusted by real ones....LOL!!!

First Skein of Miss Babs Complete!

2012-02-01T19:17:00.000-08:00

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I finally finished my first skein of Miss Babs roving in the "Iris" colorway. It's a blend of Merino and silk...or is it BFL and silk? Darn it...I need to find my tag. Either way, it's absolutely luscious! The silk gives the wool a lovely sheen and the resulting yarn is VERY soft.

This very full bobbin made a lovely skein of approximately 840 yards!!!

I have several 4 oz. bundles of her roving, so I'm planning to spin it all for a larger project....perhaps a sweater? I'll probably have to double it as I've spun it so thin!

Recipe Idea....Mmmmmm!

Oh...I forgot to mention the great recipe idea I got at the Lancaster retreat: Grilled Cheese Croutons! The chef got the idea during the summer camp season. The camp where the retreat is held at is a summer camp for kids. When they have grilled cheese sandwiches, there are typically a number of left over sandwiches. Rather than letting them go to waste, the chef makes croutons from them! What a great idea! (They're DELICIOUS!!!!) Hats off to the chef for this great "take-away idea"!

Grilled Cheese Croutons

Cut up left over grilled cheese sandwiches into cubes and place in bowl
Sprinkle with garlic powder and paprika
Toss until well coated with the spices
Lay "croutons" out on a cookie tray and bake in the oven at 350 for a few minutes (until they crisp up a bit)
Voila! Tasty home made croutons!

Lancaster Spinner's and Weaver's Retreat

2012-01-29T22:53:00.000-08:00

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Another fabulous weekend! I just love this retreat - it's out in the country at a camp, far from the city's hustle and bustle. Although a bit rustic, you have all the creature comforts. The wooded landscape and the gentle sound of goats at the caretaker's house remind you that you're "far from the maddening crowd". My cabin was the brown one in the background (right photo).

The lodge was cozy - the fireplace added extra warmth at one end and the wood stove did the same to the other end. A giant "God's Eye" and a mobile of cranes adorn the walls. The food, as usual, was fabulous! The weather couldn't have been better! NO SNOW!!! NO ICE!!! (Last year, we were "blessed" with both!)

We spent the weekend indulging in our favorite pastimes - knitting, spinning, weaving, crocheting, rug hooking - whatever! It was fabulous!

Before the crowds arrived...

After the crowds arrived....Everywhere I looked, there were spinning wheels...and more spinning wheels. What a lovely sight!

Friday night's sunset was beautiful. There was a bit of moon in the sky that I managed to capture as well. I just love the contrast of the dark trees against the darkening sky!

There were lots of younger folks at the retreat this year. It's great to see a young generation as enthusiastic about the fiber arts as their parents. I'm not sure if this is strictly a rural enthusiasm or if it's pervasive across this age group. Whichever it is, it was delightful to see. One of the girls was spinning with her wheel that had been adorned for a recent sheep to shawl competition where they took home a prize! Way to go girls!!!

Several folks were drop spindle spinning.

Check out the plied yarn on this spindle!!! That's definitely what I call a "full spindle"!

One of the retreaters created this adorable fish hat. The "button eye" is actually fabric as well...isn't it adorable???

Cindy, the fabulous tapestry weaver, challenged us all to spin milkweed fibers. She brought an entire box of dried milk weed for us to de-seed and attempt to spin. She enticed us with a magazine article about knitting a headband from milkweed yarn.

I accepted the challenge and committed to spinning a single pod of the slick fly-away fiber. I sorted it all out and put the "cleaned" fiber in a plastic bag...ready for spinning.

Whew! What a tough fiber to spin! The staple length is only about 2 inches...and the fiber is so light that the slightest motion renders it airborn. Spinning it was quite tough. I totally failed in my attempts to drop spindle spin it. I did much better with the wheel. However, the yarn I produced was very fragile...even AFTER I plied it! It broke in half when I was testing its strength! The "sad" pieces of my spinning are shown resting on my lap. If I were to attempt to make anything with it, I'd definitely blend it with wool first!

NOTE: This was a fun challenge, but I doubt I'd ever truly make anything with milkweed. It's highly flammable...a quality I prefer to omit from my clothing and accessories!!!

Tina, the organizer of the retreat, had a fabulous time and looks great! She recently took on a very stubborn form of cancer and won! She planned and organized this retreat in spite of all the medical challenges she'd been facing and has only been out of the hospital for just over 2 weeks!!!! If only we all had her drive and stamina! (I hope she got a good rest once she got home! I'm sure she needed it!!!)

Esther, Tina's mom, had a gorgeous hand woven chair that she sat in at the retreat. It was a very comfortable chair...and perfect for knitting. I love the butterfly motif!!! (I have pictures of Esther later in this post...I didn't forget her!!!)

Page hasn't spun for 30 years and decided she was going to tackle it again this past weekend. Check out her progress....the white wool with the colored flecks was her first attempt. Very thick and lumpy-bumpy. It's the perfect "art yarn", but that's NOT what she was going for! She used the Louet for that attempt. I believe that her next attempt, the green, was also done on the Louet...after major re-tensioning and tightening of loose bolts. It was better, but still a bit like "art yarn" - it wasn't what she was looking for. Finally, she tried the Suzy Pro...and voila....success! She definitely wins the award for the "Most Improved Spinner"! Go Page!!!

Charlene spent most of the weekend working on a baby surprise sweater. However, she did pause to show off a gorgeous WIP. It's a Debbie Bliss pattern from the premiere issue. This piece is the back. I just LOVE how the cables flair out at the bottom! I'm definitely adding that to my ever growing list of "want to do" projects!

Janet made these adorable felted "elf" slippers...specifically for this retreat. Somehow, she managed to escape my camera...though I do have one photo of her from a distance!

No retreat would be complete without a picture of my cosmic sister, Cyndy (right) and me (left). There are so many similarities in our features that there just HAS to be a family connection somewhere along the line! Cyndy mastered spinning a few years ago at one of the retreats, and now she's definitely an addict!

I just love all the wheels and happy fiber folks that surrounded me....I just can't get enough of this!!!!

Check out the gorgeous wood on this wheel! I believe it's a Rick Reeves (if I'm remembering correctly). It's quite beautiful. It had such lovely grain that I thought it was a refinished antique wheel!

Donna wove an absolutely gorgeous hound's tooth scarf this weekend.

She finished it just in time for Saturday evening's "show and tell"!

Pam had knitted up a gorgeous shawl from a Vivien Hoxbro kit - it's just gorgeous! The only down side was all of the ends that she had to weave in! Ugh! That's something that we almost universally hate to do. She made the task a bit less odious by working in the ends while she chatted with all of us. It went much quicker and was much less tiring than sitting alone at home working the ends in! (Esther is wearing the fabulous sweater she won as a door prize (left) ....and is helping hold up the Pam's shawl to show the progress on all the "weaving-in" of the ends (right).)

The completed shawl was beautiful! It draped wonderfully - what a fabulous project!!!

I too managed to complete some projects during the retreat - all spinning related. I finished spinning as well as plying the lovely pink/white/purple merino that I purchased from the Appalachian Sock Company at a retreat last August. There was only 76 grams of roving and I had only spun about 1/8 of the wool prior to the retreat. I somehow didn't manage to get my roving evenly split, so I ended up with approximately 270 yds. of two-ply yarn and 59 1/2 yds of single ply.

I also spun up the 2 oz. of deep purple Wensleydale that I won in the St. Distaff's Day competitions. The colorway is "Black Plum" - a VERY deep and rich purple. The wool was from "SweetGeorgia." I'm not sure I like Wensleydale....it's not particularly soft, and it's a bit "hairy looking" after it's spun up. Definitely not great for "next to the skin", but it would make some awesome outerwear or a wonderful bag.

Rhonda finished two rugs prior to the retreat - they're just gorgeous! The one with the bunny rabbits was barely started last January. (See photos in the January 2011 posts). Isn't it gorgeous? And check out the "quilted look" of the second rug. I believe she brought that to a quilting retreat for show and tell as well (or perhaps she plans to???).

Marty brought her loom - isn't it cute? She purchased it years ago from the Ephrata Cloister in Ephrata, PA. The Cloisters are one of the oldest religious communities in the US. It was established in 1932 by a group of German settlers. Her tape loom is a reproduction of an old loom that had been used to make tape at the cloisters.

The loom has tabs at the back to secure it in place when using it on a table. The loom is fixed and the front acts as a rigid heddle - there are slats and holes used to control the warp threads.

Everyone used to make and use "tape". It was cheaper than ribbon and was used for everything from tying things down, hanging hand towels, holding up clothing, or as embellishments. There are several interesting traditional German patterns for these tapes. It was fascinating to watch her weave with this loom.

You pull up for one set of warp threads, and push your weaving down for the other warp threads. (I'm not explaining this well...the video should help!)

The sunset Saturday night was beautiful. I missed the sky full of vibrant oranges and pinks, but I managed to capture the more subtle colors just as the sun had slipped below the horizon.

The final "burst of energy" from the setting sun rendered the top of the sky a deep blue...and the horizon bright orange...as if it were on fire. I call these views, "Heaven and Hell" as the blue sky reminds me of heaven, and the fiery horizon reminds me of hell. What a glorious display!

Saturday late night brought out the "silliness" in the younger spinsters. They were determined to build a human table. Their first attempt wasn't overly successful. All 4 chairs were pulled out at once. They quickly toppled to the floor in a giggling heap.

Without blinking an eye, they dusted themselves off, reset up the chairs and came up with a new plan. They determined that they needed to be closer together for balance...and that the chairs should be removed one-at-a-time. Success! They held this pose for OVER 75 seconds! it was amazing!!!! (My video below only captures the first few seconds of their amazing feat....but it should make you feel like you were there!!!)

Kathy had an interesting new wheel...the "Holiday Wheel". It's a tiny, very cute little wheel. The only "downside" is that you have to remove everything and reset all your tension whenever you change the bobbin, which is a bit of a hassle. I tried using it...right after she changed bobbins, but I just couldn't get the tension right, so it wouldn't draw in. Of course, it was the end of the retreat, and we were all packing up, so I couldn't spend any time "re-engineering" my approach - LOL!!! Most of the weekend, she spun on her trusty Lendrum.

Sunday, it was all over - sigh. My parting sights were that of an Amish bugging heading toward me...and another heading away. There's just something comforting about seeing a glimpse of a simpler life...

Tea For Two....Or Rather, Cozies For Two

2012-01-25T21:29:00.000-08:00

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In addition to the tea cozy I started for the KAL, I've been busy knitting two additional cozies - for a swap on Ravelry. It was supposed to be a single cozy, but the first one I tried was a lacy one. It's gorgeous, but I just couldn't get my head around the pattern. It was beautiful, but the combination of doing a frost flowers pattern while adding increases on the sides was causing me all kinds of problems - especially since the charts don't SHOW these increases!!! After several false starts, I decided to knit the Flat-Bottomed Cozy instead.

I really like this pattern. It's easy and straight forward - much the opposite of the first one I attempted. I love how it "cuddles" the entire tea pot and cinches closed at the top - you can add water or tea leaves without having to take the cozy completely off. The bottom ensures that you don't "bang" the pot down on counter....buffering and protecting the teapot while at the same time providing a "built in" hot pad!

The only down-side is that it wasn't quite wide enough to fit as well as I'd like around my tea pot. If I were to make it again, I would make it just a smidge wider...and possibly add some sort of "connection" (button? loop and button?) to be used on the handle side under the curve of the handle to take care of the gaps. I worried a bit that this might not fit my partner's tea pot either, so I made another one. (Better to have two...twice the chance that they'll fit - LOL!!!)
The second one I made is really cute and fits a "personal tea pot" perfectly. It doesnt' come around the bottom, but it's so cute that you can't help but love it. It's called "Mr. Puffy". It's a great way to use up those bits and pieces of wool in your stash! I think it can be easily adapted to a larger pot, so there's a possibility that I may make one of these for myself!

I sent the cozies as well as a tea cup and saucer off to my swap partner in France. Of course, I included some tea and some Reeses Peanut Butter Cups that she'd been craving!

Goose Creek Ruggers Annual Hook-In

2012-01-22T17:46:00.001-08:00

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Neither rain, nor sleet, nor icy freezing rain can keep the Hookers away from the Goose Creek Ruggers Annual Hook-In! We even had cake!!!!

In spite of some rather rough weather overnight, the Hook-In went on as scheduled. It was fabulous! Lots of hookers everywhere! There were a number of vendors selling everything from wool to baskets and scissor fobs. (Of course, I visited each one - and purchased from all 6 vendors!)

(You can even see a bit of my lowly project in the forefront of the photo on the bottom right above - the tree is nearly done!)

Our guild displayed the challenge rugs that are completed and in-progress from a class last year. It's just amazing how everyone's colors make the same design look totally different! I love the purple one!

We also held a competition where we all voted on our favorite rugs. There were so many gorgeous rugs that it was very difficult to decide on which one to vote for. This amazing stool took first place.

All of them were absolutely gorgeous! These definitely give me something to aspire to! I love the variety of Santas in the first photo below - very old world. And check out the realistic birch tree and the sheep in the photo on the right (below). Be sure to click on the photo for a closer look - the birch tree is VERY realistic!

The art deco looking rug in the photo on the left depicts the front door of the mother-in-law of one of our members. It's quite striking!

And even more inspirations...

I absolutely love the rug - so full of purple lusciousness! It's quite large. Based on how long it's taken me to work on my small project, I'd guess that something this large would take me years! I can just imagine it lying in the entryway of a charming home like the one in the rug on the right. Gorgeous....just gorgeous!

Tea Cozy Knit-Along Progress

2012-01-16T23:28:00.000-08:00

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The "Cottage Tea Cozy" for the Knit-Along is really coming along. I have the cottage felted and have started knitting the roof.

I'm a bit frustrated with the roof and not real happy with how it looks. I'm struggling a bit with the decreases that are done at the same time as "keeping with the pattern". I can't wait to check with the others to see how they're handling it. I've ripped it out three times now....I haven't been happy with how any of my attempts looked.

(Once I get the roof bit down, the next challenge will be learning how to embroider with ribbon! Hopefully I can master that part in early February!)

Wine Country

2012-01-15T16:55:00.000-08:00

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What a fabulous weekend! DH's cousin got married at a lovely winery, the King Family Vineyards, on Friday the 13th. It was a beautiful wedding in a beautiful location just outside of Charlotteville, VA in the town of Crozet. The bride was beautiful, the groom handsome, and both the wine and the food were delicious! (Of course, I had to purchase some King Family Merlot and some Meritage to take home!)

Saturday, we toured three different wineries - all three were in lovely locations. This area is so picturesque - and all the wineries are right in the middle of it with fabulous mountain views!

White Hall Vineyards

There were several interesting wines at this winery...and they've several awards for many of them! We tasted several wines, but my favorites were the reds - particularly the 2009 Petit Verdot and the 2009 Touriga.

Afton Mountain Vineyards

Here, we not only had a fabulous tasting, but they also had a heated pavillion where we sat eating crackers and cheese and sipped on some wine while taking in the wonderful view! Once again, I preferred the reds - specifically the Cabernet Franc, Fiesta Di Bacco, and Cabernet Sauvignon...all of which came home with me.

Veritas Vineyard and Winery

This vineyard was the final stop on the vineyard tour - also in Afton. Again, the setting was beautiful! We tasted more wines here than at the other stops, but I found them all to be a bit too sweet for me. We did not get to try their Merlot.....perhaps if we had, some wine would have found its way home with me.

DH is not fond of wine, but he was sweet enough to indulge me all afternoon. To "cleanse his palate", we stopped at the Blue Mountain Brewery on our way back to the hotel. I tried the "Santa Chocolate Bock" - it was the most chocolately tasting beer I have ever had! It even smelled like chocolate! It was interesting and would be a great "once in a while" beer...perhaps when I'm having a chocolate craving???

Saturday morning, we ate breakfast at a fabulous little restaurant in Charlottesville - The Nook. The food was fabulous! I had the crab cakes benedict....mmmm! DH had the corned beef hash omelet. Definitely a restaurant we'd try again! I highly recommend it - the wait staff was very friendly and efficient - constantly checking water, coffee, and tea levels and offering frequent refills and the food was delicious!

Cafe Cubano was our restaurant stop on Sunday morning (The Nook didn't open until 9 on Sunday, and we wanted to get an early start.) Though not a full service restaurant, it was also noteworthy and definitely a place I'd recommend! You order at the counter and self-serve your delicious organic coffee. The staff delivers the made to order food to your table. They served large portions of tasty food - breakfast with a Spanish flair. I had their featured omelet with chorizo, peppers, and onions. Their bread (sunflower seed bread) and potatoes (seasoned with rosemary) were the perfect accompaniments for the omelet. There's so much more than what's shown in their on line menu!

Before visiting the wineries on Saturday, I had to get my "fiber fix". I checked out a local yarn shop, The Needle Lady. It's a wonderful shop full of great yarns and patterns. They have all varieties of yarn...from the relatively inexpensive through designer yarns. I managed to score some Habu yarns - including the yarn that has some stainless steel!

The weekend was not all celebration, eating and drinking. We did have some down time where I spun for a while at the hotel before the wedding as well as on Saturday evening and early Sunday morning. I'm spinning some lovely pink, purple, and white Merino that I got at the Lancaster Spinner's and Weaver's retreat last August. I'm loving how it's spinning up! I only have about 77 grams of this color, so it shouldn't take too long to finish spinning it. After that, I need to find the perfect project for it!

On the way to and from Charlottesville, I worked on another of the mesh scarves and had it completed by the time we got back home! (It's great to be a passenger when you have some knitting to entertain you!!!) I haven't tucked in the ends, so "finished object" photos yet!

More Hand Hooked Rugs for Inspiration!

2012-01-12T22:45:00.000-08:00

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At our monthly rug hooker's meeting, there were several inspiring rugs - either completed or in progress. They're all so beautiful!

How can you not love the "Lion and the Lamb"?

Or the cute little animals???

My favorite is the one on the right - it's the front door of Jeanette's MIL's house in Belgium. It reminds me of art deco! I just LOVE it!

I'm STILL on my first real project. It's coming along...slowly, but surely! It still doesn't look like much, so no photo update at the moment. I've nearly finished the branches of the tree and am almost ready to start the leaves and cherries. It has DEFINITELY been a learning process for me and my project will serve as a reminder of "what NOT to do" once it's completed!

FINALLY! SNOW!!!

2012-01-10T17:24:00.000-08:00

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First snow since mid October. Really!

It's only 1 1/2 inches total...but it's snow! This is the latest I've even seen measurable snow since arriving in Northern Virginia.

The weather is perfect for knitting. I've finished mom's scarf that was started on the trip to Houston...and managed to get two more finished! They're a bit addictive - they work up quite fast and have gorgeous colorways!

I've also started working on a felted tea cozy as part of a knit-along with Reston S'nB. Several of us are participating. The pattern is from the book, "A Knitter's Stash", and is called "Cottage Tea Cozy". So far, I have the main body (the cottage) completed. It still needs to be felted, so it's quite large at the moment!

St. Distaff's Day Celebrations

2012-01-08T20:14:00.000-08:00

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This year, I attended not one, but two Saint Distaff's Day celebrations. The first was on Saturday with the Blue Ridge Spinners and Weavers Guild. The second was with the Centreville Spinners.

Blue Ridge Spinners and Weavers...

Melissa organized the get together and it was hosted at Beth's brand new fiber studio! What a fabulous place! Check out the wonderful view just outside the studio!

There were several demos - dyeing, weaving, warping a loom, felting, combing fiber, spinning - charka, great wheel, and assorted other wheels. Melissa gave a demo and talk on how to skirt a fleece as well.

Liz demo'd using the Charka for spinning cotton. Check out the cool Charka she has! She makes it look so easy (video below)! After several others tried it (and succeeded), I finally I tried my hand at spinning cotton...and I succeeded too! Wahoo!!! A new skill!!!

Alice demo'd using a diz to produce roving from combed fiber (video below). It was fascinating! I have tried that in the past - I'm not very good at it....I definitely need some practice.

I spent most of the day spinning. It's so much fun to be in a room full of fellow spinners!!!

There was even some knitting - every fiber art was welcome here!

Karen had a basket of beautiful wool locks that needed some prep. She spent much of her time combing the fiber. When not actively combing, she could be found discussing the finer points of fiber prep, combing, and working with the diz with Marilyn. Of course, I listened in too. That's the beauty of festivals like this - you learn so much from each other!!!

One of the attendees had acquired a new Great Wheel. Melissa tutored her on the various parts and showed her how it all fits together. She then got to practice spinning on one of the other great wheels. One of the younger attendees was fascinated by the process, so she got to demo as well!

I even took a spin on the great wheel. I've never spun using the "long draw", so I found that to be a bit challenging at first. I caught on right away after a quick tutoring lesson from Liz. Now I REALLY want a great wheel. (Alice is keeping an eye out for one....so I've got my fingers crossed!!!)

Beth had a loom that was read to be warped for weaving some towels. A couple of folks worked on warping that loom most of the day. What a lot of work! Others prepped their yarns for weaving.

Dail demo'd dyeing. The prep time and equipment needed for dyeing seemed to exceed that of any of the other projects. It's a LOT of work, but she definitely seems to enjoy it!

Check out Dail's awesome shoes! Aren't these amazing? Shoes with individual toes - how cool is that?

Linda (on left) alternated between spinning and felting. I just love her felting kits with the "fiberscapes" of sheep and llamas! (I have one myself....I just haven't had a chance to work on it yet! The other Linda (on right) was busy knitting...and fascinated by the felting process.

One attendee started with an unwarped rigid heddle....and with a bit of help from Melissa, she left at the end of the day with a loom that was warped and ready to go!!!

Of course, when we weren't busy spinning, weaving, or discussing a project, we enjoyed some of the many goodies that we all brought to share. No fiber event is complete without the requisite over abundance of goodies!!!

Centreville Spinners Celebration...

The second celebration was with the Centreville Spinners. Reggie and Spencer hosted a fun afternoon of celebratory games in honor of Saint Distaff's day. Competitions included the following:

Most spun in 1 minute
Most spun in 2 minutes with rubber coated gloves on
Most spun in 1 minute blindfolded
Most even spinning while blindfolded

It was a LOT of fun...and very challenging! I had problems with the first blindfolded spinning - I hadn't attached my fiber well....and I had to "grope for my roving and reattach while "blind". It slowed me down quite a bit and I only managed to spin about 6 ft. or so by the time I got it all reattached!

I did much better in the spinning as fast as you can (placing a close 2nd) with 13 ft 11 1/2 inches completed in one minute. Whew! One minute went by so fast!!!

I managed to win the most spun with the gloves - 9 ft. 2 inches. Boy was that hard! The rubber coating prevented even drafting, so the yarns became quite thick...with a bit of thick-and-thin in unexpected places.

Alice and I tied for the most even spinning while blindfolded. We were quite evenly matched - we spun at close to the same speed and spun about the same weight. She mentioned that we might be good candidates to work together in a sheep to shawl competition type of competition.

We all definitely had a lot of fun...even though Jo's wheel just wouldn't cooperate...and Spencer made every effort NOT to win!!! There was lots of laughing throughout the afternoon.

(Unfortunately, I don't have any photos...but there are photos and videos on the Ravelry site for the group!)

Happy New Year!!!

2012-01-01T10:56:00.000-08:00

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Happy New Year Everyone!!!!

It's had to believe that yet another year has passed and it's time for the resolutions....

Non-fiber related:

Finish my blog posts - I'm woefully behind on publishing my posts...they've been stubbed in, but I don't have the final wording done...or the photos added. (I'm about 3 months behind!)
Diet - I need to get back on the band wagon and get serious about sticking to my diet!
Daily yoga - at LEAST 10 minutes per day
Major de-cluttering - hello "Freecycle"!!!

Fiber Related:

Organize my yarn/book/fiber stashes.
Finish the "Sparkle Diamond Shrug"
Get my project off the rigid heddle loom - it's definitely time!!!
Warp a 4 harness loom (scary, but I KNOW I can do it!)

Nerd Wars Dissertation...Not Quite Done

2011-12-31T23:48:00.000-08:00

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I really struggled with my "Sparkle Diamonds Shrug". When I was following the chart, I kept losing my place...even with marking tape beneath the line I was on!

After many false start and MUCH ripping out, I finally decided to write out the pattern in words. That was the trick! I successfully knit more on my shrug Christmas week than I had in the previous one and a half months! If only I'd thought to do this sooner, I might have finished the shrug in time for my Nerd Wars Dissertation! (Sorry about the quality of the photos...my cell phone photos aren't very good.)

Finally...I'm over the half way point! Hurray! I will have a shrug before Spring! Wahoo!!!! I've completed just over three and a half repeats of the six required for the main chart...that's in addition to the cuff. Only two and half repeats of the pattern, then the other cuff....a bit of seaming and I'm done! Well....it won't happen that fast...each repeat is 40 rows, so that's 100 rows PLUS the cuff.

I love how the shrug is turning out - it's an awesome color and a gorgeous pattern. (Check out the closeup for a more accurate view of the colors).

Christmas in Texas

2011-12-31T23:03:00.000-08:00

What a fabulous Christmas holiday we had! DH and I flew to Houston to spend the holidays with my daughter and son-in-law. They treated us like royalty! Nicki is a fabulous cook and both Troy and her made us feel very welcome and very much at home. In all honesty, I think they did too much - we were absolutely spoiled!!!

Their house is lovely - I now have severe "house envy". I think my favorite part is the spiral staircase. I LOVE spiral staircases! Everything was decorated beautifully for the holidays.

Christmas...

There were stockings for everyone - complete with embroidered names on each one! Wow! How cool is that???

Christmas morning, we awoke to find that Santa had filled all our stockings. Nicki's stocking was so full that it could no longer "hang" from the mantle!!!

Taube had to get into the pictures too...after all, there was a stocking for him as well!

The table was beautiful. I love the silvery table cloth - what a fabulous contrast to the red napkins and the bowl of floating cranberries. Nicki has a real talent for making an elegant table.

There was a special "signed" bottle of wine to go along with our delicious dinner. The main course was crown roast, asparagus, and garlic potatoes...followed by some yummy cheesecake for dessert. Dinner was absolutely fabulous!

I received several fabulous gifts - a knitting tote bag, some knitting buttons, a lovely pair of knitting earrings, a trip to a local yarn shop with part of my "shopping spree" paid for, and a wonderful Tapas cookbook. Needless to say, I felt very special and spoiled!

The funniest gift was one that DH received - "Handerpants". Too funny! These "tidy whities" were a bit too tight for a manly hand. One size fits all isn't necessarily true... so we've renamed them as "tightie whities" - LOL!

Troy really went to town with Nicki's juggling kit and has definitely mastered the "art of juggling". We kept asking him if he's having second thoughts about being a chemist....and perhaps he has ideas about running away to join the circus. (I think he'll stay where he is...the circus doesn't pay nearly as well as his current job!)

Boxing Day...

On Boxing Day, we headed to downtown Houston. We stopped at a local pub - Flying Saucer Draught Emporium - to grab a bite to eat and so DH could try out some of the local craft beers. It was a nice place with interesting food. I was good and stuck with a salad...especially after all the food I ate on Christmas!!!

Today's destination was the Saint Arnold Brewery where we took the brewery tour and met the founder of the brewery - Brock Wagner. The brewery is the oldest craft brewery in Texas.

Saint Arnold is the patron saint of brewers...so what more appropriate name could someone give a brewery????

Nicki and Troy have been here before, but they graciously came again so DH could check out the brewery and get a taste of Texas craft brews.

I tried both the Santo (black Kölsch) and the Christmas Ale. I tried a sip or two of the Brown Ale as well as the Elissa IPA. My favorite of the two was the Santo - thought the Christmas was definitely a close second. I enjoyed both...even though I prefer wine over beer.

This is the tap room. There were long benches and everyone sits together. Many families were there...bringing puzzles and games to make an afternoon of it. It was definitiely a fun and relaxing atmosphere....and appears to be a common destination for the locals.

Closing time...at 5 PM, we all had to leave...the tour and tasting were over.

We laid low and lazed around the house on Tuesday. DH and Taube were kicking back on the couch. Taube definitely makes himself at home - draping his legs across whatever or whomever is in his way! It felt good to just "sit back and relax".

NASA...

Then on Wednesday, we headed off to NASA to tour the Houston facility. I've always been fascinated by space flight...as has DH. When I was younger, I used to dream about being the first woman astronaut. After many years of "planning", I finally had to face reality - how could someone that gets motion sick riding in a car ever THINK that they could somehow survive a flight to outer space? (Oh, my....just the thought of what would happen to the inside of my space suit....)

Anyhow, it's always fascinating to see the space ships and/or their replicas in real life and imagine what it must be like.

The control center looked so "old" and antiquated by today's standards. I remember how awesome it seemed when I was younger. It was state of the art...and seemed to be science fiction come to life! Traveling into space...wow! It was to this Mission Operations Control Room that the Apollo 13 astronauts informed Houston of their dilemma many miles above the earth.

Sadly, some missions didn't end safely...and to honor the memory of the astronauts that lost their lives, NASA Houston has set up a living memorial in their honor. A grove of trees...and benches...provide quiet solitude and a place to reflect.

I was fascinated by the moon soil (left) as well as the moon rocks (right). They even had a small piece of a moon rock on display that you could touch. So cool!!! I touched a moon rock!!!

The Saturn V was HUGE!!!! I was absolutely amazed as I walked the entire length of the rocket...and checked out the size of the F-1 engines. The force needed to achieve lift-off is unbelievable!

There were also "NASA Cows". There was a field of Texas longhorns across the drive from the Saturn V building. The cows live here, but are tended to by kids that belong to the local Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter. How cool would it be to go to NASA to work on your agriculture project? Wow!

The visit to NASA prompted Troy to go on a mission to find the movie, "Apollo 13"....and he did! The NASA visit culminated in a viewing of the movie.

Galveston...

Thursday, it was off to Galveston Island for lunch and a visit to the gulf. On the way to Galveston and the beach, Nicki and Troy took us by DOW so we could see where they work. Wow! I couldn't believe how large the DOW campus was! So many buildings and structures that sprawl across a huge area!

Now...on to the beach. I am definitely drawn to the water. There's just something very soothing about the water...especially large bodies of water.

Nicki and Troy seem to enjoy the beach and water as well.

I love the sea gulls - they're fascinating. I love how they all just "sit" on the wooden posts out in the water - not a care in the world. I managed to catch two of these gorgeous birds in flight. (Be sure to click on the photo on the right - I love how the bird in the lower left of the photo looks - it almost looks like "speed lines" have been drawn on the photo!)

There were several jelly fish that had washed up onto the shore and were just laying there...so we had to be careful. They were both gross and fascinating to look at. They appear to be made of clear gel....yuck!

I could have stayed on the beach all day...I just couldn't get enough of it. Neither could these two Labradors. They were busy "playing Frisbee" and running up and down the beach with their master. What a glorious afternoon!!!

Nicki made some fabulous Chicken Tortilla Soup for dinner. It was served with avocado and lime. Mmmm! Thankfully, she made a double batch so there was plenty left over for lunch on Friday! (I got her recipe....hopefully I'll be able to make some that tastes just as fabulous as hers!) These were served with Christmas Caipiirainhas.

Knitting in the Loop

Friday, Nicki took me to Knitting in the Loop - a lovely yarn shop in downtown Houston. It's in a converted house on a side street and has a very cozy atmosphere. There are several seating areas and several very helpful staff members. I loved all the little nooks...and the warm ambiance. There is an upstairs as well - dedicated to the many classes they offer.

I spent quite a while perusing all the yarns and gadgets. They have plenty!!! I loved looking at the store samples as well. They had a bit of everything - lace through chunky, budget yarns through designer yarns. They even had Qiviut!

I picked up some notions, some more sock needles - highly polished Clovers as well as some lovely needles from India, three pattern booklets, and some "local" yarn - "White Bear Fibers" - a hand dyed yarn from Austin, TX - in purple, of course! (I'm considering the yarn my "Texas Souvenir).

I found the shop to be very clean with warm atmosphere. The staff is happy and very helpful. My only criticism is while they had a number of books and magazines, they didn't seem to have very many individual patterns - there were several binders of patterns, but most yarn shops I've been in have at least 3 times as many patterns. However, their other assets....lots of notions and a great diversity of yarns and the fabulous staff...more than offsets the limited pattern selection. I definitely recommend this yarn shop as a "must" if you're ever in the Houston area.

For dinner, we went to the BRC GastroPub - yet another local pub offering interesting food and brews. They feature craft brews. We ordered some Poutine as an appetizer - French fries topped with pulled pork, chili con queso, and mushroom gravy. It was VERY filling. I found that I prefer my friend Danielle's version of Poutine - cheese and gravy only on top of the fries. We also ordered their cheddar biscuits that are served with a chile bacon jam - the jam was surprisingly delicious!!! For the main course, I had one of their Mac and Cheese cast iron skillets - the "Pizza Mac". It was very good, but I could only eat about 1/3 of it - I was too full from the appetizers!

After that, we went across the street to the "Branch Water Tavern" to try their version of the "Caipirinha" - Brazil's national cocktail. I preferred the "Christmas Caipirinhas" that Nicki made earlier this week over the ones made here. The chopped fresh ginger and muddle mint definitely made hers MUCH tastier than those at the Branch Water Tavern! Rod had a Sazerac - a very interesting cocktail made with absinthe. (This cocktail was referenced on the HBO show, "Treme".) It was a bit on the sweet side - he said the ones we have locally, at the Magnolia's, are a much more interesting drink. Now I have to find a reason to try one of those as well!

Heading Home...

Sadly, all good things must come to an end. Our final day in Houston, we ate at Joe's Barbecue. Mmmmm! What fabulous ribs and pulled pork. (It's a good thing we're leaving...it seems like all we've done is eat! We'd be as big as a house if we stayed here any longer!)

At the airport, I ended my trip with a half dozen sliders....mmmmm!!! They were sooooo good! Then it was off to the gate to patiently wait to board the plane. Of course I had my knitting and spinning with me to keep me entertained while waiting!

Last Projects before Christmas

2011-12-22T10:51:00.000-08:00

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I managed to complete a few more knitting projects just before Christmas. These were mainly my Ravelry Nerd Wars entries, but they also helped serve as "holiday de-stressors"!

Believe it or not, one of my projects was "Caution Tape". It was my Nerd Wars entry that that represented a scene from "Big Bang Theory" - specifically, the scenes that include the caution tape clad disabled elevator. I used the duplicate stitch (learned at the Margaret Fisher retreat in November) to add multiple instances of CAUTION to the "tape". I knew the skills I learned at the retreat would come in handy!

I had purchased 5 skeins of Poems for the felted bag that I made late last month, but it only used 4 skeins. I decided to make a felted bowl from the remaining skein. I really liked the design that the variegated yarn formed when knit....so I went out and bought two more skeins of Poems so I can make a couple more bowls!

Before fulling...

After fulling...

Another little project I completed was a coaster and mug cozy. I'd never done argyle before, so I thought I'd try it. I used the Poems scraps (left over from the bag and bowl) for the colors. I'd always had some sort of mental block when it came to argyle. For some reason, I believed it was difficult to do, but found that it wasn't really difficult at all. I was quite pleased with the results - and now probably have one of the most "fashionable" mugs around!

For my next project, I made a couple of ornaments from the Christmas Acrylic - a new ornament or two...especially hand made...is my annual tradition. This time I made a miniature stocking (using Jean Greenhowe's pattern) as well as a miniature Nisse hat of my own design.

My final knitting project before heading off for the Christmas holidays was a "Sully Market Bag" made from 2 1/2 skeins of Sugar 'n Cream Stripes. It was supposed to use only 2, but I used a full 2 1/2 skeins - perhaps I made it a bit longer than it was supposed to be? I love the size - it's the perfect bag for fiber and yarn shopping as it expands to hold lots of fibery goodness.

I also finally tried out my "Weave-It" - a cute little palm sized loom that I believe was sold through the 1970's. It's a nice compact loom and produces neat little squares. The first one I tried didn't quite turn out as expected...there was an extra line of "warp" that had not been properly woven in. The other two came out perfectly! I plan to use them as coasters. Now, I just need to perfect the "joining" process so I can weave more than just coaster!

"Air Heart"

2011-12-18T06:44:00.000-08:00

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Wow! What a fabulous show! I love the story of Amelia Earhart - I find it absolutely fascinating. This one woman show by Mara Neimanis was spectacular. Mara is the principal performer of the "In-Flight Theater" in Baltimore. I'd love to see more of her performances - she was fabulous!

The show was full of acrobatics and interpretive dance embellished by the performer's voice as Amelia. The background radio broadcast and press releases and the presentation of other historic or partially fictionalized events added to the excitement and drew you in - you felt like you were there. Now I need to find a good biography of Amelia's

I was glued to my seat through the entire show - totally mesmerized. If you ever get the chance to see this production, it's definitely a must see! Expertly choreographed and performed.

Christmas at the Norwegian Embassy

2011-12-15T10:50:00.000-08:00

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What a fabulous evening! The Norwegian ambassador extended an invitation to his residence to me and several others from our Sons of Norway lodge to join him to celebrate a "Norwegian Christmas".

The weather cooperated - the air was crisp and cold, but no rain or snow. There had been a cold snap just prior to the evening, so it truly felt like winter and Christmas. We were greeted by carolers and served warm Glogg (spiced wine)...which we were encouraged to drink the Norwegian way - sipping it from our spoon. Then it was up the winding staircase to the residence.

The tree upstairs was just as lovely as the one in the entryway...and made the perfect backdrop for a photo op.

I loved all the decorations! They were all so pretty and festive - it really felt like Christmas!

The buffet was fabulous - lots of awesome foods! There were 3 kinds of pickled herring as well as smoked salmon and pork roast. All was accompanied by homemade caraway bread. Everything was absolutely delicious.

There was a meat roll and a wonderful pate topped with bacon and surrounded by cubed beets. Mmmmm!!!!

As you can see, we "had a hard time" finding foods that we liked - LOL! (I love it all!!!)

The desserts were fabulous as well...cloudberries in cream and a variety of tasty cheeses...

Some rice cream with an optional berry sauce...and some delicious ginger cookies and chocolate marzipan.

Many thanks to our wonderful host, Wegger Chr. Strommen...the Norwegian Ambassador, for a wonderful evening and the perfect kick-off to the holiday season.

Misty Mountain Farm

2011-12-11T21:43:00.000-08:00

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The Purls of Distinction Knitting Guild made a field trip to Amissville, VA to visit Misty Mountain Farm.

We all dyed silk caps - choosing our own special blends of colors. We used acid dyes and then set the color by wrapping the silk cap in plastic and microwaving until the water was clear. (Tina - left, Yvonne - right with Lisa)

Linda spun our caps dry and we took them home. The plan is to knit with the unspun silk roving and create a vintage knitted collar with the pattern Linda provided. (Lisa - left, Anita - right)

Paula is busy dyeing her silk cap - somehow I missed getting a photo of Yvonne's friend dyeing. I must have been busy dyeing at the same time she was.

I dyed my silk cap with purple, teal, turqoise, and brilliant violet. I haven't yet decided if I'm going to spin mine first or knit the unspun roving. Lisa is leaning toward "spun yarn". She doesn't spin, so I told her I'd be glad to spin it up for her. The big decision there will be whether to ply it or leave it as a single.

In addition to our "dyeing project", there was a lot of yarn shopping, fiber shopping, and general knitty chatting. Paula's "friend", Louffa (on the left lounging on some silk caps and yarn), even had a great time!

Linda's shop/dye studio was absolutely bustling. In addition to 7 of us that were dyeing, there were 3 spinners getting lessons and checking out all the fibers that Linda had to offer. This year, she even has some fibers from her own Alpacas in a variety of lovely colors.

It was definitely a fun outing. We even visited Linda's fiber animals - they're so cute!!!

There were many sheep...including Blue Faced Leicesters and Finn Sheep, as well as goats, and alpacas!

I love this little "Rasta" fellow...too cute!!!! (I often wonder how they can see - they seem to do just fine, so it's evidently not a problem.)

I love this photo of "harmony" - the chicken, sheep, and alpaca...all cozy and hanging out together in the barn.

And these loving alpacas...snuggling with each other.

Then, there are the curious sheep...wondering why I'm not outside taking their pictures any more...and curious about just what it is that I'm doing in "their" barn!

And we mustn't forget the "Great Pyrenees" - the guardian of the flock.

As a horse lover, you know I have to include the resident horse...even if it doesn't provide any fibers! I just love the silhouette below.

Christmas Knitting

2011-12-10T20:12:00.000-08:00

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I have completed a few smaller projects - primarily some Christmas knitting for a couple of ornament swaps. I completed two sets of mini-Christmas stockings using Jean Greenhowe's mini stocking pattern - one in red and one in green from some Christmas acrylic with a bit of glitter. I chose the stockings because they could be filled with candy or mini candy canes. I embellished them with a braid made of all three Christmas yarns. I was quite pleased with the "finished look" that the braids added.

For one of the swaps, we were to include a hand crafted item as well, so I chose the "Bathing Beauties" pattern by Evelyn Clarke and made both a soap sack and a face cloth from Aslan Trends "Glaciar Del Cielo" - a nice soft cotton. I love this pattern as well as the yarn - it makes a fabulous gift set.

The stockings were a lot of fun and very easy. I'm thinking about making some more next year - probably in a lighter weight yarn as the worsted weight was a bit heavy. Perhaps I'll make a variety of these to put on my tree!

The Annual Norwegian Bazaar

2011-12-05T10:49:00.000-08:00

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This past weekend was the annual Norwegian Bazaar. I brought my knitting with me so I could work on my socks during the "down time". But there was no down time! It was so busy! Thankfully, I managed to photo most of the booths BEFORE the doors opened! ( I missed many of the booths...too many people and no time for photos!)

There were all kinds of Norwegian wares for sale. I'm especially fond of the Yule Nisse and the trolls.

And of course, lots of home made Norwegian goodies...including "made to order" waffles and Krumkake!

My favorite T-Shirts this year were a "slam" on Columbus...and a "Viking World Tour". (I ordered one of the World Tour T-Shirts - It was so popular that most sizes sold out!)

I love the traditional Bunads worn by several of the assistants at the Bazaar. (Check out the gorgeous tiered cake, the Kransekake, on the left!)

Finally, no Sons of Norway function would be complete without a visit with a Lindehund...a Norwegian dog.

Knitting and Crocheting - A Few Fun Projects

2011-11-28T10:47:00.000-08:00

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I managed to get in some knitting this month as well. I made the "Felted Bag with Mitered Squares". It was a fun knit and only took 4 skeins of Poems yarn by Universal. I loved the colors - both prefelted (on left) and post-felting (right) Once I felted it, I realized that I should have had my squares turned differently to match the pattern - all the angles should join in the center.

Even though I didn't follow the pattern exactly (what a rebel!), I still like how it turned out. I also liked the way the designer incorporated smaller mitered squares around the sides and bottom of the bag.

I also tried my hand at a bit of crocheting and made a Tardis ornament with a snow covered roof. I embellished it with a bit of white felt to make the windows. It kinda looks like a snow covered Tardis...if you squint your eyes a bit.

I also made a couple more of the mesh scarves. I LOVE how they look! Both of these are for swaps. I hope they like them! I am planning to make another pink, green, and mauve scarf - this time for myself. I love that one...it reminds me of a rose garden. My mom saw me making the blue one...and fell in love with it. Now I have to make yet another one so my mom can have one as well! Looks like there's at least two more scarves on the horizon!

I'll end with the beautiful sunrise and sunset that I caught earlier this week. The colors are stunning. (You've probably figured out by now that I LOVE sunrises and sunsets!)

Sunrise...

Sunset...

Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T10:48:00.000-08:00

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This year, we kept it low key for Thanksgiving. With just the two of us in town, we decided to have Thanksgiving dinner out at the Blue Iguana. They had a great menu for Thanksgiving...and dinner was fabulous!

Dinner was enhanced by the addition of Woolomena...the "Monthly Adventures" knitter's equivalent of "Flat Stanley". Woolomena has traveled all over the globe...visiting her knitting friends at each stop and accompanying them to work or out on an adventure. Each person she "visits" creates a photo journal and writes about her adventures in a journal that accompanies her to the next stop on her "world tour".

Woolomena enjoyed her visit and seemed quite at home at the restaurant! (Thankfully, she doesn't eat much!)

Happy 80th Dad!

2011-11-21T19:03:00.000-08:00

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Last week, I headed to Illinois for a quick trip to help my dad celebrate his 80th birthday! When I arrived, I was just in time for a gorgeous sunset and a Kumla dinner. Kumla is a potato dumpling....mmmmm!!!!!! (Yes...more of that Scandinavian food!)

Happy Birthday Dad!!!!

It was a busy week - mom did a great job putting together the party. I helped with the setup and cleanup, but mom did all the planning and coordinating. We had a great time - lots of cake, punch, and visits with many friends and relatives.

(Yeah...I know it looks like the same photo, but they are slightly different. In the first one, I'm in the middle of the back row, and in the other, my cousin Pam is in the middle.)

While I was in Illinois, I got quite a bit of drop spindle spinning done as well as some spinning of the gorgeous Wool/Bamboo/Silk from Miss Babs on my wheel. (Sorry...I forgot to take pictures of my spinning!)

I even managed to work some knitting into my schedule. I knit a pair of bed socks for my mom for Christmas. I had to have her try them one while I was there - just so I could make them fit "just right". She was absolutely thrilled that she was getting another pair. (She's still got one unused pair in reserve, just in case!) I also had to darn two pairs that I'd made in the past. She definitely gets lots of use out of these socks!

I'm thrilled that my mom wears the socks - even to the point of needing darning. It shows they're well used...and well loved. I've made her some face cloths and dish cloths in the past. She's decided that they're "too pretty" to use! I was happy to see that the flower shaped face cloth in cotton velour is now being used. Not as a wash cloth...but as a doily - but hey...it's being used!!!

Oh...and a bit of "funny". I took mom out to dinner at a local Restaurant, Monari's 101, as an early birthday dinner. I just love the movie, "A Christmas Story" (set in the 1940's) and was amazed that the restaurant had a replica of the "Major Prize" proudly displayed in their window! Too funny!

Knitting Progress and Rug Hooking

2011-11-14T10:45:00.000-08:00

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I've FINALLY finished knitting my "198 Yards of Heaven" shawl with the handspun I purchased from Debbie. I just love the color - it's gorgeous!!! (Click on the photos for a closer look at the intermingling colors.) It's a bit smaller than I expected, but it will be perfect under my winter coat - providing much needed color and warmth once winter hits!

Thursday night was the monthly Goose Creek Ruggers meeting. I was so inspired! Wow...there were two door prizes of hand hooked rugs from conference up in Lancaster...and both were won by members of our group! I am constantly inspired by all the variety of designs and techniques. Aren't these rugs gorgeous?

I found the finishing techniques used on the rugs to be fascinating. Both artists finished their rugs a bit differently - one folded the edge under and covered it with the binging and the other whip stitched around the outside and then added the binding. I loved checking them out and analyzing the differences between the finished rugs. Each technique has it's strong points...and as a newbie, I'm definitely intrigued by these different methods and have so much to learn!

Of course, there were also the many gorgeous rugs and rugs in progress by our members that truly inspire me as well! I took photos of the front and back of two of these as well to show the different finishes that each used.

This "1781" rug used the same finishing type as one of the rugs from the conference.

The "Stars" rug had a very different finished edge. There was braiding that was attached to the main rug. What a fabulous finish! The braiding adds a to the appeal of this rug!

Here's some closeups showing the prep work and the results. Oh, my do I have a lot yet to learn!!!

A couple of works in progress...

My favorite "non-rug" item was this gorgeous sheepie pin - I just love it! Isn't it darling?

Solomon's Retreat with Margaret Fisher

2011-11-07T10:44:00.000-08:00

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Once again, Marie has outdone herself with the wonderful retreat she put together featuring Margaret Fisher. As always, the venue was fabulous and so was the food. Marie definitely has perfected the art of providing everyone with perfect meals. I can't think of a single thing I'd change! (Except to get Marie out of the kitchen more so she can participate more in the classes.)

I love the water...the view is just fabulous - I feel very much at home here. It's a very calming and comforting place. Everywhere I look, the view is gorgeous! And the house where Marie hosted the classes - "The Maples" - was just gorgeous!

The sunrise wasn't a brilliant as it could have been...there weren't any clouds to reflect additional colors, but it was beautiful none the less.

The sunset Saturday evening was beautiful as well. The bridge makes a nice contrast to the darkening sky and seems to cradle the fading sunlight.

Margaret was a fabulous instructor - patient, knowledgeable, and very detailed. I learned so many new techniques and methods for finishing that I feel like my head is going to explode with all the new knowledge. I just can't say enough good things about her.

She had gorgeous samples that she showed for each technique shown and all the scarves and garments she wore were absolutely stunning. Our only disappointment was that she hasn't written out the patterns for her sweaters or scarves - we all would LOVE to purchase them...if they existed (hint! hint!).

There were a total of four classes held during the weekend (summary below). Of course, I signed up for all four! I have photos of my completed swatches for many of the techniques I learned, but the flash really washed them out. I'll update this post later - once I'm able to re-take the photos in the sunlight!

Seven Things that can "Make or Break" a Sweater - wow! This class was chock full of all kinds of info from increases and decreases to buttons/button bands and blocking. I highly recommend Margaret's book of the same name! Definitely a keeper and a great reference!
The Long and Short of Knitting Alterations - This fabulous class taught mehow to lengthen and shorten the various parts of a sweater and also covered repairs - something that I definitely needed to learn!
Zip, Button, and Tie: Creative Closures - I learned several new closures as well as interesting twists on closures I was already familiar with. I'd never done a zipper before, so I was very intrigued by that process. (Keep in mind, the "Samus" from Knitty is on my list of projects-in-waiting....and it's a zippered cardigan!)
Special Techniques for Beautifully Finished Sweaters - This class also covered a number of techniques - cast ons, bind offs, grafting, duplicate stitch and a special method for doing shoulder shaping.

I forgot to get a photo while the whole group was here, but I did manage to get one of Margaret with a few of the "stragglers". (It's so hard to leave...such a beautiful place...such a wonderful hostess...and such a fabulous teacher.)

I'll end this with more photos of the beautiful view. Whenever we took breaks from the classes, we'd gaze out at the water. The sailboats were out in force on Sunday. It was an absolutely beautiful weekend - in every way possible.

Knitting and Spinning Progress

2011-10-30T20:12:00.000-07:00

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Whew! Finally! Some real progress on the "198 Yards of Heaven Shawl" - the end is in sight! I seem to have used a lot of the yarn and I'm getting worried that I might run out. I thought I had about 34 extra yards, but now, I'm thinking that with the thicker yarn, I'm using more than I'd thought!

I completed the "Christmas Bag" for the stocking or bag swap. My swap partner preferred a bag, so I modeled this somewhat after a Santa Bag, but did it in blue and white - colors that remind me of the winter and snow. For the swap, the 24 gifts can go inside, but once the holidays are over, the bag can be used as a project bag or whatever...it's certainly not limited to just the holidays!

I've managed to work in quite a bit of spinning this fall with my drop spindle. Typically, it's while I'm waiting somewhere...like the lobby of the Synetic Theater....waiting to see "Othello". (This photo was actually the one taken while waiting to see "Macbeth" a few weeks earlier, but i was doing the same thing while waiting to see "Othello". (BTW - this theater group is FANTASTIC!!! If you ever get the chance to view one of their productions, do it!!!!)

Snow...in October?

2011-10-29T15:30:00.000-07:00

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Holy Cow!!! I can't believe it!!! We have snow in October...just before Halloween!

I believe this is the EARLIEST I've seen snow in Virginia. The leaves are still on the trees!!! I hope this doesn't mean we're in for another "Snowmaggedon"!

Thankfully, it was just a dusting...no lasting impact!

Food and Spirits....including Lutefisk!

2011-10-24T21:56:00.000-07:00

Food and Spirits...

The Tuesday after I returned from the NY Sheep and Wool Festival was another festival...this time, a celebration of the "birthday" of our local Dogfish Head Alehouse. There was a special dinner to celebrate - the food was fabulous...and the beer pairing phenomenal. Lothar (a German Master Butcher from Purcellville) provided luscious sausauges and pork - it was fantastic!!! Lothar's sausages are available at the Purcellville Community Market.

The highlight of the evening, however, was the visit with the founder and president of Dogfish Head Brewery - Sam Calagione. My friend Paula made a special "Fan" in honor of Sam's visit declaring that "Sam is a Hoppin' Rock Star".

Paula, DH, and I all posed for our photo op with Sam. He even took the time to autograph the books my DH brought - both written by Sam - "Brewing up a Business" (for my step-daughter) and "He Said Beer, She Said Wine" for DH and me.

Just Food - Lutefisk!!!

Then, on Saturday, it was time for the annual Lutefisk Dinner sponsored by the Sons of Norway Lodge. This year, I helped before, during and after the dinner.

In addition to setting the tables and basic setup, I was responsible for mashing the rutabagas. Wow! What a job - I don't think I've ever seen so many rutabagas in one place before. My arms were SOOO tired! (I did all the mashing by hand).

There were several of us working on the various parts of the dinner. This included the primary "lutefisk chef". Debbie initially tutored him on the finer points of cooking Lutefisk. Then, he was left to his own devices to cut and cook the delectable fish from the large fillets.

It's definitely a team effort to get the food prepared and served. Ham....meatballs...and everything else!

And all this effort led to the buffet line - full of lutefisk, rutabagas, ham, Swedish meatballs, lefse, green bean, herring, and a variety of other tasty goodies! Mmmm.....lutefisk!!!

The dinner was from 4-6 pm - and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Lots of smiling faces!

I did take time out to eat though...doesn't this look delicious?

It was a long day...We didn't finish cleaning up until after 9 pm. We were all wiped out!!!

And now for some knitting updates...

Remember the lovely yarn that I purchased at the Bluemont Festival? (photo on left) It was gorgeous handspun in purples and mauves - all spun by my friend, Debbie. I started working on the "198 AYards of Heaven" shawl - which I thought was perfect for this yarn (I have about 238 yards, so no worries about running out of yarn.)

For some reason, I've had a hard time with the instructions. I've had several false starts because of the way the charts are written. I've used many charts from many different designers, but this one just doesn't "flow" the way I expected, so I kept having to re-work my knitting.

Another thing I noticed was that it's not symmetrical....the eyelets from the lace of the body are not in line with the eyelets in the edge. Some are, but some aren't. At first, I thought I'd screwed up, but it turns out that that's how the pattern was designed.

Anyhow, progress has been very slow....and I brought the shawl with me to work on when I went to the Wegman's knitting group. However, I once again found I was tearing it back and reworking. Sigh. I showed the charts to some of the other knitters...and yes...it IS different than the way most charts are done. I find it a bit confusing...and coupled with the fact that I really don't like charts, I'm think I'll let this "marinate" for a while. I definitely plan to finish it by the end of this month, but for now, it's in "time out"!

NewYork Sheep and Wool

2011-10-19T20:06:00.000-07:00

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It's October...the leaves are falling, the wind is whipping and there's a chill in the air.

It must be time for the NY Sheep and Wool Festival!!!! I made my annual trek to NY to help my friends, Linda and Leanna, with their booth at the NY Sheep and wool Festival.

I stayed with my good friend Cathy. The apartments where she lives are somewhat secluded and have a fantastic view of the Esopus Creek and the Catskill Mountains. I always feel like I'm at a mountain retreat when I stay here.

Of course, I have to share my quarters with her five precious cats. (Only 4 are pictured here because "Gracie" is blind and tends to hide whenever she hears a stranger.) All but one of the cats were feral...but they've become the most loving and sweet cats...mainly because Cathy socialized and treated them well. I'm a dog person, but I find that I'm just as attached to these furry friends as I am to any dog. And...unlike the typical cat, these guys aren't aloof and they love to interact with "their humans"...Rusty will even snuggle.

Joey and Rusty...

Shelley and Mama...

On to the festival...

The booth setup was a bit more open this year...making it much easier to get around when the booth got crowded. The roving was twisted into long braids and hung to form the "wall of roving" - I just love all the colors!

With the setup complete, I snapped a couple more photos. Leanna (in the distance) is definitely ready for the booth to open!

The booth stayed steadily busy...and was swamped much of Saturday, so I didn't venture out much during the festival. My shopping was pretty much limited to before the official opening. I did manage to find some awesome patterns....all I need is the time! Of course, I did quite a bit of shopping in the Misty Mountain Farm booth - I LOVE their yarns and fibers!

I got a fabulous surprise on Saturday - a Ravelry friend from the UK, Hannah, stopped by the booth to say "Hi"! She had "Wandering Woolomena" with her - our Ravelry group's equivalent of "Flat Stanley". Woolomena was crafted by Pat and has been sent out to explore the world. I was absolutely thrilled to meet Hannah in person! I've spoken to her on line a number of times...especially in the MA Ravelry group. Meeting Woolomena at the same time was an added bonus!

I also managed to slip out to check out the tapestry that my friend Cindy had finished. It was on display at the the tapestry loom booth. I watched Cindy sketch out and start this project about 1 1/2 years ago...and then she tore it out and started it again. I saw the start of this new version about 6 months ago. It was great to see it finished!!! Hopefully, she'll bring it to our retreat in January so we can all get a closer view.

And now for my rant...

The down side of this year's show was that one of the customers unwrapped a lovely scarf/stole from the Alpaca yarn display at the Misty Mountain Farm booth and walked away with it. It definitely took a lot of nerve to steal a hand crafted item - especially an item that's constantly referenced as an example...and typically only 3-4 ft. away from the workers in the booth! It was a gorgeous basket weave pattern in dark charcoal grey and white (the plies in the yarn was all dark charcoal except the one strand of white...giving it a tweedy effect). The scarf is extra wide, so it could be used as a nice thick scarf or as a stole. The person obviously has no respect for the crafter...total disregard for the law...and hopefully, has found such utter contempt for his or her self that he or she cannot bear to wear the stolen scarf!!! (Internally, I keep hoping that this disgusting person is NOT a crafter...I would hate to think that someone that KNOWS the time and effort that goes into creating a hand crafted item would stoop so low as to steal the work of another!)

Nerd Wars Dissertation

2011-10-12T20:08:00.000-07:00

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I have a number of kits, patterns, and yarn from "Just Our Yarn". But...have I finished any of the projects? Or even started them? No.

I now have a remedy for that problem....Nerd Wars. I've been a member of Nerd Wars on Ravelry since its inception....and it's been a lot of fun! I've been working on numerous smaller projects and have completed two larger projects....just because I committed to finishing them!

I've decided that for the third Nerd Wars Tournament, I'll complete the "Sparkle Diamond Shrug" for my Dissertation. It's a lovely shrug in purples and blues with purple and blue beads throughout. Perhaps I can actually finish (start AND finish!) one of my "Just Our Yarn" projects!

Oh...the other bonus when doing a Nerd Wars Dissertation is that I'm REQUIRED to do a gauge swatch. (I'm generally too lazy to do a swatch!).

Here's the project....swatch and all. Wish me luck!!!

Spinning the Day Away...

2011-10-09T20:05:00.000-07:00

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What a glorious day! The weather was absolutely beautiful...perfect for spinning outdoors!

I drove down to Culpeper to meet up with my friend, Elizabeth, and we headed down to Charlottesville to join a spinning group. On the way, we stopped at the Lime Leaf restaurant for some yummy Thai food.

The spinning group meets at the local fire station. The fire fighters were out on a call when we arrived, so we "hung out" on the patio. The weather was so fabulous that we all decided to just stay out there...even after the fire fighters returned.

There was a lot of spinning going on and we had a great time - as shown in all our smiling faces! The wheels ranged from antiques to modern with many types and styles between. I'm always amazed at the sheer variety of wheels that you see in any group.

One of the members of the group just started making her own drop spindles. She's a wood worker and does fabulous work. Each one she crafts incorporates what she's learned from the previous....making each better than it's predecessor. I expect to see her selling her wares in the not to distant future!

Be sure to click on the photo on the right for a closer look at her 3 drop spindles.

One of the spinners brought her daughter...a blossoming new spinner. She seemed quite at home with all us "oldsters" and had a great time spinning the bright colors. Needless to say, mom didn't get much spinning in!

It was a wonderful way to spend a fall afternoon, but seemed too short! We met for nearly 4 hours, but it felt like just a few minutes. I just wish Charlottesville wasn't so far away!!!

Stamping - More Projects...and Some Basics

2011-10-04T22:04:00.000-07:00

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I've totally fallen off the deep end when it comes to stamping. I've now taken a total of 3 classes at Angela's Happy Stamper. I just love it! It definitely appeals to the part of me that want "instant gratification"! After each class, I have a set of hand stamped greeting cards...always 3-5 COMPLETED projects. How cool is that?

After the initial class a few weeks ago, I took a more advanced class on Brayering.....it was fabulous! I love how you can make a night sky...or a body of water. All with a small set of stamps and inks, with the addition of a few simple tools. The tree on the left is my favorite...I can't wait to make more of these!

Now that I've taken the more advanced classes, I went back to take a basic class. I definitely needed to learn what inks are used with what paper...and what pens (Coptic markers or watercolors) are used best in combination with what inks? We played around with several techniques and learned how to emboss. Of course, I purchased more tools and stamps! How could I resist?

The good thing about adding this craft to my repertoire is that the tools, supplies, and equipment are MUCH more compact than those for spinning, knitting, and weaving! I guess what I'm trying to say is that there is definitely "room" for this craft...in addition to my fiber addictions!

Spinning Challenge Progress and Fabric Post Cards

2011-10-01T22:18:00.000-07:00

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I finally have finished spinning the 1 lb. of Merino wool that's part of our spinning challenge for the Blue Ridge Spinners and Weavers spinning group. My yarn is done.....all I have to do now is figure out a design for my bag....and how I want to work with the different colors! I'm not sure if I want to do something patterned with colors or incorporate the colors using mitered squares. I've been busily checking out patterns...but so far, nothing has intrigued me very much.

I've also been exploring some other crafts. My friend Hazel runs a group on Ravely where we try out different crafts every month or so. In some cases, we "swap" jour creations with each other. This month, we made "Fabric Post Cards" - intended for swapping with a partner. I stitched mine by hand. In the middle, you put Timtex as a stiffener and stamp the "post card" label on the reverse side of the post card. I quilted my card and embellished it with a bit of embroidery. The card I created was a rather simple beginner card. It was fun to make and I learned a lot.

I received an absolutely adorable card from my swap partner in return (photo on right). (Edited to add card that was received to this post, rather than when it was received.) I've got lots of ideas for future "post cards" after receiving this one and seeing all the other very creative cards made by others in the group. I also found a fabulous website with lots of ideas for making fabric post cards: How to make fabric post cards.

Today, I volunteered for a couple of hours at the HandWeaver's Guild of America's booth at the Sewing and Quilt show (an annual show held in Chantilly, VA). I spent most of my time demo'ing drop spindle spinning and taught 2 people how to do it! The teen that I taught was so excited about mastering this, that I fully expect her to show up next year telling me about how she loved it so much that she's purchased a spinning wheel!

I picked up some great fabric for making more fabric post cards as well as some notions that will be great for both knitting and rug hooking. I also managed to grab a couple of very interesting books on quilting from the bargain bins at Vogue Fabrics.

In all the fun, I totally forgot that this was the same weekend as the Mount Pelier Fall Fiber Festival!!!!! Oh, well. There's always the NY Sheep and Wool Festival! (As if I need any more yarn/fiber!)

Shenandoah Fall Fiber Festival

2011-09-25T22:17:00.000-07:00

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This year, I attended both days of the Shenandoah Fall Fiber Festival. It was fabulous! The weather was perfect....a bit drizzly on Sunday, but still great. (It's always great when it's not a wash-out and not too hot!!!)

There was delicious cobbler...

And lots of fiber animals...I love all the fiber animals!

There was even a camel!!! (I heard someone say that a camel was God's joke. Honestly, it just might be. They definitely have a face/neck combo that ONLY their mother could love! LOL!)

They're a bit amusing to watch, too. They just plod along...not a care in the world. (Check out the video below.) As a bonus, I learned the difference between the one-humped and the two-humped camels. The single humped version is the "Dromedary Camel" - also known as the Arabian Camel. The two-humped version (like this "little guy") is called the "Bactrian Camel".

There were several demos as well. Demo'd spinning at the Blue Ridge Spinners and Weavers Guild booth and had a fabulous time. I also found the time to check out some demos. My favorite, by far, was Keith's dyeing demo.

I'm not sure what she was using to create the reddish dye, but she did some indigo dyeing to create the fabulous blues.

Fleece to Scarf Competition

This year, I was asked to help judge the fleece to scarf contest. There were 3 teams total - two adult teams and one teenage team. Each team had one weaver and two spinners. (The 4th person you see in the Kool Jamz is acting as "coach".) All contestants competed as adults....there were not separate categories based on age.

First, the Warped Women of Dreamkeeper Farm.

Next, Team Uniquities.

Finally, Team Kool Jamz.

All the competitors started with a raw fleece and a pre-warped loom. The goal was to spin the wool and weave a scarf in the two hours allotted. Here are the various team scarves in progress.

Judging was a lot of fun as well as a great learning experience! My main expertise was in spinning, so I learned a lot about how to judge and analyze weaving. It's definitely a bonus when you get to learn in addition to the judging! I have new respect for anyone that has to judge and critique the spinning, weaving, or garments in any sort of competition. There are so many things to consider!

The teens were the unanimous winners. (Now you know why they competed against the adults....they're just that good!!!!) I think that every team had fun. I've got my fingers crossed that we'll have even MORE teams next year!!!

I bid on and won the scarf created by the "Warped Women of DreamKeeper Farm". It's the perfect table runner for condiments. It came in a fabulous silky bag and included some "Fibre Wash" and "Fibre Rinse" - perfect for washing fine woolens!

In addition to my scarf purchase, I bought several interesting skeins of yarn, a yarn bowl, and some fabulous fiber. I even "gave in" and purchases two fleeces - an alpaca fleece and a tan merino...oh, so soft! I'm such a sucker for super soft wool and alpaca!

Finished Projects - At Last!!!

2011-09-23T23:15:00.000-07:00

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I finished knitting the second fingerless mitt of the pair I started last week. Jeez....it doesn't really match up at all. They're similar, but not a total match. The one mitt ends with a bit of blue...the other with a bit of pink. I decided to go ahead and try making a THIRD mitt....this time, using my second skein of the same color, same dye lot yarn. I was determined to get a matching pair!!!

Surprise, surprise! The third mitt had even MORE diverse colors with much more of the blue coming through . Ugh! All right...this mitt won't match EITHER of the first two mitts, but perhaps I can work out a second mitt from this skein? Certainly it would HAVE matched ONE of the three!!! Right???

Well, that was not to be either. It too had no repeats of the color sequence....just like the previous skein - ARGH!!!! It also had a long streak of solid grey. UGH!!!! The second pair was even worse!!! I even spliced the yarn at one point on the second pair to try to make them match up a bit better. It improved, but was definitely not perfect.

Here's what the four mitts look like - close, but definitely NOT identical!!! The pair on the right definitely looked more like they belonged together than the others. Next time, I'll REALLY check out the yarn BEFORE I knit.....or perhaps stick to yarns where I KNOW there are the expected color repeats.

In the end, I decided that this pair was the best and sent them to my swap partner. I REALLY wanted them to match! Oh, well...at least they're somewhat similar and have the same color tones. Sigh. I think the buttons definitely add to it - I LOVE shell buttons and the glistening mother of pearl colors blend well with the pinkish lavenders and greys in the yarn.

I FINALLY sewed the piping onto the pillow I made about a year and a half ago. I hate finishing. It was all I could do to stitch the pillow shut when I finished....and the piping just had to wait until I was ready to deal with it - LOL! I used the linen stitch for the body of the pillow - it's my favorite stitch pattern for pillows. It is a bit tedious, but I really like the look and durability of the stitch. I made my own piping using two strands of Merino that repeated colors that are in the pillow. The photos really don't show the piping, but you can catch a few glimpses of it along the top and side edges. (Pillow front - left, pillow back - right)

Right now, I'm gearing up for the next round of "Nerd Wars" on Ravelry. I'm planning my dissertation and getting ready to knit my way throught the challenges! I'm hoping to be back on Team Bazinga!!! (Fingers crossed!)

Bluemont Festival

2011-09-20T22:13:00.000-07:00

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I love this festival - it's very low-key and much like a country fair. There's the Methodist church that serves hot dogs, hamburgers, and awesome apple dumplings, the kettle corn vendor, the fiber animals, antiques, and numerous crafters. There is even a wine tasting and a display of antique tractors!

Believe it or not...they were serving "Deep Fried Oreos". I LOVE Oreos, but I just can't imagine what they'd be like fried. A young fair goer told me they crumble up the oreos and then surround it with something and deep fry it. I didn't try them. Hmmm.....maybe someday.

One of the alpacas from the booths next to us wandered about for a while - greeting both kids and adults. They're such friendly animals...and they have such incredible "wool"! (Yes....I bought some white as well as some lavender Alpaca yarn...surprise, surprise!)

One of the guilds I belong to, Blue Ridge Spinners and Weavers (BRSWG), is one of the featured crafters. I spent the entire day there on Sunday demo-ing spinning and just enjoying the outdoors and all the crafts. Of course I bought some goodies - how could I resist???

Debbie had some fabulous hand spun yarn - in my colors too! It's gorgeous - I just love it! I have no idea what I'll make, but whatever it is, it will ber fabulous. I also purchased some lovely towels woven by Mary Beth - beautiful, yet functional.

My favorite acquisition was a lovely tencel scarf woven by Beth - one of the incredible weavers in BRSWG. It's just GORGEOUS!!!!! Again...in my colors!!!! The warp is hand painted....and the pattern is the same as those in the scarves from Saturday's post using the same pattern from the Baltimore Guild. The scarf looks so different in the bright jewel tones. It drapes beautifully! Debbie taught me how to tie it in a Celtic knot so I can wear it around my neck as an accent once the weather cools off!

I just happened to take a photo of both Beth (the scarf weaver - seated at the loom) and Debbie (the yarn spinner) so you can match the artist's faces with their work!

While snapping photos, I managed to catch Dina and Sharon writing up the sale for the scarf, towels, and yarn that I bought - my purchases even made the photo! Dina(left) and Sharon(right) both had some awesome items for sale. Dina is the leader of our spinner's group in addition to spinning, is an accomplished felter. Check out the cute pumpkins and bowls - below left. Sharon had some gorgeous braided rugs for sale - my personal favorite is the "sunrise" rug shown here - below right. Isn't it beautiful??? Everyone in this group is extremely talented. I feel so honored to be a part of their group!

Although I made a few purchases, I did leave a lot of goodies for others to buy....

The shopping and demos were a lot of fun. It was the perfect day to enjoy the outdoors while spinning or weaving...and sharing the love of the craft with every that stopped by. What a fabulous day!!!

Norwegian Crafts and Fiber Arts Inspirations

2011-09-17T20:11:00.000-07:00

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This has been a fun packed weekend so far - full of crafty inspirations!

First, at the Sons of Norway meeting last night, there display of traditional Norwegian Crafts. Several lodge members displayed their projects - Hardanger Lace, Weaving, Needlework, a stained glass Norwegian Flag, children's toys for creating Viking villages,and a collection of dolls and teddy bears.

This morning, I attended a Foothills Spinners and Weavers meeting....and promptly joined their group. Several members had some awesome goodies to display. So many incredible inspirations!

This quilt was awesome - it was definitely a labor of love and took several years to complete. I love the combination of the yellows and the blues. Each square is different - what a lovely sampler. The quilter did it entirely by hand! What a fabulous project!

Sharon's shawl is absolutely gorgeous! It's 100% silk - a very elegant and beautiful shawl - definitely one to add to my "to-do" list! On the right, another member "modeled" the scarves that the girl on my right wove (I don't remember anyone's name!!!!) I love how the colors morph in and out throughout the scarves. (The pattern is from the 60 scarves book published by the Baltimore guild.)

Sandy's woven scarf was made from her hand spun that she'd used the "fractal method" of spinning. She split some space dyed roving down the middle and spun it to create the first ply. She then split the second half of the roving again and spun it sequentially. This caused some subtle variations as the colors between the two plies would sometimes line up and sometimes drift. I love the result!

Finally, the group had met during the summer for a pottery adventure. The intent was for everyone to create a cute sheep bowl like the one below in the photo on the left. However, as usually happens when you get a bunch of crafty people together, it morphed into something else.....and instead of creating the sheep bowls, most of them made buttons or smaller bowls. It looks like they had a fabulous time...and the buttons are absolutely gorgeous!

Strange Mushrooms....and Frustrating Yarn!

2011-09-15T23:10:00.000-07:00

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Wow! With all the rain we've been having, the mushroom crops in everyone's yards are simply astounding! They seem to literally crop up overnight. This group of mushrooms looked like a line of golf balls on tees as I left this morning. I wish I'd stopped to photograph them then....they opened a bit more during the day, so they're not quite as intriguing now. Oh, well. I think they're pretty amazing - the one on the far right still looks like a golf ball.

Now for my rant. I had been making a pair of fingerless mitts, "Fingerless Summer Mitts" from Knitting Magazine and decided I really liked the colors in the Kroy Sock yarn - subtle tones of purplish-pinks and greys. It was lovely! I purchased two skeins....just in case. The first mitt was completed with no problem.

Once I finished the first mitt, I tried to find the proper color sequence and starting point for the second mitt. (I'm one of those people that really likes to have matching mittens and socks.) I wasn't seeing a matching color sequence as I pulled and pulled yarn from the skein. I was determined to find the proper starting point, so I decided to wind off the entire remaining skein onto an empty wrapping paper tube. To my surprise, there were NO repeats of the color sequence! Some came close, but there was no perfect match! Unbelievable!

I tried to match it up the best I could, and now I'm off knitting the second mitt...keeping my fingers crossed that it will look OK and be a somewhat close match! If all else fails, I still have the second skein of the same dye lot....perhaps I can find a matching sequence there?

9/11 - We Will Never Forget!

2011-09-11T20:03:00.000-07:00

A decade has passed, but the wounds are still raw. I take comfort in my favorite Psalm...

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for though art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou annointest my head with oil;
my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Hooking...

2011-09-09T08:12:00.000-07:00

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This month's Goose Creek Ruggers meeting was canceled because of the unrelenting rain, washed out roads and bridges, and widespread flash floods. We had over 6 inches of rain in about 24 hrs.! The drainage ditch behind my house covered the entire walking path and was about 3 feet up into my yard. (The blurry view is through an upstairs window).

This video shows the rain and the speed of the "stream" behind my house. It was unbelievable!

There was a brief respite from the rain in the early evening. The rain stopped for a short while and the stream behind my house receded...revealing the edge of my yard and the walking path once again. The sun even attempted to come out...and there was a small window of blue sky!!! I was amazed at how quickly the water rose and receded! These photos were taken just an hour after the video!

Enough about rain and floods...and back to Hooking. Since there was no hooking meeting this month, I dedicated Friday evening to working on my rug hooking project. I finished the hill where the sheep is standing - wahoo!!!

I am learning a lot in the process of completing my first project. My most significant "lesson learned" is that I am REALLY bad at cutting the strips....and if they're not cut straight, they'll shred and become ugly threads instead of strips of fabric. I've had several "shredded strips" that ended up being just threads by the time I pulled them through the canvas. The result - my hill is a bit messy....with lots of little strings and threads.

The other thing I noticed is that part of my hill is too "linear" - there are a few rows of straight lines of stitches across the top and bottom of the mountain. These would have looked a bit better if the directions had been varied and blended with the rows above and below rather than straight across...to create a rolling terrain rather than the flat one I have. Ah, well. This is my "learning piece". I'll look back at it fondly at some future date...chuckling at my inexperience...and hopefully being amazed at how much I've progressed since then.

Spinning Progress

2011-09-07T08:10:00.000-07:00

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I've really made progress on the Merino for the spinning challenge - three down, one to go!!! I had completed the pink a few weeks ago, but now, I've finished both the dark blue and the teal. Normally, I spin quit thin - typically a sport weight...DK at the most. However, for this challenge, I need to create yarn to knit a bag with...and I'm thinking that a worsted to heavy worsted yarn would be perfect for that! The struggle for me is spinning thick...rather than thin. I've managed to spin thicker, but it's not quite as consistent as I would like.

While I was in "spinning mode", I plied some yarn that I've had languishing on the bobbins for several months. Actually, it's been so long that I forgot the actual fiber content! I believe it's a 70% Merino/30% Tencel blend....but it's entirely possible that its the Merino/Silk blend instead! If only I could find the empty fiber bag!!! The plied skein weighs in at 3.8 oz. and the single a mere .5 oz. I love the softness and the color. This will definitely "grow up" to be something to be worn against the skin. Most likely a scarf or shawlette.

Stamping!!!!

2011-09-05T20:14:00.000-07:00

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What fun! I've tried a new craft - and I love it! I decided to try a class at "Angela's Happy Stamper". My friend good friend Paula and I took the class together. It was a lot of fun and I love what I was able to create! I see some hand crafted cards in my future!

I learned so much! The instructor was wonderful - very knowledgeable and patient....and a fabulous teacher. She even prepped everything for us! Each card had it's basic components ready for use in its own envelope. All I had to do was paint them using the techniques taught to us in class, embellish them, and put them together. There was only one item that I had to trim by hand...everything else was pre-cut.

I found the various techniques fascinating and definitely see some more classes in my future!

This was my favorite. We painted on a shiny surface in one color....and then took little finger stamps and made red and orange circles all over it and finally stuck it behind the die cut tree to emulate the leaves. I just LOVE the effect!

Of course, every new craft introduces the "need" for new supplies...but it's definitely worth it. And besides, spending a bit keeps the economy going, right?

Finished Projects!

2011-09-01T18:46:00.000-07:00

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Wahoo! FINALLY....finished projects!

First is the ruffled scarf that I made from Katia "Triana" - a web-like yarn that you knit on relatively large needles to produce a "self-ruffling" scarf. It was relatively quick and fun to knit - the yarn does all the work! I LOVE how this looks!

My second finished project is the "Holden Shawl" - aka "The Crimson Tide". This is made with the combed Targhee from Sweetwater. It was a delight to spin and produced the most "springy" yarn I've ever spun. As a result, the shawl is very lightweight and airy...and VERY warm!

The shawl was finished with a picot bind-off, so I had to sew the beads on separately. I'm not totally pleased with how the beads hang. If I ever attach tear-drop shaped beads again, I think I'll put one or two round beads between the tear-drop and the shawl so the beads will have a bit more "dangle" to them.

My next projects??? I have a chevron scarf that's in progress in "Zara Baby", some "unborn socks" that I really need to start, and that pesky "Summer Garden Tee" that I keep messing up!!! But first, I need to get back to spinning - I need to finish spinning the yarn for the Blue Ridge Spinners and Weavers "Spinning Challenge"!

Neither Earthquakes Nor Hurricanes Could Keep Me From The Spinning and Weaving Retreat!

2011-08-29T22:45:00.000-07:00

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Wow! What a week! First an earthquake (My FIRST! And on the East Coast no less!) quickly followed by Hurricane Irene. BUT...neither event was enough to keep me from running off to Pennsylvania to await the arrival of the hurricane while spinning, knitting and weaving with the Lancaster Spinners and Weavers.

"Refreshing Mountain Camp" was beautiful! It's up in the mountains...and had the weather been more clear, you could see the view a bit better. Our lodge was up on a steep hill - well above the pool and overlooking the dining hall.

It was perfect!!! The accomodations were very upscale for "camp". And our rooms were air conditioned - thankfully! We even went for a "pre-hurricane" swim...just to cool off a bit - it was so hot and humid, even up in the mountains! If there weather had been nicer, we would definitely have taken advantage of the many outdoor seating areas...full of Adirondack chairs!

Beth and I were the first ones there. We filled up the room with our stuff and prepared for a weekend of fiber fun. The meeting room at the lodge looked pretty empty and lonely looking when we arrived, but it was quickly filling up.

Several of the attendees are also vendors and/or raise fiber animals, so there was a nice variety of goodies to peruse - hand crafted purses/project bags, buttons, lots of yarn, and of course, all kinds of fiber: angora bunny, mohair, alpaca, and merino. Needless to say, I lost a few $$ from my wallet this weekend!

I cast off my "Holden Shawl" just before the weekend, and brought it with to get tips/ideas on how and where to attach the beads. I had tried a few techniques, but I wasn't pleased with any of them. Audrey had a fabulous suggestion - block it and then add the beads at the resultant points. Thank you Audrey!!!

I bought some gorgeous roving from Beth on Friday - a gorgeous teal blue with black - Australian Finn in the "Native Turquoise" colorway. I spun it up immediately! I just love how this looks. Unfortunately, there was only 1.7 oz. of this fabulous fiber, so I'll have to use the yarn as an accent on something else. I have approximately 110 yards of finished yarn. There's a wee bit of Angelina that had been blended into the wool. Just a bit...too much would make it very unpleasant to touch because of the plastic feel of the Angelina. However, in small amounts, it adds interest and doesn't impact the softness of the yarn at all!

The rest of the weekend, I spun the BFL/Silk that I'd purchased from "Miss Babs" at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. The colorway is one of my favorites, "Iris". (I always seem to gravitate toward a combination of purple and green.) I'm spinning this fairly fine - nothing like the "heavy worsted" I'm going for with the Merino for the spinning challenge.

Although it rained quite a bit, it always seemed to stop just in time for the meals! We didn't have far to go, but it was nice not having to deal with downpours as we trekked down the hill to the dining hall. Though it was gloomy outside on Saturday morning, you wouldn't know it from the looks on these happy faces! (The food was wonderful!)

Check out the brand new spinner on the right! She's a natural! She purchased a spindle from Kim and promptly learned how to drop spindle spin. Within 5 minutes, it seemed liked she'd been spinning for years!

Judy started feeling cold on Saturday evening and snuggled up in her "spinner's shawl" - the perfect use of roving! Why not put it to use while it's waiting to be spun?

The weekend's biggest accomplishment belongs to Audrey. She prepped, warped, and started weaving on the loom she's had languishing in the attic and garage for years. She finally bit the bullet and decided it was now or never! I've put together a photo display of the progress....from prepping the warp, warping, and finally, weaving!!!

Donna mentored and assisted Audrey throughout the weekend. Warping the loom and prepping to weave is DEFINITELY a labor of love. And all the encouragement from her fellow fiber artists definitely made the tedious bits pass more quickly! Whew....it definitely was a full weekend project!

The warp threads were prepped on the warping board on Friday evening. Once the threads were on the board, they were tied together in bundles to ease with the transition to the loom. Donna provided lots of tips and warnings about what to avoid and why certain things are done the way they are. (It's very helpful to have a seasoned weaver like Donna in your court when you're warping your first loom!!!)

The warp has been "laid out" on the loom. Donna helped put the threads in separate little bundles using the raddle. The ties that were made on the warping board helped make this step and the next steps a bit easier. The warp then gets wound on.

Next, Audry began the process of taking each thread through a heddle. On the left, you can see the first "group" of approximately 10 threads that she's starting with. The remaining bundles of thread are draped over the bars out of the way.

The hard part of this task is verifying that the threads have been run through the heddles in the proper order as well as keeping track of where your are in the pattern. It's VERY tedious, but very important - if the threads get switched, the pattern will be impacted! If you double click on the photo on the left, you can see Audrey's "counting system" for each repeat of the pattern. Who said chocolate is JUST for eating! It can double as an abacus!

Once all the threads have been threaded through the heddles, she has to sley the reed. Once again, it's rather tedious, but she must be careful not to cross threads. One the right, you can see that all the threads are through the reed...almost ready to weave!

The final step was to tie the threads to the front end of the loom. Once that was done and tightened down, she was ready to go! Double click in the photo on the left for a closer view of the "tie on". On the right are Audrey's first few rows!!!!

Way to go Audrey!!! Congrats on starting your first official project - the "Log Cabin" towels.

Take a closer look the weaving pattern! Wow! I'm definitely impressed! Audrey's edges are wonderful! It's hard to believe that this is her FIRST project!!! On the left, if you double click, you can see a closeup of the "Log Cabin" pattern Audrey is using. The photo on the right shows how much she completed - Wahoo! Fabulous progress!

Watching Audrey prep and warp her loom made me want to get going on mine! But holy cow! What a lot of work it is! I know I'll love the weaving part...I just have to convince myself that the prep is just as fun and exciting!

What a wonderful weekend! All totally immersed in spinning, knitting, weaving, and especially laughing...in spite of Hurricane Irene! We didn't even lose power - except for a few brief moments. There were lots of leaves and branches littering the walkways...and even a beehive! The storm had dislodged a it from the side of the lodge. It was a bit water logged, but appears to be an active hive. When I turned it over, there were a few "worker bees" busily going about their day...oblivious of the storm. (Double click on the photos for a closer look).

Though the winds and rains didn't dampen our spirits, they sure left a mess on the roads. There were many downed trees, branches, and leaves. They littered the highways making them slick and hazardous. The debris combined with bursts of rain and wind made the ride home "interesting". The interstate was clear and in good condition, but the winds were extremely strong crossing the Susquehanna! I'm thankful that we missed the majority of the hurricane's wrath...and we all made it back home safe and sound!

Projects!

2011-08-21T22:38:00.000-07:00

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As promised in my previous post, here's a picture of the finished skein of pink
Merino. This is just the first of four 4 oz. skeins that I'm spinning for the Blue Ridge Spinners and Weavers Spinning Challenge. I still need to spin up the other three....AND decide on a technique and design for a bag - knitted, crocheted, or woven. Oh the decisions!!!!

I have made some significant progress on my rug hooking project as well. I'm so excited! This is my first REAL project in rug hooking. It looks a bit messy because I haven't trimmed up the ends. It's also a learning project, so I've found there are several things that I'll do differently the next time. Most of what I've learned centers on how/where to angle the strips as I add them to the work in progress to make it look the most pleasing to the eye. Another area I'm struggling with is how close together to put each strip - my sheep is pretty dense and thick. Next time, I'll allow a bit more space so it's not quite as tight.

My "Holden Shawl" is really coming along. I've started the lace borders, so it won't be much longer before this is finished! Once it's done and blocked, I'll need to add the beads. That will be a bit tricky as the edging is created through a picot bind off.

Today, I got to see Sarah and her gorgeous baby! Sarah is looks fabulous (as always), but for some reason, doesn't have much time left over for knitting - imagine that! She is working on an absolutely fascinating scarf/stole that I'm definitely adding to my list of "projects in waiting" - it's the "Summit" scarf from Knitty - Spring 2010. It's absolutely stunning!

Nannette had a gorgeous shawl that I'm definitely lusting over....it's in my colors! Isn't it awesome? It's the "Flower Bead Shawl." I snuggled in it and warned her that she just might not get it back! (I did eventually "relinquish" it back to her care. Sigh. It's made from Kauni yarn. I LOVE how the yarn morphs to through the various shades of purple and grey! (I have several skein of this same type of yarn...and I believe I even have some in this same colorway! Yikes! One more project added to my ever expanding "Project in Waiting" queue!!!

Hooking and Spinning

2011-08-14T23:10:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the annual Hook-In in Yellow Springs, WV. It was fabulous! It was my first year attending and I had a fabulous time! There were many of fabulous rugs and wall hangings to inspire me.

There were five different vendors providing lots of gorgeous wools and tools to meet any rug hooking needs! The hosts served a fabulous lunch and provided great morning snacks - I think we all gained about 10 pounds in one day! Everything I needed was in one place - wool, inspiration, and food I'm definitely adding this to my yearly excursions!

On the left are the creations made in answer to the ATHA "Go Red!" challenge. All of them were very creative and beautifully made. These creations definitely give new meaning to the phrase, "Seeing red". (Be sure to double click on the photo for a closer view - I love all the different interpretations of "Go Red!"

Many of the attendees displayed their recent finished objects. They were fantastic! Each one was an incredible work of art. Some projects were made in 3-D...others in very fine strips of wool. I was amazed at the beauty and level of detail in each of the projects! These are just a few examples...the level of detail is just astounding! (Be sure to double click on the photos for an "up close" look!)

This little guy is hopefully going to be one of our guild projects next year. Hopefully the artist will be available for a workshop! I think he's absolutely adorable!

My friend, Jerry, was at the Hook-in as well...vending her lovely hand-dyed wools. Her sister is a new rug hooker was there both to help Jerry as well as get in some hooking herself. This really makes me wish that I had an inspiring and talented older sister - especially one with such an eye for design and color!

In addition to vending and chatting, Jerry showed us a technique she just learned for making "flowers". I love learning new techniques! I made great headway on my sheep wall hanging. It's a Jerry original as well. I love her patterns as well as her wools. The animals in her patterns have a lot of personality and her wools are gorgeous. I'll post a picture of my progress soon!

On the spinning front, I had nearly finished plying the Targhee Friday evening...my goal had been to complete it BEFORE the Hook-In. I really wanted to have that sense of accomplishment that you get when you complete a project. Sigh. I did finally finish it on Saturday evening...just in time to start a new project when I joined the Centreville Spinners on Sunday.

I love the colors! I had decided NOT to Navajo ply the yarn, but instead let the colors fall where they may as I plied the yarn. These colors play well together, so the overall effect was lovely. In natural light, it's a bit more purple than it shows here. I'm thinking that this yarn will be perfect for a multi-directional scarf. Perhaps the one featured on the cover of "Spin-Off" a few months ago?

I finally started spinning the Merino for my Blue Ridge Spinners and Weavers spinning challenge. I have four 4 oz. balls of roving - teal-green, blue, purple and pink. I finished the pink ball this evening (sorry...no picture yet). Four ounces down, twelve to go! Once I get it all spun, the real challenge begins - what to make with the four different colors. I have until October, so hopefully, I'll find the perfect project!

Totally Crafty Week

2011-08-11T21:17:00.000-07:00

Wow....what a week! A crafty day on Saturday, then a delightful three days in a row of "crafty get togethers" midweek to be followed by two days of crafting this coming weekend - rug hooking on Saturday and spinning on Sunday! I think I'm running on overload....but I LOVE it!

Saturday was the Knitting Day at the Mannings. I kept waffling about going, but my friend Mary talked me into it and swung by to pick me up. I had a fabulous time - bought some patterns, a few skeins of yarn, and some roving. And I won a door prize! A raspberry colored skein of Malabrigo (yummmmmm!!!!!) complete with a pattern for a cowl. It was a very relaxing day of knitting, eating, and chatting with only minor interruptions from the rain. Our "setup" is on the left - Mary managed to run off before the photo, but I did managed to catch Jeanne's back. I even ran into my PA friends, Judy and Beth (right). These pictures say it all - a fabulous relaxing day...just knitting.

Tuesday night was Centreville Spinners. I continued to work on the Solitude Targhee that I'd hand dyed earlier this year. I'm getting close! I should finish it up and ply it by the weekend! FINALLY! I also got to pick up my prizes from the latest contest - some gorgeous blue hand-dyed Merino - I think I'll call this "Summer Seas". As a bonus, I also got a hand crafted wooden orifice hook. Wahoo!

Wednesday was dedicated to Reston SnB. I made some great progress on my Holden Shawl...now that my hand spun has been put into a ball! I think this is the largest ball of yarn I've ever wound on my ball winder. There's not enough room for even another inch of yarn!

I've put my Summer Garden Tee in time out for a bit. I keep messing up on the increases...grrrr!!!! Last Saturday, I tore back nearly all the rows that I'd completed...for the third time, so I just didn't have to the heart to try working on it again! It's been over a month and I've only managed about 1 inch so far. I've probably knitted at total of six inches - I just keep re-knitting the same few rows over and over! Ugh!

Thursday evening was dedicated to Goose Creek Ruggers. Our president finished her rug from a workshop she'd taken earlier this year. It's absolutely gorgeous! I just love the colors!

I managed to finish the body of the sheep on my first official rug hooking project and now need to start cutting more strips so I can start on the hill and the tree. It's really coming along! I used my fabric stripper for the first time last night to make some strips - I love tools! Now I just need to get some more cut up for the Hook-In!

Birthday Treat and Marie's Adorable Sweater

2011-08-05T22:52:00.000-07:00

This past week has been fun! I received yet another birthday gift, was inspired by an interesting project, and completed one of my projects - my latest pair of socks!

I continued the celebration of my birthday with a gift from my friend, Lynn. She found this bag on Etsy and thought it was perfect for me! It's covered with skulls and crossbones...including a felted one and a ceramic one. I don't know why, but I have this "thing" for skulls and crossbones. I love the Ed Hardy fabrics and have a sock project bag made from it, an i-Pod skin with pink skulls and crossbones, some tee shirts....and the list goes on. Of course, when Lynn saw this bag, she said she "had" to get it for me.

It's perfect for a project bag - big enough to hold a sweater or afghan "project-in-progress". Heaven knows I need several as I always have a number of projects "on the needles" at the same time. Having a bag for each project helps me keep all the needed yarn, patterns, and needles together and organized! (Plus...the more bags I have, the more projects I can have - either in progress or as "projects-in-waiting"!)

At Reston SnB this week, Marie had an absolutely adorable sweater that she'd knit up for her grand son. It's so cute! I just love how the cables became little baby owls! Marie said that the sweater took no time at all to knit up - I believe it was done in worsted weight yarn, so it practically knitted itself! (Not really, but I'm sure it felt that way.)

As for my personal projects, I FINALLY finished the Austermann socks! Wahoo! I love the deep colors...and the aloe and jojoba oil that's infused in the yarn should make them feel wonderful on my feet!

Tea Cup Pin Cushion

2011-07-31T18:50:00.000-07:00

This month, in the "Play Shop" group, we made pin cushions for our swap partners. I struggled for a while on what type to make and how to make one. Then I ran across the instructions for making a "Tea Cup Pin Cushion" in one of my craft magazines and thought that would be perfect! I "googled" instructions for other versions of "tea cup pin cushions" on the internet and combined what I thought was the best of each into the final method that I used to create the pin cushion.

I had all the needed bit - thread, fabric, embellishments, very fine steel wool, fiberfill, fabric glue and of course, my handy glue gun. The only thing I was missing was a tea cup. So, I headed out to our local resale shop and found a very cute tea cup with a matching saucer that had both blue and white - my swap partner's favorite colors. Perfect!

I took a fat quarter of fabric (in blue, of course!) and used one of my mixing bowls as the guide for drawing a circle. (The medium Pyrex bowl in my nesting set of 3 mixing bowls was the perfect size!) I cut out the circle of fabric and made a running stitch around the edges so I could easily gather it. This would become the main part of the pin cushion.

One set of instructions advised putting a bit of very fine steel wool in what will be the top of the pin cushion in order to keep the pins sharp. This was to counteract the effect of the fiberfill as it tends to dull the pins. So, I tore off about an inch of the steel wool and formed it into a round disc about 5 inches in diameter and placed it in the center of the cloth circle. I then added a bunch of fiber fill and cinched it shut.

When I "tried the teacup on for size" by tentatively placing the pin cushion in the cup, I found that the "stuffed pin cushion" didn't quite reach the bottom of the cup. Worse yet, if I pushed it down, it would spring back up. This didn't seem very stable to me, so I decided to put a pad of wool at the bottom to hold the pin cushion up a bit higher as well asprovide a more solid base. Roving isn't just for spinning anymore!!! Satisfied with my more stable "design", I slathered the inside of the cup with glue and stuck the fabric pin cushion inside.

Finally, I cut some strung "pearls" and glued them to the top edge of the pin cushion for an added decorative touch. (I used glue for attaching gems and rhinestones to fabric so it would hold well.) I was quite please with the finished pin cushion. Even DH thought it was cute! I believe I'll make this project again - perhaps one for myself???

NOTE: I did not glue the saucer to the plate - I thought it would be more useful to keep the two separate - that way, the saucer could be used as a button or bead tray and the cup would strictly be the pin cushion....with or without the saucer beneath it.

Franken-Wheel

2011-07-27T22:44:00.000-07:00

Alice found a really cool spinning wheel...affectionately known as the "Franken-Wheel". It's made of the parts from several different wheels, plywood, random wood bits, and a stool. It spins amazingly well. I loved checking out all the "parts" it was comprised of - I found it fascinating!

It looks like the orifice is from an antique wheel and the "base" from a small wooden stool. In spite of the variety of components, I think the over-all look of the wheel is nice...perhaps even a bit elegant.

This time of year is perfect! "Nature's Bounty" is definitely evident as I stroll through the neighborhood. The wild raspberries and the Queen Ann's Lace are definitely in abundance.

The past two days, I've been able to pick enough wild raspberries for DH and I to each have a refreshing bowl of fresh berries. It was the perfect summer "after dinner treat.

I also noticed that there was an abundance of Queen Ann's Lace...all ready for the picking and the dyeing. It produces a very nice "baby yellow". I didn't pick any - I've done this in the past, but since I'm not a fan of yellow, I didn't feel compelled to try it again. There are a number of great tutorials that detail the process of harvesting the Queen Ann's lace, making your dyeing "liquor", and the preparation and dyeing of wool. My personal favorite is Toni's instructions at The Fold.

I haven't tried plying the 2 ounces of Shetland that I'd spun on my drop spindle last month. I guess I'm afraid to try - it will be my first attempt ever to ply on my drop spindle. Instead of plying, I started spinning a new color of Shetland. This roving is a greenish-blue. I love this - it reminds me of the ocean. The Shetland is very easy to spin...and I find it very relaxing. When I drag my drop spindle with me, I somehow manage to find a number of unexpected opportunities to work in some spinning.

Adventures in Dyeing

2011-07-24T15:42:00.000-07:00

I finally tried my hand at Crock pot dyeing. As part of a swap, a group of us were to create some hand dyed yarn in the yarn weight of choice for our partners. This was just the stimulus I needed! The past two years, I wimped out and dyed using Kool-Aid. I've mastered that....so next on my agenda was crock pot dyeing.

My partner plans to use her yarn for socks, so I chose some sock weight Merino (left) and turned the crock pot on after adding just enough water to cover the yarn (right).

I pre-soaked my yarn in Vinegar water in the crock pot.

While the yarn was pre-soaking, I measured out the bright blue dye and the magenta dye into two separate canning jars. My goal was to create yarn that was about 35% magenta, 35% blue, and 35% purple.

While the crock pot was heating up, I prepared the dye by adding water and vinegar to my pre- measured bright blue and magenta dyes (left). After stirring to make sure they were properly mixed, I put some of each color in my squeeze bottles (right)...for ease of application.

Once the wool had soaked for about 15 minutes, I then added the dye - magenta on one side and blue on the other. I "encouraged" the two colors to mix in the middle. The yarn took the dye rapidly and left quite a bit of white. I expected that and was prepared to turn the yarn over in the crock pot and add more dye. That fixed most of the "white" issues, but I definitely did not get the planned results!

I had much more color separation than I had planned and very little purple. I had expected there to be various shades of purple in the center where the two colors "co-mingled". It didn't quite come out as planned. Instead, I had quite a bit of magenta and quite a bit of blue with only about 5% purple!

I guess I need to work on my dyeing skills a bit. I have plenty of yarn and plenty of roving to work with, so I'll definitely enjoy the process...and hopefully learn a bit more each time I try my hand at dyeing!

Tour de Fleece Update

2011-07-21T20:40:00.000-07:00

The first bobbin of my hand dyed Targhee is finally done! Ready to start on the second one! Tour de Fleece has truly helped keep me on track with my spinning projects! There are only a couple of more days, to go. I've managed to spin some on every day...even the "rest" days!

Of course, with all the spinning, my knitting and other things get pushed to the back burner...and exhibit little or no progress. If only there were more hours in a day!

Now to segue from spinning to weaving....and a bit of Norwegian culture. My friend, Melanie, recently traveled to Norway and took sojme weaving classes in Bergen. She had a wonderful time and made some incredible samples. What a fabulous experience!

She purchased some completed weaving as well. What I found interesting was that both sides of the weaving are typically used. The more ornate side is the side used when you have company. The other side is for every day use. Pretty cool, eh?

Melanie also brought back fabric and ribbons to make an alternative Bunad. It has purples and greens in it and is absolutely gorgeous. The model for her new Bunad can be seen in the post card on the left. The Bunads are definitely a piece of art and cost a pretty penny to make, but are definitely worth it! I really need to start looking at/planning mine!

Beadwork compatible with her current belt.

Below is a close-up of the beadwork for the new Bunad and the skirt fabric to go with it.

A compilation of the components - scarf, skirt fabric, silk, yarn, and beading - for the new Bunad. I just LOVE the colors!!!!

Small Projects

2011-07-17T22:36:00.000-07:00

This week, I decided to try a couple of smaller projects. I'm going for nearly instant gratification. I guess I'm trying to keep up with my knitting so all of my efforts aren't dedicated to the Tour de Fleece!

First up is a "Wine Placemat". I made this from cut up plastic grocery bags. I cut the "yarn" into loops looping them together to form a continuous strand of yarn. It's a washable placemat...perfect for a wine glass and a bottle of wine.

Next is the Tardis dish cloth using the Doctor Who TARDIS Dishcloth by holynarf. It was a quick and easy knit and a definite must for a Dr. Who fan!

Tour de Fleece Progress

2011-07-15T23:58:00.000-07:00

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Wahoo! I finished the first bobbin of the red combed Targhee from Sweetgrass Fiber last Wednesday. Last night, I finished the second bobbin. (It doesn't look like much, but the Louet bobbins are HUGE - there's 2 ounces of spun singles on each of the bobbins.

Tonight, I finished plying. the singles came out nearly perfectly even. I used about 1 1/2 feet of the singles to tie my skein together, and the small string shown in the photo on the right is all I have left of the singles. Talk about "waste not, want not", eh? Generally, I have a substantial amount of singles left over, but this time, I weighed the fiber in order to split it in half...and that seemed to do the trick!

The plied yarn appears to be well balanced, however, part of that may be because the yarn has "lost some energy" as it sat on the bobbin waiting to be plied. None the less, all I need to do now is soak the yarn and then hang it to dry to set the twist. Then I'll be ready to start the "Holden Shawl" - my dissertation for the latest round of "Nerd Wars". "Tour de Fleece" is really helped keep me on target - spinning every day ensured that I would make great progress on the hand spun that I committed to creating and using for the "Holden Shawl".

I've also got both ounces of the Shetland that I hand spindled wound into center pull balls. Next step in this process is to ply them together using the drop spindle. I've never plied with the drop spindle before, so this could be a bit of a challenge! My first obstacle will be determining what I'll use for a lazy kate...and how I'll tension the singles for plying.

Last night, I was totally inspired at the Goose Creek Ruggers guild meeting to try my hand at hooking a "stained glass" style rug. I love how it's all outlined in black...just like stained glass. It's stunning! (Sorry about the quality of the photo...I'd forgotten my camera, so all I had was my cell phone.)

I'll end with a few nature shots. The weather has been absolutely beautiful the past few days, so I took full advantage of it...wandering through the neighborhood with my four-legged buddy...and discovering all sorts of butterflies enjoying the local thistles. (Be sure to double click on the photos for a closer look.)